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

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Bonus: #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.

Films Researched for this Episode: Bottle Rocket (1996) and Rushmore (1998).

NinetyForChill.com: The Podcast

Episode 32: Save Wes Anderson From Corporate Ducks (Donald, Daffy, Aflac...run)

Like many of Wes Anderson's features, oddball circumstances had led to ThePoeticCritic saving my bum. She found Anderson's filmography to be interesting enough to give us some content. I bring the breakdowns of features like "Bottle Rocket" and "Rushmore" while TPC emphasizes the importance of his freedom from the revived studio system. Anderson is essentially the independent scene's cheerleader. Please forgive the "Heroes" reference.

As with the characters in Anderson's work, there were difficulties with the recording process. I think I am mastering the Zoom PodTrak P4 when it comes to setting up the levels. When it comes to the layout of the buttons, this ended being three separate files and we lost 10 minutes of ThePoeticCritic and I determining whether his style is more Coen Brothers or more Tim Burton. Either way, he maybe the best talent in cinema right now.

Pinterest @underscoresydney

Which is why she is adamant that he stays away from any and all franchises. I am intrigued by the concept of him directing a Submariner movie with a "Life Aquatic" aesthetic. After typing that, the MCU needs Luke Wilson. Here is to hoping that you can forgive me for calling him Luke Owen. Wrestle Talk is a daily YouTube experience.

If you want a peak at the best contention between us siblings, we debate why she has yet to watch any Edgar Wright features. She claims there is too much brilliance from the past to be concerned with the presence. I try to make an argument that Wright proves there is still something worthwhile to current cinematic culture.

 

We did not take the time to lighten the mood by referencing the RiffTrax short she showed me earlier that day, "More Dangerous Than Dynamite". But I took the time to document and put over some of her great guides when it comes to venturing into #FilmTwitter. If you want some good content, give Bill Smiley (@neokefka_99) and Jessica Ritchey's (@Ruby_Stevens) Twitter profiles a look.

 

 

Typing this blog post up makes me wonder about some of my big sister's friends. @Ruby_Stevens? Could it me a burner account for my eldest sibling? My mom's nickname was "Ruby". Is she holding out on cinematic knowledge? But I digress.

 

As for next week's episode, it will be the conclusion to the comedy of errors that gave us this episode. Two previous guests tried to get a hold of me to cover the early works of James Gunn. Neither of them would have worked out to record in time for this week, but its great that to know the show is good enough for guests to want to come back. I am on vacation this week, so we will definitely get the Gunn Show off the ground.

With that said, I have got a lot of time till next Monday to record podcasts. After deeming "The Suicide Squad" to be too long, an interest in finding movies to cut down to about 90-minutes has arose. If anyone wants to chat about this, send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter @catbusruss. Just offer a 90-minute subject (film, director, theme, or actor[s]) to also chat about. OR, another movie to figure out how to get from a bloated state down to the ideal frame of 74 to 99 minutes.

I would not mind being a couples week ahead when it comes to content, so I would love to hear from you with ideas on what to chat about. Frankly, it would be honor to host you and find out about why you offered your incite. Send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com with a movie, theme, director, or actor. If you promise to center the topic around movies between 74 and 99 minutes, audio gold should be the product.

 

If you need some suggestions, movies like "Fear of a Black Hat", "UHF" and "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" can make for a great theme. ThePoeticCritic knew that Robert Downey Sr.'s satirical masterpiece, "Putney Swope" fits the pod's time restraints. There are also Tim Burton's early classics "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" and "Beetlejuice". Or we could just focus on movies Danny Elfman scored.

 

I have been asking for weeks for assistance in composing an episode dedicated to vampire features like "The Lost Boys" trilogy, "Near Dark", and the "Underworld" movies. Here is to hoping that this bunch of critiques will stir up some inspiration in my audience to step up and hold off on the garlic. If this is a topic you up for discussing, feel free to send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. All I need is a half hour on Zoom to get this done.

I hope I am impressing or at the very least amusing you with this podcast and I am open to any and all criticism. My biggest want is more guests and more suggestions on what to chat about (@catbusruss, russthebus07@gmail.com@coolmoviesdarth). If we can get 3 hours out of "Little Nicky", the possibilities are endless. Thanks for visiting.

