Cheech & Chong's Up In Smoke (1978)

Wherever you are in terms of weed smoking, this cult flick was a huge box office blast in 1978, which seems like ages ago now. Can you imagine it done nowadays? No way! Defnitely could have only happened in the 70's as at the time it was as close to legalizing weed in USA as it gets. In fact Jimmy Carter won the ticket to the White House two years before officially backing it up and even Hunter S. Thompson swallowed the bug. It's a real pity it never happened as Carter's aide was busted with a big load of snowflake and his progressive, liberal agenda was promptly flushed in the toilet when media caught wind of the scandal. In a way late 70's – although driven by everlasting, cocaine high – were the highest mark of countercultural dreams gone big – if we measure them purely in media and entertainment pitch. Cheech Martin & Tommy Chong could have never found a better time to pop up with their homegrown comedy style.

For many people "Up In Smoke" is the best one in whole Cheech & Chong's series and although it worked for me I have to say I personally found "Nice Dreams" to be much more of an inventive oddball, just dripping with this peculiar, stoner aura. Still, we cannot really go through Cheech & Chong's astonishing film career without bumping on their first, groundbreaking picture. It's cool, it's hilarious and it's definitely baked! How many times it's been ripped off afterwards it's hard to count and that includes recent lame, stoner shit. What makes "Up In Smoke" a wild card and prevents it from aging though is a genuine vocation behind it... this feel of auteur's loco so much buried in the 80's by the big studios cashing on countless clones of "Star Wars", "Jaws" and "The Exorcist". Even if decade under influence was almost over by the time Cheech & Chong caught up, few great movies have been made even as late as 1980-1981.



A plot of "Up In Smoke" is obviously as loose as high mind can be. Two amateur musicians meet casually somewhere around Los Angeles – one just crawled up from a ditch by the beach actually – and they immediately hit it by sharing a gigantic joint (packed partly with Mauie Wowie and partly with labradorian shit). Shortly they get so stoned that driving is impossible anymore and while cult line "I think we're parked, man" comes off of a screen we surely know this bender's gonna last and it does! But the adventures of two dropouts – Pedro de Pacas and Anthony, are not really addressed to any straight viewers, so beware! However, if you've reached for your dear bong or just finished a phat one, they'll leave you spaced out in no time. Among many silly scenes you'll witness a weird music rehearsal and you'll meet wasted Vietnam veteran, who unfortunately flips out while guys want to score some dope from him. You're also gonna drown in some very bizarre ideas like crossing USA-Mexico border in a car made out of liquid marijuana.

In the end you'll have to face a struggle between our anti-heroes and local police forces led by unforgettable sergeant Sedenko, always alert to bust the hipsters as key personalities of a drug-dealing network... and you'll see their gig on young talents night at The Roxy, including obscure californian New Wave and punk rock acts. A cool cat Chicano-black-street speak adds to the flavour making it one of the least pretentious picture of all times and while it contains some lightweight, countercultural agenda it should be watched mainly for these mythical 10 lbs of hysterical giggle. If you have the right attitude and give it a first try, it will definitely blow your mind with it's off-beat pacing and revised version of Marx Brothers humour. You need to know, that only few 60's/70's movies have gained such a cult following with time and while comedies among them are scarce, this is the top. A fantastic trip in glorious past of a truly entertaining cinema, which will grab every serious toker "by the boo boo".

Evil Bong (2006)

Low-budget stoner flick directed by Charles Band, starring some pretty stoned, but unknown faces and great Tommy Chong on the top! As we might expect there’s heavy smoking involved, some great nudes and funny slasher touch. We are provided with cool scene transitions filled with marijuana screens, who wouldn’t like them? Plot is blunt, but what can we demand from a modern stoner movie, which has been made for pure fun? We do not really watch these pictures for cinematographic enlightenment, do we.

Film kicks off when a young nerd named Alister responds to a student-rent-a-flat ad finding three dudes, who do not really keep their nose in the books much preferring to spend 24/7 smoking sweet Mary! There’s a drop-out baseball player, surfer and a paranoid video games lover, who at first pick on the wimpy attitude of a new flatmate, but when ice is finally crushed they get by quite well… especially when a new player arrives at the scene – The Bong! A genuine 60’s item found through the "High Times" ad coming with a scary message, it’s evil, haunted and possessed, so beware young tokers!

