By Gary Bennett
This article appears in Frederick News-Post’s “72 Hours” entertainment insert, June 29, 2023.
Coming of age in the ’70s, I am embarrassed to admit that the golden age of stoner movies was the ‘90s and early ‘00s. During this modern stone(d) age, they were at their haziest, giggliest, munchiest best.
I guess it figures. We boomers are seen as reliably uptight, spotlight-seeking, job-hogging leeches living high on the government dole. Fair enough. Maybe we thought we were cool back then, but obviously not cool enough to have really good stoner movies.
But we did have Cheech and Chong, the amiable Marx Brothers of weed. They were super-cool, barely able to function, and despite not caring about anything except the next buzz, things always seemed to turn out right for them. Yet, their seminal stoner movie, Up in Smoke (1978) appears only at number eight on my top ten list, not able to supplant any of the top stoner flicks of the ‘90s and ‘00s.
On the other hand, Gen X and Millennials, those turn of the century generations, are universally derided as trophy hoarding, video game playing, chicken nugget eating, mom’s basement living, job hopping, spoiled brats. So, is it any wonder that many of the most popular movies of the day would feature pot-smoking slackers? Of course not!
Of my top ten stoner flicks, only Up in Smoke, Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), and the granddaddy of them all, Reefer Madness (1936!) were released outside of this pineapple-y “golden” age of stoned-ness.
Even though pot smoking goes back as far as recoded history, it did not become a movement among youth in the U.S. until the jazz era of the ‘20s and ‘30s. Back then, marijuana was considered a dangerous substance, spurring law enforcement officials to push for its ban. Hence, the cautionary documentary-style movie Reefer Madness of 1936.
The counterculture hippies of the ‘60s embraced weed as never before, but it wasn’t until the ‘70s and Up in Smoke that marijuana begin to elbow its way into popular consciousness and Hollywood movies.
Don’t get me wrong. There are some movies like The Wizard of Oz that have nothing to do with marijuana (unless you think Dorothy was tripping instead of suffering from a bump on her head) but are just weird enough to be very entertaining when stoned. Just ask my late 1970s self.
But these movies – my top ten stoner flicks of all time – feature cooler than cool, don’t-give-a-damn characters. Reefer is at its chain smoking finest. It either serves as a central plot device for characters who win in spite of themselves or as an amusing distraction such as with Sean Penn’s classic character Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Don’t agree with my list? Yeah man, well, it’s heavy, but, you know, it is what it is.
10. HALF-BAKED (1998)
Dave Chapelle
This Chapelle-written vehicle captures the whacky antics of stoned friends trying to help another stoned friend who got arrested for killing a police horse by feeding it junk food.
Stoniest line: “Hey, I know this isn’t your responsibility, but mop up the rest of this sh#t and I’ll be right back.”
9. REEFER MADNESS (1936)
Dave O’Brien, Dorothy Short, Lillian Miles
Now days, this cautionary tale of the effects of drug use on America’s youth is hilarious for its earnestness. But not then. Plot focuses on innocent teens being drawn into a “reefer house” and committing a terrible crime while high.
Stoniest line: “This, I understand, can be attributed to marijuana. It causes errors in time and space.”
8. UP IN SMOKE (1978)
Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong
This first studio film aimed at tokers was a runaway hit. Comedy duo Cheech and Chong played lovable stoners who take to the road for wild misadventures including crossing the border in a van made entirely of reefer.
Stoniest line: “Man, if you had a second brain, man, it would die of loneliness.”
7. FRIDAY (1995)
Ice Cube, Chis Tucker
It’s the end of the week and Ice and Chris pass the time on the porch smoking up a heavy haze, philosophizing, avoiding Big Worm and watching the world go by.
Stoniest line: “How in the hell did you get fired on your day off?”
6. HOW HIGH (2001)
Method Man, Redman
The two rap superstars bond after discovering a new crop of weed that makes them geniuses. They go to Harvard but must live by their wits when their stash runs out.
Stoniest line: “How did I fail Women’s Studies? I love bitches!”
5. FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (1982)
Judge Reinhold, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Sean Penn, Phoebe Cates
This one’s a bit of a stretch because it’s mostly a weed-less tale of teenage life in the California ‘burbs, but Sean Penn’s classic performance of perpetually stoned surfer dude, Jeff Spicoli, makes it more than worth watching as a stoner flick.
Stoniest line: ““All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz and I’m fine,”
4. PINEAPPLE EXPRESS (2008)
James Franco, Seth Rogan
Two buddies get high on a rare type of grass – “pineapple express”, witness a murder and spend the rest of the movie trying to (hilariously) evade the bad guys.
Stoniest line: “It’s, like, the rarest. It’s almost a shame to smoke it. It’s like killing a unicorn. With, like, a bomb.”
3. HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE (2004)
John Cho, Kal Penn
The two pals go on a totally baked quest for the perfect little burger. Along the way they ride a cheetah and meet up with a surprisingly crude Neil Patrick Harris.
Stoniest line: “It’s a sausage fest in here, bro. Let’s get us some poontang, and then we’ll go to White Castle. . . . The ‘Doogie’ line always works on strippers!”
2. THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998)
Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi
This comic masterpiece features an iconic performance by Jeff Bridges as the chill, bathrobe-wearing, “Dude.” When he’s not bowling, a soiled carpet throws him into seedy L.A. where he fits in well.
Stoniest line: “I bowl. I drive around. [I have] the occasional acid flashback.”
1. DAZED AND CONFUSED (1993)
Jason London, Mathew McConaughey
This wonderful flick explores the last day of school in 1976 for a group of aimless Texas teens. Marijuana use is rife and plays a central role when the star quarterback bristles at the coach’s “no drugs” pledge.
Stoniest line: “Behind every good man is a woman and that woman is Martha Washington, man, and every day George would come home and she’d have a big, fat bowl waiting for him.”
Honorable Mentions:
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (2001), Clueless (1995), Easy Rider (1969), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), Superbad (2007), Super Troopers (2001), Ted (2012), This is the End (2013).
