Life as an Art Student

So, I shouldn't be sitting here writing this and writing many art criticism papers instead but I needed to post these few links. This is going to be hell week for me, so until after May 8th, I'll be thinking about working and actually drinking (instead of just thinking about doing it). So until then…

Tales From the Crit: For Art Students, May Is the Cruelest Month ~ article from Sunday's New York Times. My final critique is Monday, May 8th, 2 PM Eastern Standard Time. Pray for me.

Art School Confidential ~ The official movie site. Coming soon to a theater near you. Go see it. I will be seeing it (hopefully) this Saturday. I will report how funny and close to the truth it is after May 8th. Especially the part in the trailer where he throws himself covered in paint onto a canvas (hmmm sound familiar?). Also mentioned in the first line of the above article.

Art School Confidential (2006) ~ In case the above link is too slow in loading, here is a page that just describes what the synopsis is and who's in it and a link to a trailer (too funny, watch it even if you don't go to art school you will get a kick out of it… especially if you know me)

Chicken Little

I finally get to sit here and write about the Disney move, Chicken Little. This is the first (unless you count Dinosaur, which I don't really) 3-D animation movie that Disney has put out not under Pixar. It is also the first movie after they decided to stop doing hand drawn animation (as you see me frown). Of all the negative issues that I had before I saw this movie, well, I actually saw it in the theater on it's opening day. My friend Colin and I were going to get tickets for the 3-D version of this movie, where you get a pair of cool 3-D glasses that look like Chicken Little's glasses but when we were eating dinner, I was thinking that the time that we bought our tickets for was not one of the 3-D versions. And by the time we realized it and went back to the movie theater (we bought our tickets from a machine by the way) the 3-D version was sold out. Booooo…. so we had to see it in it's regular format of just plain ol' 3-D animation without the 3-D glasses. And then I went out and rented it recently and watched it again. I think I liked it better the second time… but I still can't decide if it's buy worthy.

Anyway, the initial reaction to the movie was that the father figure was overkill. After him and Chicken Little had their "talk" he could not shut up about how much he supported his son, no matter how crazy it seemed. The other thing that I tried to do was figure out how many different references to other Disney movies they made. I only came up with 3. Obviously Lion King in the beginning, Mulan when he climbed to hit the walk button, and then Alice in Wonderland (which admittedly, I did not figure out on my own and only realized it after watching the special features) when he gets dumped with the drink after he wins the game.

Then came this thought. Aren't chickens GIRLS? Chicken Little is definitely a boy in this movie. It bothered me. Then after watching deleted or different versions of scenes in the special features of the DVD that it was originally a girl. That made me happy. Sort of. Then after watching the features about the movie, I found out that it was Michael Eisner who wanted it to be a boy. I believe the reason was because it's not unusual for girls to be small, but for a boy to be small (in the story, everyone in his class grew except him, he's supposed to be 12 or 13 years old) could be a bigger issue. As I sit here and role my eyes, yeah, it makes sense, but then why not in total Disney nature rename everybody? Change the story completely (yeah, they did do that here too, but they kept the title, typical) and not call it "Chicken" but maybe "Boy Little" or something… then that might refer to "Little Boy Blue"….hmm… okay, I guess they did stick to their usual Disney tactics, but still! Anyway, judge for yourself, go rent it if you like watching kids movies. Oh! Not a total spoiler, but there's also no true villain. Then again, Lilo and Stitch didn't have a true villain either and it was super cute and good. Eh. It was actually the father figure that truly bothered me (also, single parent, typical Disney).

Chicken Little – The Official DVD Website

Chicken Little
Fish Out of Water
Kirby

Linky Links 4-5-06

I know it's been awhile, sorry about that – busy with school, life, avoiding things, stuff like that, you understand. Since I woke up at 6 A.M. today for some unknown reason, I thought I'd continue my links posts.

