It’s not often that an original creation for the internet crushes servers and becomes a worldwide sensation. Of course, when such a project involves Joss Whedon, all bets are off – and when that project turns out to be the brilliant Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, well, you just have to sit up and take notice.
The story – Billy, a.k.a. Dr. Horrible [Neil Patrick Harris], wants to win the heart of Penny [Felicia Day] and join the Evil League of Evil, but the conceited superhero, Captain Hammer [Nathan Fillion] keeps getting in way… on both fronts – is simple, twisted and thoroughly entertaining. It may take a dark turn, but Whedon has been subverting people’s expectations ever since Brain-Dead Poets Society, the episode of Roseanne in which ultra-jock Darlene had to read a poem she’d written – in public! So, the thing is, nobody should have been surprised.
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Tags:
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog,
DVD Reviews,
Felicia Day,
Joss Whedon,
Nathan Fillion,
Neil Patrick Harris
With “Awards Season” in full swing, we come to my favorite awards show to watch – The Golden Globes [the Globes' new look featured, above]. Where else can you see an award winner rush from the little girls’ room to the stage, trailing a piece of toilet paper from her shoe [Christine Lahti, you are immortal because of this], or another award winner insist upon giving his award to the actor who inspired him to become an actor [the only award Jack Lemmon ever got that was voted for by a panel of one – and who knows how many other actors he inspired...?]. Thank you speeches that come from the heart or, on occasion, from a few too many drinks… The Golden Globes are fun because you get more moments from real people than all the other awards shows combined [excepting, possibly, The Spirit Awards]. Plus, the Globes honor movies and television – so there are twice as many opportunities for entertainment. So, here, after the jump, here are the nominees and my choices.
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Tags:
Alec Baldwin,
Amy Adams,
Anna Paquin,
Anne Hathaway,
Colin Farrell,
Danny Boyle,
David Fincher,
Diane Wiest,
Frances McDormand,
Heath Ledger,
Jon Hamm,
Laura Linney,
Michael C. Hall,
Mickey Rourke,
Neil Patrick Harris,
Paul Giamatti,
Tina Fey,
Wall-E
In Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, the pair’s craving for a specific kind of fast food was turned into an epic quest – call it the stoner version of Homer’s Odyssey. Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay turns them into the mutant spawn of The Fugitive and Hope & Crosby’s “Road” movies.
When Harold [John Cho] and Kumar [Kal Penn] head for Amsterdam hours after the first movie’s conclusion, they are victimized by racial profiling and mistaken for terrorists when Kumar’s high tech bong is mistaken for a bomb. After being tossed into Guantanamo Bay, they escape – with idiot Homeland Security Agent Ron Fox [Rob Corddry] hot on their heels. Throughout, Kumar fills the Bob Hope role by getting the pair into further difficulties, while Harold is the sensible one.
While taking accurate shots at aspects of the current political situation, Escape From Guantanamo Bay’s funniest gag is that these absolutely normal American guys could be getting into all this trouble just because they want to smoke a bit o’ weed and find their One True Loves. Throw in Neil Patrick Harris – once again playing the Bizarro World version of himself – shattered and reinforced redneck stereotypes and a delightful take on Dubya [here, he may not speak real good English, but he’s slyer, smarter and mellower than we are expecting] and the result is a solidly funny movie that Says Something more by highlighting the characters of Harold and Kumar than by the political jokes.
Somehow, the crude, lewd and grotesque bits that are meant to be funny actually are funny – and the relationships [buddies Harold and Kumar; each of them and their OTLs] work because, at its heart, there is an innocent [yes, innocent] charm to these guys.
Final Grade: B
Tags:
Hayden Schlossberg,
John Cho,
Jon Hurwitz,
Kal Penn,
Neil Patrick Harris,
Rob Corddry,
Stoner Comedy
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