NinetyForChill: The #Podcast: David Cronenberg vs. the Top Discoveries of 2022

 NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

Episode 100: David Cronenberg vs. the Top Discoveries of 2022.

David Cronenberg vs. the 2022’s Top Sub-100 Minute Discoveries

December 27, 2022

It is the end of the year, and ThePoeticCritic gives us some input on what some of the best movies Cool Movies Darth (b.k.a. Cat Bus Russ) found in 2022. Russ counts down his top 10 favorite finds from this year. To be thorough, this years collection of Ally's Accessories Shop on Etsy's Trash Feature Reviews is concluded with "2020 Texas Gladiators". And how can 2022's top 10 list be complete without a David Cronenberg movie? "Crash" and "Crimes of the Future" are last minute watches durings Russ's six-day stint of holiday retail shifts.

Allow me to get out of third-person. Happy Prof. Shurtleff of Illinois Central College? I (CM Darth) will try not to make so much light of violent death in this summation. This is my declaration of changing perspective.

I hope you do pardon all the details of my exhaustion. The end of the year does not seem like it will be an overly exciting one. My energy levels just will not be there. There is another trip to the Heart of Illinois which I cannot avoid. Thursday in Champaign/Urbana should be big, but again, I am exhausted to the point of illness. Will I have the energy to try and get up to an AAW show at Chicago's Logan Square Auditorium?

And there are hundreds of Pokémon that I need to catch. Where is the time? This is supposed to be my vacation.

There is no rest for the wicked I suppose. I have yet to do a first week of the year episode of the podcast. In 2021, it was because I was still putting the pieces together to start it. 2022's excuse was the Disney World trip. It is just a bad time for me due to all of the exhaustion and my hopes of getting the most out of my time off. If there is ever a time for someone to have a movie that must be talked about, now would be the time. Send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com.

Pardon the interruption to this episode's narrative. That is my shortcut to not removing the below portion of this cut and paste job.

I have determined that I just need to find a cohost for two weeks of the month. There will be invitations sent out to people I have had on the show that I think fit my attitudes. If you want to apply, send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. We could do both recordings in one night. The only issue with that is that I will be more shitfaced than usual.

NinetyForChill: The #Podcast: Rare Exports with @TheReal7Ceez

 NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

Episode 99: Rare Exports with @TheReal7Ceez.

Rare Exports with @TheReal7Ceez

December 20, 2022

7Ceez from "The No On 15! All Cast" makes his debut appearance on "NinetyForChill: The #Podcast" to explore how Finland sees Father Christmas. He and Cool Movies Darth discuss the horror-themed fun that is "Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale". This is a film where Krampus is nothing more than King Kong to Santa's Denzel Washington. He ain't got s*** on him or his band on naked elves.

Allow me to get out of third-person. Happy Prof. Shurtleff of Illinois Central College? I (CM Darth) will try not to make so much light of violent death in this summation. This is my declaration of changing perspective.

I have been doing a bit of catch up when it comes to listening to "The No On 15! All Cast", but 7Ceez and his friends have always delivered fun content. Sometimes it is sheer chaos like "The Gift of Sho-nuff Shaun vs Rahuhl the Zeltron on Batman 89'" bonus episode. Regular episodes like "Flight of the Navigator feat. Raph from The Geeky Dad and The Podsquad", have a solid format, but you know it will get a little nuts when a guest is randomly selected to sum up the film being covered in 30-seconds while impersonating a character from that feature.

I have a tendency to listen to movie podcast episodes that are dedicated to films that I have seen. "No On 15!" has done a lot of eighties movies, many of which I would like to do on this podcast. It did not surprise me that 7Ceez wanted to do "Better Off Dead", but being a Paramount Film, the likeliness of it being available on a streaming a service that most have access to would make it a trickier title for me to watch (Star Trek peaked at Next Gen...full stop.)

Of course I tracked down a DVD of the feature at Barnes & Nobles (It hurts me to relent to standard definition.), but before the hunt that I was determined to come through on, 7Ceez suggested Finnish Christmas horror movie, "Rare Exports". Since I have gotten a lot of mileage out of "Deadly Games", it makes a lot of sense to keep up with the fascination of Europe's perverted takes on Saint Nick.

Pardon the interruption to this episode's narrative. That is my shortcut to not removing the below portion of this cut and paste job.

