SkimbleSHANKS presents "Event Horizon" with Kodiak Thompson

Films Researched for this Podcast: Hellraiser (1987), Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), and Event Horizon (1997)

NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

Episode 41: SkimbleSHANKS presents "Event Horizon" with Kodiak Thompson.

Kodiak Thompson returns to the podcast to talk up Paul W.S. Anderson's attempt to combine "Alien" and "Hellraiser", "Event Horizon". Cool Movies Darth and his guest go over the most memorable video game features the auteur was behind as they try to figure out how this Lawrence Fishburne lead feature was Anderson's biggest financial bomb despite being his most original and impressive concept. It gets sad when you find out how much CG effects that look bad in 4K cost in 1997.

 

 

We obviously took a trip down memory lane with this feature being 24 years old. This haunted house in space is Anderson's second American directorial effort. He would go on to direct "Soldier" (which we failed to mention despite our swooning over Sean Pertwee) the following year, but otherwise, there is a 16-year gap between him working on projects that are not established IP (17 if you include the "Blade Runner" references in the Kurt Russell feature). It easy to thickly lay on the scrutiny of his talents with that resume.

Computer generated effects do not hold up from these turn of the century features, but that is not his fault. HDR just shows the seams. It may explain why he is an expert when it comes to 3D features. You cannot care to look at every detail if it flying at your face.

 

His talent comes from realizing his vision. When I say vision, it is solely what you see. As for stories, his 500 batting average with his "Resident Evil" franchise gives a warning of where he may come up short.

 

"Event Horizon" features his best ensemble and they are aware of the feature that they are making. It has moments of levity, but the actors do an extraordinary job at maintaining the film's tone. The film also earns bonus points for overlooking standard horror movie tropes and letting Lawrence Fishburne be the lead actor of this ensemble.

 

Despite what Screen Drafts's Co-commissioner Ryan Marker will have you believe, Sam Neill does a great job as the antagonistic scientist going mad. Kodiak and I dive into the concept of whether or not Dr. Weir knew where he was sending the faster-than-light spacecraft the film is named after. Was he no different than Uncle Frank from "Hellraiser"?

With the Clive Barker film serving as inspiration (Kodiak was up on his research.), I took the time to watch the first two films in the "Hellraiser" franchise. Those reviews are featured on this podcast.

Here is one last warning before heading into the last spooky pod of October. We both offer incites on Sean Pertwee, son of the Third Doctor Who. I go on about how Pertwee is not only a comforting face, but a great casualty to add to any feature. This leads me to do my best in selling Neil Marshall's "Doomsday" to his queue.

My Twitter account is @catbusruss. This is where I want your hate to be directed if you disapprove. Otherwise, positive feedback would be best displayed as subscriptions to my podcast and five-star reviews. Lets work that algorithm.

If you think you have a film or franchise that you are an expert on. Send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. Most franchises have at least one feature that will qualify for NinetyForChill. The runtime just needs to be between 74 and 99 minutes. We have four episodes to fill.

 

I have been asking for weeks for assistance in composing an episode dedicated to vampire features like "The Lost Boys" trilogy, "Near Dark", and the "Underworld" movies. Here is to hoping that this bunch of critiques will stir up some inspiration in my audience to step up and hold off on the garlic. If this is a topic you up for discussing, feel free to send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. All I need is a half hour on Zoom to get this done.

I hope I am impressing or at the very least amusing you with this podcast and I am open to any and all criticism. My biggest want is more guests and more suggestions on what to chat about (@catbusruss, russthebus07@gmail.com@coolmoviesdarth). If we can get 3 hours out of "Little Nicky", the possibilities are endless. Thanks for visiting.

 

After WrestleMania Backlash, I will tell you that we need to take zombie pro wrestling back. My suggestion is that we finally get my low-budget zombie movie, "Main Event of the Dead" off the ground. The script lacks a lumberjack match, so you know it has got to be better than the "Army of the Dead" advertisement. Ask for a treatment or give me suggestions on how to get it to a crowd-sourcing stage with an email to russthebus07@gmail.com.

 

r/MoviePosterPorn

Roman Reign Is Still Number 5 and How to Treat Saudi Blood Money

*This blog post was started on October 23, 2021.

There is still a half hour on my Saturday shift at the bank. It has been easy enough to keep myself amused. I may have lost $10 on Newcastle United, but the beauty of the game comes from a point being gained and the other team not pulling any further from you. Regardless of my optimistic take on being in the bottom three, the transfer window cannot come soon enough. Bring on the blood money.

NUFC is the closest thing I have to patriotism. The leadership is evil, but you must proudly promote it. This was something that I did not do for the Trump presidency, but I could take action to change that...or I at least live in a state that cannot help his cause.

TD Ameritrade represents what is killing this country and the Ricketts are far too Republican for my taste, but they are not murdering anyone. In other words, I am proud of my allegiance to the Chicago Cubs even at the cost of further gentrification to Wrigleyville.

Unless "NinetyForChill.com - The #Podcast" can bring in $828-million, I cannot change NUFC's leadership. My z-budget, pro-wrestling zom-com "Main Event of the Dead" can easily turn a profit (If you want to help get this project out of development hell, send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. I would be happy to send you a script treatment.), but nowhere near the high nine figures. This makes me ponder how much money "Avengers: Endgame" actually made.

The only way for Newcastle United to change is for the team to become so good, that Elon Musk buys them out. Jeff Bezos's history with MBS makes Tesla our only hope.

*This blog post was resumed on October 25, 2021.

