Bonus: Scary Cinema 6-Pack: Sinners, Jared "Ares" Leto, Puppet Master, Quench, The Reaping, Faustian Weller

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Bonus: Scary Cinema 6-Pack: Sinners, Jared "Ares" Leto, Puppet Master, Quench, The Reaping, Faustian Weller

⁠CatBusRuss had a four-movie marathon of sub 100-minute features that he intended to kick off the last week of spooky month. But since he currently has only one retailer to be responsible to, he had time to watch a longer flick or two. Lets just say ⁠Ryan Coogler⁠'s vision changed that plan. And our host had promised to go back to the Grid while it was still in theaters.

It cannot be the "⁠Ninety For Chill: Discovery of 2025⁠" with its extra 37 minutes, but ⁠Russ⁠ will be very disappointed in the Academy if "⁠Sinners⁠" does not take home best picture. He needs to see "One Battle After Another", but there are just three too many Oscar winners to tell me that they should receive one more. Never mind that it is 24 minutes longer than Coogler's film while lacking a time-traveling musical number, and, most importantly, anti-Klan vampires.

"⁠TRON: Ares⁠" also lacks the vampires, but a ⁠Nine Inch Nails⁠ soundtrack and a love for Depeche Mode checks off all the boxes to amuse this CatBus. It does what "⁠TRON: Legacy⁠" forgot to do, play to the nerds. ⁠Jared Leto⁠ is no Michael Sheen, but he does not mess up, and the geeky fanservice made it a fun two hours. And since it is the son of "⁠TRON⁠" (runtime 1:36), it does qualify to be the NFC D25.

The idea of Jared Leto is scary, but to make sure this bonus episode of "⁠I Dig Crazy Flicks⁠" fits the spooky tone, Russ revisits four movies that he covered in 2022. We will transition to more fun special effects with "⁠Puppet Master (1989)⁠" and then maintain a no budget vibe with emo-vampire flick "⁠Quench (2007)⁠".

And to test your threshold of pain (Let's see how long you last.), the podcast will conclude with movies our host may have misunderstood. He doubts it, but you cannot hate the idea of a ⁠Hilary Swank⁠ and ⁠Idris Elba⁠ movie on paper. Not be the religious type, "⁠The Reaping (2007)⁠" may never have been up his alley. On the other hand, ⁠Peter Weller⁠ possibly portraying the devil, is a premise that you cannot deny the potential. Does "⁠Shadow Hours (2000)⁠" deliver?

Indiana Comic Con Presents: CatBusRuss - The Panel Host.

I Dig Crazy Flicks with @CatBusRuss

Bonus Episode: #ICC25: Tron - Back to the Grid with Ron Hernandez

CatBusRuss⁠ and Gregory Carl had a great time in Indianapolis the past weekend for the ⁠Indiana Comic Con⁠. In the case of our host, perhaps too much fun. By the end of the two nights, he was too partied out to create any of his traditional bonus episodes recapping his days at the convention.

Fortunately, there were five other panels he was on, and his fellow co-panelists had no issue with him pulling out the Yeti mic and Macbook Air to record those conversations.

⁠Russ⁠'s Friday started with a panel about the innovative computer-animation based films ⁠Tron⁠ and ⁠Tron: Legacy⁠ in anticipation for the upcoming threequel, Tron: Ares. He was joined by gaming expert and con crew member ⁠Ron Hernandez⁠ to see what Indiana loved about these to films and their hopes and fears about the Jared Leto movie that is due out in October.

"As long as it is not "Pixels"," was the general consensus. Everyone doubts that, so optimism was the vibe.

Episode 211 - Live from Indiana Comic Con 2025: Ninety For Chill - The Panel

CatBusRuss⁠ and Gregory Carl survived their first two days of meeting in person and sharing a hotel room. If they managed that, surely they were able to give ⁠Indiana Comic Con⁠ a podcast to remember. The two are pretty sure their discussions about:

The ideal movie running time being between 70 and 100 minutes;

How great it was interacting with the mind behind the ⁠Full Moon Features⁠ magazine "⁠Delirium⁠" as well as Delirium Films, ⁠Chris Alexander⁠;

Recapping Russ Stevens's experience participating/moderating five other panels;

Gregory wanting our host to once again call out CM Punk.

At least the father with the "Sailor Moon" merchandise will not forget. The two did appreciate the politeness of his son.

Thus, it was another learning experience for "I Dig Crazy Flicks". CatBus has some new strategies coming out of this how to grow the podcast, so stick with the podcast to find out the next city he will take on. Starting with fighting against being slotted in the "Bottom of the Ninth so lets beat traffic spot".

 

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.

Tron Legacy - Too hip?

Until the awesome previews, I was skeptical about a "Tron" sequel. What can I say except I dug the 8-bittiness of it. Also, it took me nearly 20 years to understand all of the nuances of the first film. After accomplishing that, what would "Tron Legacy" offer a recovering code junkie?

In 1989, Encom CEO Kevin Flynn goes missing. Some speculate his demise while his partner Alan Bradley believes he is exploring the digital fronts. Either way, his son Sam has grown up without him, and is now a despondent majority shareholder who tries to compromise the corporation that is run by the likes of Edward Dillinger.

After his last stunt, Alan informs Sam that his father paged him from the old arcade that had been closed for 20 years. Sam goes to investigate, and winds up finding the teleportation laser. As a result, he is transferred to the Grid, the digital universe that is ran by the megalomaniacal program Clu.

Clu was developed by Flynn to create the perfect digital world. Tired of being restricted to the Grid, he wants to take on the real world. To do that, he need Flynn's data disk to allow him to use the portal to the real world. By bringing Sam to the grid, he hopes to draw Flynn out of hiding. The only problem with the plan, Flynn may be ready him.

"Tron Legacy" is "Matrix" smart. It does not take a nerd to understand it, so the geek elite may feel betrayed. Otherwise, it is a pretty solid flick, easy for anyone to get into and ideal for 3-D screens or raves. Again nerds may feel left out. Especially since the film lacks a George Lucas love story.

If there is any trouble in terms of action sequences, it is that there is too much action. Keeping with the environment of the first "Tron", there is little in terms of backgrounds. The world is vast, but feels pretty small, so some of the scenes feel crowded, especially with the Virtual Boy like streak effects of the vehicles. It still looks great in 3-D, but does it translate to 2-D?

Aside from that flaw, the only weakness is that Sam, Garrett Hedlund, is not very interesting. Dare I say, Sam is Anakin like. Not to say that Tron was an enthralling character, but Bruce Boxleitner pulled of being a bad ass, and the Alan Bradley alter ego gave him a dynamic nature. Sam does not have the foil, so he needs to do something to be unique. Being the stereotypical rebel does not cut it.

The rest of the characters are unique and fun (especially Michael Sheen getting to try and be the flamboyant Brit). Fantasy films call for actors to not be "normal," and they all succeed.

If "Tron Legacy" was more careful with their Kung Fu and throw the first film's fan more than a Journey sound byte, it would have been perfect. It should have been made for the fans, but you really cannot hold anything against a good Jeff Bridges movie. "Crazy Heart" was lame, but Bridges was fantastic, so cannot argue against his power.