Furthest Removed, Sir
Everyone will arrive at that place in life where we feel dated. This is not a symptom of trends, art or politics. It’s a generational evolution otherwise known as aging. As a species, we either build or destroy. The shiny road of progress of the flaming path to war. Points of view get stuck in the mud, flinging it everywhere and nothing is achieved. Growth contracts into a entropic state. You might have had your finger on the pulse of the culture at a certain time or place, but eventually we get stuck in our own ways a.k.a. not able to get our of our own ditches in the road known as habit. When hesitation becomes the standard reflex, experimentation dries up. Do you ever feel like you can’t play like you used to play? The symptom having stakes in the game. Something you can lose. When you had nothing, it was easier to go at it risky and frisky. Being out of touch feels like a safe haven in these days of immediate media call and response.
This was Tommy Chong’s crack at a solo project adjacent from the Cheech & Chong universe. Chong wrote, directed and starred in Far Out Man. He cast a lot of his own family and friends in it and the whole bunch of them seem to be having a great time in this no-stakes, road movie romp. It more comedic bits strung together with whole lotta cameos from Chong’s famous friends. My favorite is Cheech Marin showing up rocking a Keith Haring baseball hat and complaining about being in the movie. I won’t go full spoiler on anything else, but the best parts come early. Forget Wally World! Take me directly to Hippy Land. A place where the straight world can meet the freak flag flyers in relative safety. I’d probably get a job there. Are they hiring?
How Marijuana Movie is Far Out Man? Very. Don’t plan too much or get too deep with this one. There are a pile of MMN options to view where you can go solo. Not his one. Get your people together, toast the herb and hit play. I’ll see you in Hippy Land!