I have determined that I just need to find a cohost for two weeks of the month. There will be invitations sent out to people I have had on the show that I think fit my attitudes. If you want to apply, send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. We could do both recordings in one night. The only issue with that is that I will be more shitfaced than usual.

"Rare Exports" is about Pietari. He is a boy who lives with his father in the wilderness of Finland near a town that is dependent upon the annual Reindeer hunt. There has been some excitement outside of venison slaughter. At the beginning of December, an Anglo/American expedition is doing some seismic research on the mountain nearby.

Boys being boys, Pietari and his bullyish pal Juuso have done a little snooping around the site. Here they discover that this is not a geological dig, but an archeological project. The man paying for this excavation is determined that they are on the grave where the real Santa Claus was buried. This creates an existential conundrum for our protagonist. Santa is dead? What has he been believing in? Who has been lying to him?

Somehow, Pietari has found a bunch of old books about Santa. He discovers that Father Christmas is not a man, but a demon who lives to punish everyone who is naughty, children in particular. By Christmas Eve, all of the children in the area have been replaced with straw dolls and anything that heats up like hair dryers and radiators have been stolen. The parents do not consider believing Pietari until an old man falls into his father's wolf trap.

They believe the old man to be one of the diggers from the mountain, but are disturbed because he has the ability to smell and become hyper focused on children. Their only lead to what is going on is a radio they found on the stranger and the calls out by the financier for updates on whether or not Santa has been secured. 

This is a brisk movie that successfully builds up anticipation through its runtime. You enjoy the pressure our smarter than his father hero places on himself to accept that he is the only one who can save the day. The film being foreign to us Americans is to its benefit since 7Ceez and I want to understand how the hell we are not getting these cool movie ideas in the states. That, and why did all the elves need to offer full-frontal nudity.

A Heads Up: With the year coming to a close, this edition of Ally's Accessories Shop on Etsy's Trash Feature Revue needs to be concluded. So this episode will open with my takes on the Thai-funded, Western crossover-starring revenge feature, "Zero Tolerance". If you want to bypass this review, jump to about the seven minute mark on the show.

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.

If You Have Not Been Listening to NinetyForChill: The #Podcast: The Best Discoveries of 2022 (A to U)

 *This blog post was started on on December 17, 2022.

I suppose I should be grateful for two days off with no particular place to go. When you have lots of video games to play and a need to really get into "Pokémon: Violet", this is the rare chance that I am allowed to do that. There are some movies to watch as well.

Renting "X" at a Redbox is something that I have been meaning to do. It was the only real Black Friday movie deal that I saw at my retailer. A24 not having a set distributor for home media means they are one of the few studios that lack a streaming presence. Hence, purchasing it in physical form under the extended return policy means that I did not have to make the purchase absolute, unlike a lot of Black Friday Brad Pitt on iTunes.

My weekend offering myself an abundance of time which can be seen as a reward for a seemingly productive week. Early Monday morning was dedicated to meeting a Tinder match. Wednesday evening allowed me to record Tuesday's (Dec. 20) episode of "NinetyForChill: The #Podcast" with 7ceez from "The Not a Strong Start All Cast". Sadly, the lass I saw on Monday morning at a loud bar celebrating its final night chose to ghost me after our Monday night plans fell through.

What is truly depressing is that the two primary bars on the Urbana Main Street drag are now permanently closed. This should further inspire me to want to really look at moving up north. As seen with Peoria, once Main Street dies, there is no true love for the borderline alcoholics, but I digress.

If you take the time to say that we will manage to reschedule, then take the time to tell me to fuck off. I am curious what the sudden change in heart was. My only possible thought was that a current coworker of mine may have worked with her in retail. She was sympathetic to my Black Friday plight because she worked in the field for 10 years. He may have made friends with her, but judging that their is an eight year age difference between the two, that seems to be a stretch.

What could I have done to offend? Well, I spoke with my coworker about the evening and how I need to accept that girls in their near 40s will look like my teachers from back in the day. Being a fan of the entire "The Matrix" franchise, having issues acknowledging my residual self image could be the issue. They tell me I look young for 42, but it does not mean I am a looker.

Here's to our future cybernetic overlords. Just plug me in and allow me to be the never satisfied guy I already am. The system would prevent me from acknowledging the concept of being a middle-aged failure. There is a trivia rant that I can on, but yet again, I will digress.

