Drug Movies

Go (1999) Starring Sarah Polley. Directed by Doug Liman. (R) A trip of stories that center around Christmas. This is the ecstasy movie on my list. It is a hilarious movie about raves, strip joints, Vegas, and road trips. Check this one out for something entertaining and hilarious.

p.s. all of my friends seem to love this one..

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) Starring Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro. Directed by Terry Gilliam. (R) Based on the ficionalized novel by Hunter S. Thompson. He really did the trip, but decided to minorly fictinalize the account. This resulted in this overly-stylistic, drug-induced trip-out of a movie. Hilarious, and very very strange. Not for those of you who like your movies straight and normal. Check this out. The movie even features a good soundtrack, and keeps the emotional parts of the book solid.

Up in Smoke (1981) Starring Cheech Marin and Thomas Chong. Directed by Lou Adler. (R) Funny as hell classic about marijuana. Follows two potheads through unbelievable adventures. The will do anything for pot, and even go down to Mexico. This is a classic that inspired many to imitations. Including Half Baked. Please see my service announcement below.

Dazed and Confused (1995) Starring Joey Lauren Adams. Directed by Richard Linklater. (R) Linklater's second feature, after Slacker, follows the senior class through the last day of school of 1976. Really no single characters or group are truely followed for a plot, so it is a web of interlinking stories. This one took two viewings for me to find the humor. But, the humor is in there, and this is a truely hilarious movie. Awesome soundtrack.

Basketball Diaries, The (1995) Starring Leonardo DeCaprio. Directed by Scott Kalvert. (R) Adaptation of Jim Carroll's bio. It tells of addiction to drugs, leading to prostitution. Very stylish, interesting movie that isn't very engaging. However, it is an unemotional treat to watch. Highly recommended for the apathetic and everybody else.

Permanent Midnight (1998) Starring Ben Stiller. Directed by Dave Volez. (R) This is a movie based on the book by the writer of ALF. It is a sad movie about addiction to heroin. Very interesting movie with obscure uses. Off-beat, not too rhythmic, and strange movie that definately does not follow the norm. Check it out for something that isn't mainstream.

Pulp Fiction (1994) Starring John Travolta. Directed by Quentin Tarentino. (R) This masterpiece hit everywhere hard. It showed what callousness really is. The movie is divided into three non-consecutive stories which all have to do with Vince Vega (Travolta) and Mr. Wallace. Hilarious, cynical, callous, dark, pulp, and fantastic, this is one entertaining movie. Made Travolta's comeback. Incidental drug movie because the first story deals with an accidental overdose.

She's So Lovely (1997) Starring John Travolta, Sean Penn, and Robin Wright Penn. Directed by Nick Cassavettes. (R) A rare, underrated gem that features excellent acting. The movie is bipolar and starts with a dark, depressing part, then moves to hilarious, dark, and bright. Its a little hard to get through the first part as it is very depressing. The first part has minor incidences of drugs. Yes, I know that it is right next to another Travolta movie, but this one is laugh out loud funny in the end. A feature which mainly has great acting, but no plot.

Pink Floyd's The Wall. (1982) Starring Bob Geldof. Directed by Alan Parker. (R) A trippy movie that has a drug injection. The rest of it just seems like the guy is on drugs and alcohol. A great movie though because of how disturbing it is. It will really jerk your visceral senses around. It will make you look at your life a little, and reasses what you value, slightly. OK, maybe I am making this into a big life-changine movie, but it is really a tear-jerker that will hit you hard, especially about female stereotypes, and society pop culture. I still can't tell if it condemns it or not.

Trainspotting (1996) Starring Ewan McGregor. Directed by Danny Boyle. (R) Another heroin movie. I still can't tell whether or not this movie condemns or glorifies drugs. I guess it changes from day to day, and viewing to viewing. However, I do know that the ending still pisses me off to no end. A happy ending of him getting off drugs. The rest of it is hilarious, dark, and disturbing. I highly recommend it, at least for the morning after breakfast scene. (You'll be able to tell which one I am talking about.)

Bright Lights, Big City (1989) Starring Michael J. Fox. Directed by James Bridges. (R) Bridges massacred the novel. The novel is so much better. However, the movie is still worth seeing if you have not. It is the only cocaine-dedicated movie I have seen. I have not seen Less Than Zero yet though. BL,BC is funny, and sad at the same time. I say check it once you have seen everything else on my pages.

Note: No, Half Baked does not deserve to be on here. Half Baked is not as funny as many people make it out to be. I say skip it, and go for these three, or even Fear and Loathing or Trainspotting. Half Baked is just that, only a half baked movie.