I Dig Crazy Flicks with CatBusRuss

Before we get into spooky month (Despite what the misguided Zach Cregger suggested with his misguided horror from this month), CatBusRuss goes back to Memorial Day Weekend and Quad City Comic Con to discuss copycat cinema from 1986 with ThePoeticCritic. Which movies were RAD? Which movies were BAD? This is the third time our host has presented this panel, but the first time with his big sister. He debuted the panel with frequent contributor Andrew Tiede back at UI-Con in January. Those two boys have similar taste in cinema (Andrew helped inspire the name of the podcast.), but what does the conversation look like when you introduce Central Illinois's premier cinephile? She has more cinematic knowledge then her younger sibling, but are the two cut from the cloth when it come to taste? They had to watch the same VHS tapes in the 1980s. A TV in each kid's room was a novel concept when raising Gen X kids. And the two were not allowed to watch Rated R flicks until the MPA(A) told their parents it was okay. The two got to cheer on Johnny 5 and Guttenberg & Winslow on HBO, but they knew they were missing out on Killbots and Candy & Levy. Since Arnold Schwarzenegger did not box, they were unfamiliar with his feud with Sylvester Stallone until "Last Action Hero". They did not have a clue what their classmates were talking about, so the two might be on a level playing ground with kids who were born nearly 20 years after these films were released. Were the two going to be chatting with the youngsters, or was the audience going to be their nostalgic parents? Russ is bringing this panel to GalaxyCon St. Louis (Oct. 23-25) and Twin Cities Con (Nov. 20-22). To add further content to those discussions, he went on the Internet Archive to see if history chose the right robots who can masquerade as vehicles. Is "GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords" evidence for "Robot Chicken" to treat them so badly? The winners of 1986 maybe up for debate, but when it comes to healthier snacking, there is champion. Try a flavor from from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ "I Dig Crazy Flicks's" theme is "8bit Tournament" by ⁠Oblio⁠. Find it on ⁠PremiumBeat.com⁠ V3C9QSF6F62HWWWR

With all the tentacles coming from body parts that Zach Cregger uses in his ""Resident Evil"" (Notice the double quotes.), CatBusRuss would rather Neill Blomkamp take on this video game franchise. We know he would actually recognize the source material with his "Alien V" concept art. As a "zombie" film, Cregger's picture shows off his directorial flourishes, offers some humor that our host enjoyed from "The Whitest Kids U'Know", and may serve as a bridge between George A. Romero and Danny Boyle when it comes to the bipedal dead (walkers and runners) genre. As an adaptation to Capcom's survival horror video game franchise, it is an insult to Shinji Mikami and Tokuro Fujiwara's creation. Paul W.S. Anderson may not have had any of the video game's protagonists, but he nailed the atmosphere of the games, had its monsters and fun avatars to honor the STARS team. "Super Mario Bros (1993)" did not nail the setting from the game, but we at least had Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi. Cregger shows off his talent, but no respect for the game. No wonder Capcom does not have their name attached to it. Russ was prepared if this movie was disappointing. To give his listeners another means of getting their virus-based horror, he watched "Cooties". This zombie virus in a school feature is exactly what the box suggests: juvenile comedy and fun gore effects with fun cast fronted by Elijah Wood and Rainn Wilson. It is based on a story by Leigh Whannell, who is real horror royalty for "Saw", "Upgrade", and "The Invisible Man". Cregger wishes he had that resume. Perhaps it is too early to declare a winner between Whannell and Cregger, but if you want a winning snack, try a flavor from from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ "I Dig Crazy Flicks's" theme is "8bit Tournament" by Oblio. Find it on PremiumBeat.com V3C9QSF6F62HWWWR

