Our Staff Picks column takes you back to a time when video stores reigned supreme and the "Staff Picks" section was the place to find out what films were worthy of one's time. Of course, our version of Staff Picks has a decidedly skintillating angle, as we suss out which films from a certain genre or year with great nudity. This week: stoner flicks!
It is 420, that special time of year when everyone is very open and honest about their love of smoking weed. Luckily, the public opinion on marijuana has softened over the years and it is no longer characterized as dangerous in movies and TV shows. It is now acknowledged to mostly make people silly, stupid, and happy. That also makes for great cinema!
Here are some picks for stoner flicks that will make you feel as good as high:
Still Smokin'
Cheech and Chong are basically the inventors of the weed genre (no offense, Reefer Madness). While the 60s had some obvious weed movies like Easy Rider, Cheech and Chong took marijuana and made it goofy. For Cheech and Chong, weed wasn't heady or dangerous. Their films made it fun. These two get into weed-fueled hijinks that span several films, but Still Smokin' might be the best for nudity.
Linnea Quigley steals the show here with her blond frontal scene in which she walks through a sauna totally naked. Is it steamy in there or is it just Linnea?
Half Baked
The GOAT of weed comedies, Half Baked is perfect to watch when you are fully baked. This 1998 comedy was directed by music video director turned movie maker Tamra Davis (we will have to do a Female Filmmakers on her because she gave us surprisingly goofy hits like Billy Madison) and it is filled to the brim with silliness. The absurd humor mimics something that someone would come up with while high on their couch which is part of what makes this comedy so special.
It helps that C.J. Fidler goes topless to show her cannabis cans! Talk about feeling some Cans-a-bliss!
Inherent Vice
Inherent Vice gets points for feeling like it's on drugs. Based on Thomas Pynchon's equally meandering and difficult book, this 2014 film stars Joaquin Phoenix as a private investigator who struggles to balance drugs and work while living in LA in the 1970s. He spends a lot of time smoking grass and ignoring responsibilities until his ex-girlfriend becomes involved in a kidnapping case. Now he has a personal stake in untying this strange mystery involving his ex, Katherine Waterston, and her new billionaire boyfriend.
Paul Thomas Anderson expertly directs this movie that seamlessly moves in and out of comedy and crime and often makes the audience feel like we are in a time vacuum alongside our hero. It helps that Katherine Waterston has a very sexy scene where she gives our leading man a footjob.
The Beach Bum
This 2019 film feels like a Florida dream set in a puff of smoke. Harmony Korine directed this film about a poet named Moondog who spends his days high and joyfully floating on boats, banging broads, and trying to write new poems. Oh, and his wife back on the Florida mainland is having an affair with Snoop Dawg. This is a gentle comedy that definitely feels like it was made for stoners by stoners.
This is a really enjoyable film with a sunset color palate that is pleasurable to stoned AND sober people. Plus, there are so many topless women in this movie. What's not to love? Fun fact: I saw a screening of this film in Weed-O-Vision which consisted of a dreadlocked man turning on a fog machine several times throughout the film that had THC vapors in it. Did it work? It's hard to say because the movie already felt delightfully stoned. It definitely did smell and it was one of the most unique theater experiences that I have ever had.
Smiley Face
Gregg Araki took a departure from his super bizarre 90s films to make this 2007 comedy that starred Anna Faris. She really shows off her comedy chops as a woman who eats too many weed pastries one day and goes on a stoner adventure. She tries to stay high all day long while dealing with drama at the job she doesn't really want while she also tries to make it as an actress...and pay the money she owes to her dealer. That's a lot of stress for one person - which is why she tries to get high enough to forget about all of that.
Smiley Face offers a brief look at Anna Faris' ass. She has shockingly not done that much nudity, so this is very worth a watch.
Evil Bong
I would be remiss not to mention at least one of the Evil Bong films. They are not great, but by now you know that I like bad movies. Bad movies are perfect with a little bit of grass to help you really grasp "the plot". So it only makes sense that Evil Bong is the marriage of campy low-budget films and weed. There are SO many Evil Bong movies to choose from as it is now its own wild and weird franchise.
I recommend starting with the first one if you are actually going to watch any of these (they do get a little difficult to watch). That one does not have nudity, however. For nudity, you can't go wrong with Evil Bong 666 or even Evil Bong 420 which features busty starlet Mindy Robinson and a bevy of babes in their topless glory.
