G'day mates, I'm starting this thread to address something that has always bothered me. Even the best stoner films have elements that drive me crazy. My primary complaint is the stupid stereotype proliferated since Cheech and Chong. I guess it was an improvement of the raping serial killer image from the Reefer Madness era... My question is what would you do if assigned to write a stoner movie? As for me, I'd strip away all the stereotypes, maybe even taking a few moments to sort of make fun of them. Focusing on the characters is important. Everyone is focusing on the business/money angle now. I honestly find this to be one of the least interesting aspects. A couple great documentaries have looked at the culture and individuals behind it. Culture High comes to recent memory. Blow took a non-insulting approach to the cannabis. Maybe a narrative that weaves modern prohibition and 1930's alcohol prohibition in such a way that expresses that they are both similar and wrong, with a emphasis that hemp prohibition is worse due to its low toxicity, positive environmental impact when allowed to freely grown, and all of the dangerous chemical products that replaced the plant when it was made illegal. What about you guys? What do you want to see? What are your likes and dislikes within the modern stoner movie? Would you make it live action or animated? What characters would you use? What story would it have? What cannabis film would excite you into leaving your home for an evening at the theater?
I think pineapple express was a great stoner movie. There's this dude called the brow dirt warrior who made a movie you can watch on youtube called prohibition if you search up brown dirt warrior you should find it. It's a movie he made of his outdoor guerrilla growing in Canada and I thought that was awesome and to me is a huge inspiration. Not sure what I would do if I made my own movie but I agree movies with no bs stereotypes or glorifying the possible money aspect.
Howdy Toke, Thanks for the thoughts. Pineapple Express is awesome. It's one that I pop in to brighten my mood after a rough day. Love it! I wish the stereotypes weren't there, but they really use them to their comedic advantage. I haven't seen Prohibition yet but will be sure to watch later this evening. Thanks for directing me towards that one. It sounds like an interesting watch. Gotta love how loud and proud the Canadian cannabis culture is. What they are doing now is nothing short of brave, opening retail shops despite the government's recent crackdown. Respect! Back to movies, my hope is the genre is going to continue evolving in a positive way. Cannabis Kid is fairly new and decent. Homegrown with Billy Bob Thornton was good. There was that odd Ed Norton one as well. These all still house those tired stereotypes and off putting moments. But they seem to become less exaggerated over time. You know what I always thought would be interesting? In the Appalachian and Blue Ridge mountain ranges, there are families that have been growing cannabis since The Great Whiskey Rebellion against George Washington transpired. It's said that they have variety in the same lineage as that grown by the founding fathers. The amount of history they have... I thought their lives would make for an interesting docudrama. It is doubtful that they would ever come out into the light, even if federal legalization happened...
I can't stand the stereotypes! They were kinda funny back in the early to mid 2000s when I was a young teen experimenting with weed but these days it is just insulting to me. I don't really have any faith in hollywood to produce anything that will please me in any genre and in most cases I avoid movies unless I feel they will actually be good. Horror movies are my preference when stoned so I guess that my ideal stoner movie would just be a horror movie with a few people smoking a bong or something lol. Maybe a grower obsesses over their plants and ends up entering a psychotic state and the movie takes a David Lynch aesthetic with an HP Lovecraft feel where reality is blurred. Even most horror movies suck though and one out of every 20 or 30 is watchable. I'm just hard to please I guess. Nothing pisses me off more than seeing a movie being made about the early 90s Norwegian black metal scene (Lords of Chaos) and relying on all the cliches and none of the actual input from people involved, in fact all the bands who were contacted refused to even let their music be used in the movie and told the director to fuck off. Enough ranting, I've gone off topic haha.
Hey Squidrick, I love the passion, man. We completely agree on how few good titles are created in Hollywood nowadays. I'd complain less if there were more of an effort towards any sense of originality. The focus seems to be on prequels, sequels, remakes, and comic books. Am I ever tired of the comic books but luckily the key storylines are almost all used up... Horror stoner is a great idea. They did something kind of around that ballpark with Shroom but never straight horror. I think that silly Evil Bong franchise is about it. When you think about it, cannabis cinema was originally paired with the horror genre during the early Reefer Madness days. Well, horror and exploitation. Good stuff, man! Cheers to ya!
That's a core element to a stoner movie to me. Comedy is a must. It doesn't have to be stupid comedy or constantly funny, but a lot should be. Like Pineapple Express. That movie is a good guide of reference for any stoner movie. Jay and Silent Bob also did a great job at making a stoner movie without making it entirely about weed.
I’ve never seen any stoner movies I think watching and collecting shit like that puts me in a stereo type
I have a couple scene bits written up just for the fun of it but there's no plot or anything even remotely concrete as of right now. The idea would be to do a Guy Ritchie-esque film where the audience gets to follow a bunch of different stoner groups (going light on the stereotypes but not dismissing them) who end up bumbling themselves into a greater, overarching mess of a plot. Something a bit less violent than Snatch or Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, to put it shortly.