In the driver seat of film podcasts, Fear and Loathing in Cinema sets itself apart with its irreverent blend of pop culture critique, nostalgic deep-dives, and a razor-sharp, at times almost uncomfortably candid, dissection of cinematic relics that were once scorned but now, with the benefit of time, seem worthy of a second look. Hosted by a group of unpredictable yet undeniably insightful voices; Bryan Kluger, a media director with a sharp sense of irony of offensive things; Dan Moran, a lawyer who brings an often absurd legal perspective of the film industry and Kevin Costner; Preston Barta, a film critic with a taste for the heart-warmingly obscure branch of cinema; and Chelsea Nicole, a culture critic who digs into the nuances of social dynamics and horror; Fear and Loathing in Cinema Podcast thrives in that rare space between sincere analysis and gut-busting humor.
In the latest episode of Fear and Loathing in Cinema (No. 117), the podcast’s resident connoisseurs of the absurd; Bryan, Preston, and Dan, turn their hazy gaze toward Grandma’s Boy, a 2006 cult oddity that remains one of the stranger artifacts in the Adam Sandler cinematic universe. Notable for being the first R-rated production under Sandler’s Happy Madison banner, Grandma’s Boy is also remarkable for featuring the usual coterie of Sandler’s comedic allies; minus Sandler himself.
This Week’s Highlights:
As always, the hosts of this podcast stray far from the beaten path, sidetracking in ways that somehow feel more entertaining than the very movie they’ve gathered to dissect. The absurdities that unfold become a crucial part of the show’s charm, its conversational energy the perfect counterpart to the movie under scrutiny. Among the many bizarre diversions in this week’s discussion:
- The Oscars are making all voters watch all movies before voting.
- The Simpsons released a spoof of National Geographic titled Yellow Planet for Earth Day.
- Michael Bay and Sidney Sweeney team up for live action version Outrun the video game.
- Brett Goldstein doesn’t want Ted Lasso to make another season. Is he right?
- Did John Cena win Wrestlemania?
- Clueless is getting a remake TV series with everyone returning.
- Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson are making a Neil Diamond cover band movie.
And, of course, the gang winds up pondering the most ridiculous hypothetical of all:What is the single greatest film performance you’ve ever seen to this day?If that’s not a moment of podcast gold, I’m not sure what is.
Movie Analysis: Grandma’s Boy (2006)
Upon its theatrical release, Grandma’s Boy was met with shrugs, if not outright disdain. Audiences and critics alike seemed mystified, if not repelled, by the film’s off-kilter tone: a middle-aged video game tester (Alex, played with stoner bravado by Allen Covert) is forced to move in with his grandmother and her two eccentric roommates after falling on hard times. What followed was a freewheeling, pot-fueled comedy peppered with video game culture, arrested development, and a veritable fugue state of ridiculousness. Yet, as often happens with these wayward, unclassifiable films, a second life awaited.
Once consigned to the purgatory of video rental shelves, Grandma’s Boy found its audience; notably the very same audience that would go on to steal it, repeatedly, from Blockbuster Video locations across the country. Over time, its stock has risen from derided oddball to beloved cult classic, revered for its unapologetic embrace of the juvenile and the surreal. Dialogue once dismissed as idiotic now scans as absurdist poetry; characters who once seemed like caricatures now have the warmth of old friends.
Bryan, Preston, and Dan, in their characteristically loose but probing conversation, explore the subterranean sweetness of the film, finding real tenderness in the relationship between Alex and his grandmother (played with scene-stealing verve by Doris Roberts), and a surprisingly human pulse beating beneath the film’s layers of dopey banter. They agree, not without reason, that Grandma’s Boy belongs on the Mount Rushmore of stoner cinema, a late-blooming vintage that; like a fine wine left forgotten on a dusty shelf, only improves with age.
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Thank you for listening.
WRITTEN BY: BRYAN KLUGER
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