Capital City Comic Con 2025: CatBusRuss versus Lansing, MI, David Carradine, and Chuck Norris

 

I Dig Crazy Flicks with @CatBusRuss

Bonus Episode: Capital City Comic Con: Day 2 - The Opposite of David Carradine

With ATL Comic Convention scheduling him for all three days and the need to take four days off to take ThePoeticCritic up to Fan Expo Chicago, CatBusRuss chose to not take the time off to attend the one day at Capital City Comic Con that he was not scheduled for panels. And the hospitality and camaraderie that the nerds of Lansing, MI offered may lead our host to regret that.

No offense to Garrett Wang, but no one would call the list of guests a must see, The exhibition floor only had one light saber dealer, and the venue was pretty small. But 4C has been going on for 10 years, so they are obviously doing something right. And that is just having a very inviting atmosphere where geeks want to talk about weird stuff, not focus on $200 photo ops.

CatBusRuss had fun at all the panels he attended and participated in on Saturday. This leads him to hope that "I Dig Crazy Flicks Presents: Ninety For Chill - The Podcast" will actually have an audience. He does not want to eat all that punch and pie by himself.

As for David Carradine's name being in the title, CatBusRuss has posted a review of his 1988 feature, "Crime Zone" co-starring David Lynch muse Sherilyn Fenn. It is a story about creating criminals in a dystopian future so that the feds have someone to persecute. It is a clever idea for a Roger Corman production, and is quite the opposite of what Capital City Comic Con presented.

Episode 228 - Capital City Comic Con 2025: The Panel and Punch and Pie

After impressing nerds with his win percentage at Jeffrey Stansberry "Real or Fake: Movie Edition" and being the center of the board at "Hollywood Squares" the day prior, CatBusRuss felt great going into "Ninety For Chill: The Panel" at Capital City Comic Con. It was not his biggest audience, but Punch and Pie may have allowed him to have a wise audience to deliver his thesis of "Movies are way too long" to.

Our host did not have a guest going in to this panel, but 4C is about nerds chatting about nerd stuff. Photo ops and autographs seemed to come second. Thus, people wanted to talk about short-ass movies. Enough people to at least facilitate conversation. For a podcast, that is all you need.

CatBus got to chat a little Hitchcock, compared "Star Wars" fandom with panelist Chris Martinez, and received the weird suggestion to watch "El increíble profesor Zovek". These interactions made the 10 hours of travel worthwhile, and he cannot wait to return to Michigan's Capital City in 2026.

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.

I Dig Crazy Flicks: @couchmanbakes.bsky.social‬ & "Young Guns" vs. @noelct.bsky.social & "Zieram"

 

I Dig Crazy Flicks with @CatBusRuss

Episode 223: Young Guns: Truly, Truly Outrageous History with CouchManBakes

CatBusRuss⁠ was presumptuous when it came to his knowledge about William H. Bonney, a.k.a. Billy the Kid. Our host knew that he was an outlaw with a legendary reputation as a gunslinger until the law caught up with and dispatched him at the age of 21. Thanks to ⁠The Cinema Snob⁠, this podcaster also knew he defeated Dracula. His limited knowledge led him to believe that this icon of the Old West did not live a long enough life to get a franchise of Brat Pack adjacent movies. So when ⁠Andrew "CouchManBakes" Tiede⁠ suggested discussing the first "⁠Young Guns⁠" from 1988, he thought this definitely had to be a crazy flick.

Does the music video aesthetic make it look crazy? Yes. Does the action at times seem unbelievable? Most definitely. But the events of the Lincoln County War did occur, so ⁠Russ⁠ went into this conversation with doubts that this truly qualified as a "Crazy Flick". Having late career Jack Palance as the primary antagonist will alway help the pro-insanity case, but if that is not enough, ⁠Andrew⁠ brings up all the historic revisions and the behind the scene tales to prove that this is bonkers action cinema.

