‘Superbad’ even better on DVD
Film Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Extras Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
“Superbad” DVD
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Rarely do we encounter a film that describes the lives of adolescent males as accurately as “Superbad.” It’s vile, disgusting and sex-driven, but then again, so are adolescent males. It fits.
A movie suited more appropriately for DVD players – inside jokes tossed around over a beer or during late-night, laptop study breaks – than embarrassingly public movie theaters, “Superbad” is unquestionably more enjoyable when seen in an intimate setting. Watching it in your living room makes the palpably awkward situations that Evan (Michael Cera, TV’s “Arrested Development”) and Seth (Jonah Hill, “Knocked Up”) encounter throughout the movie even more realistic.
And while the film itself is the real gem, the special features are similarly priceless. The hilarious “Everyone Hates Michael Cera” is a skit mocking Cera’s overly genial personality while the litany of voicemails Hill leaves on Cera’s phone (“Michael’s Voicemails from Jonah”) are strangely hilarious. A short skit of “The Vag-tastic Voyage” is truly jarring, but the film’s good-natured qualities return when Hill is forced to interact with snakes, spiders and frogs on “Snakes on Jonah.”
Whether or not you appreciate the often despicable characters, “Superbad” is worth its weight in laughs, which, as you probably know, don’t weigh much.
CHRIS GAERIG
Somehow, parking tickets entertain
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
“Parking Wars”
Tuesdays at 10 p.m.
A&E
Double-parked, double-parked, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when you have no change on you?
“Parking Wars,” A&E’s new tongue-in-cheek reality show, centers on the Philadelphia Parking Authority and how its workers, as disgruntled citizens put it, “ticket first, ask questions later.” And somehow, it delivers. The emotional rants of aggravated ticket recipients, coupled with an ironic soundtrack, make for entertaining TV. Watching a woman cry over her towed car while the song “You Don’t Know What You Got ‘Til You Lose It” plays is a magical experience, as is one man’s critical analysis of the parking authority. Apparently Philly parking cops have a lot in common with Hitler’s Gestapo.
The charming personalities, the hail of insults and the rapping – yes, there’s a rapping parking cop – all elicit sympathy for the PPA employees, who spend their days surrounded by a constant, negative backlash.
“Parking Wars” might not be enough to make you feel better about waiting an hour to claim your car from some barb-wired car jail, but there’s something pleasurable about laughing at exasperated people and “meter maids.”
JOHN DAAVETTIL