Inherent Vice (2014)

Title: Inherent Vice (2014)

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix , Josh Brolin, Benicio del Toro, Martin Short, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Katherine Waterston, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of those film directors who never miss; he’s on my “pitch perfect directors” list, right next to Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Stanley Kubrick. These are directors who never disappoint me, even when they’re making one of their lesser films. Boogie Nights (1997)? There Will Be Blood (2007)? Punch Drunk Love (2002)? All amazing and engrossing Paul Thomas Anderson films; interesting part is that they are all vastly different films thematically and tone wise, yet one thing brings them together: they all have strong main characters, which I think is what Anderson specializes in, making films with strong, driven characters who will leave a lasting impression on you. He distills the most amazing performances from his actors, and he’s done it yet again in Inherent Vice. Anderson has created yet another memorable character in the form of ‘Doc Larry Sportello’. Inherent Vice gives us an amazing collaboration between actor, author and filmmaker, the result is a film with the makings of a bona fide cult classic.

Now I haven’t read Pynchon’s Inherent Vice (I’ll be correcting that soon) so I literally didn't know what to expect from this film. I’d read a few reviews that said that the film has an incomprehensible story,  others said it was their least favorite Paul Thomas Anderson film, others would praise it as the next Fear andLoathing in Las Vegas (1998), all these opposing views got me all fired up to see Inherent Vice. On which side would I fall on? Something told me I’d love it, it had all the indicators of awesomeness.  I was expecting a convoluted lovable mess, which is I think a good way to describe this film. So yeah, this is a polarizing film, it will divide audiences, some will love it to death (like me) some will leave the film feeling like they just smoked a doobie. While I watched it, a woman behind me said “I don’t get it”, the visceral reply in my mind was “you idiot!”, in the real world, I couldn’t help letting out an involuntary giggle. This personal anecdote best exemplifies what will surely happen in any given theater with this movie.   

I don’t blame anybody for not “getting it”, this movie can be confusing. Characters keep popping up and the story seems to twist and twist with every coming scene, which is the way it’s supposed to be. I think the best way I can describe the experience of watching this film is like reading a Chuck Palahniuk novel. Excuse me for my literary comparison, but it’s the first thing that popped into my mind while watching this movie. You see, in my experience, when I start reading a Chuck Palahniuk book (he’s the author of Fight Club and Choke) I always feel a little lost. Each chapter starts a little incomprehensible, but as you read on things get clearer and clearer, by the ending of the chapter, poof, everything makes perfect sense. This is howInherent Vice unfolds. When the film ends you’ll feel that it really wasn't as confusing as you had thought, suddenly everything clicks! But ultimately, I guess what this film must really capture is the experience of reading Thomas Pynchon's book, which I haven't done yet. I guess Palahniuk and Pynchon come from the similar literary universe. But here’s a trick to enjoying this movie, don’t try to follow it so much, simply enjoy the crazy characters and situations, because I think that’s really what this movie is about, experiencing the crazy ass moments that unfold and the visuals, which are entertaining and beautiful to look at.

Paul Thomas Anderson drew inspiration from many places to make this film, aside from Thomas Pynchon's novel, Anderson has stated that Inherent Vice has a little bit of Gilbert Shelton’s ‘The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers’ an underground comic from the 70’s and the Cheech and Chong movies. Inherent Vice can be categorized as a Stoner Film, though I wouldn't recommend watching it stoned, it will only mess with your chances of “getting it”, the movie is already trippy enough as it is! With the character of Doc Sportello, we get yet another memorable cinematic stoner, ranking right up there with Cheech and Chong, ‘The Dude’ and Jeff Spicoli. Doc Sportello is smoking weed literally throughout the entire film, and you’ll feel that haziness, you’ll feel that care free who gives a shit vibe in Inherent Vice. In many ways, this is the ultimate stoner film. But like some of the Cheech and Chong movies, cocaine use also works its way into the story. In fact, if there are two movies that Inherent Vice shares its DNA with it’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) and The Big Lebowski (1998). Fear and Loathing because of its constant drug use and overall trippy vibe and The Big Lebowski because Doc Sportello feels like The Dudes long lost brother. 

A distinctive quality of Inherent Vice is how accurately Paul Thomas Anderson managed to capture that counter culture vibe from the 70’s where everyone was always high, had long hair, wore shades at all times, a time when everyone gathered around to philosophize, everyone believed in “good vibes” and in Ouija boards. I loved that whole relaxed breezy vibe the film elicits. There are scenes that take place in beach side communities filled with hippies and beautiful sunsets…loved that whole sit back and relax vibe that is a constant throughout the whole film. You will be transported to the 70’s, an era that Paul Thomas Anderson is apparently obsessed with; he also brought it to life to perfection in Boogie Nights (1997), one of Anderson’s best films. In fact, Anderson is so 70’s he even shot Inherent Vice on film! Personally, I immediately noticed the difference in look, there’s something about films shot on film. The images look so much better, the colors have richness; the definition is far superior than anything shot on digital. I am forever in love with films shot on actual film. Tarantino and Anderson are both on my good side for still doing it. 

  

Anderson is one of those “serious” directors, even when he’s films are funny, they are somehow disturbing. I mean, look at Punch Drunk Love(2002). There’s no doubt the film is hilarious, but it’s not slapstick, har har har slap on your knees funny, it’s dark, twisted funny. The main character is a complete anti-social nut job! The same can be said of Inherent Vice, it’s a dark sort of funny. You see this movie is about sex, drugs and hedonism. The movie will be hilarious, but only to those who enjoy black, acid comedies that are funny because of how fucked up the situations are. What type of comedy am I talking about here? Well, for example, there’s this moment in which Doc Sportello visits a spiritual retreat in which everyone's tripping out on some sort of high; a commune for spiritual trippers. At one point, someone orders a bunch of pizaas and as the camera pans back we start seeing how the scene resembles Davinci’s ‘The Last Supper’ with Sportello as Jesus, and pizzas instead of bread and wine and it's just hilarious! Again, this scene will probably be hilarious to a select few. Side note, I’m going to give this movie the award for “sexiest scene of the year” and the scene I’m referring to is a scene with the beautiful Katherine Waterston seducing Doc Sportello, holy moly, what an erotic scene. Made me shiver with antici…pation! So anyhow, final words are this movie is awesome for the many reasons stated above, the awesome cast, which peppers the film with awesome little moments acted out by great actors. Keep your eyes open for Martin Short. But again, this film is made for a select audience, it will not appeal to everyone. Which group will you fall under?

Rating: 5 out of 5 

This Is The End (2013)

Title: This Is The End (2013)

Director: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg

Cast: James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson

Review:

You all know Seth Rogen as the actor behind such films as Knocked Up (2007) and Superbad (2007). He’s currently enjoying a high point in his career working alongside people like Joseph Gordon Levitt, Michelle Williams, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz and even Barbara Streisand. Rogen has also worked with many renowned filmmakers and directors; but one thing you may not know about Rogen is that he himself writes and produces films. He is as active behind the camera as he is in front of it. Often times, Rogen collaborates with his writing buddy Evan Goldberg, with whom he has collaborated in writing films like Superbad (2007). Each of them has branched into the entertainment business in their own way, Rogen in the writing acting department, while Goldberg more on the writing producing department, but they always end up working together again. When they wrote Superbad, a teenage comedy which went on to become a smash hit, they decided their next film was going to be called Jay and Seth vs. the Apocalypse. This film would be about two friends who end up locked up inside of an apartment as the apocalypse is occurring outside, the two guys end up hating each other. They wrote it, shot a little trailer for it and then put it on You Tube. As of today, it’s been viewed by more than 630,000 people! So anyhow, they shopped their project around, found someone to back it up and voila! We have This Is The End, a film both written and directed by Seth Rogen and his pal Evan Goldberg. It’s obvious this was a dream project of theirs, so, how was it?

The interesting part about This Is The End is that all the actors that appear in it are playing themselves. So Seth Rogen is Seth Rogen, James Franco is James Franco and so forth. This of course isn’t entirely true because these actors are playing exaggerated or even alternate versions of themselves. But still, I gotta say it’s a fun gimmick imagining that Danny McBride is that much of an asshole. So anyways, the idea is that James Franco is putting on this party of the century type of deal where all these famous actors and performers are attending. So you’ll see Michael Cera doing lines of coke and slapping Rihanna’s ass! There’s Christopher Mintz-Plasse! There’s Paul Rudd! There’s Aziz Ansari and so forth. This part of the film is jam packed with cameos, which is fun. Even Jason Segel shows up at one point. So there’s a moment in the night where Rogen and Baruchel decide to go out to buy a pack of cigarettes when suddenly, the end of the world begins. What is triggering the end of the world? Why is blue light sucking people up to the heavens? Why is the earth opening and swallowing people up? Could this be the ‘judgment day’ that the bible talks so much about?

So yeah, the concept is that God has finally brought the end of the world upon humanity, so it’s up to these guys to figure out how they can get into heaven because apparently god didn’t think they were worthy. This is an awesome concept because I’ve always wondered how the biblical end of the world would look like. In my mind it was way more epic then what we see in This Is The End, but that has to do with the fact that This Is The End takes place almost entirely inside of James Franco’s house! This to me is one of the elements that makes this film so much fun because you hear these guys saying things like “Let’s make a sequel to Pineapple Express” and then they go on about what they actually want to do with that sequel, while smoking a joint! “We should make sequels to all our movies!” Funny, funny stuff. I loved how each of the characters takes on a persona, McBride is the hateful asshole, James Franco hates McBride, but loves Rogen. Jay Baruchel is the anti-social dude, Michael Cera is the out of line coke head. So it’s fun having all these guys partying their brains out, and then having to deal with surviving the apocalypse. That’s a double dose of funny situations.

Many will find this film extremely offensive, and it’s mostly to do with the fact that the film makes fun of all sorts of Christian beliefs. It’s the kind of film that takes all that mythology from the bible and turns it into one big fat joke, kind of like Paul (2011) did. In my opinion, this serves as a way to show just how ridiculous some of these ideas presented in the bible can get. For example, the film plays with this whole notion of ‘the rapture’. This is the event in which supposedly god takes the good people of the earth up to heaven with him while leaving the sinners down here to rot in a hell on earth. In the film, a blue beam of light sort of beams you up to heaven, kind of the way they beam you up in a Star Trek movie. Watching all this I was thinking how silly and hilarious it all is! But then you realize this isn’t so far from what the bible actually teaches! I mean all of the animals in the world fit into one boat? So you go up to heaven and you get a halo on top of your head? Come on! Eve actually talks to a snake! What? And let’s not forget the dragons with seven heads! If all these ideas sound fantastic to you, then you should know they all come out of the bible! Rogen and Goldberg take these ideas and put them in their movie and make you realize damn, this stuff’s actually funny! When James Franco is being beamed up to heaven is one of the most hilarious things in the movie, you gotta see it, I dare you not to laugh. While watching This Is The End I got a Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (1990) vibe from it because same as that movie, the main characters go both to heaven and hell and they both offer us hilarious versions of these mythical places. In This Is The End heaven is one big ass party, but I ain’t gonna spoil it for you.

Aside from having fun with Christian beliefs, the film is also extremely graphic in nature. Not just with its jokes, but with its depiction of gore. For example, there’s only one porno mag in the whole house, and these five dudes have to survive the apocalypse with it, so I guess they take turns using it? Point is at one point a fight breaks out between Franco and McBride because McBride jizzed all over the magazine! This is just an example of how crazy the jokes can get, if you like your comedy cute and cuddly don’t go see this movie. If on the other hand you like your comedy raunchy, then you’re in for a treat. I read that while making this film, almost every actor (except James Franco) at one point said they wouldn’t do something because it was too crazy. I mean, Emma Watson herself stepped out of the movie half way because she thought the ideas were too crazy. She was actually supposed to be in the movie a lot more, but bowed out because she couldn’t take it. Hey, if you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen! So that lets you know this one will test your limits of good taste. And then there’s the gore, which is plentiful and hilarious! Ever wanted to see someone play football with some dudes decapitated head? Then this is the movie for you!

How cool was it to have all these funny guys together on the same film? I mean, this is the kind of comedy I love, where they put a bunch of funny dudes together in one movie and see what happens. Obviously there was a lot of improvisation on this film, its part of what I love about movies like this one. I mean, you can tell these were really just a bunch of friends getting together having fun making a movie. I’m sure it must have been pretty difficult to keep a straight face while shooting some of these scenes. One idea did pop into my head; maybe it should be this team of comedians that takes a stab at a Ghostbusters reboot? It would be hilarious to seethese dudes playing Peter, Eagon, Ray and Winston, but alas, that’s just me pipe dreaming. But you gotta admit it would be cool wouldn’t it?

So yeah my friends, this movie is all over the place! It’s extreme, it’s funny, it’s gory, and these characters curse like sailors even when in heaven! “Welcome to heaven motherfuckers!” Yes, this film is rated ‘R’ and don’t you forget it! I was surprised there weren’t any topless girls in this movie; it was all that was missing really. When I went to see this one, half of the theater was laughing, the other half was sitting uncomfortable in their chairs, so it’s a divisive movie. My guess is that the conservative half, the half that goes to church every Sunday was about ready to leave the theater, while the other half were laughing their asses off, I was of course laughing my ass off. After all, if there is a God, he’s gotta have a sense of humor right? I mean, he created George W. Bush didn’t he? So my advice is just go see this one with an open mind, ready to be offended, you just might find yourself having a good time.

Rating: 4 out of 5 

Ted (2012)

Title: Ted (2012)

Director: Seth McFarlane

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Seth McFarlane, Giovanni Ribisi, Sam J. Jones  

                                              

Review:

When Ted was first released in theaters, I totally ignored it because I thought it was going to be a stupid movie, a one trick pony about a Teddy bear doing all sorts of obscene stuff. And while it was that, it was also much more than that and I’m sorry I missed this super funny movie in theaters, I totally underestimated, my bad.  Still, I managed to laugh just as much in the comfort of my home and so I’m here to say that if like me you thought Ted was going to be a sucky movie and haven’t seen it yet, then give it a chance, you’re missing out on a truly funny movie.

Story is all about this kid named John who is a social outcast; his class mates make fun of him and he is lonely most of the time, which is why he ends up talking to his teddy bear. Like many kids at that age, when they got no friends, they make up one. One night, John wishes upon a star. His wish is that Teddy would be real, so he could talk to him like a real person. To his surprise, his wish comes true; his Teddy bear has come to life! Fast forward thirty years and John is now an adult and his Teddy bear still talks! In fact, John and Ted are best buds, they smoke weed, drink and party together. They are inseparable.  Problem is that John’s girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis) wants’ more out of their relationship and gives John and ultimatum: her or Ted.

The most relevant thing about Ted are the themes it plays with. Yeah we have a little Teddy smoking weed and cursing like a sailor, but at its core Tedis a movie about growing up, leaving behind childish comfort zones and facing responsibilities head on. Sometimes, people don’t want to face the often times overbearing responsibilities of adult hood. Some would just rather party all the time, like that stupid ass  Eddie Murphy song. To some, responsibilities loom heavily on the horizon, threatening to end all their fun in life, so they ignore them and party as much as they can. Problem is that, if you don’t face these responsibilities and ignore them instead, then you’re hiding away from growing up, you remain a child forever, hence the term “Peter Pan Syndrome” a term commonly used in the world of psychiatry for people who just don’t want to grow up. These are people who are afraid to face anything that threatens their comfort zone. They don’t want to hear their parents, girlfriend, or friends telling them to “do something with your life”. Basically, people like this shun away anything that questions or threatens anything in their comfort zone. People who suffer from this state of mind, shun the rest of the world because they don’t want to face it, they feel inadequate facing others who have moved on with their lives.

John, the character played by Mark Wahlberg isn’t so far down the rabbit whole, he’s at least managed to get himself a beautiful girlfriend played by Mila Kunis, and he wants to become an adult even though he is already 35 years old. He has fallen into that gutter where your life is essentially going nowhere. But his girl is willing to give him a chance, and John at least demonstrates a desire to stand up for himself and become a man; which of course includes one of the biggest responsibilities imposed by society on any human being: marriage! The ultimate compromise! Can John grow up, get married and become a man? That all depends on him leaving his child like things behind, his comfort zones which include smoking weed, drinking like a mad man and watching movies. The problem with these things is not that John does them, it’s that they are the only things he does with his life. It’s all about that delicate balancing act, work hard and then you can party hard. But it can’t all be party! John at least admits that he is 35 and “going nowhere”. So this is a movie about a man who has to stop wasting his life away. The problem is Ted the talking Teddy bear. This little talking Teddy represents that friend that doesn’t want to stop partying, the facilitator of mirth, the one that always calls you up to hang out and party like there’s no tomorrow. According to the film, this type of friend can be detrimental to a person, because they are the kind of friends who won’t let you move on with their lives, who will drag you down with them into their own neverland.  

   

But you have to admit; sometimes a good party has a strong pull! And in this film the party is not only filled with babes, drugs and alcohol, it also counts with the presence of Sam J. Jones, the actor who played Flash Gordon ("Quarter Back, New York Jets!") in Mike Hodges’s Flash Gordon (1980)! This was the coolest joke in the movie for me because I am a fan of that particular Flash Gordon film, it’s so campy, so flashy, so cheesy, but oh so very fun! Thing is that this Flash Gordon joke is a running gag throughout the whole freaking movie so I was laughing like a mad man every step of the way. Take it from me; if you’re a fan of that Flash Gordon film, with Queen singing “Flash! AaaAaaaaa he’ll save everyone one of us!” then you are in for a special treat with Ted.

"Look Flash, there's Tim Burton blast him away with your laser cannon!"

Ted can be categorized as a “guy’s film” which is basically the kind of movie a guy will want to play for all his buds in his man cave, drinking beers and eating pizza, though woman can also identify with the film since it is a woman that is pushing John to make all these changes in his life. The theme of commitment in a relationship is also one that women will find interesting. Though if they want to see the female verison of this film, then I urge them to check out Young Adult (2011) starring Charleze Theron which plays with similar themes but from a females point of view. Word of warning to those who can’t take a raunchy jokes, the film does indulge into its fare share of vulgar jokes that I’m sure many will find offensive, but again, Gene Simmons definition of success shines through:  “offend as many people as possible”.  This film might have had a Teddy Bear smoking weed, drinking beers and attempting to have sex (even though he has no penis!), yet still, the film went on to make more than 500 million dollars at the box office! So a ‘congratulations’ is in order for first time director Seth McFarlane. Making such a huge hit his first time out is always something good, let’s see if he can duplicate it with his next one, which no doubt we will be seeing sometime soon. I’m sure the success of Ted has Hollywood knocking on his door as I type this.

Rating:  5 out of 5 

The original 'Flash Jump'! 

Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986)

Title: Class of Nuke ‘Em High (1986)

Directors: Richard W. Haines, Lloyd Kaufman

Review:

Class of Nuke ‘Em High is a film that exists in the same universe as the Toxic Avenger films, it takes place in the fictional town of Tromaville, which by the way is right next to a nuclear power plant. Nobody seems to give a rats ass about this, as they go about their every day lives with the nuclear plant looming in the background. The nuclear plant isn’t the safest one either, it is run by this self absorbed fat bastard who doesn’t give a damn if the plant is leaking nuclear waste into the soil, as long as there’s no big media event. He tells his employees to cover it all up, as if nothing had ever happened. When questioned by the media, he tells them that everything is all right, everything is under control; which of course is total bull crap. At the same time, the students of Tromaville High are acting mighty peculiar! Once they were grade A students, and now they are a gang of hoodlums who call themselves ‘The Cretins’, what gives? What is happening to the kids of Tromaville High? 

Well, what’s happening is that The Cretins are buying weed from this guy who works at the nuclear power plant; weirdest part of the story is that the guy grows his weed right next to the power plant itself! So The Cretins are buying nuclear powered weed and selling it the rest of the students at Tromaville High, they like to call it an ‘Atomic High’. Problem is that this toxic weed has major repercussions for whoever smokes it! And so, this is the premise of the film, what happens to those who smoke the nuclear weed. So in a way, this is a stoner flick, because characters are constantly smoking weed getting high and making out, but at the same time it serves as a cautionary tale? Don't smoke weed cause its bad for ya? 

Class of Nuke 'Em High is similar to Kaufman’s own Toxic Avenger because it shares ideas and premises. For example, the film is all about this nerdy goody little two shoes type of guy who on a dare smokes some of the toxic weed with his girlfriend, days later he turns into a Toxic Avenger type of character who goes around teaching bad guys a lesson. In this film toxic waste has various results on people.  For example it can a) turn people into super powered monsters or b) melt away the skin from your body and turn you into a green puddle of puss, take your pic. So in a way, this is a reworking of the ideas presented on The Toxic Avenger (1984), but it has it’s own twisted vibe going for it. I mean, the whole element of it taking place in a high school is what sets it apart. This film was made during the 80’s, so the students portrayed on this film go to the extremes with their fashion and behaviour. They go from cartoony looking nerds, to nightmarish punk rockers straight out of Blade Runner or Mad Max. Yes sir, heavy metal was king back in those days, and so, a lot of the teenagers on this film are dressed in the heavy metal/punk fashion, which the film exploits to full extent.

I enjoyed the films rebellious nature. Toxic Waste changes the students of Tromaville Highschool and turns them into violent psychopaths hellbent on destroying everything in their town and their school. They are the anarchic youth, the punk rockers, the rebels, the wastoids, smoking their lives away. In many ways, the film can be seen as a way of criticizing the state of American education, students cant connect with the drivel they are taught so they rebel. The school personel is constantly portrayed as incompetent or gloriously outdated;  not in touch at all with the youth they attempt to teach. There is this one scene that stood out for me in which The Cretins are taken to the principals office but they dont care, they defy authority and start singing the American National Anthem. It felt as if they were saying we are todays youth, this is the new America, deal with it! The film can also be seen as a direct result of peoples fears during the 80's of a nuclear meltdown. For a while there during the 80's it felt like the 50's all over again with everyone being ultra paranoid about being blow away by nuclear weapons. Films such as Class of Nuke 'Em High are a result of that nuclear fear, same way Godzilla (1954) was back in it's day.

Aside from all of this, the film offers up some really cool gory moments. It's that kind of 80's movie that was filled with gooey, gory images, something we don't see a hell of a lot of anymore. The students of Tromaville High turn into deformed humanoids, others melt away when they drink from the polluted water of the water fountain. There's this monster that stalks the schools hallways that was a pretty cool achievement for such a low budget film. Weirdest part of the tale is that it's a mutated sperm! This element of the story immediately brought to mind the  'Wadzilla' story from the recent horror anthology film Chillerama (2011), which featured a story about a giant mutated sperm destroying New York City. In Class of Nuke 'Em High we get a mutated sperm monster terrorizing the students! So rest assured, there's gooey fun  to be had with this flick. This was actually one of the coolest Troma films I've seen to date in terms of comedy and over all silliness, it's offensive, but not nearly as offensive as other Troma films I've seen. It's still very much an ultra cheap production and cheesy to the max, but that's exactly what I enjoyed about it. The acting is beyond terrible no doubts about it, but I enjoyed how the characters in the film behave like these exagerated cartoon characters, they were entertaining in that way. So in conclusion, this is very much a Troma movie, it takes place in Tromaville and has toxic waste infused into it's story line and it has  every bit the craziness and irreverence you'd expect from a film co-directed by Lloyd Kaufman. Two sequels followed: Class of Nuke 'Em High 2: Subhumanoid Meltdown (1991) and Class of Nuke 'Em High 3: The Good, The Bad and the Subhumanoid (1994), I don't know if they are any good, but I will most likely check them out at some point, the second one looks fun. Also, as I write this review Kaufman himself is putting the last finishing  touches on Return to the Class of Nuke 'Em High, I'm looking forward to that one simply because it's Kaufman himself directing. So, I recommend this one if you want to take a ride to Tromaville High, where the gags, the gore and the silliness never end.

Rating 2 1/2 out of 5

Fritz the Cat (1972) and The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat (1974)

Fritz the Cat, the comic strip character about a hip cat who comments on society and life, first came to life in the mind of famed underground comic book artist Robert R. Crumb when he was just a kid way back in 1959 in the pages of a little home made comic strip called “Cat Life”. Later, when Crumbs career grew in the underground comic scene of the 60’s and 70’s Fritz the Cat became known to the world as the anthropomorphic cat who represented the counter culture and had all sorts of crazy adventures, including many sexual ones. Crumb by the way is a genius of the comic book art form in my book, his style is one that I personally love and admire and actually kind of emulate in my own stuff, so this review comes from a genuine Robert Crumb admirer. Ultimately Crumb completely disassociated himself from this film project, going as far as getting his name legally removed from anything related to the film. The fact that Crumb cut himself out of the project doesn’t mean that Fritz the Cat is a bad film, because it isn’t. I actually think the film effectively captured what Crumb’s strip was all about but at the same time it has a lot of Bakshi’s own mentality in it as well. It’s the joining of these two genius minds that makes Fritz the Cat such a unique film.  I have to admit that I am disappointed at the fact that Crumb didn’t participate in the development of the film, still, I have to give props to Ralph Bakshi and his achievements with it; it is a special film in many ways.  

Way back in the early 70’s when famed animator Ralph Bakshi was looking for the right project with which to launch his career, he stumbled upon a Fritz the Cat strip and got the idea in his mind that he could make a film about these horny pot smoking animals. He’d been looking for the right film with which to start off his animation studio; a studio that Bakshi wanted to use to produce animated films for adults. But Crumb wasn’t budging; he didn’t want to give the rights to Bakshi, he didn’t want to do the project. Bakshi himself has gone down as saying that Crumb wanted all the credit for himself and making  film, by definition isn’t all about one person. It’s a collaborative medium, many people help a film happen. But the story doesn’t stop there. Crumb’s wife wanted the money that the project was offering and since she had a power of attorney over Crumbs work, she signed over the rights to Bakshi anyways. According to Crumb, they only got 7,000 for the rights! Fritz the Cat cost 850,000 to produce but went on to make almost 2 million dollars world wide, making it a bonafide success.

What was the big deal with Fritz the Cat? Why did an independent animated film suddenly make so much dough? Well, various factors helped this groundbreaking animated film get noticed, first of them is the fact that it was the first animated film to get the dreaded X-rating. Normally, getting an X-rating means economic death for any film; it means your film won’t get played in as many theaters and that the grand majority of conservatives in the world won’t go see your film. And while that might have been so at the time that Fritz the Cat was released, it still went on to make a hefty amount of money at the box office and it is still the single most successful independent animated film in history. Bakshi and crew intelligently used the X-rating to their advantage pasting the phrase “He's X-rated and animated” and “We’re not rated X for nothin', baby!” on their posters. The most controversial aspect of the film is seeing these cute little cartoon animals smoking weed, shooting up heroin, participating in orgies and murdering people. Never before Fritz the Cat had an animated film been aimed at an adult audience, so this film was ground breaking in that way. Fritz’s sexual exploits are pretty nuts as well, they include him picking up three chicks by impressing them with his philosophical ideas, and then getting them to participate in a massive orgy at a house where these beatniks are all having a major smoke out. Then Fritz goes and has sex with this huge black chick called ‘Bertha’. It’s hilarious seeing Fritz squeezing his face into a huge pair of breasts with such reckless abandon.

Fritz the Cat is most certainly a stoner flick; it glorifies pot smoking like very few movies do. Fritz tokes it up and shares the ganja with his girlfriends to get them in the mood. He smokes and goes on these hallucinatory head trips which offer up some of the craziest visuals in the film. I guess every single pot smoking, tripped out hippy went to see this one. Once word of mouth gets out that a film is ‘trippy’ well, acid heads and tripsters go in droves. Same thing happened with Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) a film which acid heads went to see not only because it was a great cinematic experience, but because it also offered trippy visuals to augment their drug trips, and this most certainly is the case with Fritz the Cat, though the animation can be crude by today’s standards (as are most of Bakshi’s films) when you get used to it, the visuals can be quite the trip.

The film goes by pretty quickly from sketch to sketch, it can be a bit hard to follow because Fritz the Cat is a film that does not unfold in you’re a-typical linear fashion; it actually plays out a lot like a series of sketches commenting on socio-political problems. But when you finish watching it, you’ll feel that the film is just as chaotic, frenetic and sour sweet as life itself; which is something I enjoyed. I loved how both films serve as a time capsule of the late 60’s and early 70’s, it shows us the way people thought, what they were going through. Race issues pop up constantly, for example, Fritz hates the way white people have abused blacks through out history, so he goes hangs out with black people and plays pool with them, strikes up philosophical conversations about racism. These conversations sparked up quite the controversy; but Bakshi has always been a guy who doesn’t shy away from controversy. Controversy is something that Bakshi films were always about, for example Coonskin (1975) Bakshi’s racially charged feature film, flared up a whole lot of controversy, it was accused for being racist, when in fact it was the complete opposite. It is now considered by Bakshi and his fans, as his masterpiece. Bakshi did always make an effort on his films to comment on racism, for example, there’s something about the way Bakshi made these scenes that take place at an all black bar in Fritz the Cat. The scene has a bunch of black people hanging out, drinking booze, and talking bull. The conversations in these scenes come off as very realistic because Bakshi actually picked up a bunch of black people and brought them to the studio and just let them talk, he later animated the scenes in accordance to the dialog he recorded, as a result the dialog comes off as vibrant and full of life.  

Another controversial moment in the film has Fritz joining this group of revolutionaries who want to blow up some kind of factory, these guys are unsavory types only looking to do some damage, they are just violent for the sake of being violent and so Fritz ends up joining them and participating, not realizing his getting into a heap of trouble. This segment is obviously meant to send a warning. You might be counter culture and you might hate the system, but you have to choose your partners carefully. Ultimately, Fritz the Cat is a strange film to take in, it’s amusing and has tons of shock value, but it’s not easy to digest. At times the film goes on these tangents with Fritz philosophizing about life; you'll feel like you're in a beatnik bar philosophizing and criticizing everything that moves, which is basically the kind of film Fritz the Cat is. Fritz embodies the state of mind and frustrations of the 60’s generation, it’s awesome to look at it just for that.

The sequel, The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat was not directed by Ralph Bakshi because Bakshi had said all he wanted to say with Fritz the Cat, he was ready to move on to something else, which would end up being his next animated feature film, Heavy Traffic (1973) a film about a cartoonist/animator who wants to make an animated film, but is finding it difficult to produce, like most of his films Bakshi was venting some personal demons with that one. The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat went on to be directed by a guy called Robert Taylor and had nothing to do with either Bakshi or Crumb. It is seen by many as simply a cash-in, a film made to capitalize on the success of the first. And though I kind of agree with that sentiment, this sequel is not without its merits.

This time around Fritz has gotten married; he lives with his fat wife and child in a cramped apartment in the slums. All Fritz does these days is sit around smoking weed and waiting for his next welfare check; unfortunately the people at the welfare office are calling him up, questioning him as to why he hasn’t found a job yet. At the same time,  his wife is screaming at him at the top of her lungs about being a good father and getting a job, two things that Fritz does not seem to be too good at. So as he takes a puff of smoke, all of his nine lives take an astral trip, each life a different version of Fritz. Each life a different sketch; a different comment on society.

In one life Fritz goes off and screws a young Puerto Rican girl, making her smoke weed so that she gets all horny. After they smoke, they go on this hallucinatory surreal trip, which if you ask me, looks and feels more like an acid trip than anything. In another life Fritz is off to Mars on a spaceship with a news reporter he manages to seduce minutes before take off. In another life, he meets a bum on the streets who says he is God. On another he ends up being Hitler’s right hand man; this  segment of the film aims it’s guns at the fascist movement, making fun of Hitler and the Nazi’s every chance it gets. For example, they go on and on about how Hitler is actually a very frustrated cat because he has only one testicle, and is secretly gay. Hitler actually tries to screw Fritz! Then, we get the most controversial of all the segments, the one in which Fritz has to enter New Jersey, which has now been dubbed “New Africa” because according to the movie, the white men in power gave New Jersey to the blacks! So anyhows, Fritz ends up getting blamed for the assassination of the president of New Africa! Fritz even meets Satan on this one. At the end of the day though, the second Fritz movie isn’t as shocking as the first, but it’s still extremely satirical of the times it was made, the 70’s.

Bakshi himself is not very fond of The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat; he considers it a lesser film and so does Crumb, to whom the film does not exist. If you ask me, I’d say that both films are more or less the same, they both comment on society, shock with their vulgarity and violence (for animated films anyways) and both have that sketchy vibe to them; but Fritz the Cat does have more of an edge to it. It is more graphic in nature, which is the reason why Fritz the Cat garnered an X-Rating while The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat got a ‘R’, this immediately let’s us know that Nine Lives is softer and sort of playing by the rules. The sequel wasn’t as successful with critics and audiences as the first film, but in my opinion, it’s not totally unwatchable. They are both very representative of the times they were made and comment on a lot of relevant issues. They don’t necessarily give any answers, but they sure do plant the questions. Both films have that rough Ralph Bakshi style of animation which can take a while to get adjusted to, but even though both films are rough around the edges, and suffer from imperfect sketchy animation, both films more than make up for it with their content and attitude.

Rating for Fritz the Cat (1972): 4 out of 5

Rating for The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat (1974): 3

Savages (2012)

Title: Savages (2012)

Director: Oliver Stone

Cast: Benicio del Toro, Salma Hayek, John Travolta, Aaron Johnson, Blake Lively, Taylor Kitsch

I enjoyed Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday (1999), it had a lot of his kinetic energy, a lot of his love for Americana, and I loved how he filmed football like it was a war, but I'm not a huge fan of football, so that film wasn't really big on my Oliver Stone-o-meter; yes I have one of those. In reality, the last Oliver Stone movie that I really enjoyed was U-Turn (1997), I believe that was Stone's last truly edgy film. It wasn't based on any real life events, it wasn't making any political statements or trying to uncover some age old conspiracy like a lot of Oliver Stone's films do, no, U-Turn was Oliver Stone simply having some fun telling a story about this shitty day Sean Penn has when he falls, like a fly into a fly trap, into this hell hole of a town, straight out of a Twilight Zone episode. It was kinetic, it was weird, it was offbeat, it was dark and funny...and it had that great Billy Bob Thornton performance. Sadly, every other film Stone has made after that one has missed that Oliver Stone kineticness we all came to love. Actually, the title U-Turn was so symbolic because from there on in, Stone's films just haven't been the same. 

Oliver Stone, working out a scene with Travolta and Kitsch

Take World Trade Center (2006) for example. What a boring film! Had that been a true Oliver Stone film it would have focused on the terrorists on the plane or on the conspiracy theory that maybe it was the Americans who blew themselves up to have an excuse to invade Iraq or something like that. But no, since World Trade Center was made by the "neutured by Hollywood" Oliver Stone, well, it was about these heroic firemen; a noble and sentimental approach to the whole World Trade Center tragedy, but not in my opinion the kind of story that the old Oliver Stone would have told. Same goes for W (2008), a film that was "soft" when compared to similar Stone films like the mindblowingly good JFK (1991) or NIXON (1995). So now, here comes Savages, and judging by the looks of the previews, it seemed like this is Stone's attempt to grow some balls back and have some fun while doing it. Not a bad combination in my book. It seemed to me like Savages was going to show us Stone's still got it in him to make a film with an edge to it. It looked like he was ready to give us another jolt of shock to the system. Did Stone deliver the goods?

On Savages we meet two California weed dealers, Ben and Chon; two friends who have decided to use their capabilities to produced and sell some of the finest weed ever smoked by man. One graduated from college and has extensive knowledge on botany and chemistry, the other is an ex military who offers his military know-how and is the muscles of the operation. The two of them are in love with the same woman, Opehelia, and they all live in beach side mansion in California. Their lives are like a dream, selling and smoking weed, making tons of dough, they are  living the life so to speak. But Ben wants a normal life and wants out of the weed selling business, he convinces Chon and Ophelia to do  the same. In their minds they can effectively run off to Indonesia and live a luxurious life over there, far away from all the drug dealing. But what happens when the bigger drug dealers don't want them to go? 

First the good news: this isn't a completely unwatchable Oliver Stone film; it has many of the things we've come to expect from the legendary filmmaker, albeit with less intensity. It's got violence, drugs, sex and controversial ideas, but it just doesn't  get too intense, not like old Stone films would. One of the most controversial ideas the film puts across is that marijuana should be legalized; that it's only a matter of time before this happens. And herein lies the surprise for me with this movie: I wasn't expecting for the film to be a Stoner Flick. This movie is really, really about weed; actually it borders on glorifying or even glamorizing it. There are these scenes where the main characters are just smoking away, 'chillaxing'; that's chilling and relaxing all roled up into one in case you're wondering. It really captures what it means to smoke weed, to be in that totally chilled, spaced out moment, we even get one of these scenes that we saw before in Stones own The Doors (1991), where characters are high, looking out at the stars, loosing themselves in the vastness of space. The names of the main characters in the film: 'Ben and Chon' are enough of an indication to tell us that this film will be all about weed, the names of course remind us of those perennial pot heads from the 70's Cheech and Chong. So a big theme here is marijuana, and how if it was legalized, a lot of unnecesary crap could be avoided. 

The glamorizing aspect of the film comes when we see the kind of life that these two guys and their girlfriend  live. They make the finest pot ever, they are drug dealers yet they live in these beautiful homes, have these cool cars, and share the hottest girlfriend, which by the way is another controversial aspect of the film, the depiction of a threesome. It doesn't really go too deeply into the whole threesome thing like the way Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) did, but it does make a point to tell us that this kind of thing just doesn't work out. Bottom line though is that these guys are drug dealers, but they are depicted as the nicest drug dealers ever. They dress like surfers, and drive these expensive sports cars and what have you, but come on, these guys are supposed to be drug dealers! To me they just didn't look the part, they didn't convince me they were dealers. They came off as too nice for drug dealers. They looked more like surfer dudes who would be smoking the pot rather then making it and sell it. And here for me is where the film has a few faults. 

Stone's cinematic characters were never beatuftiful people, they were always caricatures of what humans are like. With  emotions augmented and personafied. I'm thinking of James Wood's in Salvador (1986), Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis in Natural Born Killers (1994), not the best looking peole, but boy could they act the hell out of their characters. They had such intensity to them.  His characters were always rough looking, ugly in a way, disturbed, and sometimes even cartoonish somehow.  Take Tom Cruise for example -the sex symbol of his day- he starred in Born on the Fourth of July (1989), but even then, Stone turned Cruise into a demented freak in a wheel chair, with long hair and a mustachio, trying to screw Mexican whores with a limp dick. Point is, only recently did he start this thing about putting beautiful people in his films, this probably is at the request of Hollywood producers. Stone seems to be aware of this himself, because even though he's got young, good looking protagonists on his film, he places them in juxtaposition to,Benicio del Toro as the villain called 'Lado'. Now Benicio is the kind of character you'd expect to see in an Oliver Stone film, he fits the bill perfectly. Benicio is a fantastic actor, and in this film he even comes off as frightening and scary in his violent ways. The character of Lado gives us a small glimmer of what Stone's characters used to be like. Scary, ugly, dangerous, edgy kind of characters. I loved  how Stone addresses the issue of beautiful protagonists by having 'Lado' make fun of  Ben by telling him that he's "cute"; in this scene, Stone is making fun of the fact that he has these two Calvin Klein models as protagonists on his film.

Other than that, this is pretty much an Oliver Stone film, but light. He still uses the change in film stock, sometimes the film goes to black and white, sometimes we see over saturated images...but at the same times the camera stays still a lot. It's missing that frenetic pacing we used to have in Stone's films, where we felt as if a coked up dude was telling us the story. I guess Stone is getting old, and it doesn't surprise me that his films keep getting softer the older he gets; this happens to many filmmakers as they start getting older, they kind of loose what made them cool when they were young. Kind of like aging rock stars, some don't loose it, but most do. I don't think Stone has totally lost his cool yet, he might have an awesomely dark film up his sleeve yet, but this one just ain't it. I'm not saying it's a bad film, because it has a lot of cool stuff going for it. It's fun, it's fast paced. But for an Oliver Stone film, it's just too bright, too colorful, too beautiful..too perfect in a way. I liked the chaotic nature of previous Stone films. But then again, the way this film was made was  probably done intentionally. It looks to me like Stone was going for a film with beautiful people, lots of colors  and a happy kind of vibe going for it, this is a film about smoking weed after all. Savages is a film where even the villains where kind of likable, as is the case with Salma Hayek's 'Elena'; a villain who comes off as a mother figure of sorts. Even though the film does have decaptations and bloodshed, it felt like a milder kind of film from and old marketer of 'Gloom and Doom'; which of course is why it feels so strange. Not bad, just different, definetly not what you'd expect from Stone. Savages is the kind of film where everything goes smoothly for the pot heads; but in the end, it left me longing for the old war horse that Stone was. 

Rating 3 1/2 out of 5

Up in Smoke, A Blog Entry on Cannabis Cinema (Stoner Films)

Just last week I was watching Nancy Meyers It’s Complicated, a film I would normally never watch in theaters, but ended up seeing anyways. As I watched I thought to myself "Ive gotta get down to doing that Cannabis Cinema Blog Entry!" You see, I was surprised to discover that in this seemingly innocent romantic comedy, smoking weed ends up being a big part of the movie. Meryl Streep and Steve Martin end up getting stoned together and making out. On this movie, weed isn’t demonized at all, but is actually shown as something that might actually get you feeling happy, goofy in a harmless way. But dammit! Its illegal! In one scene, as Meryl Streep is holding up a joint while inside of her car, a police car drives by and she hides it, afraid to get caught, reminding us once again that pot might be fun, but why the hell is it illegal? Anyhows, seeing that scene in a major Hollywood movie got me sparked up about finally writing this Cannabis Cinema Blog Entry.

Does hollywood have something against weed related movies? That is a question I would like to get addressed on this blog entry (if you care to comment on it) because I notice a lot of these movies that are explicitly about stoners and weed are usually sent straight to dvd when they are actually really funny and would have done very well in theaters. You will notice that a lot of the movies on this blog have gotten the shaft (that means sent straight to dvd) simply because they are about weed. Even big stars like Jack Black in Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny get ignored or dont get enough promotion.

I get the feeling that:

#1 They dont market the film enough because weed plays a major part in it

#2 They dont want to give impressionable youngsters the idea that smoking weed is cool

#3 They are just a bunch of hypocritical assholes since hollywood producers no doubt smoke weed.

#4 They are afraid the general public will stay away from the film because it is about weed.

Dont they know that theres a target audience for these kinds of Films as well, just like there is a target audience for any kind of film?

A good example is how they didnt promote Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny and it bombed at the box office, but when it gets released on dvd and word of mouth gets out, the movie becomes a huge seller. Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny sold more dvds then it made money in theaters! What the hell does that say? That people would have seen it had Hollywood not pussied out of marketing it like they do all other movies. People had to go out and discover the film by word of mouth.

Arnold Schwarznegger toking it up in Pumping Iron (1977)!

I just read that Cheech and Chong had trouble getting their first film marketed as well. You know what they had to do? Market the filmthrough flyers on the streets because the studio didnt want to market it properly. Still, Up in Smoke turned out to be the 12th highest grossing movie that year! Proves once again...people are OK with Stoner Films. Hollywood needs to stop being so self righteous! Well, its happening indirectly. The Harold and Kumar Films being a good example of this.

But anyhows, no more bitching. Cannabis Cinema has been around for a while now, and its a bonafide sub genre. Heres a list of some cool (and even not so cool) stoner films:

Title: Still Smoking (1983)

Director: Tommy Chong

Comments: Well, this one isnt really so much a movie on itself. You see, Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong had a real life stand up comedy show that they use to take around town to sell out crowds. They would perform their comedic skits, which often times just included Cheech and Chong on stage doing different sketches and characters of their own creation. On Still Smoking, Cheech and Chong are invited to a film festival dedicated to Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds (who actually cameo on the film). But Dolly and Burt fail to show up, so the producers of the festival ask Cheech and Chong to entertain the crowd with their act. From there on in, the movie turns into a live show with Ceech and Chong doing their different comedy routines live in front of an audience. Not the most entertaining of the Cheech and Chong movies if you are expecting an actual film (like I was), with an actual storyline. The movie actually plays out more like a concert film then anything else. Still, if your a fan of the Cheech and Chong comedy sketches, then by all means check this one out. Just dont expect a real movie.

