What to stream this week: Pineapple Express, Mad as Hell, Difficult People, Galaxy Quest and more

There’s no denying that the humour in this classic comedy is often idiotic, but that doesn’t mean it’s not out-of-this-world hilarious.

If you live in one of Australia’s two most populous cities, it’s time to bunker back down.

Don’t feel guilty about spending all that time in front of the TV, it’s one of the very few upsides to lockdown.

And if you’re going to be staring, square-eyed at that screen, you’ll need something to watch. Behold, this week’s selection.

SOMETHING SILLY

So idiotic, so funny

Pineapple Express: There is always a place for the stoner comedy but outside of Cheech and Chong, few mainstream movies have so unapologetically embraced the love for marijuana as Pineapple Express. It’s a goofy and dumb story about a drug dealer and his customer who accidentally witness a drug lord and a cop murder someone, forcing them to flee. But it’s one of those idiotic movies that is too crazy and fun to dismiss. Watch it: Netflix/Foxtel Now/Binge

Difficult People: In real life, the characters played by Billy Eichner and Julie Klausner on Difficult People would be the kind of folks who would suck all the energy out of a room with their exhausting, non-ceasing tirades about everything wrong with the world. On TV, it makes them sharp, biting and highly entertaining. Love it. Watch it: SBS On Demand

SOMETHING SATIRICAL

Catch-22 was also produced by George Clooney

RELATED: Everything new to streaming in August

Catch-22: Probably most of us have used the term “catch-22” to mean being placed in an impossible situation without having read Joseph Heller’s absurdist book. If you’re not much one for the pages, this captivating six-part miniseries starring Christopher Abbott, Kyle Chandler and George Clooney, with a screenplay by Australians Luke Davies and David Michod, will illuminate you on the brilliance of Heller’s story about a WWII fighter pilot desperately trying to get out of flying combat missions. Watch it: Stan

District 9: Neill Blomkamp’s debut could easily rest on its laurels as a thrilling action movie with kick-arse sequences and a dizzying cinema-verite style. But it’s District 9’s social and intellectual heft – a movie in which alien refugees living in Johannesburg slums stand-in for South Africa’s dehumanising segregation and apartheid policies – that elevates this excellent film. Watch it: Foxtel Now/Binge

SOMETHING RAUCOUSLY FUN

Galaxy Quest is a classic for a reason

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Galaxy Quest: Galaxy Quest really doesn’t look like much from its logline: the cast of a former hit Star Trek-esque TV show is mistaken as real space heroes by an alien race who wants their help to defeat a fearsome enemy. But you would be wrong to overlook Galaxy Quest, a clever, hilarious meta-comedy that celebrates and satirises the conventions of TV space operas. The highlight among a stacked cast including Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman is Sam Rockwell’s Guy, an expendable “red shirt” with a great fear of the death he thinks is coming his way. A true classic well worth rewatching. Watch it: Foxtel Now/Binge/Stan

Mad As Hell: Australia may be preoccupied with the pandemic and Melbourne’s lockdown but that doesn’t mean the pollies around the land have stopped doing what you can always rely on them to do: be idiots. So, thank god we have Shaun Micallef and his team of cheeky jesters to hold them to account for their misdeeds and poorly chosen words. Watch it: ABC iview, from Wednesday, August 5 at 8.30pm

SOMETHING DRAMATIC

Burning is an atmospheric, oppressive thriller

Burning: It wouldn’t be on the nose to say Burning is a slow-burn. A moody, visually poetic Korean drama, it’s focused on a directionless young man who finds himself as the third wheel in a love triangle involving a girl he went to school with in his rural village and her sophisticated and rich boyfriend. Themes of trauma, inequality and entitlement makes for a heady cocktail with a shocking climax. Watch it: SBS On Demand

My Brilliant Friend: Only two seasons of this evocative TV adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels have been made so far (with two more to come) are they are a beautifully vivid and emotionally powerful collection of episodes. The story is as much about Italy in post-WWII as they are about the two young women at the centre, Elena and Lila, and their complex friendship. Watch it: Foxtel Now/Binge

SOMETHING NEW

Michelle McNamara obsessively hunted for the Golden State Killer from her home

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: The late true crime investigator and internet sleuth Michelle McNamara would’ve been the first person to tell you she was obsessed with unmasking the man she called the Golden State Killer. This eight-part docuseries is dedicated to her arduous task, adapted from her posthumously finished book – a portrait of not just a killer but the woman who sought to bring him in. Watch it: Foxtel Now/Binge from Sunday, August 9

Little Birds: Loosely adapted from a series of Anais Nin short stories, Little Birds is billed as a 1950s-set drama teeming with eroticism and adventure in Tangier. In reality, at least in the first two episodes made available for review, despite its visual pleasures (saturated colours, stunning costumes and gloriously delicious production design), the show feels cold and not at all sexual. That may change with the later episodes. Watch it: Stan, from Wednesday, August 5