Photography Credits

P. 15:Alice’s Restaurant (United Artists/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 17: Animal House (Universal Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 18: The Banger Sisters (Fox Searchlight Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 21: Jeff “The Dude” Dowd/Bob Berg

P. 23:Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (MGM/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 24:Blazing Saddles (Warner Bros. Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 26:Borat (20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 28:Caddyshack (Warner Bros. Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 29:Up in Smoke (Paramount Pictures/Photo12/Polaris)

P. 30–31:Nice Dreams (Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 34:Dazed and Confused (Universal Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 35: (top) Three Amigos!(MGM/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 35:(bottom) Nathan Followill (Dean Chalkley)

P. 38: Dick (Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 39: Dogma (Lionsgate Films/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 41:Dude, Where’s My Car? (20th Century Fox Film Corp./Photo12/Polaris);

P. 42:Everything’s Gone Green (First Independent Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 44:Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Universal Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 45: Feeling Minnesota (New Line Cinema/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 46:Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (Paramount Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 48:The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Universal Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 51:Garden State (Fox Searchlight Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 54:Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (New Line Cinema/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 57:Harold & Kumar Escape from Guatanamo Bay (United Artists/Photo12/Polaris)

P. 59:How High (Universal Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 60:Igby Goes Down (United Artists/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 63:Kingpin (MGM/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 68:M.A.S.H. (20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 69: Meet the Parents (Universal Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 72:National Lampoon’s Vacation (Warner Bros. Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 74:Nine to Five (20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 75: Office Space (20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 76:Outside Providence (Miramax Films/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 77: Parenthood (Universal Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 79:Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (Warner Bros. Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 80: B-Real (Sony Music Entertainment Inc.)

P. 81:Pick-Up Summer (Film Ventures International/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 82:Pineapple Express (Columbia Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 84:Pretty in Pink (Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 87: Reality Bites (Universal Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 88: Reno 911!: Miami (20th Century Fox Film Corp./Photo12/Polaris);

P. 89:Risky Business (Warner Bros. Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 90:Road Trip (DreamWorks/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 94:Scary Movie (Dimension Films/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 95:Shampoo (Columbia Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 97:Smiley Face (First Look International/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 98: Snoop Dogg (Photo12/Polaris);

P. 100:Starsky & Hutch (Warner Bros. Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 102:Stripes (Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 104:Super Troopers (Fox Searchlight Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 107:Teen Wolf (Atlantic Releasing Corp./Photo12/Polaris);

P. 108:Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny (New Line Cinema/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 109:Thank God It’s Friday (Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 110:There’s Something About Mary (20th Century Fox Film Corp./Photo12/Polaris);

P. 111:This Is Spinal Tap (Embassy Pictures Corp./Photo12/Polaris);

P. 112:Tommy Boy (Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 114:Trailer Park Boys (CAVU Releasing/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 116: Tropic Thunder (Paramount Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 117:Up in Smoke (Paramount Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 118:Austin Powers in Goldmember (New Line Cinema/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 119:Van Wilder (Lionsgate Films/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 123: Wayne’s World (Paramount Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 128:Zoolander (Paramount Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 130:Almost Famous (DreamWorks/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 132:American Graffiti (Universal Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 134: Apocalypse Now (United Artists/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 135:Full Metal Jacket (Warner Bros. Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 137:The Beach (20th Century Fox Film Corp./Photo12/Polaris);

P. 138:The Big Chill (Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 140:Blow (New Line Cinema/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 141:The Wackness (Sony Pictures Classics/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 142:Blow-Up (Premier Productions/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 145:Boyz N the Hood (Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 146:Brokedown Palace (20th Century Fox Film Corp./Photo12/Polaris);

P. 149:Clockers (Universal Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 150: (L) A Clockwork Orange (Warner Bros. Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 150: (R) Colors (MGM/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 153:The Doors (TriStar Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 156: Easy Rider (Columbia Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 158: (L) Eyes Wide Shut (Warner Bros. Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 158: (R) Factory Girl (MGM/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 159:The Falcon and the Snowman (MGM/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 160: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Universal Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 164:The Good Girl (Fox Searchlight Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 166:The Graduate (MGM Home Entertainment/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 171: Humboldt County (Magnolia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 172:Hustle & Flow (Paramount Classics/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 175:Jacob’s Ladder (TriStar Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 178: La Bamba (Columbia Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 181:(L): Laurel Canyon (Sony Pictures Classics/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 181: (R): Lenny (United Artists/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 182:Less Than Zero (20th Century Fox Film Corp./Photo12/Polaris);

