Superbad (2007)
June 11, 2020 12:33 AM - Subscribe
Two co-dependent high school seniors are forced to deal with separation anxiety after their plan to stage a booze-soaked party goes awry. Written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the script began development when they were 13 years old, and was loosely based on their experience in Grade 12 in Vancouver during the 1990s. With Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Fogell (McLovin) and Emma Stone as Jules
Man, I wish I had seen this in the theatre. I put it off thinking it was just another stupid teen comedy but when I finally rented it years later - damn, I laughed my ass off. One of the best comedies in the last twenty five years.
posted by hoodrich at 12:25 PM on June 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by hoodrich at 12:25 PM on June 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
I saw this in theaters and remember thinking, damn, this is absolutely going to be a classic high school movie. It was also part of a slew of R-Comedies from that decade that had some problematic/homophobic/ultra-bro humor - Rogan has gone on to acknowledge this - but I am also ashamed to say that it was one of the most insanely accurate portrayals of horny high school loser boys trying to fit in/get laid in 2007. I laughed my ass off, and still do - the movie has that manic "night" energy to it that only comes from films that take place over the course of one long night.
This NYT article about reconciling enjoyment of Superbad with it's more problematic themes is a good analysis.
posted by windbox at 1:23 PM on June 11, 2020 [2 favorites]
This NYT article about reconciling enjoyment of Superbad with it's more problematic themes is a good analysis.
posted by windbox at 1:23 PM on June 11, 2020 [2 favorites]
2007? Surely not. This was, like, 4 years ago right?
Yeah there's some problematic stuff but goddamn did everyone in the theater laugh uproariously. So good. And Emma Stone's big break!
Weird seeing Seb Gorka in a comedic role though.
posted by Justinian at 2:45 PM on June 11, 2020
Yeah there's some problematic stuff but goddamn did everyone in the theater laugh uproariously. So good. And Emma Stone's big break!
Weird seeing Seb Gorka in a comedic role though.
posted by Justinian at 2:45 PM on June 11, 2020
This movie was Rogen and Goldberg's take on their own 1998 teenhood, updated to 2007 (Rogen had originally hoped to play the Jonah Hill role) and as such it's simultaneously dated and timeless. It says a lot about teenage boys in any era, but it also says things that might not be true for the boys of 2020 and it says things you might not be able to say in 2020. Cera's character captures a kind of boy we don't see in movies much, one who is smart and perceptive and really wants to be respectful to women and isn't really into drunken partying, but at the same time he's also as moody, clueless and horny as any boy his age. Superficially this movie has a lot in common with dumb 80s teen comedies where guys are crashing around town all night and trying to get laid, but here it's grounded by this weird little human being and it becomes a whole other deal.
I was thinking about how Michael Cera was everywhere for a while, but then he just suddenly went away. It's not like he had a string of high-profile flops, he just seemed to go into semi-retirement not long after This is the End, mostly showing up in little indies, voice parts and other things that he was obviously just doing for fun. Maybe he got fed up with life as a Hollywood star and figured he had enough money to buy a nice house in Silverlake and spend the rest of his days chilling. But I don't know, This is the End also seemed to signal the end for that whole Apatow-adjacent comedy gang, and these days we don't see many movie comedies in general. I've heard the joke that every time Jesse Eisenberg gets a gig Michael Cera is somewhere growing a little weaker, but while it's true that Cera could have been great in the Zombieland movies Cera always had more of a hapless, vulnerable presence and there aren't many recent movies where he would have been an easy fit. It may be that he didn't retire so much as nobody's making the right movies for him to star in.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 6:35 PM on June 11, 2020 [3 favorites]
I was thinking about how Michael Cera was everywhere for a while, but then he just suddenly went away. It's not like he had a string of high-profile flops, he just seemed to go into semi-retirement not long after This is the End, mostly showing up in little indies, voice parts and other things that he was obviously just doing for fun. Maybe he got fed up with life as a Hollywood star and figured he had enough money to buy a nice house in Silverlake and spend the rest of his days chilling. But I don't know, This is the End also seemed to signal the end for that whole Apatow-adjacent comedy gang, and these days we don't see many movie comedies in general. I've heard the joke that every time Jesse Eisenberg gets a gig Michael Cera is somewhere growing a little weaker, but while it's true that Cera could have been great in the Zombieland movies Cera always had more of a hapless, vulnerable presence and there aren't many recent movies where he would have been an easy fit. It may be that he didn't retire so much as nobody's making the right movies for him to star in.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 6:35 PM on June 11, 2020 [3 favorites]
I've heard the joke that every time Jesse Eisenberg gets a gig Michael Cera is somewhere growing a little weaker
During the closing credits of The Social Network, my friend turned to me and said earnestly, "It's hard to believe that's the same guy from Scott Pilgrim!"
Of course, this is also the same fellow who first noticed Gary Sinise in Forrest Gump and was so convinced by the special effects work that for at least a decade after insisted that Sinise is a double amputee and gets around on very well-made prostheses.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:43 PM on June 14, 2020 [3 favorites]
During the closing credits of The Social Network, my friend turned to me and said earnestly, "It's hard to believe that's the same guy from Scott Pilgrim!"
Of course, this is also the same fellow who first noticed Gary Sinise in Forrest Gump and was so convinced by the special effects work that for at least a decade after insisted that Sinise is a double amputee and gets around on very well-made prostheses.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:43 PM on June 14, 2020 [3 favorites]
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posted by growabrain at 10:33 AM on June 11, 2020 [1 favorite]