its looks well good!! and it got doogie!!

YES! I cannot wait for this movie to come out. I've been anticipating it for quite a while now. And lol @ "Flight 420."

Now, I want white castle for lunch.

I heart Harold & Kumar. I can't wait to watch this.

Should be the cult comedy of the year...no joke.

*packs bowl in anticipation*

pass it to the left

I will be there opening weekend for this.

And Vinod, I was interested in this comment:

I’ll take the Michael Jordan / Eddie Murphy / Chris Rock path towards social acceptance by the majority over the Al Sharpton / Black Panthers one anytime.

It's hard to say anything bad about Michael Jordan, but I'm not sure about Eddie Murphy, especially those early roles he played, like Beverly Hills Cop (the funny black man as the sidekick to the straight white cop). I tend to think that to some extent those movies actually reinforce stereotypes, rather than subvert them. Some of the Richard Pryor movies worked the same way.

Chris Rock is a trickier case. I thought his early HBO stuff was really funny, but he was mostly channeling Richard Pryor without being as daring. And maybe he was kind of following the formula a lot of black comedians follow... It's only now, with his amazing TV show (Everybody Hates Chris -- one of the best shows on TV), and with idiosyncratic art movies like "I Think I Love My Wife" that he really seems to have come into his own.

I think another interesting model might be Dave Chapelle, whose comedy is constantly subverting racial stereotypes and expectations. I think the first Harold and Kumar was actually subversive like Dave Chapelle is/was subversive -- and yet somehow potentially funny to the mainstream audience. It's really tricky to do that without selling yourself out...

How old is Kal Penn and how much longer is he going to play 21?

Ok, I am one of those losers. Haven't seen H&K. But I read much of the SM history on this topic and promptly added the movie to my queue. Can't wait the 2.1 days it will take to get to me.

first day first show! i need a date!

yes that should be fun...but 2008 is so far away

Ok, I am one of those losers. Haven't seen H&K.

It's hard to say anything bad about Michael Jordan, but I'm not sure about Eddie Murphy, especially those early roles he played, like Beverly Hills Cop (the funny black man as the sidekick to the straight white cop). I tend to think that to some extent those movies actually reinforce stereotypes, rather than subvert them.

Amardeep, I thought Eddie Murphy played the lead role in Beverley Hills Cop, and the two white cops were sidekicks. Are you thinking of 48 Hrs with Nick Nolte? Also check out Trading Places, which is a brilliant movie on race relations. Plus, there's one particular dialog in 48 Hrs that tells it like it is ("I'm your worst nightmare...").

I wonder if they will have to compensate for the fact that Neil Patrick Harris came out of the closet since doing the first film, negating his on screen babe hound persona.

I wonder if they will have to compensate for the fact that Neil Patrick Harris came out of the closet since doing the first film, negating his on screen babe hound persona.

i think they will just ignore that, and have another warped out minor celebrity persona on there.

i think they will just ignore that, and have another warped out minor celebrity persona on there.

I recommend O.J. Now that would be warped... Harold & Kumar picking up O.J on the run.

I recommend O.J. Now that would be warped... Harold & Kumar picking up O.J on the run.

pick up oj looking for the real killer.

I wonder if they will have to compensate for the fact that Neil Patrick Harris came out of the closet since doing the first film, negating his on screen babe hound persona.

Have you watch NPH in How I Met Your Mother? He plays a "babe hound", I dare say, brilliantly.

I think another interesting model might be Dave Chapelle, whose comedy is constantly subverting racial stereotypes and expectations. I think the first Harold and Kumar was actually subversive like Dave Chapelle is/was subversive -- and yet somehow potentially funny to the mainstream audience. It's really tricky to do that without selling yourself out...

I thought Eddie Murphy played the lead role in Beverley Hills Cop, and the two white cops were sidekicks.

Rosewood and Taggert were the sidekicks, Foley was the lead.

