Superbad

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Let's go back to 2007. The epitome of a high school comedy was 'American Pie', and the now-big names in this were generally side characters in anything they've already been in. That is until writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg turned in a script to Judd Apatow that they had been working on since they were thirteen years old.

I tend to find a lot of people kinda take this title for granted. It ushered in a whole new era of comedy for another generation, and was a sort of launch pad for so many careers, symbolizing one gigantic break-out performance. It almost represents a new beginning.

The story involves three outcast guys on their last day of school. Evan (Michael Cera) has a crush on a girl named Rebecca (Martha MacIsaac) and wants to figure out how to tell her how he feels. Meanwhile, Seth (Jonah Hill), has a thing for another girl named Jules (Emma Stone), who ends up inviting him to a party she's throwing for the end of school.

Upon learning that Seth and Evan's friend Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is getting himself a fake ID, Jules asks if the boys can grab the alcohol for the party. But when they send Fogell into a convenience store for the alcohol, things go awry with a robbery, separating the group. While Seth is still dead set on getting alcohol for the party with the belief it'll get him laid, Evan is a little more concerned about the well-being of their friend. But then we have what actually happens to Fogell, often seen as the best part of the movie.

Two cops come to investigate the crime, Officer Michaels (Seth Rogen) and Officer Slater (Bill Hader), and offer Fogell a ride to where he needs to go. They get chummy with him though, and essentially turn into the coolest cops ever. This also manages to give Fogell a sort of sense of pride, thus transforming a super nerd into a bit of a, shall we say, randomized badass?

As I mentioned before, this one kinda represents the breakout role for so many of these actors; Emma Stone and Jonah Hill perhaps being the biggest, as they've since been nominated for Oscars. But before this, names like Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Emma Stone, etc. were kinda pushed to the background, often playing side characters. So they were recognizable enough (except maybe Stone) at the time, but this was the one that made their names truly known.

If none of that is enough for you, this was also where the phrase "F*ck my life" came from - or at the very least, the film that made it a popular saying. Considering how often that one's still kinda used, one can't say this didn't have a massive influence on our culture. As I said, it was kinda the beginning of a new era. Maybe that's all just my perspective, which is fine, but consider it - what REALLY did we have before this that was on par?

Of course, being that this is still a low-brow comedy, and often almost shockingly raunchy (there's a whole sequence having to do with a penis-drawing obsession), it's fair warning that this isn't gonna be a title for everyone. In fact, I know a few people who just plain hate it or refuse to watch it. But there is a group of us who appreciate it, as it comes so much closer to representing what we spoke like and acted like in high school. Well, some of us, anyway.

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