"When was the last time you saw a movie straight?" asks an advertisement for Pot Smokers Anonymous. John Hulme and Michael Wexler answer that question by tapping into the heart of the stoner nation with Baked Potatoes: A Pot Smoker's Guide to Film and Video, a bible for dopey movie watchers who take pride in sitting on their couches and doing, well, not much.
The book rates movies on a five-pot-leaf scale: Dr. Strangelove receives four leaves, while Watership Down warrants a Bad Seed the authors' buzz-kill warning. All the reviews have their own fuzzy logic and colorful stonerisms. The entry on The Breakfast Club, for example, asks, "Is it normal to hate Emilio Estevez for no reason?"
With descriptions of optimal viewing milieus and snack foods, Hulme and Wexler not only define a genre of film long overlooked by movie pundits but further its proliferation despite the attempts of groups like Pot Smokers Anonymous to ruin a good high.
Baked Potatoes: A Pot Smoker's Guide to Film and Video, by John Hulme and Michael Wexler: US$10. Doubleday: +1 (212) 782 9791.
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