As boys find the bong pretty much a religious artifact and they keep smoking from the mysterious tool, things start to happen and they’re being dragged into a dangerous game, mastered by The Sinister One – their souls one by one are sucked into the outside world, a pole-dancing club, ruled by the vicious Bong (a female character by the way). They still need to overcome a minor problem, when one of the boy’s grandpa pays a social call while guys are convinced their surfer flatmate is dead trying to hide his body ASAP.



As the bong drops the net of evil, even party with chicks gets a bit desolated and becomes a two couples play. When all characters eventually pass out and only Alister stays in this world, door suddenly opens and right there comes a hero to save them all – Jimbo (Tommy Chong), an old hippie, who's been bong’s owner for many years and knows it’s satanic powers too well. It’s definitely the best part of the movie as we have some unforgettable lines, very precious for Cheech & Chong movies’ followers. They are in fact the best crumbles we get here!

Jimbo lifts the action explaining to slightly stoned Alister that there’s a powerful voodoo curse on the bong, hands him "vitamins" and promises to help get the guys back. He pulls out a hammer trying to crush the bong into pieces, but in the same times he has to figh the urge to have a toke. The evil one quickly kicks it up a notch releasing a heavy cloud of BC Bud. Jimbo fights the buzz as he’s been building heavy tolearance for many years, but finally drops stoned. As he’s transferred into an outer world club, he smuggles a bomb on him, which is used to destroy the bong-daemon in finale. Everybody comes back to life and even Alister manages to get laid.

As you might expect, it’s not a particularly good story… but it’s not too bad either. Apparently, nothing's gonna beat classic Cheech & Chong's movies, but some chaps still need to smoke and watch trashy pictures, cause they're addicted. If you do not smoke, don't even try to dig it! Stoners exclusively!

Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams (1981)

If you ask me who the biggest heroes of the late 70’s and early 80’s were, I’ll give you the damned answer straight away – they were Cheech & Chong! Although this wicked duo started as a rock group, they never went big with their music and LPs they released eventually wound up stocking up bargain racks in music shops around the world! It didn’t happen untill they got into movies that their natural talent for smoking weed and making fully blown comedy gags finally shone through. As they burnt a big hole through US box office with their debut picture "Up In Smoke" (1978), they suddenly became America’s new hipster’s hipsters. Frenetic cult has followed, which slowed down only a bit in the late 80’s, but never actuallly died! Today Cheech & Chong are as strong as never carrying their freedom message everywhere they toke up!

At the top of my personal list, floating on the silk mattresses of heaven, there’s one wonder flick they scored for Columbia Pictures, called "Nice Dreams"! The only movie which made me laugh so much, that I actually got hiccup and became scared I’d have to get hospitalized. "Nice Dreams" is a third picture in Chech & Chong’s series and although many fans point up to "Up In Smoke" as "the masterpiece", at least the same number praises the value of "Nice Dreams" as the ultimate stoner joke (clapping)! In fact, there’s a lot of arguments supporting this thesis such as absolutely ground-breaking screenplay – a virtually flawless gig, which doesn’t leave any loop holes that might be potentially spotting the action! This comes along with Cheech & Chong’s high level, drug-fueled acting as exemplified by outstanding scene in the restaurant, which carries a strong resemblance to Marx Brothers unforgettable performances!



And last but not least there is a message of the movie itself. These characters might be dopers and dropouts, but at least they see clearly all the shit and hypocrisy of the modern world preferring to do their own thing than drown in it. Their lifestyle unveils a crucial, moral dilemma – Cheech & Chong are doing harmless thing, they’re smoking weed, which is punished by law, but on the other hand forbidden because the laws are unjust and rotten to the core! Police forces chase the bad guys around while not giving a shit about the laws themselves indulging in drugs whenever they can. It’s solely their position of power, which lets them do it without any scare, while local communities are hassled, prejudiced and cracked down on without a scruple. Cheech & Chong represent freedom of choice and the liberties fundamental for communities in every democratic society, while their opressors are power mongers interested in limiting them to minimum – eat shit & die, fuckers!

