M
ovies are a hallowed 4/20 tradition. Whether you plan to go out and enjoy the nice weather, take a trip to Green Lakes or see a comedy show, your celebration will inevitably lead you back to a dark, temperature-controlled room, snacks in hand, flipping through Netflix.
Couch lock is nothing to be ashamed of, and after spending a long day in a lawn chair with a couple of joints, there’s nothing better than coming inside to unwind with a favorite flick.
Ever since marijuana went mainstream in the 1960s and ‘70s, the film industry has developed a rich tapestry of weed movies for the enjoyment of those who partake. From explicitly stoner-themed comedies to films that are just so weird they deserve to be seen high, there is no shortage of options to watch this Thursday.
To help you narrow down your choices, consider this list of 10 particularly strong cinematic head highs. Whether your preference is comedy or drama, or somewhere in between, check out these picks from the last 50-plus years of weed-smoking on screen.
“Inherent Vice”
“Inherent Vice” follows a spaced-out private eye who uncovers a criminal underworld in Los Angeles while searching for his missing ex-girlfriend. The bumbling detective, portrayed by an immaculately-sideburned Joaquin Phoenix, spends nearly the entire movie in a smoky haze as he delves deeper into the inner workings of a mysterious drug ring. Look out for a magnificent scene in which Josh Brolin, playing a hardcore drug-busting cop, shoves a handful of weed into his mouth to assert dominance.
“Smiley Face”
For most people, paying the power bill is not a feature film-length quest. But for Jane F., the protagonist of Gregg Araki’s “Smiley Face,” it might as well be the apocalypse.
After she accidentally eats a plate of her roommate’s cupcakes, not realizing they’re edibles, Jane must take on her busy day while baked. Anna Faris is hilarious as the lead in this low-stakes comedy, and fans of “The Office” will enjoy John Krasinski in an unorthodox role as a bespectacled geek who looks eerily similar to the actor’s old nemesis, Dwight Schrute.
“Dazed and Confused”
This laidback hang-out movie takes you along for the ride with a group of Texan teenagers on their last day of classes in 1976. Low on plot but high on atmosphere, “Dazed and Confused” features a stacked ensemble cast that includes a young Matthew McConaughey in his endlessly quotable first major role.
At the end of the film, a stoned McConaughey gives a timeless piece of advice that has become perhaps his most iconic line of all time: “You just gotta keep livin’ man, L-I-V-I-N.”
“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”
The ultimate literary drug bender gets the Terry Gilliam treatment in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” Based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Hunter S. Thompson, this film follows an eccentric journalist assigned to visit Las Vegas and cover a motorcycle race for a magazine. Instead, he calls up his equally weird lawyer for companionship and turns the trip into a drug-fueled super-binge. Gilliam’s surreal directorial style is a perfect match for this material.
“Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”
Before Keanu Reeves was triple-killing assassins with a graphite pencil as John Wick, audiences knew him as the shaggy Southern California goofball, Ted Logan. In this time-travel adventure, Ted and his best friend, Bill Preston, played by Alex Winter, are two high school slackers who discover a time machine while hanging out at Circle K. Desperate to pass their history class, the boys use their new power to round up a group of famous historical figures like Socrates and Napoleon and bring them back to the present for a truly excellent final project.
“Pineapple Express”
No 4/20 viewing party would be complete without at least one Seth Rogen comedy. In “Pineapple Express,” Rogen plays a mild-mannered pot smoker who, along with his dealer, accidentally witnesses a murder. On the run from killers who need to cover their tracks, the two team up with a wily supplier to outwit their criminal pursuers. Though the Pineapple Express weed featured in the film was fictional at the time, it has since inspired a real-life strain.
Stephanie Zaso | Digital Design Director, Nikkos Saviolis | Contributing Illustrator
“The Holy Mountain”
“The Holy Mountain” is absolute maximalist mayhem. Watching it while high probably counts as a religious experience, or maybe psychological torture — or both. In the film, a Jesus-like drifter embarks on a psychedelic odyssey, on which he encounters seven strange people who each represent one of the planets in the Solar System.
From a deranged police officer to a cynical toy manufacturer, the characters you’ll encounter are the stuff of dreams and nightmares. During production, director Alejandro Jodorowsky required his cast to live together in the same house for months, take mushrooms and sleep for as little as four hours per night.
“Easy Rider”
Believe it or not, there was a time when now-86-year-old Jack Nicholson was a new kid on the block in Hollywood. His standout performance as a square-turned-smoker in “Easy Rider,” the tale of two bikers who smuggle cocaine across America, launched his career as an A-list star. Directed and written by Dennis Hopper, who also stars alongside Nicholson and Peter Fonda, this story of the demise of American counterculture in the 1960s is an essential piece of film history.
“Up in Smoke”
Cheech and Chong are the Abbott and Costello of cannabis. Their first-ever feature, “Up in Smoke,” launched a creative partnership that would produce dozens of movies, albums and short films, as well as their own line of legal marijuana. A bonafide smash at the box office, grossing at least $40 million, this is the foundation upon which all modern stoner comedies were built.
“Harold and Maude”
In this 1971 film, a death-obsessed young man meets a 79-year-old woman at a funeral and falls in love. “Harold and Maude” is an odd couple comedy, an often morbid look into the lives of two misfits staring into the abyss. It may also be the only studio comedy ever to feature an actress born in the 1800s hosting a smoke session. Legends of director Hal Ashby’s weed-friendly film set are still told today.
Published on April 19, 2023 at 10:10 pm
