Puff, puff, pass the remote control.
The “big” holy holiday of April 20th is here again. There are many exciting programs. For the uninitiated, April 20th is an unofficial holiday also known as “Weed Day” dedicated to all things marijuana. Its origins date back to 1971. A group of high school students from San Rafael, California, known as the Waldos, agreed to meet at 4:20 p.m., map in hand, to search for marijuana plantations abandoned by their owners. .
The concept of the 420 as a counterculture celebration dates back to the 1990s, when a group of Grateful Dead fans posted flyers in Oakland, California, asking fans to light up on April 20th at 4:20 p.m. It spread from
What is 4/20?How April 20th became a holiday for weed lovers around the world
No matter where you fall on the pot spectrum, we have suggestions for stoner-themed movies and TV shows for nearly every transformed state. All of these can be rented, purchased, watched for free, or streamed with a subscription.
If you want some stoner wisdom, check out “The Big Lebowski.”
If you think there’s a more quotable stoner movie than The Big Lebowski, that’s just your opinion, dude. His 1998 cult film from the Coen brothers follows The Dude (Jeff), a shaggy White Russian stalker who gets caught up in a ransom plot involving a rich philanthropist’s two trophy wives (Tara Reid). This is an unusual crime novel about a man (Bridges). Featuring an all-star cast including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, and John Goodman (who deserved an Oscar for his role as a foul-mouthed Vietnam veteran), the film is also full of quirky dream sequences. , it’s best to listen to it a few times before enjoying it. .
Where to watch: Hulu and Peacock
If you want to completely blow your mind: “Annihilation”
Next to 2023’s Beau Is Afraid, Annihilation is one of the weirdest movies I’ve ever seen. Director Alex Garland’s lofty, thought-provoking 2018 thriller was a box office hit, but has since become a source of endless analysis. By SF fans. Natalie Portman plays a biologist who ventures into a mysterious bubble-like area called “The Shimmer” to search for her missing husband (Oscar Isaac). There, she and her all-female team of scientists discover mutated creatures and spectacular landscapes while slowly losing their sanity. Her final half-hour, in which Portman meets her alien-like alter ego, makes her feel high without even having to smoke.
Where to watch: prime video
If you want to get high with your friends: “Broad City”
Oh Abbi and Ilana, we miss you so much. Few series do a better job of capturing New York City in all its sweaty, smelly, dirty glory than Broad City. If you want to live vicariously through Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson as they smoke bowls and have fun, absurd adventures, this is the show for you.
Where to watch: Hulu and Paramount+
If you want to know how much the way we think about marijuana has changed, check out “Reefer Madness.”
Imagine an after-school special with 1930s production values, and you get “Reefer Madness,” a black-and-white morality tale aimed at scaring young people from experimenting with “flaming weeds that will take root in hell.” If you believe this movie, a teenager might commit murder or suicide, or order someone to play the piano as soon as possible. But by the 1970s, “Reefer Madness” had come to be seen as a study in every case his pot opponents had failed, making it unintentionally hilarious to watch while under fire. It also inspired a musical parody in 2005 starring Alan Cumming and Kristen Bell.
Where to watch: Tubi and MGM+
If you want a chronic classic: “Up In Smoke.”
The pot comedy got its start with the 1978 Cheech and Chong caper, in which the comic, while being tailed by an incompetent drug cop (Stacy Keach), unwittingly buys a “fiberweed” van made entirely of cured marijuana resin. The plan was to drive from Mexico to the United States.
Where to watch: Paramount+ and Pluto TV
If you want to continue for a while, “That 70’s Show”
Eight seasons of Eric Forman and his gang’s basement antics should outlast anyone’s supply of marijuana.
