SMOKED. The Movie
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| Smoked | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Jamie DeWolf Joshua Staley |
| Screenplay by | Jamie DeWolf |
| Produced by | Chris Brains |
| Starring | Jamie DeWolf Geoff Trenchard Rupert Estanislao Jaylee Alde Abdul Kenyatta Asher Kennedy |
| Edited by | Phillip Paulos |
| Music by | Forrest Day Damon and the Heathens Fishtank Ensemble Syzygy |
Production company | East Bay Film Alliance |
Release date | September 2012 |
Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Synopsis
Smoked is a 2012 film by spoken word comedian Jamie DeWolf. The film details the misfortunes of spoken word trio the Suicide Kings (Jamie DeWolf, Geoff Trenchard, Rupert Estanislao), who find themselves broke, and homeless when they become victims of burglary and arson. In their desperation, they concoct a half-baked plan to rob an Oakland, CA medical marijuana dispensary, posing as police officers. The raid appears successful until they discover the owner is notorious crack kingpin Tyrone Shank (Abdul Kenyatta). In retribution, Shank dispatches mercenary killers, The Four Horsemen (Jaylee Alde, Asher Kennedy, Wayne Dean, & Ninja). The pursuit sends a wave of violence across Oakland as the Suicide Kings struggle to escape a bizarre and dangerous criminal underworld.[1]
Development
Writing and shooting violent comedies as a teenager in Benicia, CA, DeWolf filmed his first feature Absolutely Badass, in which a huge cast of anti-heroes meet at a house, awaiting a kingpin released that day from prison. Absolutely Badass was shot on video and was never released, but some of the characters including “Dust” were later incorporated into Smoked. DeWolf turned to a successful performance career performing on HBO's Def Poetry Jam, moving to Oakland and creating the critically acclaimed show Tourettes Without Regrets which showcases comedy, circus arts, battle rap, slam poetry and burlesque performances. As a slam poet, DeWolf began traveling with the Suicide Kings spoken word trio. While touring internationally with “In Spite of Everything”, a full length play penned by the Kings which revolved around the premise of a school shooting, DeWolf wanted an outlet for their dark humor and a return to filmmaking. [2]
The impetus for Smoked came from an article about a real cannabis club robbery. "I love crime capers; I love heist films," said DeWolf. "I love the gray illegality of cannabis clubs in general. [...]If you robbed a cannabis club what would happen in terms of how would the cops respond?" Another prominent theme of Smoked is the tension between "Berkeley hippies and gun-blasting Oakland," a class and culture war that has always fascinated the filmmaker.[3]
“There’s a lot of history infused in there,” DeWolf says. “There’s a lot of references to Black Panthers and revolution, and some of that is from my own political beliefs. I’m just not a big fan of hippie ideology. That’s what I think is interesting about Oakland, and just weed in general. Oakland and Berkeley are right next to each other and even in the history of these cities, there’s been this certain element of tension, and Oakland has always been viewed as a little harder-edged. That tension, and that kind of ideological war, aggression versus pacifism; it’s just really interesting to explore.” As a review notes, “the proliferation of compassion clubs and other medicinal outlets created a grey zone where everybody on all sides of the law (in the film at least) is fighting, stabbing, shooting, carving, and immolating each other for a piece of the action.” DeWolf says he avoided becoming another stoner comedy, “That’s something that I really fought against, I didn’t want people running along, and then they get hungry and eat some brownies.”[4] Shortly after he came up with the concept, DeWolf pitched his movie to Joshua Staley and Phillip Paulos of Masters of Sight and Sound, (M.O.S.S). DeWolf's first pitch involved him using G.I Joe figures to illustrate the action scenes. Chris Brainerd was brought into the project as the Executive Producer due to his “jack of all trades” talents and assigned the additional role of “guns, gore and fire”. Brainerd was instrumental in not only the funding, but on achieving the many complicated special effects with little budget, including creating “stabbing armor” steel plates for an actor to wear under his clothes during a knife fight, to self made squibs and the many instances of pyrotechnics throughout the film.[5]
Reception
The Straight praised the movie, "...mean, bloody, and demented. It's also piss-your-pants hilarious, maddeningly nihilistic, oddly sentimental, weirdly moral, extremely silly, and insanely energetic."[6]
Smoked was accepted as an official selection into the 2012 Oakland Underground Film Festival and screened at Vitus Ballroom on September 29th, 2012 [7]
The film has also been accepted to screen at the 2012 PollyGrind Film Festival.[citation needed]
References
- ^ "Hey, Let's Put On a Crime Caper". East Bay Express. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ "Jamie DeWolf, L. Ron Hubbard Descendant And Tourettes Without Regrets Founder, On The Mutants Of Art And Scientology". Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ "Rio Grind Film Fest: Smoked is mean, bloody, and demented". Straight. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ "Rio Grind Film Fest: Smoked is mean, bloody, and demented". Straight. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ "Hey, Let's Put On a Crime Caper". East Bay Express. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ "Rio Grind Film Fest: Smoked is mean, bloody, and demented". Straight. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ "2012 Oakland Underground Film Festival". Retrieved 20 December 2012.