In the tomb raiding world of film podcasts, where opinions often arrive vacuum-sealed and pre-approved by Letterboxd disciples who say “actually” the way sommeliers say “oak-forward,” there drifts a peculiar and charming vessel called Fear and Loathing in Cinema. It is less a podcast than a late-night diner booth where the mozzarella sticks have gone cold, the coffee has achieved sentience, and nobody particularly cares who wins the argument so long as the argument remains entertaining.
The show traffics in the familiar pleasures of movie obsession: nostalgia, criticism, over-analysis, and the occasional spirited defense of a sequel no reasonable jury would acquit. But its real gift is what might be called the affectionate autopsy. Movies are pulled apart not with the cold efficiency of a coroner but with the curiosity of archaeologists dusting off a relic they can’t quite believe exists. Was it bad? Maybe. Was it fascinatingly bad? That’s where the fun begins. The hosts understand that cinema history is littered with glorious wreckage and that sometimes the crash site tells a more interesting story than the monument.
At the center of it all is a quartet whose chemistry feels less like a panel discussion and more like the dinner party that somehow survives both politics and tequila. Bryan Kluger hosts with the enthusiasm of a man willing to follow a filmmaker into increasingly dangerous territory just to see how weird things get. Preston Barta has a knack for finding the emotional heartbeat inside movies that others dismiss. Dan Moran approaches plot holes like a prosecutor who has spent weeks preparing exhibits. And Chelsea Nicole possesses the rare ability to cut through nonsense with a single observation that somehow manages to be both hilarious and devastatingly accurate.
On Episode #162 of Fear and Loathing in Cinema, Bryan, Dan, and Chelsea strap themselves to the wings of the 2018 Tomb Raider reboot and attempt to survive the turbulence. Starring Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft, the film operates on the charmingly deranged belief that if one adventure-movie cliché is good, then twelve must be better. Deadly viruses? Certainly. Long-lost parents? Naturally. Wild animals, ancient tombs, possible zombies, international conspiracies, and, for reasons known only to screenwriters in a panic, a bicycle courier weaving through city traffic? All present and accounted for in this Tomb Raider.
What follows is less a coherent story than a cinematic yard sale where every idea is marked down and tossed into the cart. Bryan, Dan, and Chelsea do their best to decipher the madness, connect the disconnected dots, and figure out how a movie can contain so much and still feel like it misplaced the instructions. The result is a gloriously funny conversation about blockbuster excess, franchise desperation, and the peculiar joy of watching a film try absolutely everything. Listen everywhere.
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WRITTEN BY: BRYAN KLUGER
Bryan Kluger is an entertainment critic, writer, and podcast host with a deep love for film, horror, and pop culture. His work has appeared in outlets such as Arts+Culture Magazine, High-Def Digest, Screen Rant, The Huffington Post, The Drudge Report, Fark, and Boomstick Comics. He hosts My Bloody Podcast and Fear and Loathing in Cinema Podcast, along with a weekly radio show, where he brings sharp insight, humor, and an unabashed passion for movies to every conversation.
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