Homer got fired. We've seen it before, we're going to see it again. It's always, however, a wonderful plot device. On Wikipedia there is a list of Homer Simpson's jobs and I have to say, that is one impressive resume.
Anyway, the basis of this episode is that Homer gets fired from the powerplant during a game of chair hockey. I thought that was well put together (the whole joke about why dad is so tired and his voice is hoarse). He goes and gets some icecream and the icecream man dies. After buying the truck off of the icecream man's wife, Homer becomes the icecream man. Otto "pimps" his ride and then, for some reason, the most unexpected clip of Homer getting dressed up comes on. Really, if you didn't see it, you missed what I think is something classic.
Marge, on the other hand, picks up stick sculpture making because she wants to be remebered. Homer eventually wrecks her show when she becomes famous and breaks the icecream truck.
One of the most memorable parts of the show was when Marge refused to come out of her room because she was angry. Homer eventually slides pictures of himself being sad to show her via under the door. One of them is happy, and Homer explains it's because the cat fell down the stairs and he thought it was funny... then he has a picture of the cat.
All in all, the show showed alot and the jokes were constant and funny. They actually had me smiling and laughing with no gaps, even during commercials. Definately a step in the right direction. Maybe it's because the movie's almost done. (If you want to see the trailer you can go to Homer Cubed Videos on the right hand side of the screen).
-RATING: 8.0-
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XVII Review
Well... that wasn't bad at all. To put a statement out there, I think that Treehouse of Horror episodes have been an outlet for the Simpsons, a chance for them to put randomness into the show and have things happen that normally wouldn't. Lately, during the past few years, the Treehouse episodes have been nothing but a lame excuse of an episode. This year's episode was a little differnet.
MARRIED TO THE BLOB
The Blob, obviously a parody of something I havn't seen (it's such an uncultured generation) was filled with jokes right off the bat. The Arby's joke was actually pretty darn good and it's one we'll probably remember until next week. The cat joke was priceless too. The jokes were well placed and often. One thing that seems to be happening in the epsiodes lately is the presence of song fillers though. It seems ever few episodes theres a small music video. It's not bad, it's just I'd rather see more episode instead of a montage. Unlike many of the Halloween episodes, however, this short did end good. Usually they end somewhat weak... even normal episodes, but the homeless joke was a great ending.
YOU GOTTA KNOW WHEN TO GOLEM
Again, right off the bat, a great joke with HDTV: "That's right... look at your hero...". Of course, this is probably the weaker of the shorts, but that's how the halloween episodes go. This was a Jewish themed episode like many of the Krusty episodes but it was by all means not bad. For all of you who didn't watch the episode, Bart get's control of a golem from backstage at the Krusty Show. Whenever he puts a scroll in it's mouth, the golem performs the task that is written on it. This results in Bart taking it and using it to kick Homer's walls... wait... no... and beat up bulllies. Lisa decides to let it speek and it all of a sudden comes to life. There were a lot more spaces in between jokes in this episode, but still, it wasn't bad. They eventually make him a wife (and of all words to come out of her mouth when she first talks it'll make you laugh). Not bad though, the animators have really tried on this one.
THE DAY THE EARTH LOOKED STUPID
I was looking forward to this one because anyone who's familiar with the novel, the famous radio broadcast, and the movies (I expected bettter out of Speilburg) would realize it would make the perfect halloween episode. What they did, which I was really impressed with, is they got someone to do a voice pretty darn close to Orson Wells' from the radio. If anyone's not familiar with what this is about, around the 1930's or so on the night before Halloween, Orson Wells' radio show broadcast "The War of the Worlds" by H.G. Wells. However, they did this in a way that it sounded like news coverage. It fooled half the country into thinking it was a real Martian invasion. Back to the Simpsons now, the episode opens up with some old music and a funny little view of "Quikee and Sons". It's all in sepia tone too. Gags like Otto's headphones were cool, but I didn't think the whole episode lived up the the hype it was getting on the internet and on commercials. They did it well, but there were significantly less jokes in this than the other two. The sound effects guy was a nice addition, and so was the "nose-bud" gag. The episode ended with a nice little parody (wheather you're against the war or not) on Iraq. The only problem was that the episode ended too early and the last shot lasted for a good few seconds, without even a bad joke. Weather that was for dramatic effect I don't know, but they should have said somethingthing.
All in all it was a great episode. For a Halloween episode, it wasn't bad at all.
