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The last two movies I saw in theaters cost me zero dollars. And the only thing better than free movies, is free movies that are also pretty awesome. The Bourne Ultimatum (which I have yet to get around to writing anything substantial about because every time I try to find the words, my brain goes numb and all I see is Jason kicking 27 kinds of ass, including mine), was the first, and tonight I had free passes to see Superbad. So, my cousin Nia and I hit up the Showcase Theaters in Norwood for our free sneak preview flick. Superawesome.

(Yep, that really is Dave Krumholtz. I know. I know.)

Written by Seth Rogen (Knocked Up, The 40-Year Old Virgin) and Evan Goldberg, and directed by Greg Mottola (who directed three episodes of blog famous Arrested Development), Superbad is a funky fresh teen sex comedy that takes it way past second base on the first date, but come morning after, you’re pretty glad it did. 

I went into this movie with absolutely no idea of just how raunchy it was going to be. And I guess I forget some of the bawdy, lowbrow humor from Virgin and Knocked Up, but we all know it was there, and sometimes, you just need that guilt-filled, borderline shocking laughter that can sometimes come all too easy.  It’s one of those movies that takes place over the course of one long day and at the end of the evening is, of course, a massive party where the ultimate goal of high school is to be carried out in full. That goal of course being, getting the hot girls drunk enough to sleep with you and send you off to college a well weathered sex god. And it goes without mention that the sex gods to be should be played by none other than Michael Cera (Arrested Development) and Jonah Hill (Knocked Up). Cera plays Evan, who to adults and those around him, is exactly like I would imagine George Michael from Arrested Development. Suit-wearing, well mannered, Quicken deducting George Michael in all of his nerdities, but when you get him anywhere near his best friend since elementary school, Seth (Hill), the profanity and obscenities fly far and free. Egg would not approve.  And to be totally honest, if it wasn’t coming from Cera, it would have just been awkward. But both boys deliver the most crude and explicative lines with the grace and, oddly enough, maturity of dirty, grown up men. In fact, I’m not entirely convinced that Michael Cera isn’t really 37 years old.

Heck, even if he isn’t 37 years old, he’s one of the most talented young actors I’ve ever seen and you can take that to the bank.

Because as one can imagine, life is anything but easy when you’re 17 and trying to accomplish your “goals”, the entire day is filled with scenarios and obstacles that take them through some of the most terrifying and hilarious situations that one could imagine, including becoming tragically separated from and losing their third amigo, Fogel, aka McLovin from the previews (newcomer Christopher Mintz-Plasse), to the best cop team I’ve ever seen, Officers Michaels and Slater, played by Bill Hader (SNL) and Rogen. Together, these three gave me the heartiest laughs of the whole movie and I’d love to see the buddy cop movie of Michaels and Slater’s patrol around town. The two of them made my face hurt from laughing so hard and there are not enough good things to say about how hilariously and awesomely Mintz-Plasse was able to compete with these two. Together, the three of them were by far my favorite part of the movie and I’m still all tickled just thinking about it.

For a while, you’re sitting there wondering how they can possibly end this movie with the crass humor that’s being thrown at you from left and right, but in an effort to avoid spoilers, I’ll just let you know that it ends in a way that’s perfect for what it is and keeps the spirits high long after the credits roll.

From top to bottom this movie is hilarious. From the shadowbox dancing of Cera and Hill at the beginning, the incredibly raunchy laughs that you have throughout and the stellar and fantastic performances of everyone involved, it’s just a good, dirty, supergreat time.

Superbad gets superreleased nationwide on August 17th. Check it out.

(Oh! And if you’re interested, I put a link on the blogroll over there, but, Michael Cera and his friend Clark Duke (who has a minuscule role in the movie)  have an absolutely hilarious website that features videos and further proof that Michael Cera really is a) 37 and b) funnier than you.)

 True Story: In front of us in the theater, there was this older couple, probably in their seventies. I imagine that their conversation at home went something like this: (For the sake of the story, their names are Max and Erma.)

Max: Erm, I went to that place that all the young folks go, Ha-bah-ner-o’s near the University today for lunch.

Erma: Oh?

Max: Yes, and at the counter, I noticed they were giving out free passes to go see a movie called “Super-Bad,” so I picked us up a pass. It’s for two people, so we could make it a date.

Erma: (Looks at the pass) Oh! It’s staring that lovely boy George Michael from Arrested Development! What a charming young man! Oh! And look! It’s that adorable little girl from the Pepsi commercials, all grown up! She’s put on a few pounds, but it’s her. I’d know those curls anywhere. Let’s go to bible study and then the movie. I think it sounds like a lovely evening, Dear.