How will I cope with the hypocrisy of supporting a team ran by a murderous government? All it took was a look at the crowd to see white Geordies with ghutrahs. I got to buy myself one just to mock the Saudi Public Wealth Fund. They must be insulted until they clean their act up.

I always like to joke that you should not take on a group of people as a mascot, provided they are still alive. The Aztecs, Mayans, and Trojans, there are none of them left to feel insulted. The Illini, that is just bad taste. UIUC's most memorable logo looks like they mounted Chief Illiniwek's head to some Donald Trump Jr's wall. White men took everything from them. Why add further insult?

Mohammad Bin Salman is an asshole who needs insulting. Show me Saudis who lack oil money who sport shemagh, and maybe I will feel bad for picking on an entire country. At least get your PR team working MBS.

If I take this approach, maybe I can watch more wrestling. Perhaps I can be sold on Roman Reigns can make a case to climb up the Disgruntled's Real Championship Wrestling rankings.

I kid of course. Three hours of wrestling on a Friday night is one hour too many. Anyhow, if Fox News is getting ad time, Fox is not getting my time. My fandom cannot be sold to every anti-humanity organization.

The Disgruntled's Real Men Power Rankings (10/25/21):

Kenny Omega Appears On IMPACT Wrestling, Teases Surprise For AEW Dynamite, Going For IMPACT Title - Fightful.com

The Number 1 Wrestler in the World: Kenny Omega

• All Elite Wrestling World Champion
• AAA Mega Champion
  
• Disgruntled's Real World Champion (DRCW)

The Number 2 Wrestler in the World: Bandido

ROH World Champion: DRCW recognizes this as a Men's World Championship. If Omega loses his AEW championship to a performer who is inferior to Bandido, the ROH champion can become the Disgruntled's Real World Champion.

The Number 3 Wrestler in the World: Trevor Murdoch

NWA World Heavyweight Champion: DRCW recognizes this as a Men's World Championship. 

The Number 4 Wrestler in the World: Big E (Up 3 spots)

• WWE Champion. DRCW recognizes this as a Men's World Championship.
• He won his championship by cashing in Money in the Bank.
• He did successfully fend off the challenge of the preceding champion, Bobby Lashley.
• He did successfully fend off the challenge of 2020's primary champion, Drew McIntyre. 

The Number 5 Wrestler in the World: Roman Reigns

• He is in the midst of 400 plus-day reign as WWE Universal Champion (a poser world championship).
• DRCW Modern Poser Champion
• He did not use a gimmick like Money in the Bank to win his championship.
• He did not win a vacated championship.
  

The Number 6 Wrestler in the World: Shingo Takagi

• He is the current and third IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. This championship came from the unification of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. The Heavyweight Championship was regarded by DRCW as a Men's World Championship.
• He won given a chance to win this championship after Will Ospreay was stripped of it due to injury. Before Takagi won the championship, he had failed to defeat Ospreay for it.

The Number 7 Wrestler in the World: Sammy Guevara (Up 1)

• AEW TNT Champion
• DRCW OCHO Real Secondary Champion

The Number 8 Wrestler in the World: Damien Priest (Up 1)

• WWE United States Champion: A belt recognized by DRCW as a secondary championship that makes up some of the OCHO's title history.
• He won his championship from Sheamus who was having a lackluster reign. 

The Number 9 Wrestler in the World: Xavier Woods (New to the rankings)

• He is the current WWE King of the Ring having won the 8-man Elimination Tourney.
• He is WWE officially the only king after Shinsuke Nakamura abdicated the crown to promote the tournament.

The Number 10 Wrestler in the World: Josh Alexander

• He successfully defeated Christian Cage to become the Impact World Champion (a poser world championship), the former number 4 from the last rankings (10/6).
• He did immediately lose the championship to Moose who had challenged him immediately afterwards defeating Cage (Having won the Call Your Shot Gauntlet three matches prior).
• With Impact's working relationship seemingly finished with AEW, I expect the promotion to fall from the rankings.

Moose Brings Back And Wins TNA World Heavyweight Title At IMPACT Rebellion - Fightful.com

#Anime on @Tubi: "Wicked City" - A Great Prototype for @StarWars Porn

*This blog post was started on October 22, 2021.

An exciting weekend has lead into a stressful work week.

Of course when the manager gets exposed to COVID 19, vaccinated or not, everything goes wrong. A fraudulent check ring has emerged. There is a new person to train. I actually had to figure out how to place holds on check without ever being trained how to. We are frankly all impressed that everything seems hunky dory.

It is fair to complain about the lack of expertise and managerial structure, but for us to come out on the other side in some degree of working order, the team is solid. We may lose the neighbor next to my station, but we know how I feel about them. There is optimism all around, especially when the comic con they went to was in Indianapolis and not Rosemont.

Optimism is a good thing coming off of a fun weekend. I remember placing the staff at OSF's Partial Hospitalization Psych ward on alert when I would return from an AAW weekend. Fun was had when I was in Berwyn. Upon returning to Morton, my mind was in the state that it shall not get better than that.

And, has it? Well, I can say things outside of Captain N cosplay have been better. Today's difficulty will be getting nourishment. There is no reason to complain because I have a podcast recording scheduled. With Fite TV allowing me to watch AEW Rampage anytime I would like, this should not be a problem. The trouble arises because I did not have to go into work today until noon.

Do you think I took an extra hour of preparation to have a meal before a shift without lunch? How much time will I have to eat before the recording when I need to make an alcohol run? On top of all this, I need to open the bank tomorrow. Will I survive the drive to Peoria for the Rivermen's opening weekend?

