Teal and Orange - Part 2

Wow, my last post started a little wildfire... who knew?

In an effort to clarify and distill my argument down to it's purest form I will ask just one question (and I will even eliminate Transformers 2 from my debate since it's such an easy target).

Can ANYONE justify the aesthetic choice behind the color grading in this image:

Does it help to convey the key aspects of these characters, or their relationship?  Does it elucidate the major themes of the movie?  Does it support the mise en scéne of the image?

Or perhaps, since this is a comedy after all, you may say that it simply makes the scene funnier.

Really?

Does it make it funnier than say, this?

Or this?

Or this?

Or how about this?

Now you may say, "Well, that look doesn't need any justification, any more than the looks of the scenes you chose - it is just a pleasing look that makes the actors "pop" from the background."

The problem with that argument is that all these other scenes have a very naturalistic look (except Young Frankenstien of course) that does nothing to distract the viewer from the key elements of the scene - namely, the actors, the delivery of their lines, and their comic actions.  To me, the preternaturally vibrant orange and teal of the scene from Hot Tub Time Machine completely distracts me from anything else going on.

And that is simply bad filmmaking.