Tagarchief: Los Angeles

16. Menace II Society (1993)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes
Writers: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes, Tyger Williams
Stars: Tyrin Turner, Larenz Tate, Jada Pinkett Smith

This review is part of the feature:

The 33 Gangster Films You Can’t Refuse

A hard-hitting crime drama by the Hughes Brothers.

It opens with two young Black men – Caine (Tyrin Turner) and O-Dog (Larenz Tate) – walking into a store to buy a beer. The scene ends in an armed robbery and a double homicide.

This is where the young Caine ended up. We flash back to his youth in Watts, Los Angeles, in 1965, where, as a boy, he watches his father Tat (Samuel L. Jackson) murder a man in cold blood during a card game. He was initiated into this life of crime early.

Still, Caine seems like an alright guy. When he’s not selling drugs, he’s helping a friend – the single mom Ronnie (Jada Pinkett Smith) and her son, whose husband went to jail – and he’s graduating from high school. If only he could escape from ‘the life’…

His friend Sharif has converted to Islam and wants to leave the city. So there’s an out. But the life of crime is alluring. It’s the only way for them to get some of the things they like. It’s also a sure way to get themselves killed.

The violence in Menace II Society hits you hard – like a sledgehammer. The screenplay is very much inspired by GoodFellas, but with another ethnic group of criminals at its basis. It’s a powerful gangster tale drenched in the reality of Black America that carries an emotional punch.

The ending – no matter how many times you’ve seen it – is still devastating.

Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


Director: Tommy Chong
Written by: Tommy Chong, Cheech Marin
Cast: Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Evelyn Guerrero, Betty Kennedy

Year / Country: 1980, USA
Running Time: 99 mins.

After the extreme success of Up in Smoke, there just had to be a Next Movie for stoner duo Cheech & Chong. And from the opening moments – where the word “man” appears four times in the first three lines – you immediately know exactly what kind of movie you’re in for.

Once again, story takes a back seat. Cheech lands a date with the hot chiquita from the welfare office, while Chong hangs out with his Texan cousin Red (played by Cheech Marin), who arrives in L.A. carrying a massive bag of weed. From there, the film unfolds as a loose string of comedy sketches, nearly all of them revolving around drugs and general idiocy, set against the now familiar L.A. backdrop.

Highlights include a lowrider showdown, the systematic torment of their neighbors, and – because why not – an alien abduction in a marijuana field. As with most sketch-based comedies, some bits land better than others, but the tone is consistent throughout: unapologetically dumb, rude, hazy, and laid-back.

Critics were not impressed. Roger Ebert famously wrote, “This movie is embarrassing. There’s no invention in it, no imagination, no new comic vision, no ideas about what might be really funny.” He’s not wrong. And yet, the chemistry between Cheech and Chong remains endlessly watchable. In the end, the biggest joke may be the meta one: that these two lovable burnouts found an audience large enough – and devoted enough – to support an entire franchise built almost entirely on being this relaxed about effort.

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Biography: Tommy Chong (1938, Edmonton, Canada) is a comedian, actor, writer, and activist best known as one half of the legendary stoner duo Cheech & Chong. Raised partly in Canada and later the United States, Chong first made his mark in music and improvisational comedy before teaming up with Cheech Marin in the late 1960s. Together, they became countercultural icons with hit comedy albums and films like Up in Smoke, shaping weed humor for generations to come. Beyond comedy, Chong has appeared in films and TV shows, including a memorable role on That ’70s Show, and has been a vocal advocate for cannabis legalization, even serving a brief prison sentence in the early 2000s that further cemented his status as a counterculture symbol.

Filmography: Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie (1980), Nice Dreams (1981), Still Smokin (1983), Cheech & Chong’s The Corsican Brothers (1984), Toto: Without Your Love (1986, Music Video), Far Out Man (1990)

Up in Smoke

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


Director: Lou Adler
Written by: Tommy Chong, Cheech Marin
Cast: Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Stacy Keach

Year / Country: 1978, USA
Running Time: 86 mins.

