Since many of us are stuck inside, we’re sharing our favorite trippy movies. We’re all going to be cinema buffs by the time we get out of this one. –RS
We decided to pick an editorial theme that we could all relate to–inside/out. We’re looking at the world, quite literally, from inside our homes. Our windows hang on walls like our picture frames. Many of us are currently staring at them with our eyes, which are the windows to our souls. We’re reflecting on a lot of things right now. Besides the obvious are the psychedelics. Or, psychedelics make obvious what was once hidden. Our external world is a reflection of our internal world. We’re creating our realities. With this perspective in mind, we’re inside, so let’s get into it!
Trippy Movie Night Every Night
Movie night is sacred. Weeknight, weekend, whenever. If you feel like projecting your consciousness into a fabricated reality that stimulates thought and emotion, we’re with you. Our staff put together a list of our favorite trippy movies, for trippy times, which is all the time. It wasn’t easy editing it down, but we picked 10 with which to start. From animated classics to a visual album to an old movie favorite, whatever your mood, we got your covered.
Just to note, we didn’t rank these films in the order of their “psychedelicness.” Meaning, this isn’t a competition, we simply wanted to share for the sake of artistry and fun. Thus, in no particular order, let the world around you melt away and take a trip into these imaginative, cinematic landscapes. Perhaps the world won’t look quite the same when you return.
1. Spirited Away (2001)
This is considered, by some, to be the best-animated feature of all time.
One day, ten-year-old Chihiro and her parents happen to come across a seemingly abandoned amusement park. Although it’s very clear that this place is creepy to our young protagonist, her parents decide to eat some food they find that this creepy abandoned amusement park which subsequently turns them into pigs. A mysterious being informs Chihiro that she has found herself in a resort for supernatural beings and that she has to work in order to free herself and her parents. However, if she forgets her real name, she’ll never be able to leave.
Where to watch: Youtube, Amazon Prime
2. Mirror Mask (2005)
This feature tells the tale of Helen, a young girl who becomes frustrated with her life, being in a family of circus performers. She gets into an argument with her mother and wishes her dead. Lo and behold! Her mother falls ill, which sends Helen into a world created by her imagination and on a quest to reverse the curse. Don’t blame yourself, Helen!
Where to watch: iTunes
3. What the Bleep (2004)
Part narrative, part documentary, and part animation, the whole film is a multimedia journey into a divorced photographer’s life as it unravels due to emotional and existential problems. In the midst of this, she begins to consider that consciousness can have an effect on the material world–ha! This is quantum physics meets consciousness.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
4. Ad Astra (2019)
A sci-fi thriller, set in outer space, starring Brad Pitt. If you’ve ever dreamed of going on a fantastical, visually stunning journey through space and following Brad Pitt until the end, this is your chance.
Where to watch: Youtube, Amazon Prime
5. The Fountain (2006)
In the mood for an epic romance that takes place in three different eras? Hugh Jackman is on a mission to find immortality and save the love of his many lives, Rachel Weisz, in this fantasy meets history meets spirituality meets sci-fi flick.
Where to watch: Youtube, Amazon Prime, iTunes
6. Being John Malkovich (1999)
Fantasy gets quirky in this classic written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze. John Cusack plays an unemployed puppeteer who discovered a portal that leads into John Malkovich’s mind! Strangeness ensues.
Where to watch: Youtube, Amazon Prime, iTunes
7. Fantastia (1985)
This theatrical-cinematic-symphony is an imaginative, out-of-the-box collaboration between Walt Disney and conductor Leopold Stokowski. An epic two-hour delight, the dialogue between animation and music brought popular culture and high art to the silver screen. A must!
Remembering Fantasia by Reality Sandwich
Where to watch: Disney +
8. Wizard of Oz (1939)
A tornado rips through Kansas and whisks Dorothy (Judy Garland) and her dog, Toto, to the magical land of Oz. An imaginative spectacle unfolds as Dorothy tries to find her way back home. There’s incredible synchronicity between the movie and Pink Floyd’s The Wall, so if you’re in the mood to experiment, get into it!
Where to watch: Netflix
9. Sturgill Simpson’s Sound and Fury (2019)
Take a trip into the album-length anime movie that accompanies Sturgill Simpson’s psychedelic country album Sound and Fury. Simpson had the idea of getting the most legendary animation directors together, getting them drunk, and putting them into competition with one another to animate the whole album. What came out was a dystopian, post-apocalyptic masterpiece.
Where to watch: Netflix
10. Max Reinhardt’s A Midsummers Night Dream (1935)
For classic movie lovers, for any movie lover, really, Max Reinhardt’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream is the delightful screen adaptation of Shakespeare’s fantastical, illusory play. With music by Mendelssohn, beautiful cinematography, and dance sequences full of charm–this film shows what magic you can make with old school special effects. Oh, and Mickey Rooney also plays Puck!
Where to watch: Vudu
11. Fantastic Fungi (2019)
Fantastic Fungi day is coming up on March 26th! In response to the coronavirus, you will be able to rent or purchase the film for a small fee. Go mycelium network! Starring Paul Stamets, Michael Pollan, Eugenia Bone, other iconic experts, this film takes you into the magical world of fungi and their superhuman abilities, including helping regenerate life on our planet.
You can also check out an exclusive screening at Meet Delic this August 8 & 9th, 2020!