 

After WrestleMania Backlash, I will tell you that we need to take zombie pro wrestling back. My suggestion is that we finally get my low-budget zombie movie, "Main Event of the Dead" off the ground. The script lacks a lumberjack match, so you know it has got to be better than the "Army of the Dead" advertisement. Ask for a treatment or give me suggestions on how to get it to a crowd-sourcing stage with an email to russthebus07@gmail.com.

 

 

No855 My Bottle Rocket minimal movie poster Art Print

Double Feature: It Came from Another World! (2007) and Teenagers from Outer Space (1959)

 These movie reviews' first drafts were written in 2010. 

It Came from Another World! - Full Stops Should Not Be Part of a Title

Irony is so easily abused. Just because you can make a perfect recreation of a 50s' sci-fi flick, does not mean you should. "It Came from Another World!" forgets that parody and homage are two totally different things.

A meteorite crashes in Northern Wisconsin. Dr. Franklyn Farnsworth is the only man who can investigate this seismic event. Immediately upon arriving on the scene, he is over taken by an alien entity. Now it is up to Professor Danny Jackson, Farnsworth's best friend, and the canoe cops to stop the King of the Cosmos from resurrecting his queen by way of Jackson's true love, Julian St. Marie.

Does one have to appreciate the effort put in to "It Came From Another World!"? It is only as good as Ed Wood features that you would expect Tom Servo and Crow would make a career in mocking.

The costumes are authentic, absurd attitudes are present, and it is probably the best B-movie Z-movie I have seen. My problem with the feature is that despite how great it looks, they do not realize that we can just watch a bad sci-fi movie to have the same experience. Its humor can only be taken in small doses (usually done in Stewie Griffin's voice). If you are sober when watching this, it will become painful to watch.

"It Came from Another World!" is a seemingly endless "Family Guy" cut away with characters who can only be handled if brief stints. This was made to be riffed which I think kind of defeats the point of making a bad movie. If it had its own sense of humor, this could have been brilliant. Instead, I was left pissing about them using the ending of "The Naked Gun" to close this picture...without O.J. Simpson or Ricardo Montalbon being hurled of a balcony.

Pinterest @tbaenet

Teenagers from Outer Space - A Wasted Porno Concept

Horror/sci-fi guru Lord Blood-Rah asked the crowd to get drunk for the second half of the September 28, 2010 edition of the Drunken Zombie Deadly Double Feature because he claimed "Teenagers from Outer Space" maybe the worst film ever made. I was left pondering if he had ever seen "Manos: The Hands of Fate" or anything from Coleman Francis's filmography.

Looking back at this review 11 years later, I think I must have taken the Lord's advice. This review must have been written at the screening because I have no recollection of this experience.

An alien race is looking for a new planet to raise their food supply, carnivorous giant lobsters called gargons. They decide that Earth would be the ideal spot, but when crew member Derek realizes that the planet is "civilized", he decides he must stop this relocation from happening. When reason fails, he is forced to flee and finds refuge with Earthling Betty and her grandfather. Unbeknownst to Derek, he is the heir to his race's king. The visitors find imperative that he is prevented from rallying the humans to his side.

What is more disappointing about "Teenagers from Outer Space"? Everything about the film or the fact that it would make for a great porn premise. The lead actor is David Love. There are confused teenage girls and nurses and a spaceship that is shaped like a screw. This is in the public domain, so I better start this production I guess.

If that is not a good enough premise for you, I also have a Z-movie , zombie-comedy script called "Main Event of the Dead". For more details like a treatment or to provide me with suggestions on how to get this production out of development hell, email russthebus07@gmail.com.

"Teenagers" did not know how to be camp. No one over acts. No one tries period. It is absolutely pathetic and the giant lobsters could not save it. A giant anything can at least soften the mental beat down of any film (like the giant syringe in "The Amazing Colossal Man").

Effort is necessary to justify any film that being made. It can be bad or creepy. It can have a low or no budget. As long as the audience can see effort, they may hate it, but it at least qualifies as cinema.

"Teenagers form Outer Space" is the "Manos: The Hands of Fate" of sci-fi. The lack of creepiness at least makes it laughable.

Damn Teenagers! 

Teenagers From Outer Space - The League of Dead Films

90-Min Netflix: Survivor - And Parenting to be Social - 2 More Bad Ideas

Who to curse today:

• The American culture of traveling youth summer sports?
• The Champaign and/or Urbana Chamber(s) of Commerce?
• The hotel's owners sending someone to see if we are staying on our feet and off our phones?
• Well, the fucking parent who just whipped out the acoustic guitar for starts.

