I Dig Crazy Flicks with CatBusRuss

CatBusRuss has a fun episode lined up next week in regards to a feature that has a musical status that is debatable. It has plenty of musical numbers, but its themes may overshadow the brilliant use of song and dance. To get you warmed up for that discussion with Luna Gray from iHorror.com, our host went back in the archives for more movies that do not scream musical, but song is a critical part of them.Next weeks conversation (Visit Russ's Letterboxd if you want a clue.) will be about a classic horror feature while the films he will be reviewing this week lean more comedic. To try and smooth the transition out, CatBus decided to watch Meat Loaf's return to big screen musicals in "Stage Fright" (2014). It is an admirable effort, but not worthy to share its title with the Michele Soavi classic.To Russ's credit, the next feature he reviews was produced by exploitation maestro, Roger Corman, and perhaps shadow directed by horror legend Joe Dante. "Rock 'n' Roll High School" only serves as a horror feature for mice. Otherwise, it is a fun way to introduce your friends to The Ramones.Our host likes the work of Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Marky Ramone, but he personally prefers the punk rock of Great Britain. So how could he resist watching a movie celebrating Joe Strummer? "London Town" is a heart-warming tale of an English boy learning to love everything punk (except the Sex Pistols, but nobody is perfect) through the guidance of the face of The Clash portrayed by Jonathan Rhys Meyers.Sticking with the punk theme, Russ revisits "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story". John C. Reilly's comedic tribute to one of America's first music punks, Johnny Cash, features an all star cast and the most absurdist take on the life of the Man in Black. It is R-Rated content that is reminiscent of "The Kentucky Fried Movie".KFM may have been directed by John Landis, but it was written by Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker. They would go on to write and direct "Airplane!", but there best narrative maybe the Val Kilmer vs. Communist musical comedy, "Top Secret!" Was all the surfer rock needed? Our host may be conflicted.If you want to avoid conflict when it comes to snacking, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For the first time in nearly two years, CatBusRuss & ThePoeticCritic present the concept of Ninety For Chill to a comic convention. They opened up the fan panels at the first Quad Cities Comic Con. Russ has found that being the first panel of a convention usually guarantees an audience. This was the case, but were they prepared to amuse the Kirkwood Community College Anime Club?These kids and chauffeurs had the same drive time from Cedar Rapids and the two sibling had from Peoria. Dubby Energy (use promo code CatBusRuss at checkout for 10% off your order) and punch & pie at least made the audience comfortable, but what were they going to bring to the conversation? How were they going to react when our podcast host suggests, "Does Hayao Miyazaki really need two hours to tell his tales?"CatBus was game for a fight. Would ThePoeticCritic succeed as a referee in providing counter arguments? Surely explaining box office motivations and the art of writing screenplays will assure that everyone will walk away happy.Speaking of confrontation, this panel inspired Russ to finally watch "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim". This anime spinoff and means for Newline Cinema's to retain the theatrical rights to the franchise clocks in at 2 hours 14 minutes. The film is not a Tolkien tale, just inspired by his Appendices. Should it have been over 100 minutes in runtime? Was any of it worth it?If your looking for something worthwhile, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

CatBusRuss is worn out. He thought it was going to be a chore attending the panel-lacking Planet Funk Con & QC Fright Con for Sunday, but he has to put in the time to promote "I Dig Crazy Flicks", even if he has to wake up at 4:10 am to impress at his new full-time job for the next couple of weeks. Attending the last day allowed him to get his steps in and check out a James Pax panel. If only they had turned up the mics loud enough for him to get the attention OG Raiden deserved over the crowd wandering the primary convention.As for Saturday, the only thing hurting was the wallet. But he was able to get an autographed Funko Pop! from Brian O'Halloran and some fun face-to-face time with Brad "Cinema Snob" Jones and Sam "Flash Gordon" Jones. If he felt any shame when talking to the "Saviour of the Universe", its that he did not smoke as much pot as Seth MacFarlane did growing up and watching the IP George Lucas could not obtain. Not being just like the "Ted" creator may have cost him a potential podcast guest.Russ may have tried to make up for his lack of debauchery by attending all the after hours event at the con. Friday was checking out video game music cover band Big Head Mode. Saturday was the Nerds in Heat Nerdlesque show and visiting his first after hours Moonlight Maid Cafe".If you are wondering why this episode was released a day late, CatBus has been exhausted since coming back to Chambana. On top of that, his New Year's Resolution was to watch 15 movies a month. Monday and Tuesday were dedicated to maintaining that trend.Tuesday's feature was the sequel to "Scanner Cop", "Scanner Cop 2: Volkin's Revenge". This scanner vs. scanner affair was not a winner, but how could it be after he watched James Gunn's "Superman" the night prior. If only had a date to catch "Supergirl" instead, he would feel like a winner on so many levels.A sure was to feel like a winner is to try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

CatBusRuss is starting a new job this Monday, so regardless if he was asked to host his "I Dig Crazy Flicks" panels, he is getting one more convention out of the way. This has led him to a chill pair of conventions in Davenport with movie stars that get him hyped for a film. Welcome to QC Fright Con & Planet Funk Con.Our host was made aware of Planet Funk Con from watching Cinema Snob videos in 2025 to promote his appearance there. By the time Brad Jones was advertising it, it was too late to apply as a panelists.Russ did apply this year, and received an email making sure that he was available because they "we're going to schedule all of your panels", but he never received any further updates. After seeing that Planet Funk only had one panel room, doubts arose. When he contacted the con about the schedule, all he received back was the same info being advertised.This left our host a little frustrated after restocking promotional buttons, but the Peoria Chiefs and the Chicago Cubs are out of town. The Quad Cities is as good of an escape as any place else.And thus far, he has no regrets. Just confusion that QC Fright Con and Planet Funk Con are being advertised as two different events. Why is Sam Jones of "Flash Gordon" fame a celebrity at the horror con? Was it because you cannot have more than one Jones per con? Does CatBus need to provide claymores to the two since there can be only one?Russ got to meet Ken Foree, talk shop with a 3D Pokeball dealer whom he met at Quad City Comic Con and Indiana Comic Convention, and having a great chat with Brian O'Halloran about podcasting and shared trauma of being clerks. Add a autograph from Matt Hill, the voice of "Captain N: The Game Master", CatBusRuss is feeling like a winner.If you need a winner when it comes to healthy snacks, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

What makes a horror movie try to do to much? Attractive French college girls not enough to keep a slasher's attention? If we do not do something outlandish and borderline offensive, is our summer camp movie unique?CatBusRuss is joined by Rae of the "B3 Podcast" to determine if tacked on twist endings make "High Tension" and "Sleepaway Camp" more endearing. Or do these not appropriate for Pride Month decisions just kneecap fun, simple, blood-soaked tales?If you want more cinematic limping, our podcast host decided that it was Morbin' Time. With under 100 minutes of narrative, surely he would not regret giving "Morbius" a watch. "How Did This Get Made" is not about torturing its audience.Russ is heading to Planet Funk Con in Davenport this weekend (June 26-28). Since there should be at least one bonus podcast covering the convention and an official recap next Wednesday, that is pushing everybody's tolerance to his voice alone. So he returns to the "Ninety For Chill Dot Com: The Podcast" feed to break up the monotony.Rae and the CatBus do go off on some tangents, but with a combined six years of podcasting experience (at that time in 2023), the ship never steers too far off course. But when the tendencies of French directors is mentioned, there will be some choppy audio waters.This is definitely going to be spoiler heavy. Alexandre Aja's breakout feature, "High Tension", is about Alex and Marie as they visit Alex's family for the proper peace and tranquility to study up for exams. Once night falls, a serial killing trucker decides to wipe out the family and kidnaps Alex. Marie knows that she is the only one who can save the survivor. What we do know is that she definitely controls Alex's destiny, in more ways that just survival."Sleepaway Camp" is about another girl, Angela, who is not who everyone thinks she is. She is quiet and shy to the point where all the girls suspect something is dangerous about her. Since there a series of freak accidents are killing off campers and staff every three hours, it must be the new girl. It cannot be just a coincidence. Perhaps if we knew what she was hiding.These two horror films both have moments of camp and brilliance, and that is before the twists are revealed. After those occur, do these competent films become failures. I for one am not suggesting that to Marie or Angela.If you want a snack that is not going to gamble its quality, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Vern from "Cinema Recall" asked CatBusRuss, "Is "Daisies" was the most "off-the-wall" feature he has ever discussed on "I Dig Crazy Flicks"?". The answer will be provided by the end of the episode.Vera Chytilova's "Daisies" is an experience and may be suitable for the "How Did This Get Made?" podcast. Not because it is a bad film. (With the exception of "Kpop Demon Hunters", The Criterion Collection does not put subpar features into their library.) It is amazing that this film got made in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, 25 years before the Iron Curtain fell. We are very fortunate that this film ended up being well preserved because once the Commies paid attention to this film after its success, it was banned.This film is about two young women, both named Marie, who are bored in a country that expects them to live with nothing while the bourgeoise live in elegance. They decide to take advantage of their youth and beauty and start exploiting rich men. Enough of the vegetable rations. Lets have steak and dessert. If Russ had an issue with the ladies actions, it is the flippant waste of Johnny Walker.This is a sly satire and protest film that seems like something that would have difficulty with the American Hayes Code, and it plays out like that. If the satire is not enough for you, the mise en scene and psychedelic color choices should sell you on "Daisies".The only thing that CatBus could immediately compare the nature of the girls in "Daisies" to is Tom Green in his film "Freddy Got Fingered". Our host knows that film has its supporters, but if you watch Chytilova's classic, you will realize that the critics in 2001 knew what a bad feature is."Daisies" is a winner of a feature. If you want a winner of a snack, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Indiana Comic Convention 2026 may not have been the most fun CatBusRuss has had at a nerdfest, but this was probably the most productive. He was able to put himself out there enough to vastly reduce his promotional material, and his efforts allowed him to demonstrate that he is a personable and authoritative voice in nerd culture.If he was not a strong convention visitor, could he have talked his way onto another panel?After visiting some really cool artists and catching up with hot sauce vendors, the rest of his day was dedicated to checking out panels. Nitin Bhojraj gave a great macroeconomics introduction by speaking of his goal to document every fiscal transaction in the "Star Wars" universe. Author/Translator/Lecturer Zack Davisson provided a fun history about cats in Japanese culture, and how they are all magical. The team from the Ray Bradbury Center had an amusing panel about historical inaccuracies in video games and whether or not they are a bad thing.But when it came to panels, Russ getting to join Chris Martinez from the "Big Dumb Monsters" podcast to talk about the 40th anniversary of "Aliens" was a highlight. Two of the panelists were no shows, there was no moderator, so a our podcast host volunteered his services and perhaps saved the panel. If he can figure how to put this in next year's panel submission form, he will at least save on the cost of admission. He just needs to keep his cool and not start a fight with the FanX group.Speaking of fighting, CatBus completed his week exploration of sword and sandals movies by checking out the "Iron Eagle" of 1982's shirtless fantasy films, Albert Pyun's "The Sword and the Sorcerer". It left our host wondering, "Why did they not give this guy all the money to make his movies?" It proved that he could be a winner when given the right budget.If you are looking for a fun snack for a Pyun budget, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

