Raking in just under $72 million in the box-office in the first weekend of the July 27, release, the animated hit TV show made its big screen debut in typical Simpsons fashion. With over-the-top sight gags, and cerebral humor for the seasoned intellectual (those crazy Ivy League writers), typical Simpsons fans are sure not be disappointed.

This isn’t a Lisa episode, folks.

Just like every first viewing of a Simpsons episode, the Simpsons Movie haunts viewers with the need to watch it again. There is too much missed in the first viewing due to the laughter.

The big screen production dripped of wit, contemporary satire, and a bounty of sight gags, a la typical Simpsons style. Just when the viewer bought the gag, another propelled them over the top, with a crescendo in a scene with full frontal nudity.

Viewers have come to expect to see some images of a butt, be it Homer’s, or Bart’s, but this is the first instance of a character’s genitalia as a clear-cut visual. It happened so fast, if you blinked (or were laughing too hard) you missed it.

The story is focused on relationships; between father and son, husband and wife, and population and government. A parallel theme is loss and redemption.

ESPN has made a string of “B” movies the past few years in hopes of dumbing-down some great moments in sports history in hopes of getting a 100% male response and having a hit as a result. ESPN has given up on trying to appeal to women, even though they are sports fans as well, and now they have taken the usual one-and-done bad movie to new heights with “The Bronx is Burning” mini-series that will last an agonizing eight episodes!

I am not ripping this 8-part mega-flop on its historical content, I believe they have done their due diligence in that department. I think the reason this series will become a big swing and a miss is because of bad acting.

Last night I was watching the Home Run Derby contest and the longer it got my resolve was becoming fainter and fainter and the occasional teases that were being shown in-between at-bats made me laugh. As a matter of fact they made me think this was going to be a train wreck so I better not miss it.

Where do I start? I lived my first 24-years in New York so I am familiar with the story of this Yankees team. They first showed the 1976 World Series sweep they suffered at the hands of the “Big Red Machine” and that’s when they showed John Turturro, with his prosthetic ears, as Billy Martin, the infamous manager and he was crying. If I put the dialogue and explained the lack of acting that followed you would click of the web site for sure. I never knew Martin had such big ears until this movie made them bigger than Dumbo’s in all of their HD splendor. It was very distracting to be honest. Maybe I missed a moment or two, it’s possible.

Most of the world has probably seen an IMAX film like “Everest” or something that has to do with nature, but how many of you have seen a film made for IMAX? I saw my first, “Spiderman 3” and the movie was a classic, and the best of the three I think, and the IMAX experience made it a masterpiece.

As usual Toby Maguire (Peter Parker/Spiderman), Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane Watson), and James Franco (Harry Osborn/Green Goblin) were terrific. Their acting is superb and their comedic timing is pretty solid as well.

I loved the New York City location choices and the devastating drops and fast action of the fight scenes was so fast in IMAX that some thought they may have missed a few things, but I didn’t feel that way. It seemed so real, mainly because the depth the screen adds and the HD sound was sweet!

The sound is powerful and Stan Lee’s 10-seconds of screen time is profound. Wings fans will love Thomas Haden Church, who was Lowell, and now is the Sandman/Flint Marko! His monotone voice made him perfect for the part. J.K Simmons steals scenes as J. Jonah Jamison as well. Topher Grace, who played Venom, was over the top and he should have kept the mask on, that’s when that character shined.

One last scene-stealer was Elizabeth Banks as Betty Brant. She was terrific in “Invincible” and she was sexy and funny in this film as well.

For the people out there that think just being good looking is enough to have a career then think again. It takes a tremendous amount of drive and energy to keep a career on track and thriving and Chanel Ryan is doing just that.

“I just got back from Mexico I was shooting with BetUS.com,” she said while she was waiting on the set of a commercial she was filming. “Actually that’s one of the best shoot’s I’ve ever done. We shot in the middle of the jungle which can be tough with the wrong crew. I had so much fun. The photographer and make-up , hair and stylist were are from Guadalajara and one of the producers was from Columbia. The energy was just so great driving thru the jungle everyone crammed in a van the latin music cranking ,everyone singing!”

“Last week I filmed a national television commercial for Bud Light,” she added. “I’m on the couch fooling around with Bud (chuckle).”

This one is interesting and it involves her, in just boy shorts and a tank top, “Bud” and her on-screen boyfriend. Sounds like a love triangle has formed there. But does she love beer? Wait and find out.

If you shop at K-Mart you might see Chanel in a Wet-n-Wild campaign that she shot. It will be playing on video monitors on the cosmetics counters. There are eight different vignettes in the commercial. Look for her dancing in one, lounging on the beach in another, doing yoga and having a pillow fight!

I have read this everywhere, and I will say it myself, "I have been waiting a long time to see this movie since I knew it existed."

Now that I have seen "The Departed," I can say that while I was impressed with a lot of it, it wasn't the spectacular the combo of Martin Scorsese, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Alec Baldwin and Mark Wahlberg is supposed to bring to the big screen.