CULTURE
Heady Entertainment: Talking Dogs, Hilarious Hitmen, and Suburban Zombies
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This week’s booty is abundant with bud-worthy nuggets, including Wes Anderson’s new stop-motion canine adventure and Bill Hader’s killer new comedy “Barry.”
Published on March 23, 2018

Welcome back to Heady Entertainment, MERRY JANE's weekly guide to just-released movies, books, TV shows, and music — all fresh, dank, and THC-friendly. In specific, we choose our picks based on how they can enhance your combined consumption of cannabis and entertainment.

This week's booty is abundant with bud-worthy nuggets, including Wes Anderson's new stop-motion canine adventure, extreme swings in funny business on Netflix with The Comedians and Santa Clarita Diet, Bill Hader as a crack-up killer on Barry, and a deranged version of The Island of Dr. Moreau that will have you wondering what your stash is laced with. So let's go straight — but not "straight" — to this week's fresh-rolled recommendations.

Movies

"Isle of Dogs" (2018)
Director: Wes Anderson
Cast: Edward Norton, Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray

Cinema quirk-meister general Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums) scored a minor cult favorite in 2008 with his stop-motion kid flick The Fantastic Mr. Fox. And, in fact, those talking animals have proven to be pretty fun for adults to blaze along to, as well.

Ten years later, Anderson is aiming even higher with Isle of Dogs, a futuristic saga of canine life on the title property, retro-future sci-fi, Japanese culture, and cool puppets that become infinitely more fascinating once viewed through the filter of marijuana.

"Unsane" (2018)
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Juno Temple

Unsane starts as a typical stalker thriller with Claire Foy getting understandably weirded out by Joshua Leonard as her scary and obsessive ex.

The movie itself weirds out, then, when Claire checks into a psychiatric facility to cope, only to find that part of the place's shock therapy is isolation that fires up tripped-out terror hallucinations with patients' minds. The volatile visions, compounded with some cannabis, will provide ample opportunities to have your own cranium explode.

Streaming

"Santa Clarita Diet": Season 2 (2018)
Creator: Victor Fresno
Cast: Drew Barrymore, Timothy Olyphant, Liv Hewson
Watch It: Netflix

On Santa Clarita Diet, Drew Barrymore plays a friendly, sexy suburban mom who manages a real estate business while also attempting to manage the fact that she's been infected with a zombie virus.

Timothy Olyphant alternates between cold-blood and full-on flipping out as Drew's husband and business partner. On occasion, he's got to help the missus sink her choppers into some fresh human meat.

All in all, the show makes us wonder one thing: If someone were to eat extreme quantities of high-potency edibles, and Drew Barrymore subsequently ate that stoner's flesh and brains, would she get high, too? Can zombies get high? We have a lot to think about… where's the bong?

"The Standups": Season 2 (2018)
Cast: Rachel Feinstein, Joe List, Aparna Nancherla
Watch It: Netflix

Netflix follows up last year's hit comic showcase with another potent crop of funny people: Rachel Feinstein, Kyle Kinane, Joe List, Brent Morin, Aparna Nancherla, and Gina Yashere.

Not every comic on hand is a stoner, and not every joke is weed-related — but you're a stoner, so every time you bust up watching The Standups, we're guessing it's going to be — at least in part — weed-related.

TV

"Barry": Season One (2018)
Creators: Bill Hader, Alec Berg
Cast: Bill Hader, Sarah Goldberg, Henry Winkler
Watch It: HBO

SNL titan Bill Hader plays the title character on Barry. He's a bored ex-Marine who takes a hitman assignment that leads him to acting class. Once there, this cold-blooded killer's heart melts over his newfound love of stagecraft. Co-created by Hader and one of Silicon Valley's chief's architects, Alec Berg, Barry promises high action spiked with hard laughter that seems perfect to pass a pipe to.

