It was with some trepidation that I saw The Simpsons Movie yesterday. Put simply, The Simpsons means a hell of a lot to me, as one of the defining experiences of the 90s. I grew up with the show, and in its day it was beyond brilliant. So good that Fridays on BBC2 at 6pm (yes, just before Robot Wars or The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air) became a ritual that even my dad enjoyed, and you can measure the amount of TV he watches in nanoseconds.

And, yeah, of course it lost its edge. If you're geeky, Season 9 to be precise - that's 1997 in the States. So I stopped watching the episodes, and savoured the memory. But the lure of the yellow family on the big screen is strong, and there's no way I couldn't see this movie. So I lowered my expectations and took a deep breath. The result was a film which is not amazingly brilliantly wonderful, but was supremely enjoyable and even brought back some of the serious emotions The Simpsons used to be famous for. There was some great visual gags, many clever lines and still the 'wow' sense of seeing the show in the cinema, surrounded by so many other people laughing with you. There was even a queue to get in: a nice reminder of the 90s when everyone loved The Simpsons, aside from the Bush family, naturally.

So, go see it! It put a new shine on your favourite memories from the past, and you even get to hear Maggie speak. Can't say fairer than that, eh?

Incidentally, if you want to laugh until your throat is sore and your stomach feels weak, go see The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare (Abridged). Been around for ages, and when I saw it on Saturday I could see why. In fact, I'm going again! All hail the mighty Shakespeare, and the still-mighty Simpsons!