CatBusRuss is out of promotional buttons. This in itself would suggest that it was a successful trip to Indiana Comic Convention 2026, but its the friendships that count. Friendships that allowed him to be a substitute panelist because some people just volunteer for everything.His sign stating that "Chuck Norris was a Sith Lord" did help him get some extra attention.The first panel of the day was celebrating the 40th anniversary of Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns". Like most panels at FanX events, rarely is a moderator assigned. Novelist Darby Harn was made to take the lead with a panelist who was over her head in expectations. A sigh of relief was apparent when Russ showed up to sit in on the panel. Our podcast host may not be an expert, but he knows how to keep a conversation going.After the panel, Darby's copanelist was not up for the 40th anniversary of "The Transformers: The Movie" that was the next panel in the room. Fortunately he asked Russ if he was sitting in on the panel. This led to Darby volunteering the podcaster to fill in her spot for another moderator-free panel along side video game writer Cory Lanham. It was a fun time discussing the trauma of seeing our toys die, and how Gen X/Millennial parents are prepping their kids to watch this film at an appropriate age.For the crew behind the "Full of Sith" podcast, time is measured by exposing their kids to pop culture. This allowed for a fun juxtaposition during their "Mandalorian Changing Streaming" panel where they were joined by DePaul Accounting Professor Nitin Bhojraj. Nitin is working on documenting the macroeconomics within the "Star Wars" Universe, so it was a fun number-based panel about the evolution of streaming platforms.The next panel Russ attended was "31 Flavors of Horror" with bestselling authors Kiersten White, Alex Langley, and Ryan La Sala. This was a panel about their likes/dislikes about the current state of horror and their aspirations to see their work adapted to the streaming services. When you have a gay YA writer dropping a five-letter C-bomb, a good time was had by all.And when it comes to horror, Bootleg Safari delivered better than "Nanoshark". "The Simpsonsns" toys would give anyone nightmares with their bug out eyes and uncolored accessories. Hopefully they were meant to be accessories or that is the worst case of gout anyone has seen.The panel presented trailers for two rip offs from The Asylum and Aaron Reynolds guiding us through "Three Giant Men", a Turkish movies where Captain America and El Santo are out to stop a criminal mastermind in Spider-Man. It cannot be the webslinger because his colors were red and green instead of red and blue. That is more effort from the Turks to distinguish themselves from Western cinema than usual.With those films on his mind, Russ decided to watch a real movie and keep up sword-and-sandal week with "Pompeii". Can Paul W.S. Anderson standout with this disaster/gladiator hybrid flick, or will it just show how inadequate he is in comparison to Ridley Scott?For something that is beyond adequate, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

CatBusRuss concluded his first day at the Indiana Comic Convention with 20 3-Mile Island Wings at Hooters, so all would seem to be a success after a comedy of errors resulted in a late arrival to Indianapolis, failing to be in the right panel rooms at the right times, and enduring the original "Deathstalker". The crew from the Ray Bradbury Center at Indiana University Indianapolis and some pushing from a new friend made it all worthwhile.Our host was late to the con because he chose to try and see if he could make it "Deathstalker" week. He saw the second one at B-Fest this year and he had just watched the 2025 remake for the last episode of the podcast. Wanting to get a full eight hours of sleep (or the most he could get based on the whims of Eva the Queen Kitty), he did not pack his bag till the morning. As he was packing, and trying to forget about the poorly directed and overly rapey "Conan: The Barbarian" knock off, the thought dawned on him that he should break out the Captain N cosplay for at least one day.The wardrobe decision paid off for Russ because as he was trying to get an idea of what "Bootleg Safari" would be Saturday night from Effin' Birds creator Aaron Reynolds, he drew the attention of graphic novel writer Lan Pitts. Pitts felt he found a kindred spirit because of his eighties cartoon nostalgia and I Dig Crazy Flicks button that replaced "Dig" with the Cannon Group logo. A conversation would ensue about "Masters of the Universe", his latest novel "Beat Every 1-Up", and what is the sexuality of just being attracted to those who do not identify as men.From there he went and accidentally sat in on a very educational panel from Jason Aukerman of the Ray Bradbury Center about the history and need to resist censorship in arts. Russ's original plan was to check out one of the few older nostalgia panels at the con about THE "Star Trek Trilogy". It was probably for the best that he was not in a position to demand recognition for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" meaning they should be celebrating a quadrilogy.The serendipity of being in room 140 was that four more representatives of the Bradbury Center had three panels after Aukerman to check out. Russ only meant to stick around for two of them, a discussion about the history of fembots and an effort to shutdown those who say "Sinners" was no different than "From Dusk Till Dawn", but Kylie Adkins, Coye Lloyd, Christopher Adkins, and Andy Jorgenson were so inviting and friendly, he had to sit in on their queer legacy in video gaming panel.After this day, will Russ have the energy for the rest of the con? A good way to get that energy is to give a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough a try. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

CatBusRuss's friend, coworker, and Patreon backer Tim Bates brought up watching "The Dungeonmaster" from 1984 and how wild that film was. The immediate reaction from the "I Dig Crazy Flicks with CatBusRuss's" host was to comeback the next day with a potentially crazier flick to discuss. This was the push to get him to watch the remake/reimagining of "Deathstalker" that is currently on Shudder, the streaming service that past guest Gregory Carl turned to for films to bring up on the podcast.Russ is getting ready for a social networking excursion to Indiana Comic Convention 2026, so it brought back memories of when he hosted his fourth "Ninety For Chill: The Panel" with Gregory Carl as his guest. The two now have a shaky relationship, perhaps from their first IRL meeting, so if it is not going to find solid ground, it is probably best to release the last episode they recorded before the "I Dig Crazy Flicks" era of this podcast. This was another feature from Shudder, the ultra-violent, viral-outbreak horror film from Taiwan "The Sadness".This #RewindWednesday runs the gamut of what can be done with ultra-violence. "Deathstalker" is a campy, tongue-in-cheek love letter to the Roger Corman produced franchise while "The Sadness" is straight up drama and violence that was perhaps to intense for George A. Romero. One film is an ode to bright blood while the other revels in realistic claret. Russ thinks they are both winners, but you may need a heads up before you delve into either.If you want a definitive winner, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

CatBusRuss and ThePoeticCritic have made it back to the Heart of Illinois and Chambana respectively from Quad Cities Comic Con. It was a pretty successful trip to deliver a trio of "I Dig Crazy Flicks" panels despite the growing pains VXV Events has in their expansion. If the cosplayers are not gathering by the backdrops, how are they going to find the panel rooms?The two siblings ended up getting a small crowd for the "1985 Action Movie Triple-Threat Match", but these members of Generation X may have realized that the convention goers are generally 20 years younger than them. ThePoeticCritic's thoughts about millennials and gen-z kids not wanting to watch movies before "Jaws" maybe accurate. Fortunately, those who stopped by the panel were polite and supportive despite it not being for them.If you want to speak about someone who is kind and supportive, Mick Foley was kind enough to answer Russ's question about the lack of a Cactus Jack Cinematic Universe. After seeing his debut at "AEW: Double or Nothing", our host might have been better served to ask "Will Mrs. Foley's Baby Boy change his clothes from the previous day?" (The panel was on Saturday. #AEWDoN was on Sunday.)If you want more of CatBus hot takes, Russ included his hot take from "Trapped in Anime". The first comment he saw was, "If gatekeeping was a person," so he thinks he nailed that appearance from C2E2 2026.To conclude this #Ani-May, CatBus decided to revisit "Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation". It is an interesting take on the SF franchise, but our host is not a "Dragon Ball" fan. Is he fine with that style mixed with the World Warriors?What CatBusRuss does like is Doich! Snacking Dough.Try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

CatBusRuss and ThePoeticCritic received the honor of being the first fan panel at the first Quad Cities Comic Con. How did "Ninety For Chill: The Panel" and the "1986: RAD Movies or BAD Movies" go over? Thank the gods for Generation X chaperones.It is usually a great spot to be the first fan panel. They set the tone for the rest of the panels to come. Russ wanted to catch the Mick Foley panel, so he did not get to see if offering punch and pie really makes a difference in convincing an audience to stick around. Could Eric Cartman's hypothesis be wrong?The two Stevens siblings had a good time, but this being the first VXV Event in Northwest Illinois/Southeast Iowa, the vendors were lacking in quantity. But Russ left with a 3-D-printed Catpool, so there were quality vendors. Will his big sister leave a three-foot tall, fluffy Psyduck plushie? That is the question for the last day of the convention.Speaking of Pokemon, ThePoeticCritic introduced her brother to "Pokemon Concierge". It is a fun stop-motion animation series that tries to take the piss out of hustle culture, but is it #Ani-May appropriate? The series's characters mouths make different shapes when they are talking.The two siblings have a discussion about how it now seems that anime and gaming are taking over comic cons. It was not a big cosplay day, but when he saw some, our host recognized only a few of them. But all is not hopeless for nerdom, there was a Mandalorian that Russ could look at the top of his helmet's "T". There was also a fun build-your-own lightsaber vendor. Can the CatBus resist spending three-figure on a new one?Obviously, he could not resist catching the first showing of "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu" in East-Central Illinois. Should he have waited till AMC's RealD showing instead of settling on a plain old, digital presentation?If your questioning your snacking choices, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

