Out in the ROTC programs 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.
On Episode #136 of Fear and Loathing in Cinema, the four of us Green boys decided to lace up our metaphorical combat boots and enlist, not in the Marines, but in the 1995 Damon Wayans comedy Major Payne. For some of us, this film has long been chiselled into the granite face of the Comedy Mount Rushmore, somewhere between Airplane! and Blazing Saddles. For others, namely Chelsea, the podcast’s resident conscientious objector, it was a first deployment.
And yet, against all odds and perhaps even better judgment, she had an epiphany, Major Payne is not just funny, it may in fact be the funniest film of all time. A bold claim, but a true one. But watching Wayans in full drill-sergeant drag, eyebrows arched higher than any Groucho Marx impersonator could muster, one begins to see her point.
We talked about the strange durability of this movie, a comedy pushing thirty that still hits like a push-up punishment. There’s the slapstick, sure, but also Wayans’s strangely nuanced performance, a man who could pivot from growling command to tender (if unsettlingly phrased) bedtime story without ever breaking stride. What surprised us most, perhaps, wasn’t the comedy, but the creeping pathos, the quiet moments that tug, however briefly, at the heartstrings, before Payne snaps them back into a punchline.
It’s a film where the “proverbial tiddy” gets popped (family-friendly, of course) and where lessons are learned, though not necessarily the ones the Army intended. And thirty years on, it turns out Major Payne still has the power to drill us into laughter formation.
So listen to the episode, available everywhere podcasts march and counter-march, or we’ll be forced to tell you about the Little Engine That Could. And nobody wants that bedtime story again.
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Thank you for listening.
WRITTEN BY:
BRYAN KLUGER
BRYAN KLUGER, A SEASONED VOICE IN THE REALM OF ENTERTAINMENT CRITICISM, HAS CONTRIBUTED TO A WIDE ARRAY OF PUBLICATIONS INCLUDING ARTS+CULTURE MAGAZINE, HIGH DEF DIGEST, BOOMSTICK COMICS, AND HOUSING WIRE MAGAZINE, AMONG OTHERS.
HIS INSIGHTS ARE ALSO CAPTURED THROUGH HIS PODCASTS; MY BLOODY PODCAST AND FEAR AND LOATHING IN CINEMA PODCAST; WHICH LISTENERS CAN ENJOY ACROSS A VARIETY OF PLATFORMS.
IN ADDITION TO HIS WRITTEN WORK, KLUGER BRINGS HIS EXPERTISE TO THE AIRWAVES, HOSTING TWO LIVE RADIO SHOWS EACH WEEK: SOUNDTRAXXX RADIO ON WEDNESDAYS AND THE ENTERTAINMENT ANSWER ON SUNDAYS. HIS MULTIFACETED APPROACH TO MEDIA AND CULTURE OFFERS A UNIQUE, IMMERSIVE PERSPECTIVE FOR THOSE WHO SEEK BOTH DEPTH AND ENTERTAINMENT.
