Friday Night Flicks: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
The cover of the new Surfer’s Journal features art by Ralph Steadman taken from Hunter S. Thompson’s 1983 book The Curse of Lono — which, of course you’ll remember we told you all about here. The book features pasty and very British Ralph Steadman heading to the islands with a fired up Hunter. The two make their magical collab art and manage to piss off the Hawaiian locals enough to be cursed forever…or something like that. We often read the intro to the book in our meetings on Monday mornings. We’ve found it works like a starting gun for the week ahead. Or a Friday night for that matter. Bang! Let’s go!
The Curse of Lono by Hunter S. Thompson with art by Ralph Steadman.
This week my beloved Criterion Collection announced they’ll be featuring Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas this month with a bounty of bonus materials you’ll actually wanna watch. Docs and commentary by Hunter, art features by Ralph, insight into behind the scenes drama, Jim Jarmusch makes an appearance somehow, Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro audio commentary and much more. Check the whole presentation out here.
The film itself is about as fun as cinema gets if you ask me and Johnny Depp is often more Hunter than Hunter himself. Hunter would agree. If you haven’t seen it, the film, much like the book, slowly infiltrates your nervous system in increasingly high doses until you aren’t sure whether you’re watching a movie or slipping into your own bad trip.
Skip the scroll and watch it. Just don’t blame us if you find yourself wandering around Barstow on Sunday morning mumbling to yourself about the dirt being sticky. —Travis Ferré
Johnny Depp as Hunter and Benicia Del Toro as Raul Duke. Toby Mcguire as “scared shitless kid.”
