Movies and marijuana

November 17, 2005 3:46 PM

My, uh, aunt has glaucoma and was recently prescribed medicinal marijuana. Now, she'd like to watch some movies that will blow her mind.

I don't really understand how it works, personally, but she was all like, "some things that I don't enjoy when I'm sober I end up liking a lot when I smoke my medicine." So, askmefiers, if you could please help my aunt out, I'd really appreciate it. What films have you seen under the influence that you loved, or that blew your little minds, but would probably never watch, or even get through, under normal circumstances? Oh, and my aunt also wants everyone to know that "Sahara" totally rocks when she's on her medicine.

posted by billysumday to media & arts (95 comments total)

This is the best question ever posted to AskMefi.

Try her on Donnie Darko, maybe.
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 3:48 PM on November 17, 2005

Apocalypse Now. She might want to take her heart medicine beforehand, "Never get Outta The Boat"...

Blade Runner was also pretty good.
posted by brautigan at 3:54 PM on November 17, 2005

The Wall? Too stoner?
posted by puke & cry at 3:55 PM on November 17, 2005

A movie like Rubin & Ed - with a dream sequence featuring a water-skiing cat, is taylor-made for such explorations. Plus, it's very funny - with Crispin Glover and Howard 'Johnny Fever' Hesseman teaming up in this odd-couple road movie.

As far as trippy visuals with a message, I'd recommend Godfrey Reggio's trilogy series - Powaqqatsi, Koyaanisqatsi and Naqoyqatsi - which you can learn more about here.
posted by tristero at 3:56 PM on November 17, 2005

Uzak?
posted by fire&wings at 3:58 PM on November 17, 2005

Harvey with Jimmy Stewart :-)
posted by null terminated at 4:02 PM on November 17, 2005

The Wizard of Oz. But only if you can manage to synch it up with Dark Side of the Moon.

stupid monkeys.
posted by lilnemo at 4:06 PM on November 17, 2005

Baraka
posted by funkbrain at 4:08 PM on November 17, 2005

Fanstasia
posted by alms at 4:09 PM on November 17, 2005

I dunno about not enjoying them otherwise, because I can't imagine wanting to watch a movie you wouldn't normally like, but basically, I'm gonna post the highlights of my video collection; they're all kind of trippy.

The Matrix
Repo Man
Brazil
2001
Delicatessen
Harold and Maude
Time Bandits
second on Donnie Darko
Waking Life

I think Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein would both be excellent choices. As would Edward Scissorhands. And of course, the Philip Glass trippiness through animation movie, Koyaanisqatsi.

Then, of course, there are stoner-giggle movies: Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob's movies, Cheech and Chong movies (Up in Smoke, for instance), Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Dazed and Confused.

And more ambitious, your aunt could attempt the "Dark Side of the Rainbow," playing "Dark Side of the Moon" as the soundtrack to "Wizard of Oz, as described below:
instructions
criticism/debunking

This is a great question. Have fun with your aunt and her rigorous program of self-care.
posted by tarintowers at 4:10 PM on November 17, 2005

stupid, stupid comedies

all time fave: Death to Smootchie.
posted by trinarian at 4:10 PM on November 17, 2005

The Wicker Man. The City of Lost Children. Delicatessen. The Wizard of Oz. Brain Candy. O Brother Where Art Thou. The Grateful Dead Movie. Alien. The House of Flying Daggers. Memento. The Women (Cukor). A Night at the Opera.

Garsh, just about anything, come to think of it!
posted by rleamon at 4:13 PM on November 17, 2005

How about Hackers?
posted by puke & cry at 4:15 PM on November 17, 2005

S. O. B. (the movie where Julie Andrews briefly flashes her breasts) could only have been conceived with medicinal support, and might be best appreciated likewise.
posted by StickyCarpet at 4:16 PM on November 17, 2005

Space Odyssey: 2001
posted by Specklet at 4:23 PM on November 17, 2005

Buckaroo Banzai. Vampyros Lesbos. Koyaanisqatsi. Monkees' "Head". And many, many of those mentioned above.
posted by matildaben at 4:26 PM on November 17, 2005

The answer is Midnight Madness.
posted by holloway at 4:26 PM on November 17, 2005

Friday, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and any Looney Tunes cartoon.

