Monday, January 6, 2025

The Best of 2024 and the Dawn of "I Dig Crazy Flicks"

Ninety For Chill: The #Podcast with @CatBusRuss

Bonus: Ninety For Chill 200: Night 2 - Kevin Smith v. The World.

Last week (12/23), ⁠CatBusRuss⁠ talked about movies that he would like to see take on "⁠Coraline⁠" as his best sub 100-minute film discovery of 2024. One of these films was "⁠Shredder Orpheus⁠" which, after he chatted with ⁠ThePoeticCritic⁠ and consulted ⁠HappyBeebsMeowMeow⁠, determined that the skater-punk, shot-on-VHS take on Greek mythology was not going to top the ⁠Henry Selick⁠ classic.

⁠Our host⁠ purchased the Brandon Lee starring "⁠Rapid Fire⁠" on DVD 15 years ago, and despite not giving it the proper attention when viewed on cable TV, he has seen Walter Hill's "⁠Last Man Standing⁠" in its entirety. Thus, it is up to Russ's favorite comedic screenwriter, ⁠Kevin Smith⁠'s, most recent film to end the streak of animated features from ending up as "⁠Ninety For Chill⁠'s" top movie of the year.

"⁠The 4:30 Movie⁠" is Smith's version of Steven Spielberg's "⁠The Fabelmans⁠". It is an "autobiographical" take on how he became a filmmaker. If anything, this film has inspired CatBus to put the Spielberg flick on his queue just to see if he makes all the tongue-in-cheek jokes that Smith does about how movies have changed since then. Thank the gods Smith has only been doing this for 30 years, and his love for cinema was an inspiration to all of Russ's entertainment projects.

I Dig Crazy Flicks: Captain America v. #Filmsky & ThePoeticCritic

It is a new era for "⁠Ninety For Chill: The Podcast⁠". ⁠CatBusRuss⁠ insists that 70 to 100 minutes is the ideal runtime for most movies, but when something topical comes along, it may capture his or potential guests' curiosity. If it is crazy enough, the film may grab hold of the collective attention, at the very least ⁠Russ⁠'s.

Welcome to the "⁠I Dig Crazy Flicks⁠" era of the podcast. It allows for a greater range in cinema to discuss and is definitely more marketable. And the craziness kicks off this year after Russ saw his father's reaction to a television ad for "⁠Captain America: Brave New World⁠".

His dad has never been to the theater to catch a Marvel movie, and with his reaction to ⁠Harrison Ford⁠ transform from POTUS to Hulk, it is unlikely he will despite CatBus explaining why it makes perfect sense.

Let it be stated, Russ is not the most logically sound of his family. He probably should not have left that conversation so pumped to skip pass "Wakanda Forever", "Quantumania", and "Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3". Our host might just be quick to excite, so he decided to consult with his older sister, ⁠ThePoeticCritic⁠, to perhaps talk him down...or trigger his argumentative nature as the two breakdown the flaws of franchise factories and post-pandemic cinema.

Follow me on Twitter @catbusruss. If you want to be on the show, contact me on Twitter or send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. All we need is a theme, movie, director, or actor and a focus on sub 100-minute material. As long as the credits start before the 1:39:59 mark on the runtime bar, the movie qualifies.

4 Years of Ninety For Chill: 1970s Movie Marathon and Christmas Cinema Chaos

Ninety For Chill: The #Podcast with @CatBusRuss

Episode 199: '70s Cinema Marathon: Before the Excessive Coke.

Eva the Queen Kitty and Queen of the Seventies

CatBusRuss⁠ decided to dive into some of his purchases this year. He explores half of his first ⁠Vinegar Syndrome⁠ order, the 1973 horror comedy "⁠Arnold⁠" and a classic he picked up on iTunes which was nearly his top discovery of 2020, the 1972 ⁠Bruce Dern⁠ sci-fi vehicle "⁠Silent Running⁠". Marrying corpses for inheritance loopholes and a conservationist space movie prove the seventies were a special time. Too bad cocaine and capitalism ruined these unique ideas come the 1980s.

Russ also discovered the difficulties of finding movies before 1980 on major streaming platforms. He found the offerings on Netflix and Paramount+ to be quite poor. Fortunately, Shudder is aware of what a classic horror feature is and Prime Video is a video library with fewer rental fees. The second half of this seventies marathon brings the full-frontal nudity with ⁠David Carradine⁠'s failed spiritual successor to "Death Race 2000", "⁠Death Sport⁠", and the steamy, lesbian-vampire classic "⁠Daughters of Darkness⁠".