I guess there being so many questions leaves me with a bit of excitement? Life is not mundane for the moment, and perhaps that is what keeps me going. The moment I know things are going to get dull, I am fucked.

With that said, I am back at the retailer starting November 6.

Until that day, I have the upbeat attitude for a bunch of double features. The podcast I am recording this week with Kodiak Thompson will be about "Event Horizon". To get myself more material, the "Hellraiser" franchise seemed to run parallel to Paul W.S. Anderson's classic from 1997. Shudder allowed me to watch the first two for free.

October 26's episode of "NinetyForChill.com - The #Podcast" has the padding with those two features, but I was still in the mood for "the sights" Pinhead suggested showing me. Signing up for a free trial to AMC+ to see the other eight features in his franchise seemed like a hassle, so I turned to Tubi for Barker-like material. This lead me to revisiting "Wicked City", a feature I did not particularly care for back when I saw it on Starz a decade prior.

I guess giving this feature a second chance comes from my time buying anime on VHS. Renting was rarely an option, so if you dropped $25-30 on a tape, you got to justify the purchase. In other words, desensitizing one self allows for enjoyment of even the most blatant softcore porn that distracts from the narrative. With Yoshiaki Kawajiri film (TV movies in many cases), this is a common practice.

Wicked City (1987)

Taki Renzaburo is a member of the "Black Guard". He serves the interest of all humanity because there is a demon world that exists and needs to be monitored. For millennia there have been peace treaties between the world, but since demons have monstrous powers, a minority of them are not so keen on the idea of live and let live. The Black Guard keeps those radicals in check.

It is time to negotiate another treaty, so both sides are on edge to make sure no one sabotages the proceedings. The most important representative for humanity is the 200+ year old Giuseppe Myart, so the radicals will obviously target him with nearly all the assets at their disposal. With this increased pressure, Taki has been assigned a partner for this guard duty. She is Makie, a Black Guard who not only uses a modeling profession to cover for her real job, but to cover that she is from the Black World.

Myart is obsessed with pointing out Makie's beauty and sexuality to Taki. It may be a challenge for Taki to avoid getting his feeling and passion involved with this mission. Can he keep a clear head to secure the safety of the human race? When Myart is determined to run from his security detail to indulge in the seedier side of Tokyo, there maybe too many variable to succeed.

If your first exposure to a film of Yoshiaki Kawajiri is not an edited for basic cable version, it will be difficult to get past how sexually explicit his features can be. Thanks Syfy for making "Demon City Shinjuku" and "Vampire Hunter D" so accessible. I think they may have shown "Wicked City" a few times on the Saturday morning anime time slot, but I never caught it in that form. Which is probably a good thing because I would imagine the screen would be blurrier than a Barbara Walters's interview.

Needless to say, when I first saw this feature (and when I had rented "Ninja Scroll" from Morton's Movies America) the explicit nature was a turn off. If I wanted hentai, I know where to find that. This took me away from the narrative and just left me being judgmental about the excuses to warrant the director's decision. With this viewing, knowing what to expect allowed me to look past most of this and find an easily accessible narrative.

This feature comes across as knock off fan fiction. "Wicked City" is just pure pulp. Knowing this, Kawajiri plays it up very well. It has the feel of a manga and the action sequences thrive with a minimalist approach. Like Dario Argento's "Suspiria", the color choices make everything pop out at you. Regardless of how you feel about making every moment of this fairy tale revolve around sex, you cannot help but appreciate the art.

As for the dependence on objectifying our heroine, it is far too great. There are some clever scenes with other female beings where you can appreciate the implication of something nonsexual being totally sexual, but these antagonists are not spending 15 minutes being raped. This makes the feature come off as a grindhouse era revenge feature, but only a man can provide it to the victim. Perhaps, this is a cultural issue. I would need to look up the Japanese box office for 1978's "I Spit on Your Grave" to see if that is the case.

The only other way to interpret the story is to think of it as some pervert writing fan fiction where it is about the man showing his dominance while displaying the woman's frailty. You can easily see this as what the Proud Boys (and a lot of downstate men) would have wanted "Rise of Skywalker" to be. It is all about the misunderstood Kylo rescuing an abused Rey. If I was not looking for something with demons it it, I would not have had a reason to give this another chance.

"Wicked City" has moments of looking beautiful, but the immediate need for the story to make that beauty its bitch makes it too insulting to recommend. I will say the other Kawajiri works I have seen get away from being insulting, but the sexualization of elements is something that still gets in the way of appreciating his art. There is a way to tell its story without being so sexualized, and you watch this wishing for that feature.

This time around, "Wicked City's" narrative got old fast. Even if you love the character design and direction, his repetitive nature of wanting to let us know it is hot results in near immediate burn out. A feature should not leave the male audience wondering if they need Blue Chew to get into it.

The Behemoth Post Evangelion 3.0 Pixiv Prime: CrunchyRoll

 

76-Minutes DVD - "When Evil Calls", It Is Misleading.

76-Minutes DVD - "When Evil Calls", It Is Misleading.

Lionsgate cannot appropriately promote a Winstone Sister DVD. Ray should have a word with them.

Jaime's "Cravings" is not about vampires and Lois's "When Evil Calls" is not a Japanese, paranormal horror knock off. It is definitely not a full-length feature. Was this distributor trying to come off as trashy as the lesser Family Video DVD providers? Trash is what was rented when "The Dark Knight" was checked out. That is a sideways move.

