Saturday High at the Movies

Harold and Kumar:
Escape from Guantanamo Bay

It's been four long years, but the sequel to Harold and Kumar go to Whitecastle finally came out last month. I saw it on Tuesday night, the same night of my move, so I was somewhat tired and wired when I saw it.

I won't go into a needlessly long-winded review as most people have already made up their minds about the H & K movies (you either love 'em or hate 'em). I have to say that, although the sequel was decent, the first one is much better. However, this fact is probably owing to factors beyond the film's control, namely that the first film set the bar (and expectations), and the ubiquitous and incessant previews showed about half the jokes. The sequel also lacks the charm and freshness of the original, but again, that is a burden virtually every sequel must contend with.

In short, if you liked the first one, you will most likely like this one, though not quite as much.

For the record, following my viewing of the first film about 3.5 years ago, a few friends and I made the trip to Detroit, MI (worst city I've ever seen) from Windsor, ON, to visit the then legendary Whitecastle. To put it simply, I'm not surprised that such places don't exist in Canada because they must violate every health regulation in the book. Without the slightest hyperbole, I can confidently say that Whitecastle makes McDonald's look like gourmet food by comparison. As if this weren't enough, there was a sign at this particular location in the parking lot which read [sic]: "No drug deals". Charming.

I've been off comps for a little less than a week, and though I haven't recovered from that monster, I need to make up some RA hours from last term and begin my correctorship for a friend/prof. I was very fortunate to get the latter, so no complaints here. I will probably begin my thesis proposal in late May/early June. Being ABD is going to take some getting used to.