Not mind-bending so much as funnier than you ever thought possible... I've heard.
posted by Space Kitty at 4:27 PM on November 17, 2005

My aunt found Akira super trippy when she was on medicinal marijuana for my glaucoma.
posted by teece at 4:28 PM on November 17, 2005

The Cell.
posted by Gyan at 4:29 PM on November 17, 2005

Pink Flamingos.
posted by TimeFactor at 4:29 PM on November 17, 2005

Third vote for 2001!
posted by ori at 4:33 PM on November 17, 2005

Blue Velvet.
Freaks
posted by jrossi4r at 4:43 PM on November 17, 2005

Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter. For the musical number, if nothing else.
posted by phearlez at 4:44 PM on November 17, 2005

My thoughts and prayers are with your aunt during this difficult time.
posted by thirteenkiller at 4:48 PM on November 17, 2005

Tarkovsky (USSR) movies are great for the stoned long-attention-span:
Andrei Rublev (the greatest movie ever made, btw)
Stalker
The Mirror
are my favorites

Jodorowsky (Chile) is about as far-out and mind-blowing as the '70's could be:
El Topo
Holy Mountain
posted by Joseph Gurl at 4:48 PM on November 17, 2005

Guy Maddin's stuff, particularly Archangel and Twilight of the Ice Nymphs.

Not so trippy, but she may enjoy Saving Grace.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 4:50 PM on November 17, 2005

My aunt thanks you, thirteenkiller.

Great suggestions, everyone. My aunt is already getting excited for Midnight Madness.
posted by billysumday at 4:51 PM on November 17, 2005

Nice to see someone recommend the Qatsi films.

www.koyaanisqatsi.org

www.bonestructure.net/qatsi.html
posted by ajp at 4:51 PM on November 17, 2005

Eyes Wide Shut makes sense when you're stoned, or at least more sense. It also doesn't seem slow.
posted by geoff. at 4:54 PM on November 17, 2005

Definitely Blade Runner and 2001 (even if your aunt saw them before she developed glaucoma). My, uh, aunt also thoroughly enjoyed From Dusk Till Dawn (funny/scary/weird/all-out good), Event Horizon (incredible art direction/gross/scary/silly), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (empowering tale of living with glaucoma), Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (especially funny to those with glaucoma), Memento, Baraka...as rleamon says, just about every movie is better when you have glaucoma. Or so my aunt says.
posted by biscotti at 4:54 PM on November 17, 2005

BARBARELLA.

and pretty much any fun kung fu movie.
posted by atom128 at 4:56 PM on November 17, 2005

altered states for lots of reasons
posted by ouke at 5:04 PM on November 17, 2005

my vote goes to alice in wonderland!
posted by booknerd at 5:06 PM on November 17, 2005

Barton Fink.
posted by fandango_matt at 5:09 PM on November 17, 2005

Holy shit, fandango_matt, you stole my recommendation.

Definately, definately Barton Fink. It wasn't until I watched that movie stoned that I fully appreciated their cinematography and the fact that the whole thing is an retelling of Dante's Inferno.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:15 PM on November 17, 2005

Any Marx brothers movie. Check out Groucho, I swear man, he knows.
posted by klarck at 5:23 PM on November 17, 2005

Seconding Marx Brothers and Barbarella, and suggesting The Manchurian Candidate. The original, of course; I haven't seen the new one.
posted by interrobang at 5:30 PM on November 17, 2005

Aguirre
Kill Bill Vol. 1 (especially the long montage when the Crazy 88's are playing)
posted by agropyron at 5:33 PM on November 17, 2005

I absolutely recommend lilnemo's suggestion. My, uh, aunt told me that it was really, really cool.
posted by misterbrandt at 5:33 PM on November 17, 2005

Forbidden Zone and Microcosmos. Maybe Winged Migration, too.
posted by jtron at 5:36 PM on November 17, 2005

Nosferatu
posted by matteo at 5:37 PM on November 17, 2005

Soderbergh's Schizopolis.
posted by steef at 5:40 PM on November 17, 2005

The Big Lebowsky is always a good bet.

