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A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas: A Highly Recommended Holiday Treat

Becky Kirsch — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:48:34 PDT

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas is, in a word, silly. But here's why I loved it: the ridiculous hijnks made me laugh out loud, the 3D actually makes the movie much better, and it packs just the right amount of humor and holiday cheer into the metaphorical pipe.

It's been seven years since Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn's) fateful trip to White Castle, and they've grown up quite a bit since then. Well, at least Harold has - now married and settled down in the New Jersey suburbs, Harold has left his days getting high with Kumar behind in favor of making the big bucks on Wall Street and trying to start a family. Aimless Kumar, on the other hand, is hitting his bong harder than ever now that girlfriend Vanessa has dumped him. The former BFFs are brought back together by a mysterious package for Harold that shows up on Kumar's door. When its contents - a giant joint - sets fire to the prized Christmas tree grown by Harold's overbearing father-in-law, the incident ignites a reunion for the guys as they set out to replace the Frasier Fir.

To see why I loved taking another ride with Harold & Kumar, just

The formula is basic: it's a night of horrible incident after horrible incident that would make you want to crawl under your seat if it wasn't so entertaining. As Harold and Kumar are consistently thwarted from their plan of securing a tree, they encounter gangsters, a strangely endearing waffle-making robot, and of course - Neil Patrick Harris. Peppered throughout are nods to other holiday films and the Harold & Kumar franchise itself. Devotees of the franchise will appreciate the winks, but the movie also stands on its own just fine.

3D movies are a dime a dozen these days, which is why I especially appreciated the fact that Harold and Kumar plays up the technology at every turn. We're talking smoke rings in your face, egg yolk in your face, and the like, but the execution enhances the experience like no movie since Avatar. The humor here is raunchy, over-the-top, and often offensive, but it also happens to be side-splittingly funny. If you've seen the first two Harold & Kumar movies, then you know what comes with the territory, so it's best to just let the jokes leap out of the screen and come right at ya.

Harold and Kumar's rift is easily the most believable aspect of the plot, and their wounded egos and jabs at each other give the film heart (an important piece that was missing from Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay). What ultimately keeps A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas on track is the message that's buried under all the drugs and nudity: tis the season to forgive and forget. And if you're anything like Harold & Kumar - to get high with a little help from your friends.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas Trailer: Tis the Season to Shoot Santa in the Face

Becky Kirsch — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 08:36:35 PDT

It might feel wrong to watch a trailer for a Christmas movie in August, but A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas certainly isn't your standard warm-and-fuzzy holiday fare. Sure, there's snow and Santa, and, um, Jesus, but there's also scantily clad ladies, beer pong, and, of course, some pot smoking. In the third installment of Harold and Kumar's adventures, the guys meet up after a few years of estrangement and set out on a quest to replace Harold's father-in-law's perfect Christmas tree. You'd never be able to garner that from this trailer though, which is a mishmash of random jokes, some Christmas references, and a solid ad for the 3D. Oh, and there's some Claymation in there, too.

If the actual film has more plot than what we see here, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas could make a nice addition to atypical holiday movies like Bad Santa. If not, Neil Patrick Harris does a song-and-dance number, so there's that. Check it out when you

Link Time - Alexander Skarsgard to Play a Viking

BuzzSugar — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:37:17 PDT

Alexander Skarsgard will play a Viking in his next film - Moviefone
See which Glee kids won't be returning for season 4 - The Hollywood Reporter
Take a look at the The Harry Potter movies throughout the years - Rotten Tomatoes
Teen Wolf will return for a second season - Aol TV
10 memorable French characters on TV - Zap2It
Can you guess which Harry Potter character said these lines? - GeekSugar
Natasha Lyonne joins cast of American Reunion - Deadline
See another new photo from The Hobbit - /Film
Kal Penn is coming to HIMYM - TVLine

Do You Give Yourself Time Off Between Jobs?

SavvySugar — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:15:49 PDT

Kal Penn gave notice to his old job acting on House three months ago, and yesterday he completed his first day as a liaison between the White House and Asian communities. Three months is probably more of a job hiatus than most of us can afford, but it's not rare that I hear of people taking off a few weeks when they're changing jobs. How have you approached time off between jobs?

Link Time! 4/9

BuzzSugar — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:30:16 PDT

Save One Show is back - can your fave get saved? - Watch with Kristin
This "trailer" for an Everybody Poops movie spoofing Where the Wild Things Are cracks me up. - Cinematical
Speaking of spoofiness, did you catch "Kanye West" on South Park last night? - Popwatch
Chuck week continues with some fun Chuck polls. - Give Me My Remote
Check out No Doubt covering Adam and the Ants' "Stand & Deliver." - PopSugar
Leonard Nimoy as William Bell on Fringe: highly illogical? - The TV Addict
Speaking of which, someone may have cracked the Fringe symbols code. - TV.com
More on Kal Penn's new White House gig. - CitizenSugar
Ben Silverman's time at NBC, in handy charts and graphs. - Vulture

Would You Give Up Your Job For One That Pays Less?