Fuerza,
that show is hilarious(the one time i caught it) coupled with Old Christine

Can we say "cultural moment"? I think the build up leading to this movie is going to be huge.

Vinod writes "I’ll take the Michael Jordan / Eddie Murphy / Chris Rock path towards social acceptance by the majority over the Al Sharpton / Black Panthers one anytime."

I think it's arguably tandem game. An affinity group may do better with both than with neither. But in terms of intragroup distribution of goods, I think Michael Jordan and Eddie Murphy may make out as effective free riders, with higher Q ratings than Al Sharpton or any member of the Black Panthers. So desis may be best off with both an Eddie Murphy and an Al Sharpton, but an individual desi is better off being the Eddie Murphy, and have someone else be his Al Sharpton.

Have you watch NPH in How I Met Your Mother? He plays a "babe hound", I dare say, brilliantly.

Haven't watched that show, but on that show he plays a straight character it looks. In Harold & Kumar, NPH appears as himself, not as a fictional character. So one would expect he would stay true to himself.

Amardeep, I thought Eddie Murphy played the lead role in Beverley Hills Cop, and the two white cops were sidekicks. Are you thinking of 48 Hrs with Nick Nolte? Also check out Trading Places, which is a brilliant movie on race relations. Plus, there's one particular dialog in 48 Hrs that tells it like it is ("I'm your worst nightmare...").

Ok, I stand corrected. The 80s has grown a little blurry in my memory.

But I still think my doubt about the race politics of those movies is valid...

"Have you watch NPH in How I Met Your Mother? He plays a "babe hound", I dare say, brilliantly."

I love that show.That show is what "Friends" should have been and Swarley rocks.

Sorry about the double posts. It wasn't working on Firefox so I tried IE..it seems it worked both times...Regardless, I think NPH does pretty well as a babe hound and incidentally he has a gay black brother in the show..its that guy from "whose line is it anyways?". Funny episode

I think it's arguably tandem game. An affinity group may do better with both than with neither. But in terms of intragroup distribution of goods, I think Michael Jordan and Eddie Murphy may make out as effective free riders, with higher Q ratings than Al Sharpton or any member of the Black Panthers. So desis may be best off with both an Eddie Murphy and an Al Sharpton, but an individual desi is better off being the Eddie Murphy, and have someone else be his Al Sharpton.

Is that econ-speak for "they both cool, even though Eddie gets more dollahs and ass".

Very, very long time lurker, coming out of lurkdom only to say that words cannot describe how stoked I am for this movie. :) The return of the Cho & Modi Show is long overdue.

I'll take the Michael Jordan / Eddie Murphy / Chris Rock path towards social acceptance by the majority over the Al Sharpton / Black Panthers one anytime.

I refuse to get started on my long-winded rant about Al Sharpton, so I'll just keep it short by saying that, as a black female, I agree with you completely.

black female, I agree with you completely.

While this film is a nice little pirouette on the ballet dance of life and art intertwining, but to make a profound quote, from a great man/wolf:

"Lets not start suckin' each other's dicks quite yet"

SkepMod, affirmative. ~8^]

WELCOME! how did you get interested in south asian issues, if you dont mind me asking?

Aww, thank you! :D

It was through my best friend, a lovely Indian girl from South Africa, that I became interested in South Asian issues. That, and I quickly realized that our (black and SA) social issues have many similarities. I stumbled upon this place via a Google search for some phrase that I can't remember, and have been enjoying the wonderful blogs and insightful comments ever since.

If nothing else, I'm just a big ol' nerd who spends way too much time forum/blog reading and not enough time studying. ;)

It's a little sad that while one mutineer rejects the Black Panthers, another comes up with "it's hard to say anything bad about Michael Jordan."

