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66 Simpsons Movie References

UPDATE: I’ve updated the links in the post below for the Simpsons movie references to point to Actualidad Simpson. It seems that is the original site for the images I posted about. The other site had copied the content from there. The Actualidad Simpson site has a better collection of images and has them organized by film. Just translate the site to English and have fun.

I’ve always noticed a few cinematic references in episodes of the Simpsons, but the list of Simpsons Scenes and their reference movies is just too cool. I never realized how many there were. The sad part is for all the ones pictured, I remember at least one more. Hopefully someone will put together part 2.

On a similarly titled note, the 19th season premier last night (He Loves to Fly and He D’ohs) referenced this summer’s The Simpsons Movie in the intro. A destroyed Springfield was shown being cleaned up and rebuilt and Spider-Pig makes an appearance in the couch gag at the end of the intro.

While I don’t watch the show on any sort of regular basis like I used to, it still cracks me up any time I manage to catch a few minutes. Almost 20 years later and it’s still funny (maybe not as much) and still packed with pop-culture references (more of which I now catch).

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The announcement a lot of people have been waiting for:

LucasArts to Unleash the Force on the Wii in Spring 2008

Star Warsâ„¢: The Force Unleashedâ„¢ Coming to Nintendo’s Platform with Exclusive Duel Mode

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Sept. 18, 2007 – LucasArts today revealed that Star Warsâ„¢: The Force Unleashedâ„¢ will come to the Wiiâ„¢ home videogame system from Nintendo next spring, offering owners the unique chance to live out their Jedi fantasies by wielding the Wii Remoteâ„¢ as a lightsaber while using the Nunchukâ„¢ controller to torment foes with their Forceâ„¢ powers.

The Force Unleashed casts players as Darth Vader’s “Secret Apprentice” and promises to unveil new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy. The game’s expansive story is set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In it, players will assist the iconic villain in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi – and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny.

The Wii version, in development by Krome Studios, will also add an exclusive duel mode in which players can compete head-to-head with their friends to determine the ultimate Jedi Master.

“The Wii is a great platform for The Force Unleashed, because the console’s motion-oriented controllers really bring the game to life,” said Jim Ward, President of LucasArts. “We’ve worked hard to make the Wii version of the game unique in order to truly let you unleash the Force.”

Now the questions begin. Will “Duel Mode” be online compatible? Will players duel with their Mii’s or in-game characters? Will you be able to customize those characters? If both duel members are playing on the same system, will they face the screen or each other? Will I be able to find a Wii? Will I get one for Christmas? Will Carter dig this game as much as I will?

Important questions, all of them. Maybe some answers will be revealed at the official Star Wars: The Force Unleashed site or perhaps I must pursue other avenues or information.

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Iron Man flying from the 2008 Iron Man movie

The Iron Man trailer is going to premiere tonight on several Paramount television stations. The first tv airing is scheduled to air just before MTV’s “The Hills” at 8:30 p.m. Central time. The rest of the showings are:

Comedy Central: The Daily Show 10-Sep
MTV: The Hills 10-Sep (the break leading into the show)
Spike TV : CSI 11-Sep
VH1: The Rock Life 10-Sep
BET: Baldwin Hills 11-Sep
CMT : Trick My Truck 10-Sep
Logo : Rick & Steve 11-Sep
MTV2: Room 401 10-Sep
NAN : Fresh Prince 10-Sep
The N: Fresh Prince 11-Sep
TV Land: Andy Griffith 11-Sep

Jeff Bridge’s will play villain Obadiah Stane in the 2008 Iron Man movieYou don’t have to wait. Apple has released the online version of the Iron Man trailer more than a day early. It’s a great two minute clip. It shows the genesis and personality of Tony Stark (Iron Man), shows multiple versions of the armor in great detail, and even shows a quick glimpse of the villain Obadiah Stane / Iron Monger, played by Jeff Bridges.

Jeff Bridges in the Iron Monger armor from the 2008 Iron Man movie

That’s definitely Bridges in the over-sized Iron Monger armor in that image from the trailer. Obadiah Stane was a businessman who overthrew Tony Stark’s company and later tried to destroy Stark. A lot of people were expecting the Mandarin as the villain, but Stane makes a much better introductory villain in my opinion. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Mandarin make an appearance in the new film as a setup for a sequel, since the character is currently receiving a lot of attention in the comics.

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Ben 10 character Heatblast from the live-action movie

I had heard there was a Ben 10 live action movie in the works. I had no idea that it was practically complete and will be released in November of this year. For those that don’t know, Ben 10 is one of the more recent cartoons produced by the cartoon Network.

The show revolves around Ben Tennyson, his cousin Gwen, and his grandfather Max. During the start of their summer camping trip, Ben is nearly hit by an alien pod that fell from space and crashed next to him. When he examines it, he finds a mysterious, watch-like device, called the Omnitrix, stored inside. The device attaches to his wrist and gives him the ability to transform into a variety of alien lifeforms, each with their own unique powers, quite similar to DC’s “Dial H for Hero” comic. Although Ben realizes that he has a responsibility to help others with these new abilities at his disposal, he is not above a little super-powered mischief now and then.

It’s a very traditional cartoon, which is rare nowadays on Cartoon Network. I found a trailer for the film on director Alex Winter’s website. Yes, it’s that Alex Winter of Bill and Ted fame.

I can’t say that I’m overly impressed by the trailer. It looks a little too kid friendly. I’m worried that they took a half-decent cartoon plot and have dumped it in favor of a dumbed-down kids movie. The villain in the trailer doesn’t look like the Season 1 villain Vilgax, but just a generic alien/warlord. Still, it should be an entertaining enough to watch once with Carter. I wonder how many of the alien transformations they will showcase in the movie.

Digging around, it looks like it will be a TV movie instead of a theatrical release. That kind of surprises me, but it makes sense for Cartoon Network. One big plus (in my book) is that Grandpa Max is played by Lee Majors. How cool is that? TV’s The Fall Guy is now someone’s grandfather in a film. Actually, that’s not as cool as I originally thought, because now I feel old.

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Heath Ledger as the Joker

Lots of photos have popped up over on The Movie Blog Community and on a Flickr Page that show Heath ledger as the Joker, as well as several shots of Batman from the Summer 2008 Batman film, The Dark Knight.

I really like the way Ledger looks and I also like the fact that the “Joker look” appears to just be make-up and not some accident. The scarring around the mouth is hard to see and I wish that were a little more prominent, but overall, everything looks great and I absolutely can’t wait to see some footage from this.