Samantha is the headmaster's daughter at her high school, and she just wants to be popular. After the wicked popular girl Kirsty stomps on her cell phone, Sam cannot stand the torment any longer. Fortunately, a demonic clown arrives to repair her phone and make her an offer. She will be granted one wish as long as she texts the same offer to two friends.

Her desperation leads her to wish to become the most popular girl in school, cost be damned. And all goes well for her. But for those who continue to pass the text messages along to their friends, they soon find out that one must be careful for what they wish for.

I rented "When Evil Call" because of its ensemble cast. Sean Pertwee ("Dog Soldiers", "Event Horizon", "Formula 51"), Chris Barrie (Rimmer from "Red Dwarf"), and Dominique Pinon ("The City of Lost Children", "Alien Resurrection") being billed lead me to believe it would overcome any Asian horror influence. Thankfully, "When Evil Calls" is a British comedy. This may clash with the horror elements because dry humor and gore are not something you would immediately associate with slapstick.

This series of stories was conceived as the first horror series for mobile phones. I suppose Jeffrey Katzenberg failed to research this series when coming up with Quibi. Obviously this was not going to translate well to DVD in terms of effects and direction quality. The director Johannes Robert wisely uses an over-the-top Pertwee to hold the stories together. Barrie and Pinon make sure the audience is supposed to laugh and not expect to be scared.

"When Evil Calls" maybe a let down for a fan of mass produced horror, but if you are into "Monty Python Lite" humor, it serves as a nice retreat to celebrate the ridiculous nature of the genre. Gore of "Holy Grail's" levels with the appropriately silly violence, this series is not meant to be taken too seriously. Too bad the story about how one arrives at this title is more memorable than the series itself.

Twitter @AJRimmerLog

Shudder: The Streaming Service and WWE Tag Team Booking.

*This blog post was started on October 13, 2021.

Here is to hoping for an exciting weekend. I am just waiting for the Chicago Wizard World Comic Con schedule to be released to see if I get to catch any All Elite Wrestling live. There are so many YouTube recaps that I will need to watch Sunday night, provided I am up for it after 4.5 hours of driving. If it is all pushed back to Monday, how will I have the time to drop my latest episode of "NinetyForChill.com - The #Podcast"?

I guess that means I really need to watch something on Shudder tonight to warrant the charge that is coming Saturday. After looking through their line up, no justification is actually needed. With HBO Max, Disney+, and Peacock giving me three studio catalogues worth of movies, Shudder is the final part of the puzzle to capture the joy of 2010 Netflix, a service that was once dependent upon classic films. For me, Peacock is free and Disney+ is "taken care of". HBO Max and Shudder are the only things costing me any money. Amazon Prime feels like an essential and the free shipping is nice.

Hulu is about the only thing I consider cancelling, but you get some weird moments. When "Possessor" from Brandon Cronenberg was discounted on iTunes, not enough to demand I buy it but enough to ask Siri if there was other ways to watch it, the streaming app that should be dedicated to Touchstone's R-Rated material came through.

Shudder will end up saving me money because I did not realize that most of the cheap, newer horror iTunes places a more than reasonable discount on, they are already on Shudder. I imagine films like "The Columnist" will be rotated out, so I need not worry about watching them whenever I like. But from last Saturday forth, I know not to get so trigger happy when it comes to making a purchase based solely on a cool gimmick.

Gimmick, a word associated with my preferred profession, pro-wrestling. Pro-wrestling is a sport that I am paying $15.98 a month for, $10 of which goes to New Japan World. It is a service I do not watch enough of, which is sad because I do have the time without cable TV. But, with the purchase of a Fire Stick so that I may troubleshoot those of my friends and relatives I provided, there is really no excuse no to access it. 

The only one that I can come up with is there is just too much plugged into my primary TV. NJPW's Fire TV app is so much easier than using a Chromecast. It just feels wrong moving my Nintendo Switch to the port saved for my Classic video game systems.

I who has too many unnecessary accessories. This leaves me fearing that I will return from Wizard World having spent too much and further exasperating the lack of space in my apartment. Just like the Men's Doubles World Championship, its better to have them than to wish for them I suppose.

It is not about it being a weak transition. It is about being able to transition at all. The world needs fewer arguments anyhow.

The Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Championship:

The 121st Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

WWE Tag Team Champions

Cesaro and Tyson Kidd (4/18/2015 to 4/26/15)

The 122nd Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

Open the Twin Gate Champions (Dragon Gate)

Masato Yoshino and Shachihoko Boy (4/26/15 to 6/13/15)

The New Day dethroned the WWE Tag Team Champions and are one reign away from starting the longest WWE tag team championship reign. ROH's champions were Kaz and Daniels. TNA's champions were the Hardys. IWGP's belts were being fought over by the Kingdom and the Good Brothers. It came down to determining the best of the three remaining Japanese championships.

The 123rd Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

AJPW World Tag Team Champions

Go Shiozaki and Kento Miyahara (6/13/15 to 9/28/15)

It seemed that AJPW must have had some momentum because the best reigns seem to end in a performer resigning from the company.

The 124th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

Open the Twin Gate Champions

Naruki Doi (2) and Yamato (2) (9/28/2015 to 3/6/2016)

These are former Unified Gnarly Champions who won their titles with different partners.

The 125th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

Open the Twin Gate Champions

T-Hawk and Big R Shimizu (3/6/16 to 6/19/16)

 

The 126th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

TNA World Tag Team Champions:

Abyss and Crazzy Steve (6/19/16 to 10/2/16)

I do not think that I am the only one to think that Decay is just Crazzy Steve and Rosemary. Anyone can be the second guy.

