The Simpsons Movie

[AllyOops!]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

Boo-hiss I say.

Don't you mean Boo-urns?

As LSPoorEeyorick said, to each his own. Opinion is merely that and nothing more- opinion.

I thought the movie was very cute. I'm going to go see it with my Boyfriend tonight (I saw it with my Grandma last night), so I'm hoping I enjoy it much more the second time! I, too, was expecting a little more. I'm somebody who has enjoyed absolutely every season of the Simpsons. Southpark, while funny on television, apalled me on the bigscreen. Again, to each his own.

Some scenes had me giggling, but not as hard as I laugh when watching The Simpsons on TV. Maybe it's because we've waited 18 years and expected something major that we hadn't seen before? Maybe there wasn't just enough time on the big screen to feature every character? All I know is...I was kinda dissapointed. Something was just..off. I fall over howling when I watch the Simpsons on TV & DVD. In the theater, I giggled outloud, but never fell over howling.

Hopefully tonight will be much more fun! Maybe it was my hormones acting wonky and the fact that I was juggling an Icee and a Soda and the people walking in front of me stopped abrubtly, thus causing me to stop too short and dump the soda all over the floor. Maybe it was the fact that I was so pissed off by the frigging soda debacle that when I finally did cool down, some wad spilled and kicked their soda down the aisle, flowing right into my purse.

Boy, I'm a DVD gal.

[xharryb]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

Although I think that while Bart's doodle is edgy relative to early episodes, I don't think it (or anything in the movie) represents the same edginess relative to society that the early episodes did. But that's a whole other discussion.

Could that perhaps be more about the changing perspective of edginess in society compared to early Simpsons? Sure, Simpsons was considered edgy and a threat to family values by certain conservative folks in it's early days. However in the time since then it has actually been much more accepted as a depiction of a strong family bond. They may be disfunctional at times, but ultimately they have great love for one another. The characters haven't really changed, just people's perspectives of them.

We now live in a world full of things like South Park, Family Guy & the Adult Swim block on Cartoon Network. Many of these shows are edgy for the sake of being edgy. They actually try to be offensive to get their point across, if they even have one (SP usually does, FG not so much). I don't think Simpsons needs to adapt to fit in their world. If they did, they wouldn't be the Simpsons anymore.

I gladly concede that the movie was nearly as "great" as it could have been, but it was deffinitely "good" and very true to the characters. There were funny moments as well as some very touching family moments. It would have been nice to see some musical numbers though, because those are often my favorite episode moments.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by xharryb

Could that perhaps be more about the changing perspective of edginess in society compared to early Simpsons? Sure, Simpsons was considered edgy and a threat to family values by certain conservative folks in it's early days. However in the time since then it has actually been much more accepted as a depiction of a strong family bond. They may be disfunctional at times, but ultimately they have great love for one another. The characters haven't really changed, just people's perspectives of them.

Yes, that's exactly my point. When it started, they pushed boundaries, and as a result woke the nation up to some screwed up preconceived notions about family. But while as a nation we've certainly improved our perspective, it's a long way from being completely fixed. Just because the boundary has moved doesn't mean it can't be pushed further. The Simpsons are no longer doing that pushing. It may not even really be their place to anymore, but that to me is a definite detraction from my enjoyment of the show. It's an element that is glaringly missing and has lead to major stagnation of the characters.

I gladly concede that the movie was nearly as "great" as it could have been, but it was deffinitely "good" and very true to the characters. There were funny moments as well as some very touching family moments. It would have been nice to see some musical numbers though, because those are often my favorite episode moments.

I'll reiterate that I didn't think it was "bad". But I'm disappointed that after 18 years, with no TV budget restrictions, no deadlines, and a whole new media format to work with, they failed to muster the creative energy to come up with anything more than, "phew, that didn't suck." Baldercrap.

[Morrigoon]

I think it's true that the edge wasn't quite there. Bart's doodle was edgy, yes, and damn funny after all they did to set the joke up (eg: getting all "Austin Powers" with it before hand to keep it blocked and then suddenly blocking everything but), however, the biting wit of the spoken word was no sharper. (However, true to form, I believe there was at least one anti-Disney joke tossed in )

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by Morrigoon

(However, true to form, I believe there was at least one anti-Disney joke tossed in )

I laughed at that joke but then I thought, 'Uh, isn't Fox led by someone evil, too?'

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Oh, they made fun of Fox. Remember that "ticker" at the bottom of the screen?

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by LSPoorEeyorick

Oh, they made fun of Fox. Remember that "ticker" at the bottom of the screen?

No, I hear you. I just found it odd for one evil corporation to call another evil corporation 'evil'.

[Chernabog]

All's I know is, saying "Harry Plopper" out loud always brings a smile to my face!

[Babette]

I enjoyed it. It made me giggle. There were a couple things they can't do on TV, but for the most part a long episode. But that is all I expected. I thought it was a good story and had clever commentary.

I liked when they got to the Seattle train station. Marge, Lisa and Bart ducked to hide from the EPA people, but Maggie covered her eyes. If a baby can't see you, you can't see her, right?

[innerSpaceman]

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


I admire your standard for success in this field, GD, and agree with it. It's just that, after 15 years or so of TV-to-movie adaptations, I think the goal must be loftier than is practical to achieve.