Another big BIG recommendation for these films. They're totally mindblowing in whatever state you're in. Your aunt might require a few extra doses (or continuous dosing throughout) as those films, as good as they are, are kind of slow paced and might interact negatively with here prescription (read: They're heavy films. You're aunt will have to keep smoking or they'll kill her buzz and she'll be having a nap after the first half hour.)

Back when I used to, um, need a prescription for mary jane, I found Waking Life to be a pretty film to watch until I could operate heavy machinery again.
If I was having a particularly heavy spell and required a larger dose, thus spending more time incapacitated, Barry Lyndon was also an amazing thing to watch.
Fist of Legend, of course, if you're feeling energetic.
Any movie with zombies is a pretty good bet, too. "I'm running this monkey farm, Frankenstein! And I want to know: What the fuck's going on!?"
In another vein, your aunt might also enjoy The Triplets of Belleville. It's a feature length animation that's nearly entirely free of dialogue. It's cute, interesting, and fun.

All the best to your aunt. It's a difficult time, I'm sure. I know that I feel a million times better since my glaucoma cleared up.
posted by Jon-o at 5:41 PM on November 17, 2005

what she needs to watch is the original willy wonka movie. that movie is pretty trippy even when you're straight.
posted by joeblough at 5:59 PM on November 17, 2005

Altered States

Eraserhead

Spirited Away

Brazil

What the #$*! Do We (K)now!?

You could also go the route of DVD box sets of various cartoons. Cartoons are always good when you're stoned. adult swim comedy, in particular, was invented for people who smoke way too much medicine (and often without a prescription!). Especially Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Brak Show, Sealab 2021 and Harvey Birdman. Other great stonedtoons: Angry Beavers, The Tick, Rocko's Modern Life. But don't neglect the classics if you do this. Looney Toons, Tom & Jerry, Rocky & Bullwinkle. They're all amazing after smoking some medicine.
posted by panoptican at 6:05 PM on November 17, 2005

I'll second Blue Velvet. Its not something most people would enjoy unless they're on something or film geeks. The movie practically takes place in something of a surreal stoned world.

Now follow that up with Dune, which has a lot of the same actors and is a good movie on its own, and she's all set.
posted by skallas at 6:05 PM on November 17, 2005

Last Year at Marienbad
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 6:08 PM on November 17, 2005

Kurosawa's Dreams
posted by If I Had An Anus at 6:10 PM on November 17, 2005

Lord Of The Rings, American Beauty, Batman Begins (this one is also good sober), Star Wars (any), Sin City, Looney Tunes, Muppets, Shrek (either), umm... and pretty much any movie that features:
a) cheezy jokes
b) nifty visual effects
c) good use of sound
posted by I Love Tacos at 6:21 PM on November 17, 2005

Bill Osco's version of Alice In Wonderland, a musical porno, is must-see stonervision. You or your, uh, aunt will pee your/her pants. It is so ridiculous that it will blow your/her mind, too.
posted by mds35 at 6:21 PM on November 17, 2005

Definitely Baraka. Won't make anyone paranoid, amazing experience.
posted by jb at 6:24 PM on November 17, 2005

Waking Life
posted by ryanhealy at 6:34 PM on November 17, 2005

Last Life in the Universe is something I'd recommend no matter your aunt's state of mind, but the combination of austere shots, surreal imagery, and interesting characters makes for a great movie to watch while stoned.
posted by invitapriore at 6:47 PM on November 17, 2005

Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter
posted by dagnyscott at 6:51 PM on November 17, 2005

Hi, everyone. Auntie Wu here. My newphew the doctor asked me to comment in this thread.

