Thursday, December 27

• Fox flicks coming to iTunes

  Looks like Homer Simpson, the Silver Surfer and others might soon be coming to an iPod near you. London's Financial Times reports today that Fox, the studio behind The Simpsons Movie and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, has struck a deal with Apple to offer customers users the opportunity to rent its movies using the popular iTunes service. No word yet on how much rentals will cost or how long they'll last before expiring. Those and other details of the pact will likely be revealed at the biannual MacWorld expo in San Francisco, which kicks off on January 14th.

  Source: Variety.

  
  

  Posted 12/27/2007 by Thomas

  The Simpsons Movie | Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Tuesday, December 18

• DVD Tuesday

  Tis the final DVD Tuesday before Christmas and a plethora of new releases have arrived, just in time to serve as handy stocking stuffers for the movie lovers in your household. Summer blockbuster The Simpsons Movie sits atop the list, followed by Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween, Matthew Vaughn's fantasy adventure Stardust, Jason Lee's live-action/CGI Disney flick Underdog and Dan Fogler's ping pong comedy Balls of Fury.

  Our DVD pick this week is Braveheart Special Collector's Edition, featuring a beautiful, digitally remastered version of the last great pre-CGI epic. Freeeeeeeeedom!!!

  
  

  Posted 12/18/2007 by Thomas

  Braveheart | Underdog | Balls of Fury | Halloween | The Simpsons Movie

Sunday, July 29

• Weekend Box Office Wrap Up

  Like Homer, the nation just can't resist Spider Pigs. As predicted, The Simpsons Movie won the weekend handily, taking in $71.9 million dollars and undisputedly earning the place of biggest open for a TV adaptation.

  I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry dropped to second and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix dropped to third, taking in the substatially lower weekend gross of $19 million and $17 million respectively.

  The other big weekend openings didn't fare nearly so well. No Reservations came in fifth, with $11.7 million, and the abysmal I Know Who Killed Me and critcally panned Who's Your Caddy opened at ninth and tenth, earning only $3.4 million and $2.9 million respectively.

  
  

  Posted 07/29/2007 by Heather

  The Simpsons Movie | No Reservations | I Know Who Killed Me | Who's Your Caddy?

Monday, July 23

• Simpsons mania infects nation

  The Simpsons Movie opens this weekend, and Fox is dialing up the pre-opening activity to generate excitment--as though they needed any more press than two-decades' worth of dedicated viewership and pop-culture domination.

  Last Monday, BurgerKing jumped on the Simpsons Movie bandwagon with the website SimpsonizeMe.com, on which fans can upload digital photos and then see themselves transformed into yellow Simpsons characters. The site had gotten almost 32 million hits within just days of its launch, says The Hollywood Reporter.

  On Saturday, Springfield, VT (pop. 9,300) rolled out the yellow carpet for the official Simpsons Movie premiere, reportsYahoo! News. So, did Simpsons creator Matt Groening always have Vermont in mind for the ubiquitously-titled Springfield of Bart et al.? Not exactly.

  Springfields in 14 states vied in a USA Today poll to win the opportunity to host the premiere. Springfield, VT wasn't even initially in the running, but successfully lobbied for inclusion thanks to a home-made video of Homer (played by a local talk-show host) chasing a large pink donut through down.

  Meanwhile, Groening appeared on the popular Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He also did an interview with the New York Times Magazine, where he revealed that the inspiration for Marge's blue bouffant came from a combo of the Bride of Frankenstein and his mother's own beehive 'dos, says MSN.

  He also revealed that the presidential office in his movie is occupied by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Not to say the Governator is voicing it--Harry Shearer is doing that, but he just thought "We needed a president that would make people laugh. And Schwarzenegger was the obvious choice."

  Doh.

  
  

  Posted 07/23/2007 by Heather

  Matt Groening | The Simpsons Movie

Monday, July 2

• Calling all Simpsons fans

  As part of the promotion for the upcoming, long-awaited Simpsons Movie, 7-Elevens across the country have adorned themselves as Kwik-E-Marts (the 7-Eleven take-off from The Simpsons).

  Stores in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Seattle, and Orlando have replaced their 7-Eleven signs with Kwik-E-Mart signs, and covered their exteriors in industrial foam a la the Simpsons animation style. There are also three in California (Burbank, LA, and Mountain View), one in Henderson, NV, and another Bladensburg, MD.

  All of the stores, as well as most of the rest of the over 6,000 uncostumed North American 7-Elevens, will be carrying previously fictional Simpsons items, such as Buzz Cola, Krusty O's, and Squishees.

  No word yet on whether they will require all their cashiers to answer to the name, "Apu."

  
  
  Next Showing: The Simpsons Movie comes out July 27, 2007.

  Posted 07/02/2007 by Heather

  The Simpsons Movie

Friday, May 25

• Which Springfield will host the Simpsons premiere?

  Fox is pitting Springfield vs. Springfield in a contest to determine which of the 30+ American towns that share the moniker will have the honor of hosting the premiere of the feature length Simpsons movie, The Chicago Tribune reports.

  The competition plays upon a long-running Simpsons gag: while it's well known that the show is set in the fictitious town of Springfield, Simpsons writers have refused to reveal the exact state in which the town resides.

  While the exact criteria that will be used to determine the contest winner has not yet been revealed, various Springfields are already making their pitches to Fox.

  My personal choice is Springfield, South Dakota, home of the famous Springfield Frog Auction and Bull-O-Rama!

  
  
  Next Showing: The Simpsons Movie opens nationwide July 27th

  Posted 05/25/2007 by Thomas

  The Simpsons Movie

Thursday, April 12

• Simpsons theme park ride in development?

  

  Citing unnamed sources, LA Weekly writer Nikki Finke reports that a Simpsons ride is in the works at Universal Studios Florida. Details are scant, but the ride is apparently scheduled to open in summer 2008.

  No details regarding the ride's design have been released, but rumors are it will be a water-based roller-coaster and will include a sequence where the coaster actually jumps over an animatronic shark.

  The long-awaited Simpsons movie arrives in theaters on July 27th.

  
  
  

  The Simpsons Movie trailer

  The animated classic makes it to the big screen.

  Posted 04/12/2007 by Thomas

  The Simpsons Movie

Tuesday, March 20

• Exclusive pix from The Simpsons Movie and Evan Almighty

  ReelzChannel.com's John Halecky was busy snapping photos at the ShoWest festival last week in Vegas. Today's addition to his photo diary are pictures from The Simpsons Movie and Evan Almighty displays. Check them out under Features.

  Keep your eyes peeled for more exclusive pix from ShoWest on ReelzChannel.com later this week!

  
  

  Posted 03/20/2007 by reelz

  Steve Carell | Evan Almighty | The Simpsons Movie | The Simpsons Movie | The Simpsons Movie