Catching You Up, 4/7 & 5/7: The Simpsons Movie, The Ten

Very short reviews, so we'll put them together. Two after this one, ladies & gents!

The Simpsons Movie.
I read more reviews for this movie than I think I should have. I agree with many of them so completely (and have lost the articles so long ago) that I almost fear whatever I say will be plagiarism.

However, like about everyone else of my generation, I dedicated my Thursdays, then my Sundays at 8 to the television show, until I got to college and Sundays were then spent cramming, reading, or calling fellow ARTH nerds to see what they new about the moral significance of Gothic Tympana.

So I'll do my best to keep this short and sweet so I do little stealing and spoiling (I know very few people who have managed to see it, sadly). Here we go:

• Spider Pig. It will eat your brain. You'll sing it for a week. You've been warned.
• If you liked that episode with the Guatemalan Hallucination Peppers, you'll be happy for at least five minutes.
• They go to a freak state.
• Really great guest spots.
• You don't need to stay thru the credits.

Finally, there have been some people who didn't like it because the beauty of Homer is that he never learns his lesson, and in this, he does. Please relax, you know he's gonna go to Moe's and forget it in like, ten minutes after the film's story ends.
GRADE: A-

The Ten.
Another tough one to review. I know people who worked on this film, and I don't want to be biased. This one will also be as short as possible.

It's a limited release, so if it's not near you, please rent the DVD. If it is, spring for it, go.

If you haven't heard about it, here it is, real quick:

1. 10 Commandments, 10 Stories.
2. Written by Ken Marino & David Wain, this can only mean good things.
3. Ensemble cast: you'll be amazed at who you see.
4. Liev shines in his role and has (I believe) the greatest moment in the film (in the trailer, you'll know it when you see it).
5. Great cameos from other members of The State.
6. Perfectly trippy animation sequence for Commandment 8.
7. Winona Ryder starring in "Thou Shalt Not Steal."
8. Did you hear about her and the puppet?
9. You really do learn the commandments.
10. If you enjoyed Wet Hot American Summer, you'll totally dig The Ten.
GRADE: B