I hope your right. And yeah, it was funny, if a bit sad when he finished talking.
FYI, there's a title for a s19 eppy, entitled "A Funeral for a Friend". Wow, huh? But it could be someone else, or it could just be a horrible title that has nothing to do with the episode. Time will tell!
Jeroen wrote:The transition from the austin powers-like joke to actually revealing it was brilliant and provided a huuuuge laugh among the audience.
I thought it was okay...by no means the classic that people seem to be raving about.
I think there's a lot of general excitement because it's The Simpsons. In a Movie. On the Big Screen, but I have to agree with James and point out that it actually wasn't anything too special in the grand Simpsons scheme of things.
I thought they could have just done so much more...go wild with some of the established criteria rather than simply explore it on a wider canvas. I was glad they kept the totally random stuff down, like the house/boat upping and leaving town near the beginning. That's funny, but it doesn't make sense, and The Simpsons, for all its humor, used to be all about making sense.
I was torn as well as to the kind of film it was. At heart, it was a classic Simpsons story...Homer does bad, family destructs, Homer does good, family back together...ahhh. But it dresses up these family morals with nude jokes, questionable sexual humor (which I did find funny, just questioning whether it was appropriate)...
The end was...boring? I'm not sure...it never felt like a knockout FILM that's for sure...a very elaborate Simpsons show, yes of course, but it didn't elevate things apart from adding a wider width. How about toying with being "in" a movie? I know there were some peripheral gags like that, but they didn't mess with the FORMAT of a movie, maybe pushing the screen outwards, etc.
I sound like I didn't like it but that's not the case...I thought it could have been "more". There were good things...Hans Zimmer's score is the best and most non-Zimmer thing he's done in AGES...I was thinking he was going to ape Danny Elfman, but he came over more David Newman, which was the exact right approach. He even alluded to the theme a few times, but never quite got there. I felt that, when Homer had his epiphany, we needed a big, crashing heroic version of the main theme, but it didn't come. Almost, but no big wrench back up to the fun of the first half, which it badly needed in the middle where it lost it's way.
I don't know...I won't go and see it again in the theater, but I'll look forward to seeing it again on DVD, perhaps where The Simpsons really belong. I liked that Matt Groening's name wasn't all over things...that everyone else, most notably the cast, got big mentions.
It was what it said it was..."The Simpsons. Movie". Nothing more, though certainly nothing less.
like the house/boat upping and leaving town near the beginning. That's funny, but it doesn't make sense, and The Simpsons, for all its humor, used to be all about making sense.
Now I have to dissagree, that kind of humor has always been part of the Simpsons.
My feeling on The Simpsons Movie parallels how I felt about the Spongebob Movie. Funny in parts, but just too inconsistent and sloppily composed.
Unlike the Spongebob, The Simpsons Movie is really hitting when the the TV show is way past its peak creativity and just not in a good space. The Movie is barely above the level of the average new Simpsons episode and well below the standards set by the best episodes over ten years ago!
You can also really see that the film betrays its TV origins. It's NOT great animation and doesn't have those touches of life that used to pepper animated features and the shorts of the 1930s and 1940s.
Sad that people still think The Simpsons still sets a standard.
I sure haven't seen that for at least 5-7 years now.
And the animation on that show was never anything but serviceable and mostly subservient to the writing and voice-acting.
I really feel The Simpsons Movie is getting too much of a pass because so much of what's come out this year (thus far) is mediocre and unremarkable...
Ratatouille was remarkable .. Meet the Robinsons was pretty good .. Surf's Up, I'd enjoyed much more than I'd expected. Even Shrek 3 got a laugh or two from me.
But The Simpsons Movie .. I felt nothing. It was basically a TV episode writ large; the characters we know and love, doing pretty much what any of us would expect. Very few surprises .. and, with only a few exceptions, nothing we haven't seen on the show already (and in far more entertaining fashion).
I wish I felt differently. Perhaps, my expectations were too high. But IMO, TSM was just, 'eh'.
GeorgeC wrote:.I really feel The Simpsons Movie is getting too much of a pass because so much of what's come out this year (thus far) is mediocre and unremarkable...
What? Not to be rude but, explain films like 300 and Transformers then.
You do know those aren't the current toys, right? In any case, I have the complete set. Took a couple of days, but I did it! And yeah, Barney's line is a bit questionable, along with Homer's 'yee-haw' phrase. There still cool, nonetheless.
ShyViolet wrote:Also, did anyone else find Marge's speech to Homer when she leaves him and records it on their wedding video realllllly heart-wrenching?
In some ways, yes! The way the lines were read, were just great.
Jeroen wrote:Now I have to dissagree, that kind of humor has always been part of the Simpsons.
Yup. Any true fan knows that.
GeorgeC wrote:The Movie is barely above the level of the average new Simpsons episode and well below the standards set by the best episodes over ten years ago!
Have you honestly seen any recent episodes? I of course have, and do see a more than above average difference.
And seriously, well below? This was almost classic era material. Even some of the Simpsons harsher critics have admitted this.
GeorgeC wrote:You can also really see that the film betrays its TV origins.
How?
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Enough quoting.....I do agree somewhat with what's been said. It really could've been more, and is the reason I gave it a 4/5.
I wanted more of Lisa and Colins subplot. If he's in the next season, than fine. When the villain appeared on the dome, I wanted the mob to fight back, (verbally moreso) not just run away. The middle act did kind of drag, should've had more 'boob lady', because it seemed kinda of sudden for Homer to have a vision....dunno, but it was still good.
In the end, do I see this as just an extended episode? No. Is it miles better than the series as a whole? No. But looked upon individually, its a pretty darn good movie, and one of the best I've seen in years!
I'm really glad I was able to open this up and put the opposing point of view across.
Code Horror wrote:Not to be rude but, explain films like 300 and Transformers then.
As was said, in the case of TFs at least, I've yet to see 300:
GeorgeC wrote:mediocre and unremarkable...
Daniel wrote:
Jeroen wrote:Now I have to dissagree, that kind of humor has always been part of the Simpsons.
Yup. Any true fan knows that.
But, as mentioned, I am not a religiously loyal or true fan. Part of this whole exercise is, whether you realise it or not, to build new audiences for the television show. And as such the movie should have spoken out to both Simpsonites and the fringe/newbies. This it did not do.
Daniel wrote:But looked upon individually, its a pretty darn good movie, and one of the best I've seen in years!
