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The holidays are nigh, is it time to get high?

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas is ho-ho-horribly heartwarming

By Sharon Miki, Assistant Editor

it says “holidays” more than

a mall Santa, a Christmas tree,

and a friendship reunited? At
its core, this month’s A Very Harold &
Kumar 3D Christmas is a classic tale of
journeying towards togetherness in time
for Christmas. On its surface, though,
Harold & Kumar Christmas is a raunchy,
boundary-obliterating, stoner comedy
that’s not for the weak stomached—or
those under the age of 18.

This third installment of the Harold

& Kumar saga jumps a few years
ahead of Harold & Kumar Escape
from Guantanamo Bay (2008), to a
future where the titular characters
have grown apart and are no longer
friends. Harold (John Cho) is a boring
yet successful businessman with a hot
wife (Paula Garces), while Kumar (Kal
Penn) is still chasing the bud. When
a mysterious package addressed to
Harold arrives at Kumar’s apartment,
the boys inadvertently unleash a joint
of mythical proportions—accidently
burning down a special Christmas tree
belonging to Harold’s perpetually angry
father-in-law (Danny Trejo). With the
stakes clearly in place, the boys then
embark on a series of unfortunate and
drug-fueled events to try to replace
the tree and tolerate each other with

 

their now seemingly insurmountable
differences. Add in a sprinkle of
obligatory NPH (Neil Patrick Harris)
and a dash of violent claymation, and
you’ve got a holiday film custom built
for teens and twenty-somethings.
This movie is not going to win
any Oscars. The writing and plot
development are sloppy to the point
of hilarity ridiculously high stakes

* are resolved through incredibly

unbelievable happenstance. One of
the most consistent plot lines involves
an infant ingesting enough illegal
substances to call child protective
services 10 times over. The 3-D
component is unnecessary and
forgettable. It’s not good filmmaking.
Still, despite the slipshod, bawdy,
raunch-fest that is this movie, it fills
its niche to perfection. In fact, when I
went to the Ciniplex, I was surprised
to be ID’d by the ticket ripper and to
have my purse searched for narcotics
as if I were going to a club—clearly,
the theatre was aware of the common

pastimes of the majority of its audience.

Overall, A Very Harold & Kumar
3D Christmas is a thoughtless yet
heartwarmingly audacious brain
vacation with a distinctly festive feel.
A true Christmas miracle of the Marc
Emery variety.

 

You look like an angel
Douglas College presents Sally Clark’s ‘Jehanne of the Witches’

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By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor

T= story of Joan of Arc has been
retold countless times; a French
peasant girl rises to the ranks of
the French army and eventually leads
them to victory in war, claiming to hear
heavenly voices throughout the way —
only to end up burned at the stake.
Hers is a story that— whether certain
aspects of it remain true to this day

or not—actually happened, and is in
equal parts tragic and incredible enough
that it is frequently adapted. However,
as is common with any historical
adaptation, there are often pieces of
information that tend to be left out; in
Sally Clark’s Jehanne of the Witches,
one Gilles de Rais, a frequent victim of
this treatment, shares the spotlight with
Joan herself.

In her early teen years, Jehanne
the Maid (Julia Siedlanowska) found
herself hearing the voices of the Saints
Archangel Michael (Emma Hughes),
Catherine (Chelsea Stamp-Vincent),
and Margaret (Vikki Brown). The
voices demanded that she bring
France’s army to victory, thus leading
to the end of the Hundred Years’ War—
but her intentions could only remain
pure so long as she kept her virginity
intact. After running away to the royal
court, and passing the first of many
tests of faith to come, she befriends
Gilles de Rais (Spencer Stump), a high-
ranking, openly gay knight. Gilles soon
becomes obsessed with Jehanne; her
commanding abilities and power over
control consume him. After Jehanne
dies, Gilles spends much of his money
putting on a play in her honour, casting
young boys as the lead. But as the

 

count of missing boys grows ever
higher, Gilles’ desperation to obtain
what Jehanne had comes with a hefty
price.

The set maintains a great deal of
simplicity, with the change of scenery
often cued by the presence of objects
such as The Dauphin’s (Jan Duck)
throne or the lowering of several church
windows. With that, the tone and time
the play is set in are determined by
the multiple and clever lighting and
musical cues. This, however, allows
for an even greater emphasis on the
acting abilities of the cast, many of
whom are playing multiple characters.
Hughes herself has a total of eight
character credits, and Stamp-Vincent
has six; even Siedlanowska doubles for
one of Gilles’ young actors portraying
Jehanne. The number of characters also
entails a number of costume changes,
all beautifully designed by Trena
Hollands.

Despite the play’s subject matter,
which does indeed grow d’Arc as the
play progresses (I’m sorry), there is an
ample amount of wit in Clark’s writing.
This portion of the Douglas College
Theatre Program was presented with
the challenge of recreating several
key points in France’s history, and
they have done an excellent job of
maintaining just that.

What: Jehanne of the Witches

Where: Douglas College, New West
campus, Laura C. Muir Theatre

When: November 12-19 @ 7:30

p.m. (Noon and 2 p.m. matinees on
respective dates)

Cost: Students, Seniors and Matinees —
$8; General Admission — $12