The Simpsons Film Festival [DVD] [1990]



The Simpsons Film Festival [DVD] [1990] Starring Dan Castellaneta, Nancy Cartwright,
Julie Kavner, et al. (DVD - 2002)

Any four episodes of The Simpsons chosen at random would make perfectly acceptable entertainment,
but The Simpsons’ Film Festival is a particularly happy selection. One of the show’s many delights
has always been its unending stream of movie parodies, and here we have four episodes devoted to
just that. In "Beyond Blunderdome", Mel Gibson (playing himself) sends up his tough-guy persona
when he hires Homer to produce his latest movie. Then in "A Star is Burns" Springfield hosts its
own film festival (with acerbic guest critic Jay Sherman in attendance). The competition boils down
to Barney’s haunting cinema verité short about the horrors of alcohol or Mr Burns’ grandiose vanity
project (though Homer prefers Hans Moleman being hit by a football). "22 Short Films About Springfield"
is a series of parodies within a parody featuring Springfield’s secondary characters, including Milhouse’s
dad and Chief Wiggum in a glorious Pulp Fiction sequence. Finally, the show’s own internal parody cartoon
duo hit the big screen in "The Itchy and Scratchy Movie", while Bart and Homer lock horns about going to see it.
They sell Soylent Green in the future cinema foyer; and Homer loves it, of course.

On the DVD: just four episodes is hardly stunning value for money, but it’s perhaps quality not quantity that
counts here. Annoyingly there is no "Play All" facility, a serious let down in all the Simpsons DVD releases
(Futurama had the same problem, too). The only extra feature of any note is a three-minute montage of Troy
McClure’s finest moments. Sound is unexceptional Dolby Stereo and the picture is standard 4:3 ratio. --Mark
Walker
Video Description
DVD Special Features:

Troy McClure featurette
Languages: English
Subtitles: French, German, Spanish, Italian English for the hard of hearing, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish,
Finnish
Original Aspect Ratio: 4:3 P/S
Sound Quality: 2.0 Stereo

Play with vlc player or burn 2