However, the story of "Nice Dreams" is a very intimate one! Cheech & Chong go around the town dealing dope from an ice cream truck, from time to time trying to score with some chicks, but the law executioners are constantly on their tail and will bust them as soon as they get to the source of their awesome weed. This in certain order leads to Crazy Jimmy character, who just invented a new system of growing very potent buds. This shit is in fact so strong that can turn people into lizards, about which sergeant Sedenko will find out very soon when tempted to quietly smoke it himself. Cheech & Chong’s business gets very good in the meantime – they even plan to buy a tropical island, which they would rule as the kings of the sun being praised with thousand joints every day (great gig, man). Though when they’re visting Jimmy’s grow to get more stuff, cops are doing a bust. In effect, they’re on the run now making it through Chinese restaurant (where they meet Donna, Cheech’s ex girlfriend and get coked up), hotel sex & violence adventure (where they meet the furious biker), psychiatric hospital (where they get to meet Timothy Leary and trip on acid) to finally land bled’n’dry in a strip club to entertain the ladies… cause nothing lasts (as Ken Kesey would say)!

"Nice Dreams" is definitely one of the best movies in it’s class. What am I talking about? It’s one of the best movies ever! It beats "La Dolce Vita", "Psycho" or "Zabriskie Point" and even "Mean Streets" or "Boogie Nights". It’s as good as "Reservoir Dogs", "Network", "Five Easy Pieces" and only slightly worse than "Easy Rider", "The Holy Mountain" or "Apocalypse Now"… so if you want to see something really ass-cracking, go for this stoner classic NOW and remeber that a toke with Cheech & Chong is a quality toke!

Wspaniały sen Cheecha & Chonga

Cheech & Chong byli oficjalnymi bohaterami lat '70 w USA. Pomimo tego, że zaczynali jako grupa rockowa i nagrali nawet kilka płyt, nie udało im się osiągnąć większych sukcesów na polu muzycznym i dopiero gdy nakręcili swój pierwszy film "Up In Smoke", ich popularność sięgnęła szczytu. Tematyka, którą obrali była bardzo prosta, dwóch typów po krókim zapoznaniu na autostradzie zaczyna kręcić się po Los Angeles kręcąc jointy i od czasu do czasu próbując kupić trochę zielska, gdyż to niestety ma tendencję do szybkiego kończenia się. W niezwykły sposób unikają większych problemów z systemem prawnym wystawiając za to organy ścigania na pośmiewisko... wszystko zupełnie przypadkiem, gdyż przez większość czasu są ujarani jak stodoła.

"Up In Smoke" dzięki swojej bardzo przyziemnej lecz ludzkiej treści stał się szybko najpopularniejszym filmem 1978 r. w Stanach Zjednoczonych, a Cheech & Chong zachęceni sukcesem nakręcili kilka następnych zawieszając swoją karierę filmową dopiero pod koniec lat '80, gdy reaganowska kontrrewolucja moralna sprawiła, że stonerowa tematyka nagle przestała być zabawna, a sam duet pokłócił się z nieznanego powodu. Do najważniejszych filmów Cheecha & Chonga należą oprócz "Up In Smoke", dwa kolejne dzieła: "Next Movie" oraz "Nice Dreams", każde zawierające kolejną porcję gagów i humoru sytuacyjnego, które mogą przyprawić każdego miłośnika magicznej roślinki o spory ból brzucha.

W mojej osobistej klasyfikacji numerem 1 jest "Nice Dreams", drugie miejsce zajmuje "Up In Smoke", a trzecie "Next Movie". Oczywiście jest to podejście bardzo subiektywne, ale tylko na "Nice Dreams" śmiałem się tak, że nie mogłem przestać, a moja przepona przechodziła atak niekontrolowanych skurczy. "Nice Dreams" to ukoronowanie wielkiego talentu komediowego Cheecha & Chonga, w którym brawurowy scenariusz graniczy z geniuszem bliskim dokonaniom braci Marx, a aktorstwo wzbija się na wyżyny. Generalnie, Cheech & Chong otwierają swój pierwszy, poważny biznes, związany ze sprzedażą marihuany pod przykrywką lodów ziołowych. Jeżdżą dookoła miasta "lodową furgonetką" próbując ustrzelić trochę gotówki, nie wiedzą jednak że na ogonie siedzi im już nieustraszony sierżant Stedenko (znany z części pierwszej), którego podwładni robią dil z naszymi bohaterami podając się za biznesmenów, amatorów trawy.