P. 184:The Man with the Golden Arm (United Artists/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 187: (L) Midnight Cowboy (United Artists/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 187: (R) Midnight Express (Columbia Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 188:My Own Private Idaho (New Line Cinema/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 191:Platoon (MGM/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 192:Head (Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 193: The Grasshopper (Warner Bros. Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 194:Psych-Out (MGM/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 195:Ray (Universal Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 196:Reefer Madness (Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 199:River’s Edge (MGM/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 201:Running on Empty (Warner Bros. Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 203:Serpico (Paramount Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 205:Sid & Nancy (The Samuel Goldwyn Company/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 208:Thelma & Louise (MGM/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 209:Traffic (USA Films/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 210:Trainspotting (Miramax Films/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 212: (L) The Wackness (Sony Pictures Classics/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 212: (R) Walk the Line (20^th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 214:Y Tu Mamá También (IFC Films/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 218:Barbarella (Paramount Pictures/Photo12/Polaris); P. 220: Wayne Coyne (J. Michelle Martin-Coyne);

P. 222:Clash of the Titans (MGM/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 223:Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 224:Conan the Barbarian (Universal Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 225:The Dark Crystal (Universal Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 226:Donnie Darko (Newmarket Films/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 227:Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 229:The Faculty (Dimension Films/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 230:Flash Gordon (Universal Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 232: Jason and the Argonauts (Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 233:Krull (Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 235:Labyrinth (TriStar Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 236: Legend (Universal/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 237:Little Shop of Horrors (Warner Bros. Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 238:The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (New Line Cinema/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 241: The Princess Bride (20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 245: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Paramount Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 248: THX 1138 (Warner Bros. Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 250:2001: A Space Odyssey (MGM/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 253:Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 256:The Cell (New Line Cinema/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 257:Children of Men (Universal Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 258:Cleopatra Jones (Warner Bros. Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 260:Desperado (Columbia Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 264:Lords of Dogtown (Sony Pictures Entertainment/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 268:Sleeper (United Artists/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 270:Electra Glide in Blue (United Artists/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 271:Scarface (Universal Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 273:Super Fly (Warner Bros. Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 274: True Romance (Warner Bros. Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 277:Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Cartoon Network/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 281:South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 285:Yellow Submarine (United Artists/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 287: Across the Universe (Columbia Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 289:The Dukes of Hazzard (Warner Bros. Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 291:Don’t Look Back (Docurama/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 292:Gimme Shelter (Cinema 5 Distributing/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 294:Hair (United Artists/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 298:The Last Waltz (United Artists/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 302:Pink Floyd The Wall (Warner Bros. Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 304:Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (Showtime Networks/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 305:The Rocky Horror Picture Show (20th Century Fox Film Corp./Photo12/Polaris);

P. 306:Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Universal Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 308:Pulp Fiction (Miramax Films/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 309:The Big Lebowski (Universal Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 310:Tommy (Columbia Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 311: Wattstax (Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 312:Woodstock (Warner Bros. Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 314:a/k/a Tommy Chong (Blue Chief Entertainment/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 317:(top) An Inconvenient Truth (Paramount Vantage/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

P. 317:(bottom) Melissa Etheridge (JM James Minchin III);

P. 321:Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (Magnolia Pictures/Photo12/Polaris);

P. 326:Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (Columbia TriStar/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection);

Acknowledgments

Putting Reefer Movie Madness together was a huge undertaking that required the help of many friends and fellow writers. We would first like to thank our tireless intern, Daniel Haney, for all of his hard work over the last year and a half, as well as David Cashion, Leslie Stoker, Kathleen Go, and Kerry Liebling at Abrams Image for their patience. Our gratitude goes to Meg Handler, photo editor on this project and on Pot Culture. To our unofficial advisor, Mitch Myers: thanks for your ear and guidance. Thank you to Sarah Lazin and Danielle Young.

