Reefer Madness & The Big Lebowski is the 393rd episode of the Screen Junkies comedy series Honest Trailers. It was written by Spencer Gilbert, Danielle Radford and Lon Harris. It was narrated by Jon Bailey as Epic Voice Guy. It parodies both the 1936 propaganda film Reefer Madness and the 1998 crime comedy film The Big Lebowski. It was published on April 20, 2021, to coincide with the cannabis-oriented celebrations on 4/20. It is 7 minutes and 47 seconds long. It has been viewed over 100,000 times.
Script[]
(bubbling, followed by coughing) Okay, I'm ready. What are we doing this week? An old black-and-white movie? Is this Hitchcock or something?
(the title appears) Oh, Reefer Madness. Nice. I hear it's pretty funny. Hold on; let me grab my chips. (rustling) All right, hit it. (munching on chips)
(with his mouth full) Get ready for a bunch of-- Oops, hold on one sec. (swallows) Get ready for a movie that's supposed to scare young people off pot... by lying about how bad it is for 90 minutes straight. And they still can't help from showing you how it's cheap...
Pete Daly: Taking two-bit pieces from kids.
...grows easily...
Dr. Alfred Carroll: It grows wild in almost every state in the Union.
...and will basically get you laid on the spot. Man, I wish that were true in real life; way to make pot look even better, movie!
Return to the 30's, when every kid in high school looked like they were in their thirties, and even potheads wore a full suit and tie, as you're introduced to Eddie...
Eddie: Well, hello, fella!
...Gwen...
Eddie: Oh, it's all right, Gwen.
...Ralph...
Mary: Hey, hello, Ralph.
...Kenny...
Mary: Thanks, Teddy...
...Teddy...
Ralph: Thanks, Eddie...
...Mary...
Ralph: Smoke, Mary?
...Jimmy...
Agnes: Oh, Jimmy...
...Jack Perry...
Ralph: --Jack Perry.
...Bill...
Eddie: Hello.
...Blanche...
Eddie: Hello, Blanche.
...Mae...
Mae: Thank you.
...and Hot Fingers Pirelli.
Agnes: That's Hot Fingers Pirelli!
Yeah, there's no way I'm keeping all these mayo-ass names straight. What's the main dork's name, again?
Agnes: Bill.
Bill? Okay, Bill; that'll work.
Follow along with Bill, a loser who's hopeless with girls and bullied by children...
Junior: (taunting) Bill's got a girlfriend!
Bill: Mom, make him cut it out!
...who develops a condition where he can't stop laughing (shows a scene of Bill laughing creepily), until he finally snaps and shoots somebody. (Bill and Jack accidentally fire a gun, killing Mary) So it's, like, the exact same plot as Joker. Experience a film that was scandalous for its time 'cause a girl rolls down her stockings or whatever, but is mostly just boring... really, really boring, as you sit through the most depressing opening crawl since Rise of Skywalker, sit through marathon PTA meetings, and sit through a slow courtroom drama that would make any teenager want to jump out a window. (Blanche leaps out a window to her death) Actually, you know what? Can we just bail on this one early? Whole film's a huge bummer; half of it is just boring, and the other half is just freaks playing piano and laughing at each other. (montage of characters playing piano and laughing) In the 30's, this was basically "WAP". (shows Ralph laughing) Enough, okay?! You're killing my buzz! Can we watch something else?
(as multiple comments asking for The Big Lebowski appear) That's what I'm talking about! Now, where did I leave Benedict Cumberbong? Oh, there you are! (bubbling, followed by a long exhale) Okay, much better.
Spark a J, pour yourself a White Russian, and relax, for the most chilled-out L.A. detective story since The Long Goodbye, or Cutter's Way. You know, Night Moves was pretty great. Oh, and then there's Devil in a Blue Dress. And you've seen Inherent Vice, right? I guess faded L.A. detective noir is, like, a whole genre, huh? Uh, wait... what movie was I talking about again?
The Dude: Come on, man.
Riiiiight! The Big Lebowski! Best. Film. Ever.
You know this movie; even if you've never seen this movie, you know it.
The Dude: Yeah? Well... you know, that's just, like, uh... your opinion, man.
You even know the TV edit.
Walter: See what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?!
It's like pop culture herd immunity; the film's crossed over into the shared cosmic unconsciousness. Hoo! Boy, I'm flying! Woohoo! Oh, get a hold of yourself, Epic Voice Guy... But for real, this film is such a cult hit, there are entire fan conventions (an Esquire article with the title "Inside Lebowski Fest, Where the Dude Abides by the Fans" pops up), this poster was on half the dorm rooms in America, and there's a Lebowski Challenge where you drink a White Russian every time the hero does, which I do not recommend, because, I mean... wow, that's a lot of dairy.
Ride along with the Dude; he's less of a character than a way of life. Jeff Bridges cruises his way through a plot that needs a flowchart to follow, until you and he both stop trying to put the clues together and just enjoy the ride...
