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Blog Entry 19 of 49 Alpenglow
I am a former community journalist at YourHub.com who lived in Vail for two years before moving to Cody, Wyo., where I live now. I mostly use YourHub.com to keep in touch with my former colleagues at YourHub.com World Headquarters in Denver, but I also like photography and post a lot of photos. "You know that every time I try to go where I really want to be it's already where I am." - System of a Down, "Sugar"

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~VailJoel

Longest episode ever

Contributed by: Joel Hunt   on 7/28/2007

Editor's note: I saw "The Simpsons" movie just after midnight July 26 with some friends from the paper. For a "He Said, She Said" review of the film from the Vail Daily Web site, click here. Here's my review of the film, which was published in July 29's Daily:

I came into "The Simpsons Movie" with high expectations. I'm a longtime fan of the Springfield, Wherever, TV family, and my motto is "There's a Simpsons quote for everything." I have a few classic seasons on DVD and a digital video recorder cluttered with episodes, and now, with almost any video clips available on the Internet, I can see my favorite lines from the TV show anytime I want. Heck, I've memorized all of the best lines. I was afraid that the movie would be a continuation of the mediocrity of the past few seasons, but the creators must have been putting their time and energy into the big-screen Springfield.

The movie doesn't try to be anything more than the TV show, but that's a good thing.

It's a solid - although 87-minute-long - installment, and I already hear people singing "Spider-Pig" under their breaths. But it lacks a lot of the social commentary and touching, insightful family moments that define classic "Simpsons" episodes, favoring instead the outrageous antics of Homer. There are the typical jabs at Fox and the "stupid" president, but that's hardly the equally offensive stabs at everything American - or foreign. I would blame that omission on Hollywood, but it has been happening in the TV series of late, as well.

The movie version revolves around a plot familiar to "Simpsons" fans: Homer does something stupid (dumps a silo full of pig waste into an already polluted lake), everybody suffers (Springfield is "domed" and later targeted for annihilation), and the family is more or less exiled until Marge and the rest of the family return to save the town (or clean up the mess Homer made - whatever).

The subplots are standards from the TV show (say, the Simpsons are going to Alaska!, Bart finds a new and better father figure or Lisa gets a crush), but the jokes and the dialogue are still new and seem relatively fresh (hey, you're talking to someone who has watched and will watch one episode literally hundreds of times).

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a movie fan, I'm a "Simpsons" fan. I like resolution in an hour, max - shorter if the program doesn't particularly interest me. But the film held my attention the whole 87 minutes, and as I was getting ready for everything to be wrapped up, it was the climax.

The beginning of the movie confused me a little because aside from a slightly lengthened standard "Simpsons" intro, there were no credits on the front end. I kept waiting for a break in the action for the typical long-form Hollywood introduction, but it never came, and that kept me from getting into the show right away. Instead, the filmmakers bribe you to watch the end credits with some extras.

For "Simpsons" fans, the movie is worth seeing - in the theater, even - because it's an old standard with some good new jokes (and a few recycled ones, but, hey, it has been 18 seasons). For movie fans, it's a Hollywood introduction to a show that uses bathroom humor but also could be the focus (and already is the focus at some schools) of a course or serious scholarship. For perverts, you get to see Bart's "doodle."


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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Joel Hunt

Cody , WY

Joel Hunt has posted 49 blog entries and 75 comments since joining on 9/14/2005. Joel Hunt's average blog rating is 5.
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