"THE SIMPSONS MOVIE"
Me 'n' some pals caught the midnight premiere of "The Simpsons Movie" last Thursday at Monmouth Mall. People have been asking me what I think of the film. I kind of hem and haw and say, well, the crowd loved it. It must just be me.
I loved the first half-hour -- all the jokey setups. It was a rush hearing the sound of a live audience laughing at the jokes, after more than 15 years of laughing at home while watching "The Simpsons" in my living room. It was almost like a reward.
But then at mid-point, the movie started getting kind of, I dunno, "heartfelt" (as TV episodes often did). And then it began to barrel toward the Big Movie Ending (as, again, TV episodes often did). This is when "The Simpsons Movie" lost me.
But here's what I SUPER, SUPER DUG about attending that midnight screening.
Preceding the film, there was one insipid "family friendly" trailer after another. We saw trailers for "Bee Movie" (Jerry Seinfeld didn't make enough sitcom money, so he's grabbing that easy animated-franchise-voiceover money); "Daddy Day Camp" (Cuba Gooding Jr. continues to risk having his Oscar revoked); "Alvin and the Chipmunks" (you'll lose all respect for Jason Lee when you see him scream "ALVIIIIN!" and the camera zooms into his mouth); "Horton Hears a Hoo" (for the second time, Jim Carrey causes Dr. Seuss to spin in his grave). And those are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head.
But the response of the midnight crowd after each trailer was priceless. No one shouted. No one cursed. Everyone just grumbled.
After every sappy, sugary, cynical, tell-Mommy-to-bring-you-to-this-movie trailer, the audience just grumbled the kind of grumble that usually follows, say, an announcement that your train is being delayed.
I loved the first half-hour -- all the jokey setups. It was a rush hearing the sound of a live audience laughing at the jokes, after more than 15 years of laughing at home while watching "The Simpsons" in my living room. It was almost like a reward.
But then at mid-point, the movie started getting kind of, I dunno, "heartfelt" (as TV episodes often did). And then it began to barrel toward the Big Movie Ending (as, again, TV episodes often did). This is when "The Simpsons Movie" lost me.
But here's what I SUPER, SUPER DUG about attending that midnight screening.
Preceding the film, there was one insipid "family friendly" trailer after another. We saw trailers for "Bee Movie" (Jerry Seinfeld didn't make enough sitcom money, so he's grabbing that easy animated-franchise-voiceover money); "Daddy Day Camp" (Cuba Gooding Jr. continues to risk having his Oscar revoked); "Alvin and the Chipmunks" (you'll lose all respect for Jason Lee when you see him scream "ALVIIIIN!" and the camera zooms into his mouth); "Horton Hears a Hoo" (for the second time, Jim Carrey causes Dr. Seuss to spin in his grave). And those are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head.
But the response of the midnight crowd after each trailer was priceless. No one shouted. No one cursed. Everyone just grumbled.
After every sappy, sugary, cynical, tell-Mommy-to-bring-you-to-this-movie trailer, the audience just grumbled the kind of grumble that usually follows, say, an announcement that your train is being delayed.
posted by Mark Voger at 8:25 PM
2 Comments:
Now THAT's an awsome review, thanks bro. I hate those trailers, and those collective sighs were more than likely well deserved. Loved your take on each and every sell out actor.
The response I've been hearing about it locally (i never get to the movies anymore because my spouse's summer work hours are like the exact opposite of mine so I wait for it to hit HBO), was pretty much that the movie was like one extra long Simpson episode. Personally, I think the Simpsons jumped the shark a long ass time ago, when they started turning episodes into 30 minutes musicals (read - had no real storyline that week). I did hear a little bit of shock over the full frontal nudity of the Bart Dude.
If I said we're gonna go see it soon, I'd be lying. Just this year we finally got caught up on Pirates 1 and 2, and that's probably because we went to Disneyland this year and cousin Jill had Pirates 1 on DVD. I think Pirates 3 has long since vacated the theaters.........and i'm not losing any sleep over it.
Wondering, were they serving slushi's and movie donuts at the concession stands or does 711 have exclusive rights to those snackies?
There were no Squishees or Movie Donuts at the Monmouth Mall. To the best of my knowledge, you must go to a 7-Eleven for an authentic Squishee or Movie Donut.
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