Is it that we have to live with our neighbors the reason why kids younger than twelve have to travel to play baseball? I am not an advocate for AAU ball, but at least you know those kids are trying to physically earn a discounted education. Kids that lack teen in their age, can they be focused enough? Do they care about being better than anyone else in the state?

www.youtube.com

Personally, I loved playing only in my township. As a kid who was bullied a bit, but stuck to the main lesson of "The Karate Kid", those games were my only chance at vengeance. Unless a kid from Marquette Heights gave me some chin music or spiked me sliding into second, why would I want to see him humiliated? Hell, during my amateur/illegal wrestling/boxing days, it gave me an ego boost knowing some motherlover thought they had to fight cheap to beat me.

From the sound of it, it is solely about amusing the parents. We are not on the road to party. We are supporting our kids. It is just a bonus that we feel we can abandon all our responsibilities and considerations when we are renting our roof for a couple of nights. It is about time someone else answered my kids stupid questions.

I guess that sums up the initial paragraph. They are strangers, we are not going to see them again. To hell with their hearing and comfort. They suck for lacking kids.

It then leaves me to wonder if the Chambers think the locals are masochists. Why would you let assholes give you headaches? I know cash which then answers why I am standing for 13 hours today.

You would hope management would pass on considerations to auditors, like he was already standing for four hours. Then again, they have me being solely responsible for the satisfaction of 350 people. So, more reason I cannot wait to get a year in to then move on to bigger places, or liquor stores that pay the same.

I have not eaten anything today. Might be a wise thing to stick to. It is that or eat healthy.

My body is finally rebelling against me for a 24-hour Wednesday. 15 hours of sleep over three days, so I am overdue. The soul is willing, but the body is week. Despite the lack of stomach content, the back end is emptying and I think a popcorn hull in my gum ruptured something in there.

You might not dig my satire pieces, but you gotta respect my movie reviews. Popcorn abscess to watch a dry Milla Jovovich movie, please honor my sacrifice.

Survivor - A Title You Earn from Watching This

If you followed this blog, you know I will check out any Milla Jovovich film that did not seem to get a wide release. It is probably just an old crush from my sophomore year (better her that Chun Li from "Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior" right?), so I get protective of her when she is used in mainstream films. She is kind of an oddball, which is her charm, and how many directors know how to use that? I would rather she stick to films that will be lost before they make the Best Buy $3.99 bin than see her in a theater.

When I saw the cover for "Survivor", Pierce Brosnan scared me off. This guy was James Bond who earned a little more respect than Alice from "Resident Evil". Could Brosnan be as evil as his W. Bush adjacent character in "The Ghost Writer" without a wide audience to appeal to? It was not a drama like "Stone" where I am not expecting Edward Norton or Robert de Niro to kick ass, so this title just seemed like it was going to be all cliches and nothing noteworthy let alone possibly groundbreaking (like "Stone" attempted for Jovovich). And of course, I was right.

After a new update to the immigration paperwork, buying US work visas on the black market is next to impossible. Kate Abbot has been called to America's London embassy to assure that they will not be issuing new visas to potential terrorists. Some think she is being too harsh on applicants with compressed gas knowledge and the British authorities think she lacks compassion toward innocent, widowed physicians like Emil Balan.

Balan seems to be one to hold a grudge as he brought his frustrations up to a shadowy figure in a high tower to fix this issue. The evil one decides to assign the task of cutting through the red tape to The Watchmaker. His title is a front, but he does like to tinker with precise gadgets, like the bomb he uses to wipe out those in Abbot's chain of command. Kate was supposed to join them, but is only wounded in the blast.

The Watchmaker has never been identified, so Abbot is a hindrance that needs to be eliminated. Not knowing that she is running from an assassin, British police and her superiors are suspecting she may be involved in the bombing. It is up to her and her new keeper, Sam Parker, to find out the conspiracy before her diplomatic immunity will be revoked, perhaps permanently.

This week, I was able to check out Rifftrax's presentation of "Star Raiders: The Adventures of Saber Raine", so when "Survivor" opens with similar special effects, you suspect trouble. Fortunately, the effects only come out at night. 4K HDR may be bad for them, but most viewers will ignore this issue. James McTeigue is a clever enough director to make up for this short coming, but sadly the dull script cannot be saved.

