Superbad

[Gamblour.]

Michael Cera is a comic genius. McLovin and the cops were funny sometimes, but it felt too serious at many points, like when McLovin grabbed the gun, I was pretty sure he was gonna blow his head off Pulp Fiction style.

[MacGuffin]

Mottola set to direct 'Adventureland'
Miramax movie is next project after 'Superbad'
Source: Variety

Greg Mottola, who ended a decade-long gap between feature directing gigs with "Superbad," is set to helm "Adventureland" for Miramax and Sidney Kimmel.

Produced by Gotham indie shingle This is That, the pic is also to be scriped by Mottola. Jesse Eisenberg ("The Squid and the Whale") is attached to star. Shooting is set for this fall in Pittsburgh.

The film, set in the summer of 1987, concerns an uptight recent college grad who is forced to take a minimum wage job at the local amusement park after realizing he can't afford his dream European tour. The experience helps him to loosen up a bit as he finds first love, forms new friendships and matures just in time to enter the real world in the fall.

Ted Hope and Anne Carey of This is That will produce, along with Kimmel.

"It's so rare to read a smart comedy like this one with great characters and emotional depth," said Keri Putnam, Miramax production prexy.

[Stefen]

"Fuckin' funny."

[Ravi]

GT was commenting towards the insane amount of critics calling the film "sincere" and "authentic" when it's really just a silly episodic comedy.

admin edit: Effing SPOILS

You guys are all fucking nerds to take Superbad to heart.

But, I guess that's accurate since the film is about nerds. It's relatable on generic terms but it doesn't document my high school life. I didn't get the chicks those guys got at the end. It's all Hollywood.

Its silly and episodic, but it also is sincere.  Sure, its exaggerated, but the emotions at the heart of the film are real.  This is clearly not a literal, realistic document of two unpopular high school guys.

And its damn funny.

[Gold Trumpet]

GT was commenting towards the insane amount of critics calling the film "sincere" and "authentic" when it's really just a silly episodic comedy.

admin edit: Effing SPOILS

You guys are all fucking nerds to take Superbad to heart.

But, I guess that's accurate since the film is about nerds. It's relatable on generic terms but it doesn't document my high school life. I didn't get the chicks those guys got at the end. It's all Hollywood.

Its silly and episodic, but it also is sincere.  Sure, its exaggerated, but the emotions at the heart of the film are real.  This is clearly not a literal, realistic document of two unpopular high school guys.

And its damn funny.

I don't see how this movie is more insightful than any other comedy of its kind. I see how it is funnier, but all comedies like this are made to include a few sincere and heartfelt moments. That isn't an achievement on its own. It's just a modern staple of a genre.

There are comedies like Diner and Beautiful Girls that are about their subject first and jokes second. It's pretty obvious the jokes came first with Superbad.

[Ravi]

SPOILERS

I don't see how this movie is more insightful than any other comedy of its kind. I see how it is funnier, but all comedies like this are made to include a few sincere and heartfelt moments. That isn't an achievement on its own. It's just a modern staple of a genre.

Its more insightful in that it doesn't take an "us vs. them" stance between the protagonists and the girls.  Seth and Evan think that they have to get girls like them drunk to be with them, but they aren't as unapproachable as tey think. The film embraces its more uncomfortable moments when a film with poorer writing or direction would have simply reveled in the zeal of being young and trying to get laid without giving much thought to the tension that goes with it.  Of course, the movie exaggerates things, but that emotional core is there.

The "I love you" scene near the end is a good example of what makes this movie insightful.  Only when they're trashed would two straight teenagers say they love each other.  And this is how they truly feel, given that they are best friends.  Of course, when they wake up, they pretend (or forget) the conversation ever happened, Seth makes a comment about Evan's mother's tits, and they act the way they usually do.

There are comedies like Diner and Beautiful Girls that are about their subject first and jokes second. It's pretty obvious the jokes came first with Superbad.

On the contrary.  The characters get into initially believable situations that become over-the-top and spin out of control.  Why do they go to all those lengths just to bring alcohol to the party?  So the girls will like them and they will get laid.  The middle part of the film where Evan and Seth are at that adult party is somewhat meandering, but that part of the movie exists to show what hell these characters will go through (including getting into a car with a creep).  These aren't pointless set pieces designed just to use some gags.