Where to watch: peacock
If Sean Penn will always be Spicoli to you: “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”
If you’re under the age of 30, you probably know Penn, a two-time Oscar winner, as a serious drama actor who played a grieving father in Mystic River and a death row inmate in Dead Man Walking. I guess it was just acting. “Milk” gay political icon. But Penn’s big break came in 1982 with this high school comedy, in which he played stoner dude Jeff Spicoli. That worldview can be summed up like this: “Surfing isn’t a sport, it’s a way of life, it’s not a hobby. It’s a way of looking at things.” I said to those waves, “Hey, Bud, let’s party!” . ”
Where to watch: AMC+ and Philo
If you like bromantic bad comedies: “Pineapple Express”
“Up in Smoke” may have invented the stoner movie genre, but this 2008 comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco is about a marijuana dealer who has a very bad night with a processing server. Played people and created a whole variety of marijuana. Rogen said in 2014, “While writing this book, I thought, ‘If you go to a cannabis store or buy cannabis and someone recommends Pineapple Express, we’ll know we’ve succeeded.’ “I told Cannabist,” he explained to The Cannabisto. ”
Where to watch:Netflix
If you want to think about the universe while getting high, “Cosmos: A Journey through Time and Space” is the place to go.
At least Neil deGrasse Tyson thinks about the mysteries of the galaxy, as opposed to when he almost collided with him while riding in an elevator at work and thought he had taken cold medicine. You know you’re high when you watch it go around. Time was messing with his mind. (Thankfully, I have photographic evidence of his visit, proving I wasn’t hallucinating everything.)
Where to watch: Tubi
If you want to feel okay, okay, okay: “dazed and confused.”
Like Penn, Matthew McConaughey also landed Oscar-caliber roles and deep thoughts in Lincoln commercials. But the difference is that McConaughey begins his Oscar acceptance speech by saying, “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay!” And that unscripted line comes from the first scene of his first movie. The 1993 Richard Linklater comedy film starred an unnamed Texan in his 20s who had nothing better to do than hang out with high school kids. Last day of classes.
Where to watch: peacock
If you still quote “Chappelle’s Show” regularly: “Half Baked”
This 1998 comedy offers a glimpse into Dave Chappelle’s future greatness (including a Lil Jon impression). In this comedy, he co-wrote the screenplay and he starred as Jenkins, a laboratory janitor who sells pot for use in FDA research. Bail his friend out of jail. Eventually, Thurgood and his pot-selling alter ego Mr. Nice become a little too successful and end up incurring the wrath of local drug dealers.
Where to watch: peacock
If you’ve ever used the phrase “Goodbye, Felicia”: “Friday”
Rapper Ice Cube and writing partner DJ Poo set out to create “Food Classic,” a film in which two friends (Cube and Chris Tucker) figure out how to pay back $200 to a marijuana dealer. He completed the semi-autobiographical comedy in 1995. Just before 10 p.m. And one throwaway line (“Goodbye, Felicia”) has entered the popular lexicon as a way to weed out unwanted people. Not too shabby for a first major screenplay. In 2015, you guessed it, Friday returned to theaters for his 20th anniversary special on April 20th.
Where to watch: prime video
If you’d do anything to fill your tummy: “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle.”
Potheads are likely candidates. When you’re hungry, tell them about any kind of junk food and they’ll go on an epic adventure to find it. So do investment banker Harold (John Cho) and his medical school applicant friend Kumar (Kal Penn), who fill a bag of hunger by watching a White Castle ad while getting stoned in the 2004 film. I decided there was nothing else I could do. Even if he had to survive a terrifying journey with Neil Patrick Harris and hang-glider to get his hands on the slide.
Where to watch: Tubi
If you think mixing Mickey Mouse and marijuana is fun: “Fantasia”
More than 75 years after its release, this eight-part animated classic, including one about Earth’s history and two featuring Mickey as a wizard’s apprentice, remains one of Disney’s most bizarre films. It continues to be the best companion to cannabis.
Where to watch: disney plus
If you want to combine Sinsemilla with superheroes: “Chronic-Con Episode 420: A New Dope”
Comedian and @midnight panelist Doug Benson has successfully turned his marijuana habit into two documentaries. For 2008’s “Super High Me,” he took a cue from Morgan Spurlock by abstaining from marijuana for one month and then consuming it the next. , and in 2015’s “Chronic Con,” he spent the entire Comic-Con stoned. And maybe he’s on to something. Getting high would at least help him pay for his exorbitant Wi-Fi at the convention center.
Where to watch: Tubi
