Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Review: Hansel & Gretel Get Baked

It's better than anything Tommy Wirkola had to show us

For 420 eyes only.

After hearing the title I asked, “Did Harvey Weinstein go stark raving mad and produce an animated children's comedy about the Holocaust?” Technically, it's not a cartoon, but there is a yellowed German passport with a swastika hidden inside the gingerbread house and an oven built for two in the cellar.

Made for and (presumably) by marijuana-soaked boneheads, Hansel & Gretel Get Baked doesn’t come with the Weinstein Company’s pretentious highbrow imprimatur or greedy zest to market this as next year’s attempt to dangle a Holocaust-themed film before Academy voter’s eyes. If anything, you’ll be surprised to see how many laughs they wring out of this seemingly half-baked premise.

What’s most surprising is how much more coherent (and faithful to the original fairy tale) this is than its witch-hunting, $50 million big studio counterpart. From the opening credits -- the cast and crew’s names are printed on dispensary pop top vials -- one senses this is not another This is Not Another Teen Horror Film.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/21/40531/

In this telling, Gretel (Molly C. Quinn) and her boyfriend Ashton (Andrew James Allen) are medical marijuana-card carrying stoners who get their hands on a gnarly quarter-ounce of Black Forest, the El Dorado of weed.

Dispensaries don’t stock it. The only place in town that reimburses for it is located in the enchanted forest, a labyrinthine grow room in the basement of the wicked witch Agnes’ (Lara Flynn Boyle) spacious Pasadena home.

Ashton ventures off on his own and winds up getting twice-baked: once by the Black Forest and again in Agnes’ kiln. (She literally sucks the life out of her prey in order to maintain a youthful bloom.) Layers of aging latex peel away to reveal a younger Boyle, but the collagen Cheetos that pass for lips defy deterioration.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/21/40533/

Enter nonuser Hansel (Michael Welch), with veins as pure as spring water and virginity still intact, and a gang of local pushers (they caught wind of granny’s stash and want their cut) to wage various battles against the all consuming witch.

Duane Journey started as a grip on dozens of films and now finds himself behind the camera. H&G never reaches the far flung causticity of Freeway, Matthew Bright’s scabrously satiric take on the Little Red Riding Hood saga, but I still found myself chuckling more out loud more times than anticipated. Skittles replace breadcrumbs only long enough for one of our players to get the munchies and eat the return directions.

The gore gets to be a tad gratuitous, but for the most part Journey has a ball ripping into genre conventions. This time you’re supposed to laugh when the cat comes hurling at the camera. SPOILER ALERT The manner in which the two cops meet their end will go down as one of the biggest, most unexpected laughs of 2013.

Stoners and/or those in need of a few laughs need to move their tush, buy some kush, and head over to Reading Cinemas Gaslamp 15 this weekend. Hansel & Gretel Get Baked screens twice -- Friday and Saturday night at 10pm. Duane Journey and screenwriter David Tillman will be attending the Friday night screening.

Reader Rating: Two Stars

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Pranksters vandalize Padres billboard in wake of playoff loss

Where’s the bat at?
Next Article

Jazz guitarist Alex Ciavarelli pays tribute to pianist Oscar Peterson

“I had to extract the elements that spoke to me and realize them on my instrument”

For 420 eyes only.

After hearing the title I asked, “Did Harvey Weinstein go stark raving mad and produce an animated children's comedy about the Holocaust?” Technically, it's not a cartoon, but there is a yellowed German passport with a swastika hidden inside the gingerbread house and an oven built for two in the cellar.

Made for and (presumably) by marijuana-soaked boneheads, Hansel & Gretel Get Baked doesn’t come with the Weinstein Company’s pretentious highbrow imprimatur or greedy zest to market this as next year’s attempt to dangle a Holocaust-themed film before Academy voter’s eyes. If anything, you’ll be surprised to see how many laughs they wring out of this seemingly half-baked premise.

What’s most surprising is how much more coherent (and faithful to the original fairy tale) this is than its witch-hunting, $50 million big studio counterpart. From the opening credits -- the cast and crew’s names are printed on dispensary pop top vials -- one senses this is not another This is Not Another Teen Horror Film.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/21/40531/

In this telling, Gretel (Molly C. Quinn) and her boyfriend Ashton (Andrew James Allen) are medical marijuana-card carrying stoners who get their hands on a gnarly quarter-ounce of Black Forest, the El Dorado of weed.

Dispensaries don’t stock it. The only place in town that reimburses for it is located in the enchanted forest, a labyrinthine grow room in the basement of the wicked witch Agnes’ (Lara Flynn Boyle) spacious Pasadena home.

Ashton ventures off on his own and winds up getting twice-baked: once by the Black Forest and again in Agnes’ kiln. (She literally sucks the life out of her prey in order to maintain a youthful bloom.) Layers of aging latex peel away to reveal a younger Boyle, but the collagen Cheetos that pass for lips defy deterioration.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/21/40533/

Enter nonuser Hansel (Michael Welch), with veins as pure as spring water and virginity still intact, and a gang of local pushers (they caught wind of granny’s stash and want their cut) to wage various battles against the all consuming witch.

Duane Journey started as a grip on dozens of films and now finds himself behind the camera. H&G never reaches the far flung causticity of Freeway, Matthew Bright’s scabrously satiric take on the Little Red Riding Hood saga, but I still found myself chuckling more out loud more times than anticipated. Skittles replace breadcrumbs only long enough for one of our players to get the munchies and eat the return directions.

The gore gets to be a tad gratuitous, but for the most part Journey has a ball ripping into genre conventions. This time you’re supposed to laugh when the cat comes hurling at the camera. SPOILER ALERT The manner in which the two cops meet their end will go down as one of the biggest, most unexpected laughs of 2013.

Stoners and/or those in need of a few laughs need to move their tush, buy some kush, and head over to Reading Cinemas Gaslamp 15 this weekend. Hansel & Gretel Get Baked screens twice -- Friday and Saturday night at 10pm. Duane Journey and screenwriter David Tillman will be attending the Friday night screening.

Reader Rating: Two Stars

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Review: High School

Next Article

A closer look at the trailer for Fast and Furious 6

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader