Cheech And Chong’s ‘Up In Smoke’ Is One Of The Best Stoner Movie
s Of All Time
One of the THE Weed Blog’s most viewed pages is ‘Top Stoner Movies of All-Time.’ It receives about 4 times as many hits as any other page on our site. It’s understandable; when people get really baked, especially for the first time, there’s nothing sweeter than watching a really funny movie about marijuana and the people that consume it. Ninjasmoker and I decided to give the fans what they want — a weekly stoner movie review. If you have a movie that you would like us to review, just send us an e-mail or leave a comment.
We thought it would be appropriate to review ‘Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke’ for our first movie review. If you haven’t seen Up in Smoke, you are either a narc and/or you’re living a very, very isolated life.
Facts of the Film:
Released September 15, 1978
Directed by Lou Adler, and written by Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong
Favorite Characters from the Film:
Pedro De Pacas (Cheech Marin)
‘Sir, what’s your name?’…’Isn’t in on the license, man? Yeah, that’s it! Pedro De Pacas, man, that’s my name.’
Anthony ‘Man’ Stoner (Tommy Chong)
‘His name is RRAALLPPHH, man.’
Curtis (Christopher Joy)
‘This shit is so bad, it’ll put a hump on a camel’s back.’
Cousin Strawberry
‘What are you lookin’ at man?’…’I wasn’t looking at his neck.’
Favorite scenes:
About 7 minutes into the movie (right after the opening credits) is one of the best stoner scenes in the history of the marijuana movie genre. Chong gets picked up by Cheech as he’s hitchhiking on the side of the road. From start to finish, the following car scene is flawless stoner comedy. There are so many quotes and jokes from this scene that are still used to this day, over three decades later. Classic.
About 25 minutes into the movie when Cheech and Chong visit ‘Cousin Strawberry’ to score a lid. This scene is something every marijuana consumer can relate to — you are so desperate for herb, that you even go visit the super weird people that you know. In my area, we call these people ‘weird uncles.’ That’s because you call a friend for a bag, and they say, ‘I gotta go visit my weird uncle. He’s weird, but he always has the chronic.’
Immediately following that scene is a killer scene with a character called ‘Curtis.’ We all know a Curtis — he can ‘get anything,’ always ‘knows a guy,’ and almost never comes through, at least not legitimately. Curtis is the typical middle man that overpromises and under delivers that we have all dealt with before. Even when the guy does come through, the weed is no good. This scene captures the experience perfectly.
About 47 minutes in at the border with the ‘fiber-weed’ van is funny viewing. ‘Get rid of it! Not that way, man, throw it out!’ ‘How long have you guys been in Mexico?…’A week — I mean a day.’ ‘Which one is it — a week or a day?’…’A week day.’…’You got any narcotics or marijuana in here?’…’Uh, not anymore.’ I laugh every time I see that verbal exchange.
A little over an hour into the movie is a funny scene, when the motorcycle cop inhales the exhaust from the ‘fiber-weed’ van, which is now slowly burning. The cop plays the part of a newly stoned-narc extremely well. ‘Did that really happen?’
Critiques of the Film:
The scenes with the idiot cops are kind of cheesy, and the ‘fiber-weed’ vehicle is obviously a stretch, but this movie is still a timeless stoner classic.
Final Conclusion:
There is a ton of comedy throughout the entire film, and every scene has something of value to a marijuana consumer. This is still a must see for anyone likes to laugh or smoke pot. I can guarantee 100 years from now, people will still be watching this film, toking it up, and laughing their heads off. This movie was so anti establishment, that twenty years later,Tommy Chong was still a target of the U.S. Government.
Perfect 10 spliffs out of 10 spliffs rating
