The It List: Matthew McConaughey is 'The Beach Bum,' Drew Barrymore returns in 'Santa Clarita Diet' and the best in pop culture the week of March 25, 2019
The It List is Yahoo’s weekly look at the best in pop culture, including movies, music, TV, streaming, games, books, podcasts and more. Here are our picks for March 25 to 31, including the best deals we could find for each.
WATCH IT: The Beach Bum
For 15 glorious minutes, Harmony Korine's follow-up to Spring Breakers becomes a lost Martin Larwence comedy from the late '90s/early '00s, with the Big Momma's House star showing up as an accident-prone dolphin tour guide named — we kid you not — Captain Wack. That portion of Beach Bum is sheer genius, but the rest of the movie is pretty great, too. Just as he unleashed James Franco in Spring Breakers, Korine coaxes Matthew McConaughey into giving his most freewheeling performance in ages as Moondog, a South Florida hedonist who lives his life 50 miles at a time. The film follows the example of its leading man, ditching conventional storytelling for total immersion in his kooky excesses, and brings an eclectic cast that includes Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg and Jimmy Buffett along for the ride. After 96 minutes in this beach bum's company, you'll come away equally exhausted and exhilarated.
Buy tickets for The Beach Bum on Fandango.
STREAM IT: Santa Clarita Diet
Since its premiere in 2017, this odd, gory and endearing comedy has quietly become one of the best things on Netflix. After being transformed into a zombie by a mysterious virus, suburban real estate agent Sheila (Drew Barrymore, giving a career-highlight performance) attempts to keep life relatively normal for her husband Joel (Timothy Olyphant) and teenage daughter Abby (Liv Hewson) — even though life now requires her to eat the flesh of the living. Despite its supernatural bent, the show is relatable to anyone who has weathered a family crisis or personal catastrophe. It's laugh-out-loud funny, but isn't afraid to ask big questions — particularly in Season 3, when Sheila starts to contemplate the moral and spiritual implications of her undead existence.
Season 3 of The Santa Clarita Diet premieres Friday, March 29 on Netflix.
HEAR IT: Billie Eilish, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Her A-list fans include everyone from Julia Roberts to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea, and Dave Grohl even compared her influence on teens to Nirvana’s in the ‘90s. Now the 17-year-old maverick, Forbes “30 Under 30” honoree and future face of pop is set to own 2019 with her wildly anticipated debut album.
Download on iTunes; buy on CD/vinyl at Amazon.
READ IT: We Are the Gardeners, by Joanna Gaines and Kids
Beloved reality star and mom Joanna Gaines has penned her first book for the little ones, and it’s all about starting a family garden. She writes about the challenges they face, as well as the triumphs they celebrate, while growing their very own food and flowers. Gaines aside, the Illustrations by Julianna Swaney are simply charming.
We Are the Gardeners is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
WATCH IT: Jane the Virgin
Jane the Virgin ended its fourth season with a doozy of a twist (we won't spoil it), and fans have been patiently waiting for almost a year to find out what the heck is going on. If you're not already on board the Jane train, it's worth catching up. Despite its gimmicky premise (a young woman who has promised to save her virginity until marriage becomes pregnant through a highly unlikely OB-GYN error), The CW series is quite possibly the best thing on television, a funny and emotional saga about three generations of women (Jane, her mother Xiomara and her immigrant grandmother Alba) trying to find their way in the world. Inspired by Spanish telenovelas, Jane the Virgin both parodies and embraces soap-opera tropes, a tricky balance that has created some of the most daring storytelling experiments in TV history.
Jane the Virgin returns Wednesday, March 27 at 9 p.m. on The CW.
WATCH IT: If Beale Street Could Talk
Aside for a much-deserved Best Supporting Actress trophy for Regina King, Barry Jenkins's acclaimed follow-up to Moonlight didn't get nearly the recognition it deserved at the Oscars. But make no mistake, If Beale Street Could Talk was one of the best films of 2018. It should hopefully find a larger audience on DVD and Blu-ray when the soulful, poignant and at times devastating adaptation of James Baldwin's seminal novel about lovers tragically torn apart lands this week. It’s perfect for a serious date night.
If Beale Street Could Talk is available on digital, Blu-ray and DVD. Buy it on Amazon.
READ IT: Detective Comics #1000
Eighty years and 973 issues ago, Detective Comics introduced a "weird figure of the night" named The Bat-Man. To say that character has endured is an understatement. Gotham City's champion receives the deluxe treatment in the 1000th issue of his debut title, a 96-page colossus that features a bevy of beloved artists and writers — including Neal Adams, Paul Dini, Joelle Jones and Kevin Smith — and spans all eras of the Dark Knight's caped crusading career.
Detective Comics #1000 goes on sale on March 27 at your local comic book store, as well as Comixology and DC Universe.
