The Simpsons Movie

[Chernabog]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Please name 3 other TV show movies that went beyond 'whew, didn't suck.'

The Brady Bunch Movie!

Serenity.

hmmmmmm I know there are more out there, I just can't think today.


Edit: Ack you already mentioned those, that is what I get for taking an hour to write a post @ work.

[Alex]

The Addams Family
The Untouchables
The Fugitive
Serenity
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Charlie's Angels (the first one, not the second one which is an all time worst)
The Brady Bunch Movie
George of the Jungle
Miami Vice
The first Mission: Impossible movie
South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
The Naked Gun (again, the first one)

I know it is against the critical grain and definitely not as good as the TV show but I liked Maverick. If you count SNL skits I would add Blues Brothers and Wayne's World.

Looking at that (off the top of my head, there's probably more I'm missing) and considering my first reaction to hearing that a TV show is being turned into a movie I'm surprised at how often the effort is at least moderately successful.

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Alex

The Addams Family
The Untouchables
The Fugitive
Serenity
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Charlie's Angels (the first one, not the second one which is an all time worst)
The Brady Bunch Movie
George of the Jungle
Miami Vice
The first Mission: Impossible movie
South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
The Naked Gun (again, the first one)

See: you couldn't name just three!

Originally Posted by Alex

I know it is against the critical grain and definitely not as good as the TV show but I liked Maverick.

You are not alone on this. It was silly good fun.

[innerSpaceman]

Bewitched?!? Please tell me you're kidding!


Alex's list is much better, though The Addams Family was not based on a TV show (but rather, was based on material which also inspired a TV show)

I concur with about half of his list as to movies I thought were good, but none of them met the Ghoulish Delight standard of television trancendence, as far as I'm concerned.

(Well, perhaps Wrath of Khan ... but that was the second film ... not fair comparing it to the first Simpsons movie).



Ah well, it was nice to see a list of arguably decent TV-to-movie adaptations. I put The Simpsons Movie squarely on that list. To me, it was a whole lot better than "whew, didn't suck." I liked it.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Bewitched?!? Please tell me you're kidding!

Like I said, I was on an airplane. And as airplane movies go, I was sufficiently entertained. I'm sure I wouldn't have had the same opinion below 10,000 feet.

[JWBear]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

...The Addams Family was not based on a TV show (but rather, was based on material which also inspired a TV show)....

Well... Sort of. The Movie used the names and most of the relationships from the TV show. (The TV Uncle Fester was Morticia’s Uncle – Fester Frump - not Gomez’s brother.) In the original cartoons, none of the characters had names, and the relationships were only implied.

[Ghoulish Delight]

And I'd add Bewitched (although I'm willing to admit that was because a "phew, that didn't suck" movie on an airplane is like gold) and, in the SNL sketch category, Ladies Man.

If it's possible to have kept a show funny for 10 seasons, it's possible to turn it into a good movie. But as Alex predicted before the movie came out, they stuck with the standard ruts the character franchise has fallen into over the last 8 years. They risked nothing and as a result gained nothing.

[Alex]

One handicap that The Simpsons Movie suffers under, I'd say, is the fact that the TV show is still on the air, which must be horribly limiting (even in a TV show like The Simpsons where continuity isn't so important).

One common approach to these TV-to-movie adaptations is to spoof the source material (The Brady Bunch, Car 54 Where are You?, McHale's Navy). Another is to re-envision an artifact of the past into the modern day presentation (Charlie's Angels, S.W.A.T., The Mod Squad). A third would be to take the original as an inspiration and then just tell your own story (Maverick, The Addams Family, Mission: Impossible).

For The Simpsons Movie they can't really make too much fun of themselves and there is no temporal separation to offer up a different perspective. And having to return to the small screen in the fall it would be difficult to truly and completely shake up the Simpsons universe.

[Ghoulish Delight]

South Park managed to leap that hurdle.

[AllyOops!]

You know, not to get too off subject (and this touches a bit on what's being posted here) but why, when something is against (as Alex so perfectly put it) critical grain, or even the opinions of our friends and family, do we feel so ashamed or even embarrassed for enjoying it? Why do we find ourselves arguing to be understood or throw ourselves into justifying our opinion as if anybody's opinion is even remotely greater then ours? I'm not saying this in reference to anything written on the Board (I've only read a few posts in this Thread). I've been thinking about this ever since I saw Transformers, which was a movie that all of my friends and family enjoyed. I thought it sucker harder then half the girls on Prom night (excluding me. I was a good girl ). I found myself thinking, "what's wrong with ME?". I found myself wondering why we put so much stock in other's opinions. Especially when they contradict ours. Especially since my opinion often doesn't match that of the masses.

Worst. Post. Ever. I'm off subject and who really cares, right? I need a friggin' Midol. Maybe 10.

Back to The Simpsons.

I saw it again last night, and absolutely LOVED it. I was able to relax more, I knew what to expect and I was able to hear jokes that I had missed the first time around. I couldn't stop laughing! It was lots of fun.