A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas

Expectations:
I don't know about you, but I love Harold and Kumar. They are undoubtedly the funniest potheads, this side of Cheech and Chong. But, even more than that, I freakin love Christmas movies. It is certainly a weakness of mine. Now, what could make Harold and Kumar better than a little bit of Christmas cheer? The answer: a little bit of dirty, Christmas hilarity. As I said, I do love these guys, but I was a little skeptical of how far they could really take the series of films. Sure, people watch, but Harold and Kumar aren't as important to society as people like The Hangover guys. Nevertheless, they press forward, using a brilliantly creative theme.... CHRISTMAS!!! I didn't expect this movie to be the greatest of all time, but I really wanted to see how much they could pick at traditional Christmas movies and 3D.

Plot:
The biggest surprise of the entire movie was the fact that there actually was a plot! If my blog would have existed when the first two films hit theaters, this entire section would be empty. The first two films were filled with random, funny, dope-smoking moments that somehow became a movie. This film actually taught a lesson: don't forget the people who mean the most to you in your life. You might would expect this from any other Christmas film, considering the holiday season brings families and friends together, but you wouldn't expect that to coincide with these crazy characters. Regardless, it happened, and I was shocked. Of course, there were many jokes that would offend sensitive Christmas lovers. Also, make sure that you don't watch this film with your kids or parents.

Best Scene: Harold shoots Santa Clause (Richard Riehle) out of the sky. That was pretty funny. But, knowing that was in the previews, I don't want to discourage you. There were many other funny parts that the trailer doesn't show.

Characters:
The characters obviously drive the plot along, with their name being in the title and all. Harold (John Cho) has finally grown up and become more mature, but Kumar (Kal Penn) continues to struggle with his life. The two have been separated, and a little Christmas magic reunites them in an unpeaceful way. The pair, as usual, encounter a few crazy individuals along the way. Neil Patrick Harris is crazy as himself, and both Harold and Kumar have replaced one another with new friends Todd (Tom Lennon) and Adrian (Amir Blumenfeld), who turn out to be rather hilarious. Overall, the cast was great and funny.

Best Character: Ava, who was Todd's baby daughter, was undoubtedly the funniest character in the movie. Played by Ashley, Chloe, and Hannah Cross, Ava was always getting into some sort of illegal substance. While this may sound a bit rough, it is. But it's freakin hilarious!

Worst Character: Kenneth Park, played by Bobby Lee, was the most useless addition to the cast, hence his landing in the worst character spot. You might know him as the guy in the trailer that points at the screen and says, "It's gonna be amazing!" That's about all he does.

Conclusion:
I was very pleased. I think the addition of a plot really helped this movie avoid being just stupid-funny, not that it didn't have those qualities. Also, the 3D was rather cool at times. It did what 3D is supposed to do, by jumping out at the screen and having stuff fly at your face. If I wanted to look at a person walk around in 3D, I would just go to the mall. The characters were hilarious as usual, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see a fourth installment in the Harold and Kumar series. It was a nice start to the Holiday movie season. I give A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas 2.81 out of 5 stars and ask you to be patient, as Arthur Christmas is on its way!

Great Expectations: November 2011

Here are the three movies that I am most excited about this month and a trailer for each:

1. A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas

2. J. Edgar

3. The Muppets

In Time

Expectations:
Three whole weeks without going to the movies! That has to be some sort of record for me. Sorry I haven't had anything to write about, but I promise there are a ton of great-looking movies coming out in November and December. So, prepare yourself for the rush of reviews and the desire that you will have to go to the movies or neglect them, following your reading of my thoughts. As far as In Time is concerned, I wasn't particularly excited to see this movie. It looked ok, but movies like this always seem to let me down. Justin Timberlake has never been successful in a lead role, but this concept looked really cool and unique. The movie did not have a good rating on the Tomatometer, which certainly worried me. Nevertheless, I give you a review of In Time...

Plot:
The plot was very different from a traditional, boring action movie. Usually movies are predictable. The aliens aren't going to completely take over the world. The hero is always going to win. But, with In Time, the movie was simply about survival of the fittest, and that's something that we aren't used to seeing in movies. The concept was really quite cool, and I sat there amazed at some of the puns they used. They were quite clever. Justin Timberlake played Will Salas, the main character, who was almost like Robin Hood. Therefore, the story was a lot like that of, you guessed it, Robin Hood. The problem was that the lesson they were trying to teach was a little too obvious. They turned money into time, which was actually the currency (if that makes sense at all). This completely defeated the purpose I believe, but I give them an A for effort. The story really was very truthful in its analogy, but I wanted to be entertained a bit more.

Best Scene: There was a scene where Will was introduced to a man's family. The man introduced his mother-in-law, wife, and daughter, and they were all 25 years old, which was very cool.

Characters:
As I said, Timberlake plays the lead character, and, once again, he kind of sucked it up. He really should stick to comedies in my opinion, but I'm not his agent. Sylvia Weis, played by Amanda Seyfried and her awful hair, was this awkward love interest. She was necessary to the plot, she just really sucks at acting. The cast, as a whole, pretty much struggled. A cool addition was Olivia Wilde, who played Will's mother. Everyone stops aging at age 25, which probably made casting a lot easier. Too bad they still couldn't find the right folks.

Best Character: Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory) played Borel, who was Will's best friend. Galecki did a phenomenal in the dramatic role. It kind of made me think that they should have put Timberlake on The Big Bang Theory and let Galecki play the lead in In Time.

Worst Character: Raymond Leon, played by Cillian Murphy, really was just awkward. Murphy is a weird actor, who is only suited for certain roles in my opinion. This was not one of them. He played a "timekeeper," which was basically like the time police. He was like a movie version of Horatio Caine.

Conclusion:
Overall, the concept was great, but the execution was certainly lacking. Timberlake was bad and, as I said, should stick to comedies. I enjoyed the movie, particularly the puns. If you go to the movies as much as I do, then go watch this, but, if not, you would be better off renting In Time. As I said before, November and December each have very promising line ups, and it all starts next weekend with Harold and Kumar! The holiday season will be great for movies, but this was not the kickoff of that season, unfortunately. I give In Time 2.45 out of 5 stars.