The Best Movie Discoveries of 2022 (G to N):

I said I have a lot of time this weekend, but my productive week means I am behind on reviewing NinetyForChill: The Year. With just over eighty movies and only three weeks left in 2022, one of the weeks will need to be dedicated 40 flicks. To see where I stand in this summary of the best, the length of this post will be on the long side. When referring to the past blog's 10 best, there will need to be an appropriate process of elimination of these 40. And to be fair, it will need to be repeated 20 at a time. Lets breakdown G to N.

• 
  Ghostbusters (2016)
• Ghostbusters: Afterlife
• Gothika
• Hawk's Vengeance
• Highlander: The Final Dimension
• House
• Invitation to a Suicide
• Jay and Silent Bob Reboot
• Juno
• King of California
• L.A. Story
• Lo
• Mad God
• Master of the Flying Guillotine
• Mayhem
• Midnight in Paris
• Mothra vs. Godzilla
• Night of a Thousand Cats
• Night of the Demons
• No Contest

Films to Consider:

This started out as a tough block to seemingly strike down titles without a further review. With "Blind Fury" and "Fortress" being in the first set of top 10, it would be silly to include another Christopher Lambert feature and a senseless action flick. The Kevin Smith feature from this block might be more fun that "Clerks III", but it does not have its follow up's sincerity.

With that said, I recommend viewers that just want to have fun to give "Hawk's Vengeance", "Highlander: The Final Dimension" and "Jay and Silent Bob Reboot" a watch. Hedge your bets with some weed or booze.

Ghostbusters Afterlife (2021)

This is nostalgia and fan service done right. "Ghostbusters (Answer the Call)" could be considered fun, but it failed to realize why the kids of the 80s enjoyed the original. Without having the "Not Ready for Primetime Players" as the leads, the humor is not what it was in 1984, but the story pays homage to that crew and Harold Ramis in particular.

House (1985)

This is the hybrid of "Ghostbuster's" humorous approach to humor with "Evil Dead's" feel. The feature is hardly an R and is so absurd that anyone can handle its nastiness.

Invitation to a Suicide (2004)

It has a dark sense of humor that takes the piss out of the premise of honor suicide while still addressing the issues with having suicidal thoughts. The shot on video quality is actually charming especially since the film simultaneously mocks its budgetary shortcomings.

Juno (2007)

This is not Diablo Cody's best screenplay, but that was intended. How are you going to be allowed to make a mark on proper cinema if your story tells the audience to fuck off if they do not like it? The humor still has bite and Elliot Page's range is showcased. He is such a thespian that despite his queerness, he could carry the straight pretransition narrative. The supporting cast makes the story golden.

King of California (2007)

It is a well acted feature with a story that features a silliness that you want to see if it can be kept up. The ending might pull on the heartstring a bit too hard, but you are invested enough in Michael Douglass and Evan Rachel Woods's character arcs that you are fine with this sappy conclusion.

L.A. Story (1991)

If Woody Allen's features are something you can no longer watch, this will make you reconsider it. Steve Martin's script is full of heart and charm and even has that autobiographical feel you get from Allen's films. It is timeless because Martin is not allegedly a monster. I will need to get around to the other films he wrote after this to see if his filmography can rid us of a persona-non-grata, but if not, you know who will give you this type of story perfected.

Lo (2009)

If you want another similar Allen style of humor, "Lo" is on YouTube to fill that urge. It is a romantic comedy which addresses dealing with awkward partners and getting over them. The demonic elements make it unique and you cannot help but admire how much it gets done with absolutely no budget.

Mad God (2021)

It is going to be tough for any other feature that I saw this year to top this masterpiece. Narrative is appreciated, but the shear magnitude of this beautiful and disturbing film needs as much recognition as it can get.

Mayhem (2017)

This is the kill-or-be-killed office comedy I wanted five years ago with the James Gunn produced/penned "The Belko Experiment". When you want to see white collar people act like the concept of the poor that Fox News sells, you have to realize how absurd the idea is and just laugh at it. Joe Lynch had impressed me years ago with "Chillerama". He needs more opportunities because I think he has the range in direction that Kevin Smith seemingly lacks.

Midnight in Paris (2011)

His predilections maybe questionable, but as a hopeless romantic, no auteur has nailed the perspective better than Woody Allen. This is less autobiographical and more of a tribute to the influences that gave him his broken idea on what love is. Born 20 years later, I would imagine he would treat Hunter S. Thompson better than what Johnny Depp and Terry Gillian have offered us. On top all of this, just seeing our finest contemporary actors get to do caricatures of the best expatriates is a lot of fun while reminding us that the past always looks better through rose-tinted glasses.

Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)

One must honor the feature that truly laid the groundwork for Godzilla's face turn and our fascination with wanting to see the best kaiju battle each other.

Night of the Demons (1988)

From one of the directors who got me into schlocky cinema, Kevin Tenney, this is "Evil Dead" for high schoolers. It offers everything you can hope for from an eighties "slasher" while acknowledging, that by this point in the genre, we are not here to take it serious at all.

The Current Top 10:

I would go an give a break down of who and why it made the top 10, but we got another 20 movies in contention.

1. Mad God (2021)
2. Fritz the Cat (1972)
3. Frankenstein (1931)
4. Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)
5. Deadly Games (1989)
6. Invitation to a Suicide (2004)
7. Clerks III (2022)
8. Lo (2009)
9. Mayhem (2017)
10. Midnight in Paris (2011)

The Best Movie Discoveries of 2022 (G to N):

NinetyForChill: The #Podcast: Ally Presents: The ”XX/XY”, ”Young Adam” Holiday Sandwich

 NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

Episode 98: Ally Presents: The ”XX/XY”, ”Young Adam” Holiday Sandwich.

Ally Presents: The ”XX/XY”, ”Young Adam” Holiday Sandwich

December 13, 2022

ThePoeticCritic is the greatest of sports. Aside from being Central Illinois's premier critical mind in terms of motion pictures, she tries to help Cool Movies Darth in obtaining the Christmas spirit via cinema. Did she expect to have this conversation shoved between two films about men thinking with their organs instead of their hearts when it comes to relationship? CM Darth doubts that, but to not show the importance of the Mark Ruffalo lead "XX/XY" and Ewan McGregor's "Young Adam" would be denying those with chauvinistic attitudes their lumps from Santa.

Allow me to get out of third-person. Happy Prof. Shurtleff of Illinois Central College? I (CM Darth) will try not to make so much light of violent death in this summation. This is my declaration of changing perspective.

This episode should not have been this difficult to produce. I had a great guest lined up, but I misread their affirmation. They were busy Saturday afternoon, but said they were available after 5 pm on Saturday. What threw me off was using the day's name twice in a sentence. Because their busy day was stated once, it led me to think that their intention to record would be the next day.

Do not worry for them. They seemed to love the subject matter, so it should not have been 90 minutes lost.

It is even more humiliating than when I screwed up how time zones work. There were only five-months of my near 20-year customer service career where my living was made outside of that (After those five months, I started in hospitality on the weekends.). I was given a job as a third-party copywriter for Walmart.com based on my ability to proofread. Spellcheck was expected to handle the rest. My screw up this week makes me ponder how badly my Friday hangovers affected the website. They thought I was responsible enough to publish copy without further checks.

Thus, I think this podcast would benefit from having a co-host to make sure that my priorities are straight. Someone needs to tell me to let my nephew know that those with December birthdays have to acknowledge that celebrating them seems pointless. Would I even have the energy to get drunk after my quest over three counties to get him a Blu-ray copy of "The Princess Bride"?

With that said, I have determined that I just need to find a cohost for two weeks of the month. There will be invitations sent out to people I have had on the show that I think fit my attitudes. If you want to apply, send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. We could do both recordings in one night. The only issue with that is that I will be more shitfaced than usual.

With the year coming to a close, this month is going to be more about awkwardness than the holidays. That statement makes me feel like I best reissue "Ally and The Nightmare Before Christmas" episode to make this month feel like the holidays. It would also be appropriate since I need to wrap up the 2022 line up of Ally's Accessories Shop on Etsy's Trash Feature Revue.

Any how, this is why the conversation with ThePoeticCritic was bookended by two sexed up existential films. Ally had found "Young Adam" last year as my only other option for the letter Y at Champaign's Disc Replay ("You're Next" was the other.). X is a nearly impossible letter to find movies under that do not feature a cameo from Hugh Jackman at the very least. I guess there is some Marvel synergy finding an Incredible Hulk starring movie to represent the second to last letter of the alphabet.

This also allows me a transition to describe the my conversation with my big sister. So few people remember that "Iron Man 3" is set at Christmas. We all acknowledge that is one of the most forgettable films in the MCU, so did you recall that? You should have since Shane Black uses the birth of Christ as a crutch to his action screenplays.

