Revelation #1: Super High Me Proves Smoking Weed Is Much More Entertaining Than Watching Someone Smoke Weed. Er, so I’ve heard.

For those who don’t know, Super High Me is a direct-to-DVD documentary about comedian Doug Benson’s quest to smoke weed for 30 days and chronicle the results. Yes, it’s a rip-off of Super Size Me, and originated from a joke Benson tells on stage. It’s a funny idea that results in a mildly entertaining doc with a little insight into California’s battle of state and federal governments over medicinal marijuana. But even at 90 minutes, it’s a lot of fluff. The first half of the movie follows Doug while he doesn’t smoke weed for 30 days, followed by him smoking weed all day every day for 30 days. And the problem is that the two segments aren’t very different from each other. He doesn’t do much in the first half, and definitely doesn’t do anything during the second half. He takes a series of tests, which prove next to nothing about the effects of marijuana, and we never get the sense that he’s fatigued by the process. In fact, he loves it, and that’s much less interesting than a guy destroying his body with McDonald’s.

Revelation #2: John Krasinski Loves Magic!

I was lucky enough to go to the Magic Castle in Hollywood this weekend with the Wired Lady and her parents. The Magic Castle is always a good time. It’s really the only place you can wander around a big mansion, and it’s normal for someone to come up to you and say, “Would you like to see a magic trick?” It’s also the only place where it’s okay for you to respond, “Sure!” without someone taking off their pants.

At the Magic Castle there are various rooms where magicians perform. We waited 45 minutes to enter the “Close-up Gallery,” where sleight-of-hand magicians perform tricks 2 feet from your face. This is pretty awesome, but waiting 45 minutes was not, and when they finally let us in, there were already a few people in the seats. They didn’t have to wait 45 minutes. My first thought was, “Bastards!” but then I looked again and had a second thought. “Oh. That’s John Krasinski. Bastard!” So we took our seats in the front row, sandwiched between Jim from The Office, and a guy who made a giant Coke bottle appear out of thin air. Pretty surreal. Even more surreal was the fact that sitting next to John Krasinski was Stephen Merchant, of The (British) Office and Exec Producer on The (American) Office. Although you may know him as the guy who lost his swan in Hot Fuzz. After the show, someone leaned over to John Krasinski and said, “That magician was cool, but the coolest part of the night was seeing you, man!” And yeah, it’s cool to see John Krasinski, but can he produce a dove from a silver streamer? Illusions!

Revelation #3: I Think It’s Time For My Annual Viewing of Ravenous

Do you remember this movie, Ravenous? Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, and cannibalism? It’s not very good, but every year my friend Nick and I find ourselves compelled to watch it again, and I don’t know why. It’s one of those movies that seems good in your head, but as you watch it, you become more and more depressed. I imagine it’s like being a cannibal. You know it’s bad for you, you know people would ridicule you for doing it, but you just can’t help yourself. And just like the human flesh in the movie, watching Ravenous can give you super powers. It can magically waste an hour and a half of your life.

Revelation #4: The Ending Of Casino Kinda Fizzles, But De Niro’s Oversized Glasses Save The Day.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Scorsese’s Casino is a great movie. but after 3 hours, you’re kinda hoping for a more satisfying conclusion. Sure it’s brutal to watch Pesci get buried alive, and to see Sharon Stone collapse in a coked-out heap in a hotel hallway (Oops, 13-year-old Spoiler Alert!!), but it feels like there should be more. Until we get to De Niro…

And those 9 seconds make the last 177 minutes worthwhile.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 12:27 pm and is filed under Film, Weekend Revelations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Revelation #1: Super High Me Proves Smoking Weed Is Much More Entertaining Than Watching Someone Smoke Weed. Er, so I’ve heard.

For those who don’t know, Super High Me is a direct-to-DVD documentary about comedian Doug Benson’s quest to smoke weed for 30 days and chronicle the results. Yes, it’s a rip-off of Super Size Me, and originated from a joke Benson tells on stage. It’s a funny idea that results in a mildly entertaining doc with a little insight into California’s battle of state and federal governments over medicinal marijuana. But even at 90 minutes, it’s a lot of fluff. The first half of the movie follows Doug while he doesn’t smoke weed for 30 days, followed by him smoking weed all day every day for 30 days. And the problem is that the two segments aren’t very different from each other. He doesn’t do much in the first half, and definitely doesn’t do anything during the second half. He takes a series of tests, which prove next to nothing about the effects of marijuana, and we never get the sense that he’s fatigued by the process. In fact, he loves it, and that’s much less interesting than a guy destroying his body with McDonald’s.

Revelation #2: John Krasinski Loves Magic!

I was lucky enough to go to the Magic Castle in Hollywood this weekend with the Wired Lady and her parents. The Magic Castle is always a good time. It’s really the only place you can wander around a big mansion, and it’s normal for someone to come up to you and say, “Would you like to see a magic trick?” It’s also the only place where it’s okay for you to respond, “Sure!” without someone taking off their pants.

At the Magic Castle there are various rooms where magicians perform. We waited 45 minutes to enter the “Close-up Gallery,” where sleight-of-hand magicians perform tricks 2 feet from your face. This is pretty awesome, but waiting 45 minutes was not, and when they finally let us in, there were already a few people in the seats. They didn’t have to wait 45 minutes. My first thought was, “Bastards!” but then I looked again and had a second thought. “Oh. That’s John Krasinski. Bastard!” So we took our seats in the front row, sandwiched between Jim from The Office, and a guy who made a giant Coke bottle appear out of thin air. Pretty surreal. Even more surreal was the fact that sitting next to John Krasinski was Stephen Merchant, of The (British) Office and Exec Producer on The (American) Office. Although you may know him as the guy who lost his swan in Hot Fuzz. After the show, someone leaned over to John Krasinski and said, “That magician was cool, but the coolest part of the night was seeing you, man!” And yeah, it’s cool to see John Krasinski, but can he produce a dove from a silver streamer? Illusions!

Revelation #3: I Think It’s Time For My Annual Viewing of Ravenous

Do you remember this movie, Ravenous? Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, and cannibalism? It’s not very good, but every year my friend Nick and I find ourselves compelled to watch it again, and I don’t know why. It’s one of those movies that seems good in your head, but as you watch it, you become more and more depressed. I imagine it’s like being a cannibal. You know it’s bad for you, you know people would ridicule you for doing it, but you just can’t help yourself. And just like the human flesh in the movie, watching Ravenous can give you super powers. It can magically waste an hour and a half of your life.

Revelation #4: The Ending Of Casino Kinda Fizzles, But De Niro’s Oversized Glasses Save The Day.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Scorsese’s Casino is a great movie. but after 3 hours, you’re kinda hoping for a more satisfying conclusion. Sure it’s brutal to watch Pesci get buried alive, and to see Sharon Stone collapse in a coked-out heap in a hotel hallway (Oops, 13-year-old Spoiler Alert!!), but it feels like there should be more. Until we get to De Niro…

And those 9 seconds make the last 177 minutes worthwhile.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 12:27 pm and is filed under Film, Weekend Revelations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.