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Movies / On DVD / A/K/A Tommy Chong
A/K/A Tommy Chong

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A/K/A Tommy Chong (2005)

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Reviews Counted:21

Fresh:15

Rotten:6

Average Rating:6.1/10

Runtime: 80 mins

Genre: Television

Synopsis: a/k/a Tommy Chong is a dynamic portrait of comedy legend Tommy Chong, set against the unfolding political horror story of post 911 America. Filmmaker Josh Gilbert follows the tragic and absurd tale... a/k/a Tommy Chong is a dynamic portrait of comedy legend Tommy Chong, set against the unfolding political horror story of post 911 America. Filmmaker Josh Gilbert follows the tragic and absurd tale of Chong as he travels down the rabbit hole of America's war on drugs and the federal prison system after becoming the primary target in a government sting, code named "Operation Pipe Dreams." In February of 2003, at a time of unparalleled assaults to our freedoms by international terrorists, John Ashcroft and U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan spent 12 million dollars to take down Tommy Chong for selling art glass water pipes – aka bongs – over the internet. In the words of the great Magritte, "Ceci n'est pas une pipe…" What emerges is an intimate portrait of a cosmic character, caught in the crosshairs of a surreal Cheech and Chong fantasy come to life. --© Official Site [More]

Starring: Tommy Chong

Starring: Tommy Chong

Director: Josh Gilbert

Director: Josh Gilbert

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Aug 26, 2008

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Supported with a National book tour a/k/a Tommy Chong chronicles the entrapment and incarceration of comedy icon Tommy Chong of the legendary comedy duo, Cheech and Chong. Josh Gilbert takes on the event in his documentary, and offers a sometimes frightening, often hilarious account of Operation Pipe Dreams, a nationwide drug paraphernalia sting spearheaded by a federal prosecutor named Mary Beth Buchanan, appointed by George Bush three short days after the attacks of 9/11.
  • After fully armed SWAT teams raided the comedian's home and his business, Chong Glass, Chong was sentenced to 9 months in federal prison for "conspiracy to manufacture and distribute drug paraphernalia through his family business, specializing in handmade glass water pipes, or "bongs". Of the 55 defendants prosecuted, Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong was the only one with no prior convictions to receive jail time. Justifying the sentence, George Bush's appointee, Mary Beth Buchanan cited the classic Cheech and Chong comedy Up In Smoke as evidence that Tommy Chong had become wealthy "trivializing law enforcement efforts to combat marijuana trafficking and use." As Roger Ebert said after viewing the film, "You do not have to approve of drugs to be offended."
  • The film provides a charming portrait of a counter culture icon set against the backdrop of a War on Drugs gone horribly awry.
  • Source: Infinity Entertainment Group
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    Reviews for A/K/A Tommy Chong

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    1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating)
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    should have gone for more

    Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
    06/15/06
    Chris Cabin
    Chris Cabin
    Filmcritic.com

    First-time filmmaker Josh Gilbert, whose skills behind the camera are rudimentary, might be a bit too close to his subject to do disinterested viewers justice.

    Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
    04/26/06
    John DeFore
    John DeFore
    Hollywood Reporter

    The movie's value varies according to how much of the story you already know.

    Full Review Source: LYTRules.com | comment Comment
    04/29/06
    Luke Y. Thompson
    Luke Y. Thompson
    LYTRules.com

    What could have been either a scathing critique of the drug war or an intimate portrait of a stoner facing mortality instead comes off as a fawning infomercial for its subject.

    Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
    06/15/06
    Nathan Rabin
    Nathan Rabin
    AV Club

    A cheeky, somewhat suspect documentary on the battles between an icon of stoner comedy and the Feds, a/k/a Tommy Chong serves up a biased account of Chong's arrest and incarceration for manufacturing drug paraphernalia.

    Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
    10/13/05
    Robert Koehler
    Robert Koehler
    Variety
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    This isn't a great piece of nonfiction filmmaking, but it has its moments.

    Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
    06/30/06
    Wesley Morris
    Wesley Morris
    Boston Globe
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Josh Gilbert's curt documentary about the arrest and conviction of comedian and former bong-maker Tommy Chong reveals the federal sting operation that put Tommy Chong in a state penitentiary for nine months for shipping glass bongs to Pennsylvania.

    Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
    04/23/09
    Cole Smithey
    Cole Smithey
    ColeSmithey.com

    What comes across is Chong's innate elegance and intelligence, two qualities often missing from his trademark comedic work.

    Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
    03/01/07
    David Noh
    David Noh
    Film Journal International

    Even those unimpressed with [Cheech and Chong's] genially lowbrow work will be intrigued by the political tenor of this portrait.

    Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
    06/16/06
    Elizabeth Weitzman
    Elizabeth Weitzman
    New York Daily News

    This is an important propaganda film. After all, Gilbert has all the facts in hand and presents it halfway decently.

    Full Review Source: Greenwich Village Gazette | comment Comment
    06/17/06
    Eric Lurio
    Eric Lurio
    Greenwich Village Gazette

    Apparently granted unlimited access to Chong's personal archives, Gilbert digs up some great footage and photos from his early years as well his '70s heyday.

    Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
    06/15/06
    Ethan Alter
    Ethan Alter
    Premiere Magazine

    Just when you thought there weren't any more reasons to hate America.

    Full Review Source: Planet Sick-Boy | comment Comment
    09/14/05
    Jon Popick
    Jon Popick
    Planet Sick-Boy

    A very scary documentary illustrating the carte blanche accorded Big Brother by the Patriot Act

    Full Review Source: EURWeb | comment Comment
    05/24/07
    Kam Williams
    Kam Williams
    EURWeb

    A surprisingly clear-eyed, sober account of what it’s liked to be embraced by a culture, while loathed by the Powers That Be.

    Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
    05/30/06
    KJ Doughton
    KJ Doughton
    Film Threat

    How the feds inadver tently resurrected the performing career of stoner comic Tommy Chong by busting him is the ironic subtext of Josh Gilbert's one-sided documentary a/k/a Tommy Chong.

    Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
    06/14/06
    Lou Lumenick
    Lou Lumenick
    New York Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Josh Gilbert's film tells the depressing, often ridiculous and generally enraging story of how and why Tommy Chong ended up doing time in a minimum-security prison.

    comment Comment
    06/14/06
    Manohla Dargis
    Manohla Dargis
    New York Times

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
    09/30/06
    Marrit Ingman
    Marrit Ingman
    Austin Chronicle

    Its dramatic thinness doesn't dilute its simultaneously ridiculous and terrifying portrait of federal prosecution run amok.

    Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
    06/02/06
    Nick Schager
    Nick Schager
    Slant Magazine

    It is also a portrait of resilience: Chong does his time (nine months) and has the last laugh, emerging as a born-again activist-survivor of the culture wars.

    Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
    06/14/06
    Owen Gleiberman
    Owen Gleiberman
    Entertainment Weekly
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Josh Gilbert's smoothly produced documentary a/k/a Tommy Chong should leave even Nancy Reagan aghast at the unfair trials of comedian Tommy Chong.

    Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
    06/09/06
    Peter Canavese
    Peter Canavese
    Groucho Reviews
     
     
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