I heartily recommend The Monkees' Head; Fantastic Planet; Mario Bava's brilliant Danger: Diabolik; any and all Cheech and Chong films, but most especially Up in Smoke; many Henson-related projects, especially The Dark Crystal and old episodes of The Muppet Show; and even The Cell, if you don't mind freaking yourself out a bit.

All of these go well with a nice cup of tea!
posted by Dr. Wu at 7:02 PM on November 17, 2005

newphew = nephew. Auntie Wu never could spell.
posted by Dr. Wu at 7:03 PM on November 17, 2005

Second Hand Lions
The Hidden Fortress
Bronco Billy
Murphy's Romance
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
Now Voyager
The Third Man
Local Hero
Young Frankenstein
House of Angels (Englegaard)
posted by warbaby at 7:16 PM on November 17, 2005

Gates of Heaven
Suspiria
Kiss Me Deadly
Hausu
Domino
Pootie Tang
Raising Cain
The Ninth Gate
Big Trouble In Little China
posted by Sticherbeast at 7:23 PM on November 17, 2005

Watch Chopping Mall whether medicated or not. It's a top-notch, not-scary, low-budget 80's slasher movie. But, if you're going to watch the commentary, I'd recommend using some sort of mind-altering substance; it's completely earnest. Though they admit theirs is only the second best head-explosion scene of all time.

Either way, it's one of the best bad movies I've ever seen, and at 77 minutes, it's well within anyone's attention span. If your aount (or anyone else) DOES watch it, let me know. I'd love to know I'd shared something so special with people.
posted by JMOZ at 7:27 PM on November 17, 2005

Siesta
posted by warbaby at 7:28 PM on November 17, 2005

somewhat disturbing:
pi
naked lunch
posted by juv3nal at 7:29 PM on November 17, 2005

OH MAN speaking of bad movies, I highly recommend Silent Night, Deadly Night Parts 1 and 2.

Especially if you're medicating well into the night. It helps to be far gone for Part 2. You'll think you're going insane, and you'll be right.
posted by Sticherbeast at 7:30 PM on November 17, 2005

The Serpent's Egg

*somewhat aghast at all the poorly made movies being suggested*

*ponders*

That must be why they call it dope.
posted by warbaby at 7:32 PM on November 17, 2005

Chris Marker's films, especially the mind-blowingly great "Sans Soleil"
posted by Joseph Gurl at 7:49 PM on November 17, 2005

Yellow Submarine
The documentary "Grass"
Waking Life
Rivers and Tides

And of course, anything by Ernie Kovaks...
posted by dbiedny at 7:57 PM on November 17, 2005

Ack. Sorry to keep on running in, but I forgot about TV Carnage.
posted by Sticherbeast at 8:01 PM on November 17, 2005

My aunt really, really wants to get TV Carnage.
posted by billysumday at 8:07 PM on November 17, 2005

Advice on what not to watch: a friend and I someone I know watched The Beast of Yucca Flats while on mescaline, and it was hours of torture. However, Blacula was great fun.

Or so I heard.
posted by marxchivist at 8:09 PM on November 17, 2005

Cheese Sticks!
Oh, wait, I mean I Heart Huckabees, Kung Fu Hustle, Riding Giants, everything by David Attenborough (especially The Blue Planet and Life in the Freezer), almost anything by Pixar (especially Finding Nemo and A Bug's Life), Metropolis, Airplane!, Yume (Dreams), and The Work of Michel Gondry.
posted by Who_Am_I at 8:13 PM on November 17, 2005

My auntie swears by silent movies, particularly the Lon Cheney Phantom of the Opera. Double points when she combines it with nonmatching music and gets some of her old-folks-home friends to watch and comment with her.