WATCH IT: Knightfall
History's addictive medieval action series recruits moviedom's most famous knight — of the Jedi variety, that is — for its sophomore season. Mark Hamill joins the cast as Talus, a grizzled warrior tasked with whipping new recruits to the holy order of the Knights Templar into fighting shape. Amongst his current pupils is the show's central hero, Landry du Lauzon (Downton Abbey veteran Tom Cullen), a now-disgraced soldier trying to atone for his sins and attain redemption in his brothers' eyes. Come for Hamill's deliciously hammy performance, stay for the bloody action sequences and Game of Thrones-esque palace intrigue.
Knightfall airs Mondays at 10pm on History; episodes can also be purchased on Amazon and iTunes.
HEAR IT: Jake Owen, Greetings From… Jake
The country superstar’s sixth album, his first since leaving longtime label RCA Records Nashville, brings the small-town nostalgia with lead single "I Was Jack (You Were Diane)" — a loving homage to John Mellencamp’s 1982 hit “Jack & Diane,” which meant a lot to Owen growing up. Mellencamp gave the song his blessing and he gets a writing credit, so let it rock and let it roll, indeed.
Download on iTunes; pre-order it on CD/vinyl at Amazon.
WATCH IT: Barry
Bill Hader is back in his Emmy-winning role as a hit man involved in the community theater scene. In the second season of the darkly funny HBO comedy, audiences will see Barry getting closer to both classmate Sally (Sarah Goldberg) and mentor Gene (Henry Winkler), while being squeezed to continue killing. “Barry, there is an inherent darkness in you,” Gene tells him in the trailer for the second season, before deadpanning, “I had the same instinct about Charlie Manson.”
Barry returns Sunday, March 31 at 10 p.m. on HBO; stream it Hulu or Amazon.
READ IT: The Handmaid’s Tale (Graphic Novel), by Margaret Atwood
Get ready to see Margaret Atwood’s disturbing tale of a world where women’s sole purpose is bearing children in a whole different way. Illustrator Renee Nault has given an elevated comic book-look to Offred and the other characters, already known to readers of the original tome and viewers of the Hulu series. This should tide over fans eagerly awaiting the premiere of Elisabeth Moss and co.’s June 5 return.
The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel is available on Amazon.
STREAM IT: Stan & Ollie
You don't have to be die-hard Laurel & Hardy fans to enjoy Stan & Ollie… but it helps. The black-and-white comedy stars' colorful lives are captured with great affection in this low-key biopic, starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, respectively. The two actors brilliantly recreate some of their characters' finest sketches, replicating their physicality and delivery down to every gesture and punchline. While the story itself — which takes place during the final years of the duo's career — falls on the predictable side, the performances by Coogan, Reilly and scene-stealer Nina Arianda, who plays Laurel's wife, are way out wonderful.
Stan & Ollie is available to rent or purchase on Amazon, iTunes and Vudu starting March 26.
WATCH IT: On the Basis of Sex
You don't have to be interested in legal matters, or even Ruth Bader Ginsburg specifically, to enjoy this film about how the 86-year-old Supreme Court justice began her law career. On the Basis of Sex, starring Felicity Jones as the unstoppable Ginsburg and Armie Hammer as her admirably supportive husband, is made for mass appeal. It actually plays out more like a sports biopic than a political film, with a climactic courtroom scene instead of a final game. Watching Ginsburg build an unprecedented legal argument for women's equality — against tremendous odds, while raising a daughter and caring for a sick husband — is enough to inspire anyone to step it up a little.
On the Basis of Sex is available for digital download on Tuesday, March 26 on Amazon, Fandango Now, iTunes and Vudu; and can be pre-ordered on Blu-ray and DVD on Amazon.
WATCH IT: Tacoma FD
Considering it's created by and stars Kevin Heffernan and Steve Lemme, two-fifths of the Broken Lizard comedy crew, the easiest description for this new sitcom would be "Super Troopers but with firefighters instead of cops." And fans of BL's "smart dumb" shenanigans surely won’t be disappointed. More suited for the small screen, the show — which TruTV has slotted to follow their Golden Goose, Impractical Jokers — has much more kinetic, rapid-fire pacing to its jokes. In that regard, it's more like "Reno 9/11 but with firefighters instead of cops."
Tacoma FD premieres Thursday, March 28 at 10:30 p.m. on TruTV.
HEAR IT: Suzi Quatro, No Control
It’s happy days again, as the glitter-rock trailblazer and former Leather Tuscadero returns with her first album in eight years and a new band featuring members of the Sweet and Slade. The feminist icon’s track “Macho Man” is timely look at toxic masculinity set to some hard-charging guitar riffage, proving that we need Suzi more than ever in 2019.
Download on iTunes; buy on CD/vinyl at Amazon.
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