CatBusRuss & ThePoeticCritic will be heading up to East Moline for Quad Cities Comic Con (May 23 & 24), so it is about time that they gave the audiences from Missouri Comic Con their proper respect. The first and most attended panel was "Ninety For Chill: Because Movies Are Now Too Long". It will be the first panel this weekend that "I Dig Crazy Flicks" will be presenting (Saturday, 11:30 am, Panel Room 2), but they are going up against Mick Foley. Thus, this episode of "Ninety For Chill: The Panel" may be the best the podcast can offer.It is going to be a lot of fun for Russ to chat about filmmaking philosophy with his big sister this weekend. Like many times before, she has saved the day when it comes to this podcast (including the first two "Ninety For Chill" panels). But hopefully, they will get an audience like the one from Springfield, MO. Our podcast host was on his own at Missouri Comic Con, and thanks to those otakus, it ended up being a great show.To further prep himself for Quad Cities Comic Con (and to honor #Ani-May), CatBus got around to watching "Otaku No Video". It is an ode to fandom culture, reminds you why it is fun to be a part of it, and laid the groundwork for "Neon Genesis Evangelion". This watch may reinvigorate our host's love of being a con-goer, not just a presenter.If your snacking game needs reinvigorated, "Perfect Blue" is a must see, but if you want to find a must taste, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This is a bonus episode born out of CatBusRuss's nostalgia. 33 years ago, the arcade ports of "Mortal Kombat" were released on Mortal Monday. Our host was invited out to the AMC in Champaign last Tuesday, so it only makes sense to review "Mortal Kombat II" while it is still early in its box office run.But Russ still has panels from Missouri Comic Con to release on this podcast feed. On top of that, ThePoeticCritic and her little brother will be hosting three panels at Quad Cities Comic Con on May 23 and May 24. There is too much content to release on the regular schedule, so our standard Wednesday release is going to be bumped to Thursday, so that we can bask in the memories of the bloodless SNES adaptation of the game that started it all. (All hail the Sega Genesis and ABACABB.)Of course, it is still #Ani-May, so Russ rewatched the first anime that he ever got to rent and attached it to this bonus podcast. Our host was always a Capcom guy, so he could not resist the chance to put up "Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie" against the feature that may bring back campy tournament fighter back to cinema prominence.If you are looking for a champion, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Jess McCord, a mind behind the tabletop role-playing game "Skies of Fortune" might be CatBusRuss's go to anime expert. The last time our host was up to speed with the animation genre were the days of ADV Films, Central Park Media, and Manga Entertainment.When it came to the distributor with the best full-length films, Manga was the company to turn to for timeless, possibly perfect offerings. One of those features being Satoshi Kon's "Perfect Blue".Russ still has panels from Missouri Comic Con to post on the I Dig Crazy Flicks podcast feed, but it is Ani-May, so he feels its only appropriate to post a review for an anime film before the TED Talk. The best attended panel was dedicated to the concept of Ninety For Chill. Since that was a discussion about the entertainment industry, it would only be fitting to feature a Japanese-animated feature about that."Perfect Blue" is the story of a woman leaving the world of being a pop idol to become an actress. If you know anything about that music genre, you know that this is the right career move. But all groups have fandoms, and all fandoms have unhealthily obsessed members. Fanatics who will not let you change the image they determined to be perfect.Satoshi Kon's debut feature deserves more than just a two to five minutes on this podcast. Fortunately for CatBus, Jess was in the midst of a binge of this maestro who tragically passed away at age 46. On a two-day turnaround, the Dread Pirate Syzer was ready to discuss this must see film."Perfect Blue" is a must see, but if you want to find a must taste, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

CatBusRuss and ThePoeticCritic are going to be hosting panels at Quad Cities Comic Convention, so they are going back to the vault to offer up a sample of their rapport. Our host also wants to celebrate Ani-May, but the two siblings have not focused on any anime from their past conversations on the podcast. But they can honor the Land of the Rising Sun with the big sister's love for the Queen and King of the Monsters. This episode is dedicated to their first tussle in 1964, "Mothra vs. Godzilla".Good on Japan for giving the lass top billing.Russ still wanted to attach some anime flair for this 2022 chat. Unfortunately, he does not have any giant-kaiju Japanese animation in his physical media or digital collections. But if the big green lizard can go toe-to-toe with a mechanical version of himself, it is not too much of a stretch to review a mecha anime. Thus, he pulled out his DVD of the motion picture sequel to one of his favorite nineties giant robot comedies, "Martian Successor Nadesico: The Motion Picture - Prince of Darkness (1998)".Because sometimes, you just have to get rid of the overly dramatic taste of Gundam. Thankfully, there is a cartoon about mech pilots who love the over-the-top seventies robot shows to do that.If you want something for you taste buds, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Reality may be getting the best of CatBusRuss. The search for full-time employment has sprouted some leads, but it left our podcast host so exhausted, he may have lost a week. He was doing his best to have the energy to check out the final Ebertfest. Unfortunately, the focus of regaining that power led him to think Champaign's film festival was a week later. Thankfully, parking was free the Friday when Russ arrived at the Virginia Theater to see the Academy Award Winning feature "Get Out". So it was not that much of a gut punch when he found all the lights to be out. He should have gone home to prepare for his early Saturday shift, but he had done his hair up, was smelling good, loaded himself up with "I Dig Crazy Flicks" buttons. It would be a wasted effort not to go to a cinema that was open.This led CatBus to see "Ready or Not 2: Here I Come" during its last weekend on the big screen. He and Michael Dubois both enjoyed the original "Ready or Not", so he was expecting a good time. It was just a weird day in the sense that he watched another African-American focused film, "Black Dynamite" to get in the right mind set to watch Jordan Peele's debut film.Russ had always been hesitant about revisiting this Michael Jai White film because, when he first saw it, he thought it was perfect. Why risk staining those memories? Since our host was asking himself that, he decided to also muster up the courage to rewatch "Dude, Where's My Car?".It was a movie where he may have left being the biggest fan of this 2000 flick after watching it with his classmates during their college days. All of them would tell you that was out of character for him. People do change, but does Russ really want to?If you want to make a great change to your snacking routine, try a flavor from ⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

1985 action cinema may have provided the most powerful heroes in fiction. Who would be the last man standing if they were to all enter a melee? It would be a better battle than anything involving Super Saiyans, Nameks, and weird earthlings. "I Dig Crazy Flicks Presents: The 1985 Action Movie Triple-Threat Match".Could Goku defeat Chuck Norris? If Vegeta could get up to a power level of 9000, what the hell was Sylvester Stallone's level when he beat the Vietcong and Ivan Drago in the same year? Androids with numbers in the teens cannot take out Arnold "T-800" Schwarzenegger.CatBusRuss⁠ and ⁠"Couchman Bakes" Andrew Tiede⁠ may have been the only two presenters at ⁠UI-Con 2026⁠ who were not focused on anime. The two have their favorites Japanese animated series ("Evangelion" & "Dragon Ball" respectively), but when they were kids in the 1980s, those series were not exactly abundant in the United States.The heroes for these two Midwesterners with Gen X attitudes were from cartoons based on toys. Toy lines that may have been the offspring of the most violent cinema. All boys owned at least one "⁠Rambo⁠" toy from Coleco, probably picked up from a K-Mart. And most of these kids tried set them against "Star Wars" and "G.I. Joe". Those with greater imaginations may have had them challenge "Transformers" and LJN's Wrestling Superstars.Maybe Rambo would go "My Little Pony" hunting.In Reagan's '80s, violence was something to be celebrated. 1985 was the peak of that mayhem. Who would not want to know which action star was the baddest? Russ and Andrew hoped their Central Illinois audience would help them determine the answer.Was it going to just be a battle between Arnie and Sly? Or did the Cannon Group's ability to make five action movies for the price of a single flick from the icons too much for them to handle?Were the two hosts afraid to bring in the glow of "The Last Dragon"? Was that the ultimate power in 1985? Can we sleep on the Shogun of Harlem?What about ⁠Sho Kosugi⁠'s ninjitsu? CatBusRuss further researched this when he watched "Nine Deaths of the Ninja". It was a weird watch, but shows the range that the greatest cinematic ninja had that year when compared to "Pray for Death". Are these two flicks going to make Sho the winner?If you want to feel like a winner, try a flavor from ⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://snwbl.io/doich-foods/RUSS76280

CatBusRuss has made it back from Springfield, MO. How did the "1985 Action Movie Triple-Threat Match" hold up to the power of the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Brent Spiner & Jonathan Frakes's panel? Spoiler: Riker is still "Number One".But, there was an audience for Russ's final panel at Missouri Comic Con 2026. This includes a mother who let her son in Eric Cartman cosplay check it out solely for the punch and pie. It was a lesson for our host to realize how old he really is. After the mother and her kid left, he was the oldest person until the cosplayers who decided to sit in 15 minutes early for a panel about working with EVA foam arrived. The oldest person by 16 years. Yikes.Thankfully, the aspiring cosplay masters were lively enough for some discussion about 1985 cinema. Is "The Breakfast Club" an action or adventure dramedy?The people who came into wait for the prop panel also demonstrated the secondary problem with this comic convention. Every panel room's start time began at a different quarter of the hour. This means there is no time to get to other rooms. Here is to hoping that not many people needed to move to a different building to enjoy themselves.As for the rest of the Con, CatBus was pretty much focused on giving away the rest of his popular custom pins from Sticker Mule. It is not like he was going to take the time to tell the con-goers how they were screwed up. Sadly, that means you get to hear about Sticker Mule's third attempt to tell our host to shut up about their bad customer service with $35 of credit instead of providing an apology.The adventure of "I Dig Crazy Flicks" actually concluded in Rolla, MO. Our host had to stop there so that he could be present for the recording of the upcoming 4:20 Special on "Collateral Cinema". It is great that most Hampton Inns now let you access streaming services, so that you can watch "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie" on their television instead of your iPad. As Russ waited for the edibles to kick in, he revisited "Monty Python's the Meaning of Life".Russ provides an brief opinion of the last Python film. It ends up being appropriate that our host decided to attach a review for "Screen Drafts's" contributor Rebekah McKendry's "Glorious". This is another review meant for the spooky month of 2025, but "Sinners" and "Tron: Ares" bumped into the back catalogue of "Ninety For Chill".It is a horror-comedy that Terry Gilliam would probably be proud of. Ryan Kwanten is a man devastated by the end of his last relationship who stops by a rest stop to let off steam. Once he tries to clean up in the bathroom, he is called upon by a god in the stall adjacent to his, speaking through a glory hole, voiced by JK Simmons. The call, to provide something through the hole to save the universe. This is a film that seems like it was meant for the concluding Python flick.If you need to give something...a try a flavor from ⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://snwbl.io/doich-foods/RUSS76280

