Cheech & Chong

Cheech & Chong Up in Smoke Movie Poster

Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong teamed up for a ton of movies in the 1980's.  Their first movie together,   Up in Smoke was released in 1978.  This was followed by Cheech and Chong's Next Movie in 1980, Nice Dreams in 1981, Things Are Tough All Over in 1982, Still Smokin' and Yellowbeard in 1983, The Corsican Brothers in 1984, Get Out of My Room and After Hours in 1985, Born in East L.A. in 1987, Far Out Man in 1990, an animated movie in 2013, and a sequel to Up in Smoke in the works.

Unfortunately, we haven't the room to discuss each movie, so we will focus on Up in Smoke.  Although the movie received mostly negative reviews, it was a huge success at the box office.  In the movie, Chong played the roll of Anthony "Man" Stoner, a pot-head drummer whose parents give him an ultimatum:  Find a job, or go to military school.  Anthony runs off, and is picked up by Pedro de Pacas (Cheech), another avid dope smoker.

After a series of unfortunate events, the pair find themselves in Mexico, on a deal to sneak a van into the USA that is made out of a type of marijuana fiberglass resin.  Along the way, the cops are hot on their tail, but they continue to elude.  After picking up a couple of hitchhiker chics, the pair decide to play in a Battle of the Bands contest.  They win the contest based on the fact that everyone, including the police, are unwittingly stoned by the exhaust from the van.