New Lego 'Simpsons' Minifigures Are Perfectly Cromulent Toys

I love Lego. I love The Simpsons. I'm also quite fond of blind-bagged collectibles. Naturally, when I learned that Lego would be releasing 16 blind-bagged Simpsons minifigures, I impulsively threw wads of money at my computer screen. It wasn't a pretty sight.

The figures will be released on May 1, coinciding with a Lego-ized Simpsons episode airing May 4, Mashable.com reports. The mystery toys will  retail for $3.99, so if the price point of that $200 Simpsons house scared you off earlier this year, these figures are much less of a hit on your wallet. That being said, there's no way I don't set out to own every single one of these. Yes, I am the highly suggestible type.

The Simpsons – "Treehouse of Horror XIX"

With the show now in its twentieth season, longtime fans of The Simpsons often knock newer episodes for their far-reaching plots, but it’s nearly impossible to find fault in the show’s Halloween specials. This year, with “Treehouse of Horror XIX,” the series' writers may have not only crafted one of the best Simpsons episodes in a long while, but also one of its strongest Halloween specials in recent years.

The episode kicks off with Homer trying to vote for Barack Obama (his bulk requiring him to use a double-wide voting booth, naturally). However, the electronic voting machine counts his vote toward John McCain. When he protests, the machine mangles and kills him in gruesome fashion. A rigged election? No way!

“This doesn’t happen in America!” Homer screams. “Maybe Ohio, but not in America!”

Like all other “Treehouse of Horror” specials, this one is broken into three segments. The first of which, “Untitled Robot Parody,” Is loosely based on Transformers. When Bart is doing some last-minute Christmas shopping for Lisa at a discount store, he finds her a Malibu Stacy convertible, which just so happens to be a transforming robot. It’s much better than last year’s gift (a box full of his burps), but when Lisa’s gift assembles an army of other transforming robots to wage war against a rival race of alien transforming robots (sound familiar?), things get rough for the denizens of Springfield. There are some great gags in this segment, particularly the introduction of “Sex Toy” (“Where haven’t I been?”), the front page of the Springfield Shopper (“Christmas Occurs”), a robot plane vomiting passengers and a crying nacho machine. It even ends strong, with the robots playing a game of human foosball. Hey, Homer thought they might enjoy it.

The second section, “How to Get Ahead in Dead-Vertising,” starts off with a pitch-perfect spoof of the opening titles from AMC’s Mad Men, and revolves around Homer landing a gig killing celebrities so that advertisers can use their likenesses without paying them royalties. The highlight of this segment was a musical montage in which Homer brutally murders George Clooney, Prince and Neil Armstrong so that ad men can use their likenesses to hock George Clooney Brand Novelty Vomit (“now with more chunks!”), Prince’s Choice Drought Resistant Grass Seed and Country-Style Ragu (“It’ll send you to Mars"). After Homer begins thinning the celebrity ranks, the dead stars decide to get revenge on the living, descending from Heaven to exact revenge on everyone exploiting their image. It all ends with a dead Krusty the Clown blowing Homer’s brains out. In Heaven, Homer and Abraham Lincoln share an, er, awkward moment. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

The final segment—and my personal favorite—is a spoof of the Halloween classic, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. In “It’s the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse,” our favorite blue-haired dork takes the Linus van Pelt role in waiting out in the pumpkin patch for the arrival of the so-called "Grand Pumpkin." When he finally does arrive, Milhouse mistakenly offers him some pumpkin bread, which sends him on a murderous rampage through Springfield. This segment is a nice mix of surprisingly edgy humor (the Grand Pumpkin’s a racist?) and reverent homage to the annual Charles Schultz tradition, even going so far as to borrow from its distinct art style.

Overall, this is one of the more memorable Simpsons episodes to air in quite some time and, as always, the macabre humor of this “Treehouse of Horror” special really seemed to let the creative minds behind this series run amok and push a few new boundaries as well.

To view this episode in its entirety, visit thesimpsons.com.

Image: THE SIMPSONS ™ and © 2008 TTCFFC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Simpsons Game: A Wort Report Review

Whether you know it or not, the Simpsons have had a rich history in video games. From the early days of Bart vs. the Space Mutants to the Konami arcade game to modern missteps such as The Simpsons Road Rage and The Simpsons Wrestling, America’s favorite animated family has been featured in video games almost as long as they’ve been on television. Unfortunately, most of these games have been utter garbage. Hoping to shift this momentum of mediocrity, Electronic Arts released The Simpsons Game in October. Surprisingly it’s quite good, particularly if you’re a diehard Simpsons fan.

