2002-04-01 • 1h 27m

Any four episodes of The Simpsons chosen at random would make perfectly acceptable entertainment, but The Simpsons Film Festival is a particularly happy selection. In "Beyond Blunderdome", Mel Gibson (playing himself) sends up his tough-guy persona when he hires Homer to produce his latest movie. Then in "A Star is Burns" Springfield hosts its own film festival (with guest critic Jay Sherman in attendance). The competition boils down to Barney's haunting cinema verité short about the horrors of alcohol or Mr Burns grandiose vanity project. "22 Short Films About Springfield" is a series of parodies within a parody featuring Springfield's secondary characters, including Milhouse's dad and Chief Wiggum in a glorious Pulp Fiction sequence. Finally, the show's own internal parody cartoon duo hit the big screen in "The Itchy and Scratchy Movie", while Bart and Homer lock horns about going to see it. They sell Soylent Green in the future cinema foyer; and Homer loves it, of course.