SavvySugar — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:30:39 PDT

Anyone who saw Monday's episode of House knows that Kal Penn is no longer part of the cast. His character shocked viewers by committing suicide on the show, and off-screen he made an unexpected career decision that has people talking.

The actor is taking his talent from the hospital set to the White House and will assume his new role as associate director in the Office of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs. He commented, "There's not a lot of financial reward in these jobs. Obviously, the opportunity to serve in a capacity like this is an incredible honor."

Undoubtedly, Penn's previous well-paying jobs allow him greater flexibility than most of us, but would you be able to voluntarily give up your position for one that pays less?

Source

Kal Penn on Why He's Moving From House to the White House

CitizenSugar — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 00:01:07 PDT

Kal Penn can add White House staffer to his resume, which already includes a stint on House and a successful escape from Guantanamo Bay prison as Kumar Patel.

Yesterday, the budding politico jumped on the phone to chat about his decision to leave House to go work for President Obama. Here are the highlights:

Penn asked for the job. After volunteering for the campaign, he was drawn to "the types of change that President Obama had campaigned on and the opportunity to bring those changes into fruition was incredibly moving."
He's talked to the boss. Penn said he spoke to "the president, and some of his aides. I reached out that this was something that I really wanted to do. I'm deeply honored and feel deeply privileged."
What will he be doing exactly? "I will be an associate director in the White House Office of Public Liaison. They try to take the administration itself out of Washington so they go into communities across the country and continue the sorts of dialogue that they started during the campaign."

Since actors typically make the jump to politics later in life, it's refreshing to see a younger talent follow a dream of serving the public.

Source

What Does That Shocking House Death Mean For the Show?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:30:25 PDT

As I mentioned in today's rundown, Kal Penn has decided to trade House for the White House. Today, the actor-turned-political outreach liaison and his former bosses, House executive producers David Shore and Katie Jacobs, hopped on the phone to talk about Penn's decision, Kutner's death, and what it all means for the show going forward. Here are some key things to know:

Penn's interest in politics is nothing new. "Growing up, I always had two passions, one being public service and the other being the arts and acting," said Penn, who described himself as "formerly a very cynical independent" (now less cynical, but still an independent). During President Obama's campaign, he worked on outreach for young voters, Asian Americans, and the arts, and he'll now be doing something similar in an official capacity.
He was surprised to hear about Kutner's suicide, too. "I loved playing Kutner, and there was more than a little bit of shock and loss when I found that out," he said. And he said he liked the mystery with which his character went out: "People did feel types of loss and anger and confusion about [Kutner]," he said. "I don't think you would have gotten that same feeling if it had been a very Kutner-heavy episode where you see his trials and tribulations. . . . I asked if there was anything in his background that might have indicated [he'd be suicidal] or any warning signs. The answer generally was no. It's kind of tough [as an actor] to know that he was obviously tormented by something but didn't share it with anyone."
Kutner's death will have a lasting impact: "It'll resonate at least through the end of the season," Shore said. "It's a question House can't answer, and he has an answer for everything. That's what was really exciting, the unexpected nature of it."
The element of mystery was key to Kutner's exit: "Had we seen some major dilemma in his personal life, we couldn't have done this story the way we did," Shore said. "If he'd just broken up with a girlfriend, even though the answer would have been much more complicated than that, that would have been something that somebody could just hang on to."

For which characters will have a significant reaction to Kutner's death, just

Cameron and Chase's reaction will be in the spotlight: "We are gonna see, perhaps surprisingly, more of Cameron and Chase's reaction to it - and of course House's reaction and Wilson's reaction," Shore said. Ultimately, though, the producers said House will have the hardest time coping: "He has no resources," Jacobs said. "He has no family to go home to."
We'll probably never know what made Kutner do it: "Something went on in that man's head, but it went on in that man's head, and that is ultimately unknowable," Shore said. "Knowing that and accepting that is a more interesting issue than trying to put a little pin in the answer."
As for Penn, he's not retiring from acting for good. "I'm not packing up and saying I'm leaving Hollywood and all this sort of stuff," he said. "I'm just pursuing another passion right now." He plans to spend at least a year or two in Washington, and he'll be on a total break from acting during that time - which, he acknowledged, probably means no more Harold and Kumar sequels.

Photo courtesy of Fox

House Rundown: Episode 20, "Simple Explanation"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:30:56 PDT

In this age of spoilers, I'm always impressed when a TV show manages to pull off something shocking. So kudos to House for keeping a secret; that made what happened in Monday's episode mean even more. To say more would risk ruining it for those who haven't seen it, so if you're ready to chat, just

If you'd asked me which House character would be most likely to commit suicide, I never would have said Kutner. Taub, sure. Foreman? Wouldn't have been surprised. Thirteen? Definitely. Even Wilson and Cuddy have gone through things this season that could drive them to the edge. But Kutner? He's the goofy one, the Guiness Book of Records crawling champ, and the surprisingly good doctor who - in his last act on House's team - let Taub take credit for one of his discoveries. And maybe that's why it's so interesting for him to commit suicide: There is no simple explanation. House, whose entire idea of himself is built around solving mysteries, can't crack this one.