To keep himself hyped for Zach Cregger's horror video game adaptation, CatBusRuss revisits a conversation with unofficial associate producer of "Ninety For Chill: The Podcast", Ally Higgins, to discuss the Paul W.S. Anderson "Resident Evil" adaptations and the "Underworld" vampire v. werewolf series of films. Both series were distributed by Sony's Screen Gems. These two series were introduced to Ally during their four-relationship. The two broke up just before the pandemic, so this should be a stamp of approval about the podcaster since she purchased 20 sub 100-minute movies to be discussed on the show. Do the two still keep in touch after this episode? Amongst movies Russ was open to discuss for early episode of the podcast were eighties HBO standbys, "Flashdance" and "Killer Klowns from Outer Space". Ally grew up loving these films. Who cannot find something to enjoy from KKfOS? As for Alex the whiny welder and entitled, untrained dancer, CatBus wishes more tragedy to befall her. Perhaps they should have killed the dog to make him surrender to saccharine conclusion. Russ knows that it is not right to destroy one person's nostalgia without investigating his own. In 2001, he saw "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within". He definitely wanted to like it, but is it Final Fantasy without Chocobos? After concluding the "Resident Evil" animated features, ponderings of how good could the 2001 flick really look if the newer films look so good slipped into his brain. Their combined budgets could not be as high as the first CG, photorealistic movie. Did Russ's tepid support of the film wane upon a rewatch? This episode involves a lot of gambles. What is never a gamble is a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

CatBusRuss is excited about the third horror feature from acclaimed director Zach Cregger ("Weapons" and "Barbarian"), but is a bit skeptical about the subject matter. The former "Whitest Kid You Know" is taking on the cinematically divisive franchise of "Resident Evil". To this point, none of the live-action adaptations of the Capcom video game series have been "Certified Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes (or nearly fresh with the least rotten being 39%, 21% from critical acclaim). Cregger has made it clear that his film will not be centered around any of the video games' protagonists. Russ was a fan of most of the Paul W.S. Anderson series (with the exception of the one that scored 39%), but was that more about his fandom for the director's "Mortal Kombat" and "Event Horizon"? The Japanese CG-animated features stay in the continuity of the video games, and have a reasonable hit-to-miss ratio. Our host just watched the last two features in that franchise, "Resident Evil: Vendetta" and "Resident Evil: Death Island", to demonstrate that, especially in an age of successful gaming adaptions, being loyal to the source material is a wise decision. CatBus did not get around to the feature in theaters since the COVID-19 restrictions were just getting lifted in 2021, but he felt "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" was a fun feature. The actors may not have looked like their video game counterparts, but it knew that the story of the games was worth bringing to the big screens. It is really silly that this has been written off because it took just one liberty when compared to the original six Screen Gems flicks. And if your looking for a snack that is far from silly, try a flavor from from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Lets hope that video game writer Cory Lanham was impressed by the last minute panelist replacement CatBusRuss for this 40th anniversary panel of "The Transformers - The Movie". The Autobots and Decepticons were his first toy line of choice while his co-panelist favored Kenner's "Star Wars" line and Mattel's "Masters of the Universe". Optimus Prime's demise in this film was traumatic enough. Russ can be clumsy. Was salt poured in any wounds? Indiana Comic Convention 2026 became the comic con where Russ may have come into his own as a panelist and promoter. The connections that he made with creators over the 15 months between ICC2025 and 2026 allowed his influence to no longer be limited by invitations to participate, but encouragement by the guests. So if a panel had a no show, the FanX group should consider themselves blessed that our podcast host was present. The two do their best to make this more than a support group for those who were old enough for this film to tell that all heroes die (for capitalism). If anything, the stories shared by the audience about processing the violence of the feature provided instructions on how to introduce younger generations to the animated series. And when you have superb Soundwave and Starscream cosplayers in attendance, the atmosphere had to be fun. To add to the fun of this podcast episode, CatBusRuss went out and saw another animated feature, the long delayed "Coyote vs. Acme". It was a fun nostalgic trip that left our host pondering why we cannot have the classic "Looney Tunes" style of cartoon back. Did we need live-action to make this film a winner? Wile E. could have done it on his own. Wile E. Coyote may have also been able to catch the Roadrunner if he would have had the energy from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ CORY LANHAM: WRITER, NARRATIVE DESIGNER, AND OXFORD COMMA ENTHUSIAST, can be reached at http://cory-lanham-d4t5.squarespace.com/contact-form