We are forever grateful to the musicians, actors, comedians, directors, and TV personalities who generously gave their time to be interviewed for this book: Tommy Chong, Cheech Marin, Doug Benson, Snoop Dogg, B-Real, Jason Mraz, Melissa Etheridge, Ray Manzarek, Margaret Cho, Danneel Harris, Taryn Manning, Nathan Followill, Andy Milonakis, Joe Trohman, P-Nut, Adrianne Curry, Method Man, Redman, Wayne Coyne, Robb Wells, John Paul Tremblay, Mike Smith, Andrew McMahon, Cisco Adler, Shwayze, Greg Proops, Austin Winkler, Jesse Hughes, Raul Malo, Jay Chandrasekhar, Greg Mottola, Selene Luna, and Jeff Dowd; and to the various managers, agents, and publicists who helped facilitate those interviews, including Stacey Pokluda, Ken Weinstein, Sheila Richman, Jeff Jampol, Cory Lashever, Ken Phillips, Lewis Kay, Carly Schencker, Kelly MacGaunn, Karen Wiessen, Adam and Peter Raspler, Rick Gershon, Kim Estlund, Greg Cortez, and Cary Baker. To Sarah Saiger at Bambu, Allen St. Pierre and Keith Stroup at NORML, Chang Weisberg and Veeda Armstrong at Guerilla Union: thank you for supporting our books.

To Chris Garrity and the folks at Netflix: This book could not have come together in any timely manner were it not for the amazing service that is Netflix. Thank you for providing it to us and millions of movie buffs.

Shirley Halperin would like to thank: All of the Halperins, but especially Rivka, Eli, and Shai. Thanks to Jeff Miller, Michelle Lanz, and Jessica Hundley for going the extra mile time and time again. The support of my West Coast crew has been invaluable; many thanks to Paul Bonanos, Jason Roth, Scott Igoe, Lori Berger, Charlie Amter, Roy Trakin, Mitch Davis, Heidi Wahl, Bob Berg, and Gina Orr, Super Dave, Bong Rip and Smokey at BongTVLive, and Farmer Dave. Same goes for my East Coast pals: Brian Mergentime, Andrew Whitman, Lori Majewski, Stu Zakim, Jenny Eliscu, Gabe Kirchheimer, Carleen Donovan, Katie Des Londe, Adam Siegel, and Liz Rosenberg. Special thanks to Lisa Taylor, Mary Patton, Alex Greenberg, Nick Lippman, and Steven Trachtenbroit for their help and professional advice. And to Jon Fishman, Alanis Morissette, Rob Thomas, and Dave Grohl: Your friendship over the years has meant a lot. To George Michael: thanks for being you. And last on this list but first in my heart: my husband, Thom Monahan.

Steve Bloom would like to thank: Lots of friends, family, and associates contributed immeasurably to this book with their advice, suggestions, and film picks. Thanks to my dad, Lenny, a huge movie buff; one of my oldest friends, David Smith; Brian Abrams, who took time away from his job as “Dreidel Hustler” at Heeb magazine to write some reviews; Mitch Myers, who also pitched in and provided welcome critical and publishing advice; former smuggler and raconteur Mel Zimmer; and my “best bud” and lawyer David Beame.

The starting point for this book, of course, is the seminal exploitation flick, Reefer Madness. Though he prefers to not take credit for unearthing the film in the early seventies (see page 197), I would still like to thank to Keith Stroup and NORML for his and the organization’s tireless efforts to reform the nation’s archaic marijuana laws.

Inspiration for Reefer Movie Madness also came from other authors and books, such as Peter Biskind’s Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and–Rock ’N’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (Simon & Schuster, 1998); John Hulme and Michael Wexler’s Baked Potatoes: A Pot Smoker’s Guide to Film + Video (Doubleday, 1996); Marijuana in the Movies: The Complete Guide to Hollywood (MediaGreen Press, 1999); Addicted: The Myth and Menace of Drugs in Film (Creation Books, 1999);The Rough Guide to Cult Movies: The Good, the Bad and the Very Weird Indeed (Penguin, 2001); Harry Shapiro’s Shooting Stars: Drugs, Hollywood and the Movies (Serpent’s Tail, 2003); and Leonard Maltin’s Movie & Video Guide (Plume).