CatBusRuss had arrived in Springfield, MO for his second panelist spot of 2026, the Missouri Comic Con. It was originally intended to just be the "1986: RAD Movies or BAD Movies" for Saturday and the "1985: Action Movie Triple-Threat Match" on Sunday, but he was given a chance to deliver "Ninety For Chill" as a last minute insertion to the schedule.If there is anything to be frustrated about, it maybe Russ⁠ having to miss the "Tucker & Dale vs. Evil" reunion. Is he more upset about not getting to attend, or that it took away from his second Saturday panel's audience?Our host probably was not frustrated at Alan Tudyk, Tyler Labine, and Jewel Staite at all. Because he is more upset about Sticker Mule misleading him about the small plastic pins he received for the con. Actually, it was not the order, it was their response to his review for the order. He should have known better since they are Trump supporters. If the orange twat can just throw money at you to make it go away without apologizing , why can they not?Russ immediately thanks you for your patience as he aired their dirty laundry on this episode. At least that took his mind off his crappy landlord's attempts to nickel and dime him.CatBus was pretty much focused on his two panels today. How the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds are laid out, the main stage arena is 300 yards from the panel rooms and show floor building. There were celebrity panels in the largest panel room, but our host was there to work...and stop himself from buying a "Pokemon Champion" championship belt. He has got to make that tax refund last.The panels went well despite them once again being TEDTalks. They may as well be called successes as he was greeted by many of the audience members afterwards. Or were they just grabbing punch and pie for the road?Regardless of their motives, Russ thinks he earned a victorious meal at Hooters. If only their was not guy taking their prom date to the dining establishment to make weird.During his panels, he did bring up some under-appreciated horror movies. One of them was "Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge". This film does the two things that all mass produced horror franchises should do. Turn the villains into the protagonists (like "Saw X"). And kill a lot of Nazis.If you want a snack that satisfies cravings like the puppets satisfy our dead Nazi fix,  ⁠try Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Brownie Batter, or Birthday Cake a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://snwbl.io/doich-foods/RUSS76280

It is another #RewindWednesday on "I Dig Crazy Flicks". CatBusRuss is getting prepared to host three panels at the Missouri Comic Convention 2026 (April 11 & 12), so he thought it best to bring a classic conversation back to the main feed. He is joined by frequent contributor to the podcast, Andrew Tiede, for a tangent-filled climb to the pinnacle of Steven Seagal's career, "Under Siege".It took a lot of time for our host to edit this episode because when he pulled up the original podcast art with Skimbleshanks the One-Eared Angel (At that time Skimble the Bastard Cat, R.I.P.), the episode was "Under Siege with Couchman & Buffy '92". Russ likes to cut out the extra reviews on these rewinds, but those are usually placed at the beginning of the episode.The "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" review was plugged into a bathroom break. That should be an indication how off the rails a film that features a Navy SeAL turned cook fighting off the prototype for Tommy Lee Jones's Harvey "Two-Face" Dent and an unhinged, Gary Busey in drag can take a conversation.Russ went to the "Ninety For Chill" blog to get a better idea on how this episode for a 100-minute long movie got an extra 25 minute tacked on to the podcast:By the point that I have integrated the "The Buffy Vampire Slayer" movie review into the episode, we have had three conversations about wrestling, Kevin Smith memories, and how we have done drugs. This is a PG-13 conversation, at least in terms of language, but the content might not be appropriate for those who have yet to have D.A.R.E class.Russ did not realize that D.A.R.E. is no longer a thing, so perhaps it is appropriate that he attached a review to the front of the episode for the action movie that solidified Jason Statham's place in the action genre, "Crank". That is a film that maybe the best attempt to apply the rules of "Grand Theft Auto" to the silver screen.Chev Chelios is not in a position in that action film to practice a healthy lifestyle. But you are. Try a flavor from ⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://snwbl.io/doich-foods/RUSS76280

CatBusRuss & ThePoeticCritic survived another Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo. Perhaps this was achieved by effectively staying out of each other's hair. Maybe it was getting the convention's celebrity sound bite from Geena Davis on DAY ONE. After that, could he really be let down?Well, the White Castle on Cermak and Wabash tried to put a damper on that, but when you have your big sis giving you the time to chat about their convention experiences, the Stevens siblings are unstoppable.ThePoeticCritic seemed to be up in Chicago to focus on making sure her boyfriend had a good time. She did not check out any celebrity panels on day one, but day two she checked out Christopher Eccleston. At the same time, CatBus was checking out Elizabeth Olsen's panel. He had seen the Ninth Doctor at Chicago Tardis while this would be a first with an Olsen sibling. She is in the MCU, so did we get any "Doomsday" spoilers? Lets just say, there were no fan questions.The other celebrity panel he checked out was Martin Sheen & Dule Hill's "West Wing" Reunion. It was fun to hear about Martin passing on his wisdom and his Lawrence Fishburne handshake to the younger actor, and he made sure the audience was with The No Kings protests in spirit. Russ thinks that was his way of apologizing for perhaps inspiring the current orange twat-in-chief with his performance in the "Dead Zone".If there was a decision that Russ may have regretted, it was skipping the Charlie Cox & Krysten Ritter panel to check out Trisrex Studio's showing of their fan film, "Aliens: Resurgence - For the Hive". Russ's fear was, as a critic, he would have probably gotten a better narrative from the cast of "Daredevil: Born Again", but that would deny him the chance to see pure, unadulterated passion that an aspiring fan could put out in 40 minutes.The only panel on Day Two that the siblings attended together was for Svengoolie and the Sven Squad. It was fun honoring the finest horror TV hosts, but Russ may have had more fun at the educational panel hosted by "Femmes Reading Filth" about what is needed for excellent, erotic fan fiction.As for Day Three, the highlight for Russ was handing out the "I (Cannon Group) Crazy Flicks" buttons to the Channel Awesome team. Hopefully, telling them about all the previous media he has purchased from the guys over the years would provide forgiveness for not granting them his patronage. (They should have brought more stickers.)ThePoeticCritic did let her younger brother know he may have missed out on the "Jurassic Park" reunion with BD Wong, Wayne Knight, and the grown up grandchildren. Russ told her if he could not pick Wong's brain about "Men of War", he did not miss much.If there was any problem that truly came to bug our host, it was that watching that short film meant his Letterboxd resolution to 15 documented films was broken. But, since its broken, he decided to post a review for 2023's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie". Did this pump him up for the sequel coming out today, or does he continue to stand by 1993's "Super Mario Bros."?If you need to pick a winner, try a flavor from Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://snwbl.io/doich-foods/RUSS76280

Thanks to ⁠ThePoeticCritic⁠'s beau, CatBusRuss managed to actually get a pass to all three days of C2E2 2026, so he got to plan on how to approach the convention and get the right amount of sleep. There were not many celebrity panels that he was interested in for the first day, but Geena Davis made the struggle to find the new main stage worth it. Our host is so on the ball that he even got to get a question answered from her.For the sound bite, the con may have been made for him. But I Dig Crazy Flicks is recognized as a business, so networking should be the focus of this excursion. Thankfully, Facebook actually let a post from Chicago Podcasters Unite! to show up in his feed. Russ hopes he has made some new digital radio friends. When one of them is up for chatting about "Six String Samurai", a lot of promise for future guests is what he left with.It also lead him to check out a fun educational panel from Lit-X. "The Learning Dead: What Zombie Stories Teach Us About Education" was the best panel the group has demonstrated since our host had been attending them. Were we celebrating the idea of an apocalypse? Per chance. We all agree that it is better to be ready for that than a Lake Michigan Tsunami.Speaking of disasters, that may be what the rest of the panels led to, but in a fun way. Russ's recent sobriety allowed convention goers to leave unharmed after some of their opinions at Channel Awesome's "Movies Everyone Disagree on with You" panel. As for "Hear Me Out: Smash or Pass", CatBus cannot help but feel like an outcast for not wanting to shag Tony the Tiger while being McCurious about the Grimace.This weirdness seems to be an appropriate place to post his review for Chris Alexander's "Blood for Irina". Russ purchased this film from the editor of "Delirium Magazine" back at last year's Indiana Comic Convention. He meant to post this movie, that is better than its IMDb rating, back in Octorber, but it definitely did not deserve the attention over "Sinners".What also deserves attention is Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://snwbl.io/doich-foods/RUSS76280

CatBusRuss and Andrew "Couchman Bakes" Tiede, knew that UI-Con was primarily an anime convention once they walked into the Illinois Conference Center at the iHotel, but their first of three panels that Friday demonstrated that the crowd may not have that much love for flesh-and-blood, English language-focused conversations. Perhaps they will color their hair or at least get some kawaii wigs for 2027.This was essentially the first empty room for the "Ninety For Chill: The Panel". A situation like this does not really affect an underemployed pro-wrestler and an aspiring comedian. They have both performed in front of smaller crowds. If anything it was educational to the crew from the convention who would walk in and take pity on the two. The staff was provided a demonstration of how to roll with the punches. And it let Andrew practice his crowd work."Ninety For Chill" was what "I Dig Crazy Flicks" evolved from. Russ believes that a movie should be no shorter than 70 minutes and no longer than 100. Andrew is just a few years behind our host age wise, which still places the two closer to 50 than hopeful. So they both grew up squeezing four films on one SLP VHS tape. Despite similar Midwestern upbringings, the Couch Man's past of doing three-hour podcasts based around movie marathons with Russ led him to open up with the thesis, "Perhaps Russ is wrong".Andrew brings up history to demonstrate Russ maybe too narrow minded, but can you win with guy whose Mom insists he should have been a lawyer? Nine hours of putting up with the CatBus to discuss "Tombstone", "The Thing", and "From Dusk Till Dawn", he was going to try.To get you into the mindset of CatBusRuss, our host has attached a review for an under-appreciated attempt to capitalize on the early aughts trend of bad ass heroins in sci-fi with the Charlize Theron starring adaptation of MTV's "Aeon Flux". He enjoyed it, but is a live-action remake of a cartoon something you want more than 100 minutes of?A way that you can be a winner is to give Doich! Snacking Dough a try. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠https://snwbl.io/doich-foods/RUSS76280

