Kal Penn’s latest film, Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Raj, has opened poorly, at #10 on the U.S. box office. More than that, as of now it’s running an astonishing 0% approval at Rotten Tomatoes — the worst of the worst! (Even that Maha-Flop, Gigli, came in higher, at 6%). The original Van Wilder didn’t do that much box office, but became a hit when it went to DVD. But reviewers here aren’t saying things to the effect of “This was really sexist and adolescent, but kind of funny” the way they often do with gross-out comedies. Here, it seems most are basically saying “I wish I could forget the 90 minutes I wasted watching this piece of crap.” That spells no cult status and no DVD after-life: The Rise of Taj will probably just disappear without a trace.
Has anyone seen it? Is it as “bad as Badalandabad”? Is it as bad as “a day without sunshine”? Does it “not even compare three cup sizes to the half-assed original from 2002”? (Not quite sure what that means, but you get the idea.) The juiciest, ragingest five lines of snark I could find were the following:
Flavorlessly directed by Mort Nathan (2003’s “Boat Trip”) and seemingly penned on a napkin by David Drew Gallagher, “National Lampoon’s Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj” has direct-to-DVD written all over it. There is unequivocally no reason why such an asinine, energy-deprived waste of time has reached theaters. I have had knee-shaking, ass-skewering hemorrhoids that were funnier than this so-called comedy, which doesn’t inspire a single laugh, smirk or smile in all of its running time. (link)
Go MovieBoy. (Oh, and sorry to hear about the hemorrhoids! Ouch!)
Personally, I’m not going to go see The Rise of Taj, even though I do admire what Kal Penn has been able to do in Hollywood. Neither the reviews nor the trailers suggest anything redeeming to be found here. And no, one doesn’t go to movies just to “support” aspiring Indian American actors. Really, the best support anyone can give Kal Penn at this point is an email along the lines of “make less crap, ‘kay?”
I dunno, from the trailer it seems funnier than the original. That’s not saying much, but it’s saying a wee bit.
BTW:
He’s not just the star, he’s also an executive producer.
I only saw the trailer, and have no intention to see the movie. However, I found his dad calling him “hound dog” funny when they walk into a boing-boing, the rest of the trailer was forgettable.
Maybe he’ll redeem himself with Mira Nair/ Jhumpa Lahiri’s Namesake. Let’s hope.
0% approval? Ouch.
I mean, Kal Penn’s accent seems a bit forced, but some of this seemed at least promising. I have to admit, though…my first thoughts on seeing this trailer was, “ah, milking the heck out of the legacy of Harold and Kumar, huh? For shame!” How could they exploit the inherent nobility of that movie like this? It sickens me!
That’s the real news here. Normally I’d come pretty hard on the UT’ing done by this piece, but I admire what he’s trying to do, Hollywood is probably the most sealed industry to people in general, in particular to non-whites. So, in order to ascend you must do it through their filters. The verdict has still yet to emerge regarding KP – will he ever get to have a significant part in a major motion picture that doesn’t have him talking about his shlong? (Namesake doesn’t count, Superman sort of counts – the role was small, but the franchise iconic)
He could be the next Melvin Van Peebles.
This is a huge bomb at the box office!
According to boxofficemojo this has a opening of $2.3 million at the box office.
To put this into perspective, KANK had an opening weekend of $1.35 million while only playing at 64 screens compared to Taj’s 1979 screens.
I dunno, from the trailer it seems funnier than the original. That’s not saying much, but it’s saying a wee bit.
yeah, i thought the trailer was OK. i like to say “A+, not T & A,” but hey, diff. strokes. some of you SMites who i know personally have complained that when you were kids growing up it was always assumed that brown must love brown. well, from a social angle these movies at least make plausible the saying i’m trying to popularize, “brown is the new black.” all about the ‘tude.
Hollywood is probably the most sealed industry to people in general, in particular to non-whites
the people i know associated with “the industry” talk about the basically ubiquity of nepotism. midwestern whites are just as screwed as non-whites. the industry is stocked with bicoastal elites, and heavily jewish.
I saw the movie. I wouldn’t even give it 0%…more like -2.5%. No plot. No story. Poor Jokes. I want my money back
Salil,
Well, Harold and Kumar had a Hindu on a quest for beef Hamburgers, a Korean American on a quest for “Buddha” (as in, the smokeable kind), and two Jews looking for (pork) hot dogs. It had an epic structure and a surrealistic plot (like Homer’s Odyssey… or dare I say, The Inferno?). It had an unforgettable med school interview, a sociopathic Doogie Howser and a midnight ride on a stray cheetah through the wilds of New Jersey. In short, H & K had imagination and the ability to surprise.
By contrast, The Rise of Taj has a comical Indian accent (blech), and lots of exposed breasts.
Here is what I think.
So what’s your point? 😀
Oh, one other reason H&KGTWC totally rocked.