Lastly, thanks to all the stoners out there for inspiring us to write Reefer Movie Madness and Pot Culture.

The following people contributed reviews to Reefer Movie Madness. For a detailed list of credits, please visit www.reefermoviemadness.com.

Contributors: Brian Abrams, John Anderson, Steve Baltin, Jonathan Bernstein, Paul Bonanos, Rob Cantrell, Gregory Daurer, Kaitlin Fontana, John Fortunato, Andy Gensler, Nisha Gopalan, Guy in Tie, Daniel Haney, Shai Halperin, Jeremy Helligar, Jessica Hundley, Hal B. Klein, Michelle Lanz, Alexander Laurence, Rich Leivenberg, Jeff Miller, Joy Mitchell, Thom Monahan, Mitch Myers, John Rosenfelder, Jason Roth, Lisa Taylor, Roy Trakin, Ben Wener, Jeff Weiss, and Evan Winiker

Adventureland (2009)

Brainy but virginal, James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) has just graduated college and is intent on spending the summer traveling Europe before attending grad school in New York City. But when he learns his father has been downsized at work, James is forced to spend the summer of 1987 at home in Pittsburgh, with only a plastic bag full of prerolled joints, gifted by his dormmate, to distract him. Discouraged to discover that his comparative literature degree qualifies him for absolutely nothing, James ends up getting a job working the games at Adventureland, the local amusement park. There he meets a colorful cast of characters, including the darkly alluring Em Lewin (Kristen Stewart); the park’s resident married lothario Mike Connell (Ryan Reynolds); alienated, pipe-smoking intellectual Joel (Martin Starr of Freaks and Geeks); his goofy childhood friend Tommy Frigo (Matt Bush), who’s constantly pranking him; and the requisite disco-dancing temptress Lisa P (Margarita Levieva). The main plot complication occurs when James finds out that Em, with whom he’s having a chaste but promising relationship, is actually carrying on an affair with the married Mike behind his back.

All the clichés of young romance are covered here, but the key to the movie’s success are its knowing nods to pop culture, with the Replacements’s “Bastards of Young” and “Unsatisfied” framing the action, and the film’s central romance between James and Em spiked with their mutual love of hip cult acts like Big Star, Lou Reed, and Eno. A key plot point revolves around repairman Mike’s insistence he once jammed with Lou Reed, though James gently offers a correction when he overhears him trying to impress a gaggle of young girls by quoting the lyrics to “Satellite of Love” as “shine a light on love.” (Can you say “douchebag”?) Ultimately, what gives Adventureland its pot culture cred is that plastic baggie of rolled joints prompting several thoughtful stoned revelations and the cookies Em makes out of them, which leads to a very stoned bumper car ride. No wonder it gets compared to Dazed and Confused.

“Hey James, you still have any of those baby joints?”

—Mike

Airplane! (1980)

Disaster movies were all the rage in the seventies—Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake, and Airport to name a few—but none did impending catastrophic doom as hilariously as 1980’s Airplane!, the movie that launched a dozen copycats, including the Naked Gun series, B-movie classic Top Secret!, and its own not-nearly-as-funny sequel in outer space. As a pioneering force (or farce) in this slapstick sub-genre, Airplane! is all about laugh-out-loud humor, whether that involves punching out Hare Krishnas, making lewd sexual comments to a seven-year-old kid, or having a matronly, composed older white woman translate jive—all absurdities are welcome on this trip. As for the plot, it’s a love story, first and foremost. Former pilot Ted Striker’s (Robert Hays) postwar trauma is driving his stewardess girlfriend, Elaine (Julie Hagerty), away. To get her back, he overcomes his fear of flying (though not his drinking problem) and boards the flight she’s working on. But when the passengers and most of the crew eat some bad fish and suffer a severe case of food poisoning, Striker has to take over the plane and face not just his phobia, but his wartime nemesis, Rex Kramer (Robert Stack). Of course, that’s all secondary to minute after minute of brilliant dialogue. There’s not a single dud, and too many rib-bursting lines to mention, but here’s just a few: “Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?”; “Roger, Roger. What’s our vector, Victor?” “I am serious … and don’t call me Shirley.” Actually, this one time you can! (Look on the cover, stoner.)

Ali G Indahouse (2002)

Four years before Borat became an international sensation, Sacha Baron Cohen’s breakthrough character Ali G had his own TV show and movie, which was only released in England. After being picked up by HBO, Da Ali G Show developed a cult following in the U.S., leading fans to discover this movie about the faux hip-hopper who shakes up parliamentary politics with his “Keepin’ It Real” message. Part Monty Python, part stoner slapstick, and very, very British, Baron’s first film is distinguished by its bawdy sense of humor and affection for all things cannabis. Invited to inspect the “Confiscation Room,” Ali eyes thirty kilos of pot. “Is there any skunk?” he asks. Next, he and his buds are smoking a two-foot spliff and watching pornos. In another scene, Ali quells an argumentative meeting of world leaders by dumping one of the “confiscated” weed bags into an urn. “Big up to herbal tea, a’ight!” he declares. Oh, and just in case you ever wondered what Ali G stands for—it’s Alistair Graham.

Alice’s Restaurant (1969)

Two years after his ground-breaking Bonnie and Clyde, director Arthur Penn adapted Arlo Guthrie’s nineteen-minute song about a hippie church-turned-café, the Vietnam draft, and a littering bust. Guthrie plays himself—a folk-singing minstrel like his famous father, Woody (Joseph Boley), who is hospitalized and passes away but not before Arlo and Pete Seeger serenade him with “Let’s Go Riding in My Car.” Arlo does a lot of that in the movie, hitchhiking cross-country and zip-ping around in his red VW bus. He settles down for a while in Western Massachusetts, where Alice (Patricia Quinn) and Ray Block (James Broderick) convert the church into a counterculture scene, with huge dinners, musical jamborees, plenty of pot and lots of “free love.” Alice “makes it” with Ray and junkie Shelley (Michael McClanahan), leading to a conflict that almost ruins the “scene.” The lighter subplots of Arlo’s garbage-dumping bust and his experience with the draft board provide some laughs. But Penn goes deeper, exploring schisms within the hippie community that might prevent it from seizing the moment when even local police appear to be on their side.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) is not your ordinary newsman—more like a San Diegoan superhero. The women love him. His news team members worship him. The man can play jazz flute like a pro and communicate with his own dog (sing along: “Oh Baxter, you are my little gentleman/I’ll take you to foggy London town”). But when Channel 4 News hires female reporter Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), the same foxy lady Ron tried to impress with his talk of leather-bound books at one of his famous pool parties, the good old days of this boys’ club soon become a thing of the past. Of course, not before Ron, field reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), weather-man Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), and sportscaster Champ Kind (David Koechner) make her life a living hell. But Veronica is a fighter and a lover (soon after she starts working, but before being promoted to coanchor, she and Ron have a passionate, but short-lived love affair), and rather than bow to their sexist cracks, she slips the F-bomb into Ron’s teleprompter and he ends up getting fired. The downward spiral continues when his beloved dog Baxter is punted into the ocean by a snarly biker (Jack Black)—prompting one of the greatest lines in the movie, “I’m in a glass cage of emotion!”—and in no time, Ron’s wandering the streets like a hobo drinking warm milk. The news wars, meanwhile, continue as rival stations scramble to cover the birth of a baby panda at the San Diego Zoo. And these competing anchormen (including Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and Luke Wilson) aren’t above sabotage, like when the NPR anchor (played by Tim Robbins) pushes Veronica into a nearby bear cage. And you can guess who saves the day and thereby redeems his San Diego hero status.

As the Judd Apatow (and Ferrell) library goes, Anchorman is a shining example of comedy perfection, down to the tiniest seventies detail. But it’s no one-man show—Rudd, Carell, SNL’s Fred Willard and Chris Parnell, and Vaughn as Wes Mantooth deserve equal credit, as does Applegate and that “absolutely breathtaking heiney.” We wanna be friends with it, too.