Art Related

Secret of Mona Lisa's Smile Revealed? ~ I was thinking about this for a bit. You need patience and time to be able to paint like this, and I think this is why there are no true great painters today. We have way too many distractions, too many forms of entertainment, and just overall too lazy to paint like this. We want results now, not millions of little invisible dots later. Does this idea work with other art forms? Why aren't their any Michelangelo marble sculptures being done now? Or is it that we can claim that it's been done, so why go back? I bet if there was an artist who could paint like this and does paint like this now, they would be looked over in the New York art world for someone who paints something that's more controversial. For the other aspects of art, I do have to admit that computer animation has been improving to look more and more life like, that there is an art form that is improving. I was amazed between the difference between Toy Story and Bug's Life and even after that Toy Story 2…. and that was years ago where I stared at the movie screen in awe, just amazed at the huge difference. Yes, I notice these things. 😛

Portrait of a Cultural Battle ~ Who owns a painting? The original country or the country that steals it during a war?

TV, Movie, Music Related

Sesame Street creators spark controversy with new line of videos for infants ~ Do we want our children to become addicted to TV before the age of two? I mean, really? I'm torn between that it might help develop their brain, and being born into a TV watching generation (even though throughout high school I didn't have a TV in the house, but I still managed to know just enough about what was going on in Pop culture to stay afloat) I can't help but this this is naturally something that you would want to do.

Hilton Considered for Mother Theresa Role ~ Oh please, say it isn't so…

"Simpsons" Teases Moviegoers ~ Hmmm… this brings up the question how does a successful TV show turn into a successful movie… I know it's possible and all, but just like when Sex and the City was thinking about a movie, I'm a little skeptical… but then again, the voice of Albert Brooks with "guest star" in the movie… maybe it will be Jacques from one of my favorite Simpsons episodes… I highly doubt that thought… especially since that was from Season 1.

The Simpsons.com ~ just thought I'd put it up since this is the first time that I went to the site… and happened to just talk about it… amusing…

Blockbuster Accused of Patent Infringement ~ Oh I hope they don't get rid of Blockbuster.com… which is what I use to rent my TV shows on DVD instead of Netflix. They give me two free games in store a month! And since they raised the price of renting games to $8 or something like that, heck, I need those free games!!!

The Official John Corbett Band Website ~ I'm not a fan of country music as you know, but when I saw this actually on TV yesterday I had to go check it out because I'm an Adian fan. "Let me strip your floors." And am I the only one remembering the oboe playing musician that he played in the movie Serendipity?

Random

The Time Is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ~ I missed it!!! I was actually asleep by 12:30 last night for once. Oh well.

Paperweight Severs Calif. Teacher's Hand ~ you better watch out what kind of things you have on your desks there you teachers and future teachers…

And lastly…

Spider-hunting nudist ends with ring of fire ~ I can't help but laugh… sorry…

Linky Links 2-24-06

After me descibing my night out, I’ll give you a couple of links to ignore whatever I previously wrote…

Can Movies Change Our Minds? ~ Now, if I have seen Brokeback Mountain, I would actually have more to say here.  Maybe after I see it I will comment on this article again.  I know that I have some random opinions on can movies change our minds…

Work More, Do Less With Tech ~ Yeah, I could see this… I do love my Technology… it does make things easier, but it is also a huge distraction…

Not much today… but lastly…

So Where The Bloody Hell Are You? ~ At first I was going to make the article that I read this in the main focus, but really, go see the ad… and why the bloody hell aren’t I there?

Snakes on a Plane

Alright, I mentioned this in one of my posts under the article about the Worst Movie Titles Ever and I just remember that I was watching the Ellen DeGeneres Show yesterday and Samuel L. Jackson was on and mentioned this upcoming movie that he’s in! He said something along the lines of he read the title and knew he had to do it. This stuff cracks me up.

http://www.snakesonaplanemovie.com/

ComingSoon.net 

Linky Links 2-23-06

Once again I’m having problems sleeping. At least this time I wanted to wake up early. Here’s my links for the news I’m reading. Hope you’re sleeping better then I am.

Art Related

French leave ~ This world is huge… and sometimes it’s hard to realize that in the art world when you live so close to New York City. I would love to be able to live somewhere else for a year or two… I think it would be amazing… and then be able to hop on a plane and go back for a weekend just to hang out for art festivals, gosh, I’m a tiny bit jealous… 🙂

Villagers claim church fresco is lost Michelangelo ~ Huh. Alright. See – now a days, I think that artists want to be remember and signing everything so years from now, after we’ve become super famous of course, that every piece that we’ve ever made could be traced back to us. This brings to mind something that I think every time I see a retrospective or something similar to that where sketches are framed and possibly their worst work that they’ve ever made is framed and placed on exhibit. I think, and if I’m with a fellow artist I ask, “Would you want what you think your worst work ever to be framed and showed to the world?” I mean, just because Picasso drew on this napkin, doesn’t mean that it is the greatest.

