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West Bank Story is a short musical comedy about an unlikely couple who fall in love despite the fact that Fatima is Palestinian and David is an Israeli soldier and their families own competing falafel stands that are right next to each other. As you can tell from the title, it riffs off of West Side Story.
It is so cute!
I TiVoed it on the Sundance Channel. I didn't really have any expectations for it, and I actually thought it was a documentary or something serious. It was a really pleasant surprise - the songs are funny, everyone sings really well, and it has a hopeful, simple message. People may criticize it for being too simplistic and unrealistic, and I'm sure at one point people are going to say it's biased in favor of the Israelis, or the Palestinians, but the truth is, both sides get about the same amount of screen time, and are portrayed pretty sympathetically. And the casting is pretty careful, too - all are professional actors in American television and movies, so I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for them.
Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay - I laughed, but I prefer the first one. After I watched this one, I later realized that a bunch of the jokes were a rehash from the first one. They added a love interest for Kumar, and one of the nerdiest, silliest, poems ever. Some of the scenes were great, like when they get lost and find a bunch of black people playing basketball and they get scared of them and run off, when they're only trying to help them. The bag of marijuana is back and anatomically correct. The love interests are mostly still bland and don't do much for the story. Most of the jokes with Rob Corddry fell a little flat, even though I like him, because it felt like they were trying too hard.
It is so cute!
I TiVoed it on the Sundance Channel. I didn't really have any expectations for it, and I actually thought it was a documentary or something serious. It was a really pleasant surprise - the songs are funny, everyone sings really well, and it has a hopeful, simple message. People may criticize it for being too simplistic and unrealistic, and I'm sure at one point people are going to say it's biased in favor of the Israelis, or the Palestinians, but the truth is, both sides get about the same amount of screen time, and are portrayed pretty sympathetically. And the casting is pretty careful, too - all are professional actors in American television and movies, so I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for them.
Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay - I laughed, but I prefer the first one. After I watched this one, I later realized that a bunch of the jokes were a rehash from the first one. They added a love interest for Kumar, and one of the nerdiest, silliest, poems ever. Some of the scenes were great, like when they get lost and find a bunch of black people playing basketball and they get scared of them and run off, when they're only trying to help them. The bag of marijuana is back and anatomically correct. The love interests are mostly still bland and don't do much for the story. Most of the jokes with Rob Corddry fell a little flat, even though I like him, because it felt like they were trying too hard.
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