The Dude: You know, this is a very complicated case, Maude. You know, a lot of ins, a lot of outs, a lot of what-have-yous.
...in a comedy that you don't really "get" until you've seen it, like, three or four times, that doesn't have jokes, per se, but just weird characters repeating themselves until the humor cracks your brain open.
The Stranger: --sometimes there's a man... Sometimes there's a man...
Blond Treehorn Thug: (while drowning the Dude) Where's the money, Lebowski? Where's the money, Lebowski?
Blond Treehorn Thug: See what happens, Lebowski? You see what happens?
Malibu Police Chief: Stay out of Malibu, Lebowski! Stay out of Malibu, deadbeat!
The Big: Strong men also cry... Strong men also cry.
Brandt: --her life is in your hands.
The Dude: Oh, sh*t, man...
Brandt: Her life is in your hands, Dude.
Walter: They're gonna kill that poor woman! They're gonna kill that poor woman!
Maude: He's a good man, and thorough. / Please see him, Jeffrey; he's a good man... and thorough.
The Big: They did not receive the money, you nitwit! They did not receive the money!
Kieffer: --we believes in nothing.
Karl Hungus: We believes in nothing, Lebowski. Nothing!
Walter: Is this your homework, Larry? Is this your homework, Larry?
Walter: You see what happens, Larry?! Do you see what happens, Larry--
Man: l'll kill your f*cking car, man! I'll kill your f*cking car!
The Dude: --and they pee on my rug?
Walter: They pee on your f*cking rug?
The Dude: Peed on my f*cking rug.
(munching on chips) Oh, oh! We're still rolling? My bad.
But the Dude doesn't roll alone. Hit the lanes with Walter, who was extremely loud and wrong before the Internet made it fashionable; if he's not ranting about the war in Vietnam, he's finding ways to make everyone else's life harder, especially Donny's. (montage of Walter saying "Shut the f*ck up, Donny.") And they'll all cross paths with a who's who of "that guys" (Peter Stormare, John Turturro, and Sam Elliott), "that girls" (Aimee Mann, Julianne Moore, and Tara Reid), and the late, great P. S. H., in this wishful film and fantasy for aging men who dream of bowling all day in their PJs, then getting paid a lot of money to smoke weed, and have responsibility-free sex with a woman who doesn't care about how gross your apartment is. Living the dream, Dude!
So watch the Coen brothers and Roger Deakins team up for a visual delight, that feels like it exists outside of time, 'cause even though it's set in the 90's, and the villains are totally 80's, fighting characters who are stuck in the 60's and 70's, who are trapped in a film noir caper straight out of the 40's and 50's, it still somehow makes perfect sense, like there's something at the center of it all that just kind of... ties the whole thing together, you know? (as the image warps) Whoa...
Starring: The Fabulous Baked Boy (Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski); Forrest Grump (John Goodman as Walter Sobchak); Shut the F**k Up, Donny! (Steve Buscemi as Donny Kerabatsos); A One, a Twohoo, a Three (John Turturro as Jesus Quintana); Pumpkin Spice Hoffman (Philip Seymour Hoffman as Brandt); They Called Me By Your Name (David Huddleston as Jeffrey "The Big" Lebowski); Urbane Cowboy (Sam Elliott as The Stranger); Ares, God of War (David Thewlis as Knox Harrington); But Wait, There's Julianne Moore! (as Maude Lebowski); Oh Hey, It's Aimee Mann (as Nihilist Woman, Franz's Girlfriend); and Flip Flop a Triple Dip a Whip Whap Skateboard [(Anthony Kiedis Noises)] (Flea as Kieffer).
High Crimes & Blissed Demeanors
The honest title for Reefer Madness & The Big Lebowski was ‘High Crimes & Blissed Demeanors’. Titles designed by Robert Holtby.
The Coen brothers killed Steve Buscemi in Miller's Crossing, cut him down to just a leg in Fargo, and turned him into ash in Lebowski; that dude is so getting vaped in the next movie!
Viewer's Comments[]
please say : today is a special dae. - S_A_M_S_R_R
Would you say, 'Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.' - Mogos Yemane
Please say "CBD oil is just diet weed" - Rex Man
SAY: "If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball." - Connor Kent!
In honor of DMX, say in the next video, "Yall gonna make me lose my mind up in here. Up in here" - Sloan Da Nerd
Trivia[]
- The final comment in the viewer's comments pays tribute to DMX, a rapper best known for the singles "Party Up (Up in Here)" and "X Gon' Give It to Ya", who passed away on April 9, 2021, at the age of 50 due to multiple organ failure following a drug overdose.
Reception[]
Production Credits[]
Voice Narration: Jon Bailey aka Epic Voice Guy
Title Design: Robert Holtby
Written by: Spencer Gilbert, Danielle Radford, & Lon Harris
Produced by: Spencer Gilbert
Edited by: Kevin Williamsen
Post-Production Supervisor: Emin Bassavand
Director of Video Production: Max Dionne
Associate Producer: Ryan O'Toole
Executive Producer: Roth Cornet