Sunday, December 7, 2025

Bonus: Chicago TARDIS 2025: Day 1 - No Nerd Osmosis

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Bonus: Chicago TARDIS 2025: Day 1 - No Nerd Osmosis

⁠ThePoeticCritic is having a good time at ⁠Chicago TARDIS⁠, but ⁠CatBusRuss⁠ is not quite feeling it. This is indeed a convention DEDICATED to "⁠Doctor Who⁠", and our host is not the target audience.

It is a neurospicy neighborhood. ⁠Russ⁠ has his eccentricities, but he also has patience and a degree of innate empathy. Make this crowd wait, and this crowd wants their true feelings known. This is a boys of "Big Bang Theory" vibe that brings CatBus comfort in knowing that he does not need to be tested like Sheldon, but taken a back by the stereotypes Hollywood sells.

He found the panel with ⁠Jo Martin⁠, the Fugitive Doctor, and supporting actresses ⁠Steph de Whalley⁠ and ⁠Susan Twist⁠ to be fun, but he was there to find out what he has seen them in that is not from the BBC. With his sister and her beau leaving him on his own, the challenge became finding the panels that were not too Whovian. When the one half of the panels that did not mention the Time Lord was hosted by two of the organizers, it maybe a fool's errand.

Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor standing in front of the TARDIS

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Bonus: Chicago TARDIS Warm Up: Wicked for Predator with ThePoeticCritic

CatBusRuss⁠ & ⁠ThePoeticCritic⁠ did not have a traditional Thanksgiving. If you want to stay at the hotel that is hosting ⁠Chicago TARDIS⁠, you gotta check in on the night dedicated to the false narrative of pilgrims and natives. Thus, where are you going to get a meal when all the restaurants are closed? The answer, head to Lombard's AMC Dine In and watch a family flick. For the older Stevens kid, "⁠Wicked for Good⁠". For her little brother, "⁠Predator: Badlands⁠".

⁠Russ⁠ would think that a feature involving animal prosecution would earn a PG-13, but his sister explains its PG rating. He is cool with that despite musicals seemingly be an out when it comes to a more restrictive rating. As for the latest ⁠Predator⁠ movie, making all the bad guys robots kind of takes the fun out of a creature that we know can rip a spine and skull out of a human in a single tug.

The story is about a Yautja runt, so maybe it is for the kids who may only know the term from "Charlotte's Web".

Like most episodes of "⁠I Dig Crazy Flicks⁠" that this brother/sister duo partake in, the two do talk about the state of the movie industry and the excessive amount of trailers you have to endure. The two finished their respective meals before the Nicole Kidman spiel. Perhaps more importantly, the elder of the two does give the younger an idea of what TARDIS will be like. Will be that enough for CatBus to manage a fandom he has no investment in? If not, at least there is a swimming pool on the second floor.

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.