Episode 225 - Zieram: Proof of Concept with Noel Thingvall

CatBusRuss⁠ is joined by prolific podcaster ⁠Noel Thingvall⁠ to discuss a Sci-Fi Channel Saturday morning classic, "⁠Zieram⁠". Our host would call it "Alien Isolation for Dummies". Noel would call it "Alien Meets Abbott and Costello". Either alternative title you bestow on the feature debut of ⁠tokusatsu⁠ master, ⁠Keita Amemiya⁠, the two mean them to be complimentary.

For ⁠CatBus⁠, he wanted to watch this film 25 years ago since the second anime VHS tape(s) he bought was "⁠Iria: Zieram the Animation⁠". It is one of his favorite bad-ass, big-boobed bounty hunter series (pardon the alliteration). Eventually, the otaku read somewhere that it was considered to be the prequel OVA to this feature. That is a stretch, but it was just fun to see the original take of her. What was even odder is her essentially playing back seat to Kenny and Vic from "MXC".

Noel is a huge fan of Japanese special effects, especially those from television shows that would eventually be edited with American teenagers to create "Power Rangers" series. He has also actively been watching Japanese media since the first run of "⁠Robotech⁠". It is only fitting that the dub the two were first introduced to was handled by Streamline Picture's ⁠Carl Macek⁠, the original reconfigurer of Japanese media.

This film is very derivative of classic sci-fi cinema. Not only does it pay homage to the "Alien" franchise, the third act is an ode to "The Terminator" and "The Thing". Noel being a host on the "⁠Masters of Carpentry Podcast⁠" proves to have the authority to make this statement.

"Zieram" is silly and over-the-top, and would be a perfect feature for B-Fest. Russ and the host of "⁠Schumacast⁠" would love to see Western cinema try to have this much fun with scary monsters.

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.

Bonus: ATL Comic Convention: Day One - The Panels Awaken

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Bluesky - Instagram - Threads - Patreon

Bonus: ATL Comic Convention: Day One - The Panels Awaken

CatBusRuss⁠'s three star (at best) accommodations are not too far away from the Georgia World Congress Center, so not having a good time at his first ⁠ATL Comic Convention⁠ would be a difficult task. Our host was able to perhaps make new friends, or at the very least frenemies, as he sat in on four panels and served as a panelist for "⁠Knives in My Eyes: 20 Years of Brick⁠".

The panel dedicated to ⁠Rian Johnson⁠'s debut feature were for the true Johnson fans, so just ⁠CatBus⁠ and the "⁠Blood Orange⁠" comic co-creator, ⁠Tim Avers⁠. Tim also took part in a panel dedicated to "⁠Star Wars: The Force Awakens⁠" alongside friend of the show ⁠Bryan Young⁠ and "⁠The Last Jedi⁠'s" novelist ⁠Jason Fry⁠. These three had panels all throughout the day, so I am not questioning their fandom towards the mind behind "Episode VII". Hell, Fry has Rian's phone number.

The "Brick" panel will be released as a "⁠I Dig Crazy Flicks⁠" podcast in a few weeks, so not having an audience allowed the two to have a great conversation about the feature. In the end, people were coming in for the "⁠Tron: Heading Back to the Grid⁠ (CatBusRuss took part in that at Indiana Comic Convention and it is on this podcast feed.)" panel, so Tim and Russ did get a chance to sell this under seen gem to an audience before running to their next obligations.

CatBusRuss obviously attended the "Star Wars" panel that was mentioned. ("The Force Awakens" panel also featured ⁠Maggie Lovitt⁠, the lead news editor for "Collider") and Jason & Bryan's panel about Luke Skywalker's character in "The Last Jedi". The two remaining panels were back to back-to-back in the same room. This double header was opened with a panel about the film adaptation of "⁠V for Venedetta⁠" and hosted by filmmaker ⁠Mario DeAngelis⁠ and featured ⁠LiteraryHypeWoman⁠ Stephanie Carr, and novelists ⁠Kris Bird⁠ and ⁠Hollis Jo McCollum⁠. Mario then hosted a celebration about the art and life of ⁠David Lynch⁠ with Shawn Eastridge from the "⁠Missing Frames⁠" podcast and Tim Avers.