Cheech & Chong are a comedy duo founded in Vancouver, consisting of American Cheech Marin and Canadian Tommy Chong. They rose to commercial and cultural prominence in the 1970s and 1980s through their stand-up routines, comedy albums, and feature films. Their work drew heavily from the hippie and free-love era, the drug-fueled counterculture movement, and, most famously, their unabashed love for cannabis.

Up in Smoke marks the big-screen debut of the stoner duo who would go on to become synonymous with the genre itself. This first film launched a series of follow-ups: Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie (1980), Nice Dreams (1981), Things Are Tough All Over (1982), Still Smokin (1983), Cheech & Chong’s The Corsican Brothers (1984), and, much later, Cheech & Chong’s Animated Movie (2013).

In their debut, they are not yet known as Cheech and Chong, but as Pedro and ‘Man’ (Chong’s character is officially named Anthony, though this is mentioned only once). Man is under pressure from his father to find a job or face being sent to military school. He leaves home, disguises himself as a large-breasted woman to hitch a ride, and ends up meeting Pedro. The two quickly bond, smoke copious amounts of weed, start a band, and spend most of their time trying to avoid getting busted by the LAPD. In many ways, they practically invent the stoner comedy genre right here.

The plot eventually centers on the duo unknowingly smuggling a van made entirely out of marijuana across the border from Mexico, all while being chased by an especially dim-witted police unit led by Sgt. Stedenko (Stacy Keach). The character would return in Cheech & Chong’s second follow-up, Nice Dreams.

“Hey, do you wanna get high, man?”
“Does Howdy Doody got wooden balls?”

Lines like these are delivered nonstop, and while the humor is simple, it works remarkably well. There are plenty of genuine laugh-out-loud moments. Director and producer Lou Adler famously screened the film privately for his friend Jack Nicholson, who had recently been in a car accident and suffered a dislocated shoulder. The screening turned out to be a painful experience for Nicholson – his shoulder hurt every time he laughed, which was often.

The film also boasts a great soundtrack, featuring classics like ‘Low Rider’ alongside Cheech & Chong originals such as ‘Framed’. Shot largely in Los Angeles, the movie has a relaxed, sun-soaked atmosphere, enhanced by memorable visual touches like the opening credits being spray-painted over Pedro’s lowrider.

Up in Smoke was a massive success, grossing over 100 million dollars worldwide despite its modest budget. In 2024, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, recognized as ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.’

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Biography: Lou Adler (1933, Chicago, Illinois, USA) is a producer, known for The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Up in Smoke (1978) and Witness (1985). He has been married to Page Hannah since March 28, 1992. They have four children.

Filmography: Up in Smoke (1978), Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982)

Dungeon Classics #6: Escape from L.A.

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

FilmDungeon’s Chief Editor JK sorts through the Dungeon’s DVD-collection to look for old cult favorites….

Escape from L.A. (1996, USA)

Director: John Carpenter
Cast: Kurt Russell, Steve Buscemi, Stacy Keach
Running Time: 101 mins.

In 2013, an earthquake has separated a ruined L.A. from the rest of the United States. This is now the place where the government – which is run by a religious nutcase – sends their outcasts and prisoners. When the daughter of the president is kidnapped by a Che Guevara-like revolutionary, the eye-patch wearing Snake Plissken is send to retrieve her from Los Angeles. Turns out, the daughter stole a secret weapon – the Doomsday Device – that America can use to destroy its enemies, or vice versa. As soon as our cynical hero, played by the terrific Kurt Russell, arrives in L.A. it is non stop action delivered with a big smile. Carpenter and his team obviously had fun coming up the inventive set pieces, like the Hollywood sign on fire. The colorful cast of supporting characters Snake meets on his journey, includes some of the finest cult actors and actresses: Peter Fonda, Valeria Golino, Bruce Campbell, Steve Buscemi and Pam Grier. A bleak vision on the future of America that is over-the-top, but – amazingly – still rings true in a sense.