Reefer Movie Madness: The Ultimate Stoner Film Guide

by Shirley Halperin, Steve Bloom

Reefer Movie Madness is the perfect follow-up to Halperin and Bloom's big-selling Pot Culture . It's the most extensive guide ever to movies for the stoner audience, a real market that has proven its mass appeal with the successful Harold and Kumar franchise and the Judd Apatow library (Pineapple Express, Superbad).
In addition to entries on more than 420 films, there are contributions from well known actors, movie directors, musicians, and celebrities, including Jason Mraz, comedian Andy Milonakis, Snoop Dogg, Doug Benson, and Cheech & Chong. Reefer Movie Madness covers it all, from pot-fueled comedies and druggy dramas to sci-fi flicks and 1960s artifacts to documentaries, musicals, and blockbusters. With its colorful, easy-to-follow format and lots of eye-grabbing photos, sidebars ("Real Pot or Not? An On-Set Exposé"), lists ("DIY Inventions by Clever Movie Stoners"), and Q&As, Reefer Movie Madness is the guide­book that bong-hitting movie buffs have been longing for.

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Ian Welke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great idea, so so execution. Creating a guide to the best movies to watch baked seems like a great idea, and there are some films in here that I haven't heard of and will have to track down. Most of the reviews were insightful or funny or both, but it wasn't clear to me if their rating system was for the quality of film or how good it is to watch stoned. Either way I think they were a little unfair to Dune, especially if the rating system is for the latter. Also the animated section didn't have any anime, and the action section lacked any Hong Kong films. Probably also could've used a "midnight movie" section. They should take this idea and do a second, more thorough volume.

[Jim Cherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shirley Halperin and Steve Bloom’s “Reefer Movie Madness The Ultimate Stoner Film Guide” is a cool compendium to sit around smoking a joint (although I preferred a bowl or a bong) and deciding what movie to see that night, or just to read and goof on the movies you’ve seen.

The book is arranged maybe a little too orderly for the true stoner, it lists movies by categories such as Comedies, Dramas, Sci-Fi Fantasy & Horror, Action and Sports, Animated, Music, and Documentaries, and within the categories alphabetically. In each category you can find just about any movie made within the past 40 years, as it’s the author’s contention that in the last 40 years pot has come into the movies as a subject, reference, activity, or if it’s just cool to watch while high. Some of the movies that caught my eye were “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Plan 9 From Outer Space,” “THX-1138,” “The Falcon and the Snowman,” “Dude, Where’s My Car,” “Fame,” “The Banger Sisters,” “The Doors” (only a 3.5 marijuana leaf rating, and for some reason in the drama section and not music).

Each film has a smart and concise synopsis of each film and remarkably enough gives the reader a good sense of the movie. As I was reading the synopsis of the movies I was remembering each movie and favorite scenes mentioned in the synopsis. The guide offers ratings on the 5 marijuana leaf scale, icons to denote whether the movie in question has a pot reference, nudity, cocaine, alcohol, bongs and a couple of others. Next to each movie is a little quote of stoner interest from the movie.

Interspersed throughout the book is a lot of goodies for the readers including movie picks of such luminaries as Snoop Dogg, Jason Mraz, Margaret Cho, Wayne Coyne, Ray Manzarek, and Melissa Ethridge. There are also sidebars with interesting interviews such as with Jeff “The Dude” Dowd the real life model for Jeff Bridges character in “The Big Lebowski” “The Dude.”

Whether you get high or not “Reefer Movie Madness The Ultimate Stoner Film Guide” is an excellent guide to movies, and an excellent reference book to have on hand.