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Tuesday, February 24, 2026

"Four Room", Two Degrees of Bill Nighy, "Lady Terminator", and Nix Eclips

  

I Dig Crazy Flicks with @CatBusRuss

Bonus: From Blunt to Bacon: "Four Room" and Two Degrees of Bill Nighy (featuring ThePoeticCritic)

Four Rooms poster - Pinterest @loubel86

2025 had left CatBusRuss joyfully busy this year with "I Dig Crazy Flicks". Busy to the point where he cannot stand the idea that Apple Podcast will claim that the podcast is updated "biweekly". To make sure 2026 starts off well, our host watched one more new (to him) movie and brings back another fun episode from the original "Ninety For Chill dot Com: The Podcast" feed.

The title of this episode seems to suggest an awesome way to start any year. Can you go wrong with a triple-feature that goes from Emily Blunt to Kevin Bacon? Russ has found that he needed all six degrees to make that work out perfectly, but it can be made better with five degrees if you include the 1995 indie-comedy anthology "Four Rooms".

The movies featured in the three degrees of Blunt via two degrees of Bill Nighy are "Wild Target", "Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (starring Ryan Reynolds), and "R.I.P.D."

If you need a quality six degrees of Kevin Bacon that includes "Four Rooms", the movies needed would be Bruce Willis & Emily Blunt in "Looper", Blunt & Nighy in "Wild Target", Nighy & Reynolds in "Det. Pikachu", Reynolds & James McAvoy in "Deadpool 2", and McAvoy & Bacon in "X-Men: First Class".

Pardon if the bad movie had been spoiled. Hopefully an appearance from ThePoeticCritic to talk shop will make up for that giveaway.

Episode 251 - Ninety For Chill X GalaxyCon St. Louis with Nix Eclips & "Lady Terminator"

Lady Terminator promotional art - ThatsCoolThatsTrash.com

"I Dig Crazy Flicks's" last stop on its 2025 comic convention tour was the debut of GalaxyCon St. Louis. CatBusRuss is out to further promote the concept that the ideal runtime for feature-length cinema, 90 minutes, with "Ninety For Chill: The Panel". To help him present his thesis, he is joined by Nix Eclips, co-host of the "Cinema Shitshow".

The two podcasters had a challenging first day (day two for the con goers). Russ had to figure out what to do having never received the email with his credentials and figuring out the layout of the America Center. Nix was doing his damndest to work in the panel and get a Bruce Campbell autograph. If their panel goes bad, would they be up to slay at the next day's "1985: Triple-Threat Match".

Fortunately, they ran out of punch and pie. That means there was an audience to argue the pretension of Christopher Nolan with. The two get to reminisce about the "good" times of the nineties where we only had physical media to amuse us. Nix also got to more thoroughly pitch his podcast.

Reminder to Russ. When are you going to take on the challenge of the Shitshow? What movie can they offer that you cannot handle?

To demonstrate he is up for nearly anything, Russ reviews "Lady Terminator". This is a movie that he discovered from Rob Hill's "The Bad Movie Bible" and endorsed by Aaron Reynold's "Bootleg Safari". It is Indonesia's knock off of "The Terminator". The twist, it is a reincarnation of a witch that is obsessed with castration instead of a bodybuilding robot from the future. After that, you get a beat-by-beat remake of the best scenes from James Cameron's best film.

 

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.

Bonus: #TBT: From Dreamy "Nocturna" to "A Nightmare on Elm St."

I Dig Crazy Flicks

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Bonus: #TBT: From Dreamy "Nocturna" to "A Nightmare on Elm St."

ThePoeticCritic and CatBusRuss take you on a journey ranging from the Criterion Channel's Saturday Matinees for the smart kids to the directors with obsessions of dreamlike environments. The Spanish animated gem "Nocturna" and Wes Craven's "A Nightmare on Elm St" serve as bookends to this narrative that does quite a bit of juxtaposition of features like "The Never Ending Story" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". NinetyForChill tries to capture the motivation behind Terry Gilliam's filmography in about 90 minutes.

A Nightmare of Elm St. fan poster by 1     Movie scenes  Save Visit site Mariano Mattos Art

Saturday, February 21, 2026

A Pair of Cinephiles: Rob Reiner's "This Is Spinal Tap" & "Pompo: The Cinephile"

  

I Dig Crazy Flicks with @CatBusRuss

Bonus: This Is Spinal Tap: Remembering Rob Reiner. Remembering the Beginning

This Is Spinal Tap poster - Pinterest @daviddiiulio

CatBusRuss did not intend to pull out an episode from the archives, but with the passing of Rob and Michelle Reiner on Sunday (December 14, 2025), he felt it was important to keep them in our minds and in the proper light. Rambling Ronnie and ThePoeticCritic kept their language at a "PG-13" level during this conversation about Reiner's debut feature, so our host hopes that he did not make this a "R" with stating his feeling towards the criminal who is squatting in the White House during the introduction.

