I recently received my MotM prize pack. This is a review of one of the items in it - the a/k/a Tommy Chong DVD. Thanks to akaTommyChong for donating them to the prize pool - and for being a sponsor of 420Magazine.
This is a documentary by Josh Gilbert. It was an official selection at the Toronto Film Festival and has won several awards, including: Jury Prize: Best Documentary HBO US Comedy Artist Festival, Audience Award San Francisco Independent Film Festival, Audience Award Vancouver International Film Festival, High Times Stony Award Best Documentary, Audience Award Best Documentary Calgary Underground Film Festival, and Official Selection IDFA (International Documentary Festival Amsterdam).
It is 80 minutes long. It is in color. It is in SD resolution 4:3 aspect ratio. One thing that I was disappointed to learn was that there are no closed-captions on this DVD. That means that if you are hearing-impaired, this DVD will be of limited value to you. That's a shame, because it is a worthy DVD otherwise. Perhaps (hopefully) CC can be added at some point in the future?
This is a documentary by Josh Gilbert. It was an official selection at the Toronto Film Festival and has won several awards, including: Jury Prize: Best Documentary HBO US Comedy Artist Festival, Audience Award San Francisco Independent Film Festival, Audience Award Vancouver International Film Festival, High Times Stony Award Best Documentary, Audience Award Best Documentary Calgary Underground Film Festival, and Official Selection IDFA (International Documentary Festival Amsterdam).
It is 80 minutes long. It is in color. It is in SD resolution 4:3 aspect ratio. One thing that I was disappointed to learn was that there are no closed-captions on this DVD. That means that if you are hearing-impaired, this DVD will be of limited value to you. That's a shame, because it is a worthy DVD otherwise. Perhaps (hopefully) CC can be added at some point in the future?
"...I'm in here because I made a stupid joke about the bongs being the only weapons of mass distruction that the Bush administration had found. The next thing I know, I'm looking at nine months." -Tommy Chong (in prison)
"What was it like in prison?" -?
"You'll find out" -Tommy Chong
"A water-pipe itself is not illegal, is it?" -Jay Leno
"No... But if it has my face on it, it is." -Tommy Chong
"Isn't that entrapment?" -Jay Leno
"Yeah... But this is America. There's no such thing as entrapment any more." -Tommy Chong
Those lines kind of jumped out at me.
"What was it like in prison?" -?
"You'll find out" -Tommy Chong
"A water-pipe itself is not illegal, is it?" -Jay Leno
"No... But if it has my face on it, it is." -Tommy Chong
"Isn't that entrapment?" -Jay Leno
"Yeah... But this is America. There's no such thing as entrapment any more." -Tommy Chong
Those lines kind of jumped out at me.
This documentary gives a little historical information about Tommy Chong's early life, how he and Cheech Marin got into their act, and the like. You get to hear from his wife (Shelby), one of his children (Paris Chong), and there is a word or two here and there from others including Robbie and Rae Dawn Chong. Features are limited to "Chong Family" and "Dave's Not Here" (discussions with Tommy and Cheech about how that famous bit originally came about).
Yes, this is a documentary. But it was done in such a way as to not be too much for those with short attention spans. No one interview piece is very long. You'll easily find yourself watching the entire DVD without pausing it once.
The US Government spent 12 million dollars on Operation Pipe Dreams. This was basically a sting with the purpose of prosecuting those who made/sold bongs. Tommy Chong is famous, got that way through his comedy cannabis standup/albums/movies, and is a vocal opponent of the drug war. Out of 55 people prosecuted, he was the only defendant with no priors to receive actual prison time. He got nine months. The agents continually called from PA trying to order bongs, were repeatedly told that bongs couldn't be sold to customers in PA... And then said agents got really underhanded.
This is a very good and entertaining DVD. If you're a fan, you'll want it in your collection. But that shouldn't be your chief reason for purchasing this DVD. You should buy it to watch an example of your government wasting millions of dollars to investigate and prosecute - or is that persecute? - people for no reason other than, possibly, some search for publicity.
I say no reason because even if every single manufacturer and seller of bongs, pipes, and papers was locked up tomorrow... People would still be consuming cannabis. As mentioned in the documentary, a person can make a smoking device out of almost anything including an apple and a potato. (Give me a sack of herb and drop me in a forest - or even a field - and I'll find a way, lol.)
As someone said, you don't have to be "for" cannabis to be pissed-off at the government over this.
I watched this DVD, mentioned to some friends that I had it, one of them asked if they could watch it... And I haven't seen it since, lol. I'll probably get it back in a month or so. Or maybe I'll end up ordering one
.
NOTE: I received the standard version of this DVD. There is another version for a couple bucks more that uses environmentally-friendly packaging and you might want that one both because it's better for the planet and because you can use the cellulose wrapper as rolling paper (no kidding, I saw a video on YouTube in which Chong did exactly that).
Yes, this is a documentary. But it was done in such a way as to not be too much for those with short attention spans. No one interview piece is very long. You'll easily find yourself watching the entire DVD without pausing it once.
The US Government spent 12 million dollars on Operation Pipe Dreams. This was basically a sting with the purpose of prosecuting those who made/sold bongs. Tommy Chong is famous, got that way through his comedy cannabis standup/albums/movies, and is a vocal opponent of the drug war. Out of 55 people prosecuted, he was the only defendant with no priors to receive actual prison time. He got nine months. The agents continually called from PA trying to order bongs, were repeatedly told that bongs couldn't be sold to customers in PA... And then said agents got really underhanded.
This is a very good and entertaining DVD. If you're a fan, you'll want it in your collection. But that shouldn't be your chief reason for purchasing this DVD. You should buy it to watch an example of your government wasting millions of dollars to investigate and prosecute - or is that persecute? - people for no reason other than, possibly, some search for publicity.
I say no reason because even if every single manufacturer and seller of bongs, pipes, and papers was locked up tomorrow... People would still be consuming cannabis. As mentioned in the documentary, a person can make a smoking device out of almost anything including an apple and a potato. (Give me a sack of herb and drop me in a forest - or even a field - and I'll find a way, lol.)
As someone said, you don't have to be "for" cannabis to be pissed-off at the government over this.
I watched this DVD, mentioned to some friends that I had it, one of them asked if they could watch it... And I haven't seen it since, lol. I'll probably get it back in a month or so. Or maybe I'll end up ordering one
.NOTE: I received the standard version of this DVD. There is another version for a couple bucks more that uses environmentally-friendly packaging and you might want that one both because it's better for the planet and because you can use the cellulose wrapper as rolling paper (no kidding, I saw a video on YouTube in which Chong did exactly that).