The 127th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

Smackdown Tag Team Champions:

Heath Slater and Rhyno (10/2/16 to 12/4/16)

The Hardys regained the TNA championship.

The 128th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

Smackdown Tag Team Champions:

Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, and Luke Harper (Brody Lee) (12/4/16 to 12/27/16)

The 129th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

GHC Tag Team Champions (Pro-Wrestling Noah)

Go Shiozaki (2) and Maybach Taniguchi (12/27/2016 to 1/21/2017)

Shiozaki proving he is a premier tag team journeyman.

The 130th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

IWGP Tag Team Champions (NJPW)

Tomohiro Ishii and Toro Yano (1/21/17 to 3/6/17)

Heavyweight tag teams, no matter the cohesion do not leave the Tokyo Dome with the belts they brought in.

The 131st Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

NWA World Tag Team Champions

Robb Terry and Kazushi Miyamoto (3/6/17 to 6/17/17)

This is the only blip in the NWA's war between the Heatseekers and the Iron Empire.

The 132nd Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

GHC Tag Team Champions

Maybach Taniguchi (2) and Naomichi Marufuji (6/17/17 to 8/26/17)

 

Marufuji is Noah's John Cena so most of his reigns should be considered doubles affairs.

 

The 133rd Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

GHC Tag Team Champions

Go Shiozaki (3) and Atsushi Kotoge (8/26/17 to 10/1/17)

The 134th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

Raw Tag Team Champions (Formerly the WWE Tag Team Championship)

Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose (Jon Moxley) (10/1/17 to 11/6/17)

They were setting up the Shield reunion and remember the mess that was. Ambrose and Rollins were not the tag team from that faction.

The 135th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

Raw Tag Team Champions

Cesaro (2) and Sheamus (11/6/17 to 12/25/17)

This duo had quite the run together, but it is solely because creative had nothing for them. They also get this championship because, outside of Vince McMahon's world, the tag team scene was outstanding. I tried to incorporate Zero-1 and Wrestle-1 into this lineage, but with so many tourneys, it is not hard for a duo in Japan to show that they are a great tag team.

 

The 136th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

Raw Tag Team Champions

Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan (12/25/2017 to 1/28/2018)

The 137th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

Raw Tag Team Champions

Cesaro (3) and Sheamus (2) (1/28/18 to 4/8/18)

They go on to lose the belts to Braun Strowman and an 11 year-old.

The 138th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

AJPW World Tag Team Champions

Dylan James and Ryoji Sai (4/8/18 to 6/30/18)

When in doubt, select a gaijin and a Japanese wrestler.

The 139th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

Raw Tag Team Champions

Bray Wyatt (2) and Matt Hardy (2) (6/30/18 to 7/15/18)

The 140th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

Raw Tag Team Champions

Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel (2) (7/15/18 to 9/3/18)

The 141st Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:

Raw Tag Team Champions

Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler (9/3/18 to 10/22/18)

Ziggler essentially gets to fill in the role of Joe Hennig from this reign forward.

We only have three more years before we have caught up to Randy Orton and Matt Riddle. I wonder if we will have another 20 reigns between now and then. With Billy Corgan running the NWA like a territory, there is a good chance of that occurring. Regardless, I think we are only one blog away from conclusion. Then it is on to tertiary championship I suppose. Here is to more downtime headaches.

Pinterest @216Nightmare

NinetyForChill -The #Podcast: SkimbleSHANKS presents Wise Draculas and Dim Harkers

Films Researched for this Podcast: Dracula a.k.a Horror of Dracula (1958), Dracula (1979), and Bit (2020)

NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

Episode 40: SkimbleSHANKS presents Wise Draculas and Dim Harkers.

Fresh off of an endorsement from "The ID10T Podcast", Cool Movies Darth (yours truly) and ThePoeticCritic continue the spooky season with a couple of "Dracula" movies. We compare, contrast, and celebrate Christopher Lee from "Dracula" 1958 and Frank Langella from "Dracula" 1979. It is Hammer Films vs Universal Studios and a John Williams score. Which is better?

 

 

This pairing made for an interesting drunken double feature. It also taught me how to arrange a double feature. You want to end on a positive note, so follow the Tomatometer. In this case, "Horror of Dracula" should have closed out my viewings for the night.

So I came into this podcast with the impression that Christopher Lee was the end all and be all of vampiric kings. The director of "Short Circuit" and "WarGames" did not offer Langella the opportunity to make a run at the crown. Who had the most inept Jonathan Harker is the only competition between the two. Sounds like Keanu Reeves was perfectly cast for Coppola's take on the tale.

 

Aside from finally adding some sexuality to English language bloodsuckers, 1979's take on Bram Stoker does not capture the charm of "Horror of Dracula". Hit and miss special effects do not help.

 

Do not even get me started on the 1992 revisions of it. I will no longer (not that I have as a member of the Church of Lucas) complain about George Lucas's special editions.

I would say the two of us were pretty much on the same page when it came to these feature. So this was a pretty easy rundown of the questions that I found to be important. It may have been so copacetic because we did not have to pull from the current cinema scene to make conversation. You best appreciate that we did not go all Team Scorsese on you.

But, if you feel that we spend too much time in the past, I treat you to a brisk review about 2020's "Bit", a vampire comedy that earned a lot of accolades at queer film festivals. The story is a lot like "Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles" but throws in a feminist take of the mythology and I cannot help but love the nihilism that comes with bloodsuckers.

