THE SIMPSONS MOVIE

Well..... It's been 18 years and it's finally hear. In my entire life I never heard more speculation about something than the possibility of a Simpson movie. It was like every year I was hearing that it was gonna happen, and I was skeptical about this time too, but here we are, and man was it worth the wait.

Now I'm not saying this is the best movie ever, it's not. But it is a great movie, one of the best of the year and a great addition to the Simpson's legacy.

The film was the funniest thing I'd seen all year, I think this may even top Knocked Up as the funniest movie of the year, even though they are totally different styles of humor, I laughed uncontrollably throughout this entire film. The story was really good and also in some places heart wrenching. From Bart being so fed up with Homer's bad parenting once and for all, to the most serious marriage problem between Homer and Marge in the history of the series, this was a truly touching story about family and what it means to be a parent and a spouse.

And did I mention this film was hilarious?

The animation was really nice too, nothing spectacular like Ratatouille, but it was more polished than the regular series animation. I was still amazed how much of this film was sent out to Korea, if you wait until the end of the credits you'll see like 2 minutes of Korean names. Lol.

The film, as great as it was, still couldn't top the emotion I felt being there that night. If anything other than Toy Story has impacted my life it's The Simpsons. As I grew up, everyone from my friends to my family would quote lines from the show at random, and everyone knew what they were talking about, and laugh. It was such a international thing that it became part of our lives. I bet everyone in the world knows who Homer Simpson is and has said D'oh atleast once. That night everyone in that theatre was a Simpson fan and grew up watching that show and was excited to see that movie. I mean they've been around for 18 years, Bart's practically our brother. As the film began and the clouds parted and the Simpsons logo came on screen as it had for 18 years ,the theatre erupted in applause and cheers. Nothing will ever top the feeling of seeing them on the big screen with that many people laughing hysterically along with me. Nothing!

I give THE SIMPSONS MOVIE

5 D'oh's outta 5

Best and Worst of 2007 So Far.

Best Films of 2007 so far

Ratatouille

Spider-Man 3

Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix

Knocked Up

300

Reno 911: Miami

The Worst Films of 2007 so far:

Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End

Shrek the Third

TMNT

Zodiac

Smokin' Aces

The Invisible

Best Song of 2007 so far.

Icky Thump - White Stripes

Worst Song of 2007 so far:

Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne

RATATOUILLE

What a movie! Pixar and Brad Bird are like hamburgers and french fries, they just work. Ratatouille is the studio and director's second film together, and although "Rat" falls a bit short of their first film together "The Incredibles", it is still one of the best animated films I've seen since....well...The Incredibles.

Like Toy Story, I think this is a film that Walt Disney would have really enjoyed. When I watched it I couldn't help but think of Pinocchio or Dumbo. The whole idea of The rat and the human working together is so 1940's. This film is also another milestone in how far CG has really come, the character rigs were so well put together it looked as if the characters were hand drawn rather than digital. Finally CG has proven that it could at least mimic the animation style of 2D animation. The fur and cloth was another area where the geniuses at pixar really cranked it up a notch, the fur and hair was much more pliable this time rather than on The Incredibles or Monsters, Inc, it looked as if the animators had more freedom with it's movements.

The story was very well told and totally ADULT. And when I say that I don't mean they were vulgar or sexual, it just wasn't dumbed down to what other studios like to call a "kid's level". I do have to say some of the kids in the theatre were finding it hard to sit in their seats, during the dialogue scenes, but that's because it was over there heads. I applaud Pixar for making films, and not having to worry about if kids could sit through it. I know children that can't sit through Snow White, what does that show you?

The voice acting was amazing. Patton Oswalt was a great choice for Remy, he had such a great energy in his voice, I loved every moment he was on screen. Lou Romano, who is a story artist at Pixar was actually pretty good as Linguni, he was kinda uncomfortable to hear in some scenes, but overall his performance was good. Another Pixar employee Peter Sohn, voiced Remy's brother Emile. He was a great choice, his voice was so perfect for the mouse it seemed as if the mouse was actually talking, not mouthing the words to the actor's voice. Like the raccoon was in "Over the Hedge" with Bruce Willis' voice. Peter O' Toole was fantastic as Anton Ego, give this guy a freaking Oscar already! Even as a voice actor he is brilliant, but the real scene stealer was Ian Holm as Skinner. This was the best example of a classic Disney villains, he reminded me of Peg leg Pete or Captain Hook. His energy was just great and over the top, especially the fact that his character is like three feet tall. Other great performances to note were from Jeanene Garofolo as Colette who put on a surprisingly good French accent, Brain Dennehy as Remy's father and the always great Brad Garret as Chef Gustaeu.

The animation was to die for. Every animator stuck in a rut looking for inspiration GO WATCH RATATOUILLE! After coming out of that place I was racing home to animate. The way they moved the characters was literally unlike anything I've seen in animation. This is the one area where they topped The Incredibles. They way the characters moved with squash and stretch was definite proof that 3D can be an art form rather than a way to make quick and cheap crappy animation. The facial expressions were really what stole the show, Remy the rat was so expressive, especially the fact that he was silent for much of the scenes, you really felt what he was thinking. One scene in particular where Remy accidentally falls into the kitchen and tries to run out to the window back to safety but keeps stopping to put more ingredients in a soup. When he stops each time, you see him thinking of what he needs to put in the soup, a beautiful piece of character animation. This scene is part of the nine minute clip available on the Internet, I recommend every animator check it out.

All in all this was a great animated film, not the best ever, but certainly one of Pixar's best. Brad Bird has certainly proven that he is a great director and worthy of Walt Disney or John Lasseter status. Ratatouille is the best film of the summer by far and as it looks maybe even the best of the year. Brad Bird keep making films with Pixar and Pixar keep making films with Brad Bird. Together you are unstopable.

5 outta 5