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Posted: **Thu Jul 19, 2007 1:35 pm**

Posted: **Thu Jul 19, 2007 2:48 pm**

I've got my tickets for opening night and I am extremely excited. I look forward to this movie eating alive the made-for-DVD Family Guy movie and then burping out the latter's desperately overdone bones.

Then we shall be going to the Kwik-E-Mart afterwards.

Posted: **Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:44 pm**

denti alligator wrote:
tryavna wrote: Not only doesn't it make much sense, it's completely out of character for Todd. At what point in the series have we ever seen Rod and Todd express anything but a slightly/politely disguised fear towards Homer's antics?
If you're looking for character consistency in line with a certain expectation of realism then you're bound to be disappointed.

Where did I mention "realism"? I'm just asking for a little more aesthetic coherence.

Posted: **Fri Jul 20, 2007 6:10 pm**

Antoine Doinel wrote:I can't find a link to it online, but Entertainment Weekly has an interview with Conan O'Brien in which he essentially says his requests to join the writing team for the film were ignored.

My enthusiasm has died down a little.

I don't interpret that at all. He may or may not have been interested in working on the movie, but, clearly, Conan is having a laugh in the article. Here's the relevant portion:

EW wrote:Two high-profile yet not suprising exclusions: Sam Simon, who'd codeveloped the series with Groening and Brooks but left over creative differences in 1993; and writer-producer-turned-late-night-star Conan O'Brien, who [Al] Jean says would've "laughed" off an invite. "That makes no sense," responds O'Brien. "I cleared my talk-show schedule for a year at great financial cost to myself, got an apartment right outside the Fox lot, and told them I was ready to report to work. All I heard back was that they were having trouble finding me a parking space, and then they stopped returning my calls altogether. I am stunned and disappointed.

Posted: **Fri Jul 20, 2007 6:17 pm**

For about 20 years, Matt Groening has been doing the "Life in Hell" cartoons for the L.A. Weekly, and now has the cover all to himself as well.

Posted: **Fri Jul 20, 2007 9:25 pm**

souvenir wrote:
Antoine Doinel wrote:I can't find a link to it online, but Entertainment Weekly has an interview with Conan O'Brien in which he essentially says his requests to join the writing team for the film were ignored.

My enthusiasm has died down a little.
I don't interpret that at all. He may or may not have been interested in working on the movie, but, clearly, Conan is having a laugh in the article. Here's the relevant portion:

EW wrote:Two high-profile yet not suprising exclusions: Sam Simon, who'd codeveloped the series with Groening and Brooks but left over creative differences in 1993; and writer-producer-turned-late-night-star Conan O'Brien, who [Al] Jean says would've "laughed" off an invite. "That makes no sense," responds O'Brien. "I cleared my talk-show schedule for a year at great financial cost to myself, got an apartment right outside the Fox lot, and told them I was ready to report to work. All I heard back was that they were having trouble finding me a parking space, and then they stopped returning my calls altogether. I am stunned and disappointed.

The article starts out by stating:

EW wrote:Conan O'Brien jokes about being one of just two early ''Simpsons'' writers not asked to collaborate on the movie adaptation

... and Conan even states at the end of the article that "truth be told, I worry that the Simpsons-writing portion of my brain has been destroyed after 14 years of talking to Lindsay Lohan and that guy from One Tree Hill, so maybe it's all for the best.''

It's pretty obvious Conan was exaggerating for comedic effect.

Yeah, I'm disappointed that Conan wasn't involved, but he's a busy guy nowadays. As long as they brought back a few of the classic writers, I'm happy.

Posted: **Fri Jul 20, 2007 9:31 pm**

This method of advertising seems to have been controversial. I suppose Homer is trying to do a sort of ring toss game with his doughnut!

Posted: **Fri Jul 20, 2007 10:19 pm**

Groening was on Conan last night, so I'm sure there's no bad feelings there.

Posted: **Sat Jul 21, 2007 1:12 am**

Re: Conan - I guess that all makes a lot more sense. Last night on NBC they were running a clip between episodes of The Office and 30 Rock of a scene in the Arnold Schwarznegger Oval Office that was out-and-out hilarious.

Once again, I'm back at cautiously optimistic.

Posted: **Sat Jul 21, 2007 1:40 am**

Antoine Doinel wrote:Last night on NBC they were running a clip between episodes of The Office and 30 Rock of a scene in the Arnold Schwarznegger Oval Office that was out-and-out hilarious.

Was that the "5 Options" scene that's up at Yahoo? I think that's definitely the funniest thing I've seen from the film so far.

Posted: **Sat Jul 21, 2007 2:01 am**

Albert Brooks is a guaranteed slam dunk on the Simpsons, AMAZING STUFF

Posted: **Sat Jul 21, 2007 3:55 am**

domino harvey wrote:Albert Brooks is a guaranteed slam dunk on the Simpsons, AMAZING STUFF

Any word if any of Lovitz's characters reappear? Artie "Busy Hands" Ziff, perhaps? Llewellyn Sinclair?