China applies toon taboos ~ This is just bizarre. A good reason never to want to move to China… besides that whole communist thing… I would never be able to freely watch Roger Rabbit… or as a different ban states, Babe.

BBC pledges money for UK movies ~ Actually, this title for this article brings to mind something else… are British keyboards different then American keyboards? I mean, above the 4 is there a pound sign rather then a dollar sign? I dunno, I was just wondering.

Orchestra, musicians group agree to employ a mediator ~ A shout out to my dear friend Sunny should be put here. Louisville really doesn’t have an art scene does it?

And now for the really bizarre if the toon ban wasn’t bizarre enough

Alleged Kitten Killer goes on trial ~ It’s even stated by the Cook County Public Defender as a “bizarre case”

‘Anti-bird-flu’ water goes on sale in Czech Republic ~ Oh my goodness people.

Linky Links 2-21-06

Not too much happening here in Jersey. Well, all bad stuff to me, like, me being sick and can’t really do much this past weekend and then when I went to go get food I found out my tire had a flat… number 4 in the same tire in about a month and a half. I think it’s time for a new tire. So as I procrastinate more in calling AAA and getting ready for the day, here are some articles that I read this morning that are amusing… at least to me they’re amusing.

Nothing really art related today

To: Professor@University.edu Subject: Why It’s All About Me ~ Okay, I have to admit that I have written e-mails that I had to miss class right before the class but I never asked for the notes… I got them from a friend. And I usually only ever missed because I felt miserable.

“New Seven” wonders list narrowed; now it’s up to the world to choose ~ architectural designs? That’s it? I wonder what the other 77 are. Thank goodness Mt. Rushmore is considered. That’s pretty impressive if you think about it. A man carving our forefathers on the side of a mountain. Crazy, but a wonder.

With a Few Clicks, You, Too, Can Start to Change Your Life ~ Really? This is all I need to do to find happiness? Sign me up!

Candy maker touts new chocolate’s health benefits ~ Mmmmm… chocolate… I always thought of chocolate as its own food group.

A follow up on a past article I posted ~

Titles so terrible that ‘Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes’ didn’t even make the final cut ~ Wow. Some of these are bad. Well, all of them are really bad. “Snakes on a Plane”? “Mother, May I Sleep With Danger”? Let alone having bad movie titles, I’ve never even heard of these movies!

And lastly

Why figure skating is not a sport ~ I kinda of had this vow not to talk about sports on this blog since I really get all my sports info from my brother’s blog but this article made me smile. It’s true! Where are the points coming from? But this is also how I feel about grading art. How can you grade art? It’s all subjective. Papers and tests I understand how and why, but if you tell me it’s effort that’s BS. I’ve seen way too many times people’s art that they didn’t put any effort in their piece, but the final piece wows the teacher and then the work that was spent hours on didn’t even get recognized… I’m not bitter, really, I’m not. But back to figure skating…

Linky Links 2-10-06

Two quick links before I’m off to bed.  I also want to note that I posted a quote from Isaac Larian, CE of Bratz saying “‘It is time for Barbie to retire,’ he said. ‘I mean, even Michael Jordan retired.’” and I want point out that someone pointed out to me that he was misquoted and said that it was time for Ken, not Barbie, to retire. 🙂

G-rated movies favor boys, a new study says ~ Well. Now that I think about it, I can believe it from the animated g-rated movies that I have seen this past year.  I’ve seen Corpse Bride, as you probably have read, Hoodwinked, Chicken Little, some other ones that I’m blanking out on but it does feel like these movies are geared towards boys rather then girls.  Even Hoodwinked.  Is it the desire to please everyone?  It is probably easier for a girl to like a boyish movie then a boy to like a blatant made for girls movie.  I could go on for awhile about this… especially what I think about Chicken Little which I will say for another post.  Tell me what you think.