- RATING: 8.0 -
MARRIED TO THE BLOB
The Blob, obviously a parody of something I havn't seen (it's such an uncultured generation) was filled with jokes right off the bat. The Arby's joke was actually pretty darn good and it's one we'll probably remember until next week. The cat joke was priceless too. The jokes were well placed and often. One thing that seems to be happening in the epsiodes lately is the presence of song fillers though. It seems ever few episodes theres a small music video. It's not bad, it's just I'd rather see more episode instead of a montage. Unlike many of the Halloween episodes, however, this short did end good. Usually they end somewhat weak... even normal episodes, but the homeless joke was a great ending.
YOU GOTTA KNOW WHEN TO GOLEM
Again, right off the bat, a great joke with HDTV: "That's right... look at your hero...". Of course, this is probably the weaker of the shorts, but that's how the halloween episodes go. This was a Jewish themed episode like many of the Krusty episodes but it was by all means not bad. For all of you who didn't watch the episode, Bart get's control of a golem from backstage at the Krusty Show. Whenever he puts a scroll in it's mouth, the golem performs the task that is written on it. This results in Bart taking it and using it to kick Homer's walls... wait... no... and beat up bulllies. Lisa decides to let it speek and it all of a sudden comes to life. There were a lot more spaces in between jokes in this episode, but still, it wasn't bad. They eventually make him a wife (and of all words to come out of her mouth when she first talks it'll make you laugh). Not bad though, the animators have really tried on this one.
THE DAY THE EARTH LOOKED STUPID
I was looking forward to this one because anyone who's familiar with the novel, the famous radio broadcast, and the movies (I expected bettter out of Speilburg) would realize it would make the perfect halloween episode. What they did, which I was really impressed with, is they got someone to do a voice pretty darn close to Orson Wells' from the radio. If anyone's not familiar with what this is about, around the 1930's or so on the night before Halloween, Orson Wells' radio show broadcast "The War of the Worlds" by H.G. Wells. However, they did this in a way that it sounded like news coverage. It fooled half the country into thinking it was a real Martian invasion. Back to the Simpsons now, the episode opens up with some old music and a funny little view of "Quikee and Sons". It's all in sepia tone too. Gags like Otto's headphones were cool, but I didn't think the whole episode lived up the the hype it was getting on the internet and on commercials. They did it well, but there were significantly less jokes in this than the other two. The sound effects guy was a nice addition, and so was the "nose-bud" gag. The episode ended with a nice little parody (wheather you're against the war or not) on Iraq. The only problem was that the episode ended too early and the last shot lasted for a good few seconds, without even a bad joke. Weather that was for dramatic effect I don't know, but they should have said somethingthing.
All in all it was a great episode. For a Halloween episode, it wasn't bad at all.
- RATING: 8.0 -
Monday, October 23, 2006
The War of the Worlds Videos
See two promos for The Simpsons: War of the Worlds segment on the new Treehouse of Horror show next Sunday. The episode's looking good. Maybe it will be better than the recent Treehouse episodes.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Treehouse of Horror XVII First Look and Interviews
Here's some links to a video of the upcoming Treehouse of Horror episode from the Simpsons and a few interviews with the creators.
Interviews and Treehouse of Horror XVII Introduction
(Get ready also for a small look at The Simpsons Movie after the episode aires!)
You can also take a look at the Treehouse of Horror promo on:
Homer Cubed Videos
Interviews and Treehouse of Horror XVII Introduction
(Get ready also for a small look at The Simpsons Movie after the episode aires!)
You can also take a look at the Treehouse of Horror promo on:
Homer Cubed Videos
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Review: Please Homer Don't Hammer 'Em
I'll be honest, it wasn't the best Simpsons episode in the world, but it wasn't bad. There was a plot, so that's good. The episode basically went like this: Marge finds out she is good at carpentry so she decides to start up a business by doing odd jobs all around Springfield. The problem is that no one believes she can do a good job (because she's a woman). Marge gets Homer to look like he's doing the work while she actually does the job. Homer ends up causing Marge to quit right before she get's the job of fixing an old rollercoaster. Doing it himself, Homer ends up collapsing the rollercoaster and ends up in the hospital only to realize that he should have told the truth about who was really behind what he did.
It's a decent plot but the same problems remain however. What I'm guessing the creators were trying to do was have Homer classically do something selfish and then find out what he was doing wrong after something tragic happened to him. The problem here was the show was too fast paced. Earlier Simpsons episodes were, in theory, more like sitcoms in the fact that in could actually be acted out by real people if need be and safice. The jokes in this episode were also rushed and somewhat random. Even the climax of the story, when Marge fixes the rollercoaster in record breaking time, looks a little too unbelievable. The whole episode happens so fast that it gets to a resolution too quickly and the trademark Simpsons affectionate ending just seems squeezed in. In reality, that's how the shows been for years really.
