Wednesday, October 15, 2025

ATL Comic Convention: Revenge of the Sith (and Lucas Fanatics) & Brick (from the Best Star Wars Director)

I Dig Crazy Flicks with @CatBusRuss

Episode 234: ATL Comic Convention: 20 Years of Revenge of the Sith (with Bryan Young, Holly Frey and Maggie Lovitt)

Fan poster for "Star Wars: Episode III" from @missdotws548

At ⁠ATL Comic Convention⁠, ⁠CatBusRuss⁠ attempted to hold his own with "Star Wars" experts by being a panelist on "⁠20 Years of Revenge of the Sith⁠". He seemed to have held his own when discussing "⁠The Last Jedi⁠", but this third prequel of the Skywalker Saga may have held a more personal place in the hearts of his fellow panelists.

⁠CatBus⁠ was joined by the hosts of the "⁠Full of Sith⁠" podcast, Bryan Young (writer for ⁠StarWars.com⁠) and Holly Frey (an executive producer for the ⁠iHeartRadio⁠ podcast network), and ⁠Maggie Lovitt⁠ (deputy editor at Collider). After their resumes, Russ acknowledged that he may have only been on the panel for the hot takes. Since he is a pro-35mm film fan and his topical comparisons to current events in the 2nd Trump administration were shutdown, perhaps he served his role.

He felt like he was up against the cult of Lucas, but he could not help but admire the passion for the sixth best "Star Wars" feature (per ⁠Screen Drafts⁠). Is the CatBus just another jaded, childless Gen Xer?

Episode 235 - ATL Comic Convention: Knives in My Eyes - 20 Years of 'Brick' with Tim Avers

Japanese poster for "Brick" from @fmlytr

C atBusRuss was able to participate in a lot of panels at ⁠ATL Comic Convention⁠ for movies that he loves, but one of those panels was for a feature not enough people have seen. He was honored to get to chat with the co-creator of the comic "⁠Blood Orange⁠", ⁠Tim Avers⁠ about ⁠Rian Johnson⁠'s 2005 debut feature, "⁠Brick⁠". Hopefully, the two were able to convince those who were early for the anime voice actor panel that followed them that they were missing out on a classic.

There was no audience to start, but since the two had a movie that they both adore, who needed them. Johnson sold this story as "A Detective Story", but if you were combing the aisles of Blockbuster in 2005, was ⁠Joseph Gordon-Levitt ⁠name enough to get you to rent this flick? ⁠CatBus⁠ really thinks that the ad campaign for this Sundance darling should have really pushed that this is film noir for high schoolers. Both panelist agree that this is a feature that soon-to-be freshmen should watch to better understand the drama of high school.

Follow me on Bluesky @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.

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The Undrafted and Wrongfully Drafted

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

Deserves a Second Chance

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

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

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

Tropic Thunder (2008)

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

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

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