Here's a little something:

"Most famous, however, is Jordan's great shoulder-shrug over Nike's allegedly exploitative labor practices in Southeast Asia. When the company first became the target of activist ire, Jordan said it wasn't his problem. Then, in 1997, he changed his tune. "I'm hearing a lot of different sides to the issue," Jordan told the Sporting News. "The best thing I can do is go to Asia (in July) and see it for myself. If there are issues . . . if it's an issue of slavery or sweatshops, [Nike executives] have to revise the situation." Yet even after acknowledging the specter of "slavery," Jordan never made the trip.

Jordan's careful efforts to avoid social issues haven't escaped criticism. Several well-known pro athletes -- including such black stars as Arthur Ashe, Jim Brown, and Hank Aaron -- have knocked Jordan for being politically aloof. "He's more interested in his image for his shoe deals than he is in helping his own people," Brown said of Jordan in 1992."

http://www.providencephoenix.com/archive/features/99/01/21/MJ.html

I'm not against the H&K, Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy road to subversion, but sometimes consumer culture alone doesn't upturn global inequities in the era of flexible accumulation, no?

Word to Buster @ 35. I mean, thanks for sharing this, Vinod, and I love H&K, but had it not been for the militant Black Power movement, the white establishment would have laughed off MLK (as they did in his failed attempt to desegregate Albany, GA). Likewise the Brits with Ghandi (and the likes of Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, and Subhas Chandra Bose.)

These various "paths toward social acceptance" are not mutually exclusive--they have a synergistic, symbiotic effect. (Not that I'm advocating for militant Desi Power movement, just saying don't knock the Panthers. We ALL--black, white, brown alike--owe them a debt of honor and gratitude.)

Polite people don't make history. At least not on their own.

Wow. I like Kumar's work. Cant wait for watch this one.

Hilarious clip.

Ginge - just to play devil's advocate, don't you like the way people freak out whenever Sharpton decides to target them? It's like 60 minutes setting up their cameras.

I’ll take the Michael Jordan / Eddie Murphy / Chris Rock path towards social acceptance by the majority over the Al Sharpton / Black Panthers one anytime.

Kal Penn is presumably doing the role on his own terms here rather than all the 'don a turban and do a cabbie/terrorist' crap he gets in his bread-and-butter roles.

Also, comparing comedians to a party which advocated violence and carried around loaded shotguns isn't apples to apples.

I loved H&K, but i'm not sure if I will like No. 2 from the preview. What was most appealing to me about No. 1 was it's overt non-seriousness (i.e. the quest for pot) which provided a frame in which they explored deeper issues (such as racism, etc). From the looks of this preview they are being a little more serious from the start, and i don't know how that will pan out.

Simplifying the BPP to "a party which advocated violence and carried around loaded shotguns" is misleading, to say the least. I refer the interested mutineer to the following top-of-my-head bibliography:

David Hilliard, This Side of Glory: The Autobiography of David Hilliard and the Story of the Black Panther Party

Elaine Brown, A Taste of Power

Huey P. Newton Reader

Ward Churchill and Jim Vander Wall, Agents of Repression: The FBI’s Secret Wars Against the American Indian Movement and the Black Panther Party

Robert Self, "‘To Plan Our Liberation:’ Black Power and the Politics of Place in Oakland, California, 1965-1977. Journal of Urban History 26, No.6 (September, 2000), 759-792.

Self gives an abbreviated form of some of his arguments at: http://hnn.us/articles/1561.html

Just wanted to mention that Ginge isn't the only one; I'm also a black woman, and there are probably a bunch of others. I read sepia mutiny every day. :-) *returning to lurk mode*

2008 is TOO FAR AWAY!!! I like that song though. I think I'll sing it for six months or whatever.

I thought Eddie Murphy played the lead role in Beverley Hills Cop, and the two white cops were sidekicks.

Rosewood and Taggert were the sidekicks, Foley was the lead.