For the first time, "NinetyForChill: The #Podcast" has gone international. Rambling Ronnie has come on to discuss one of her favorite comedies and what is unquestionably the most important mockumentary of all time, "This Is Spinal Tap". This was the first R-Rated feature that ThePoeticCritic rented along side her little brother Cool Movies Darth. Needless to say, all parties are excited to tell the world aboot the excellence of this film.

Russ (I) definitely saw this picture before I entered the world of professional wrestling. It was hilarious, if just for picking out the cameos like Billy Crystal as Mort the Mime and the oldest (and perhaps first) Fred Willard appearance that I had ever seen. After entering a showmanship profession, this film is even funnier because it is beyond authentic.

For me, it was not a puppet show where I sustained my most severe documented concussion. It was wrestling during a Christion-promoted boxing expedition. Puppet's would have been an honor.

ThePoeticCritic spent her teens as an amateur actress. Needless to say, she has her tales of nearly falling off balconies because of poor backstage crew. Being trapped like Derek Smalls is something all performers are or will become familiar with.

Rambling Veronica (TPC's Twitter account impressed her since she was using Veronica as an alias), did not happen to have any tales to tell as a performer, but with the sincerity and politeness of Canadians, they all seem to share a common vibe. Provided they are not from Quebec. I am sorry I did not give the listeners a warning about the mocking of Montreal during this podcast.

We all seemed to have been on the same page when it comes to comedy. Ronnie's last episode was about "Monty Python's Life of Brian". Us Stevens children were raised on British comedy. Monty Python was the only MTV we were allowed to watch. With "The New Red Green Show" being Central Illinois's "Red Dwarf" lead in, this podcast seemed destined to happen.

Discussing Monty Python lead us to bring up "The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash". This was Eric Idle's Beetle mock that was produced by Lorne Michaels. When you bring up Lorne Michaels, you bring us "Saturday Night Live" and "SCTV". We end up talking about all of the best Western comedy that was influenced by the British.

By proxy, I guess you can say all of Christopher Guest's mocumentaries are British comedies. He is a British Baron after all.

ThePoeticCritic and Rambling Ronnie are even bigger fans of Guest's directorial efforts than I am. We do get to address and compare and contrast these films. It was kind of a silly part since none of us have seen them all. Ronnie is a big fan of "A Mighty Wind" and TPC seemed to lean towards "Best in Show". One thing is certain, you must give "Waiting for Guffman" a chance.

Episode 250 - Pompo: The Cinephile - The Film that Gets this Podcast featuring Jess McCord

Pompo: The Cinephile - Pinterest AnimeNew_

Jess McCord, co-creator of TTRPG "Skies of Fortune", left GalaxyCon Des Moines's edition of "Ninety For Chill: The Panel" with a suggestion for an anime that best represents the premise of "Ninety For Chill: The Podcast". CatBusRuss had been hearing about "Pompo: The Cinephile" from Jess before he met him in Iowa's capital city. Presuming this film was something that this anime expert was passionate about, how could our host not talk about this flick? We will soon discover that this was not necessarily about passion, but a punchline.

"Pompo" is the story of a movie producer who is more dedicated to giving new talent opportunities than chasing critical awards. Her PA is Gene, a true cinephile who loves to see the finest art made for the silver screen. Because of this passion, she insists that he will direct her script for such a movie. Is Gene up for that task and can he finish it in time for the investors?

The two podcaster admire the concept of this flick, but is it actually good? There is a lot to love about it. As content creators, they both understand the struggle of making a thing, but everything seems to just work out for our protagonists in this world. Jess is left feeling overwhelmed at points with such a brief, all-encompassing look at Western cinema. Russ loves the inside baseball look at what is essentially a love letter to Roger Corman. With these two perspectives, does this film actually work or was it better left as a webcomic?

Regardless of the final consensus for "Pompo", the two know it is the end of the year, and as "critics", their determination of the best films that they saw this year is expected. CatBus declares his "Best Ninety For Chill" of 2025 and Jess offers his favorite films released this year.

Here's hoping this episode of "I Dig Crazy Flicks" is a fun Christmas gift, the ideal way to avoid family interaction if need be.

 

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.

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Bonus: #TBT: Is CouchManBakes the Reitman to Go Ghostbusting

I Dig Crazy Flicks

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Bonus: #TBT: Is CouchManBakes the Reitman to Go Ghostbusting

Perhaps the episode should have been titled, "Are @CatBusRuss & @CouchManBakes the Reitmen to Go Ghostbusting" but the pun does not feel right. Would the billing order have been right?

With "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" being released this week, our host decided to get audiences prepared with all of Ninety For Chill's conversations about "Ghostbuster" movies where the lineup is not totally female. (That is available on the previous episode "Super Mario Bros. 93 with Ta2Squid".)

We will first have the CatBus provide his positivity about "Ghostbusters: Afterlife". Then we will return to where the Champaign/Urbana podcast partnership began between Andrew Tiede and Russ Stevens. It is their conversation about Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis's cinematic influence that led to the 1984 classic "Ghostbusters".

This was before the "12 Parsecs" rule was instated, so the two proton pack enthusiasts officially record a conversation about the Bill Murray supported comedy classics "Meatballs" and "Caddyshack".

Ghostbusters fan poster by Paul Mann