DougBenson Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Maybe you're a raving pothead who runs around going "Dude, it's 4/20 today! Let's totally bake oooout!" Or maybe you're a non-partaker who still enjoys watching stoned people act silly. Or MAYBE you hate marijuana but you just like documentary films that dole out funny and informative in equal measure.

Well good news. Tonight ALL of you can tune in to the television world premiere of Super High Me, which is a pro-weed doco that played to an appreciative (if slightly fragrant) audience at last year's SXSW Film Festival. Borrowing a leafy page from Morgan Spurlock's (clearly influential) Super Size Me, Michael Blieden's Super High Me charts the journey of one serious pot-smoker (affable comedian Doug Benson) who decides to abstain for thirty(!) full days ... before smoking like Cheech times Chong for the NEXT 30 days. Along the way we learn a lot of (baked and biased but still interesting) things about pot culture, legality, medicinal uses, and physiological effects.

Plus, of course, G4 has a whole evening packed with weed-flavored programming, so go grab some munchies and see what all the puffings about. For more on the flick, check out the official site right here, and if you're still jonesin' then go read Erik Davis' review and eat some Twinkies.

I recently got to have a very entertaining conversation with Super High Me star Doug Benson and producer Alex Campbell -- most of which you'll get to read later -- but for now, there's some fun news to share regarding the flick. As you may or may not know, Super High Me is (obviously) a take-off on Morgan Spurlock's very entertaining Super Size Me -- only instead of eating Big Macs for 30 days ... Doug Benson is going to smoke marijuana (all day every day) for 30 days. (But only after he stays pot-free for 30 days, of course.)

If this sounds like an entertaining idea for a documentary ... too bad. Someone already made it. Get your own idea. But here's the next best thing: If you'd like to organize a (FREE!) screening of Michael Bleiden's Super High Me for you and your pals, you can do so starting on (you guessed it) April 20. You don't even have to smoke weed while you watch it! It's funny either way! (Erik Davis' full review of Super High Me will appear on this very blog in the very near future. But here's a preview: He liked it.)

Head on over to the official b-side.com / Super High Me website to check out all the "Roll Your Own Screening" information. Over at The Hollywood Reporter, Screen Media's Suzanne Blech summed it up nicely: ""It can be difficult to get stoners off the couch ... The number of people who get stoned in America is quite a large percentage, and all we want for them is to tell their friends that they have to see this funny, funny movie." Well, speaking as a big fan of ...comedy, I can agree with Suzanne there. The only people who might not chuckle at this flick are DEA agents.

The last thing you want to see in your rear view mirror when it's past 2:00 in the morning and you're half a mile from where you're staying are flashing red lights. Yup, I got pulled over last night by a very polite police officer. After quizzing me about what I was doing on that lonely road and learning that I'd only had one beer five hours before (remember: don't drink and drive), he informed me that my license plate light was burned out. He returned my driver's license and proof of insurance along with the admonishment to get my broken light fixed. I sighed in relief and cautiously finished driving to my friend's place, about 20 miles north of where all the action is happening at South By Southwest.

Earlier in the day, I managed to dodge the rest of the Cinematical crew -- honestly, I think they were playing ding dong ditch with me -- and arrived in plenty of time for my first screening at the beautiful Paramount Theatre. Super High Me is very funny, if somewhat muddled, take on Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me; comedian Doug Benson decides that he will get high from smoking marijuana every day and documents it on camera. Benson led a very entertaining post-screening Q&A.

From there I walked about ten minutes to the Alamo Ritz, where a much smaller crowd sat through music doc The Upsetter, based on the life and music of Lee "Scratch" Perry. I'll have more to say about that one as soon as I get my review written up. After that I retrieved my car and drove a few miles south to the Alamo Lamar multiplex in time to see a "secret" screening of Baghead, which was described by Eric D. Snider as "a blast of fresh air" -- I totally agree. Filmmakers Mark and Jay Duplass were present along with members of the cast and crew for another entertaining, relaxed Q&A session. That put me in a good mood, which came in handy for my meeting with Friendly Mister Policeman.