Halle-fucking-lujah!

Okfirst off, did I spell "Halle-fucking-lujah" fight? It's tough work inserting profanity in the middle of words usually considered sacred. Anyway, as all 0-3 of my readers know, I spent most of the summer backpacking around Peru and Bolivia. While that was great for seeing and doing amazing things, it was very ineffective for my summer blockbuster going. While I'm slowly but surely catching up, I still have a ways to go. "Order of the Phoenix" crammed an 870 page book into barely a 2 hour movie, the first of the adaptations that I've found wanting. However, as you may have surmised, a so so Harry Potter movie is not going to merit the amalgation of the sacred and profane that titles this post...

The Simpsons Movie was the highest point the show has reached in years. It's depressing that what (on the basis of its first 10 or so seasons alone) was once the best show in the history of television has now been bad for nearly as long it has been great. Apparently, they were saving their load for the big screen, because the phrase "return to form" immediately sprang to mind. Among the many throw away jokes and sight gags that have always made this show genius there are: Full frontal Bart, Marge saying "goddamn," and of course Spider Pig. Plus the American government borrowing Tom Hanks' folksy credibility, and the return of a villianous Albert Brooks. Anyone who remembers the swath of destruction Hank Scorpio cut across the Eastern United States knows that that is a good thing.

In addition to Matt Greoning, Simpsons OGs James L. Brooks, Mike Scully, and John Swartzwelder are all among the credited writers. I wanted this movie to be good more than any movie since the Star Wars prequels. Unlike George "fuck my fans and my legacy" Lucas, Groening and his compatriots delivered on all counts.

See this movie.