If it does not involve pro-wrestling, this is Russ Stevens's effort to create the one stop blog for movies that are cut to the ideal run-time, 90 minutes. This blog may feature films that may range from 71 minutes to 1 hour 40 minutes, but 101 minutes and up are too long. An hour and a half can justify cutting a film into two chapters and a book into three. Hobbits and Katniss have too many ending, consider this an effort to stop that.
Bonus Episode: Mark L Lester Christmas: Showdown in Little Tokyo & Bloodsport
CatBusRuss is still looking for a guest for "Ninety For Chill: The Podcast 200!". Until then, it will be a tribute to one of the directors who called for the establishment of the NC-17 rating who aspires to be the next Roger Corman, Mark L. Lester.
Gregory Carl had an aspiration to release a Jean-Claude Van Damme & Rob Van Dam podcast, so he was more than welcomed to talk action movies on this pod. Russ did not want to tread too much on his expertise, so the two talked about what our host considers to be the greatest DVD two-pack, "Bloodsport" and Lester's "Showdown in Little Tokyo", the feature that inspired the CatBus's annual trip to Northwestern's B-Fest.
Bonus Episode: Crimes of the Past: CatBusRuss's Best of 2021 & 2022
It is the time of #SpotifyWrapped, so it seems appropriate to do a best of the year list for Ninety For Chill: The Podcast. But that is something CatBusRuss would like to save for Episode 200.
Spotify's annual review of listening habits actually inspired our host to look back to the past. He failed to add his 2021 and 2022 "Top Songs Lists" to his library. That is something he will not allow to occur on his primary podcast feed. It seems a valid means of justifying this trip down memory lane as he offers his best sub-100-minute cinema discoveries from the first two years of the podcast.
On Christmas 2021, ThePoeticCritic spent an hour with her little brother to help comprise a list of NinetyForChill's best discoveries of 2021. Her movie research is not as narrow as this podcast's host, but she chooses five movies that will make the list. It is up to CatBusRuss to determine which five of the remaining 15 films will make for a well balanced countdown.
At the end of 2022, ThePoeticCritic gives us some input on what some of the best movies CatBusRuss found in 2022. Russ counts down his top 10 favorite finds from this year. To be thorough, the year's collection of Ally's Accessories Shop on Etsy's Trash Feature Reviews is concluded with "2020 Texas Gladiators". And how can 2022's top 10 list be complete without a David Cronenberg movie? "Crash" and "Crimes of the Future" were last minute watches during Russ's six-day stint of holiday retail shifts.
After finally finding a PlayStation 5 (Meijer's hides them) and getting a COVID-19 vaccination, I really cannot complain about not being able to secure a guest for this week's episode of the podcast. Believe me. I tried (To rant and secure a guest). It took recording three introductions, and by the third one, the societal anger had all but worn out.
Which is sad, because Tubi really needs the negative press for promoting Fox News even though these ads showed up while I was watching Stuart Gordon's adaptation of "The Pit and the Pendulum". If you wanted an appropriate feature to advertise Christian hate, a film about the Spanish Inquisition would be the ironic choice.
But is it not bad enough for Tubi to promote an anti-vaxxer's show. Here is to hoping Ken Jeoung can correct her politics. He is still a doctor, right?
I could go on about other anti-democratic propaganda like where am I going to eat breakfast, which I will rant on about at the bottom of this post. When my podcast involves the "adaptation" of William S. Burroughs's "Naked Lunch" and the ironic take on Middle America that is "A History of Violence", to continue ranting about politics to promote this blog seems pointless.
This blog explores David Cronenberg films I have watched or rewatched recently. It actually turns out to be quite poignant when I investigate 1977's "Rabid" and the Soska Sister's re-imagining from 2019. They both serve as accurate prediction's of the American response to COVID-19. You end up admiring the Canadians for learning from their art. They do not have the mess that is occurring to their southern neighbors.
And to further investigate the American attitude, "Ally's Accessories Shop's Trash Film Reviews"provides us with a take on "Candyman" director Bernard Rose's modern re-imagining of "Frankenstein". With Tony Todd on board for that ride for some racial abuse, you know you have an intriguing feature concept that only wretched monster makeup may hinder.