The Worst Movie Title Ever ~ Wow.  Now once again, I know that I know several that can fit in this category but I am sleepy and can not remember anything.  Once again, probably another post could be dedicated to this so I will save it for another day when I am once again procrastinating. 

Have a good night and weekend!

Linky Links 2-8-06

Alright, maybe I’m trying TOO hard to be like my brother, but I don’t care. It’s a good idea. To quote (or attempt to quote) one of my professors here at Montclair, “Good artists copy where great artists steal” and yes, I am stealing… an idea from my brother. So here goes.

Art Related

A Startling New Lesson in the Power of Imagery ~ It is amazing whenever I see how powerful art can be, whatever type of art form. I can only speak for me as an artist but there is the decision to create something that knowing can offend someone and is creating it for that purpose alone. To see a large number of people react so against a piece of work baffles me. Artwork that provokes is more likely to receive that kind of attention then something that people think is just beautiful. I don’t think people will get riled up over a Monet – unless someone stole it or defaced it. But then that’s the art world isn’t it? Create to provoke and make the viewer think and notice something.

Democracy in a Cartoon ~ What about the freedom of speech? Where is there a line if there is a line? That debate could go on forever, especially when it is a matter of opinion and morality.

Kind of Art Related

Chocolate That Flashes Its Passport ~ MMmmmm… Chocolate… Mmmm… Kit Kats…. I am partial to Lindt Chocolate which is I believe is from Switzerland, but that’s as far as my taste buds go when it comes to chocolate, mainly because of expenses and limitability.

School dance initiative launched ~ How cool. I mean, I guess we did square dancing in high school in gym class so I guess in the Midwest we were already doing this. It makes me wonder though what kind of dancing will they be doing in Scotland?

Read the book, then watch the film on DVD ~ Heck, I try to do this as much as I can and I have good intentions.  I bought entire Chronicles of Nardia before I saw the movie, but saw the movie before I got a chance to read it.  Lately though it has been the other way around because I don’t let myself read outside of school work because, I’m lazy which basically comes down to it. That is why this probably isn’t working; Americans are as lazy as I am. They never get around to reading the book, so why do they want it shoved in their face that they need to read before or after they watch a movie? Then, after they watch the movie and read the book, there is the chance that people will complain on how grossly cut and changed the book was after the movie was made. Alright, I can only speak for myself again (about being lazy) but is this true? I remember when the first Harry Potter movie came out people were so worried that the movie was going to be nothing like the book, and it stayed true. But then the other 3 movies are a different story, especially the last two. Don’t get me wrong – I encourage reading, I love to read, but at this time, during grad school, movies are just more accessible.

Corpse Bride

I recently finished watching Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride for the second time. The first was in the theater and well, now on DVD. First thing that I noticed when I started watching it on DVD was that the screen just seemed too small for the movie. Not to dis my roommate’s TV but more that there is so much detail to each scene that it’s hard to see the subtle things that Tim Burton has put in this movie. Then it made me glad that I saw it on the big screen, even though, at first it did not make a huge impression on me. I preferred Nightmare Before Christmas. The music was catchier, the story line was cooler, and it was a little less morbid, even though, if you think about it, Nightmare Before Christmas was pretty dark. It is natural to compare two movies that are in the same distinct style from the mind of Tim Burton. I’m beginning to think that he is a genius, but then again, I did see Planet of the Apes and to this DAY I still bring it up to Mark as his choice of bad movies that he DRAGGED me to see (where I have only picked good ones, of course).

Anyway, back to Corpse Bride. I do recommend this movie to whoever has not seen it. It is definitely worth it. It has a little bit of everything, drama, love, action, suspense, death, scary parents, and singing, all of the things that you want in a movie. As I said before, it is a little morbid if you think about it. Victor is kind of a player. He was never around women before and now he has two women wanting to marry him, and one of them has the girl version of his name, Victoria. Coincidence? Who knows expect for Tim Burton.

I have yet to check out all the extra features on the disk, which, trust me, I plan on to. But in the mean time, check out the websites for the movie and DVD. I can not wait for the desktop maggot!

The Corpse Bride Movie Site

The Corpse Bride DVD Site where the “coming soon” desktop maggot is