If you cast Lelu from "The Fifth Element" in an action movie, you expect her to be a supreme being and kick ass. She is constantly on the run and shows no physicality until the third act. Brosnan is either James Bond or arrogant to his own shortcomings. Either way clever. There are no quips in the entire film.

"Survivor" is a game of cat an mouse, but neither animal has any obstacles to truly overcome. There are hardly and twists and the rare side stories are immediately abandoned. That is disappointing because that may actually give you a character with motivations towards their decision. I think McTeigue knew he was stuck with a bad film and just wanted to get the audience through it as quickly as possible.

There is nothing clever, crazy or comedic to make for a good PG-13 rated action flick and there is nothing extremely stupid to laugh your way through it. This is background noise that you may accidentally rewatch because it lacks anything memorable in it. A waste of time and talent, I might ask Netflix for the $0.02 "Survivor" took from me.

Three Weeks of B-Fest: CatBusRuss & ThePoeticCritic & "There's Nothing Out There"

I Dig Crazy Flicks with @CatBusRuss

Episode 205: B-Fest 2025: #Beepfest with ThePoeticCritic

CatBusRuss⁠ and ⁠ThePoeticCritic⁠ discuss ⁠B-Fest 2025⁠. This is perhaps the best B-Fest line up CatBus has seen, and from the sound of it, the best his big sister has attended. And ⁠A&O Productions ⁠earned these accolades because the line up did not make it out to the public until at least an hour and a half before this 24-hour movie marathon kicked off. ⁠I Dig Crazy Flicks⁠ was able to be the last minute sponsor of B-Fest Traditions, "⁠Plan 9 from Outer Space⁠" and "⁠The Wizard of Speed and Time⁠", but with that being the case, our host had low expectations for the kids at Northwestern to high jump over. He did not know that they were going to bring a pole vault.

If a movie was bad like "⁠Truth or Dare? Critical Madness⁠", it was so bonkers that you could not help but enjoy it with the crowd. If a film was morally corrupt like the gory Christian-exploitation flick, "⁠If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do?⁠", the audience bonded together with the insults and riffs that all fascists deserve. And B-Fest did not miss when it came to nostalgia movies to amuse the audience. We're talking about the animated, "⁠The Transformers: The Movie⁠", JCVD and Dennis Rodman teaming up to stop Mickey Rourke in "⁠Double Team⁠", and two movies featured devious characters portrayed by B-Movie royalty, ⁠Mary Woronov⁠.

It was a comedy of errors. A fire alarm went off as ⁠Pam Grier⁠ was smoldering. Sponsors were failing to show up when scheduled resulting in constant reshuffling of the line up. One of the DVDs refused to let the crew skip 20-minutes of no-budget movie trailers, resulting in them turning to YouTube to projecting it with pop-up ads. Honestly, when you are celebrating the best of the worst films ever made, this all seems quite appropriate.

Episode 207 - There's Nothing Out There...Except Nix Eclips

The primary audience for horror movies has been told to laugh at itself once ⁠Kevin Williamson⁠ penned "Scream" in 1996. But as ⁠L7⁠ wrote four years prior, "The Masses are Asses". Horror nerds were being treated to this message since the founding of ⁠Troma Films⁠, but never so directly as in the ⁠Rolfe Kanefsky⁠ horror comedy, "⁠There's Nothing Out There⁠".

Nix Eclips from the "Cinema Shitshow" podcast⁠ suggested that ⁠CatBusRuss⁠ give the 1991 film a watch. He felt it had that vibe of "Scream". Our host would disagree with that since the film's hero is essentially the Jamie Kennedy character from the Wes Craven feature. It is more along the lines of "Final Girls" or "Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon". We have a lead who knows this is a horror movie, but will anyone else believe him. The boom mic "Gymkata" suggests they should, but the feature needs a body count.

Aside from splitting hairs in regards to what "There's Nothing Out There" is trying to be, this episode is a first time meeting of two podcasters. We find out about Nix's experience in entertainment and his surprise on how wrestling and podcasting has taken ⁠CatBusRuss⁠ on a tour as far west as Rolla, MO, as far north as Milwaukee, WI, as far east as Jacksonville, FL, and as far south as New Orleans, LA. Give it a listen if you want to hear about similar trauma caused by PG Eddie Murphy cinema. There will be tangents, so prepare yourself.

 

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.