#TBThursday Review: Stoner Movies To Blaze Up Before Seeing ‘AMERICAN ULTRA’

From REEFER MADNESS to PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, and everything in between, the stoner movie has become a late night exercise for the supposed slackers out there in movie-land. Stoners in are typically the lovable losers that get you to laugh at their pain, but some films have the sticky-icky goods to keep you going back for a second, third, forth and sometimes hundredth helping.

The thing about stoner flicks now is that they are more widely seen than ever before due to the spreading legalization of marijuana. What once seemed to be taboo has now transformed into a normal occurrence in films these days. With the release of AMERICAN ULTRA in theaters tomorrow our editorial team sat down, chirped some brodies (whatever that means) and curated some of our favorite stoners on film.

Floyd, TRUE ROMANCE

Directed by Tony Scott

Now to be fair, Brad Pitt is hardly in this movie. However, for more than just a handful of fans of the 1993 stone-cold thriller titled TRUE ROMANCE, Mr. Pitt steals the show. He’s a deadbeat dude who passes his time by giving mobsters the best mapquest routes and never getting off the couch, except for when he smokes out of his bong that is expertly crafted from an empty honey container.

Pitt plays opposite some other equally terrific performances. I mean, who could forget Gary Oldman’s Drexl Spivey, a white man who thinks he’s African-American, complete with dreadlocks and a gold grill. But still, Pitt ran supreme.

TRUE ROMANCE, penned by Quentin Tarantino and skillfully directed by the late Tony Scott (TOP GUN), came soaked in blood and was layered with visuals to remember. Floyd, though? Well, he gave audiences a few short minutes of side-splitting humor between all the violence and gunshots.

– Preston Barta

Marty, THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

Directed by Drew Goddard

More often than not, horror films (especially slasher films) like to use their victims as sort of a moral compass. For instance, having premarital sex is a sure sign that those characters will be killed. The same can be said for those that partake of the sticky icky, from FRIDAY THE 13TH to SHAUN OF THE DEAD (you’re never forgotten, Ed!). Marijuana is considered the mark of the ill-mannered in society and therefore you will be punished for it. However, THE CABIN IN THE WOODS took a lot of horror movie tropes and flipped the script, especially in the case of their resident stoner, Marty (Fran Kranz).

The plot revolves around five friends going off to a secluded cabin, only to meet their demise in gruesome fashions. All five of them represented the typical character archetypes used in horror, and Marty is no exception. What makes him such a solid character though is that he is incredibly intelligent and also the tongue-in-cheek humor of the film. A perfect example is in his introduction where he explains why he won’t get caught by police for smoking a bong in his car: “They fear this man, they know he sees farther than they, and he will bind them with ancient logics.” He represents the paranoid, conspiracy theorist accustomed to the stoner role during the viewing, but, at its end, represents the honesty of what’s behind the curtain…the puppeteers. Pop tarts? Did you say you have pop tarts?

– Jared McMillan

Thurgood Jenkins, HALF BAKED

Directed by Tamra Davis

Before Dave Chappelle was the Dave Chappelle / mystical legend that he is these days he was Thurgood Jenkins, a janitor… excuse me, custodian from HALF BAKED. This pot dealer with a heart of gold is a scattered film with a plot that’s not worth a dime bag. However, Chappelle carries the movie while his co-stars don’t help with picking up the slack.

While Thurgood is trying to save his buddy from prison (for feeding munchies to a diabetic horse) by dealing weed, he’s trying to quit Mary Jane of his girlfriend (also named Mary Jane). This was the perfect screenwriting primer before the mega-hit CHAPPELLE’S SHOW for Chappelle and Neal Brennan, given their biting social commentary. Sadly, it’s one of his only starring film roles (not that any of the other ones were any good).

Not to mention the cavalcade of celebrity cameos, including the paranoid John Stewart, the scavenging Snoop D-O-GG, Willie Nelson, Bob Saget, Janeane Garofalo and Tommy Chong. It may not be the best, but I dare you to put this on at midnight and not laugh at this goofy weed-fest.

– Cole Clay

OTHER NOTABLE STONERS