DRUGGY DRAMA/LGBTQ/AYAUASCA
Queer
Written in the early '50s but only published in 1985, this William S. Burroughs book receives a proper adaptation by Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino. Daniel Craig stars in a remarkable performance as Bill Lee, Burroughs' nom de plume. Set in Mexico City, Lee cruises bars for young men, drinks mezcal, smokes Camels and shoots heroin. He seduces Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), a strikingly handsome American, and convinces him to go on a South American adventure in search of the jungle concoction yagé, a.k.a. ayahuasca.
After fighting off withdrawals with the help of an Ecuadorian doctor, Lee seeks out Chimu (La Bruja De Texcoco) who supplies the hallucinatory liquid which they all drink. It's quite a trip for the two neophytes, certainly a first in a mainstream movie. Told in three chapters and an epilogue, Lee's life is both exciting and sad, as he continues to prowl the streets looking for his next lover.
Box office: $1.9 million
Similar to: Naked Lunch (1991)
In theaters
STONER COMEDY/KETAMINE
Ricky Stanicky
Peter Farrelly's third movie since splitting with his brother Bobby is reminiscent of the raunchy Rhode Island-based comedies they used to produce and direct together. (Peter's Green Book, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2019, was a departure.) When they were kids, Dan (Zac Efron), JT (Andrew Santino) and Wes (Jermaine Fowler) created an imaginary character, Ricky Stanicky. They made up stories about him that people believed. Years later, Dean and JT resurrect the ruse so they can go to Atlantic City and gamble without their wives knowing about it. While there they meet Rock Hard Rod (John Cena), who parodies rock songs.
When JT's pregnant wife has an early delivery while the guys are away and partying, they decide to cover their tracks and bring Rod as Ricky to the baby's bris. Due to a dose of ketamine inadvertently supplied to Rabbi Greenberg (Jeff Ross) by Stanicky, the mohel can't quite finish the job. More juvenile humor – the baby sucking JT's nipple, an X-rated doggie act and "air dicking" a la Trump – are right out of the Farrellys' playbook.
No box office
Similar to: Hall Pass (2011)
Watch at Prime Video
DRUGGY DRAMA/BLACK
Rob Peace
The true story of Rob Peace, brought to the screen by Chiwetal Rjiofer, is a riveting one. Raised by a drug-dealing father in New Jersey nicknamed Skeet (also Rjiofor), Rob (Jay Will) has an outsized intelligence, scoring 4.0 at prep school en route to Yale. He's popular on campus and starts selling weed, like his dad who's been locked up on a double-murder charge. Getting Skeet released becomes Rob's mission as he tries to keep his grades up and a relationship with Naya (played convincingly by singer Camila Cabello) going .
The walls start crashing around Rob as he encroaches on other dealers' turf. Despite his winning personality and academic prowess, Rob proves to be just another victim of the War on Drugs.
Will acts like a young Denzel Washington and Mary J. Blige is solid as Rob's disconsolate mom.
Box office: $383,500
Similar to: Boyz in the Hood (1991)
Watch at Netflix
STONER COMEDY/SHROOMS
Sasquatch Sunset
The Zellner brothers’ dialogue-less film features an unrecognizable Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough in Bigfoot costumes traipsing across a prehistoric landscape, foraging for food, taking dumps, screwing and giving birth. While laugh-out-loud funny due to its dedication to the four main characters, it’s also surprisingly moving in its depiction of the half-man/half-beast. When the elder stumbles upon a patch of mushrooms, he eagerly takes them for himself, then wanders into the forest where he’s devoured by a ferocious panther. (Roy Trakin)
Box office: $1 million
Similar to: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Watch at Paramount+
STONER COMEDY
Saturday Night
The frenetic pace of Jason Reitman's comedy feels like how the NBC variety show debuted 49 years on Oct 11. It’s 90 minutes till showtime and the first-ever episode is not quite ready for prime time, as the cast of seven was referred to. Showrunner Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) has to deal with network naysayers who consider the nascent SNL a “counterculture show starring a bunch of nobodies,” which was fairly true.
The non-stop action acknowledges the impact of cocaine on the set. A band member gives Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris, no relation) a vial which John Belushi (Matt Wood) snorts it all at once. There’s also a big pile of coke in the dressing room of host George Carlin (Mattherw Rhys). But ultimately it’s Michaels’ movie and LaBelle rises to the occasion.
Box office: $9.5 million
The Stoniest Saturday Night Live Sketches of All Time
Watch at Prime Video