Salil, Hell yeah.
==>Yeah, whats the problem :))
Best thing ever – from the Prof no less!
The movie was atrocious!! BUT Kal Penn had hinted at that, especially the past few months, talking in interviews about how he had an option contract (something that signs an actor to multiple films, in this case an option contract for Van Wilder 1 that made him have to work on Van Wilder 2). I heard him on the radio 2 weeks ago here in Dallas, and he talked about how he wanted an Executive Producing credit so that he could try to influence the humor a little (fill in the blanks – Kal must have known that the director of “Boat Trip” and the writer of absolutely nothing wouldn’t be able to do a very good job) and break into an industry that doesn’t generally allow brown folk to produce much of anything. I’m just saying – for a brown guy in Hollywood, things are incredibly tough, and Kal Penn seems to be trying to break in. Do i fault him for having the balls to do what my pre-med ass used to fantasize about before becoming an effing doctor? No. I admire him for doing what he does, and i hope this monstrosity of a film shows all of us that we still have a long way to go. I’m looking forward to seeing Kal in “The Namesake” and “24” and the “Untitled Harold and Kumar Sequel” – 3 projects he has said he’s actually proud of (note how he never says that about the Van Wilders or the equally atrocious “where’s the party, yaar?”s.) In the meantime, I think the studio of idiots who made “Van Wilder 2” should be made to watch it over and over again. It was awful. Although admittedly, we did laugh at a few of the Hindi jokes.
And just for the record: Ballistic: Eks Vs. Server also shares the ranking of a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, as do many comedies. It’s a shame that so many comedies come out that seem like they were built around the one or two funny moments that were originally thought up.
But yeah, HaKGTWC, awesome movie.
i haven’t seen it, but we all know a brown dude in a comedy like this, even if it was good was likely to get panned. there’s a reason advertising and media can not for the life of them show brown dudes. hello, medical drama shows, where are your desi male docs?
but yeah, who cares about this movie. a lot of people don’t watch these movies no matter who is in the lead role
I’m probably going to be in the minority here, but I didn’t find H&K funny or even really that interesting (and I was even under the influence of alcohol at the time). I think I laughed maybe once or twice (the med school interview) and the only real highlight was “Maria”. Doogie Howser’s character was atrocious.
From the trailors it looked like Kal Penn was copying Shah Rukh Khan’s emotions and actions. Did not look original.
I liked his acting in H&K, but some scenes went a little extreme to show the wild side of partying college kids.
hello, medical drama shows, where are your desi male docs?
Sahej: Good observation, I’ve been wondering that too!
Actors (and those on the quest of becoming stars) are notorious for not being able to spot bad material. People were surprised that Van Wilder made any money at all considering the National Lampoon franchise had been floundering for many years. Why and how it made money through DVD sales no one can tell but one theory is that the Taj character was funny. Someone would back it up with H&K and lo you have the Rise of Taj.
Kal Penn needs to be very careful about his choices or pretty soon he will be on dancing with the stars. KP has been doing better for himself than John Cho, in terms of the diversity of roles he has been getting. He should continue building his career with solid supporting roles in comedy (did anyone notice Jack Black as a Techie extra in Enemy of the State or could anyone have guessed that Will Ferrell from Old School would be headlining movies and playing a romantic interest to Nicole Kidman?) and drama before trying a lead role. He will not get too many chances to fuck up in the lead and like the Hollywood Reporter pointed out, Rise of Taj should never have been a theatrical. It has straight to DVD written all over it.
Getting in front of a Hollywood camera is infinitely more challenging for a minority than getting behind one, and that is a big ask in itself. But like they say in cricket, if you stay at the wicket the runs will come. Most Development executives that make a lot of the low level decisions lack creativity and imagination, which is good cos that’s not their job. Their job is to be able to spot good material and then excite the fuck out of everyone else so that they want to make a movie. However, they think they have imagination and that’s the first problem. The secomg problem that Hollywood has is that no one will make a decision unless they can hide behind numbers, previous results etc. So, when someone says Rise of Taj flopped, that was the worst idea ever. The Exec that pushed the idea will say, our consumer research shows that middle America likes teen sex comedies, and the new wave is to have minority teen sex comedy like H&K and Van Wilder.
The Exec holds on to his job until he tries to develop Let’s go to prison 2 starring John Cho. Then his/her career will end and he will become an agent or even better an Indie Producer. The other thing Hollywood does is it thinks it knows middle America. They can’t relate to an Indian without an accent or gays they say. But then a movie comes along and everyone is proved wrong. Nobody knows anything. It’s a high stakes poker game where everyone thinks they are the House, but no one is. When Lucas tried to hawk Star Wars, no studio wanted to touch it because sci-fi was dead they said. And Lucas wasn’t some random dude. He had made a hit movie already (American Graffiti).
