NinetyForChill: The #Podcast: Top of the World (1997), Cyberjack (1995), Skimble (2014 to 2023)

 NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

Episode 104: Top of the World (1997), Virtual Assassin (1995), Skimble (2014 to 2023).

Top of the World (1997), Cyberjack (1995), Skimble (2014 to 2023)

This week's movies are solely escapism for CatBusRuss. "Top of the World" is "Die Hard" meets "Ocean's 11" where Dennis Hopper and Peter Weller face off over Tia Carre. "Cyberjack" (Tubi's "Virtual Assassin") is "Die Hard" in the not too distant future with Brion James versus Cannon's "American Ninja". With the Bruce Willis classic turning 35, perhaps the year should be dedicated to "Try Hard" movies. But, the more pressing issue for CatBusRuss is trying to honor one of his best friends, Skimble the #BastardCat" who had just passed away. 

Allow me to get out of third-person. Happy Prof. Shurtleff of Illinois Central College? I (CM Darth) will try not to make so much light of violent death in this summation. This is my declaration of changing perspective.

This is probably going to be a downer episode. Ally's cat, Skimble, whom she adopted in 2018, had been living with me since we broke up in 2020. We have not been given a cause for what led to his liver failure, but he passed away on Sunday, January 22. I have yet to meet a more loving and cuddly cat, so I cannot see how the world is better off without him.

It is not addressed in the podcast that I maybe to blame for not realizing how sick he had become since he quit being himself at the turn of the new year. I am more angry at myself for letting the social norms that dictate pets are not as meaningful as people. Of course, there is always a coworker who has a dying parent, so in all likelihood, my depression would be looked down upon. Right now, there is just a lot of anger that I need to work through. That, and I cannot wait to think of means to barter to get the little ball of fluff back.

It took me a while to accept atheism, but my most influential friend is an adamant fan of it. We once saved the life of her roommate who was overdosing on heroin. Months later, as my friend was having a tough time, I joked about how she did not believe in a god. My point was, if she believed, maybe we could have negotiated a trade with the higher power for our mutual best friend who died from her addiction. Oh the puppies at the humane society I would sacrifice for Skim.

We have already taken Skimble to the crematory. I suggested on the ride to her hometown of Tuscola, a village with plenty of Native American exploitation, that we find a burial ground, but she balked. Sometimes dead is better, but an undead Skim is at least a Skim.

It was going to be tough to come up with a theme for a podcast this week anyhow. I just fell into Try Hards for Skimble. There was no way I could record an episode over the weekend with my support of Team ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ at Chicago's Whaddayaknow Tournament of Champions. With becoming obsessed with "Try Hard" movies in the build up to "Under Siege" with CouchMan", my plan was to work backwards or outward from "U". Thus, I went on to watch "Top of the World" which features the largest named cast (Peter Weller, Dennis Hopper, Tia Carre, Joe Pantoliano, Peter Coyote, David Allan Grier, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) for a mid budget knock off before all the Skim drama came to a head.

After Skimble passed, I needed some escapist trash to distract me. Michael Dudikoff, an untrained martial artist who became the first "American Ninja", versus Brion James, the badass replicant from "Blade Runner" who is determined to give each of his characters a different accent, was what "Virtual Assassin" offered. Too bad it is best known as "Cyberjack", hence making 2023 the year of the "Die Hard" knock off is already a bit off.

In the end, you will get more movie talk by volume than me trying to honor a lost best friend. If you choose not to skip to the end to of the episode and listen to my tribute to the little ball of fluff, I am honored. I will try to put up more pictures of him on my Mastodon account, @russstevens@mastodon.social. He is my second best friend to leave me for good, so I hope you understand why I needed to give my feeling 10 minutes. Thanks.

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.