The Simpsons - The Movie - 07.27.07

[grady]

Originally Posted by holden

Can't believe we're debating cartoons worth... They're supposed to make you laugh, is all. The Simpsons used to, ten years ago, still does occassionally. The Family Guy consistently makes me laugh, don't care if it's over the top of juvenile. It's a freakin' cartoon. Freakin' sweet.

p.s. Sometimes comedy is supposed to be topical, cos no one laughs at "where's the beef?" jokes in 2006.

p.s. to Dirty0900: yeah, South Park ripped on Family Guy as being a bunch of puns and recollections written by manatees who moved "idea balls" from one side of a tank to another. Truth hurts, but it's still funny.

True they are just cartoons, but compare Family Guy to The Simpsons is not really much of an arguement. On one level, it's apples to oranges, but The Simpsons level of writing is leaps and bounds above the Family Guy.

So yeah, they're cartoons, but much greater thought and care goes into each episode of the Simpsons, compared to Seth McFarlane thinking it would be funny to parody Lost at the moment as it's the hip TV show. Even the bad episodes of The Simpsons will stand up better upon review than Family Guy.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by holden

Can't believe we're debating cartoons worth... They're supposed to make you laugh, is all.

Originally Posted by grady

True they are just cartoons,

Okay....check yerselves, people. "Just cartoons"? Do you have any idea how much work goes into making an animated short, commercial, television show, or feature film? Or how many incredibly talented artists it requires to be able to pull it off? And I suppose that shows like the Simpsons and Family Guy have two strikes against them in that they're also comedies...Hollywood's least respected genre. All based on ignorance. Most any great comedian could also deliver a high quality dramatic performance, but not so many dramatic actors can deliver a high quality comic performance. Put simply, great comedies are about a hundred times harder to make than great dramas.

All that being said, I think it's hard to compare Simpsons to Family Guy to South Park to any other animated show on tv. They all just have very different approaches. South Park's put down of Family Guy seemed kind of failed to me because it was essentially criticizing a bird for flying. The comedic style of Family Guy is unabashadly to go off on tangeants as the opportunities present themselves, just as a bird's main mode of transportation is to fly. South Park is a more solid three act structure. The Simpsons falls somewhere in the middle, but probably closer to the three act structure again.

I hope the Simpsons movie is good. I honestly haven't heard anything about the film from friends working over there since they're all preoccupied with the fact that the studio's shutting down when they finish up the projects they're already working on.

[kid cue]

metacritic looks encouraging -- i'm actually excited now!

[Tom]

I liked it a lot.

[grady]

I went to a midnight showing last night. It was a good time. It was fun to see what they had changed since the first viewing of it in March. That said, they did excise some jokes and bits that I thought should've stayed. I'm looking forward to seeing it again.

The film is really tightly written and paced and starts out strong and maintains the level of humor throughout.

More Homer and Plopper would've been great.

[gambit]

I don't think I've ever laughed this much in a movie. I mean genuine, gut-busting laughs. It felt a little odd, though, since I'm so used to watching a 22 minute Simpsons and not a 1.5 hour Simpsons, but it's still the Simpsons and filled with Simpsons humor. Hopefully, they'll bring Lisa's love interest for some fun in the tv show. The only thing that bothered me was that it felt like three episodes strung together with some not-for-tv things thrown into it. I don't know.

Whatever. It was hilarious. You'll enjoy yourself, guaranteed.

[Jafs]

This movie was really funny, a real step forward compared with the weak last seasons of the series !

[the mongoose]

Saw this tonight. Mixed feelings about it. I thought it really started out strong for the first 30-40 minutes. I was laughing my ass off and really enjoying it. But once it got a little serious and the focus was off of Springfield I felt myself lose interest fast and I actually started nodding off. I woke up here and there near the end (usually when something loud happened) but most of the time I was snoozing away. Ugh.
At least I'll have some stuff to look forward to the next time I see it, and I'll make sure I'm not tired beforehand.

Lots of good reasons to check this out, even if it is a little dry in the middle.

[holden]

Saw it last night...very very well written and funnier than expeced givn the rather lame self parody that the sow has become in the past several seasons. You're right in that the pace drops a lot when they leave town, but it's an enjoyable story with all the favorite characters and smart jabs.

[Flux]

im actually quite surprised as to how much i didn't enjoy it. I feel that it was the success of the thirty minute format that was the main cause of my distaste: the fast paced, mini-story-laden style fueled my ADD. In comparison the movie, just seemed like a series of one-liners tied together by a flimsy plot(s) and a sprinkle of pathetic new characters.


***** SOME SPOILERS BELOW *****




The movie didn't try to do anything different, and its not just in its themes but also in format. The flow from toxic lake to Bart needing a father to Spider Pig to Lisa's romance to Marge's marriage saving resolution... it's all been done in one form or another, and all can be easily done in its short 30 minute format (20 mins sans commercials). So how did they extend 30 minutes of plot into an hour plus? Jokes (most of them funny) and movie firsts (Bart's penis? Really? That's the catch?). Overall a souless effort supported by millions in advertising and cross marketing promos, and thankfully so since the only aspect of the Simpson's movie I ended up enjoying was the 7-11 squishy.