Cheech and Chong 50th anniversary 1971 2021 Shirt
When Chong watches the movie now, he says he’s amazed by the way they were predicting today’s cultural conversation, from depicting hippies and non-Caucasians to liberal marijuana use. To commemorate the film’s 40th anniversary, he wrote some new lyrics for the mariachi-inflected ballad “Up in Smoke” and recorded them with his partner. One of the better lines, sung by Marin, goes, “Some things have changed, and some have stayed the same/Now mota is legal, but I’m still illegal, so nothing’s changed.”For Marin, though, the thing that strikes him when he watches it today is the approach to comedy. “What stands out to me is how different it is from comedies being made today,” Marin says. “It was more of a naturalistic way of filming things. We let the audience decide what was funny, instead of chopping it up with real short edits. Sometimes I feel like a goose being force-fed the cues to laugh.”
Cheech and Chong 50th anniversary 1971 2021 Shirt
The duo originally conceived their first feature film as a compilation of its “greatest hits” (pun still intended) from the records and live shows. And while they managed to squeeze a few favorites in there – “Earache My Eye” and a callback to the eternally brilliant “Dave’s Not Here” – they eventually decided to focus it on two characters. Marin would play Pedro de Pacas, a lecherous pothead known for driving his tricked-out lowrider and wearing a half-shirt with suspenders (“What’s the use of working so hard to have a six-pack if nobody sees it?” Marin asks now). Chong played Anthony Stoner – a bandana-wearing burnout better known simply as “Man.