Because some listeners do not want to hear about an event they cannot attend second hand, CatBusRuss hopes to make up for that by reviewing ⁠John Carpenter's "In the Mouth of Madness"⁠. An ironically fitting film to choose because its title may explain any first-time comic con attendee's first experience.

NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

Episode 103: Eva and Butt-Head Do a Podcast with Gregory Carl.

Eva and Butt-Head Do a Podcast with Gregory Carl

The foul-mouthed Gregory Carl returns to "NinetyForChill: The #Podcast" to exemplify what MTV's most recognizable characters of the nineties may have become if they were middle aged. CatBusRuss and Gregory discuss "Beavis and Butt-Head Do America".  It is a feature that is a celebration of immature comedy and how fun it truly can be, and perhaps the actual influence it had on adolescents who grew up with it.

I bring up Gregory's potty mouth because after three "fucks" in the first 10 minutes, trying to censor this podcast seemed pointless. The only reason I would like to censor it is because this feature received a rating of PG-13. But, as we discussed the feature, being a cartoon may have allowed it some freedoms that the censors would not have allowed if it was live action.

Of course, Jim Carrey got a way a lot of these gags throughout 1994 and 1995. If it was not for the boom in gross out comedy at the turn of the 21st century starring actors who would have watched B&B, perhaps Hollywood would be a different place. Maybe I would have never argued the merits of the "Hangover" franchise with Billy Corgan.

This change in comedic taste may have provided us with Tom Cruises's most fun performance, Les Grossman. If immaturity was never celebrated like it was in this 1996 feature, would Ben Stiller had the nerve to let Hollywood's biggest star cut loose and make us forget about his scientology mania three years prior?

Aside from the humor, we were fascinated with the increased production quality. Did this take away from the feature's charm? Gregory had started to watch "Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe" and seemed thrown off by the fancy flash animation of today.

Since this is a Gregory Carl episode, we are going to talk about wrestling and growing up in Central Illinois. It makes me wonder if the "Monday Night Wars" and MTV's dirty toons were the only escapes that we had downstate.

Officially, we do not visit "Ally's Accessories Shop on Etsy's Trash Feature Revue", but iTunes did inspire me to check out an "Alien" knock off from 1985, "Biohazard". It was listed at $4.99, but free on Freevee, so I could try before I needed to buy. My experience is not documented on this episode. That is because Podbean is going to expect me to pay at least three times what I have been charged by the service to have all of my episode make my Apple, Spotify, and Google Podcast feeds.

Thus, I reissued my "It's Time for RiffCats", but since I plan a grand "Ally's Trash Features' episode, I swapped out the "Ghostbusters 2016" review with "Biohazard". Give it a listen here.

Bonus: Capital City Comic Con: Day 2 - The Opposite of David Carradine

Episodes - Bonus Content - About the Show - Subscribe to the Podcast
Bluesky - Instagram - Threads - Patreon

Bonus: Capital City Comic Con: Day 2 - The Opposite of David Carradine

With ATL Comic Convention scheduling him for all three days and the need to take four days off to take ThePoeticCritic up to Fan Expo Chicago, CatBusRuss chose to not take the time off to attend the one day at Capital City Comic Con that he was not scheduled for panels. And the hospitality and camaraderie that the nerds of Lansing, MI offered may lead our host to regret that.

No offense to Garrett Wang, but no one would call the list of guests a must see, The exhibition floor only had one light saber dealer, and the venue was pretty small. But 4C has been going on for 10 years, so they are obviously doing something right. And that is just having a very inviting atmosphere where geeks want to talk about weird stuff, not focus on $200 photo ops.

