James Franco and Seth Rogen from "Pineapple Express" were on Dan Patrick's show this morning, and Franco referred to "PE" as "the most expensive weed movie ever made." Maybe so, but the arrival of "PE" — which I have not seen yet — has had me pondering both the best pot movie ever made and, tangentially, the best pot-smoking scene in a movie. …
To clarify, by the best pot movie, I mean ones in which the characters smoke pot, not ones where the audience does so before visiting. The list would include "Reefer Madness," above, and of course its musical version; "Dazed and Confused," anything with Cheech and Chong, and "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle," among others.
When I think of great moments, top of the heap is the "Animal House" scene where Pinto gets stoned. Also memorable are "Fast Times at Ridgemont High's" bit with Spicoli and the shoe, and the party scene in the original "Revenge of the Nerds."
What am I missing?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
The Reefer Madness musical was great, I thought. Honestly, its one of the DVDs that I play most often in my collection.
Can't leave out "Easy Rider."
Along the same lines as Reefer Madness is a movie from 1935 called "Marihuana;" in fact, at one point both movies (along with a third, "Assassin of Youth") were available on a triple-feature DVD, which I found one lucky day at Borders several years ago.
The actual smoking scenes are not that memorable, but the "frightening" outcomes certainly were: a teenage party ends in tragedy with a number of girls stripping down naked, running along the beach into the ocean, and one drowns. Later, a young man is shot to death after having to turn to a life of crime to support his habit. And the most "tragic" tale I can't even describe and give it proper justice.
I think the movie might also be in the public domain, and possibly available through the Prelinger archive website, though I could be wrong.
One of my friends was appalled that I didn't immediately think of "The Big Lebowski." Yet another gap in my cultural education.