Before there was “Chappelle’s Show,” Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan wrote “Half Baked,” the story of a janitor and his pothead friends who are forced to become pot dealers after one of them accidentally kills a diabetic police horse. Chappelle plays both the janitor and rapper Sir Smoka Lot, and the film features cameos from Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg and a pre-“Daily Show” Jon Stewart. Sure, you’ve probably seen this movie, but have you seen it — on weed?

“Pineapple Express” kicked off the on-screen pot-fueled bromance between Seth Rogen and James Franco, although they’d already played stoner friends in the cult TV classic “Freaks And Geeks”. Rogen is a process server who accidentally witnesses a murder and Franco is his kindly drug dealer who gets dragged into the mess. Things get violent, a gang war breaks out, but the most important part is that everyone realizes they’ve been best friends the whole time.

The granddaddy of all pot comedies, “Up In Smoke” is the first of many Cheech and Chong joints. The loose plot involves a van made entirely of weed, border-crossing and a Battle of the Bands. The duo would go on to make seven more movies together, and while there were plans for an “Up In Smoke 2” at one point, it seems appropriate that they’d stop at the eighth.

Published: February 10, 2021