My Twitter account is @catbusruss. This is where I want your hate to be directed if you disapprove. Otherwise, positive feedback would be best displayed as subscriptions to my podcast and five-star reviews. Lets work that algorithm.

As for this month, I am looking for people who want to chat about horror movies for October. If you think you have a film or franchise that you are an expert on. Send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. Most franchises have at least on feature that will qualify for NinetyForChill. The runtime just needs to be between 74 and 99 minutes. We have four episodes to fill.

 

I have been asking for weeks for assistance in composing an episode dedicated to vampire features like "The Lost Boys" trilogy, "Near Dark", and the "Underworld" movies. Here is to hoping that this bunch of critiques will stir up some inspiration in my audience to step up and hold off on the garlic. If this is a topic you up for discussing, feel free to send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. All I need is a half hour on Zoom to get this done.

I hope I am impressing or at the very least amusing you with this podcast and I am open to any and all criticism. My biggest want is more guests and more suggestions on what to chat about (@catbusruss, russthebus07@gmail.com@coolmoviesdarth). If we can get 3 hours out of "Little Nicky", the possibilities are endless. Thanks for visiting.

 

After WrestleMania Backlash, I will tell you that we need to take zombie pro wrestling back. My suggestion is that we finally get my low-budget zombie movie, "Main Event of the Dead" off the ground. The script lacks a lumberjack match, so you know it has got to be better than the "Army of the Dead" advertisement. Ask for a treatment or give me suggestions on how to get it to a crowd-sourcing stage with an email to russthebus07@gmail.com.

 

NinetyForChill -The #Podcast: SkimbleSHANKS presents The Nightmare Before Christmas and Ally

Films Researched for this Podcast: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and Uncaged (2016)

NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

Episode 39: SkimbleSHANKS presents The Nightmare Before Christmas and Ally.

Ally from Ally's Accessories Shop on Etsy comes back to NinetyForChill to determine if Cool Movie Darth's vibe of "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" being overrated has any validity. Fans of this feature seem to buy anything Disney puts on Freeform. CM Darth must know. Is Henry Selick's film the reason for spayed and neutered millennial monsters?

 

 

Ally sensed some desperation in my quest to line up a guest (We were a couple for the better part of four years, so its good that she is catching on to that...nearly two years removed), but she is not a big horror fan. After what Disney has done to the holiday in the name of profit, I offered her a chance to provide something spooky. Since I have purchased her two Sally Funko Pops!, little are twisting was needed for her to jump at the chance to talk about the Chris Sarandon and Katherine O'Hara romance flick.

Actually, Ally may have jumped at this title because she just wanted to add it to her collection. Here is to hoping she purchased the Blu-ray. It was not a part of the break up, but her settling on standard definition drove me nuts.

"The Nightmare Before Christmas" has been a feature that I have been meaning to rewatch for at least 10 years. I think the commercialization of the feature has left a bad taste in my mouth. Hot Topic was my place to find pleather and faux barbwire jewelry. Making space for cheap Sally dresses felt like a slap in the face.

It might not be those who were also in junior high that made me question this feature's credibility. I think it was the younger millenials and members of generation Z. Generation X parents thought this flick would be better for them than your atypical Disney fair, and just put it on to distract them. But after "Hocus Pocus", I ponder how they missed the signs that our favorite monsters would have their fangs removed? With that said, if you are up for a "Monster Squad" podcast, send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com

What Ally and my conversation comes down to is, whose does the feature belong to? Henry Sellick would go on to direct well-regarded stop motion features like "Coraline". Danny Elfman's score and vocal performance steals the show. O'Hara's sedated performance has to be appreciated. Ally might go to bat for Ken Page as Oogie Boogie.

To make this episode totally about Ally, we return to her Trash Feature Reviews with "Uncaged". This was 2016's attempt to update "An American Werewolf in London" with "Superbad". Obviously Rogen and Goldberg did not pen this low budget flick, so it is not worth a rewatch, but the effects and premise can make it a 1.75-movie. On Letterboxd, I will round it up to a two.

My Twitter account is @catbusruss. This is where I want your hate to be directed if you disapprove. Otherwise, positive feedback would be best displayed as subscriptions to my podcast and five-star reviews. Lets work that algorithm.

As for this month, I am looking for people who want to chat about horror movies for October. If you think you have a film or franchise that you are an expert on. Send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. Most franchises have at least on feature that will qualify for NinetyForChill. The runtime just needs to be between 74 and 99 minutes. We have four episodes to fill.

 

I have been asking for weeks for assistance in composing an episode dedicated to vampire features like "The Lost Boys" trilogy, "Near Dark", and the "Underworld" movies. Here is to hoping that this bunch of critiques will stir up some inspiration in my audience to step up and hold off on the garlic. If this is a topic you up for discussing, feel free to send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. All I need is a half hour on Zoom to get this done.

I hope I am impressing or at the very least amusing you with this podcast and I am open to any and all criticism. My biggest want is more guests and more suggestions on what to chat about (@catbusruss, russthebus07@gmail.com@coolmoviesdarth). If we can get 3 hours out of "Little Nicky", the possibilities are endless. Thanks for visiting.

 

After WrestleMania Backlash, I will tell you that we need to take zombie pro wrestling back. My suggestion is that we finally get my low-budget zombie movie, "Main Event of the Dead" off the ground. The script lacks a lumberjack match, so you know it has got to be better than the "Army of the Dead" advertisement. Ask for a treatment or give me suggestions on how to get it to a crowd-sourcing stage with an email to russthebus07@gmail.com.