Animal House (1978)

The combination of National Lampoon wit and Saturday Night Live slapstick produced the greatest comedy of the seventies, one whose impact is still felt in the films of Judd Apatow, the Farrelly brothers, Kevin Smith, Ben Stiller, and Will Farrell. Often copied (PCU, Orange County, How High, Van Wilder) but never equaled, director John Landis assembled a young, mostly unknown cast for his hilarious take on college life, with warring frats and a deranged dean threatening the dreaded “double secret probation.” Pinto (Tom Hulce) and Flounder (Stephen Furst) join Delta House, home to Faber College campus rebels Otter (Tim Matheson), Bluto (John Belushi), Boon (Peter Riegert), and D-Day (Bruce McGill), while the right-wing Omega House and Dean Wormer (John Vernon) conspire against the Deltas, known for boisterous toga parties featuring Otis Day & the Nights (“Shout”). Along the way, there are famous scenes like “Food Fight,” “Road Trip,” and the classic sesh with Professor Jennings (Donald Sutherland): “Would anybody like to smoke some pot?” Pinto, Boon, and Katy (Karen Allen) all puff with the Prof, but it’s Pinto who has the best line: “Could I buy some pot from you?” Delta’s revenge is a well-choreographed takeover of the town parade, complete with D-Day’s Deathmobile plowing into the grandstand. No one gets hurt, but it’s clear the divisions from the sixties had not been healed by 1978.

Bluto: “Christ, seven years of college down the drain.”

Annie Hall (1977)

Ah, to be in love in New York City—one of the few places on earth where a neurotic, pseudo-intellectual Jew and a freethinking, fashion-forward Wisconsin transplant can date and make no apologies for it. That’s what Annie Hall is about: a love story, involving two unlikely participants who at times seem so dramatically different that there’s no way they could bear each other for an afternoon, let alone a few years. Case in point: Before having sex, Annie, played by Diane Keaton, likes taking a couple hits off a joint to, you know, get in the mood. But the uptight Alvy (Woody Allen), who always says exactly what’s on his mind, disapproves. “Grass, the illusion that it will make a white woman more like Billie Holiday,” he says in one of the film’s pivotal scenes. Later in their relationship, Alvy commits the ultimate faux pas by sneezing directly into a pile of cocaine and scattering it everywhere, to the annoyance of Annie and her hipster friends. Needless to say, what ensues is an emotional tug-of-war that spans two coasts, several Manhattan apartments, countless coffee chats, and awkward moments. But it’s the combination of Alvy’s nerdiness and Annie’s inherent cool factor that makes this story so endearing and, at points, laugh-out-loud funny.

“Have you ever made love high?”

—Annie

“Me, no. If I have grass or alcohol or anything I get unbearably wonderful; I get too wonderful for words.”

—Alvy

On the heady front, long takes of conversational dialogue require serious concentration, some might even say patience, but not in a Kevin Smith way. After all, the movie came out in the late seventies and is very much of that era (even Paul Simon scored a bit part, as a sleazy music-business executive). In fact, Annie Hall won Best Picture in 1977 (one of four Oscars it took that year), beating out Star Wars. Indeed, it might be far from hyperspeed, but as one of Woody Allen’s most popular films, Annie Hall is one hell of a roller-coaster ride. La di da, la di da, la la.

Banger Sisters, The (2002)

You can take the girl out of the Sunset Strip, but you can’t take the Sunset Strip out of the girl—that’s the basic premise of The Banger Sisters, which reunites former groupies Suzette (Goldie Hawn) and Lavinia (Susan Sarandon) after twenty years of estrangement. Suzette, still a party girl, has just gotten fired from her job as a bartender at the Whisky-A-Go-Go, while Lavinia, or “Vinnie,” is an uptight mother of two teenaged girls who’s put her wild days behind her. The duo reconnects under auspicious circumstances. Suzette is crashing with Harry (Geoffrey Rush), an anxiety-ridden author she picked up at a Phoenix hotel where she sees Vin’s daughter Hannah (Erika Christensen) drunk and tripping on acid after the prom. Suzette takes Hannah, the school valedictorian, home, and when the two pals get together the next day, she sees how grim and joyless Vinnie’s life has turned out to be. Determined to unleash the spirit of their youth, Suzette eventually manages to break through Vinnie’s icy exterior and the two hit the clubs, share a joint, and reminisce about the many rock stars they banged back in the day. Vinnie’s family members, especially daughter Ginger (played by Sarandon’s real-life daughter Eva Amurri), are in a state of utter shock when the person they knew as mom suddenly chops her hair, starts wearing skin-tight pleather, describes Jim Morrison as if she knew him, and later divulges her groupie past and the “rock cocks” collection she had hidden in the basement. Vin rediscovers her former self and this tale of two cougars wraps up neatly at Hannah’s graduation the next day. But for all the mentions of what “a blast” they had in the good old days, the adult Banger sisters, and this uninspired, predictable movie, are more like a drag.