When she's getting depressed about her glaucoma, she also likes the inspirational Ray. He had glaucoma at seven, you know, and still went on to accomplish many impressive things.
posted by booksandlibretti at 9:06 PM on November 17, 2005

Dark City

MST3K

Castle in The Sky

The Brothers Quay

Tetsuo

Ghost in the Shell
and IMO the superior Ghost in the Shell 2:Innocence
posted by Scoo at 9:10 PM on November 17, 2005

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
A Clockwork Orange
Donnie Darko
American Psycho
Blue Velvet
Mullholland Drive
posted by ludwig_van at 9:10 PM on November 17, 2005

Oh shit, I was so excited to list the Brothers Quay as I was scrolling down and then second to last post Scoo beats me to it. So I second it, but be careful because when my aunt saw it she has taken some LSD and totally freaked out.
posted by Falconetti at 9:43 PM on November 17, 2005

Alice, dir. by Jan Svankmajer
Latcho Drom
Talk to Her, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Almodovar)
Sunset Blvd, African Queen, gain new appreciation for Laurel & Hardy
posted by lois1950 at 9:56 PM on November 17, 2005

Some anime would help too; Ponpoko, Spirited Away, Porco Rosso, all from Studio Ghibli. I find these help the medicine go down smoothly.
posted by dazed_one at 10:00 PM on November 17, 2005

Campy movies like Eating Raoul and Death Race 2000 will definitely be enhanced by her medicine.
posted by stefanie at 10:22 PM on November 17, 2005

Scanlon: Where am I going?
Vinnie: All I can say is it's a good place to lay low.
Scanlon: Why?
Vinnie: It's the kind of place nobody wants to go looking
"Sorcerer" 1977, soundtrack by Tangerine Dream. A very trippy film.
posted by hortense at 10:52 PM on November 17, 2005

Spirited Away.

Do not watch Reefer Madness. It's really, really, really boring, even when, err, my aunt was medicated.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Brazil, 12 Monkeys ... actually, anything directed by Gilliam.

Blade Runner, perhaps; Donnie Darko, yes; Pirates of the Carribean was pretty good; anything animated. The Simpsons (okay, not a movie) are to die for.

I have to N'th the various *-qaatsi movies too. Beautiful.

Spinal Tap

Evil Dead 2, and Evil Dead 3: Armies of Darkness (they just too silly for words)

Cube (but not the sequel, which sucked arse)
posted by 5MeoCMP at 11:11 PM on November 17, 2005

The Prehysteria movies about tiny dinosaurs are some of the craziest movies ever. Prehysteria 2 opens with dinosaurs knocking off an old man's glasses eating raisins and getting shoveled into a crate for some reason. Later a hobo girl defends a rich kid from bullies, she has rocks in her gloves to help her punch. She say's "rule number one always keep rocks in your gloves" seriously that's her first rule. She has no rules that come before that.

In a totally different vein Dog Star Man by Brahkage is really trippy and strange. The Passion of the Christ is really weird. Night of the Hunter is crazy. The Conversation is excellent conventionally but it has a lot to offer in altered states.

The Red Shoes, Seventh Seal, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Blue Velvet, Triplets of Belleville, 8 1/2 or any late Fellini, Talk to Her, and most of all Satan's Brew are all movies that have particular merits in this particular format.
posted by I Foody at 11:18 PM on November 17, 2005

i'll second Waking Life
posted by purplefiber at 11:32 PM on November 17, 2005

Gimme, Gimme Octopus (if you can find it.)
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:00 AM on November 18, 2005

I can't believe nobody's mentioned Half Baked.

Also:
Babe
Cannonball Run
Nightmare Before Christmas

I also can't recommend Dancing Outlaw highly enough. Brilliant. Your aunt will love it, I promise.
posted by Atom12 at 6:54 AM on November 18, 2005

Heavy Metal.

