Up in Smoke

That’s some heavy shit, man.

Cheech and Chong have a storied place in American pop culture. Whether that place is wholly deserved isn’t up to me, but for what my two cents are worth, the stoner comedy duo aren’t really worth a whole lot to Americana. They have a comedy routine, man, that’s mostly about how sweet joints are, man, and about the wacky misadventures of trying to get high, man. Man. Man. Seriously, that word is so often repeated it got to be like nails on a chalkboard to me. Regardless, I had a good feeling this would offer absolutely nothing for me, and lo and behold, I was right.

Up in Smoke is derived from the hundreds of other comedy routine films in that it serves largely as a basis for putting Cheech & Chong’s comedy routines on the big screen, and little else. The plot is there for no other reason than to serve as a structure to support the so-called comedy, and even then, the film could do with a little more effort. This is a prime, maybe the definitive, example of a film that doesn’t even want to try; a perfect metaphor for the stoner mentality that the film largely sells itself to. This is a really long-winded way of saying that this is the premier stoner comedy, and offers absolutely nothing else.

This was so wasteful that it made me not even want to put forth the effort to write this review. There was no reason at all for this to make the list. Even if Cheech and Chong were deemed culturally important enough to warrant a spot, the shoddy and listless filmmaking on display here would pretty much rule this out as a viable film, let alone one MUST see before they die. Trust me when I say, you can be perfectly well off not seeing this one. It’s got no appeal outside the stoner crowd, and they won’t be reading my blog anyway, so for those of you that are, and haven’t seen this one, you can do just fine without having to.

Arbitrary Rating: 2/10

Flaming Creatures

Ali Baba comes today.

Flaming Creatures is one of the most controversial film releases in cinematic history. When the film was first released, the police came in and seized the film, that’s how controversial it was. The film is essentially a trans-gender orgy, and that’s pretty much all it is. Opulent filmography, frequently obscene and sexual imagery covering the screen; this is not a film as much as it is a fetishistic porno. I assume this is in the book because of its extreme controversy, because there’s little else here that makes this must see viewing.

Admittedly, the print I saw of this film was of extremely low quality (if indeed it wasn’t the film itself), so much so that you can barely make out the opening title cards, but I could still make out a lot, and what I made out was just pure depravity in crystalline form. This film offers nothing else; even in its tepid moments, there is nothing happening other than voyeurism, again another fetish that the film seems to be packing in. Unless you’re looking into a controversial episode in film history, there is absolutely no reason to subject yourself to this one.

Arbitrary Rating: 2/10

The Hangover

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Except for herpes.

Hoo, boy. I was not looking forward to this one, what with everyone I know extolling the virtues of this relative to the stoner comedy genre, a particular niche I have never endorsed as worthwhile cinema, no matter how stupidly funny it may be. I was expecting more of the same with this one, and lo and behold, my suspicions were sadly confirmed.

Simple, predictable, banal comedy, with an occasional slip into the vulgarity territory that makes me detest these films so. I’m probably taking this a little too personally, but films that pander to the crowd like this film does are what’s wrong with cinema today. Plenty of people will say there’s nothing wrong with a little harmless, stupid fun, but to me, all that does is reinforce the low-brow mentality that people all too often let consume their lives in place of genuine creativity.

All in all, this is standard fare that really doesn’t deserve to be on the Must See list. This film tries too hard to be clever and original and funny, and ends up failing in almost every regard. I’m sorry, I tried, but this just turned out to be yet another film of the kind that I just can’t stand.

Arbitrary Rating: 2/10