I hope you enjoy this brief edition to NinetyForChill.com - The Podcast. A guest has been lined up for next Tuesday's episode, so the migration to Spotify will definitely be worth it. Thanks for visiting and listening.
No cats were scanned in the making of this episode.
Georgia businesses need to take a hit for their state's racist voting laws, but all the best fast food places serve Simply Orange Juice which is a Coca-Cola subsidiary. There comes a point where I can no longer eat Chick-fil-A's delicious hate chicken. Of course when you look at the states that fast food chicken represents (Georgia, Louisiana, Kentucky) this fowl may deserves Lance Henriksen's wrath. It is almost like these birds are the spawn of Satan. If only I was not an atheist, then I would lack the guilt for funding the fascism.
ThePoeticCritic was kind enough to grace us with her presence to focus on the 2003 Will Ferrell classic, "Elf", and the near 20 years since that have been without a Christmas classic.
Of course, being a bonus episode, CatBusRuss cannot help but taint the holiday spirit by adding reviews for "The Zombie Diaries" and the weird Natasha Lyonne horror "comedy" from IFC Midnight, "Antibirth".
And like Lloyd Christmas, our host redeems himself when it comes to the appropriate seasonal vibes.
Episode 12: Disney's Damnation and Eighties Animation
ThePoeticCritic (TPC) returns to the podcast for our most comprehensive and hence longest episode too date. If there was ever an episode for later members of Generation X (like TPC and I), this is the episode.
I mean, this is the episode about content instead of the disconnect between the woke generations. If your halfway through life, "Episode 7: Gen X and Scorsese V. Millenials and Marvel" would be the installment for you.
TPC guides us through a year-by-year breakdown of the most important/notable features of each year of the 1980s. This was a time where independent studios were looking to fill the void of a Disney company that was in the middle of restructuring. As a result, we go in depth about the rise and eventual fall of Don Bluth (An American Tail)that even bleeds into his 90's catalog. We discuss the evolution of adult animation pioneer Ralph Bakshi (Fire and Ice), the end of Rankin/Bass's forays in to cinema (The Last Unicorn), I throw in a little anime from the Streamline Pictures era, and we mention all of the blink and you missed their airings on Disney Channel and HBO features.
This all occurs before the Disney Renascence, and as a heads up, we do not show much attention to "The Little Mermaid". My guest attempts to reframe the rise of Disney back to commercial success while essentially poo-pooing on their mid-80's offerings as Eisner and Katzenberg lay the foundation for their most critically and financially successful decade. I decide to go Michael Jordan "The Last Dance" meme when it came to defending "The Black Cauldron" and "The Great Mouse Detective".
If you want news about the podcast, you can now subscribe to it on Spotify and Google Podcasts. I am still uploading the previous episodes up to Podbean for the appropriate distribution, so hopefully we will be all caught up in time for next week's episode, and perhaps Apple Podcast will let us join their service as well. Let me warn you, the begging for five-star ratings will be coming soon.
As the podcast grows, so does the need for contributors. I can no longer play DJ and use eight second loops from any licensed songs, so if you have some tunes that you want to get out there, I would love to use them. Send me the info about them to russthebus07@gmail.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @maineventzombie.
And of course, I need guests to chat to. If you have a topic/theme, director or actor that you want to chat about from 30 minutes to 90 minutes, I would love to hear your pitch. Just send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com or a direct message @maineventzombie on Twitter.
Thanks for coming back to the NinetyForChill.com - The Podcast. I hope you enjoy.
I
think we will get into the post's movie review rather quickly (Spoiler: So I thought.). Yes,
Trump is starting to accept reality, but it has only been a day since I
knocked out my review for the tragic misuse of the North American
treasure, Keanu Reeves, in "Siberia".
If there is a video game titled with the same pronunciation of your
movie title (As I verified that on Wikipedia, I found out that "Cyberia"
was also the title of a UK-based industrial act called Cubanate. At
least one positive came out of that $0.55 rental.), we are not expecting
romance to trump the diamond smuggling drama.
It
is actually appropriate that I finally opened my first Netflix DVD of
the billing cycle, "Slither", because I just got word today of a
COVID-19 outbreak at my parents' house. At least Mom (Negative while older sister and Dad are positive.) will appreciate
that this feature is from the guy who brought Rocket and Groot to the
big screen.