Title: Cheech and Chongs Nice Dreams (1981)

Director: Tommy Chong

Comments: This is the third Cheech and Chong film. Though this is Cheech and Chongs second sequel and they had the opportunity to make an even better film then the previous two (Up In Smoke and Next Movie) I wouldnt say that this is in fact a good movie at all. The premise for this one is that Cheech and Chong have now become rich, they are selling weed to people out of an Ice Cream truck and have made their fortune. They got a huge house, they got their own weed plantation, and they are now living comfortably. Problem is, they have the police checking them out, so they are constantly on the run from the cops who are trying to catch them. One of the many problems this movie has is that it takes its focus out of the weed. This movie is more about Cheech and Chong getting high on cocaine and fucking things up. Basically, Cheech and Chong make lots of cash, go to celebrate to a Chinese restaurant where they meet up with this guy called the "Hamburger Dude" who offers both Cheech and Chong some cocaine. They snort it with him under the table, get bat shit insane and Chong manages to sign away all of Cheech and Chongs money to the coke snorting Hamburger Dude, who by the way is played by a very young Paul Reubens. So half way through the movie, the movie is no longer weed oriented but cocaine oriented. I dont know if that was the movies intended message (that coke fucks things up) but it basically does fuck things up for Cheech and Chong because suddenly everything starts going wrong. It was kind of weird seeing Paul Reubens, who was once the host of a childrens show (remember Pee-Wee's Playhouse?) playing a cocaine fiend. But anyhows, thats where the movie turns sour for me. Cause these guys are stoners, not coke fiends. Theres a difference. Anyhows, the film also turns into a sex comedy, having Cheech and Chong about to perform a threesome with some hot latina chick, and then her biker husband walks in and tries to kill em. So not only is the film not a stoner film anymore, now its a sex comedy. And then to top things of, the film turns into this surreal nightmare thing when Cheech and Chong get mistakingly thrown into a looney bin? This is where the movie, to me, looses all hopes of coherence. My big complaint with this movie, apart from what Ive already mentioned is that it feels very lazyly directed. I know what your thinking, a pot head directed this film (Tommy Chong himself is the director) what did you expect? And my answer would be, you are exactly right. Many of the scenes actually look as if Cheech and Chong are genuinly high, as in for real. Dont know if thats what made this movie so mediocre, but it sure feels like it. The film looses all direction and purpose, its plot is non sensical, and the movie just feels like one big directionless thing. Not Cheech and Chongs best day in my opinion.

Quintesential Stoner Moment: When the chief of police manages to get his hands on some of the weed that Cheech and Chong are selling from their Ice Cream truck. He decides to keep it "to analize at the lab" but actually ends up smoking it himself. What he doesnt know is, this is genetically altered weed that will turn you into a lizard. Literally! And so, as the movie progresses, the chief of police slowly but surely begins to turn into a lizard.

Title: Idle Hands (1999)

Director: Rodman Flender

Comments: This is a horror movie with stoner elements squeezed into it. It tells the story of Anton Tobias, a teenager whos right hand has become possesed by the devil! The hand makes him do all sorts of evil things, amongst them killing his two best friends and his parents! Now Anton must get rid of his hand before it drags his soul down back to hell with it. Main character is a major stoner, he wakes up in the morning to sit on the couch, watch tv and hit the bong. Its his priority in life. His friends (played by Seth Green and Elden Henson) are the same. Even when his best friends are dead they are thinking of hitting the bong! I thought the stoner elements where well handled, some of the gags were awesome and very much influenced by Sam Raimis Evil Dead movies. In one scene we watch Anton fighting with his possesed hand and one cant help but think of Ash fighting his own evil possesed hand in the spooky cabin in the woods. Only thing is Ash didnt think of putting the possesed hand inside of a microwave and nuking it! Basically, during its second half, the movie turns into "lets follow the evil hand around and kill it" kind of movie. This movie is cool at times, but kind of looses steam and direction somewhere around its last half. Jessica Alba boner inducing as she looks, messes up the movie with some truly bad acting! Vivica A. Fox shows up briefly in the movie as a demon slayer.

Quintesential Stoner Moment: When Antons two best friends are killed, they see the famous "tunnel of light" thats supposed to lead to heaven. They decide not to follow the light because the tunnel looks too far. Instead, theyd rather take another bong hit and stay on earth helping out their friend Anton deal with his evil hand.

Seth Green, One Dead Stoner

Title: Strange Wildernes (2008)

Director: Fred Wolf

Comments: Well, heres one I was really looking forward to because of the people involved in it. Its the same gang that made the really funny Grandmas Boy, so I was expecting this movie to be at least as good as that one, or better. Boy was I dissapointed. This movie tells the story of the cast + crew of a wildlife show who are trying to boost their ratings so they wont get canceled. How do they plan to boost their ratings? By going on a quest to find Big Foot! Theres a thing about stoner movies, I dont think its a good idea for the cast and crew to actually be smoking when making it. The result can end up being sloppy and disjointed. This was the case with Strange Wilderness, as I watched it I had this glimmer of hope that it would be hilarious, because the cast is a group of people who have been extremely funny in previous movies. But for some reason the ideas and execution felt half assed. The story goes nowhere! I mean, yeah, this is a stoner comedy, but come on, at least give us something to follow here. This movie is shallow, empty and just plain stupid. Stoner movies can be stupid, but this one scratches on fucking retarded. I know this movies budget was a measly 5 million, but come on guys, when you got a meager budget, you gotta beef up the script. You know, actually make it funny as opposed to just goofing around on the set. As it is, thats what this movie feels like. Its not all bad, theres some funny moments squeezed in there, but for the most part the film is unfunny and forced. Too bad, this one had potential, but they blew it.

Quintesential Stoner Moment: When they are filming an episode of the wildlife show called "Strange Wilderness" and you could hear the bubbles from the bong someone is smoking next to the camera and they have to interrupt the shoot of the show because of it.

Title: Super High Me (2008)

Starring: Doug Benson

Comments: On this documentary, stand up comedian Doug Benson decides to prove that weed is relatively harmless. He stops smoking for 30 days straight. Documents his health and mental stamina, his intelligence during this period. Then he does the same after having smoked medical weed for 30 days straight as well. Generally, he was kind of sad and bored for the 30 days he didnt smoke, then everything was coolio when he started to smoke. His sperm count was higher, his intelligence tests rated higher (which I found a bit bizarre since weed tends to dumb you down) and his health was fine. Dont know how much of the results were true, but I tend to kneel towards the weed is harmless camp. Except maybe for not remembering very well what you were doing while smoking, to me its equal to going out on a drinking spree, without the hangover, which is a plus if you ask me. Documentary could have been better, it could have informed more about the myths sarrounding marihuana, and the facts. Plus his jokes as a stand up comic werent all that good. Not a bad watch, but could have used some beefing up information wise.

Quintesential Stoner Moment: The face of happiness when Doug finally gets to smoke again after having been weed free for 30 days.

Title: Waiting (2005)

Director: Rob McKittrick

Comments: One of the funniest movies Ive seen in a while, this movie is the kind of comedy that will make you laugh out loud. I think this movie needs to be seen by more people. Its entire premise is that of a few teenagers and twenty somethings who are stuck working tables at a local restaurant. They are in that kind of a job where if you dont do something about it, youll end up working there for the rest of your life. Its the kind of job where you hate it so much, you cant wait for that moment when you punch out so you can go get drunk and high with the rest of your co-workers. The main character Dean (played by Justing Long) is in this crossroads moment in his life where he wants to make that change, where he wants to leave "Shennanigans" (thats the name of the restaurant) behind and make something of himself. In the midst of all that, we get to see the goings on of what really happens behind the counter, in the kitchen of one of these restaurants. Whats coolest about this movie are all the different characters, we get the over stressed hyperactive chick who chain smokes like a mofucker, we get the two stoners bus boys who spend most of their time smoking in the parking lot and munching away at whatevers in the fridge, we get the insecure guy who has one hell of a time just trying to get a date, and we get the different love hate relationships going on amongst the workers. Its one of those movies that plays along like a John Hughes movie from the 80s only updated for the new millenium. If youve worked in a restaurant as a waiter, then this movie was tailor made for you! If you havent, I gurantee you will laugh anyways.

Quintesential Stoner Moment: When the two stoners in the movie have just finished smoking a joint and are in the kitchen sucking on whip cream cans, they imagine a moment in which they hate their boss so much they start throwing gasoline at him and then light him up in fire!

Their Shenanigans include, smoking weed in after work parties

Title: The Wackness (2008)

Director: Jonathan Levine

Comments: Well, heres a movie that doesnt necesarilly stick to the "stoner movie" rules. Its not really just about two guys on their way to get some weed, its not a comedy, it doesnt make fun of cops or authority figures. If I had to qualify this in a category, Id say this was one of the first stoner dramas ever made. It tells the story of young dude Luke Shapiro, an antisocial outcast, who seems to hate the world and people in it, and cant seem to get laid. Hell, it seems like the guys a virgin and he is well past his 16 years of age. So yeah, the dudes worried. Best part is, his got this open minded cool as hell shrink who is willing to help him and advice him on how to get out of his dilemma. Best part? He pays his shrink with weed! Thats right, the shrink is a pot head! Ben Kingsley really shines in this role, which kind of turns conventions around because you expect the shrink mentor type of character to be a good role model. But not on this movie, this shrink is all kinds of imperfect which of course makes him all the more real as a character. Loved this movie, its all about making your money and improving your life conditions, making your way in the big scary world and teaching you that were all a little fucked up. Highly recommend it!

Quintesential Stoner Moment: Shapiro finds his shrink all suicidal, doing all sorts of drugs. Pot, pills, blow...everything! Suddenly, Shapiros shrink offers him a line of cocaine by saying "come on, do it for me, just this one time!"

Title: Knocked Up (2007)

Director: Judd Apatow

Comments: This movie asks the question: What would you do if you got pregnant by a stoner? A very interesting premise, and one that Im sure no stoner movie before it had explored. Thing about this movie is that it mixes elements of drama into the stoner comedy, something unheard of until recently, with films like Knocked Up and most recently The Wackness. Its a very real movie, the guy doesnt really have a job, he just manages a website with his stoner friends. Then one night he gets really drunk and high and dances with an equally drunk and high girl, they end up having sex, she ends up pregnant. And then the dilemma: do I want to have a child with this guy? Does the guy want to face the responsabilities of being a parent? Is he mature enough for this or does he just care about partying and getting high? This movie is when Judd Apatow started to really take off, after the great success of the 40 Year Old Virgin. He hasnt stopped since.