....and Damon Wayans was the Banana Man, and Bronson Pinchot was Serge, and he had IMHO the best line in the whole movie, thus: When he offers Judge Reinhold/Billy a "lamon tweest" in his coffee, and Billy says, "if it's not too much trouble," or some such, then Serge wafts away, saying, "Dawn't be stupid!"

Simplifying the BPP to "a party which advocated violence and carried around loaded shotguns" is misleading

They were in a shootout with cops over a traffic stop, so dividing on violent vs. nonviolent is certainly appropriate.

Just wanted to mention that Ginge isn't the only one; I'm also a black woman, and there are probably a bunch of others. I read sepia mutiny every day. :-) *returning to lurk mode*

Ah, yes. We're here alright - silent but deadly. Only not so much on the deadly. :)

I forgot to mention that I also can't wait to see if HK2 stirs up another Munity shitstorm a la HK1. Not that I want such chaos to erupt, but the commentary was quite ace.

They were in a shootout with cops over a traffic stop, so dividing on violent vs. nonviolent is certainly appropriate.

You said they advocated violence, that's simply not true. Saying violence in self defense as a last means is not "advocating" it in some general sense. but I do agree that comparing political movements and comedians is a bit off. In fact, much of Chris Rock's humor wouldn't even exist, had it not been for political movements, and people like sharpton and jesse.

Mutiny. Wretched fingers.

Polite people don't make history. At least not on their own.

Not true--people who practice polite politics, don't make history on their own.

damnit. i'm late again.
first i find out years late that ben kingsley is my people and now this!
maybe i should get cable.
mmmm i dream of tv asia.

Watching that clip instantly took me back to that dream sequence with Kumar and the bag of weed. Ah, such fond memories that I had to youtube it just to check if it's legitimately funny or I was just going through an immature phase. Still hilarious :-)

Polite people don't make history. At least not on their own.

Not true--people who practice polite politics, don't make history on their own.

I politely stand politely corrected. How very politic of you.

See you in the streets. We can get beers at the comedy club after.

Blacks aren't the only American minority population to have had both nonviolent and violent protest and liberation movements. Native Americans, too (as noted by an earlier poster), as well as Mexican and Puerto Rican American communities.

Great book. I found it much better atcontextualizing (world)history/ current events,explaining the development / political ideology that Huey Newton espoused. Also clarified the BBP "opposing view" ,difference from the Pan Africanism , "mainstream Civil RightMovement" and Nation of Islam, than the David Hillard book. #9- I too wonder how long dude will be "Forever 21"

i think in the namesake, he played gogal in high school. thats like 16.

Blacks aren't the only American minority population to have had both nonviolent and violent protest and liberation movements. Native Americans, too (as noted by an earlier poster), as well as Mexican and Puerto Rican American communities.

And don't forget, the gay rights movement started with a street battle in the West Village.

I hope NPH comes back for H&K 2 (can't watch the clip at work, so I'm not sure if he's in it?). Knowing now that he's gay, his 'babe hound' performance is even funnier.

Yayyyy! Can't wait to watch this one!

I hope NPH comes back for H&K 2 (can't watch the clip at work, so I'm not sure if he's in it?).

according to imdb, hes in it.

Doogie Howser is gay?

I am just hoping and praying that freakshow and his hot wife are in too......

I am just hoping and praying that freakshow and his hot wife are in too......

that scene was disturbing...

I am just hoping and praying that freakshow and his hot wife are in too......

Oh man. I can't watch Law & Order: SVU now without thinking of Freakshow every time I see Chris Meloni!

I politely stand politely corrected. How very politic of you.

See you in the streets. We can get beers at the comedy club after.

Methinks your snark cup overfloweth.

Gandhi was quite rude--If i remember correctly, he did tell the British Empire to stick it's shepherd's pie where the English Sun refuses to shine.

Militant attitudes are nothing to celebrate--look where it got SL Tams

@ Vikram: "In Harold & Kumar, NPH appears as himself, not as a fictional character. So one would expect he would stay true to himself."