The subplot was good though, and actually very clever. Bart and Skinner's Star Wars style peanut vs. shrimp fight was funny. The only problem here was when Bart was taking advantage of Skinner (before Skinner found Bart's "kryptonite"), it seemed overplayed and unrealistic. Like I said earlier, Bart could have never pulled that off in real life. Now, granted, alot of the earlier Simpsons material is also unrealistic but it just seems that recently it's been like that more than in the past. Circumstances when Bart is torturing Skinner in the Simpsons' own front yard for instance only add to randomness, like writors couldn't find a better place to use that joke.
All in all it wasn't a bad episode. There were some good jokes in it... none that I would remember a week from now, but okay. This seasons is turning out to be much better than last season and is bordering each week some of 17's greats, like the pair of religious episodes at it's end. Hopefully the Simpsons will pick up a little. One thing for sure is that they shouldn't be trying to immitate Family Guy. Family Guy has been copying the Simpsons ever since it's existance and there's no need for a turnaround now. Slower pace, more reasonable gags, and I think this show could be what it once was. Hopefully when the movie's done they can get back on track.
RATING: 7.3
It's a decent plot but the same problems remain however. What I'm guessing the creators were trying to do was have Homer classically do something selfish and then find out what he was doing wrong after something tragic happened to him. The problem here was the show was too fast paced. Earlier Simpsons episodes were, in theory, more like sitcoms in the fact that in could actually be acted out by real people if need be and safice. The jokes in this episode were also rushed and somewhat random. Even the climax of the story, when Marge fixes the rollercoaster in record breaking time, looks a little too unbelievable. The whole episode happens so fast that it gets to a resolution too quickly and the trademark Simpsons affectionate ending just seems squeezed in. In reality, that's how the shows been for years really.
The subplot was good though, and actually very clever. Bart and Skinner's Star Wars style peanut vs. shrimp fight was funny. The only problem here was when Bart was taking advantage of Skinner (before Skinner found Bart's "kryptonite"), it seemed overplayed and unrealistic. Like I said earlier, Bart could have never pulled that off in real life. Now, granted, alot of the earlier Simpsons material is also unrealistic but it just seems that recently it's been like that more than in the past. Circumstances when Bart is torturing Skinner in the Simpsons' own front yard for instance only add to randomness, like writors couldn't find a better place to use that joke.
All in all it wasn't a bad episode. There were some good jokes in it... none that I would remember a week from now, but okay. This seasons is turning out to be much better than last season and is bordering each week some of 17's greats, like the pair of religious episodes at it's end. Hopefully the Simpsons will pick up a little. One thing for sure is that they shouldn't be trying to immitate Family Guy. Family Guy has been copying the Simpsons ever since it's existance and there's no need for a turnaround now. Slower pace, more reasonable gags, and I think this show could be what it once was. Hopefully when the movie's done they can get back on track.
RATING: 7.3
Saturday, September 23, 2006
"The Mook, The Chef, The Wife And His Homer" and "Jazzy and the Pussycats" Reviews
Due to the fact that the first two episodes have already gone by before this site was started, these are the two episode reviews from IGN
Episode #1801:
http://tv.ign.com/articles/730/730639p1.html
Episode #1802:
http://tv.ign.com/articles/733/733359p1.html
Episode #1801:
http://tv.ign.com/articles/730/730639p1.html
Episode #1802:
http://tv.ign.com/articles/733/733359p1.html
First Post
Hi, and welcome to Homer Cubed. Homer Cubed is Simpsons review site inwhich I will try to review every episode starting with the third episode in Season 18. If I for some reason did not manage to watch the show or review it a link to a site that did will most likely be provided.
Comments are welcome and so are personal reviews. There is no membership or anything so you can just type away. In fact, I hope that you (the readers) comment on everything and give you're opinion too. That way, the site will become much more than just a single review site.
News about the Simpsons will also be posted on this site. Those of you who just can't wait to see that movie they're cooking up, I'll be updating you on that too.
Just a fact, the name Homer Cubed is actually the name of a short in a halloween episode inwhich Homer decides to hide behind a bookcase and ends up in a 3D world.
Comments are welcome and so are personal reviews. There is no membership or anything so you can just type away. In fact, I hope that you (the readers) comment on everything and give you're opinion too. That way, the site will become much more than just a single review site.
News about the Simpsons will also be posted on this site. Those of you who just can't wait to see that movie they're cooking up, I'll be updating you on that too.
Just a fact, the name Homer Cubed is actually the name of a short in a halloween episode inwhich Homer decides to hide behind a bookcase and ends up in a 3D world.
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