Although released following the Simpsons’ successful foray onto the big screen (The Simpsons Movie, for cave dwellers), The Simpsons Game has absolutely nothing to do with the blockbuster film. Instead, it’s a self-referential romp in which each of the family members discovers that they’ve been given video game powers from a mysterious game guide (for The Simpsons Game, naturally) that falls from the sky. Of course, they use these powers for good, mostly. Lisa (with her magical Buddha powers) foils Mr. Burns’ plot to cut down a forest to produce a line of luxury tooth picks, Bart (as Bartman) goes after a gang of bullies at the museum, Marge uses her crowd control powers to ban a violent video game and Homer, well, Homer competes in an eating contest after acquiring the power to get really, really fat. Then there’s the obligatory alien invasion (courtesy of Kang and Kodos), which forces the family to seek out help from the Internet, where they must play through various Simpsons games currently in development. Complicated? Sure. But it’s pretty fun.

The game skewers just about every game genre along the way, lampooning popular titles such as Gauntlet, Space Invaders, Pokemon, Medal of Honor, Shadow of the Colossus and Grand Theft Auto just to name a few. The writers and developers definitely knew their audience, and packed the game with a lot of gamer in-jokes. One of my favorite stages is “Enter the Cheatrix,” where Bart and Lisa must make their way through the various stages of game development while fighting off wave after wave of Madden football players before coming face-to-face with Donkey Kong….or a giant barrel-throwing monkey that isn’t Donkey Kong due to fear of copyright violation.

Graphically, the game looks amazing. If you’ve ever imagined what a 3D Springfield might look like, this is pretty much it. It’s done in a cel-shaded style (think The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker), with some 3D elements thrown in. From the first stage, which puts you smack dab in the middle of Homer’s imaginary Land of Chocolate (if you’ve seen the show, you’ll get the reference), you’ll know that you’re not just playing a cash-in licensed title. The Simpsons Game looks great, and for the most part, it plays great.

Gameplay is platform-heavy, with a fair amount of button-mashing combat thrown in. Fending off enemies is the most laborious task in The Simpsons Game, as the fight mechanics aren’t exactly solid. Enemies (who often respawn again and again) just sort of rush at you while you tap the attack button and hope for the best. Also, there usually aren’t more than two enemy types per level. For example in the Japanese level, you’ll be fighting dozens of sumo Comic Book Guys who never seem to let up. Would it have killed them to throw in some variety?

Speaking of Comic Book Guy and gripes, he often chimes in to point out gaming clichés as you come across them, such as the inability to swim, exploding barrels, and, yes, lack of enemy variety. This lets you excuse some of the game’s lesser points, of which it has a few, but you’ll overlook them for the most part. When it sucks, it lets you know it sucks, so that makes it sort of ok. You’ll chuckle, at least.

Which brings me to my next point: This game features some of the best recent Simpsons writing outside of the movie. All of the cutscenes are animated in true Simpsons style, with roughly 40 minutes of new footage. This is like a fully interactive, brilliant episode of the series.

While it may only be worth a rental for the casual Simpsons fan, as it only takes around 8 hours to complete, hardcore fans should really consider picking up The Simpsons Game. It’s funny, it’s fun to play and lets you play Dance Dance Revolution with God at its finale. What other game lets you do that?

The Simpsons Movie: Worth the Wait?

After nearly two decades on television, everyone's favorite yellow family has made its way to the big-screen, and I can safely say, as a longtime fan of the series, that The Simpsons Movie lives up to any and all expectations.

You see, I'm hardly what one would call a "casual" fan of The Simpsons. I own the first 8 seasons on DVD, an expansive collection of the merchandise, and way too many of the t-shirts. Needless to say, I was amped (and concerned) when they announced that a movie was finally on the way.

Allow me to explain my skepticism. While there's a decent new episode on TV now and then, the show hasn't been anywhere near the quality of its glory days: Seasons 4 through 8. I figured that, while it was going to be great to see these characters I've known nearly all of my life grace the big screen at the local multiplex, I was ready for a bittersweet realization that they should have done this film years ago.

My concerns melted away like rich creamery butter (mmmm...butter) just moments into the flick. The writers have managed to bring back the former charm of the series, pelting the audience with rapid-fire gags and one-liners. It's far more consistent than, say, other toon-to-film transitions such as South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut.

A plot summary is useless for a movie like this, so I'll just let you know that Homer does something incredibly stupid and puts the entire town in danger. It's up to him, Marge, Lisa, Bart and Maggie to set things right. That's the basic framework, and all you really need to know at this point.

You'll see your favorite supporting characters, with memorable contributions from Ralph Wiggum, Mr. Burns, Otto, Comic Book Guy, Kent Brockman and countless others. There's a new villain from the Environmental Protection Agency voiced by series favorite Albert Brooks, who played Hank Scorpio in the episode "You Only Move Twice." He's basically "Scorpio Lite" here, but he's a good villain with some choice dialogue.

While some choice moments have been shown in commercials and trailers, such as "Spider-Pig" and Bart's nude skateboarding, but rest assured: there are plenty of surprises. The film takes advantage of its PG-13 rating, I'll say that much.

There's really no reason not to love The Simpsons Movie. Chances are, you've seen and like the show, and if you haven't: what's it like living under that boulder? Should I say it? I'll say it. Best. Movie. Of. The. Summer.