4/20, AKA April 20th, is an auspicious day for pot smokers and stoners around the world who gather in cult-like gatherings to celebrate marijuana, paying tribute to the treasure map made by the students in 1971 who wanted to look for a fabled cannabis crop.
Stoner films are a different breed. Usually rambunctious and pretty crude, these films make one feel high even when they are not. After a bit of sticky green magic enters one’s system, these films seem nearly oscar-worthy despite the glaring plot holes, rowdy laughter, bad acting and abundance of sex and booze.
Netflix has its fair share of stoner films, of which Michael Cera, Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen are found way more than usual since this brand of humour is right up their alley. With amusing escapades from the stars whose lives usually go awry after a night of debauchery, much like the Hangover franchise, these stoner films are excellent watches.
Here are the five best stoner films to watch on Netflix on World Marijuana Day:
5 best stoner films to watch on Netflix
5. Year One (Harold Ramis, 2009)
Featuring Jack Black and Michael Cera, Year One is a negatively received yet extremely trippy film that sees a group of hunter-gatherers named Zed and Oh who are banished from their tribe for consuming the forbidden fruit and reaches the city of Sodom. However, during this journey, they face various biblical characters and find themselves in a series of hilarious escapades.
Cera is usually great in films like this and Black is perfect as the over-the-top stoner whose crude, sexual jokes add to the list of scatological humour in the film. With a ridiculous climax and prevailing mediocrity, the overall charm of the film lies in the sheer stupidity of the story which makes it pretty funny and enjoyable.
4. This Is The End (Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, 2013)
The 2013 film was Rogen and Goldberg’s directorial debut. Starring Jonah Hill, James Franco, Michael Cera, Emma Watson, Danny McBride and others, the film revolves around the Biblical Apocalypse which hits when a group of six are having a wild housewarming party. It then chronicles how they attempt to survive the disaster.
Audacious, wild and salacious, the film features the actors playing exaggeratedly funny versions of themselves. With the stoned celebs from Franco’s party finding themselves surrounded by zombies and other creatures, things quickly go awry in an awfully hilarious fashion.
3. Neighbours (Nicholas Stoller, 2014)
Seth Rogen films minus raunchy jokes, wild parties and drunken debauchery are not Seth Rogen films at all. Also starring Zac Efron, the film is hilarious as it introduces insane college parties that indulge in booze and weed. Rogen loves this film “because it became less about [him] and some guys fucking with a frat. It was much more about me and my wife which was way more interesting”.
The Radners’ lives turn into a living nightmare when their lives as diligent parents to a baby girl are disrupted by the house next door which is a frat house for loud college boys. With obnoxious parties, horny college dudes and petty fights, the Radners butt heads with one of the frat heads and soon embark on a warpath to out-prank each other.
2. Superbad (Greg Mottola, 2007)
Jonah Hill and Michael Cera star as awkward high school misfits Seth and Evan who aim to get invited to cool parties and lose their virginities. However, a night of debauchery is disrupted by menstruating fiances, messy brawls and irresponsibly drunk cops which lead to black eyes and rookie mistakes within a narrative that exudes an aura of innocence and naivete.
Written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the film is based on Rogen and Goldberg’s real-life experiences. The film brilliantly represents the general awkwardness of the teenage phase and popularity while being steeped in honest and charming vulnerability.
1. Trailer Park Boys: The Movie (Mike Clattenburg, 2006)
This dark comedy is based on the television series Trailer park Boys and is a sequel to the eponymous 1999 film. The film stars Robb Wells, Mike Smith and John Paul Tremblay and has attained a cult-like status while it focuses on the hilarious lifestyle in Sunnyvale, filled with dope, liquor and women. Despite its age, the comedy has managed to stay fresh and relevant, resonating with fans even now.
Set in a separate timeline from the TV show, the film sees the boys getting arrested for robbing an ATM machine. After they are released, they decide to steal copious amounts of coins as they are untraceable to quit this life of crime forever but not without a few guffaw-inducing hiccups on their way!
