Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Cheech & Chong's Hey Watch This Blu-ray Movie Review

"There's nothing sadder than an old hippie." --Tommy Chong

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 19, 2010

One of the most amazing episodes of Jeopardy was during their annual “Tournament of Celebrities” a few years ago. I can’t remember who the other two stars were, but there was Cheech Marin, putative pothead who has made a career out of playing less than brilliantly intelligent individuals, simply dominating the show from first moment to last. In fact, it almost sounded as if Alex Trebeck were a broken record, so often did he call out, “Cheech!” as the comedian repeatedly buzzed in first to give an answer (or question, as the case may be), answers which were almost invariably correct. I was truly and completely stunned. So I guess I’m willing to cut a little—a little—slack to this reunion video consisting of a San Antonio comedy performance intercut with some frankly funnier asides by the great duo of Cheech and Chong in various guises.

Cheech and Chong. . .or is that Chong and Cheech?

Comedy partnerships have not had an easy time of it in the longevity department, at least in the United States. The archives of show business are littered with the fractured friendships of teams like Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, and the two stars of Hey, Watch This, Cheech and Chong. After a series of best selling comedy albums, the duo launched into an equally profitable movie collaboration, until in the late 1980’s Cheech went his separate way to foster his acting chops. On shows like Nash Bridges. Now, that’s comedy.

The two however continued to be well thought of, at least in certain circles, cultural heroes to a generation that saw getting high as the ticket to a whole wave of social freedoms. Chong found out the hard way that wasn’t necessarily the case, when he was jailed on a federal charge for the admittedly ridiculous reason that he was manufacturing bong pipes. Perhaps age mellowed the two to a degree where they could see past their differences, and Chong’s brief hard time may have hipped him to the fact he’s not going to be around forever, for after years of patent denials and then hedges followed by delays, the two finally got back together for a long awaited reunion filmed last year for this simultaneous DVD, Blu-ray, theatrical and on-demand release.

Part of the problem with Cheech and Chong’s humor is that it appeals to people who are apt to laugh at pretty much anything, if you catch my drift. The two make absolutely no apologies for trotting out an unending series of potty and genitalia humor, all of which the San Antonio audience responds to as if it were manna from heaven, or at least some very, very fine bud. To those not herbally enhanced, a lot of this stuff will play like juvenile frat boy humor, not that that’s necessarily a bad thing. Cheech and Chong riff through their typical drug laden routines, and do a couple of solo sets, where Chong actually delivers a few actual adult punch lines devoid of toilet talk. But it seems tame and lame a lot of the time, with two aging hippies trying just a little too hard to reclaim their former glory.

The best parts of Hey, Watch This are actually the interstitial cutaways, which feature the duo as a pair of gay fashion critics reviewing the performance, as well as a couple of stoners in the balcony watching the proceedings. Cheech also enacts a petulant star in the greenroom insisting his personal rider hasn’t been fulfilled because of the blue M&M’s and lack of German mustard on the snack tray. He also is a cocaine snorting fool trying to get a rap gig from Chong in another bit. Both men also deliver musical performances in a way, with Cheech stumbling purposefully through a routine as country singer Red Hickey, and Chong proving he actually has some decent guitar chops in his bit as Blind Melon Chitlin.

Hey, Watch This will probably delight longtime Cheech and Chong fans who mourned the dissolution of the iconic pair. However, more objective viewers will find this often warmed over, second rate material that feels worn out and is just not that funny in the long run.

Cheech & Chong's Hey Watch This Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Hey, Watch This arrives on Blu-ray looking pretty darned good for a filmed live in performance concert. We're offered an unusually sharp image delivered via an AVC encode in full 1080p and a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Stage lighting is rather garish at times throughout the hour and a half or so of the concert, and that lends a peculiar palette to some of the proceedings, but colors all pop nicely and detail is excellent throughout. Cheech and Chong perform in front of a gigantic screen that offers several projections, and the delineation between the performers and the backdrop is always strong. One of the interstitial cutaways features the pair in a balcony, and lighting is rather dim in these episodes, with resulting poor contrast. Otherwise, this looks really great and undeniably clear and sharp, perhaps not to these two aging stars' advantage, at least in close-ups.

Cheech & Chong's Hey Watch This Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There's no uncompressed audio option on this Blu-ray, but there really doesn't need to be. What we get instead is a fine, if somewhat underwhelming, standard Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that offers the stage action up front while filling in the surrounds with the rather raucous sounds of the audience. The levels here are the most troublesome aspect. I personally had to turn my receiver up to almost maximum to get decent levels on the main pair. Whether this is due to the cavernous hall they're performing in, or the nonstop hoots and hollers from the audience I can't definitively say, but I was rather surprised that the main act wasn't bumped up in the final mix. What is here, levels aside, is clear and is delivered with excellent fidelity, if without an overly immersive concert surround experience.

Cheech & Chong's Hey Watch This Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Well over 30 minutes of extended and deleted scenes are included here, including Shelby Chong's opening set, which has some good bits but which, like the main program, veers into the lewd and lascivious without ever hitting a comedic home run. By far the best extra is Chong's very funny routine about getting arrested. It's easily the best thing on this Blu-ray, main set or otherwise.

Cheech & Chong's Hey Watch This Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I really wanted to love this reunion special, but it just fell flat for me most of the time. There are occasional laugh lines scattered throughout the proceedings, but the whole enterprise often reeks of a desperate attempt to reclaim the limelight. Sometimes it's better to just mellow out.