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Stoner film is a subgenre of comedy film based on marijuana themes, where recreational use often drives the plot, sometimes representing cannabis culture more broadly or intended for that audience. [1]
The midnight movie scene in theaters of the 1970s revived the hectoring anti-drug propaganda film Reefer Madness (1936) as an ironic counterculture comedy. The broad popularity of Reefer Madness led to a new audience for extreme anti-drug films bordering on self-parody, including Assassin of Youth (1937), Marihuana (1936), and She Shoulda Said No! a.k.a. The Devil's Weed (1949).
The duo Cheech & Chong established the archetypal "stoner" comedy throughout the 1970s, taking their antics to the big screen for Up in Smoke in 1978, establishing the contemporary stoner film genre.
High Times magazine, founded in 1974, began sponsoring the first Stony Awards in 2000, celebrating stoner films and television, recognizing a broad scope of noteworthy cannabis media.
The enduring influence of Reefer Madness led to a musical comedy remake in 2005.
Many stoner movies have certain elements and themes in common. [2] [3] The template involves a protagonist or protagonists who have marijuana, are attempting to find marijuana, or have some other task to complete. The protagonists are often two friends in a variation of the buddy film. [2]
Stoner films often involve evading authority figures who disapprove of the protagonists' marijuana usage, usually out of a greater lack of acceptance of their lifestyle of leisure and innocence. Authority figures are often law-enforcement agents, who are portrayed as comically inept, as well as parents, co-workers, friends, and security guards. Most serious moments in stoner films are intended ironically, often to parody overwrought counterparts in mainstream cinema. The comic story arcs often approach or fall over the line into slapstick. [2]
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Cheech & Chong are a comedy duo founded in Vancouver and consisting of American Cheech Marin and Canadian Tommy Chong. The duo found commercial and cultural success in the 1970s and 1980s with their stand-up routines, studio recordings, and feature films, which were based on the hippie and free love era, and especially the drug and counterculture movements, most notably their love for cannabis.
Thomas B. Kin Chong is a Canadian-American comedian, actor, musician and activist. He is known for his role/inspiration in the marijuana industry, his marijuana-themed Cheech & Chong comedy albums and movies with Cheech Marin, and playing the character Leo on Fox's That '70s Show. He became a naturalized United States citizen in the late 1980s.
Richard Anthony "Cheech" Marin is an American comedian, actor, musician, and activist. He gained recognition as part of the comedy act Cheech & Chong during the 1970s and early 1980s with Tommy Chong, and as Don Johnson's partner, Insp. Joe Dominguez, on Nash Bridges. He has also voiced characters in several Disney films, including Oliver & Company, The Lion King, The Lion King 1½, the Cars franchise, Coco and Beverly Hills Chihuahua. He also played as Padre Esteban in the 2009 film The Perfect Game.
Half Baked is a 1998 American stoner comedy film starring Dave Chappelle, Jim Breuer, Harland Williams, and Guillermo Díaz. The film was directed by Tamra Davis, co-written by Chappelle and Neal Brennan and produced by Robert Simonds. Half Baked received negative reviews but has since become a cult film.
Cheech and Chong's Next Movie is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Tommy Chong and the second feature-length project by Cheech & Chong, following Up in Smoke, released by Universal Pictures.
Nice Dreams is a 1981 American action adventure comedy film directed by Tommy Chong and starring Cheech & Chong, in their third feature film. Released in 1981 by Columbia Pictures, the film focuses on the duo having gotten rich selling cannabis out of an ice cream truck, and evading the Drug Enforcement Administration, led by Sgt. Stedanko, who are trying to bust an alleged drug kingpin named "Mr. Big", and discover a strain of marijuana that turns people into lizards, including Stedenko, who has been smoking cannabis to get inside the head of a drug user.
It Came from Hollywood is a 1982 American comedy documentary film compiling clips from various B movies. Written by Dana Olsen and directed by Malcolm Leo and Andrew Solt, the film features wraparound segments and narration by several famous comedians, including Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Gilda Radner, and Cheech and Chong. Sections of It Came from Hollywood focus on gorilla pictures, anti-marijuana films and the works of Ed Wood. The closing signature song was the doo wop hit "What's Your Name" by Don and Juan.
Far Out Man is a 1990 American comedy film written, directed by and starring Tommy Chong.
Reefer Madness is a 1936 American exploitation film about drugs, revolving around the melodramatic events that ensue when high school students are lured by pushers to try marijuana – upon trying it, they become addicted, eventually leading them to become involved in various crimes such as a hit and run accident, manslaughter, murder, conspiracy to murder and attempted rape. While all this is happening, they suffer hallucinations, descend into insanity, associate with organized crime and commit suicide. The film was directed by Louis J. Gasnier and featured a cast of mainly little-known actors.
a/k/a Tommy Chong is a 2006 documentary film written, produced, and directed by Josh Gilbert, that chronicles the Drug Enforcement Administration raid on comedian Tommy Chong's house and his subsequent jail sentence for trafficking in illegal drug paraphernalia. He was sentenced to nine months in federal prison. DEA agents raided Chong's Pacific Palisades, California home on the morning of February 24, 2003. The raid was part of Operation Pipe Dreams and "Operation Headhunter," which resulted in raids on 100 homes and businesses nationwide that day and indictments of 55 individuals.
Kevin Booth is an American film director, producer, lecturer and musician. He was known for his documentary film series American Drug War. Booth worked with comedian Bill Hicks, until the time of his death on February 26, 1994 and posthumously produced Hicks' records Rant in E Minor and Arizona Bay.
The Stony Awards recognize and celebrate notable stoner films and television. Created by High Times magazine in 2000, six Stony Award ceremonies were held in New York City before the Stonys moved to Los Angeles in 2007. Stony Award winners received a bong-shaped trophy.
The American Medical Marijuana Association (AMMA) is an organization formed to promote and protect legal access to medical marijuana. AMMA was founded in Fort Bragg, California in 1999, by Steve Kubby, Ed Rosenthal, and Tod H. Mikuriya.
Cheech & Chong's Animated Movie! is a 2013 American adult animated comedy film by Branden Chambers and Eric D. Chambers. It stars comedy duo Cheech and Chong in their first feature film since 1984's The Corsican Brothers, and the first to feature them as animated characters. The film features several of their original comedy bits such as "Sister Mary Elephant", "Sgt. Stedanko", "Ralph and Herbie", "Let's Make a Dope Deal", "Earache My Eye", and the classic "Dave". It was released on March 18, 2013 by 20th Century Fox and was released on DVD/Blu-ray on April 23, 2013.
"Have You Ever Met That Funny Reefer Man", often known simply as "The Reefer Man", is a 1932 American jazz song composed by J. Russel Robinson, with lyrics by Andy Razaf. It was first recorded by Cab Calloway and his orchestra, with versions by others over the years, including by Harlan Lattimore, Murphy's Law and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.
Terms related to cannabis include: