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Thoughts on writing and publishing, and the various sources of entertainment...
A weekly column by Abel G. Peña, best known for his Star Wars work.
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THE PHILODOXER for 08/12/2007
D'oh! I mean, Woo-hoo!: The Simpsons Movie
Ay Caramba, it's actually good!
Forgive my cynicism. I've been watching The Simpsons on TV since the 90s ... back when it was clever and hadn't yet degenerated into a poor man's Family Guy. But with The Simpsons Movie, the cartoon king of irony riseth up from the ashes.
One remarkable aspect of the film is simply that it isn't boring. For a satiric cartoon that generally runs for a half-hour and airing for nearly twenty years, this is no small feat. Yet, from beginning to end, the movie's jokes hit with Flanders-like consistency. Homer, as usual, gets the most attention, but all the members of the Simpsons clan get substantial screen time, and the movie actually succeeds in creating a legitimate sense of peril for our favorite yellow people to scale with what you'd expect a $10 full-length feature version of a free TV show to deliver. The movie takes advantage of its PG rating to get away with some gags you'd never see on TV. But compared to some of the stuff you see on Adult Swim, these "racy" jokes are in remarkably good taste and don't seem out of place.
The trailers and TV spots do not do the movie justice. The last five years of new episodes don't do the movie justice. Though almost two decades old, the old girl's still got some real kick left in her. Pays yer money and don't worry: the father of modern cartoon comedy is back in top form.
Till next time, folks!
- Abel G. Peña
<< 07/29/2007 | 08/12/2007 | 08/26/2007 >>
Discuss this column with me in World Famous Comics' General Forum and at Pop Culture Bored.
Also, visit my website at www.abelgpena.com.
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