It's 4/20 so there's no better day for our timeless heroes of hash to remind us once again how much they love the green stuff and why it should be legalized. This year, it's a quadruple whammy of unbelievable marijuana teamwork.
Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg teamed up with Nashville songwriter Jamey Johnson (the guy who wrote "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk") and Kris Kristofferson (who I love mostly for his roles in the Blade film series) to write a country sing-along for the mostly hip-hop pot set.
It's called "Roll Me Up," and morbidly describes how the schwag-loving superstars would like to depart this earth once they die. (Here's a clue: it involves getting smoked.)
There is no room for rap in this upbeat saloon swinger with all the piano, harmonica and steel guitar. So Snoop is unfortunately singing again. But everyone's having so much fun getting high, you'll hardly even notice.
It's not the first time the two smoking buddies have teamed up for a song. For his album Doggumentary, the two collaborated on the song "Superman," which Willie wrote about getting older and relying on marijuana to help him get through the rough spots. The video shows the two aging superstars lighting up everywhere they go, enjoying the pleasure of one another's squinty-eyed company.
The new song lacks the ease of "Superman," but it's a great little ditty for keeping you in a good mood while you're scrounging for munchies or doing whatever it is you do on 4/20 or at 4:20 p.m. or whenever, really.
Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
Tommy Martinez, Emily Blunt, and Josh O'Connor in Disclosure Day.
With the release of Disclosure Day, Steven Spielberg has now directed 17 feature films over 26 years in the 21st century, the exact same number over the exact same period of time he did in the 20th century. The first half of his career was mostly defined by his blockbuster films, while the second half has seen him exploring a lot more serious material. Disclosure Day marries the two for an experience only he could deliver.
The film starts in medias res, as Dr. Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) is being pursued by Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth) and a team of henchmen for stealing intellectual property from Wardex, a government contractor for which he works. As the audience gradually discovers, Daniel is a cyber-security programmer who has discovered evidence of alien life in the company’s servers. He and others within the company, including Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo), are determined to release the information to the public.
Concurrently, television meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) starts experiencing weird things, including the ability to speak multiple languages and read people’s minds. Without either of them actively trying to seek each other out, Daniel and Margaret are set on a path to meet, with Scanlon (with the help of a mysterious alien device) trying to track their every move.
Directed by Spielberg and written by David Koepp, the film is an almost even mix between classic Spielberg wonder and a deep story about what it is to be human. By starting the film in the middle of the story, Spielberg immediately ramps up the excitement level. While the movie has relatively little action, that sequence and a few others deliver the type of propulsion for which Spielberg is revered, keeping the 145-minute film moving at a brisk pace.
Of the different types of alien movies Spielberg has made over the years, this one is closer to Close Encounters of the Third Kind than E.T. The story ponders the ethical, religious, political, and sociological effects that revealing the existence of aliens could have on the world. The debates had by various characters purposefully take the film out of being a sheer popcorn flick, forcing the audience to grapple with issues that they may have never considered before.
Unlike some other Spielberg films, he and Koepp don’t hold the audience’s collective hand throughout the story. There are a lot of times when viewers have to use context clues to understand exactly what is happening. That especially goes for an extremely important aspect of the world in which the story takes place that could pass you by if you’re only paying attention to the main characters’ dialogue. Spielberg’s using only subtle allusions for an element which would be the main focus of most other films is a fascinating choice.
O’Connor (Wake Up Dead Man, Challengers) has that everyman quality that a story like this needs. It always feels like it's him against the world, and does a terrific job of exuding both confidence and fear. Blunt delivers a fantastic performance, switching between confusion and composure with ease. Firth makes for a solid villain, and the story is helped by great turns from Domingo and Eve Hewson.
The idea that the nearly 80-year-old Steven Spielberg is still making blockbuster-style movies over 50 years after he made Jaws is astonishing, and the fact that he still knows how to make them work is even more impressive. Disclosure Day may not be the type of alien movie many were expecting, but it’s another high water mark in a career that has been full of them.
Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg
Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg
