Welcome back to Heady Entertainment, MERRY JANE’s weekly guide to just-released movies, books, 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.
New movie choices this week cover a vast array of big-screen stoner delights, with the star of Godzilla: King of the Monsters battling freaky creatures of blockbuster proportions; Rocketman recreating the glamtastic life of Elton John; and Ma transforming Octavia Spencer into a major fright figure.
Streaming options abound with smokable moments, as well. Netflix scores big with the US premiere of the instantly appealing German TV series How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast). On Amazon Prime, an all-star cast faces a comical apocalypse in the Neil Gaiman adaptation, Good Omens. HBO delivers a proper farewell with Deadwood: The Movie, a closing chapter to the sex, booze, drugs, violence, and foul language of the classic series.
Our vintage cult picks are the insane drive-in action blowout Raw Force (1981) and the eerie cat-themed horror anthology, The Uncanny (1977). And marijuana-ready music includes new drops from Mozzy, Yung Gravy, and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets.
So let’s get straight — but not “straight” — to this week’s fresh-rolled recommendations.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
Director: Michael Dougherty
Cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga
Up from the depths, he rises again: the towering, titanic, laser-breathing reptilian title character of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the sequel to Godzilla (2014). The movie’s human-drama occurs when a scientist (Vera Farmiga) and her daughter (Millie Bobby Brown) get held hostage by an ecoterrorist (Charles Dance).
The reason to light up and let Godzilla stomp on you is to experience the glorious IMAX 3D smack down on the massive mutant likes of winged menace Mothra and three-headed dragon Ghidorah. On that front, King of the Monsters delivers kilos of delight.
Ma (2019)
Director: Tate Taylor
Cast: Octavia Spencer, Diana Silvers, Corey Fogelmanis
Going in to the fright flick Ma, be sure to smoke as much pot as it takes to forget everything you think you know about Octavia Spencer. Even then, the movie’s reinvention of one of our greatest contemporary actresses in a revenge-bent psycho stalker of hard-partying teens is a trip that may break your brain in the process. But it will be worth it!
Ma combines high school horror tropes (hip kids looking for a safe space to get wasted) with shocking trauma (the long-ago incident that turned Ma into a maniac) and genuinely creepy exercises in over-the-top insanity (Ma, at one point, laces Jello shots with animal tranquilizers for her underage pals), and it’s all cranked up, again, by the overwhelming presence of Octavia Spencer as the big, scary baddie. Ma is a motherfucker of a movie!
Rocketman (2019)
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Cast: Taron Egerton, Rachard Madden, Jamie Bell
Zooming in on the blockbuster fumes of last year’s Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, Elton John gets the massive, kaleidoscopic life story treatment in Rocketman. True to the superstar’s glitter rock roots and legendary ’70s drug consumption, Rocketman is a magnificent sensory overload set to songs you don’t even realize how much you love until you’re singing along with them.
As Elton, Taron Egerton first appears on screen in a sparkly devil costume with long horns and massively spread wings. In addition to all the hedonism inherent in that get up — which the movie depicts in delirious detail — such surrealistic imagery sets the stage for Rocketman’s fanciful, fantastic blend of fact and fantasy that will pair perfectly with your favorite blend of marijuana. Because lt’s be real: Sir Elton would want you to get stoned as hell before watching his life story on screen.
Streaming
Animal Kingdom: Season 4
Cast: Ellen Barkin, Shawn Hatosy, Finn Cole
Watch It: TNT
SoCal’s most dangerous seaside crime family of surfers, smugglers, and psycho thrill-seekers return on Animal Kingdom, with outlaw matriarch Ellen Barkin once again lording over her high-impact brood. Pack a bowl and get baked as you witness these perma-wasted daredevils pull off crimes that would be impossible if they weren’t high AF to make them happen.
Archer: 1999: Season 10
Vocal Cast: H. John Benjamin, Amber Nash, Jessica Walter
Watch It: FXX
For its tenth season, the droll, lushly stylized animated James-Bond-meets-The–Office spy comedy Archer reinvents itself for another loaded chapter of animated hilarity. So it’s time to tune in while high, yet again.
In the past, Archer has switched settings from classic film noir to cocaine-crazy ’80s Miami. This time, Sterling Archer (H. John Benjamin) is blasted into space, working on a salvage ship alongside longtime colleague Pam Poovey (Amber Nash), his boss-mom Mallory Archer (Jessica Walter), and her personal assistant Cheryl Tunt (Judy Greer).
Every sci-fi trope in the universe (pun intended) gets hilariously lambasted and in wicked, unexpected ways, creating ever new reasons to watch where this endlessly inventive show will go next.
Good Omens: Season One
Cast: Michael Sheen, David Tennant, Jon Hamm Watch
It: Amazon Prime
It’s tough to call what aspect of Good Omens is most intriguing, particularly if you’re pondering the following prospects while stoned.
First, it’s an adaptation of the 1990 apocalyptical novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett that filters the potential end of the world through a comedic pairing of an angel and a demon. Also, Gaiman scripted and serves as the executive producer of the series.
Next, consider that Michael Sheen (Masters of Sex) plays the angel and David Tennant (Dr. Who) co-stars as the demon; and they respectively work for God, who’s voiced by Frances McDormand, and Satan, who’s voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch.
Then just gaze in weed-whacked wonder at the supporting cast that includes Jon Hamm, Michael McKean Nick Offerman, Anna Maxwell Martin, Jack Whitehall, Miranda Richardson, Josie Lawrence, and Mireille Enos. Those are all Good Omens to puff to, indeed.
Historical Roasts: Season One
Cast: Jeff Ross, Natasha Leggero, Gilbert Gottfried
Watch It: Netflix
Hollywood weed advocate supreme and comedy’s presently reigning king of insult comedy Jeff Ross created and hosts Historical Roasts, a six-episode series that supplies just what the title implies.
Stand-up comics dressed as deceased prominent figures both deliver and dole out brutally hilarious beat-downs, in a manner so bold and brazen given contemporary society’s hypersensitivity that you figure Ross must have been stoned when he made all this happen.
Lest you think we’re exaggerating, just consider that Rachel Feinsten plays Anne Frank, who gets severly blasted by Gilbert Gottfried getting into his role as Adolf Hitler!
How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast): Season One
Cast: Maximilian Mundt, Danilo Kamperidis, Lena Klenke
Watch It: Netflix
Germany’s hit sitcom comes to Netflix and not a moment too soon. Inspired by true events, Maximillian Mundt stars as Moritz Zimmerman, a dorky, small-town high school student who attempts to impress Lisa (Anna Lena Klenke), the girl who dumped him by selling drugs out of his bedroom. In short order, he semi-accidentally becomes one of Europe’s leading online narcotics kingpins.
The title alone — How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast) — feels both revolutionary and like a prank (do you dare google those words to learn more?). Better still, the show is a rip-roaring riot. So roll a joint the size of a bratwurst, maybe place an order on a website we don’t want to know about, and instantly become a fan of this Bavarian treat.
Deadwood: The Movie (2019)
Director: Daniel Minahan
Cast: Timothy Olyphant, Molly Parker, Ian McShane
Watch It: HBO
Despite a killer cast, scorchingly profane and insightful scripts, and riveting direction, HBO western series Deadwood lasted just two seasons before biting the dust in 2006.
In the years since then, Deadwood has gone from cult favorite to something almost mythical — a bare-knuckled, double-barreled, foul-mouthed, blood-and-guts Old West epic that never skimped on depicting how drugs, sex, and mesmerizing madness conquered America’s wild frontier.
At last, now, Deadwood: The Movie gives the series the proper send-off it deserves. Torch up in its honor and ride off into the sunset with the show while fittingly lit.
Cult-Classic Collector’s Editions
Raw Force (1981)
Director: Ed Murphy
Cast: Cameron Mitchell, Camille Keaton, Vic Diaz
Get It: Vinegar Syndrome
Raw Force is one of the ultimate exercises in early-’80s grindhouse lunacy. To watch it is to be transported back to the trash-pit theaters of the day where passing joints in the audience was way more common that popcorn and, up on the screen, anything could happen — as long as it was completely insane.
In this case, Raw Force chronicles what happens when the Burbank Kung Fu Club takes a trip to a foreboding tropical island where they’re forced to fight off mad monks, sicko sex traffickers, and an army of zombies who somehow know karate.
With a gore, sex, and sleaze factor that’s off the chain, along with Vinegar Syndrome’s typically astonishing Blu-ray special features, Raw Force hits you like a drug in itself. Of course, you should also use actual drugs to be ready for it first.
The Uncanny (1977)
Director: Dennis Heroux
Cast: Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasance, Susan Penhaligon
Get It: Severin Films
The Uncanny is a late-era peak for Amicus Films, a British studio that specialized in anthology horror flicks during the 1960s, always making sure their multi-chapter productions were freaky and psychedelically-tinged enough to captivate tripping audiences.
Operating from the premise that cats are supernatural creatures, The Uncanny spins a trio of literally hair-raising tales that center on feline-related frights and fluffy-tailed revenge in a purr-fect combination of thrills and chills.
Severin Film’s sumptuous new Blu-ray of The Uncanny provides an ideal opportunity to curl up on the couch with your favorite kitties and indulge in a bit of cannabis not being used for catnip.
Music
And Now for the Whatchamacallit
By Psychedelic Porn Crumpets
Get It: Psychedelic Porn Crumpets Official Site
Australia’s reigning freak-prog weirdoes, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, live up to their moniker more intoxicatingly than ever on And Now for the Whatchamacallit. Inspired by old-timey traveling carnivals and circuses updated for the hallucinogenic drugs of today, the new LP is a sonic wonderland of crackpot calliope sounds, carousel melodies, Tilt-a-Whirl musical phrasing, and all around sideshow insanity amplified to be the center ring attraction. Play it and prepare to blow your big top.
Internal Affairs
By Mozzy
Get It: iTunes
With Internal Affairs, Sacramento rapper and smoke-master supreme Mozz continues to take no prisoners in the wake of last year’s Gangland Landlord. Specifically, in the case of the diss track “Chill Phillipe,” Moz takes aim at Philthy Rich. Elsewhere, though, Internal Affairs is all about overall conquest of your consciousness, so it’s best to open it wide first with some ingestible elements. Drop-ins include Sada Baby, Sage the Gemini, Lil Poppa, E MOZZY, Celly Ru, and Moz’s tightest homie, Teejay3k.
Sensational
By Yung Gravy
Get It: Creamium
From the album’s hyper-’70s outer-space disco cover art onward, Yung Gravy makes it clear that Sensational will blast through time and the cosmos alike, so chemically adjust your head for that wild journey. The 13 tracks here showcase Gravy rapping dank and dirty all over the universe, surrounded by guest shots from Juicy J, Mia Gladstone, Pouya, Ramirez, TrippyThaKid, bbno$, Lil Baby, and Lil Mayo.
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