We can’t stop here, because Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the Greatest Movie EVER!
Click on the movie poster or the title above to download our review of the film,
featuring Sean “Hollywood” Hunting and Dan “Diggity” Derasmo.
Review in a Nutshell: A faithful, visually imaginative adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s scathing condemnation of the hypocrisies of the American dream and the failure of Sixties counter-culture, Fear and Loathing thumbs its nose at the traditional three act structure. Also look for amazing performances by both Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro.
The Greatest Movie EVER! Podcast 
Yes – this is a strong contender for The Greatest Movie Ever, Paul!
Also, one of the most ganged-up on movies of all time – the reviews at the time were scathing, and undeservedly so, and a sure sign that the Mainstream (and even “alternate Mainstream”) media was getting really socially conservative in an UGLY way.
Fear & Loathing isn’t up on iTunes yet. Please correct this terrible oversight.
I have no control over iTunes, and no control over when they decided to update their records of my RSS feed.
It’s possible that he was referring to the film itself, as the episode showed up on iTunes for me on 3/13/14.
I think it’s a bit silly to say that Benicio del Toro’s career didn’t really go anywhere since doing this movie. He did of course win his Oscar AFTER doing Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and it was well-deserved for his role in Traffic. Stuff like Traffic, Che, and Savages (one of the few Oliver Stone movies that I didn’t despise) may not be GME! candidates but they’re certainly noteworthy.
I wish I could say it was because of Swimming With Sharks since he was pretty rad in that, but I became a fan of del Toro at the same time as everybody else: The Usual Suspects. I skipped F&L in the theater, but after I was one of like…two people to see The Way of the Gun in the theater (more people showed up for Snatch and Traffic), I went back and bought this one on DVD. This is one I respect more than I enjoy, for the reasons discussed in the episode. When the Criterion edition came out, the thought crossed my mind to replace my old copy. Then I realized “wait, I’m not actually going to rewatch this thing.”
In response to another bit on the show: it is also my experience that the most vocal supporters of F&L and Hunter S. Thompson in general are mainly about the WACKY DRUG ADVENTURES and EFF THE POLICE aspects. These people are also most likely to costume as HST or Spider Jerusalem.
I have to agree with Surrat here, Paul – Benicio del Toro’s career may have taken a year-long dip right after the movie’s release, but it certainly didn’t destroy it by any means. I can’t figure out why, unless it was that Social Conservatism Anti-Thompson Sentiment that seemed to spew out of every comment about the film at the time (they reviewed HST, not the movie, mostly!), because too few people saw the film in theaters when it came out to have made a difference!
I did – as did my friend Raquel. I took her to see it, and she went out after the movie was over and bought the book! I’d been talking up HST’s writing for a long time, but she’d never read him before that – now she’s a fan.
Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough. I was relaying a story in which del Toro’s agent claimed this role would destroy del Toro’s career. He’s been in plenty of things since Fear and Loathing, but apparently for some time afterward he had trouble landing roles.
I don’t think you were clear enough, Paul – not if you’ve gotten Darryl Surrat and I saying roughly the same thing.
So there’s an Internet Terrorist, and a Literary Terrorist. So who is the GME’s Anime Terrorist?
Nick “Dozer” Mendoza, who has never actually been on the show. Probably because his taste in anime is terror-ific.
Interesting. Maybe one day he will subject you to reviewing one of these anime.