KalPenn Tagged Articles at Cinematical

While watching Harold and Kumar make their way to White Castle, or more aptly, break out of Guantanamo Bay, did you ever think: "Gee, that Kumar should become a White House aide?" Entertainment Weekly (read below before hitting the link) just talked with the star about a twist in his role on House, and in doing so, learned that President Barack Obama wants a little Kal Penn in his crew.

Penn had helped with Obama's campaign, and expressed an interest to work in the White House. This desire got him hired as an Associate Director in the Office of Public Liaison. As Penn says: "They do outreach with the American public and with different organizations. They're basically the front door of the White House. They take out all of the red tape that falls between the general public and the White House. It's similar to what I was doing on the campaign."

Now this isn't some side gig to appease his political interests while he brings in the cash as an actor -- for now he's out of the acting biz to take this on full-time, and is taking a drastic pay cut as a result -- similar aides earned between $41,000 and $91,000 last year.

Do you think this will lead to Mayor, Governor, Senator, and even President Penn? Or are you too busy mourning his departure from showbiz?

*Do not go to that link if you're a House fan, but haven't seen the most recent episode. However, at least EW put up a spoiler warning. Sites across the net and throwing the twist everywhere, even in headlines, so if you're itching to read more, you've been warned!

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, the sequel to the modern stoner classic Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, hit theaters last Friday. I sat down with the film's writer/directors -- Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg -- a few days after the release of their film. In the interest of journalistic integrity (and shameless name-dropping), I should tell you that the gentlemen are friends of mine, and all around great dudes.

Cinematical: How did the Hurwitz/Schlossberg magic begin?

Jon Hurwitz: Hayden and I became friends on the Randolph High School debate team and connected over a common love of comedy. We were both obsessed with the movies of the Farrelly Brothers and the Zucker Brothers. We loved Howard Stern. We thought it would be amazing if we could actually make movies one day. But it felt like it was the most unrealistic goal of all time for a couple of dudes hanging out in a basement in New Jersey. What changed everything for us was that in high school we were known for coming up with really funny "Would you rather?" scenarios. We came up with a list of 250 that we were going to try to get published.

Cinematical: What was the best one?

JH: "If you had to be sexually abused, would you rather it be by an android or a Muppet?"

Cinematical: Muppet. It's softer.

Hayden Schlossberg: Exactly. Plain and simple. It would hurt less. That is the correct answer.

Since Epic Movie was not screened for members of the press, here's what I had to spend in order to bring you this review on opening day: A $19 cab ride, a $7 movie ticket and a $10 day-pass for T-Mobile's wireless internet access at a nearby Border's Book Store, which is where I am currently sitting, drinking a (very strong) vanilla latte and trying to figure out how in the hell a movie this sloppy and stupid could ever earn itself a theatrical release. One can only assume that last year's Date Movie (which was perpetrated by the same duo that unleashed Epic Movie) made just enough money to warrant (yet) another pseudo-movie in which a dozen recent blockbusters are spoofed in amazingly limp and uncreative fashion.

Suffice it to say I really took one for the team today. To be completely fair, I chuckled two or three times during the generally witless Epic Movie, which instantly makes the flick more recommendable than Date Movie -- but if all a movie can give you is a small handful of stray and listless chuckles, well, I don't really think that's a movie worthy of your eight dollars (to say nothing of the $36 I just wasted this afternoon).

Usually with a sequel the big question is: Will it live up to the original? Then there are sequels that probably shouldn't have been made in the first place -- like, for instance, the sequel to National Lampoon's Van Wilder. They had to make the sequel though, because, you know, there were just so many unanswered questions from the first film.

ComingSoon.net has the first look at the one sheet for the sequel, titled Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj. The film picks up where we left off with Taj, (Kal Penn) the sidekick to Ryan Reynolds smarmy party-boy Van Wilder -- who is, sadly, not returning for the sequel. The film follows Taj to Cambridge as he brings the "wisdom" of Van Wilder to what I'm pretty sure will be your usual array of stock uptight Brits. Penn seems to be on a role with sequels lately since he has also just officially signed to star in Harold and Kumar 2.

We can all recognize a cash grab when we see one, so you don't have to wonder why a sequel gets made to a movie that was at best, a guilty pleasure. Most unneeded sequels end up in the "straight to DVD" category -- we're talking about you, Butterfly Effect 2 -- but this one actually has a release date of December 1 (Quick! Go mark it on your calendar!)

I'm sure we all can think of a few totally unnecessary sequels that somehow got the greenlight. What are some of the worst sequels you can think of? And just how bad do you think the Van Wilder sequel will turn out to be?

Though the paint is still wet on Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj (which, surprisingly hits theaters and not DVD on December 1), star Kal Penn and director Mort Nathan are partnering up once again on another absurd comedy called Under New Management for Bauer Martinez Studio's.

Penn (who just barely beat out one of my good friends for Best Personality back in high school -- a story we've all heard about a thousand times) is probably best known as Kumar in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, but has recently tried on some more dramatic material like The Namesake and Fox's hit show 24. In Management, Penn will play one of two slackers who talk their boss into taking a vacation on a sex cruise, only to turn around and transform the office into one big party. As far as that much-anticipated Harold and Kumar Go to Amsterdam, Penn is currently trying to hammer out a deal to star.