Shyamalan had a lot of clout and still does because his movies made a lot of MONEY. Mel Gibson, that huge star had his biggest opening at the box office with…you guessed right, Signs. Hollywood respects people who can make money. Nothing else matters. It’s a different matter that they think the people they know (white, Jewish) can make money and others can’t.
Kal Penn should take a couple of screenwriting classes, and write a script starring himself that he can produce. He can bring me in to doctor it and give him better lines while He is snorting coke out of someone’s ass.
What! The character is actually named Badalandabad? Lord!
The answer to that is that for the most part desi men aren’t seen as sexy — we’re a bit emasculated (in the same boat as east Asian men). Medical dramas are more about sexy and quirky characters than they are about realistically showing you what an emergency room looks like demographically (and don’t let the jargon they throw around fool you).
With desi men on TV, Naveen Andrews is the exception, though many viewers may presume that he’s actually from Iraq. The guy on Heroes is also helping, I would guess. Both are on sci-fi shows, interestingly enough.
…in a country where Ron Jeremy rates front seat the American Music Awards 🙂
yeah, i agree Amardeep. Not the end of the world, but still…i feel like telling TV…stop being stupid!
Correct me if I am wrong, but he has the same name in the last movie too.
… had the same name …
Sorry.
well here’s a reason to watch “VW2:TROT” and support a desi bro. his accent & name notwithstanding, “the sultan of snatch” gets to make fu@ky with angrezi memsahibas.
There has to be a way out of the zero-sum game in which if desi men are treated as three-dimensional characters, its not an attack on desi women also being treated as three-dimensional characters.
Why can we not have a media in which both desi men and women are considered to be worth playing any part in a TV show or movie? (?)
Does anyone else wonder if the stereotyped and really crappy performance in WW2: TROT invites the beginning of Blaxploitation-style desi films?
In LA, people refused to see the film as my non-South Asian friends said the same Indian jokes about sex and the parentals were getting old. So we passed. Desi-fication on a mass level seems to contrite for an audience looking for the intelligently witty comedies. They also said Kal looked fat (in other words not as attractive as Naveen Andrews or Jimi Mistry) so no worth the pretty penny.
Doordarshan. Desi Superman, anyone? 😉
Or are we going to just live in a ghetto where we’re scared to see images of people like us in media doing things everyone else does in a MULTI-Ethnic society
i would question the sanity of those who expected this to be an intelligent witty comedy. it was along the lines of road trip, american pie..etc. juvenile humor.
ummn, ummn, ummn, tough crowd here, brotha can’t catch a break. better hit the skies and head to bollywood. stale stories and fat actors flourish there.
not enough of them
Hopefully you’re rooting as hard for Parminder Nagra
🙂
(i do it every time)
Damn! Since when did the KP have to abide by the same superficial beauty standards Bollywood actresses’ are constantly plagued by?
Amardeep:
How true!
Sci-fi! I don’t think that Heroes and Lost have anything scientific about them :)-Fiction yes, Sci-fi-NO.
So in the US we get “The Flop of Taj” and in India, we get some lawyer filing a lawsuit against Ash and Hrithik for doing a kissing scene in “Dhoom 2”: http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/va/20061203/116514806700.html I’m confused…is it even worth it anymore to watch Indian movies? Hopefully The Namesake will redeem this trend.
[blockquote] Does anyone else wonder if the stereotyped and really crappy performance in WW2: TROT invites the beginning of Blaxploitation-style desi films? [/blockquote]
It’s too late. About 10 minutes into [i]Where’s the Party, Yaar[/i], my friends and I started referring to it as the first “Brownsploitation” film.
Yikes… I’ve clearly been posting on phpbb-style message boards for too long today!
Really? I do, and I think that’s why Asian American film festival’s exist because people actually care. When Harold and Kumar came out, an entire grass roots marketing campaign was launched by the Asian community to show Hollywood that these films have a market. In my opinion, I think the above quote captures the Desi community’s mental model when it comes to supporting Desi’s the arts. The South Asian community’s apathy is sad, we’re organized with substantial buying power, but we hate on on our own race more than anyone else. Who care’s if it’s a crude and stupid comedy? It’s Kal Penn in a leading role, hooking up with hot white chicks! Would you rather see him pumping slurpees in a small cameo?
ohh well … im sure kal will still get laid cause of the movie
As an Indian who has carried the Taj nickname for almost 32 years, I couldn’t be happier about this.
“They also said Kal looked fat”
?????!!!!!!!!
That’s right – Kal should get an eating disorder! Come on Kal! Why don’t you be more white like all those white actors with perfect bodies! can’t you see? That’s what the desi girls want!
-another fatty
bad-a-land-a-bad ??? Are they talking about India here or am i reading too much into this
Mytake, I think it’s a twist on “Hyderabad.” Incidentally, the full name of his character is “Taj Mahal Badalandabad”… pretty stupid!