"Krypton": Season One (2018)
Creator: David S. Goyer
Cast: Cameron Cuffe, Georgina Campbell, Ian McElhinney
Watch It: SyFy

The premise of a series set in the mad science realm of Superman's OG home planet before it blew up seems weed-worthy enough.

The new SyFy spin on Krypton, though, adds a time-travel twist involving classic DC characters Adam Strange and Brainiac journeying from our present time on Earth to make sure nobody stops Jor-El from blasting baby Supes our way.

Just spark up, enjoy, and don't bother wrapping your head around all the interconnected details until later.

"Silicon Valley": Season 5 (2018)
Creators: Mike Judge, Alec Berg, Dave Krinsky
Cast: Thomas Middleditch, Martin Starr, Kumail Nanjiani

Watch It: HBO

Toke-lord T.J. Miller may be gone from Silicon Valley this year, but the lit spirit of this all-time stoner sitcom classic burns bright for another go-round of high-tech dreams done in by uproarious low-ball foolishness.

Cult-Classic Reissues

"The 'burbs" (1989)
Director: Joe Dante
Cast: Tom Hanks, Carrie Fisher, Bruce Dern
Get It: Shout Factory

Joe Dante's creep-out cult comedy showcases Tom Hanks as the lone voice of sanity in a suburban cul-de-sac where he's surrounded by Corey Haim as a teenage stoner, Bruce Dern as a gung-ho gun nut, and the Klopeks. That last bunch is an all-male family of cannibals who are, at once, as weird and hilarious and paranoia-inducing as your most vivid post-smoking suspicions about your own neighbors.

"The Twilight People" (1972)
Director: Eddie Romero
Cast: Pam Grier, John Ashley, Pat Woodell
Get It: MVD

The loopy, loony, low-budget Island of Dr. Moreau rip-off The Twilight People is a bug-out from the get go. Shot in the Philippines by Eddie Romero, the island nation's own Ed Wood, the film is set in very real, very intimidating jungles and loaded with amazingly fake, gloriously non-intimidating animal-human hybrid special effects.

The low-flying bat-man must be seen to be not believed. The same goes for blaxploitation goddess Pam Grier, whose character here is simply named "Panther Woman." Roar!

Music

"FWMM"
By Tiara Thomas
Get It: iTunes

FWMM stands for Fucking With My Mind (and, to some, Fuck Weekends Make Money). The deep-souled, fiercely sophisticated singer-songwriter-producer Tiara Thomas not only does just that on this release — she pierces the heart just as surely, and with just as much positive disruption.

Tackling sexuality, gender, life goals, and relationships — romantic and otherwise — Tiara's talent and the album's hyper-potent production provide a rich, riveting soundtrack. It's ideal both for sharing over a joint with others or just taking a deep draw in by yourself. Then all you have to do is let the music beautifully mess with your mind — and everywhere else.

"Edgewood"
By Trouble
Get It: iTunes

Atlanta rap giant Trouble bounces hard from last November's drug bust with Edgewood, his surest shot to date, produced to grinding greatness by the mighty Mike Will.

How deeply dope does Trouble get this time? The sheer star power of the record's guest raps volumes in response: Drake, The Weeknd, Fetty Wap, Quavo, and Boosie Badass.

Edgewood's arrival looms as one of the key hip-hop events of Spring 2018. Light up as you listen on a scale to match this monumental musical moment.

"Don Talk"
By Don Q
Get It: iTunes

The Don busts out the big guns on Don Talk, his latest mixtape. Pusha T, Desiigner, and Tee Grizzly all drop by on the mic, while the eight tracks on hand tower so tremendously that it took Ness, Murda Beatz, Honorable C-Note, Nick Papz, Rel Ruger, and SOE95 to produce them!

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Mike McPadden is the author of "Heavy Metal Movies" and the upcoming "Last American Virgins." He writes about movies, music, and crime in Chicago. Twitter @mcbeardo
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