Poor Max & Erma. Max was hard of hearing so he had to rent one of those headsets from the theater so he could hear the movie better, and I almost wish he hadn’t. A lot of the awkwardness in the movie was knowing that *beeeeeeeeeeep* was being pumped into Max’s head at a very high volume, just so he could hear every little last profanity and slur for female anatomy. Needless to say, they didn’t quite stay until the end. So much for Thursday night dates.

Preface: For those who don’t know, last Friday I got a brand new, abso-freakin’-lutely beautiful HDTV that I’m calling Darryl Hannah. She’s a beaut and the answer to your question is ‘Yes.’ I have developed a very deep and interpersonal relationship with my television set. Sue me.

Since I got the TV I’ve been watching a crap ton of Food Network because everything looks high-def enough to eat right off the screen. Watching all of this Food Network and having to prepare all my meals for myself, has really made me realize how much I truly do love cooking and spending time in the kitchen. So, you can imagine my excitement when last Sunday on my adventures around Boone County with Taylor and Joe, we stopped at a few farmer’s markets and we were able  to buy pretty peppers, potatoes, green beans, giant onions, sweet corn, eggplant, delicious cantalope and homemade jam! In fact, that night, Joe, Taylor and I used some of our new ingredients to make quite the filling and delicious dinner! But, I was pretty upset when I realized that because of work scheduling or other commitments (like seeing SUPERBAD tonight!! Full report later, I promise!) I wouldn’t be cooking a nice meal for myself until Tuesday! Well, all my delicious veggies will be no where near fresh by then, so I took today’s special circumstance to make myself a fantastic and easy late lunch/early dinner!

 

I figured that a good way to use up some of these veggies would be to make some sort of concoction where I could use a lot of them at once. Being that I had one bell pepper that I was especially anxious to try, as well as some other things, I decided to make a stuffed bell pepper with ground turkey and some other fun veggies, too.

First I put the ground turkey and EVOO on the skillet and let it get pretty well cooked before I threw on the veggies that I knew wouldn’t take too long to cook. While the turkey was cooking up, I cut off the top of my round bell pepper and cleaned out the inside and once that was cleaned out, I rubbed basil and garlic powder all on the inside of the pepper, because as you should know by now, I cannot cook without garlic.

When the turkey was pretty well cooked, I put in a diced onion, sliced garlic, crushed garlic, Hungarian hot pepper and some oregano, salt and basil and a few dashes of Tabasco. When the onions started to look a little toasty, I threw on some ketchup to cool off the heat brought on by the Hungarian hot peppers and the Tabasco. When everything was simmering, I threw on the pepper, open side down to the skillet and let it get a little bit soft and let the basil and garlic get it on before they were rudely interruped by the Ground Turkey Gang which got scooped into the pepper by an ice cream scooper and left to soak up the heat on the skillet for about 5 minutes. When that was all said and done, I covered the top with shredded mozzarella cheese (my favorite) and basil and let it all continue hang out while I started to clean up my cooking mess.

 Once all was said and done, and I decided it was still plenty spicy, I put a squirt of Ranch dressing on the plate to help cool down my mouth if it ended up spontaneously catching on fire from the Hungarian hots. I’m glad I did because it was… whew. Spicy. But good spicy, not flavor-masking spicy.

And that’s that!

Who knows, maybe someday soon, I’ll muster up the courage to once again face my fear of cooking fish.

Terrifying.

Til next time, let’s go cooking!

Note! In recent images of the cover of the Season 3 DVD, Prison Mike has been replaced with Regular Mike. Oh, well. 

As we’ve known for a while, September 4th will see the release of Season 3 of The Office on DVD (and Season 4 of Nip/Tuck, too! This will be a very expensive day!) .

BUT! But, but, but! Before you jump on over and get a sweet deal over at Amazon on a pre-order… read this!

Remember last year how Best Buy released the most massively thoughtful and fantastic DVD Gift Set ever? It included Seasons 1 and 2 as well as other Office odds and ends like a pen, post it pad, magnet and a cool little desk calendar with special Michael Scott notations. And it came in a super cool mini file box! The kind you would use on your last day when you got canned from your job and needed to take your desk plant and picture frame home. The Gift Set was thusly called, The Severance Package.

Beautiful. I love these people.

ANYWAY, according to Best Buy’s website, there is going to be a Limited Edition Gift Set for Season 3, too! No word on any specifics yet, but you best believe I’ll let you know as soon as I do. This is likely to be an in-store pick up item only, so just be sure that you get there ASAP on September 4th! I know I will!