Fortunately, ThePoeticCritic knows and expresses her favorite Shane Black features, like "The Long Kiss Goodnight" and "The Last Boy Scout". I should have asked if that was "The Predator's" primary flaw, but I doubt she would give weaponized autism a chance. She may consider that concept from that sequel to be as bad as placing that film at Halloween.

It would be difficult to get her off the topic anyhow. She fondly looks back on features that use Christmas as a set piece. We laugh about using our uncle's illegal cable box to watch a loop of "Ghostbusters II" and "Ernest Saves Christmas". Every cool podcast talks about stealing cable. Why should "NinetyForChill" be denied that honor?

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.

NinetyForChill: The #Podcast: The Menu...And a Call For More Streaming

 NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

The Menu...And a Call For More Streaming (and ThePoeticCritic on "Silent Night, Bloody Night").

The Menu…And a Call For More Streaming

December 6, 2022

Cool Movies Darth thinks it was quite appropriate that he had to endure 20 minutes of technical difficulties to watch "The Menu". Surviving the experience was very similar to seeing if Ralph Fiennes was serious about killing everyone at the conclusion of the meal. That is a bit of hyperbole, but it really nails down why the cinema experience might be overrated. Fortunately, enduring the ordeal was worthwhile, and CM Darth would like to try and sell you on checking this flick out.

Allow me to get out of third-person. Happy Prof. Shurtleff of Illinois Central College? I (CM Darth) will try not to make so much light of violent death in this summation. This is my declaration of changing perspective.

I went to the cinema to see a John Leguizamo film. With the holiday season, "Violent Night", the Santa as John McClane picture, seemed appropriate, but the runtime was 1:52. 12 minutes of credits seemed to be unlikely, so I chose "The Menu" with its 1:47 runtime. If there was not a stinger after the credits, it might qualify for the podcast (My math says it does.). Without a guest for the show like I had hoped, covering a current film in theaters is the best I could offer to make up for two weeks of me carrying the show.

With that said, I have determined that I just need to find a cohost for two weeks of the month. There will be invitations sent out to people I have had on the show that I think fit my attitudes. If you want to apply, send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. We could do both recordings in one night. The only issue with that is that I will be more shitfaced than usual.

The best thing about this proposition is that I will not expect you to put any money down to see movies at the cinema. No one should need to be stuck in a cinema when a power surge occurs while they are trying to determine if a film's narrative concludes in 100-minutes. Unless there is a complete power outage in a neighborhood, a reboot of the modem should not take that long to get back to your movie.

On top of that, iTunes, Disney+, and Prime Video keep track of the time during a feature. No one should deal with the cinematic hypocrisy of not shutting your phone off because you need to let the stop watch run to make sure the movie qualifies for this show. It is a rule I hate breaking. Hell, I go to the cinema to have a reason to shut off my phone.

So, yes. I will be ripping into the multiplex where this experience occurred. The power surge knocked out all the screens. As I said, it took 20 minutes to resolve, but I was stuck in a theater with Central Illinois residents. There is nothing worst than Podunk people complaining. They even shot down a well formed joke (from myself) about how we should not be so pissy.

So it may not be the cinema staff that is telling me to abandon the cinema experience. It may not be the pretention of Christopher Nolan saying movies need to be seen on the big screen when we all know that your narrative needs special effects and gimmicks to cover up its flaws. It is the people in the cinemas being rude and unappreciative of the film and the people trying to provide you the experience.

If anything, this inspires me to further bust my ass to make money. I need my own dedicated cinema room. Space for a 166" inch screen maybe all I really want out of life.

Pardon me for not taking the time to sell "The Menu" in this blog post. It is a film where you anticipate a grand ending. This film delivers and was worth $20 instead of waiting for it on Hulu. I just want to do my best to not to spoil it. Dare I say, I might be a little bit like Nicholas Hoult's foodie character. To say anymore, would be a spoiler.

And hopefully this episode is not spoiled. To hedge my bet, I have got a two-minute conversation with my big sister, ThePoeticCritic, to discuss an early slasher movie "Silent Night, Bloody Night". It is fun to see her embrace the low budget, early Cannon work, but should she have had that much fun? We discuss.

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.

If You Have Not Been Listening to NinetyForChill: The #Podcast: The Best Discoveries of 2022 (A to F)

*This blog post was started on December 5, 2022.

The next episode of "NinetyForChill: The Podcast" has been edited together for December 6 since I had hopes of going on a date tonight. Kids ruin everything.

I suppose its viruses that do that, but if your seven years old, you should be wearing a mask in school. There is hopes that she will update me with a place to meet after implying a need to get tanked. Here is to hoping I have to interrupt this blog post. She states on her Tinder that she is looking for a plus one for a Christmas Party this Saturday. Getting to know her personally seems like a must if I have to fake it instead of watching Ring of Honor's Final Battle.

At least with the year closing, I have stuff to write about. Everything film critic needs to present their best of list before January 1. With 80 movies (so far) to address, it should keep me busy for the entire month. Provided Chris Jericho retains over Claudio Castagnoli at Final Battle, movies should be my artistic focus until 2023.

Would I rather see Claudio as Ring of Honor World Champion? Yes, but I am writing this blog on a rare midweek night off. There is enough pressure on myself right now. I say that and realize that I still have bills to pay this week.

Mentioning cash, I remember after my rough experience watching "The Menu" last night, a Patreon will be the goal of 2023. If I am going to bitch about a movie theater performing poorly, I need to claim a sense of professionalism as a critic. There is a need to place myself on a pedestal above Yelp reviewers.

Speaking of pedestals, lets break down the first 20 movies from the alphabet that I discovered this year.

The Best Movie Discoveries of 2022 (A to F):

• 

  Pinterest @ednaha7

  Abandon
• Before I Go To Sleep
• Black Friday
• Blind Fury
• Castle Freak (2020)
• Class of 1984
• Class of 1999
• Class of 1999 Part 2
• Clerks III
• Cloverfield
• Creature
• Dark Space
• Deadly Games
• Doom
• Earth Girls Are Easy
• Empire
• Foodfight!
• Frankenstein
• Fortress
• Fritz the Cat

Movies Worth Considering:

Before I Go To Sleep (2014):

It feels likes a good pre-prestige television movie in terms of story. Fortunately, this movie loads up on the best British talents...and Nicole Kidman to make you invest in the feature. Having not seen the "Bridget Jones" franchise, I have only seen Colin Firth as a nice guy. When the other male lead is the almost always cold Mark Strong, the casting sets us up to not be prepared for the roles they will be playing. Kidman is engaging as the lead of a film that is basically, what if "50 First Dates" was a psychological thriller. At 92 minutes, there is no time to bore the audience even when it gets predictable.

Black Friday (2021):

If you are a fan of low-brow, low-budget cinema, how can you resist a feature with Bruce Campbell and Michael Jai White? The feature could have been a lot campier, but once all the characters get established, being able to relate to their plight during an intergalactic zombie apocalypse on the busiest shopping day of the year makes this film a lot of fun. That maybe the retail associate in me, but Seth Green as a defected toy stuffed bear called Dour Dennis, a rental is a must.

Blind Fury (1989):

From the days where TriStar Pictures was considered second tier, they provided us with a Cannon Group premise led by a totally invested thespian in Rutger Hauer. He carries this action movie with a sense of relatability in a time where that was just becoming a viable option for a hero in the shadow of "Die Hard". Nothing really makes sense in the film when it comes to being grounded in reality, but I am proud if this flick is America's best attempt at "Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman".

Class of 1984 (1982)

This is the trashy grindhouse style cinema that I look for. The film could have spread out the scummy, ridiculous scenarios through out the film, which is frustrating but amusing enough. "Class of 1984's" finale makes it all worth it. If you need the better pacing of crazy, you may just want to go straight to Mark Lester's pseudo sequel, "Class of 1999".

Clerks III (2022):

I have been made aware of negative opinions towards this feature, but I think that maybe from those who do not want to grow with these characters. This feature provides a midlife crisis for anyone over 40 years-old, and I think that maybe the point. There are some juvenile gags, but is that not what stoners posing as cinephiles want? Perhaps making a living as a customer service representative the past 20 years leads me into a bias towards this Kevin Smith film, but if that is not cool with the viewer, you are amongst those who we serve, but do not fucking like.

Cloverfield (2008):

Anyone who says this feature is overrated, I can relate to. It is a fine found footage feature, but difficult to relate to the characters. It is worth a watch to see the skills, but not being a real kaiju movie will not inspire you to return to it.

