Review

The one film shown at Cannes, Sundance, SXSW, and Toronto last year was not some European meditation on the Middle East but this stoner comedy featuring a talking dog and Carrot Top. Smiley Face, just out on DVD but still playing at the IFC Center, is a welcome 180-degree turn for Gregg Araki, who last directed the pedophilia drama Mysterious Skin. Anna Farris gives the comedic performance of last year as a struggling actor who accidentally eats her roommate's pot cupcakes and spends the rest of the day in a haze trying to replace them; co-stars Danny Masterson and John Krasinski are not to be missed as sci-fi-obsessed creeps, one of whom might be having sex with human skulls. — Mike Bilandic