CatBusRuss will occasionally bring up the fact that Harrison Ford does not have a lifetime achievement academy award. He does not work as much as Samuel L. Jackson, but he has as many Oscar nominations. Another actor who deserves similar recognition to the man who brought life to Han Solo is Michael Biehn."The Terminator", "Aliens", "Tombstone". Those three films alone should make us wonder why the radar barely picks up this actor's efforts. So our host is going to do his best to make those blips a bit louder.Mentally, it has been a rough week for CatBusRuss. He is making his best effort to find a guest(s) for his panels at Missouri Comic Con (Springfield, MO, April 11 & 12). There are job interviews that technology seems hellbent on derailing. Trying to be a gym rat takes up a good chunk out of his times. Needless to say, the results at the Academy Awards did not need to be so off the mark."Kpop Demon Hunters" was the best animated feature of 2025? That is probably the worst decision since "Frozen" winning the award in 2013. But after enjoying "Wish", Russ cannot declare that. He needs to watch the Nordic fantasy to be certain. But he has already watched 15 films this month (like the prior two).There are video games to be played. "I Dig Crazy Flicks" is not paying the bills yet, so he need not be obligated to watch another 15 movies per month. If he must watch a movie, why not the only Michael Biehn/James Cameron collaboration he has yet to see, "The Abyss"?Because Russ started this podcast as "Ninety For Chill", 2 hours and 20 minutes is far too long a runtime. Fortunately, this episode will still give you aquatic sci-fi. Before we get to some Biehn flicks, CatBus provides us with a review for the 2020 Kristen Stewart feature, "Underwater".Once he concludes this placeholder for Cameron's under the sea film, this episode has reviews for Biehn flicks from the past three completed decades. Hear about him as an amnesiac assassin in 1991's "Timebomb". He provides great support to Sean Patrick Flanery in the 2006 vampire comedy "The Insatiable". And Russ provides a review of his grindhouse-inspired, directorial domestic feature debut, "The Victim" from 2011.Is Michael Biehn the Harrison Ford of genre cinema? That sounds like a pretty cool title to bestow on him. Perhaps that is better than any statuette.As for other rewards, CatBusRuss discovered Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough a try.⁠⁠https://snwbl.io/doich-foods/RUSS76280

CatBusRuss and ThePoeticCritic conquered another B-Fest. If you had to endure "A Gnome Named Gnorm" after watching at least 11 movies in 20 hours, you would definitely feel like you earned a win. For our podcast host, it was seeing "Demons" on the big screen for the first time (and a blu-ray of "Best Defense" that no one else claimed after the raffle concluded). For his sister, it was just further cementing the friendships the world wide web has provided her (and probably further bashing her younger sibling's appreciation of "Disney's Wish").When the CatBus arrived back in Morton, Illinois on Sunday, his father asked, "How was the festival?" He told his dad that, "The movie qualities were lesser, but the reactions were greater." To which he responded, "So, bad movies, good times." As long as you get the latter, the trip to Northwestern is worth it.The two siblings both agreed that B-Fest is a harder habit to break than tattoos. If you enjoy your first lock in at the Norris University Center, you will be back every year. It takes at least two ink appointment before you insist on using your skin as canvas. This is cinema heroin, but there are times that feel like movie-house fentanyl.Like Russ jamming himself into roller skates to once again introduce "Plan 9 from Outer Space" and "The Wizard of Speed and Time". He did not fall which is what his big sister feared, but when he got to see one of his childhood favorite space operas, "The Ice Pirates", he realized he over thought his presentation. But the sores in his toes were worth realizing that this early Ron Perlman film is damn near perfect, at least for B-Fest with its skates and blacksploitation. This is one he and his dad will probably try to sneak on for his little sister's kids."Voyage of the Rock Aliens" checked off the other element that makes for a great B-Fest, a kaiju (and lovable monsters like Michael Berryman).As for films that required drugs to either enjoy or forget, the "24 Hours of the Best of the Worst Movies Ever" had them. The two siblings debate whether or not the biggest Australian bomb, "The Pirate Movie", had anything redeeming about it. Should Russ regret not watching the Yuletide Nazi Elf movie "Elves"? Were too many household pets maimed in this marathon? Were Clint Howard and Alfonso Ribeiro's fates too gruesome or too funny in "Arachnophobia" knock off "Ticks"?There were some definitive crowd pleasers. We cannot call them art, but Bruce Lee's battles with other pop culture icons from "The Dragon Lives Again" and the absolute insanity of the elevator horror feature "Down" have to be seen by all cinephiles to grasp what B-movies can be truly offer.As for other offering, CatBusRuss discovered Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough a try.https://snwbl.io/doich-foods/RUSS76280

With B-Fest occurring this weekend (March 6 & 7, 2026), CatBusRuss feels there can never be too many monsters to chat about around Northwestern's annual event. So he reached back in the original "Ninety For Chill dot Com: The Podcast" feed for his first conversation with the crew of the B3 Podcast. Rae and Ween join the then Cool Movies Darth to discuss James Whale's most famous monster features, "Frankenstein" and "The Invisible Man".Since ThePoeticCritic was on the most recent episode of "I Dig Crazy Flicks", and CatBusRuss will be chatting with her about B-Fest 2026 for the next canonic episode, our podcast host decided that there needs to be a little more variety when it came to the voices on the feed.Russ and the duo of dames from Cleveland have a conversation where nothing is off limits, so this will be a longer episode, and perhaps a bit raunchy. It is from a time where the three "B's" stood for something, so you may want to brace yourself for the next two and half hours.To honor his friends from the Buckeye state, our host decides to try "Tubi or Not Tubi". He may have cheated since he always meant to get around to this Z-budget "Fantastic Voyage" X "Jaws" feature, but "Nanoshark" may serve as further evidence that cheaters never prosper.

CatBusRuss and ThePoeticCritic get ready for B-Fest 2026 by having a conversation about an overblown b-movie premise, "Kpop Demon Hunters". The feature is about to get a blu-ray release. Our host does not have an issue with that. What he takes issue with is that it gets to hold a spot in the Criterion Collection.Russ would refer you to Screen Junkie's Honest Trailer for this feature to support his argument. His big sister thinks its okay to let Netflix have its fun. And then she suggest that it will get the Oscar for best animated feature, which that leads to CatBus on a it would be better for Chris Benoit to be in the WWE Hall of Fame rant.This conversation also serves as a birthday gift for TPC's little brother, so she seems a little more patient with his controversial takes. She provides a means of reason, but how can she deny the damage this fad of a flick will cause. Kids will just throw around copies of "Kagemusha", "Killers", and "Koko: A Talking Gorila" to fight over the tale of Rumi, Mira, and Zoey".At least the other animated features in the Collection are further away in the alphabet. Films like "Fantastic Planet". This may have been one of the first Criterion blu-rays he had purchased, but he thinks there is a particular mood one may need to be in to watch a French film that has a trailer with gives off "Mad God" vibes. To be done, done, done with the Huntrx, the mood has been found.

Like the "Great American Bash" in the late eighties, "⁠I Dig Crazy Flicks⁠'s" 1985 Action Movie Triple-Threat Match: Stallone v. Arnie v. The Cannon Group (⁠Dudikoff⁠, ⁠Bronson⁠, Norris) continues its tour. It had arrived at GalaxyCon St. Louis on October 12, 2025. ⁠CatBusRuss⁠ was joined by ⁠Nix Eclips⁠ of ⁠Cinema Shitshow⁠ to determine who was the TRUE action hero of the last year where an action film could be violent just for the sake of it.Arnold "John Matrix" Schwarzenegger left GalaxyCon Des Moines winning his first "1985 Action Movie Triple-Threat Match". No one left ATL Comic Convention's Triple Threat with their hand raised, but it was determined that two of the Cannon Group's heroes fell to Sylvester Stallone and The Governator. (It was also determined that Chuck Norris left unscathed as per the rules of the Internet.)Saint Louis was a fun environment. They had their own candidates of who was the baddest, the meanest, and the master. CatBus left the city that he has an unspoken rivalry with (Go Cubs Go!) knowing that perhaps "The Last Dragon" Taimak's Converse's should be kissed.Russ will be heading back to Show-Me State for another edition of this cinematic brawl. To be prepared for the Missouri Comic Con in Springfield, he is looking for other action flicks from 1985 that he may have missed. This led him to continue filling his Letterboxd with Christopher Lambert movies."Subway" was sold as such. It was Luc Besson's sophomore feature effort. He would be the director of "Lucy", "The Fifth Element", and "The Professional", so that would lead one to believe that this would be action-packed cinema. What is certain, it fits his Cinema du Look aesthetic.

CatBusRuss returns to the "Ninety For Chill Dot Com: The Podcast" archives to discuss five films from the original "Scottish" hero, Christopher Lambert. He hopes Henry Cavill and Chad Stahelski will provide genre fans with a great reboot of the "Highlander" franchise, but when are we going to get an actual Scotsman to portray the title role?When are we going to get a Latin actor to play a man named Juan Ramirez? Russell Crowe should be great as a Sean Connery stand in, but Pedro Pascal does plenty of dying on screen.Russ was trying to decide which actor he was going to pull up for this #RewindWednesday when he was going through Plex's action movie line up. To add something fresh to this 2022 episode, he saw the promotional material for "Highlander II: The Quickening". This was his first "Highlander" movie since 2nd Cinema Home Video in Morton did not have a copy of the original 1986 feature. Even then he could not call it a good movie, but it was just so silly, he could not help but revel is the absurdity.As it turns out, they were streaming the 1997 "Renegade Version" (Director's Cut) of the Russell Mulcahy film. It is a better constructed film, but CatBus has been arguing whether or not the changed story beats were better than the original "Immortals are Aliens" angle. With the Internet Archive, he may get to figure that out at some point.In the end, there can be only four other movies that will be discussed on this episode. CatBus ended up enjoying all three parts of the Connor MacLeod trilogy. How can anyone hate "⁠Fortress⁠", his collaboration with legends Stewart Gordon, Jeffrey Combs, Kurtwood Smith, Vernon Wells, and Clifton Collins Jr.?And until the sequel to the 2021 reboot is released, Lambert was the biggest name from Paul W.S. Anderson's "Mortal Kombat", the best adaptation of the franchise thus far (per our host & Beau from "Collateral Cinema".There is a lot of action that will be discussed. What better way to lead into another edition of the "1985 Action Movie Triple-Threat Match" on February 25?

