As the title characters of ''Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle'' take their first munchies-fueled steps on a journey toward burger nirvana, they join a proud American film tradition: the stoner movie. Not movies one gets stoned to (yes, yes, ''The Wizard of Oz'' goes with ''Dark Side of the Moon,'' we know), but rather movies that show the life and times of pot smokers in all their gnarly glory. In honor of the occasion, we decided to compile a list of the Top 10 Stoner Movies of All Time. We were so anti-putting things in order, but our editor -- in a totally bogus move -- told us we had to apply ourselves. (Relax, man.)

1DAZED AND CONFUSED(1993) Richard Linklater's slacker opus glides along on a buzz stoked by Aerosmith and carefree youth.You don't need to have a joint to hang with these Texas teens celebrating their last day of school...but, as Wooderson (MatthewMcConaughey) would say, ''it'd be a lot cooler if you did.''

2THE BIG LEBOWSKI(1998) The Dude (Jeff Bridges) is the greatest stoner in the history of film because the Dude abides, dude.

3HOW HIGH(2001) Method and Red smoke weed planted in the ashesof a dead friend, and his ghost gets them into Harvard. Happensall the time.

4FRIDAY(1995) On Friday, with nothing to do, Chris Tucker andIce Cube get high, sit on a porch, and watch the ghetto go by.That, and they learn some important life lessons.

5HALF BAKED(1998) A rainbow coalition of celebrity cameospopulates this whacked-out film that's sort of about DaveChappelle dealing stolen medical marijuana and sort of about justhearing Jon Stewart say, ''...on WEED!''

6UP IN SMOKE(1978) Cheech and Chong bring their doobie-brothersact to the big screen, at one point illegally crossing the borderin a van made entirely of reefer. Happens all the time.

7SUPER TROOPERS(2002) A highway patrol pot caper involving abear costume, syrup-drinking contests, and an Afghan cartoonmonkey carrying coded Taliban messages. Come to think of it, thisshould probably be higher on the list.

8REEFER MADNESS(1936) Ostensibly a terrifying cautionary taleabout the dangers of marijuana-induced psychosis (with a posterthat's become a dorm-room classic); really just more like ''OurTown'' on drugs.

9FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH(1982) Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn) isnot quite the greatest stoner in the history of film (see JeffBridges, above), but his surfer-dude personality became anarchetype that led to...

10BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE,(1989) whose dumb-buddyvision quest enabled the existence of ''Dude, Where's My Car?'' fromthe director who now brings us ''Harold & Kumar.'' Most excellent,indeed.