Lotus666
06-08-09, 09:56 PM
Nick's contribution from way back in 2004...
Usually when you talk about the ups and downs of careers, you rarely think of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong's strange up and down path. The duo hit it big in the mid-70s with a series of records that were based on being high and goofy as shit. In 1978 their first movie 'Up The Smoke' hit theaters and somehow tapped into the zeitgeist of the time. Yes, Cheech and Chong's comedy was goofy and drug-based but somehow it worked. And their luck ran for three more movies after this.
Then, in 1983, the fall started. While 'Next Movie' and 'Nice Dreams' were considerably better than 'Up in Smoke,' the duo was planning to eventually move out of the drug-based humor and rely solely on their own efforts. The first attempt, "Things Are Tough All Over," is regarded highly by the five people who actually remember it. So, C&C went back to their old routine to find that it had gone stale without them.
Unlike the previous three C&C drug comedies, 'Still Smokin' doesn't have a plot. While the other three relied on vignettes and spoofs, our subject today is basically Cheech and Chong invading Holland, eating at diners, and being mistaken for Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton (!) and trying to think up ideas for a show. This show takes place at the end of the movie and pretty much ends the movie with the Dutch people cheering at the antics of C&C and not being pissed off that not only were they conned, but they are enamored of people they don't even know. Essentially, the movie is fairly good skits in between minutes of boring tedium punctuated by the skits at the end that aren't completely awful yet not C&C at their prime. This isn't really a movie at all, it's more of a travelogue about two comedians in a foreign land and doing weird stuff. They're Fishes out of Water Out of Water, and the comedy is weak.
A possible reason is the lack of drug humor. The only real bit that focuses on the duo's marijuana days is set to Prince's 'Delirious' featuring the duo sampling the wares at a Dutch restaurant on a river. There isn't a laugh to be had. Shortly after this film the two made the infamous Corsican Brothers which put a bullet into their movie careers. One can blame the lack of drugs that made C&C less than funny, but truth be told that with the lack of drugs in this film you can see that their time had simply run out and their fame had run its course. The only difference is that if they had ended it with Still Smokin they would have gone out on top and not with a cheap period drama which they had no real right to make in the first place.
Bottom line, it's the last real C&C movie. The drug humor is muted but some good parts still remain. The Blind Melon Chitlin skit shows the two had a sense of physical comedy that was good but not good enough to compete with their drug comedy.
Usually when you talk about the ups and downs of careers, you rarely think of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong's strange up and down path. The duo hit it big in the mid-70s with a series of records that were based on being high and goofy as shit. In 1978 their first movie 'Up The Smoke' hit theaters and somehow tapped into the zeitgeist of the time. Yes, Cheech and Chong's comedy was goofy and drug-based but somehow it worked. And their luck ran for three more movies after this.
Then, in 1983, the fall started. While 'Next Movie' and 'Nice Dreams' were considerably better than 'Up in Smoke,' the duo was planning to eventually move out of the drug-based humor and rely solely on their own efforts. The first attempt, "Things Are Tough All Over," is regarded highly by the five people who actually remember it. So, C&C went back to their old routine to find that it had gone stale without them.
Unlike the previous three C&C drug comedies, 'Still Smokin' doesn't have a plot. While the other three relied on vignettes and spoofs, our subject today is basically Cheech and Chong invading Holland, eating at diners, and being mistaken for Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton (!) and trying to think up ideas for a show. This show takes place at the end of the movie and pretty much ends the movie with the Dutch people cheering at the antics of C&C and not being pissed off that not only were they conned, but they are enamored of people they don't even know. Essentially, the movie is fairly good skits in between minutes of boring tedium punctuated by the skits at the end that aren't completely awful yet not C&C at their prime. This isn't really a movie at all, it's more of a travelogue about two comedians in a foreign land and doing weird stuff. They're Fishes out of Water Out of Water, and the comedy is weak.
A possible reason is the lack of drug humor. The only real bit that focuses on the duo's marijuana days is set to Prince's 'Delirious' featuring the duo sampling the wares at a Dutch restaurant on a river. There isn't a laugh to be had. Shortly after this film the two made the infamous Corsican Brothers which put a bullet into their movie careers. One can blame the lack of drugs that made C&C less than funny, but truth be told that with the lack of drugs in this film you can see that their time had simply run out and their fame had run its course. The only difference is that if they had ended it with Still Smokin they would have gone out on top and not with a cheap period drama which they had no real right to make in the first place.
Bottom line, it's the last real C&C movie. The drug humor is muted but some good parts still remain. The Blind Melon Chitlin skit shows the two had a sense of physical comedy that was good but not good enough to compete with their drug comedy.