Suzette: “See that bathroom? Jim Morrison passed out in there one night, with me underneath him.”

Beerfest (2006)

Potheads have Cheech & Chong, and brew enthusiasts have Beerfest, the ultimate movie about drinking. The fourth offering of the comedy canon of party kings Broken Lizard, the writing team behind Super Troopers and Club Dread, stars Jay Chandrasekhar (who also directs), Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske as competitors at the top-secret Beerfest, a drinking tournament in the heart of Germany run by Baron Wolfgang von Wolfhausen. American brothers Jan and Todd Wolfhouse (Soter and Stolhanske) are also descendants of the von Wolfhausens, but when their grandfather took off for the States with the secret family beer recipe, the clan was essentially disowned and their grandmother Gam Gam (Cloris Leachman) was deemed a whore (which, in fact, she was). To reclaim their grandparents’ honor and their rightful inheritance, the von Wolfhausen brewery in Bavaria, the brothers put together an all-star team of players, including down-on-his-luck male prostitute Barry (Chandrasekhar), Jewish scientist and chemistry expert Finkelstein (Lemme), and Landfill (Heffernan), an extra-large tank of a man still bitter over being fired from a brewery. The guys train for a year straight, during which they find the secret recipe and start producing the delicious brew they dub Schnitzengiggle. But in their constant state of intoxication, they don’t realize there’s a spy in the midst, posing as Gam Gam’s maid, Cherry (Mo’Nique). Undeterred, they make the trek to Deutschland and use the Trojan keg method to sneak into the competition. Their rivalry with the funny-talking Germans is tense, and includes rounds of quarters, beer pong, upside-down shots, and tests of volume, depth, and height.

“Holy crap, Willie Nelson! What are you doing here?”

—Fink

“Well, it’s kind of a funny story. I was invited over here for this big secret international pot smoking competition and my teammates Cheech and Chong chickened out on me—they wouldn’t fly on my biodiesel airplane—and the smoke-out’s in thirty minutes and I don’t wanna get disqualified. You guys don’t want to be my teammates, do you?”

—Willie

Why include a drinking movie in a book for stoners? Aside from Willie Nelson’s cameo in the last scene, which opens the door to a possible sequel called Potfest, Beerfest is an endless barrage of laughs, especially whenever Chandrasekhar, Will Forte, or Eric Christian Olsen enter the picture. As for the message—you can ingest in excess day in, day out with zero consequences—can’t we all relate to that?

Better Off Dead (1985)

Lane Meyer (John Cusack) would rather die than live without his girlfriend, Beth (Amanda Wyss), the one who dumped him for the school ski-team captain with these parting words: “I really think it’s in my best interest if I went out with someone more popular. Better looking. Drives a nicer car.” But for all his fruitless attempts to off himself—by hanging, jumping off a bridge, carbon monoxide poisoning, and setting himself on fire—Lane comes close, but can’t seem to go through with it. As dreary as life in Greendale, California, may be (you “can’t even get real drugs here,” says his dopey bud Charles, played by Curtis Armstrong, who looks for cheap highs in everything from whipped cream to snow), things start looking up when Monique (Diane Franklin), a cute-as-a-button French foreign-exchange student, moves in next door, and, in her attempt to escape the clutches of the man-sized turd that is neighbor Ricky Smith (Dan Schneider), befriends Lane and helps him tackle the dreaded K-12 ski run.

