A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas (review)
I’ve been trying to think of what aspect of the third installment of the stoner saga of Harold and Kumar pisses me off the most, and I think I’ve settled on it: many of the same movie fans who will moan and groan at the prospect of the star-studded round-robin romantic comedy New Year’s Eve will lap this up, but it’s just as pandering and just as preposterous. Want to make manchildren laugh? Blow some weed smoke out at them in 3D. Call something “Avatarded” as a compliment. Get a baby high. Throw in a subplot about a “hot virgin I met on the Internet” who’s horny for a manchild. (That, right there, must be one of the most brilliantly pandering things a movie has ever come up with. Credit to screenwriter Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg for knowing their audience.) Shoot Santa Claus in the head. Throw something out at the audience in 3D and have it “break the glass” of the camera. Injure a penis. Introduce a robot that makes waffles. Presume that ethnic stereotypes are funny when directed at other people but sad and demeaning when directed at our “heroes.” Turn attempted rape into a joke that is hilarious because it’s a guy who pretends to be gay who’s attempting it. (Perhaps Neil Patrick Harris [The Smurfs] gets a kick out of pretending to be a rapist.) Give it all to a TV director -- Todd Strauss-Schulson -- who makes shorts with titles such as “Sorority Pillow Fight” and “Big Pussy.” As Harold (John Cho: Star Trek) and Kumar (Kal Penn: The Namesake) rekindle their friendship on Christmas Eve as they hunt down a Christmas tree to replace the one they burned up, all of their misadventures are cheaply and lazily calculated to be considered “awesome” by eternally 12-year-old boys who are afraid of women and of adult life -- or are nostalgic for such a time. It makes me wonder what comedy might look like if our culture expected men to grow up before they’re 40. The only good thing I can say about this flick: I’m glad to see a successful, popular franchise featuring two nonwhite actors in (mostly) color-blind roles -- I even really like Cho and Penn. I just can’t stand Harold and Kumar. If we could move on to getting these guys and other nonwhite actors such roles in good movies, that’d be real progress. Disqus commentsblog comments powered by Disqus |
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Fri Dec 09 11, 1:36PM categories: reviews > 2011 theatrical releases permalink Disqus comments infoNorth America release date: Nov 4 2011 U.K. release date: Dec 9 2011 Flick Filosopher Real Rating: rated BCT: bad Christmas trip MPAA: rated R for strong crude and sexual content, graphic nudity, pervasive language, drug use and some violence BBFC: rated 18 (contains frequent drug use) viewed at a private screening with an audience of critics official site IMDB trailer more reviews at: Movie Review Query Engine Movie Review Intelligence dvdRegion 1 release date: Feb 7 2012 Amazon U.S. Amazon Canada Region 2 release date: TBA Amazon U.K. tip jarshare
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Christmas/holidayHayden Schlossberg John Cho Jon Hurwitz Kal Penn Neil Patrick Harris New Year's Eve Todd Strauss-Schulson Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas comedy fantasy grossout related· today in studio asskissing: Harold and Kumar are here to kill the Christmas child inside you · A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas (trailer) · question of the day: Is ABC trying to kill ‘FlashForward’? · can Twitter predict box office?; reality shows hit a new low; buy your way into X-Men; and more: leftover links · question of the day: What do you think of Kal Penn qutting acting to work for Obama? · New Year’s Eve (review) · AWFJ announces 2011 awards · question of the day: What was the most sexist movie or movie moment in 2011? · must reads: “‘New Year’s Eve’: 10 Things That Could Never Happen as They Happened” · question of the day: What is the magic equation to gets people to go to the movies... or to stay away? bloggyprevious post: The Three Stooges (trailer) next post: Doctor Who thing of the day: play chess with the Doctor |