Quintesential Stoner Moment: During an earthquake, all Seth Rogens character can think of rescuing is his bong! Forget his hot girlfriend and future mother of his child, its that bong that needs rescuing!

Title: American Beauty (1999)

Director: Sam Mendez

Comments: On this movie Kevin Spacey is tired of his boring ass same-o same-o suburban lifestyle. His tired of his love less sex less marriage, his tired of his boring ass job, basically, his tired of being bored. So how does he spark some fun into his life? He starts lifting weights, getting into shape! He gets a second job at a Fast food restaurant! And he starts smoking weed! He starts buying it from his next door teenage neighboor who just so happens to sell it! You know, basically he decides to shake things up, make a real mess of his life, see what happens. Anything has to be better then his boring ass current situation. Kevin spacey suddenly becomes a pot head/weight lifter, locking himself up in his garage to pump iron and get high. In this movie, weed is a symbol for rebellion, and taking things "easier" learning to just chill the fuck out and enjoy life. I love how this movie comments on how easily we can fall in routine and boring lifestyles without realizing it, and suddenly we ask ourselves why the hell were so anxious and uptight. Kevin Spacey steals the show as Lester, the dude whos had enough. Yet another hollywood film, where weed is featured prominently, and not in a bad way either!

Quintesential Stoner Moment: When Lester is hanging out at this boring ass social gathering and he goes out to the parking lot cause he just cant take the bullshit, at which time, he meets his next door neighbor Ricky, who just so happens to be working as a waiter there. Ricky asks Lester "Do yo party?" and Lester goes "What?" as if he doesnt understand, then Ricky makes things clear and asks: "Do you get HIGH?" They share a joint together, Lester becomes a regular customer from there on in.

Smoking Weed and Pumping Iron, looks like Kevin Space was influenced by watching Arnold Schwarznegger in Pumping Iron!

Title: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)

Director: Kevin Smith

Comments: Jay and Silent Bob the two lead characters sell weed on the corner of a convenience store when they suddenly come across the information that they are making a movie out of the comic book characters that are based on them. The name of the movie is "Blunt Man and Chronic". Basically, this is a road movie that has Jay and Silent Bob go on a quest to stop the movie from getting made. That is, if they dont get their "motherfucking movie check". On their way to Hollywood they go through all sorts of crazy shit, like meeting up with a crew of hot chick thieves who have plans to pull off a diamond heist. Jay falls in love with one of them. Movie gets crazy and is all over the place, culminating in a run around at the studio lot where the movie is being filmed. Awesome part is when Jay and Silent Bob both dress up as the superhero characters "Blunt Man and Chronic" and walk on the movie set! Lots of weed references and jokes. One scene has Jay and Silent Bob smoking weed with a bunch of teens who look like the Scooby Doo gang. Really! Even Scooby gets high! Plus, we get Afromans song “Because I got High” during the closing credits.

Quintesential Stoner Moment: When Jay is selling weed in the corner store, a kid ask for a bag and Jay says "Fifteen bucks little man, put that money in my hand, if the money doesnt show, then you owe me owe me ow, my jungle loooove owee owee oooh!"

Title: Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

Director: Amy Heckerling

Comments: This coming of age movie is well known for its incredible cast, who of course at the time werent all that famous. But this stoner movie is famous for various reasons, one is we get one of the most memorable on screen Stoners ever, the unforgetable Jeff Spicoli played by recent Oscar winner Sean Penn. He is perpetually stoned through out the whole movie, having battles with his hateful history teacher, wrecking other peoples cars, getting pizza delivered to his history class, you know basically doing all sorts of crazy whacked out shit. But mainly, this movie is about teenagers dealing with all the new responsabilities and situations that life throws your way at that age. Sexual awakening, relationships, graduation, getting a job, buying your first car and so forth. It was written by Cameron Crow who went on to win an Oscar for best director for his film Almost Famous. Amy Heckerling went on to direct a couple more films like Clueless, Johnny Dangerously, European Vacation (a personal favorite of mine) and Look Whos Talking. So basically, this is a stoner movie but it spawned all sorts of great careers! Lets see: Eric Stoltz, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Phoebe Cates, Judge Reinhold, Nicholas Cage and Forest Whitaker!

Quintesential Stoner Moment: When Spicoli is talking with Eric Stoltz over the phone while taking a couple of hits from his bong, and he's talking about how much weed he smokes a day, and then he says "Listen to this" and he hits his head with a shoe a couple of times and says "thats my skull! Im totally wasted!"

Title: Smiley Face (2007)

Director: Gregg Arraki

Comments: It a rare instance that while Im watching a movie, and see where its going, I suddenly say to myself "I should be smoking while watching this!", which is exactly what happened to me while I started to watch Smiley Face. Its a shame that this movie got dumped straight to DVD, it could have made for a fairly decent theatrical release. I mean, just because its a stoner comedy doesnt mean it has to be treated like shit. Harold and Kumar, Halfbaked and the recent Pineapple Express show that stoner comedies can and do make a profit. But of course, theres certain producers out there who are just plain out pussy and are afraid to make weed look cool. Or they dont have enough faith in the stoner comedy. Well, its their loss, this movie has cult classic written all over it. Much like the other ultra cool stoner comedy Grandmas Boy, this one was deemed not worthy to have a theatrical release and dumped into straight to DVD territory. Its sad because Smiley Face aint a bad little stoner comedy! Its actually preatty hilarious in certain instances, and actually quite accurate of the stoner experience. What I enjoyed most about this movie is that it didnt feel like someone who had never smoked weed wrote it. It actually felt like a true hard core blunt a day smoker wrote it, because they captured exactly what it feels like to have a weed infused day. I was laughing my ass off when Farris wouldnt even look at a cop straight to the face cause she knew she was soooo stoned! There is this brilliant moment in which Anne Farris character (called Jane) gives this speech to a factory manager telling him all about how he is over working his employees and how unfair the system is and you kind of feel like clapping with her after shes done with her speech. But then the movie goes back and shows you what she actually said, and its the dumbest weed induced speech ever...hilarious! If you enjoyed films like Harold and Kumar and Grandmas Boy (or if your oldschool and have heard of Up in Smoke) then I urgently recommend you check this one out. Anne Farris can carry a movie quite well, she was a convincing stoner! Plus we got a cool supporting cast in the hands of John Crasinsky (a.k.a. Jim from The Office) playing a science fiction nerd, by the way, this is the second weed related movie for Crasinsky, he also smokes a joint in Its Complicated with Steve Martin and Meryl Streep. We get Danny Masterson as the evil roomate, John Cho as a dude Jane meets along the way, we get a cameo by Carrot Top, and Danny Trejo even shows up at one point. Anyhows, this movie isnt going to change your life or anything, but it will make you laugh. Hey, it comes from the director of The Doom Generation and Mysterious Skin, so take that for what its worth. Its not exactly the kind of film youd expect from Mr. Araki, whos films are usually filled with sex, drugs and drama. This is a lighter film from a more serious director. Recommend it for a light hearted smoking good time.

Quintesential Stone Moment: When Jane wakes up in the morning, the first thing she does at 9 am is take a bong hit. She proceeds to play some videogames and eat her roomates brownies...which were also made with weed. She goes ballistic and tries to come up with a plan to replace her roomates cup cakes by buying some more weed, baking some more cupcakes. This plan gets shot to hell. She burns the weed on the stove! And she ends up using the money she had to pay the electric bill for buying the weed! Everything gets extremely crazier after that.

Title: Grandmas Boy (2005)

Director: Nicholaus Goossen

Comment: Alex, a video game tester/programmer must move in with his grandma when his roomate spends all the rent money on Filipino hookers. So Alex moves in with his grandma who is more then willing to help him out, and work him to death. In the mean time, Alex has a lot of weed to smoke with his stoner buddies. He is also secretly working on his own personal video game wich could be a potential masterpiece. Will he ever finish his game? Will he ever find his own place? Can he win his new supervisors heart even though his just a stoner? My own personal take on this movie? Its fucking hilarious! If you are a gamer and a stoner, then you should adore this film. And even if you are not, you will find it funny too. Its like geek central on this movie, they make fun of gamers, Laura Croft, those video games where you dance, video game competitions, The Matrix, I mean this movie is top notch really funny stuff. I still dont understand why it went straight to DVD. Such a travesty!

Quintesential Stoner Moment: When Alex's grandma finds Alex's secret stash and mistakes the weed for tea. She drinks some weed infused tea, and when Alex comes home, he finds his grandma and her friends high as a kite laughing it off on the couch. Alex's reaction? Lets throw a party at grandmas!