It’s fitting that Lane is not only a decent skier, but also a skilled illustrator since every character in Better Off Dead is like a living cartoon, from his annoyingly clueless parents (his father’s how-to manual is titled Youth and the Drug Explosion), to the relentless paperboy who chases his ass all over town, to his little brother who fashions a rocket out of household items and orders a book on how to pick up trashy women, and, of course, to his Asian rivals, the fresh-off-the-boat brothers who learned English watching Wide World of Sports. But the greatest caricature is Lane himself, a precursor to Cusack’s future roles in Say Anything and One Crazy Summer, who does eighties teen angst better than just about anybody.

Charles De Mar: “This is pure snow! It’s everywhere. Have you any idea what the street value of this mountain is?”

Big Lebowski, The (1998)

Jeff Bridges portrays sixties radical Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski in the Coens’ brilliant farce about a pot-smoking slacker with a special fondness for bowling. Brought to you by Joel Coen—the absurdist auteur who along with his co-writer brother, Ethan, is also responsible for Raising Arizona and Fargo—Lebowski begins with a long shot of The Dude in bathrobe and slippers at the local Ralph’s supermarket, sniffing a carton of half-and-half. He’s quickly mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski and suffers the indignity of having his rug peed on. The Dude teams up with fellow bowlers Walter (John Goodman) and Donny (Steve Buscemi). A Vietnam vet with anger issues, Walter’s hilarious: He promises a “world of pain” to anyone who crosses him, and he refuses to bowl on the Sabbath, even though he’s not Jewish. The impressive cast includes artist Maude (Julianne Moore), toadie Brandt (Philip Seymour Hoffman), bowling rival Jesus (John Turturro), and Tara Reid as Bunny Lebowski. In the film, which is based on the life of Jeff Dowd, The Dude smokes pot prodigiously–in his car, bathtub, by a fireplace and in bed with Maude (and twice with roach clips). He’s a baby boomer who loves Creedence and White Russians, and hates the Eagles and authority figures, man. An event known as Lebowski Fest celebrating this cult classic regularly travels around the country.

Maude Lebowski: “What do you do for recreation?”

The Dude: “Oh, the usual. I bowl. Drive around. The occasional acid flashback.”

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)

The tagline says it all: “History is about to be rewritten by two guys who can’t spell.” Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter), and Ted Theodore Logan (Keanu Reeves), two dudes from San Dimas, California, are given an ultimatum by their history teacher—either ace their final presentation or fail the class. The assignment: What would key historical figures think of San Dimas? And what better way is there to answer that question than to cruise through time in a phone booth with Rufus (George Carlin), their trusty guide from the future, picking up history’s legends so they can tell their own stories? The clueless duo hijack notorious warlord Napoléon (Terry Camilleri), famous gunslinger Billy the Kid (Dan Shor), the misunderstood Joan of Arc (Jane Wiedlin), and the mind-blowing philosopher Socrates (Tony Steedman), among others, and bring their friends along on a series of fun adventures. In the process, they all learn from each other. Who knew Napoléon would be such a good bowler? Or that Abraham Lincoln (Robert Barron) would love Icees? The transplanted crew heads to the San Dimas mall, where they rewrite history—Beethoven (Clifford David) shreds on a synthesizer, Joan of Arc teaches an aerobics class, and Genghis Khan (Al Leong) goes wild at a sporting goods store with a skateboard and some football gear. Once Bill and Ted finally arrive (late) to their presentation at school, they get by with help from their new pals and manage to graduate high school. Totally excellent! Now that the film feels like an eighties time capsule, it’s hard to get past the obvious lack of pot in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (likely a sacrifice for the PG rating). Then again, these guys are so dense, they’re almost an insult to stoners. Still, there’s no denying classic lines like, “Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K,” and the whacked-out premise that society in the year 2688 is based entirely around Bill and Ted as legendary leaders in their own right. As Rufus says, “Don’t worry, it’ll all make sense.” Even more so if you’re baked.

Bill: “Okay, Ted, George Washington. One: the father of our country.”

Ted: “Two: born on Presidents’ Day.”

Bill: “Three: the dollar bill guy.”

Ted: “Bill, you ever made a mushroom out of his head?”

Black Sheep (1996)

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