[modage]

The "I love you" scene near the end is a good example of what makes this movie insightful.  Only when they're trashed would two straight teenagers say they love each other.  And this is how they truly feel, given that they are best friends.  Of course, when they wake up, they pretend (or forget) the conversation ever happened, Seth makes a comment about Evan's mother's tits, and they act the way they usually do.

this might be my favorite scene in the movie because it is so incredibly (truthfully?) uncomfortable.  but i hate the audiences i have seen the film with both times because everyone expects them to actually make out or something.  its ridiculous. 

[Stefen]

Yeah, I don't see how people are trying to play this flick off like a feel good story about two friends. Maybe in the same way Cheech and Chong is. It's a straight up comedy. The American Pie flicks did the same thing, does that mean they are heartfelt comedies? It was just a funny comedy. People turn it into something it's not, just because they like the people involved.

[Ravi]

I'm not saying its a feel-good story. The friendship of the two main characters is established in a way so that the film isn't just a bunch of crazy scenes.  This isn't Stand By Me, but its got more than you are giving it credit for.

[Stefen]

It's a touching story about friends the same way American Pie is a touching story about friends. Big difference is Superbad is actually funny, really funny.

[ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ]

Why is everyone so apprehensive to give credit to Superbad past "it's just a funny movie"?  I wouldn't put this on par with American Pie.  American Pie went for all kinds of physical humor and one-liners and was about a bunch of friends trying to get laid before they all graduated.  Superbad had similar themes but was definitely saying so much more.  Superbad showed a different level of friendship between the two main characters.

They wanted to find surrogates for each other, but in appropriate ways for their relationship.  Seth wanted to find a girl to fill a void that his friend would leave him with and he knows the only way that he could be with a girl is if her judgment lapses, but really it's also apparent that the alcohol is just as necessary to him because it's something he feels he has to do as opposed to what he wants to do.  He makes this quite clear by being so short with his best friend, but acting like he didn't know that he and McLovin were sharing a room until he reveals it at the end of the movie.

Evan only wants to assist Seth in acquiring alcohol because he's trying to humor Seth.  Evan doesn't like how it tastes, isn't used to it, and has to reassure himself that getting a blowjob is a good thing.  Evan isn't looking to get into a relationship before he goes, he's just doing what he figures will help Seth detatch from him. 

Granted, you could just laugh at the movie and find it to be a flat out comedy, but this isn't just site gags, it's a lot of interpersonal relationships and subtle ways of how they tie together and break apart.  However, it deals with teens, so it appeals to teens.  It's made in a buddy comedy fashion because that's what it is, but it's a real buddy comedy.  Not a movie about friends, but how close they really were and what they felt they had to do to grow up.

[last days of gerry the elephant]

admin edit: Effing SPOILS
I didn't get the chicks those guys got at the end. It's all Hollywood.

I think this is a stronger point that goes to show this film is nothing more than a pretentious attempt at showcasing what nerds 'are all about'. It just appropriates a bunch of personalities that are so common in high school, including situations/events (yeah like that one when they're sleeping together drunk on the floor sharing feelings).

As GT mentioned (or in other words), most if not all comedies are constructed in some sort of formula and this film didn't break any convention(s). I would say it was fun to watch/laugh at, but it's not memorable and all that 'insightful' jazz... Of course, unless your some teen that had something to learn from it. Then I suppose it can be seen as insightful. But I don't think critics praising this are exactly 16 years old.

[Ravi]

admin edit: Effing SPOILS
I didn't get the chicks those guys got at the end. It's all Hollywood.

I think this is a stronger point that goes to show this film is nothing more than a pretentious attempt at showcasing what nerds 'are all about'. It just appropriates a bunch of personalities that are so common in high school, including situations/events (yeah like that one when they're sleeping together drunk on the floor sharing feelings).

These kinds of things occur in movies because in some form or another they happen in real life.  Jules might be considered out of Seth's league, but she's never depicted as a stuck-up person who wouldn't give someone like Seth the time of day.  She was pretty friendly.  Likewise with Becca and Evan.  The guys are nervous because they're afraid of rejection, but the girls are more approachable than they think.  Which is mostly how it is in real life.  I don't think most guys ever get over that nervousness around girls, even as adults, and even if they know they shouldn't be so shy.

The three protagonists aren't shown to be huge nerds.  They like video games, they watch porn.  Common teenage boy pursuits.  At worst they slip under the radar most of the time, but they're not outcasts.  A bully spit on Seth, but who doesn't have at least one "enemy" at school?

By "insightful" I mean that the film honestly captures something of what its like to be a teenager and how boys this age usually view girls with a mixture of objectification and fear.

[pumba]

This is hilarious:

[squints]

This is hilarious a waste of time: