Wow–someone on The Simpsons’ writing staff just saw Heavenly Creatures for the first time. Or maybe they found the recent King Kong to their liking–on the DVD commentary for the fourth season Treehouse of Horror segment “King Homer”, Matt Groening, Al Jean, and Wallace Wolodarsky express both interest in and concern about Peter Jackson’s adaptation of their much-loved Kong. Perhaps they ended up adoring it and dug back farther into the Jackson/Fran Walsh ouevre. Let’s see…Equalia is Borovnia (complete with Weta Workshop-esque melting scenery), Josh Groban is Mario Lanza (that’s a step down), bicycling to Clam-A-Lot is bicycling in the woods around the Hulme home, and Juliet is…Juliet. Thank goodness Marge made it out alive.
The episode has some giggles (“Welcome, Princesses Helvetica and Valedictoria!”), but what will really make it deserving of a kiss on the lips is if watching it makes you curious about the original film, which was the first movie for both Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet, not to mention the first Oscar nomination for Jackson and Walsh (for best original screenplay, which they lost to Pulp Fiction. And you know what? I love Pulp Fiction, and I still would have voted for Heavenly Creatures). We won’t normally direct you away from TV, but go rent Heavenly Creatures RIGHT NOW. And I’m not just saying that because I once had Who Juliet Hulme Is Now autograph books as gifts and when she grabbed my arm it creeped me right out–the movie is a treasure. So thank you, Lisa and Co. Can you do a Gods and Monsters spoof next?
TV BACON 