Gdy marihuana trafia do sierżanta Stedenko, który spokojnie ogląda sobie w biurze pornolka, ten nie potrafi się oprzeć pokusie spróbowania świeżych topów i zapala sobie w zaciszu swojego biura... wychodzi w końcu z założenia, że trawiarza da się złapać jedynie przistaczając się w niego samemu. Ta taktyka bardzo mocno wpływa na bieg wypadków, gdyż poddana analizie laboratoryjnej trawa, którą handlują Cheech & Chong, sprawia że ludzie zamieniają się w jaszczurki za sprawą eksperymentów hodowlanych, przeprowadzanych na roślinach przez geniusza growingu - Szalonego Jima. Zapotrzebowanie na szczyty jednak rośnie i wkrótce Cheech & Chong wynoszą z plantacji co tylko mogą marząc już o kupieni swojej własnej, tropikalnej wyspy, na której zostaną królami słońca i będą codziennie czczeni przez tubylców tysiącem jointów.

Plan jednak wymyka się spod kontroli, kiedy siedząca im na ogonie policja popycha ich do szybkiego ultonienia się z plantacji i szukania chwili relaksu w pobliskiej, chińskiej restauracji. Tam natykają się jednak na tajemniczą menadżerkę talentów, która rozpoznaje w Chongu wielką gwiazdę rocka psychedellicznego i podkrada naszym biznesmenom jedzenie z tależy. Cheech natyka się też na Donnę, która kończy właśnie swoją imprezową noc z szalonym kokainistą, który proponuje wszystkim szybką sesję prochową pod restauracyjnym stołem. Nakoksowani bohaterzy oddalają się od swojego celu, gdy Cheech postanawia zerżnąć szybko Donnę, a Chong oddaje wszystkie pieniądze szaleńcowi za czek wystawiony przez Bank Kretyńskich Bzdur. Tymczasem Donna proponuje potrójną, wspólną noc, która zostaje jednak przerwana przez epizod z brutalnym motocyklistą.

Chłopcy kończą noc w szpitalu dla wariatów, gdzie próbują odzyskać swoje pieniądze, ale zostają tylko wsadzeni do izolatki, skąd „uwalniają się” dzięki tripowi na kwasie (dostarczonym przez Timothy Leary'ego we własnej osobie). LSD wpędza jednak Cheecha w bad trip, w którym staje się skrajnie nieufny, a dalszy bieg wypadków znowu ogarnia totalny chaos...



Ta prawdopodobnie najważniejsza komedia lat '80 i jeden z największych filmów ostatnich 30 lat, posiada niezwykły ładunek humoru, przeznaczonego głównie dla ludzi samych posiadających go w dużej ilości. Zdumiewa też niezwykłym komentarzem społecznym, który skierowany jest w stronę policji, życia społecznego i samych stonerów oczywiście, których figury Cheecha & Chonga są abdurdalną parodią. W końcu, film ten, jak żaden inny, pozwala na interesującą podróż przez najnowszą historię kultury dragowej w Kalifornii, której jest idealnym zwierciadłem, pozwalając śledzić rozwój wielkiego przemysłu konopnego, który miał tam eksplodować w latach '90 pozwalając na pierwszy zapis prawny, umożliwiający przyjmowanie produktów z konopi dla celów zdrowotnych. Nic dziwnego, że Cheech & Chong odżyli, gdy w Kalifornii przyszedł czas głosowania nad powszechną legalizacją konopi, której całe życie byli gorącym zwolennikami. W ciągu ostatnich kilku lat Cheech & Chong ponownie pojawili się także z nowymi filmami, które być może nie są tak dobre, jak "Nice Dreams", ale należą do bardzo dobrych pozycji.