Actually, even in the first H&K, NPH plays a fictional version of himself. He's interviewed on the DVD saying something like what drew him to the movie was getting to play a character named Neil Patrick Harris who was entirely unlike himself and so mess with the audience's expectations (atrocious grammar of that sentence aside, you get my point). Did you really leave the first H&K thinking NPH was a sex-crazed cokehead who just happened to get caught on film?

And I am STOKED for this movie - the trailer makes me deliriously happy.

Methinks your snark cup overfloweth...Militant attitudes are nothing to celebrate.

Wrong. I was being sincere. And acquiescence in the face of oppression is deplorable--don't forget that people were being lynched as recently as...1998. (That's if you don't count the death penalty, in which case Texas is set to lynch another man tonight.) Dig this celebration. I don't think a few jokes on stage or the silver screen are/were ever going to stop that. Neither were sit-ins, alone. "Please stop killing us or we're not going to ride your buses." Give me a break!

I don't know much about the SL Tams or their struggle. History has shown us that violent revolutions--whether they come from the left OR the right, just replace the oppressors at the top of the hierarchy. I'm no fan of FARC or Hamas or Castro, either. That's why I love confrontational groups which are organized non-hierarchically, like ActUP and the EZLN. They have stood up for justice without themselves becoming oppressive and without being coopted (so far).

I loved H&K, but i'm not sure if I will like No. 2 from the preview. What was most appealing to me about No. 1 was it's overt non-seriousness (i.e. the quest for pot) which provided a frame in which they explored deeper issues (such as racism, etc). From the looks of this preview they are being a little more serious from the start, and i don't know how that will pan out.

You could be on to something there but the airport interrogation scene looks like it's definitely funnier than Ben Stiller's rant in Meet the Parents.

I'm not sure what Vinod was trying to say in his post, but I don't think that Al Sharpton or the BPP sought "social acceptance by the majority." I'm not sure what that means, but it reminded me of something the comedian Hari Kondabolu once said. I'm paraphrasing here, but he remarked how it seemed that his comedy had often been described as "militant" because it made white people uncomfortable. I think a lot of Kal Penn's stuff constitutes brown minstrelism and makes it okay for "the majority" to laugh at stereotypes. I think this same phenomenon had a lot to do with Chappelle ending his show because of its unintended effects. And for the record, I'm perfectly fine with making white people uncomfortable.

(That's if you don't count the death penalty, in which case Texas is set to lynch another man tonight.)

Just to note, by defintion you cannot call the death penalty as 'lynching'.

: to put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal sanction

Rah,
Yeah, Chappelle has said that his epiphany came when he looked up mid-show and caught a white crewperson laughing AT him - he said it was the first time he had ever felt laughed at, rather than with. He also said he had issues with them wanting him to wear a dress in one skit, because 'every black male comedian has had to wear a dress at some point'. I only watched clips of the show, though I've watched a lot of his standup on the Net - and the difference is, so to speak, white and black. His whole function as a searingly astute social observer disappeared in the show, as far as I can tell. Mind you, I only saw these really buffoonish clips.

I strongly object to describing Kal Penn's work as "minstrel". The role was a complete subversion of stereotypes, summed up in the "Thank you, come again" line as he was stealing the Extreme crew's car. It's a good contrast with the Simpsons, which didn't show contrasting desi archetypes, just one accented brown guy who works at the kwiki-mart.

Cosby is subversive

by defintion you cannot call the death penalty as 'lynching'.

to put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal sanction

Define a mob. Define legal sanction. I'm FROM Texas, holmes.

Black Panthers started out with good intentions. Can you blame them for organizing after the crimes of the Jim Crow era and before? Whites get organized into militias for lesser slights.

Sharpton is a demagogue but so are many politicians. Sharpton's blunder wsa the Tawana Brawley case and he never recovered in the mainstream with that controversy. But post Tawana, while he is no saint, I cannot say he is the worst of our politicians.