1. Savages
Longtime legalizer Oliver Stone finally made his marijuana movie. Pitting hippie cultivators vs. the Mexican cartel (who want a piece of their kind-bud action), the underdogs managed to hold their own, thanks to Army sniper training. It's Traffic meets Scarface with cannabis as the prized possession.
2. Ted
Subversive TV animator Seth MacFarlane's first movie starred a talking, bong-toking teddy bear. One of the year's top-grossing comedies, Ted brought the raunch, while also being a pretty standard-issue rom com that pairs Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis.
3. The House I Live In
The failed drug war was on peoples' mind more than ever in 2012. Eugene Jarecki raised consciousness with his stellar doc focusing on 40 years of intolerance and incarceration. Celebrity co-producers Brad Pitt, John Legend and Danny Glover helped draw media attention to this important issue.
4. Project X
The year's most surprising stoner movie was the ultimate party flick. Four nerds who want to be cool throw a huge bash that careens wildly out of control. Filmed in faux documentary style, Project X may be a blast, but just don't do this at home.
5. On the Road
Many joints were smoked as Jack Kerouac's travel tale is told on screen by Walter Salles. More than 50 years after the release of the seminal Beat Generation book, a new wave of stoners and seekers got to experience the post-World War II high life. Top CelebStoner Kristen Stewart co-starred as the sex-crazed Marlylou.
6. TIE: Mac + Devin Go to High School and High School
Both of these high-school stoner flicks are subpar, but still deserve mention. While Mac + Devin, starring Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa, never made it to theaters, High School had a brief unsuccessful run at the multiplex.
7. TIE: Wanderlust and Peace, Love and Misunderstanding
These two movies alternately made fun of and paid respect to the hippie lifestyle. In Wanderlust, a couple played by Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd, joined a commune to comic effect. (In one scene, Aniston's character dosed on ayahuasca.) In Peace, Love, Jane Fonda portrayed a pot-growing throwback who's visited in Woodstock by her jaded daughter.
8. TIE: Marley and Crossfire Hurricane
Bob Marley and the Rolling Stones received the documentary treatment. Kevin Macdonald's masterful Marley covered all of bases of the reggae legend's life, including his infidelities. Bret Morgan's Crossfire traced familiar territory, but it's a visual and musical treat.
9. TIE: Contraband, Pusher and Flight
Hard drugs were not left out of the stoner movie equation. In Contraband - an action thriller starring Mark Wahlberg - cash and cocaine were smuggled from Panama to New Orleans. Set in England, Pusher remade the Danish original in which a dealer owed 50 grand and did anything he can to stay alive. In Flight, Denzel Washington smoked pot, drank alcohol and sniffed coke as airline captain Whip Whitaker. It earned him an Acadmey Award nomination.
10. TIE: Jeff Who Lives at Home, Celeste and Jesse Forever, and This Is 40
Marijuana wa included in many movies in one scene or two that may or may not be consequential to the storyline. The title character in Jeff Who Lives at Home, played by Jason Segel, smoked pot in his mother's basement, and got beat up and robbed by fellow stoners. Celeste and Jesse featured a weed dealer and several bong hits. In Judd Apatow's This Is 40, a "magic cookie" helped stir the flames during a romantic getaway.