CatBusRuss returned to Morton, IL to visit his family which includes his big sister, ThePoeticCritic. If it is not a comic convention or film festival, the two rarely have schedules that allow them to record a podcast together in person. Thus, our podcast host was happy to rap with her about the poor state of the box office.It is hard to nail down when the older sibling got jaded against Disney. Russ thinks it may be every time an animated feature under performed. With all the live-action remakes of animated classics, a piece of her seems to die. We have heard rant a plenty about the House of Mouse being responsible for superhero cinema once dominating the box office.But in the end, she just wants them to return to creating great animated features, be it the Walt Disney Animation Company or Pixar. She just is not optimistic about "Hoppers" and is fed up with sequels to the billion dollar franchises. As always, her primary worry is a lack of personal stories being told on the big screen. CatBus pities for her not appreciating Star Wars' tale of fatherhood, "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu".Russ also focuses on the fact that if a story is good, it should impress all, even if it is not the target demographic. We need more musicals for the lasses. Exploitation is not a bad thing (just come to a B-Fest).Our host actually thinks Disney is not as bad off as ThePoeticCritic thinks it is. Inspired by this conversation, he finally sat down and watched the feature that the supposed fans of the oldest animation studio were determined to despise "Wish".It may just have been released at the wrong time. Perhaps the film should not have sold itself so blatantly as 100 Years of Disney. Russ left thinking this is the appropriate feature for children at this time. You will have to check out catbus316.bsky.social to see the two Stevens argue about the revolution CatBus thinks Asha, Valentino, and Star are calling for.

For CatBusRuss⁠ and ⁠"Couchman" Andrew Tiede, UI-Con truly kicked of for them at 8 pm on Friday night. The convention had taken a break from panels to let the visitors kick it to Otter Chaos and to prepare for the anime-themed rave. In other words, if you were there to be nerdy, the evening panels were where you wanted to be. Even if some may have lacked that Japanimation flair.This was "I Dig Crazy Flicks" debut for a new panel, "1986: RAD Movies or BAD Movies". CatBus had listed the similar movies and Andrew brought the box office stats to see what audiences thought at the time. It was a time where the important thing was to be first to a new film premise.Some would say one flick would be a blockbuster while the other a mockbuster. This panel takes you back to when there was no direct-to-video market for studios to spend little on a VHS tape to capitalize on a major motion picture. It was a time to go big or go home.Some match ups included in the panel are: "Iron Eagle" vs. "Top Gun", "An American Tail" vs. "The Great Mouse Detective", and a Robot Triple-Threat Match. Was it the audiences who won or was it just Steve Guttenberg?The two panelists/podcasters' first panel was 4 pm's "Ninety for Chill: The Panel". With its poor attendance (At least the staff found it cool.), the two got to talk shop about their remaining two panels. Here is where they realized that "Big Trouble in Little China" may have had a similar battle in 1986 with "The Golden Child". To be ready for the next time Russ runs this panel, he gave Eddie Murphy's Chinese dark magic adventure a watch.

CatBusRuss and "Couchman" Andrew Tiede may have felt like Frank Dux and Ray Jackson walking into Kowloon for the Kumite when they arrived at the UI-Con. There was too much anime cosplay to feel like they belonged. Would they need to demonstrate the Dim Mak to show they were the right kind of nerds?For those who feel this description is not appropriate since anime is not from Hong Kong, when CatBus was collecting tapes, the plot of "Bloodsport" was used for Episode 3 of "Street Fighter II V", an anime inspired by the video game.They both visited the UI-Con's website. The top photo is an image of the exterior of the Illinois Conference Center above a header of, "Champaign-Urbana's Anime and Comic Convention". Anime is first on the call sheet, but comic con led them to both think that you need not be an otaku to feel welcomed. Thankfully, it ended up being true, but there was an initial culture shock for two 40-somethings in Midwestern nerdy garb.When it came to panels not centered around Japanese animation, I Dig Crazy Flicks may have been the only representatives at the convention. Russ and Andrew were there to pitch the concept of "Ninety For Chill", determine which movies from 1986 were RAD and which ones were BAD, and to further determine who was the greatest action star from a time where we watched violence for the sake of violence, 1985. Without a focus on Japanimation, would anyone come to these panels?With Ally Higgins coming to be a cheerleader, they were at least going to put on a good show. And maybe buy some fan art to expand to their culture.Aside from cool trinkets on the floor, CatBus was introduced to "Off the Balcony Podcast". They offered up a great panel about lost media that anyone can connect with (anime being featured on every other slide), but they also brought out the anime-themed conversations to demand attention. Attention that also attracted legendary anime translator David Fleming and his awesome laser disc collection.Our two podcasters left having a great time. Russ even thinks it was a successful effort. You will be able to listen to these panels in the upcoming weeks to be the judge.But to further focus on CRAZY FLICKS, CatBusRuss has attached a review for another Lamberto Bava (Director of "Demons" and "Demons 2") film, Blastfighter. It is essentially "First Blood" exploitation but with box art that suggest its an Italian apocalypse film. Chekhov's gun has nothing on what Jake "Tiger" Sharp is packing.

Jason Parker offered up a lot of options when he petitioned to be the first guest on "I Dig Crazy Flicks with CatBusRuss" in 2026, but the first one he offered was "Caught Up" starring Bokeem Woodbine. It fit the standards of "Ninety For Chill". After watching "The Breed", CatBusRuss determined that this under-appreciated actor is good in anything, so if Jason was a fan, our host was intrigued.And then Russ saw that Tony Todd and Jeffrey Combs were in the cast. This near guarantee of cinematic insanity demanded his attention."Caught Up" was written and directed by Darin Scott, the producer of the critically acclaimed Menace II Society. This is not of the quality of the MTV Movie Award's Best Picture of 1993. It is not a gritty tale from the streets. It is a story of an ambitious ex-con getting seduced by a "psychic" portrayed by Cynda Williams which leads him into a world of diamond smuggling, noir-inspired gunmen, effeminate hoodlums, crooked cups, and Jamaicans mobsters led by Basil "Screwface" Wallace.Some may say this is Agatha Christie in the Hood. CatBus thinks it is a Keith David away from absolute perfection.The ending alone makes this feature a must watch. To avoid the spoiler, you may need to check out another episode of "I Dig Crazy Flicks" after an hour of the conversation.

While watching the 74th Anniversary of the National Wrestling Alliance (August 28, 2022)Gregory Carl blessed "NinetyForChill: The #Podcast" with his presence again to discuss Ralph Bashki's "Fritz the Cat", the "first" X-Rated animated feature and the most successful independent animated film of all time. This is a movie that discusses a lot of issues that are still extremely sensitive today in regards to race relations while being as explicit as narratively possible. It is a film that needs to be chatted about, but not around the kiddies.It has been a film that CatBusRuss had always wanted to get around to, but the reputation still seemed a bit much. How can you sexualize cats? Our host knew that the creator of the comic, the legendary Robert Crumb, disowned the feature, but I did not know it was about race relation issues.As a fan of "American Pop" and who is appreciative of "The Lord of the Rings" and "Fire and Ice", Russ was surprised and impressed to see Bashki tackle such topics, but is he the person that should be addressing them?To add some less complicated concerns to this podcast, CatBus includes his review for the "Die Hard" at a beauty pageant feature "No Contest". It is only appropriate since Russ just got back from Fan Expo New Orleans where Robert Davi was one of the celebrity guests. This film also has a cast that is kind of the summation of Gregory's attitudes. The lead villain is Andrew Dice Clay and his number one guy is Rowdy Roddy Piper.With all the wrestling chatter, the podcast runs over 2 hours in length, but if you do not need to hear about Russ's past war stories, the movie conversation is concluded before the second hour starts.

CatBusRuss successfully survived all three days of Fan Expo New Orleans 2026, and has stories to tell and a Joel Schumacher tale from Jamison Newlander. Do not worry. There is enough fun stuff to be discussed that you will forgive our host resurrecting the disastrous "The Crow (2024)".Having to get up early to catch the Billy Boyd panel, Russ took it as easy as he could when dealing with an ill-conceived remake to wind down Saturday night. He could not get his question answered in front of the panel, but per chance an autograph would give us the answer to, "Where are all the Scottish superheroes?"Speaking of autographs, CatBusRuss may have done his most gushing over a celebrity in the presence of Joe Pantoliano. The podcaster did his best to state how important to film and television he finds him as a stamp of approval for a project, someone worth having a drink for whenever he appears on screen as the ultimate that guy.The biggest name from "The Goonies" cast (per 1985 Corey Feldman), does not listen to many (if any) podcasts, so he did not know the impact he has had on podcasting about cinema. When Russ brought up the "Joey Pants Award" on the "The Rewatchables", he may have pissed the ultimate "That Guy" off. With that said, Russ has been on a social media campaign to get Bill Simmons to get in touch with Mr. Pantoliano to answer for not having the nerve to call him "That Guy" to his face.It is only appropriate that when you have a cinematic legend, that a movie he starred in should conclude the main festivities at Fan Expo. The movie was "The Goonies", and along side Joey Pants was his Fratelli Brother Robert Davi and three of those meddling kids, Corey Feldman, Sean Astin, and Kerri Green. These cast-mates had fun ribbing the conservative Davi's claims of being the nice Fratelli. More importantly, they spoke highly of how impactful this film was on Generation X, be it the foul language they spread or that this is a film that can actually be kept alive unlike the franchise fair of today.Sorry kids, Hogwarts is fake. Mikey's home is still standing.Russ brings up his walk down Bourbon Street and how three beignets hindered any real partying energy. He also gives some critiques of Bizzaro Wrestling and security at the cons needing to keep con artists (the types who may have been inspired by that twat Trump) from trying to sell their music "for the kids". If only our host was up for starting some shit, but an arrest 17 hours from home would not be a wise gamble.Stick around after the wahoo request to hear "The Hardest Working Man in Comics" Victor Dandrige stand up for young vampire hunters, like the Frog Brother from "The Lost Boys". If you think the legendary director of "Batman & Robin", can be questioned, of course.