Title: Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny (2006)

Director: Liam Lynch

Comments: JB is trying his best to live the rock and roll lifestyle and become a rock god, just like his idol Dio. So he travels to Hollywood in order to do so. Once he gets there he meets up with KG and together they start Tenacious D, the biggest and baddest rock band in the universe. But first, they need a gig. And they need some songs. This is the story of how they struggle to make it big in the music industry! They soon find out that every awesome rock band that ever existed has used the mystical "pick of destiny" a pick that belongs to non other then Satan himself! So they go on a journey to find this magic guitar pick so they can become the greatest band ever. Movie is awesome from start to finish. Re-watchability factor is very high on this one. Its a rock opera, similar in nature to Rocky Horror Picture Show. Cool part is, the songs kick some fucking assssss! They are so freaking Cauchy! And Jack Black is pure gold on this one.

Quintesential Stoner Moment: JB and KG are both watching tv while high as a kite. At one point JB wants to watch a show where Sasquatch appears so he wants to change the channel. And suddenly KG says "when you are fast enough to snatch this remote control from my hand, then you will have earned the right to change the channel" and JB tries but he just cant seem to do it cause he is so high.

Blowing weed smoke on the mic makes the song flow better!

Title: Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) and Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)

Directors: Danny Leiner, John Hurwitz and Hay Schlossberg

Comments: The first one was a very funny stoner movie. Basically, Harold and Kumar get wasted, and then they get a horrible case of the munchies. What to do? Oh yeah! Lets g oto White Castle and eat a bunch of teeny tiny burgers! So of they go on their munchies finding adventure. This movie changes the stoner Plot around a bit and turns the film from a movie about two stoners going out to get weed, to two stoners our in search for the quintesential munchies! The movie is hilarious unfortunately, it was followed by a sequel that felt all too similar in nature. Thing about Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanmo Bay is that its good, its bigger budget, its better written in many ways, but it has one gigantic flaw: its essentially the same movie as the first! I didnt like the fact that it followed a formula so closely, sticking to it in such a way that you dont feel like your watching a new film, but rather a slightly reworked more expensive version of the first film. Basically, Harold and Kumar and on a quest again. Only instead of searching for White Castle, on this one they are on their way to Amsterdam. But after a misunderstanding on the plane before take off they end up in jail. My problem is that for a movie called "Escape from Guantanamo Bay" they spend too little time in jail, they escape waaaayy too fast! They are not even in jail for more then five minutes I think! My big gripe with this movie is that, it could have presented us with a whole new adventure, with new gags within the jail premise, yet they fly by the jail sequence in five seconds. And then, the movie falls into the formula, and you cant help but feel like "youve been there done that". The rest of the film is them running from the law after escaping from jail. And they basically go through very similar situations as those scene in the first movie. They meet up with a coked up Neal Patrick Harris, they end up in a home with freaks. You know the drill. The only truly original stuff comes with those scenes where they mistakingly end up at ex-president Bush's home and talk to him about legalizing weed. Still, with its repetitive storyline, the movie is worth watching for some laughs. Its not a bad sequel, its just not better then the first.

Quintesential Stoner Moment: In Guantanamo Bay Harold and Kumar go to the bathroom on the plane (before take off) to take a bong hit. Kumar produces a self created bong that turns bong smoke into something that smells like Lysol. Genius right? This way, no one will know that they are actually smoking weed, cause theres no smell. Harold tells Kumar "You cant wait till we get to Amsterdam? Its the weed capital...of the world!" to which Kumar answers "NO!" and takes a bong hit

Title: Halfbaked

Director: Tamara Davis

Comments: What would a blog entry about Cannabis Cinema be without mentioning Halfbaked? This was before Dave Chappelle got ultra famous. Before his show, before his meltdown and dissapearance. So on this movie Chappelle plays a janitor named Thurgood. Thurgood is looking to fall in love with a girl called Mary Jane. A nice clean cut girl who wants nothing to do with weed or drugs of any kind. Thurgood has to choose between smoking weed, or having a relationship with a beautiful girl. What will he ultimately choose? Leaving weed behind is even harder for Thurgood in this movie because he is selling so much of it! In fact, his making money to help a friend of his get out of jail! Will Thurgood ever stop smoking weed? Will he free his friend from jail? Will weed get in the way of his relationship?

Quintesential Stoner Moment: When Thurgood says goodbye to weed, he goes up to a bridge to get rid of his last joint. He is going to throw it to the water and say goodbye to weed forever. After he says his last goodbyes to the joint and throws it, the joint looks back at him and screams: “Youll be baaaaack!”

Title: The Pineapple Express (2008)

Director: David Gordon Green

Comments: Judd Apatow and his usual crew of actors and writers must be one hell of a group of pot heads! Practically all of Apatows movies mention or include weed in them somehow! In this particular film we have Dale Denton a bonafide pothead who has a simple ass job and always looks forward to smoking some bud. In a particular moment in the film, Dale witnesses a murder while smoking a joint in his parked car! The murderers see him and from there on in the film is a chase movie, moving from one place to the next trying to find away to get away from the killers. What I liked about this movie is that it really dives deep into what smoking weed is like. Theres one moment in which Franco and Rogen are lighting up and just talking all kinds of bullshit about weed, cause thats what potheads do, they talk about how cool smoking is and often times end up glorifying it as they smoke which is exactly what happens in the movie. The comedy angle is amplified to the max, I was just laughing my ass off every five seconds. The dialog is hilarious, the characters very offbeat and nutty, like that guy who just would not die no matter how much they shot him! At one particular point, the movie goes into Blues Brothers territory with one gigantic car chase sequence which I found very very memorable. Love this movie to death, this is one movie that should make stoners proud, cause its so damn good.

Quintesential Stoner Moment: When Rogen is running from the murderers but decides to stop at his girlfriends parents house. He is high as a kite, and the parents realize it by asking "are you fucking high?" at which point he gets kicked out of the house by a gunshot toting dad.

Title: Cheech and Chongs Up in Smoke (1978)

Director: Lou Adler

Comments: Cheech and Chong are like these legendary pot smokers. They are the gods of stoner movies. They started the whole freaking thing! Before them, I think it was all just a bunch of anti-drug films being put out, like Reefer Madness. But Cheech and Chong cemented what the Stoner movie should be about. Two guys in search of weed! Along the way, fucked up shit will happen for sure. This movie is hilarious to me, it has a very seventies hippy feel to it. These two guys meet up, and they could think of nothing better to do then go and find some weed to smoke. They end up getting cought up in some sort of raid...will they make it back home to play on the Battle of the Bands concert?? I find it funny that in many stoner movies, stoners have artistic abilities. In Tenacious D they are trying to be rock stars, in Grandmas Boy they are video game programmers, and in Cheech and Chong, they are stand up comedians/rock band. Funny part? Their band is called Alice Bowie, a word play mixing both Alice Cooper and David Bowie. This film had its fare share of sequels, non of them were as good as this one.

Quintesential Stoner Moment: The first fifteen minutes of this movie is pure stoner material. They smoke a gigantic blunt thats made up of dog shit and weed, because Chong’s dog ate his stash. Once the dog pooped his stash, he made a giant blunt with it! They get crazy as hell! In one scene, Cheech starts going crazy cause he feels too high, so he asks Chong for something to cool him down, but Chong just gives him some pills that make Cheech even crazier! So he starts getting really paranoid because he is so high, he thinks he is driving super fast, when in fact they are parked on the side walk! Dare you not to laugh in the first fifteen minutes.

Title: The Big Lebowski (1998)

Directors: Ethan and Joel Coen

Comments: This movie is like the Citizen Kane of stoner flicks. It was not only written and directed by two of the most respected writer/directors in the industry -The Coen Brothers- but it also has a stellar cast which includes, Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, John Torturro, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Elliot, Peter Stormare and..even Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers appears. This movie is Jam packed with awesomeness, but what makes it special of course is the freaking dialog which will have you slapping your knee, and giving you stomach pains from laughter. I specially bust a gut laughing whenever John Goodman appears playing the character of Walter, a vietnam vet who just has to connect everything that happens to him to the vietnam war. He is hilarious in this movie and one of the best things about it as well. I love it how whenever Donnie (Steve Buscemi) tries to say something Walter shuts him up by saying "Shut the fuck up Donnie!" or "Donnie, your out of your element". The story does get a bit convoluted, but if you pay attention youll see its just a story about a guy (The Dude) who's just trying to get his rug back. A rug that was mistakingly pissed upon (and therefore ruined) by a pair of hitmen looking for somebody else. The Dude is an every man, a lazy chill out- dont wanna fuck with no one - dude, who gets fucked by everyone around him, even though his just trying to be a nice guy. Oh, and he smokes about twenty joints through out the whole movie.

Quintesential Stoner Moment: When The Dude is quietly taking a hot bath smoking a J, just chilling out with a joint, lit candles, you know, just chilling the fuck out, these freaking nihalists break into his appartment threatening to kill him if he doesnt give them money. They throw a rabid ferrett inside of the bathtub and totallly fuck up his evening!

El Duderino himself.

Well, thats all folks! Hope you enjoyed this blog entry!

Other weed related movies I didnt have the time to write about, feel free to comment on these Films I Left out if you have seen them:

Weirdsville (2007)

Reefer Madness (1936) 

Cheech and Chongs Next Movie (1980)

How High (2001)

The Stoned Age (1994)

Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005)

9 to 5 (1980)

Things are Tough All Over (1982)

The Family Stone (2005)

Dazed and Confused (1993)

Grass (2000)

Totally Baked (2007)

Sex Pot (2009)