Deadly Games (o.k.a. 36.15 code Pere Noel)(1989):

I argued with Gregory Carl that "Home Alone" is not a rip off of this feature, but I realize that it is only because Americans are a lot dumber than the French. This goes to our inability to handle dark humor and also failing to want to have villains that only a genius will be able to defeat. There is no slapstick in this feature, just intensity and tongue-in-cheek humor. You can show it to your kids if you need to knock off this Santa bullshit, but if you do not want to be cruel, the film captures the childhood paranoia of strangers that you can now enjoy looking back on.

Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)

This is one of the features that inspired the podcast to allow movies that conclude their narratives in 1:39:59. It might be one of the finest, intentionally camp features of the 1980s. The cast is brilliant, the musical numbers are all fun. As I look back on this film now, "Earth Girls Are Easy" might be a perfect film. With that said, next year's season of "NinetyForChill: The #Podcast" will need some time dedicated to reassessing some reviews that have star counts inspired to "balance" my Letterboxd ratings.

Frankenstein (1931)

I have a tendency to complain about the time of where writers and actors were trying to move from theatrical styles to the cinema, but this is a near perfect horror movie. There are some tacky effects and Americans portraying Germans with no accents, but James Whale ability to direct carries it to being a near perfection. He may end up dominating this list since he also directed "The Invisible Man".

Fortress (1992)

It would not be "NinetyForChill: The #Podcast" if Stuart Gordon was not fighting for a spot on the best of list? This was probably his most ambitious film at the time. Christopher Lambert versus Kurtwood Smith could sell this movie to movie nuts on its own. Giving us an inescapable prison with Tom Towles, Clifton Collins Jr., Vernon Wells, and Jeffrey Combs is just a bonus. You have plenty of gore and unnecessary nudity. I think this is ahead of its time when it comes to virtually direct-to-video faire.

Fritz the Cat (1972)

I have not seen a lot of early Ralph Bashki, but I venture to say this is the most accessible. It is easier to suggest this than "Coonskin". The feature is beautifully animated and you can see that ambition that Bashki will exhibit in "Lord of the Rings" and "American Pop". More importantly, capturing the hypocrisy of the white liberals is done perfectly. With a touch of "Clockwork Orange" themes, this picture is a must see provided you are of age to understand it.

NinetyForChill: The #Podcast - Thanksgiving Weekend Horror: ThanksKilling, ThanksKilling 3, & Black Friday

 NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

Episode 96: Thanksgiving Weekend Horror: ThanksKilling, ThanksKilling 3, & Black Friday.

Thanksgiving Weekend Horror: ThanksKilling, ThanksKilling 3, & Black Friday

November 29, 2022

Cool Movies Darth is not really a Thanksgiving fan. The high school wrestling season started that weekend, so enjoying the feast was not really an option. Granted, NinetyForChill's host grew up a picky eater, so the holiday did not really offer anything for him. Let us not even get into familiar anxiety. Horror may be too extreme a term for the fourth week of November, but then came his career in customer service. So the "ThanksKilling" franchise and the Bruce Campbell produced "Black Friday" may be appropriate comfort viewing for the holiday season kick off.

Allow me to get out of third-person. Are we happy Prof. Shurtleff of Illinois Central College? I (CM Darth) will try not to make so much light of violent death in this summation. This is my declaration of changing perspective.

I have been exhausted. This blog post is being composed the day after I dropped this podcast episode. There was 11.75 hours spent at my retail job on Black Friday. Not having a guest this week (as designed) lead to a last minute binge of movies. This should not have been a last minute task, but without having a guest secured yet for my December 6, there was no idea on similar movies to build up anticipation for that episode. With that said, send me an email if you want to be on the show. The address is russthebus07@gmail.com.

If this podcast was not my passion, I suppose being this busy is good. Too bad this means that I may not have the time to set up recordings before the next episode is due. With any luck, those hurdles will be worth it just for the sake of my ego. In other words, dates with romantic aspirations will hopefully keep me sane.

As I said, these films served as good comfort viewing. The binge made sure I did not take the past weekend too seriously. When you have a one dimensional puppet and actors who lack multiple of dimensions, if you get overly critical, you may end up scratching your eyes out.

I will not deny this, if I had a couple of robot friends, things would be even easier.

"ThanksKilling" was in my original Netflix digital queue 12 years ago. At that time, I was just embracing no budget movie making. For it to be successful, the story has to be told well and you must embrace your features shortcomings. Jordan Downey's film does this.

It seems the goal for Downey was to use this feature to encourage people to invest in a better movie. That is how we ended up with a Peter Jackson inspired sequel, "ThanksKilling 3".

