I'd strongly recommend the Inherent Vice movie; a neo noir detective movie featuring a hippie detective nearly too stoned to keep track of a particularly LA conspiracy.
I was genuinely surprised that he allowed it (I definitely enjoyed it, so this is not a dig at the movie.) Apparently Laurie Anderson wanted to do and opera of Gravity's Rainbow, and Pynchon replied that he would only give permission if it was done solely with Banjos--which I take as a roundabout way of saying no way.
I loved both it and the book. More than just being fun, I think that it really does a good job of capturing the feeling of what it was like to be a hippie in the early 70s, realizing that the world is moving on and your dreams aren't coming true. 50% conspiracy theories, but also 50% real acutal conspiracies because capital won't allow a utopia.
As a little push to watch the Inherent Vice movie, I feel like it's a spiritual successor the The Big Lebowski.
Great point. And, imho, funnier :^)
As a spiritual predecessor I would recommend the movie The Long Goodbye (1973)
I rewatched this recently on HBO Max. It’s like a hippie Chinatown. I remember seeing it in theaters and being unable to follow the plot but a second viewing was a bit better. Great movie.
It’s an homage to film noirs where the plot was almost impossible to follow. I remember PTA mentioning that in an interview
No joke, it helps if you toke anytime doc does.
I read the book after seeing the film which I loved. It’s insane how incredibly good at making you feel in the sort of haze you feel after smoking the book is. I could never thank PTA enough for making me discover Pynchon.