 

Uncaged 2016 - IMDb

SiN: An #Anime to Promote an American Video Game

*This blog post was started on October 7, 2021.

I have yet to line up a guest for my podcast "NinetyForChill.com - The #Podcast" this week, but the past few days have felt pretty productive.

A blog each day, sleep has been caught up on, I finally requested that the "libertarian" who works in the next to me stop watching those hate videos.

"I will turn the volume down."

"Thank you."

The request was made after they were chuckling a long with a talking head who was calling all those who have been vaccinated dumb. That is an implication that you think half of your coworkers are dumb. Why do you want to insult us. Once I knew they were a right-wing nut, I had stayed away from political conversation to avoid confrontation.

"It just is not the place for politics."

"I get it, but I am not watching anything harmful."

Is that an attempt to call me a snowflake? I did not respond because the only appropriate one is, "What about all the guilty pleas for January 6th? They claimed videos as their instructions."

We will see how long there is peace. They were working a half day, so they did not get that behind my back time to bitch to our coworkers. Of course, the catty one did announce before she started watching her murder porn, "I will try to keep the volume down" and "That's why I have captions on." It is cool to know that I am not the only one who uses subtitles all the time.

If only HBO Max would keep that consistent. With "Robot Chicken" on my Apple TV, I end up having to put the captions on for each episode. Weed is my path to relaxation when I put Stoop!d Monkey's show on. What do you expect a stoner to be capable of?

With my nightly routine exposed, I may as well transition to last night's DVD.com (Netflix mailer) feature. The awkward meshing of CG and anime to serve as a sequel to a forgotten first-person shooter for Windows 95 could have served as an amusing display for someone who had just partaken in self medication.

This feature must have been a big get for ADV Films in 1999 since "SiN: The Movie" had its trailer attached to all of their VHS releases. They probably did more to promote the franchise that Ritual/Activision did for the game. If only they were quick enough to release it before I lost track of the anime industry, I might have been impressed.

SiN: The Movie (2000)

John Blade is a cybernetic colonel in the HARDCorps, an elite force that primarily works in vice, but after a string of serial kidnapping and murders of young girls, the drug busts are not impressing the media. When the team gets a break in this case, their body count begins to rise. It turns out that the killer is/was a nearly indestructible mutant that can absorb other organic matter. Blade's best friend JC ends up being assimilated as they try to capture the monster, resulting in Blade killing his compatriot in an act of mercy.

The latest kidnapping victim is rescued, but JC's sister, Jennifer C, wants to take control of the case with her military authority. She also wants to bring down Blade for not only his recent failures, but his possible ties to the mob. With the physician over seeing the victim Elise's treatment does not feel she can be moved from the hospital, so nothing can be done investigation wise to find the answers.

This dead end seems to be the ideal time for Elexis Sinclair to act. Using mutants of her creation, she commences an operation to capture the girl. Her target seems to hold the key to unlocking her father's work, creating unstoppable humanoids that would embarrass god's image. SinTek has the politicians in their pockets, so despite the casualties, the HARDCorps hands are tied.

It is up to Blade, his mob ties, and Jennifer to bring down Sinclair. If you are a betting person, I would put your money on the colonel. Sinclair is the reason for Blade being as much machine as human. Her goals also resulted in the death of Blade's father. Did she need to give him any more motivation?

"SiN: The Movie" is a brief piece of action (1 hour) that provides an intriguing enough story that does not bog itself down in exposition like many video game adaptations tend to do. When you have seen the likes of "Battle Arena Toshinden" and "Tekken", you will appreciate the decisions made in terms of storytelling. It is the computer generated dependency that will bug you.

At the turn of the century, anime must have thought that it had become stale because many title try, mostly unsuccessfully to incorporate it into the programs. The problem is, this technology was not experimental at the time, so it should not feel out of place at all. This feature ends up with scenes that present a CG monster, but when the monster attacks, traditional animation is used. If you cannot integrate the new effects seamlessly in, you have the feel of a made for Syfy movie.

What really makes this embarrassing is that anime has been trying to use computer effects since the early '80s. "Golgo 13: The Professional" had computer generated effects in 1983. The reason they work is because it is essentially an aside to the rest of the content. They were not meant to interact directly with the traditional animation. Just because your tech is superior, does not mean you know how to approach it. This ends up muddling a good narrative by distracting us from what the film does right.

What it does right is just abandoning character building. It is kind of like they knew video games were not at the point of two-hour cut scene tutorials. This movie knew it had to end quickly, so it makes our characters deal with the horrors they face. The audience knows it is crazy, and we just become impressed at how well they are dealing with the trauma.

"SiN: The Movie" feels like a fun, over-the-top, horror take on cyberpunk anime. Too bad half of that fun is ridiculing the poor CG effects, but an hour of a "get to the chopper" attitude is amusing enough on its own. If only this could have been dedicated to a console game, because I am not getting a PC to play this.

Wikipedia

Roman Reigns Is No. 5 and Ranting About the Judgmental

*This blog post was started on October 5, 2021.

Last night was dedicated to producing my podcast and laundry. I actually got all that done at a reasonable time, but when I start being productive, I think I might get manic. So all the sleep I lacked due to movie research this weekend still needs to be made up for.

At least that is my story for the headaches. In other words, further deep cleaning my apartment is not on the immediate agenda. The windows are still shut and the air conditioning is running. This is leaving me to prefer the seasonal change from Winter to Spring. I think I would rather deal with knowing when things are warm than waiting for the cold.

If only I could just place amateur wrestling mats on all the floors to remind me of the best times from high school. Why would I complain about near 90 degree temperatures? I did not complain about it back in the day.

That is saying something because weight cutting was never a problem for me. If anyone had a right to complain, it was I. It is ironic how the team I captained was always annoyed by me. They could have not made excuses and be supportive of the coach's agenda.

There were a few good teachers back at Morton High School. I guess I can never have kids because I would not know where to live so that they would be in good schools. Living in the city is what I like, but you know the schools are subpar. Living in the burbs, you know the entitled "old" families have brat kids. Living in the country, what education?

I suppose shit did not get bad for me till I was in fourth grade. Homeschooling might work out after the kids get the socializing established. Your real friends keep in touch. That seems nicer than finding that out after high school.

All this ranting really makes me wish that you could use hyperlinks with my online dating profiles. I would rather be judged on this than "Two Truths and One Lie" boxes.

If that does not turn them off, then the wrestling chat below will. It is better than me going on a rant about the "libertarian" next to me who is reinforcing their racist and transphobic prejudices via fringe video sites. Do I report what they are watching to YouTube just to make sure they know where their content filters are failing?

I guess I should not complain too much about them thinking that they should be allowed to judge people. My hometown will think that I did that in this post. My only defense is, I was just stating my experiences. If you have not had the same experiences than the people you are judging, are you in no position to judge?

Which allows me to go on and on and on about pro wrestling. The worst think you can say about me as a critic is that I am only a critic because I was a failed performer. Personally, I got a suitcase with a weekend's worth of gear in my trunk, so I do not want to use verb tense. Or at least just call me a wrestler who is failing. In the end, those who cannot do, teach.

Teaching is still an expression of passion. And I can go on to say that if people gave a shit about me and my passion, my pro-wrestling, Z-budget, zombie-comedy feature film, "Main Event of the Dead" would not be in development hell or I can at least participate in a wrestling scene where there are few who have put in the time to be true professionals. Downstate Illinois without friends makes me want to consider taking up auto-erotic asphyxiation.

With the scenario above coming off as a plea, I might as well make it official. If you want to help get "Main Event of the Dead" off the ground, send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. I would appreciate any advice on how to get the feature to a crowd-sourcing stage and am more than happy to send out a treatment of my script. Thanks for the consideration.

Obviously, I am just writing what is immediately coming to my mind with this post. That was not necessarily my intent, but now we have the party next to me watching anti-vax videos. It is just building up the angst. So how much fun do I think me taking up the old Apter Magazines format will be?

Lets find out.

The Disgruntled's Real Power Rankings (10/6/21):

I structure is solely based on my past experiences with printed wrestling magazines. It might be fun to go and subscribe to one just for kicks, but I have promised the listeners of "NinetyForChill.com - The #Podcast" that I will give Shudder a chance, so that will not currently let me SUPPORT WRESTLETALK.

The Number 1 Wrestler in the World: Kenny Omega

• All Elite Wrestling World Champion
• AAA Mega Champion
  
• Disgruntled's Real World Champion (DRCW)

The Number 2 Wrestler in the World: Bandido

• ROH World Champion: DRCW recognizes this as a Men's World Championship. If Omega loses his AEW championship to a performer who is inferior to Bandido, the ROH champion can become the Disgruntled's Real World Champion.
  

The Number 3 Wrestler in the World: Trevor Murdoch

• NWA World Heavyweight Champion: DRCW recognizes this as a Men's World Championship.
  

The Number 4 Wrestler in the World: Christian Cage

• Impact World Champion (a poser world championship)
  
• He is the only wrestler to pin Kenny Omega since Pac in 2019.
  

The Number 5 Wrestler in the World: Roman Reigns

• He is in the midst of 400 plus-day reign as WWE Universal Champion (a poser world championship).
• DRCW Modern Poser Champion
• He did not use a gimmick like Money in the Bank to win his championship.
• He did not win a vacated championship.

The Number 6 Wrestler in the World: Shingo Takagi

• He is the current and third IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. This championship came from the unification of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. The Heavyweight Championship was regarded by DRCW as a Men's World Championship.
• He won given a chance to win this championship after Will Ospreay was stripped of it due to injury. Before Takagi won the championship, he had failed to defeat Ospreay for it.
  

The Number 7 Wrestler in the World: Big E

• WWE Champion. DRCW recognizes this as a Men's World Championship.
• He won his championship by cashing in Money in the Bank.
• He did successfully fend off the challenge of the preceding champion, Bobby Lashley.

The Number 8 Wrestler in the World: Sammy Guevara

• AEW TNT Champion
• DRCW OCHO Real Secondary Champion

The Number 9 Wrestler in the World: Damien Priest

• WWE United States Champion: A belt recognized by DRCW as a secondary championship that makes up some of the OCHO's title history.
• He won his championship from Sheamus who was having a lackluster reign.

The Number 10 Wrestler in the World: Josh Alexander

• He is the most recent Impact X Division Champion. DRCW recognizes that title as a secondary championship which contributes to the OCHO's title history.
• He relinquished the championship to challenge Christian Cage for the Impact World Championship in a scheduled (not impromptu like Big E's title victory) bout.

I think this is about as objective you can get. It at least opens the door for WWE to possibly justify their Universal Championship. If you accept the DRCW real champions, you cannot dispute their ranking.

I would love to hear some feedback. My twitter is @catbusruss. And with all that said, and to coincide with the rankings, I must bid you Adieu, Goodbye, and Good Night. Bang!

Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi meet Stone Cold and DDP - Reddit