Word: toye
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Being an avid Star Wars fan, I found myself in good company. As we stood in line, customers debated how the toys would be set up, which action figures would be more rare than others and their excitement at the imminent release of the film itself. One fellow had just come off the plane from Colorado, where the Lucasfilm-sponsored Star Wars Celebration convention. Another fan strolled up and down the line dressed as Darth Vader, waving a toy light saber menacingly at the laughing crowd. Of course, this was a mere taste of the chaos that will surround ticket...
When the doors opened, it seemed fairly organized. The line moved steadily inside, turned a corner and found the toys. Then it became a little more typical: some pushing, some shoving, some grabbing in bins and at racks. Having to catch the T, I grabbed the three figures I was looking for and beat it to the cashiers. Behind me, dozens of fans were scooping up every toy their arms, or carts, could hold. But why would toys be enough of a draw for dozens of people to wait for hours in line for their release? The fact...
...calls his swanky law office "the house the Mob built." Its walls are decorated with newspaper stories about acquittals he won for alleged organized-crime figures. A toy rat lies dead in a trap near the fireplace, and a pair of steel balls given him by two reputed wiseguys hangs over the door. His name is Oscar Goodman, and he could be the next mayor of Las Vegas. As he tours Sin City on the campaign trail--gloating over its tacky exuberance, making love with it--I ride shotgun...
...really. That sugary last sentence, conjuring a toy town in a glass paperweight, doesn't describe Northampton or, fortunately, Kidder's fond but unsentimental book. The author's great gift, in fact, is for looking at his subjects straight on. He did this impressively in The Soul of a New Machine (1981), about the development of a supermini-computer, and in House (1985), about the jostling interchanges among architect, builders and buyers of a private home...
...other crew assembled "animatics": rough computer designs of the script's scenes using stick figures, artwork, bits of film. "We previsualize the movie," says animatician David Paul Dozoretz, who was in charge of the digital whiz kids. "We're Lucas' toy box. We do lots of experimentation." Thanks to these sages and sprouts, 45 min. of Episode 1 was viewable as a computerized storyboard before principal shooting began...