As he tries to figure it out, House does some truly terrible things. Telling Kutner's parents it's their fault? That's awful, and even though he does look a little shamed when he realizes how far over the line he's gone, that's not a thing you take back. He's ruthless in his investigation, breaking into Kutner's apartment multiple times to search for clues (to the shock of Wilson, though I don't really know why: House's primary motivation is never kindness). And in the end, there's nothing - no outward signs of pain, no diary. House even believes for a while that Kutner must have been murdered; he can come up with a better explanation for that than for why Kutner would take his own life.

Watching the rest of the doctors deal with Kutner's death reveals a few interesting things: One, Foreman doesn't know how to get and give support in a time of crisis. He's used to dealing with things alone, so he rejects Thirteen at first - but finally steps forward at the funeral to take her hand. Two, Taub would rather wait with his dying patient than mourn the death of his friend. But this episode also made me sad that Kutner (and Kal Penn) didn't get to do more on the show. The fact that Kutner is a blank slate may be why his suicide is intriguing, but it made me feel much less than Amber's death did last year, simply because Amber was such a rich character and Kutner (other than a few key touches, like his childhood trauma or his geekiness) was always on the periphery. I'm sorry to see Kutner go, and I wish we could have known him better first.

Some other thoughts:

It's impossible to separate what happened from why, so here's the quick answer: Kal Penn asked to leave the show to go work in President Obama's White House. ~~I'll be talking to him, and to House producers David Shore and Katie Jacobs, later today, so leave any questions in the comments.~~ Update: Here's more on that.
The patient-of-the-week story barely held my attention given everything else that was going on, but I will say there seemed to be some pretty significant ethical lapses going on re: potentially letting patients die rather than treating them appropriately. An intentional side effect of Kutner's suicide? Or did the writers figure we wouldn't spend a lot of time picking apart the case when there was so much else going on?
So who's looked at Fox's Kutner memorial yet? It's a very web-savvy thing to put together, but at the same time, something feels very eerie about it. And I wish there were some info about prevention of actual suicides (which I'm glad they included at the end of the show).
Everything in this episode was so dark! Especially at the beginning, that upped the eerie feeling; the first shot back in the hospital after Foreman and Thirteen find Kutner felt particularly ghastly.

Were you shocked by Kutner's death? Sad to see him go? Wondering what this will mean for the rest of the season?

Photos courtesy of Fox

House Rundown: Episode 18, "Here Kitty"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:30:59 PDT

This week's episode of House finds the team chasing around a "death cat," a little gray kitty named Debbie who's come to some amount of fame (at least local TV fame) by predicting deaths of nursing home patients. Meanwhile, Taub thinks he's found a way out of some financial and personal misery, but that ends up being a trickier proposition than it looks. To chat about it, just

I suppose if this episode had a theme, it would be "believing in stuff" - and, as usual, House seems to come out ahead. His adherence to facts and science gets him not just an explanation for the death cat but also keeps him from falling prey to a con artist who wants to take all his money and run (ahem, Taub). There were some funny moments, and it's always nice to see Judy Greer get a job, but episodes like this where House's beliefs aren't really challenged always turn out to be a little on the dull side for me.

I would have liked it better if the writers had really gone full-force into showing everyone's superstitions. Instead, we just got poor Kutner edging his way around the ladder as he leaves the room and tossing salt over his shoulder. I'm not surprised he ends up becoming the victim of a particularly mean-spirited House prank ("do you like cranberry juice?"), though he seems to have gotten some revenge at the end with the cat pee - or, perhaps, "cat pee" - on House's chair. The show draws a little parallel between the patient being superstitious because her son died and Kutner being superstitious because his parents died, but it didn't have a ton of oomph for me.

Even though it's a tangent, I actually enjoyed Taub's storyline on its own. He's apparently going through some tough financial times - he's not making high-powered plastic surgeon money anymore, and he lost a bunch of money in the stock market - so when a guy he maybe kinda remembers from high school shows up at the hospital and thanks him for treating a minor problem with cigars and expensive scotch, he sees a chance at a different life. But his golden parachute turns out to be a major scam, and Taub's only saving grace is that he didn't turn over his money. So it's back to the team - with a big box of donuts, just as House predicted - to a job he never really liked in the first place.

The death cat story itself seems pretty lightweight, but it has its moments, including House's James Bond reference and the rather evil decision to test the cat's death-predicting powers in the coma ward. While House hates the whole idea of cat as omen, he doesn't seem to mind the cat itself, considering he rustled up a litter box and some genetically modified mice for it.

A couple of other thoughts:

I did like the patient's argument for why she believes in things: "If there's no greater purpose in the world, that's not a world I want to live in."
Love how House so accurately predicts that if Taub doesn't actually have another job lined up, he won't follow through with quitting.
House, when the cat is making particularly nasty-sounding noises in the elevator: "Stop it, Dr. Wilson! It's just not cute anymore!"
Also, House to Cuddy when Cuddy suggests the hospital will end up getting sued for House's work on this case: "I wish there was a lawsuit cat that would warn you."

What did you all think? And was the heavy emphasis on Kutner and Taub to make up for all the Foreman/Thirteen earlier in the season?

Photos courtesy of Fox