Most of the cinema on cannabis work done at Film Threat’s Auxiliary Research Lab out here in the desert is pretty breezy by design. You simply cannot overtax yourself while notating the different edible doses needed to make specific Sandler films work. However, sometimes there is some heavy lifting, sometimes even something that may be potentially hazardous to your nervous system. There are some corners of the cinematic arts that are so dark that even the brilliant light of a burning joint cannot vanquish them. However, the curiosity of what the outcome may be, mangled or not, was too great. This was an opportunity to rewrite one of the worst chapters of cinematic history with a hash-tipped pen. A chance to prove the power of the herb over perceived calamity, a chance to crawl back into the wreckage with a smile on my face. I was going to see if the Rocket 88, the infused pre-rolls by The Blues Brothers weed brand, could actually make Blues Brothers 2000 not just watchable, but enjoyable. Success was not guaranteed; it didn’t even seem fathomable.
Blues Brothers is one of the most heralded classics of Generation X, with a worldwide following that included Rocky Horror Picture Show-like live reenactments in front of screenings in Australia. The sequel, to put it mildly, was unneeded, unwanted, and unwatched. While it attempted to branch out from the legend of the first movie, Blues Brothers 2000 made the same mistake that most of the Star Wars sequels did: pandering to the child audience that had been drawn to the original material without said pandering. Kids loved The Blues Brothers when they got to see it on TV back in the day; it still remains one of the most perplexing R-rated classic family comedies. Blues Brothers 2000 got the rating right, but an abomination is an abomination, and the film has been buried in the backwaters over the years, with no streamer currently offering it as an unpaid selection.
However, a fistful of the pre-rolled Greatest Hits by The Blues Brothers weed company, bought from the fine folks at JARS Eastside in Tucson, may just turn that tide. The growing of the fine cannabis produce that The Blues Brothers offer is overseen by Jim Belushi, a superstar turned farmer. Belushi delivers some strong medicine, with some of the tastiest marijuana your lungs with ever savor. It was also the first weed brand to be featured on a Rose Bowl Parade float, on a Blues Brothers-themed tribute to the city of Chicago. Their pre-rolled infused joint, the Rocket 88, was my gateway into the universe of infused wonders.
Rocket 88 infused pre-rolls from the Blues Brothers cannabis brand.
“A chance to rewrite one of the worst chapters of cinematic history with a hash-tipped pen.”
The power of one of these Rocket 88s can reduce even the most hardened fire eater into an oh-so-happy puddle of bliss. A toke off a Rocket 88 takes me back to when I was a feather throat and one puff would send me over the mountain. The infusion of concentrated THC results in a cloud of super-strong smoke, like the kind in The Incredible Shrinking Man. The strain of Blues Brothers weed used for the first Rocket 88 pre-roll was Star Queen, with the other rocket armed with a weed appropriately dubbed Blues Blitz. Strapping these two Ray-Ban-wearing rockets to my lungs should, at best, give me an entirely new perspective on Blues Brothers 2000, or at worst, at least numb me to the stench.
As the screening begins, the first problem I run into is how Elwood is handling himself. One of the defining elements of the first movie was Elwood’s classic deadpan reactions to everything, including total destruction. The way he would remain constantly emotionless was constantly hilarious, but in the sequel, we have something else entirely. Elwood is running around, grinning and joking. It seems not just out of character, but a complete inversion of what makes Elwood Blues a unique character in pop culture.
For the first time, watching Blues Brothers 2000, I was overwhelmed by a sense of betrayal of the original’s core appeal. Time to light the first Rocket 88. Upon first draw down my throat, Star Queen made me want to go out looking for Gil Scott-Heron records. The lights dimmed on the main thoroughfare of my mind, while sudden strips of neon started darting through the soft darkness. Soon, I was in an old Vegas-style sea of colored lights spiraling against a black backdrop of deep mellow.