The
more I think about, the more spooked I get. Dad has beaten cancer thrice,
survived a heart attack before those scares, and successfully held off
the diabetic diagnosis for nearly 70 years (about twice as long as I
did). He even won a trivia night at The Fox Pub when a
kidney stone decided to it needed to be passed during the game. If anyone can beat the disease it is him, but I worry that
writing about it is just going to jinx him.
And
when I take into account when his father died, the patriarchy fell
apart. Grandpa went, the truth about his prejudices came out, and then
the subsequent families started feuding. The last couple of years have
left me pondering some of his (or Mom's expressed through him) biases,
but I cannot help but wonder if the four children and wife will be
warring. Regardless of my differences with my folks and younger siblings
(I shared a room with my brother from his birth until the little sister
went to ISU. My first roommate upon moving out was my little sister.),
we have always gotten a long. If I look back at my mom and her family
when my great grandparents passed, it just seems like everything can (will) go
to hell with a loss in a family (A bitter sibling of Mom's came back to our life upon their mom's death.).
If
I would have gotten the news about yesterday, "Slither" would have been
the ideal, ironic distraction. But, it is Tuesday. "AEW Dark" just cannot
muster a card up to take the edge off and you know my unwatched movies
are all a little too far on the dark side to relax to. Did I enjoy "Slither"
enough to purchase it on iTunes (It was $4.99 and yes, it was purchased)?
Slither (2006)
Wheelsy,
South Carolina is so busy getting ready for deer hunting season, no one
notices a meteorite that crashes in the nearby woods. If there is any
noticeable drama, it is the gossip about the relationship between the
prettiest biology teacher at the high school, Starla, and her wealthy,
older husband, Grant. Sheriff and codependent childhood friend of
Starla, Bill suspects and accepts that it is a marriage of convenience,
and trusts she made the best decision while he still longs for her.
Unfortunately,
if there was any flame, it is waning. Feeling rejected, Grant decides
to go out to a bar and flirts with Brenda, a fellow classmate of Starla.
They drunkenly end up in the woods. He thinks better of pursuing an
affair, and had the perfect way out of the situation. The two have
stumbled upon the meteorite, and Grant chooses to investigate the slime
that is trailing away from it. In an inebriated state, Grant ends up to
close to the larva like organism and is stung. After regaining
consciousness, he has only one thing on his mind. Meat.
Beyond
Grant's carnivorous obsession, everything seems normal and perhaps
better in terms of his marriage. That is until his cravings lead to him
skipping out on the Deer Cheer Dance, a celebration to kickoff hunting
season. It turns out he skipped out to kidnap and impregnate Brenda with
his parasite. When Starla finds him at home after the dance, he is
starting to mutate into something alien as well.
Bill
is investigating the disappearance of Brenda while Starla is trying to
figure out what Grant is hiding. After Grant catches Starla snooping
around, he seems intent on killing her, but Bill and his fellow deputies
arrive on the scene. Grant transforms into something that is halfway
between squid and man and escapes. Three days pass, and there are a lot
of dead live stock and pets littering Wheelsy. The impatient mayor and
Bill gather a posse to hunt down Grant, but it turns out Grant was
laying a trap for them.
When
they locate an alive but beyond bloated Brenda, she explodes into thousands of
slugs. These slugs enter their victims through the mouth and allow Grant
to control them. The town is quickly infected, and wanting to reconcile
with his wife, Starla is kidnapped. It is up to Bill and Kylie, a high
schooler who seems to have success fighting these slugs off to save the
day. Here is hoping a grenade compensated from some passing fishermen
will be enough to end this nightmare.
"Slither"
is a close to perfect horror comedy for adults. It features the body
horror you typically see in David Cronenberg features while always being
aware that you may just need to laugh in the face of the ridiculous, no
matter how horrific it maybe. In a way, this feature is "Gremlins"
without the constraint of a PG rating. The story has a lot of elements
that are laid out wonderfully, leading to a roller coaster scream of
joy.
With
having so much rising action, the audience may get annoyed that there
is not gore through out, but the audience is treated to great
performances from Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, and Michael Rooker
that give you the expectation that when it hits the fan, it must be
spectacular. The only annoying thing about any of the acting is that
with the exception of Rooker, the southern accents are not to authentic (What is one to expect from a mostly Canadian cast?).
But it is a comedy and James Gunn knows that the audience is coming in
feeling smarter than his characters, so this serves to let the audience
know they are all in on the joke.
Regardless
of the jokes, the gore effects and rejection of the boundaries of good
taste allows the audience to still be shocked and horrified. The humor
allows any audience to stick with it to the end, but the graphic
violence makes sure that horror fans are quite appreciated. The finale
is a bit overly drawn out, but if you are horror aficionado you will
just admire everything Gunn is playing homage to, including his Troma
roots.
If
you are trying to introduce someone to horror who swears they have a
sturdy their stomach is, "Slither" is the perfect flick. The humor will
keep any audience involved while shocking non-genre and amusing the gore
hounds. It is almost sad that this cannot cause the damage that
"Gremlins" did to 80s' kids. I got over that trauma after 30 years.
I finally got to that physician assistant appointment, and I do not know if I can say that was a good idea. A haircut could have probably taken care of my contact dermatitis. The need for them to build a profile of me has led to me being borderline anxious, and in turn, I realize all the stress I am dealing with now as my family is settling into the true retirement lifestyle. Being challenged to lose 10 pounds in a month led me think that I took on the bank's health insurance just to be judged.
I will give her some credit, she is hoping that I get healthy enough to no longer need such high amounts of medication. My past doctor was a live and let be kind of guy. Her efforts were so appreciative that "nihilism helps" was not one of my responses.
Fortunately, the two cats are very helpful. I went to bed last night with the feeling that everyone has lost faith in me and recalling that my family has not had faith in me since I chose to leave the path that lead to Caterpillar offices. Skimble wants everyone he cares about to feel good all the time. The annoying little shit. The real compassion was displayed by Eva when she made that somewhat inconvenient leap on to the living room's twin bed to comfort me as I fear that I will be left to a depressing adulthood since my parents seem to be hinting to letting me totally fend for myself.
The more depressing thing is realizing that I am thought of as a trust fund baby. From an outsider's perspective, how else would you define me? My feeling is my folks may have realized it when I actively defended Black Light Matters. No white spawn of one percenters should have any business ignoring the difficulty acknowledging systemic racism will cause them.
The spread of economic equality means blacks and browns will inevitably move to the burbs and nice small towns. This would result in whites having to accept their cultures and surrender their paranoia and conservatism. Why cannot they be desperate immigrants who are cool with Goya who wanted to emulate us?
I do not think I act like a spoiled brat. What I am is a clinically depressed person who everyone thinks just needs to get over it. Accept my depression and how life is not fair and focus solely on stockpiling money that does not go towards my rent or insurance. It will be miserable, but someday, there will be retirement to enjoy. Adulthood is not fun, but what is the other option?
According to my physician assistant, journaling can help.
I am in a very misunderstood place and that has been all of my adulthood. You need to try and understand, not give up me.
And that is how you transition from my depressing life to 1972's "Silent Running". It is a film about people giving up on inconvenient things despite the beauty that they offer.
When it comes to beauty, I do not think I offer much. Just call me the reincarnation of Louis the Drone. If only I had space on my robot wrist to memorialize him.
Silent Running
Humans have given rabbits a run for their money in terms of breeding, but with a lack of suitable planets to colonize, how are they to come up with space for all of the people. Since deforestation never slowed down, clearing the world of vegetation and relying on synthetically constructed food, homo sapiens can survive on Earth indefinitely. It is even easier to be an Earthling because to keep up the means to create a comfortable 75-degree weather across the planet, everyone has a job. Humanity triumph over nature results in a comfort no one should reject.
Of course there was resistance to the idea of destroying all of the forests and encouraging mass extinctions in the name of progress. To address the naysayers, American Airlines Galactic Shipping have devoted a fleet of ships to maintain terrariums. Once the planet can allow for forestations, they will be transplanted back to Earth.
Be it the bottom line or just a dead soil, it is eventually determined that it is just too much work to maintain these galactic forests. The crews of these ships for the most part seem to agree, and they welcome the opportunity to nuke them all and head back home. Only one person thinks differently and determines that the beauty of nature must live on at any cost. This person is Freeman Lowell.
Lowell makes the rash decision to kill his fellow crewmates and make a run for the outer reaches of the solar system. Faking an accident to allow him to take this adventure on, he determines the vastness of space will prevent search parties and any chance for humans to finish the job of eliminating anything that is wild. The question is, can one man and a set of drone robots maintain the best parts of Earth, let alone Freeman's sanity?
"Silent Running" is a beautifully shot film with a lead character who is explored extremely well for a feature with a 89-minute runtime. For a viewer like me who has only seen Bruce Dern portray cranky, borderline evil old men, it was quite refreshing to see him portray a character that we sympathize with. But, if you want that cranky nature, he is still portraying someone who wants you to stay off his grass.
The set design and outer space scenes look marvelous. It made me wonder why it took Hollywood another five years before we got "Star Wars". I would dare say the special effects still hold up to George Lucas's original trilogy's standards. This film was from a time where science fiction was primarily there to teach us, and with the Joan Baez soundtrack, you could not justify that this space film to warrant dog fights.
There only being one character to focus on and relate to, the film does not need extra special effect sequences. You see Lowell as a crusader who knows there is no going back to what he was suppose to be. The film is about him accepting that and how we need to be more willing to prevent a so called dystopia/utopia that require no effort. Its story nearly pulls at every emotion, and you leave feeling exhilarated going on such a thorough and brief journey.
I have long needed to give "Logan's Run" a thorough rewatch. "Silent Running" left me feeling like I had just watched the most important pre-"Star Wars" science fiction feature of the 1970's. To go and claim that it is without rewatching "Run" would be irresponsible.
I thought this would give me a reason to also rewatch "Rollerball", but their is a sense of that feature being grounded in a more relatable reality. Douglass Trumbull's directorial debut takes you to another world that you are glad to visit and hope will never become a reality. Who does not want to chase someone down in roller skates to knock them out with a studded glove? I can live with corporations ruling everything. I cannot live without trees.
Bonus Episode: Skimble's Ghost presents "Night of the Demons" with Tim Bates
1987 may have been the peak of eighties horror. The Tommy Jarvis trilogy had concluded and Freddy was not going to top his bout with Patricia Arquette. Few would argue that neither of those franchises had what it took to surpass "Evil Dead II". The wise thing to do would have been to ride on Sam Raimi's coattails. In steps Kevin Tenney with "Night of the Demons".
Bonus Episode: Thankskilling, Thankskilling 3, and Black Friday
CatBusRuss is not really a Thanksgiving fan. The high school wrestling season started that weekend, so enjoying the feast was not really an option. Granted, NinetyForChill's host grew up a picky eater, so the holiday did not really offer anything for him. Let us not even get into familiar anxiety. Horror may be too extreme a term for the fourth week of November, but then came his career in customer service. So the "ThanksKilling" franchise and the Bruce Campbellproduced "Black Friday" may be appropriate comfort viewing for the holiday season kick off.
Episode 100: David Cronenberg vs. the Top Discoveries of 2022.
It is the end of the year, and ThePoeticCritic gives us some input on what some of the best movies Cool Movies Darth (b.k.a. Cat Bus Russ) found in 2022. Russ counts down his top 10 favorite finds from this year. To be thorough, this years collection of Ally's Accessories Shop on Etsy's Trash Feature Reviews is concluded with "2020 Texas Gladiators". And how can 2022's top 10 list be complete without a David Cronenberg movie? "Crash" and "Crimes of the Future" are last minute watches durings Russ's six-day stint of holiday retail shifts.
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.
I hope you do pardon all the details of my exhaustion. The end of the year does not seem like it will be an overly exciting one. My energy levels just will not be there. There is another trip to the Heart of Illinois which I cannot avoid. Thursday in Champaign/Urbana should be big, but again, I am exhausted to the point of illness. Will I have the energy to try and get up to an AAW show at Chicago's Logan Square Auditorium?
And there are hundreds of Pokémon that I need to catch. Where is the time? This is supposed to be my vacation.
There is no rest for the wicked I suppose. I have yet to do a first week of the year episode of the podcast. In 2021, it was because I was still putting the pieces together to start it. 2022's excuse was the Disney World trip. It is just a bad time for me due to all of the exhaustion and my hopes of getting the most out of my time off. If there is ever a time for someone to have a movie that must be talked about, now would be the time. Send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com.
