The Simpsons Movie

Attending a memorial service for the band Green Day, who were stoned to death by the good citizens of Springfield when they had the audacity to end their concert with a message about preserving the environment, the Simpsons witness a truly spectacular event in the form of Grandpa going berserk. Grandpa starts having a religious fit, speaking in tongues, rolling on the floor--the works. He speaks about something terrible that’s coming, something utterly horrible that will happen to Springfield. Homer takes Grandpa out of the church by rolling him up in the carpet. They later stop for waffles--but forget Grandpa, who’s still rolled up in the carpet, in the car.

Meanwhile, after witnessing several acts of illegal dumping in the lake, an infuriated Lisa goes on a crusade to convince her neighbors in Springfield that it’s in everybody’s best interest to keep their lake clean. The pollution is getting at an all-time high, and all it takes is just one more dumping to turn the lake into a nightmare of apocalyptic proportions. And, thanks to Homer, that’s exactly what happens. Having fell in love with a pig, whom he dubs Spider-Pig (long story), Homer is looking for a place to quickly dump his home-made silo of pig poop so he can run over to the local donut place and grab their free donuts. And the lake is the perfect place!

Ignoring all the signs, and driving through the roadblocks, Homer dumps his deadly toxic cargo into the waters, unleashing a fury upon Springfield the likes of which no mortal has…well, let’s just say that it’s really, really bad. But the Simpsons Movie is really, really good. Brimming with plenty of funny scenes ("Spider-Pig, Spider-Pig, does whatever a Spider-Pig can…") the movie stands on its own as great entertainment. You don’t have to be a fan of the show to enjoy the story, or the jokes. And, being a movie, the creators of the TV show have expanded their story accordingly, giving the Simpsons an epic adventure without scrimping on the humor.

The DVD special features include commentaries and deleted scenes. And there’s also a series of shorts featuring the Simpsons’ warped take on American Idol, as well as a really funny short that makes fun of those theatrical cartoons that compelled the audience to "Let’s All Go To The Lobby!" Here, Homer sneaks up on the singing snacks, biding his time until he bites the head off of the singing hot dog--and all hell breaks loose. I loved it! The Simpsons are still going strong on TV, and now it looks as if they’ve conquered the movies as well. And do yourself a favor, watch the end credits, because the nuttiness doesn’t end there. --SF

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