Posted: **Sat Jul 21, 2007 4:42 am**

Kirkinson wrote:
Antoine Doinel wrote:Last night on NBC they were running a clip between episodes of The Office and 30 Rock of a scene in the Arnold Schwarznegger Oval Office that was out-and-out hilarious.
Was that the "5 Options" scene that's up at Yahoo? I think that's definitely the funniest thing I've seen from the film so far.

Yep, that was it.

Posted: **Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:12 am**

Thursday night at midnight on Cartoon Network, a preview of the movie will be shown "Adult Swim Style".

Posted: **Wed Jul 25, 2007 6:51 am**

flyonthewall2983 wrote:Thursday night at midnight on Cartoon Network, a preview of the movie will be shown "Adult Swim Style".

Does the mean with 3 frames of animation a minute, and developed with stoners in mind?

Kidding!

Posted: **Wed Jul 25, 2007 1:09 pm**

I just saw it.

We have now found the reason why a lot of the episodes of The Simpsons these days aren't up to par with the earlier episodes, all the hilarious gags were reserved for the movie. The writers of the best episodes of The Simpsons team up to create an extended episode that seldom runs out of gas and pretty much worthy of the big-screen. Jokes fly in a rapid-fire manner but never forgetting the heart and soul of what makes The Simpsons leagues above it's imitators. Stay for the credits.

Posted: **Wed Jul 25, 2007 1:25 pm**

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:
flyonthewall2983 wrote:Thursday night at midnight on Cartoon Network, a preview of the movie will be shown "Adult Swim Style".
Does the mean with 3 frames of animation a minute, and developed with stoners in mind?

Kidding!

I wonder if they'll do the same thing as their preview of the Aqua Teen movie and run the entire movie in a postage-stamp-sized area of the screen.

Posted: **Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:41 am**

Matt wrote:
domino harvey wrote:Albert Brooks is a guaranteed slam dunk on the Simpsons, AMAZING STUFF
Any word if any of Lovitz's characters reappear? Artie "Busy Hands" Ziff, perhaps? Llewellyn Sinclair?

No Lovitz lines in there, though Mr. Lombardo is in the background at various points. As for the actual movie, I didn't think it was very good. To me it felt like an extended version of an episode from the past few years. Inconsistent jokes, crass humor, forced attempts at emotion etc: Then again, I wasn't expecting much more.

Posted: **Thu Jul 26, 2007 11:31 am**

Hmmm....I guess I shouldn't be suprised that the plot of the film hinges on how stupid the writers could make Homer:

Part of the plot has Homer falling head-over-heels for a slop-eating pig while ignoring his family. In Hollywood, summer movies are not known for being brainy, but it's rare for filmmakers to publicly impugn the intelligence of their leading man. Then again, this is Homer.

James Brooks, the "Simpsons" writer/producer who has been with the Fox television series since its start, had a one-word answer when asked if Homer's pig obsession is the dumbest stunt Homer's ever pulled. "Absolutely," he told Reuters.

Still holding out some hope anyway.....

Posted: **Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:37 pm**

I don't think this review from A.O. Scott has been posted yet.

Posted: **Fri Jul 27, 2007 9:09 am**

I just got out of the theater. The movie is funny. Very funny. Not all of the jokes hit, but the majority of them do. And, like malcolm said, they fly at you in rapid succession. I thought the pacing was perfect and the length of the movie just right -- it really does feel simply like an extended episode. Great stuff. Now if only the seasons could start being this funny again....

Posted: **Fri Jul 27, 2007 2:26 pm**

Move quickly, and you can get your copy of the Simpsons soundtrack in limited-edition donut packaging (hopefully better than the plastic head DVD cases).

Posted: **Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:24 pm**

Antoine Doinel wrote:Move quickly, and you can get your copy of the Simpsons soundtrack in limited-edition donut packaging (hopefully better than the plastic head DVD cases).

It reminds me of my Simpsons "Songs in the Key of Springfield" soundtrack, where the disc is a donut and behind it is a greasy napkin.

Posted: **Sat Jul 28, 2007 4:03 pm**

It was worth sitting through the endless commercials, the dumb Diet Coke mini-movie (USC should demand a refund from those jerks), and the Bratz trailer.

Posted: **Sun Jul 29, 2007 7:15 pm**

Gregor Samsa wrote:To me it felt like an extended version of an episode from the past few years. Inconsistent jokes, crass humor, forced attempts at emotion etc: Then again, I wasn't expecting much more.

I agree. I had a swell time and all, but really, it isn't anything special. It was what I expected.

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The Simpsons Movie (David Silverman, 2007)