Jon Prutow

Jon Prutow, now there’s a name you probably haven’t seen plastered on billboards, but the guy’s been lurking around the stranger corners of late '90s filmmaking. Tarantulas and Other Conveniences (1999)? That one’s basically a fever dream dressed up as a slice-of-life indie, where the mundane and the absurd keep bumping into each other. You get these weird, awkward moments—like someone stumbling into a room full of tarantulas, but nobody’s screaming, just chatting about groceries. Prutow brings this oddball energy, almost daring you to look away, and honestly, it’s kind of hypnotic how he makes you care about the tiniest, strangest details. Then there’s The Joys of Smoking (also 1999), which, no joke, is not your typical PSA. Instead of wagging fingers and dramatic coughing fits, the film just shrugs and dives into the weird rituals people build around cigarettes. Prutow doesn’t glamorize it—if anything, he’s poking fun at how ridiculous we all look huddling outside in the cold just to inhale some smoke. It’s dry, it’s a little sad, and yet it’s funny in that “yep, that’s life” kind of way. Skip ahead a few years and you hit Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt (2003). Here, Prutow’s part of this wild nostalgia trip, mixing old Batman lore with behind-the-scenes chaos. It’s campy, self-aware, and doesn’t take itself too seriously, which honestly makes the whole thing a blast. Prutow might not be a household name, but man, he’s got a knack for the odd and unforgettable.