Harold & Kumar
When Harold and Kumar went to White Castle in 2004, there was little to say about their adventure. Naturally, they encountered some obstacles in their quest for tiny cheeseburgers, enough of which were funny enough that there was nothing to complain about.
With a working title of Harold & Kumar Go To Amsterdam, the film’s sequel seemed all set for more of the same. However, it now appears that instead of (or in addition to) getting super stoned and ambling around in search of food, Harold and Kumar have somehow landed themselves in a controversial American military prison
I haven’t read or heard much about the film, but merely the fact that they are calling it Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay is pretty fucking ballsy. I’m not sure if there has been a film, comedic or otherwise, to come out since 9/11 that seems to so blatantly mock any aspect of America’s anti-terrorism institutions. Good for the Harold & Kumar collective for throwing a curveball and finding a way to make a sequel that I otherwise probably wouldn’t have thought twice about.
April 29, 2008 at 6:30 pm
1. I’m sure there was an intentional racial metaphor in Harold and
Kumar going to White Castle in the original, and I think that’s cool.
Kumar apparently gives lectures at UPenn about the portrayal of
Asians in mass media.
2. The second movie was pretty retarded, but funny. You’re right
about the silly treatment of 9/11, etc. They also portray Bush as a
lovable pothead who’s sick of trying to live up to his father’s high
standards, just like Kumar.
3. They treat something serious as silly, you treat something silly
as serious. These are my two favorite things to do. In related news,
NYU film students absolutely hate it when you keep bringing up Billy
Madison in film class, especially when you compare it to something by
Antonioni or Fellini or whatever.
4. A.O. Scott is probably my favorite writer.
http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/movies/25kuma.html?scp=1&sq=Harold+Kumar&st=nyt