I was afraid I'd have the same reaction to Superbad upon watching it in the quiet confines of home as I did to Knocked Up. Fortunately my apprehension was unwarranted. I f%$#ing love this movie. There are a lot of subtle bits of humor that I didn't catch the first (or second) time in the theater due to the audience's laughter treading over some of the quieter retorts. I've heard both Jonah Hill and Michael Cera criticized as being one-note, but they both have perfect comedic-timing and that alone can make a decent career (see early Bill Murray, Will Ferrell, Steve Guttenberg). I haven't enjoyed a comedy this thoroughly since Talladega Nights.
"Do you know what kinds of foods are shaped like d!ck$? The BEST kinds!"
Yeah, the initial review stands and I'll throw in bonus points for how it stands up to repeat viewings. On a side note: the 'first-look' at Pineapple Express doesn't look very promising, but then stoner-comedies have never really been my thing (although I can't say I remember ever watching any Cheech and Chong...). Here's hoping Apatow, Rogen and co. can keep making the funny stuff. (And really, who would root for them to fail? Who doesn't want to laugh?). From my count, they've got no less than a half-dozen projects coming down the pipeline including the soon to be released Walk Hard (which looks...quite awful actually. I hope the trailers are misleading.) and a bunch slated for summer '08. I wish them the best.
6 comments:
Walk Hard is the one with John C. O'Reilly, right? If so, I wouldn't bet against it.
I must beg to differ. I think "Superbad" was perhaps the most overrated film of the year... At some point, it was ranked ahead of "Full Metal Jacket" on imdb's top 250 movies OF ALL TIME. I've said it before and i'll say it again: I don't think I can watch another movie about average-looking white guys trying to get laid. I don't find it as rich or compelling a subject matter as Hollywood seems to, considering the number of movies it churns out under that premise.
Well, IMDB's list isn't really a valid metric since you have to assume a.) the amount of people voting has grown along with the site's popularity and b.) newer films are more likely to be voted for than older ones. That said, who's to say Superbad ISN'T a better film than FMJ? It's too soon to say. Let me revisit Superbad in a decade and see how it holds up. After all, it'd be fair to say that if it's a movie like Trading Places ranked above FMJ, you wouldn't be so indignant.
About Superbad: the great thing about Superbad is that you had average-looking white guys trying to get laid by not-exactly-average-but-regular-looking girls. That's a rarity. Also the comedy was sort of naturalistic and didn't rely on overly-elaborate comic set-ups or plot-devices to deliver the goods. Plus how can you not like Michael Cera. He's adorable. Jonah Hill does grate after a while, but he's hilarious in measured doses. And McLovin'? I love that kid!
Maybe it's a guy thing. Since girls never have to endure the humiliation/frustration of trying to get a teenage girl to help alleviate our insufferable urges, they don't see the humor in revisiting those bittersweet memories.
Now if your beef was with Knocked Up, then I'd be with you there.
Chalk me up as one who thinks FMJ is a bit overrated. The first half, the famous Gomer Pyle section, is harrowing, tremendous, one of the greatest examples of a 'novella' sized movie. The second half, not just because it has Matthew Modine, sucks. I got annoyed by whiny pacifist guy and the whole story in general. The only thing of crypto-value to come out of that part is "me love you long time". That's from this one, right?
elw
Yes, the line immortalized in 2 Live Crew's classic song "Me So Horny" does indeed originate with that film.
If you want to see Kubrick's greatest anti-war film (and aren't all war movies really anti-war flicks?), you need to watch Paths of Glory.
Hey, I'm a girl and I don't just love Superbad, I HEART Superbad, like heart it with the "a" in heart actually drawn as a heart with a stem, like writing my name as Lakeisha Jenkins-Superbad on my Mead blue canvas looseleaf notebook.
While I completely understand (and agree) that the whole white guy trying to get laid well has been dipped into way too many times, there is just a basic humanity to Apatow comedies that I think transcends it. Yes we could root for the loser in all of us without him being represented by a slightly chubby or geeky white boy, but Apatow/Rogen are just writing what they know. I'd love for Hollywood to make a blockbuster comedy about a nerdy black girl winning in the end (Akeelah and the B-boys maybe???), but failing that, gimme superbad!!
-Lakeisha Jenkins
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