God bless the internet: Springfield comes to life at simpsonsmovie.com

Accompanying the theatrical release of "The Simpsons Movie," the producers have created an intense ad campaign. Simpsonizing Burger King and turning neighborhood 7-Elevens into Kwik-E-Marts was only the beginning. The launch of simpsonsmovie.com may be the most complete and ambitious movie Web site since "The Blair Witch Project" in 1998.\nTyping in the site's name takes you to a hill overlooking Springfield, complete with the nuclear power plant and Moe's Tavern. There are several Springfield destinations you can visit with a click of the mouse. These include: Moe's, The Simpsons' residence, the Kwik-E-Mart and the Aztec Theater. Destinations such as Town Hall are promised to be coming soon.\nThe most comprehensive building is the Aztec Theater. Fourty-two Springfieldians are packed into the theater, and the visitor can roll over all of them for some quick biographical info and sometimes a character sound bite. Nelson does his trademark "Ha-ha!" and Matt Groening can be spotted among the audience as a bald, eye-patch-wearing creep. \nIn the Kwik-E-Mart, rolling the cursor over Bart, Chief Wiggum and Apu quickly yields this disharmonic masterpiece:\n"Whoa! Donuts I got thank you come again!"\nIt can be done over and over until you get tired of rolling. But warning: Do not do attempt this in the office. People will throw things.\nYou can also roll over items in the background, such as magazines on the rack or a poster on the wall. Most of these are movie promotions (downloads of Simpsons icons, wallpaper, etc.), and you can view the two movie trailers in Moe's.\nThe site has some surprisingly fun games, too. "3 Card Moe" is a game that requires patience and quick eyes. Players must keep their eye on the Joker as Moe mixes the cards in front of you. I got to round 10 of 15 (I mostly guessed at the end). In "Wrecking Ball," the player smacks a paddy wagon with a wrecking ball. It's confusing at first but highly addicting.\nThe best part of the Web site is the "Create your own Simpsons Avatar" that, in essence, lets you Simpsonize yourself. You can choose from four different body types and literally millions of different character permutations (check out the mugs on WEEKEND's Last Word page). There is also a feature that claims if you upload a mug yourself, the site will Simpsonize it for you, though WEEKEND could not get it to work(facebook photos are not the right resolution).\nThe Web site for "The Simpsons Movie" is not perfect, but it is a fun place to waste a few hours of your life, especially with the avatars. Hopefully other movie sites ("Halloween," "The Dark Knight") will take notice.