CatBusRuss had fun at all the panels he attended and participated in on Saturday. This leads him to hope that "I Dig Crazy Flicks Presents: Ninety For Chill - The Podcast" will actually have an audience. He does not want to eat all that punch and pie by himself.

As for David Carradine's name being in the title, CatBusRuss has posted a review of his 1988 feature, "Crime Zone" co-starring David Lynch muse Sherilyn Fenn. It is a story about creating criminals in a dystopian future so that the feds have someone to persecute. It is a clever idea for a Roger Corman production, and is quite the opposite of what Capital City Comic Con presented.

NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

Episode 47: DC Universe Animated Original Movies vs. Wonder Eva and Gregory Carl (Do Not Disrespect the Mascot's Effort

Films Researched for this Podcast: Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010): Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015); Reign of the Supermen (2019); Batman: Death in the Family (2020); Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One (2021); Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two (2021).

Gregory Carl and Cool Movies Darth team up like the "Snyder's Justice League" to provide an introduction into the world of DC Comics' Animated Features. The two bring up at least 20 of these films, and for the most part, at least one of them will recommend of each movie. Your hosts will also express how they got into these features and if you can take the short cut of watching these instead of reading the books that they are based on.

 

I believe this is a list of all the DC Universe Animated Original Movies that get mentioned in this podcast.

1. Batman: Assault on Arkham
2. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns 
   
3. Batman: Death in the Family
4. Batman: Gotham by Gaslight
5. Batman: The Killing Joke
6. Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One
   
7. Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two
8. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
9. Batman: The Mystery of the Batwoman 
   
10. Batman: Under the Read Hood
11. Batman: Year One
12. Batman Beyond: The Return of the Joker
13. Constantine: City of Demons
    
14. The Death of Superman 
    
15. Deathstroke: Knights and Dragons
16. Freedom Fighters: The Ray 
    
17. Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
18. Justice League: Doom
19. Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox
    
20. Justice League: Throne of Atlantis 
21. Justice League: Dark
    
22. Justice League Dark: Apokolips War 
23. Reign of the Supermen
    
24. Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay
25. Superman Doomsday 
26. Superman vs. The Elite
    
27. Teen Titans: The Judas Contract 
    
28. Teen Titans Go! To the Movies 
    

 

 

 

How did I forget to bring up "Batman and Harley Quinn"? This is a sad omission since Gregory purchased the original DC Universe over-the-top service for the "Swamp Thing" TV series.

DC Universe Movies serve as an entry way into the experience of growing up a nerd at the beginning of the Modern Age of comics. Tim Burton's "Batman" was the catalyst for both of us to try and collect comics. This resulted in us being very confused. When there is only one "Batman" movie and numerous "Batman" comic book lines, where is a kid to start? Should a parent be supervising?

So the two of us talk about this dilemma, and how it lead us to certain characters to follow and how we decide which stories do we watch on DVD and which ones do we read. From Gregory's experience, you might not want to cross those line. It may bring down the enjoyment of these features.

 

Other things that are brought in our chat are some of the political motivated decisions DC has made and how they affected fans, is there too much Batman in the DCUAOM, and of course there are comparisons to the DC Extended Universe. I think we also left with a greater appreciation of the comics we enjoyed outside of DC and even Marvel. Image Comic Fans: Represent you love for "Bitch Planet", "Maneaters", and "Sex Criminals".

My Twitter account is @catbusruss. This is where I want your hate to be directed if you disapprove. Otherwise, positive feedback would be best displayed as subscriptions to my podcast and five-star reviews. Lets work that algorithm.

If you think you have a film or franchise that you are an expert on. Send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. Most franchises have at least one feature that will qualify for NinetyForChill. The runtime just needs to be between 74 and 99 minutes. We have four episodes to fill.

 

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.