My aunt got over a bad divorce one year watching that at the drivein. (It was made in 1981, so the music is all from that era, might not be to your taste. My aunt is pretty old.)
posted by unrepentanthippie at 9:28 AM on November 18, 2005

The thing is, depending on how bad your aunt's glaucoma is, she might be taking such a heavy dose that a lot of these movies, being conceptually complex, will be difficult to comprehend while under the influence.

On the other hand, while so medicated, a lot of less challenging movies will absolutely take on cosmic significance, and all their multi-layered dimensions will be revealed in ways completely inaccessible to the stone sober.

At least, I seem to remember that from my own, thankfully long behind me, years of horribly suffering from glaucoma. I particularly recall The Little Shop of Horrors, some early Warren Beatty films (pre-B&C), old Ronald Reagan movies, It's A Wonderful Life, and (this one is truly awesome:) Plan 9 from Outer Space.
posted by beagle at 9:37 AM on November 18, 2005

I think this might be exactly what Cheech and Chong movies are for.
Dazed and Confused comes to mind. Half Baked to a lesser extent (although she's going to pee her pants at the Bob Saget scene). Friday. Actually, anything with Chris Tucker. I suspect that Rushmore and/or The Royal Tennenbaums would be a hoot, but we're reaching a point where I'm a smidge too old to make informed comment. Happy Gilmore. Oooh The Big Lebowski seconded emphatically. Actually, anything Coen brothers.
posted by willpie at 9:51 AM on November 18, 2005

I second votes for Latcho Drom and Baraka. (And why on earth would your aunt want to watch something like Event Horizon while she's purusing her therapy? I shudder to even think of it. Or Alien-- sheesh, you guys. She wants her mind blown in a nice way, not to be traumatized for life.) I'd also recommend Fellini's Amacord (but not Satyricon). And where are the recommendations for concert films? She might discover a whole new appreciation for, say, Phish.

In the Baraka/Koyaanisqatsi line, there's also Bodysong, a gorgeously lyrical and elegiac film constructed of a hundred years worth of found footage arranged around the theme of the human life cycle-- birth, growth, play, sex, etc. Note: the imagery in the birth and sex sequences is graphic. Soundtrack by Jonny Greenwood, of Radiohead.

But if she really wants to have her mind blown, then she must pick up a copy of City of Lost Children. Right this minute!
posted by jokeefe at 3:04 PM on November 18, 2005

Oh, and has anyone mentioned Repo Man yet? No?

And another urgent vote for Bugs Bunny/Looney Toons cartoons. Especially that Foghorn Leghorn episode that made my aunt laugh so hard when she was undergoing similar treatment that she literally fell onto the floor. Good times.
posted by jokeefe at 3:08 PM on November 18, 2005

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Office Space yet.
posted by Caviar at 6:47 PM on November 19, 2005

I've always heard The Wall is best appreciated when stoned.
posted by SisterHavana at 8:28 PM on November 19, 2005

Cannonball Run?
posted by If I Had An Anus at 8:34 PM on November 19, 2005

My aunt went to see the new Harry Potter movie yesterday with some of my other aunts who are also receiving treatment (two blunts up, by the way). The aunts were amused afterwards to see that the ticket stubs said "HARRY POT" on them.
posted by matildaben at 4:21 PM on November 20, 2005

Being John Malcovich
The Return
Barton Fink
Bokanowski's L'Ange
Cassavetes' Faces
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
posted by squirrel at 9:48 AM on November 28, 2005

Oh, and The American Astronaut.
posted by squirrel at 9:49 AM on November 28, 2005

Dark Days
Style Wars
Wave Twisters
Wargames (the Rob Swift one, not the Matt Broderick one)
Wild Style
Dead Man (hard to go wrong with Jarmusch, though)
The Big Lebowski (ditto the Coen brothers)
posted by box at 2:31 PM on September 15, 2006