So, lets get "Main Event of the Dead" off the ground. My no budget, zombie comedy just needs to get made. I promise you a better movie once I have that IMDb profile. Ask for the treatment of the screenplay by sending an email to russthebus07@gmail.com.

If my pro-wrestling movie does not get off the ground (Hopefully the Ta2Squid Podcast episode kaiju big battel zombie screenplay w/russ from cat bus will help with that), The Bruce Campbell produced "Black Friday" makes me glad that I work for a great retailer. In the event of an alien invasion, I have faith that my team will remain unified and be able to stand up to space zombies. That cannot be said of Marine Bank. There was a strong squad at one-time, but management has no spine or faith in us.

If you have worked for multiple retailers, you know that some of them have uncaring and/or out-of-touch management. "Black Friday" has a script and actors that capture that vibe. It takes a while to get going, but accurate archetypes will get you invested in this feature. There could have been more Bruce acting like Ash, but it is amusing enough. Amusing enough that I think it could be a new Holiday classic.

Who would have thought that Starz was aware of the potential of the direct-to-home releases they have in their line up? There spam emails almost make me consider maintaining a subscription. Almost being key.

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.

NinetyForChill: The #Podcast: The Sadness...Holiday Appropriate? (Featuring Gregory Carl)

 NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

Episode 95: The Sadness...Holiday Appropriate? (Featuring Gregory Carl).

The Sadness…Holiday Appropriate? (featuring Gregory Carl)

November 22, 2022

To get you ready to defend yourself against the madness of Black Friday, Gregory Carl and Cool Movies Darth take on the Chinese viral outbreak movie, "The Sadness". It is a COVID-19 inspired tale about a virus that will not kill you via lung failure, but by the perverse whims of the infected. This is a case of what does not kill will you makes you stranger, more violent, and what is most shocking, hornier.

Allow me to get out of third-person. Happy Prof. Shurtleff of Illinois Central College? I (CM Darth) will try not to make so much light of violent death in this summation. This is my declaration of changing perspective.

We always seem to think the "zombie" film fad is about to pass, and then a feature like "The Sadness" comes along. This feature is not a zombie flick, but an outbreak feature, but to the layman it is tomayto tomahto. The dead are not coming back to life, and if the dead were to reanimate, they would not run.

Zack Snyder had screwed up this subgenre of horror with his "Dawn of the Dead". It really lacked the satire that made George A. Romero's original the classic that it is, and for that alone I was not a fan. The director has his missteps, and that just happened to be a financially successful accident. I am a fan of his DCEU efforts, "300", and "Watchmen", but even there, he does not have a clue about the messages these stories try to get across. There is no way I can get too angry at this director because he did allow us films like "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies" and the "Zombieland" franchise, but the Western zombie scene had lost its way.

Fortunately, "The Sadness" is the course correction that we need. To its credit, it demonstrates that there are those in the West who agree with me. This feature was directed by a Canadian animator, Rob Jabbaz. The frustration with this is that he had to go to China to make it. I have no issue with foreign films, but if I was not looking for material to podcast about, Greg probably would have remained turned off by the subtitles.

The most important thing about "The Sadness" is the degree of satire. It presents over the top violence that will shock initially, but as it continues to be displayed, you cannot help but embrace the ridiculousness of it. Having watched the feature a handful of times for this episode of the podcast, Greg and I end up with a similar relationship to the film that Beetlejuice had with "The Exorcist".

The satire stems from our "need" to resist authority's suggestions for safety. How do they know what I need?

It was featured in a far more relatable sense with Romero's "The Crazies" which is honestly more disturbing. Jabbaz's film shocks you every chance it can get, but with so few protagonists, you do not get attached to anyone. Thus, you can impress the gore-hounds with the blood and the critics with the stunning visuals. There are some filthy scenes, but they do not seem personal, so it is easy to get comfortable while watching this.

With all of that said, I had difficulty deciding whether or not to censor the most obscene language from this episode. Should children have access to such ideas? Well, I am not a parent. Gregory is. He starts the podcast by asking his grade schooler if he wanted to watch this along side him because "You don't have school tomorrow". So, this leads me to rely on Sheila Broflovski to justify cutting out the F-bombs from our conversation:

Remember what the MPAA says; Horrific, Deplorable violence is okay, as long as people don't say any naughty woids! That's what this war is all about!

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.