CatBusRuss was waiting for panel approvals that did not come. But as he waited, he checked out the room rates available during the Fan Expo New Orleans weekend. Under $150 a night in the Big Easy was too good to pass up. Hence, our host is off on his first networking and promotion trip to a comic con.How well is Russ doing promoting "I Dig Crazy Flicks"? Not as well as Brian Plaideau from "NOLA Film Scene" (Check out "Ninety For Chill X Nola Film Scene" to get to know Brian and TJ.), but if he has enough Studio Ghibli attire, guests will come up to him to chat. Day One worked out a lot better with four separate pieces (six if you count the Jiji and Cat Bus earings). The Cat Bus hat on it owns might just seem too weird.It has mostly been a good experience, but CatBus is upset that hosts will no show panels that could be useful to so many content creators. If they are not going to use their time, he feels he better get in next year. There may be a little too much "Kpop Demon Hunters" influence as well, but he will say the Aerial Space Squad burlesque team made the idea look better than what made it to Netflix. Once Russ gets out of his shell, he is rolling.And the panels that he did attend were mostly great. Mike "Luke Cage" Colter came off to him as a little "alpha" male, but he at least knows that enduring struggles will pay off. Anyhow, can you be a alpha when John Cena is present? The 17x champ's humbleness puts us all to shame.Perhaps Jamison Newlander can. A hero from "The Lost Boys" is hard to upstage.Now, was Cena as much fun as Aaron Reynold's "Bootleg Safari" or a Mardi Gras-themed kick off to the Hobbits 25th Anniversary tour? You better have the extra $25 for the next Fan Expo they attend to find out yourself.It has been an odd experience for CatBusRuss's return to the Gulf Coast, so it feels appropriate for him to review the DC Animated Movie "Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox". We will see with Day 3 if this podcaster fixes the Time Boom.

"I Dig Crazy Flicks's" last stop on its 2025 comic convention tour was the debut of GalaxyCon St. Louis. CatBusRuss is out to further promote the concept that the ideal runtime for feature-length cinema, 90 minutes, with "Ninety For Chill: The Panel". To help him present his thesis, he is joined by Nix Eclips, co-host of the "Cinema Shitshow". The two podcasters had a challenging first day (day two for the con goers). Russ had to figure out what to do having never received the email with his credentials and figuring out the layout of the America Center. Nix was doing his damndest to work in the panel and get a Bruce Campbell autograph. If their panel goes bad, would they be up to slay at the next day's "1985: Triple-Threat Match".Fortunately, they ran out of punch and pie. That means there was an audience to argue the pretension of Christopher Nolan with. The two get to reminisce about the "good" times of the nineties where we only had physical media to amuse us. Nix also got to more thoroughly pitch his podcast.Reminder to Russ. When are you going to take on the challenge of the Shitshow? What movie can they offer that you cannot handle?To demonstrate he is up for nearly anything, Russ reviews "Lady Terminator". This is a movie that he discovered from Rob Hill's "The Bad Movie Bible" and endorsed by Aaron Reynold's "Bootleg Safari". It is Indonesia's knock off of "The Terminator". The twist, it is a reincarnation of a witch that is obsessed with castration instead of a bodybuilding robot from the future. After that, you get a beat-by-beat remake of the best scenes from James Cameron's best film.

2025 had left CatBusRuss joyfully busy this year with "I Dig Crazy Flicks". Busy to the point where he cannot stand the idea that Apple Podcast will claim that the podcast is updated "biweekly". To make sure 2026 starts off well, our host watched one more new (to him) movie and brings back another fun episode from the original "Ninety For Chill dot Com: The Podcast" feed.The title of this episode seems to suggest an awesome way to start any year. Can you go wrong with a triple-feature that goes from Emily Blunt to Kevin Bacon? Russ has found that he needed all six degrees to make that work out perfectly, but it can be made better with five degrees if you include the 1995 indie-comedy anthology "Four Rooms".The movies featured in the three degrees of Blunt via two degrees of Bill Nighy are "Wild Target", "Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (starring Ryan Reynolds), and "R.I.P.D."If you need a quality six degrees of Kevin Bacon that includes "Four Rooms", the movies needed would be Bruce Willis & Emily Blunt in "Looper", Blunt & Nighy in "Wild Target", Nighy & Reynolds in "Det. Pikachu", Reynolds & James McAvoy in "Deadpool 2", and McAvoy & Bacon in "X-Men: First Class".Pardon if the bad movie had been spoiled. Hopefully an appearance from ThePoeticCritic to talk shop will make up for that giveaway.

Jess McCord, co-creator of TTRPG "Skies of Fortune", left GalaxyCon Des Moines's edition of "Ninety For Chill: The Panel" with a suggestion for an anime that best represents the premise of "Ninety For Chill: The Podcast". CatBusRuss had been hearing about "Pompo: The Cinephile" from Jess before he met him in Iowa's capital city. Presuming this film was something that this anime expert was passionate about, how could our host not talk about this flick? We will soon discover that this was not necessarily about passion, but a punchline."Pompo" is the story of a movie producer who is more dedicated to giving new talent opportunities than chasing critical awards. Her PA is Gene, a true cinephile who loves to see the finest art made for the silver screen. Because of this passion, she insists that he will direct her script for such a movie. Is Gene up for that task and can he finish it in time for the investors?The two podcaster admire the concept of this flick, but is it actually good? There is a lot to love about it. As content creators, they both understand the struggle of making a thing, but everything seems to just work out for our protagonists in this world. Jess is left feeling overwhelmed at points with such a brief, all-encompassing look at Western cinema. Russ loves the inside baseball look at what is essentially a love letter to Roger Corman. With these two perspectives, does this film actually work or was it better left as a webcomic?Regardless of the final consensus for "Pompo", the two know it is the end of the year, and as "critics", their determination of the best films that they saw this year is expected. CatBus declares his "Best Ninety For Chill" of 2025 and Jess offers his favorite films released this year.Here's hoping this episode of "I Dig Crazy Flicks" is a fun Christmas gift, the ideal way to avoid family interaction if need be.

CatBusRuss did not intend to pull out an episode from the archives, but with the passing of Rob and Michelle Reiner on Sunday (December 14, 2025), he felt it was important to keep them in our minds and in the proper light. Rambling Ronnie and ThePoeticCritic kept their language at a "PG-13" level during this conversation about Reiner's debut feature, so our host hopes that he did not make this a "R" with stating his feeling towards the criminal who is squatting in the White House during the introduction.For the first time, "NinetyForChill: The #Podcast" has gone international. Rambling Ronnie has come on to discuss one of her favorite comedies and what is unquestionably the most important mockumentary of all time, "This Is Spinal Tap". This was the first R-Rated feature that ThePoeticCritic rented along side her little brother Cool Movies Darth. Needless to say, all parties are excited to tell the world aboot the excellence of this film.Russ (I) definitely saw this picture before I entered the world of professional wrestling. It was hilarious, if just for picking out the cameos like Billy Crystal as Mort the Mime and the oldest (and perhaps first) Fred Willard appearance that I had ever seen. After entering a showmanship profession, this film is even funnier because it is beyond authentic.For me, it was not a puppet show where I sustained my most severe documented concussion. It was wrestling during a Christion-promoted boxing expedition. Puppet's would have been an honor.ThePoeticCritic spent her teens as an amateur actress. Needless to say, she has her tales of nearly falling off balconies because of poor backstage crew. Being trapped like Derek Smalls is something all performers are or will become familiar with.Rambling Veronica (TPC's Twitter account impressed her since she was using Veronica as an alias), did not happen to have any tales to tell as a performer, but with the sincerity and politeness of Canadians, they all seem to share a common vibe. Provided they are not from Quebec. I am sorry I did not give the listeners a warning about the mocking of Montreal during this podcast.We all seemed to have been on the same page when it comes to comedy. Ronnie's last episode was about "Monty Python's Life of Brian". Us Stevens children were raised on British comedy. Monty Python was the only MTV we were allowed to watch. With "The New Red Green Show" being Central Illinois's "Red Dwarf" lead in, this podcast seemed destined to happen.Discussing Monty Python lead us to bring up "The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash". This was Eric Idle's Beetle mock that was produced by Lorne Michaels. When you bring up Lorne Michaels, you bring us "Saturday Night Live" and "SCTV". We end up talking about all of the best Western comedy that was influenced by the British.By proxy, I guess you can say all of Christopher Guest's mocumentaries are British comedies. He is a British Baron after all.ThePoeticCritic and Rambling Ronnie are even bigger fans of Guest's directorial efforts than I am. We do get to address and compare and contrast these films. It was kind of a silly part since none of us have seen them all. Ronnie is a big fan of "A Mighty Wind" and TPC seemed to lean towards "Best in Show". One thing is certain, you must give "Waiting for Guffman" a chance.

The feature that CatBusRuss is revisiting was originally titled "3615 code Père Noël", but is also known as "Game Over", and "Hide and Freak". It only feels appropriate to have so many titles when you take into account that the Cannon Group handled the international distribution of this film. The title of "Deadly Games" at least secures it a place on Shudder. That platform can never have too many holiday-themed horror flicks.This movie was released in 1989, a year before "Home Alone". Director René Manzor stated that he feels John Hughes may have ripped him off, but the film is way too dark to be compared to the Macaulay Culkin star turn. At least that is our host's opinion.Gregory Carl thinks it is closer to the American blockbuster. It is about a nine year-old who is quick to come up with improvised weaponry to defend him and his grandfather against a deranged Father Christmas. Both Kevin and Thomas live in large houses and you wonder where their parents came up with the money, but that is where the comparisons may end.Russ thinks this feature answers what if Chris Columbus penned "Home Alone". Just check out the wiki for "Gremlins" to see where our host is coming from. Kevin McCallister did not have to deal with insane, delusional criminals. Joe Pesci can be scary, but we did not find Harry to be murderous. Even worse, Gregory suggests that this film's antagonist may have perverse intentions. Lacking humor to accompany the violence, this maybe what a realistic bout with the Wet Bandits would look like.To get away from the darkness, CatBusRuss received a Christmas gift from Tubi. After 15 years, Albert Pyun's take on "Bloodsport" has finally made it back to streaming. "Heatseeker" stars two of the most under-appreciated martial artists in cinema, Keith Cooke and Gary Daniels, as two champions heading towards a rematch. What makes this a different kind of fight is that Daniels is being sponsored by a biotechnology corporation trying to prove that it is not enough to be human to become a champion. If you come into this feature after the first act, you will want to see where this story goes. Like most Pyun films, the question becomes, can you stand what you see?