The influence of the 1971 vampire film can still be felt on vampire cinema 50 years later. This inspired our host to revisit his review for the queer-vampire, indie-horror comedy, "Bit" to cap off this episode.

Ninety For Chill 200: A Christmas Miracle with ThePoeticCritic

It might be an overstatement to suggest that ⁠ThePoeticCritic⁠ is miraculous, but she allows for this year (and this incarnation) of "⁠Ninety For Chill: The Podcast⁠" to conclude the only way ⁠CatBusRuss⁠ would allow it. That is with a guest. This was a near last minute arrangement, so the two siblings will not be chatting about a movie. They will be reviewing their experiences from this year in cinema, but with our host's work situation, his big sister wanted to bring in a little Christmas right now.

The two do investigate what makes a holiday picture. Does it need to be released (or intended to be released) around the season? How Christmassy does it have to be? Has ⁠Shane Black⁠ actually wrote a genuine Xmas movie? Are all Oscar-bait features representative of the holiday spirit as "⁠Mystery Science Theater 3000⁠" suggests?

As for the best experiences this year, ThePoeticCritic does not offer too many opinions, but helps guide ⁠Russ⁠ in coming to a decision in the three feature race of "⁠Coraline⁠ (09)", "⁠A Boy and His Dog⁠ (1975)", and "⁠Shredder Orpheus⁠ (1990)". Maybe CatBus will get caught up on 2024's actual movies once he can step away from the retail hell that might have driven his cynicism. Buy batteries before the kids open the damn gifts.

The Undrafted and Wrongfully Drafted

"Bull Durham" was not drafted on the Baseball Draft (A film that can only be drafted at #1)
"No Fear of a Black Hat" on the Fictional Band Mini-Mega Draft
The entire George Lucas Draft
"The Birdcage" instead of "La Cage Aux Folles" on the Drag Draft
"Road Trip" was not even mentioned during the Road Trip Draft
"Major League" instead of "Drop Zone" on the Wesley Snipes Draft
"Black Swan" instead of "Mermaids" on the Wynona Ryder Draft
"Akira" instead of "Ghost World" on the Comic Book Movie (Non-Super Hero) Draft. Tetsuo is a Supe.
"Now You See Me" instead of "Diggstown" on the Con Artist Movie Draft
"The Onion Movie" instead of "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask" on the Sketch Comedy Anthologies Draft
"The Big Lebowski" not being marked eight on the Coen Bros. Draft
"Labrynth" or "Dark Crystal" not receiving the number 1 or 2 spot in the Jim Henson Draft
"Stage Fright" on the Giallo Draft. It is a slasher despite the presentation.
"Assault of Precinct 13" and "Prince of Darkness" Instead of "Escape from New York" and "The Thing" on the John Carpenter Draft
"Con Air" instead of "US Marshalls" and "Universal Soldier" instead of "Time Cop " on the 90's Action Draft
"WarGames" instead of "Spies Like Us" on the Cold War Draft
"Traffic" instead of "Side Effects" on the Steven Soderbergh Draft
"Fight Club" instead of "The Virgin Suicides" on the 1999 Draft ("Suicides" made the Actor Directorial Debut Draft)
Any Kirk Douglass instead of "The Shining" being on the Kubrick Draft
"Return of the Jedi" instead of "Tokyo Drift" on the Threequels Draft (there's only one "Return," okay, and it ain't "of the King," it's "of the Jedi.")

Deserves a Second Chance

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016).

I find the DC movies, or at least Zack Snyder, was trying to bring comic books to the big screen as opposed to adapting comic books for the big screen. If you read, (or watch the excellent animated adaptation of) "The Dark Knight Returns", it is a very slow build to the battle between the Bat and Supe. This is regarded as one of the best threads in comics.

As a guy who fell in love with wrestling in the 1980's, the very methodical showdown is what I loved. It's a love letter to comic book fans who read and note every detail and want to try figuring out the plot before the character do. Come at the flick this way, and I think you will get something out of it.

Tropic Thunder (2008)

This is a feature that dares you to be offended. When director Ben Stiller is that forthcoming like Robert Downey Sr. was with 1969's "Putney Swope", an audience saying that something is in poor taste, hence not funny, means they are afraid to make a mockery of a concept.

My own experience with junkies bankrupting me allows me to thoroughly enjoy Jack Black's making addiction seem ridiculous. Robert Downey Jr. nails his taboo performance and I would say helps the call for actors from a demographic to be the first people called on for the roles representing them. As for the "Forest Gump" knock off jokes, they serve as a way to ridicule us for what we accepted (and encouraged) as fine a decade prior. The narrative that controls the pace in the second act can drag, but the content that is delivered cannot be cut.