CatBusRuss might need to do some research because this may be the last Merry Mark L. Lester Christmas. Last year, he covered what maybe perhaps his most memorable films, "Showdown in Little Tokyo" and "Commando". Our host is prepping for a 1986 panel to tour the comic cons, so maybe he will get around to watch "Armed and Dangerous" to compare and contrast with "Police Academy 3: Back in Training", but reviewing "Class of 1984" and the "Class of 1999" franchise may address the pinnacle of his filmography.He did not direct "Class of 1999 II: The Subsitute", but when you compare it to his attempts to become the next Roger Corman, like "Groupie", there is a lot of potential left on the table. It should be accepted as fact, a little more or just some Eric Roberts could elevate them both to B-Movie classics.Lester is a man who knew his limitations, and these class of movies show that he was a wise director because of it.

CatBusRuss was doing his best to enjoy Chicago TARDIS. ThePoeticCritic has done her best to get him to invest in "Doctor Who", but sixty years of content and everyone having their ideal Time Lord (or Lady), he was very much lost in the Westin of Lombard.The most fun he had the first day may have been spent in his hotel room watching "A Whisker Away", an anime exclusive on Netflix. A story that investigates the escapism of turning into a cat was not one that they presented to the 17 Doctors. This cartoon harkens back to "The Cat Returns". If that Studio Ghibli feature inspires other Japanese artists, why should the BBC not take a hint?Pardon the harshness towards the Whovians. Day two ended up offering a lot to amuse our host. The Christopher Eccleston panel was a lot of fun leaving us with the message, "Don't Trust the Wiki." CatBus then got to admire the dedication this fanbase has to keep all their favorite heroes alive in the form of the massive Big Finish Productions panel. If the BBC does not want to spend the cash to make new television episodes, the fans will buy audio stories where the original actors (and their kin) bring back their greatest characters.Eventually, Russ got to cut loose. There were panels about television shows that lack aliens from Gallifrey and looks at the futures of the DCU and MCU'. The latter panels only had the Stevens siblings and the panelists' podcast co-hosts in the audience, so it allowed the Peoria contingent's voices to be heard, dare dominate the direction of the panels.And then, there was the "Don't Blink Ball". You cannot complain about a day that ends with a DJ pulling out David Bowie, the heroes of new wave/early emo, and the less angry sounds from Chicago's Wax Trax.

ThePoeticCritic is having a good time at Chicago TARDIS, but CatBusRuss is not quite feeling it. This is indeed a convention DEDICATED to "Doctor Who", and our host is not the target audience.It is a neurospicy neighborhood. Russ has his eccentricities, but he also has patience and a degree of innate empathy. Make this crowd wait, and this crowd wants their true feelings known. This is a boys of "Big Bang Theory" vibe that brings CatBus comfort in knowing that he does not need to be tested like Sheldon, but taken a back by the stereotypes Hollywood sells.He found the panel with Jo Martin, the Fugitive Doctor, and supporting actresses Steph de Whalley and Susan Twist to be fun, but he was there to find out what he has seen them in that is not from the BBC. With his sister and her beau leaving him on his own, the challenge became finding the panels that were not too Whovian. When the one half of the panels that did not mention the Time Lord was hosted by two of the organizers, it maybe a fool's errand.

CatBusRuss & ThePoeticCritic did not have a traditional Thanksgiving. If you want to stay at the hotel that is hosting Chicago TARDIS, you gotta check in on the night dedicated to the false narrative of pilgrims and natives. Thus, where are you going to get a meal when all the restaurants are closed? The answer, head to Lombard's AMC Dine In and watch a family flick. For the older Stevens kid, "Wicked for Good". For her little brother, "Predator: Badlands".Russ would think that a feature involving animal prosecution would earn a PG-13, but his sister explains its PG rating. He is cool with that despite musicals seemingly be an out when it comes to a more restrictive rating. As for the latest Predator movie, making all the bad guys robots kind of takes the fun out of a creature that we know can rip a spine and skull out of a human in a single tug.The story is about a Yautja runt, so maybe it is for the kids who may only know the term from "Charlotte's Web".Like most episodes of "I Dig Crazy Flicks" that this brother/sister duo partake in, the two do talk about the state of the movie industry and the excessive amount of trailers you have to endure. The two finished their respective meals before the Nicole Kidman spiel. Perhaps more importantly, the elder of the two does give the younger an idea of what TARDIS will be like. Will be that enough for CatBus to manage a fandom he has no investment in? If not, at least there is a swimming pool on the second floor.

It is Thanksgiving Week, and CatBusRuss is very thankful for the opportunity to interview the writer/director of "Cuisine de la 'Pocalypse", Kyle Weingart. If you want a story about good food in a desolate land, this is a far better tale than the white washing of colonialism's effect on Native Americans."Cuisine de la 'Pocalypse" stars Kevin Jack as Chef John. John is an aspiring cook who yearns for fame in a world where all conceivable apocalypses have occurred. But his pursuit of this dream may have just put the newest bastion of civilization, New Missoula, at risk of destruction. If Hollywood learns of this paradise, it will inevitably be overrun with solar-powered homicidal robots, roaming biker gangs, and whatever scum the television industry can come up with. Zombies outside the city limits will be made to look quite quaint.To save New Missoula, he must go on a quest to stop this dial up transmission. Joining him on this mission are his sister-in-law Laura (Zuzu Weingart), her father and town preacher Wallace (Douglas 'Hurricane' Hall), local celebrity Landeaux (Nelo Butler), and "Hercules" Kevin Sorbo.Kyle Weingart went to film school, and after a few years serving as PA, returned to Montana to make movies. And the state was happy to help him. Thanks to a Big Sky Film Grant, there was no limit to hokey B-movie special effects he could use. It also helped him secure other established Hollywood actors like Natasha Leggero and Emilio Rivera. What more can one ask for in a sophomore directorial effort?Russ does his best to ask about the filmmaking process. Where did this idea came from? Is "Iron Chef" comfort television for him? What does he and the film have to say about granola? Our host may even try to pick his guest's brain on what needs to be done to be a successful (and since this film is over 100 minutes) and overly ambitions filmmaker.The film is worth a purchase on Prime Video, but Kyle would just be happy that you give this film a watch on Tubi. Happy Thanksgiving.

This is the conclusion of CatBusRuss and Gregory Carl's conversation about the most politically-minded movie from The Horror Master John Carpenter, 1988's "They Live". Being a film that stars Rowdy Roddy Piper, these two marks (an underemployed wrestler and a wrestling podcaster) will have their pro-wrestling tangents, but they have paid enough attention to the film to recognize the actor/stuntman legend Al Leong and the use of props from far more renowned films. Let's go bust some Reagan policies.Russ also suggests how Kevin Smith maybe Generation X's incarnation of Carpenter, at least in terms of directorial style. Our host may have suggested this in the podcast about "Big Trouble in Little China", but its good to run this concept by another cinema aficionado. There may not be many action films in the Jersey guy's filmography, but "Tusk" and "Red State" show he has a grasp on horror. A completed the "Great White North" trilogy is something that CatBus and Greg are hoping for.Smith is primarily comedic director, so it seems appropriate to attach a review of Carpenter's sci-fi comedy "Memoirs of an Invisible Man". Again we are made to ask, "Is this a Carpenter flick?" Regardless of how Carpenter it is, if he can handle James Woods, surely he can manage divas Chevy Chase and Daryl Hannah.

CatBusRuss is dedicating this week to the film that truly opened him up to the works of "The Horror Master" John Carpenter. This was a frequent post WCW Nitro/Thunder movie back during the Monday Night Wars. Featuring Keith David and Rowdy Roddy Piper, our host does not consider it the best Carpenter flick, but it maybe his favorite. If David had a role in "Big Trouble in Little China", it may not be able to claim that title.Russ is joined by Gregory Carl. He may not have been the ideal guest because there are a lot of wrestling tangents that come out. This should have been expected since Russ is an underemployed pro-wrestler and Gregory was an aspiring pro-wrestling podcaster. Of course they were going to honor the legend of the Kilted One. If it was not for that, this conversation would probably have been a one a one episode endeavor.Gregory was Zooming in via a Motorola Stylus phone (This is a conversation from 2022.), so his audio is a little choppy. His points are still made, but our host may not have been able to remove all of his guest's R-rated language. But if its not audible, did it actually get said?To add a little more Carpenter to the mix, CatBus has finally gotten around to the last film that he directed, "The Ward" from 2010, starring Amber Heard. Our host is sympathetic to this actress after Johnny Depp defamed and essentially blackballed her from Hollywood. Is she enough to carry a film that Carpenter directed, but did not score or pen?On Thursday, November 20, "I Dig Crazy Flicks" will further investigate what a John Carpenter movie is along with concluding this conversation about "The Live".

CatBusRuss headed to GalaxyCon Des Moines to see if the capital of Iowa could help determine who was the baddest action hero(es) from forty years prior. 1985 was the last year where action movies were celebrated solely for being violent. One liners are fun, but chaos reigned supreme.Sylvester Stallone may have had the box office with "Rocky IV" and "Rambo: First Blood - Part II", but this may have been the dawning of Arnold Schwarzenegger taking over the action hero crown from Sly. But is there a dark horse?The Cannon Group may have only survived as long as it did because of their low-budget action flicks. Michael Dudikoff and Chuck Norris bring the martial arts while Charles Bronson returns to the Death Wish franchise.And to make sure CatBus is not looking over any of the action legends, he reviews Sho Kosugi's fourth ninja film of the eighties, "Pray for Death". After Golan-Globus replaced his with the girl from "Breakin'", he started making hooded assassin flicks just to spite them.Russ provides a TED Talk energy to this panel. Without having a cohost for the panel, our podcast host talks a lot and goes on some very pertinent tangents. These were the movies that Ronald Reagan loved. Are these movies truly more than right-wing escapism? Is this the machismo that modern male influencers trying to capture?In the end, was it a good thing that PG-13 action movies would dominate the next 35 years? Are we mature enough as a society to know that these ultra-violent affairs should not be taken seriously?There is a charm to these films. They are mindless crazy flicks. Please leave your brain at the door.