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.

#ICC25 30 Years of Bad Sci-Fi, "Companion (2025)", an End to the Gregory Carl Era

 

I Dig Crazy Flicks with @CatBusRuss

Episode 219: #ICC25: 1995 - 30 Years of Bad Sci-Fi Movies We Love (with Lynette Eklund & Madison Martin)

CatBusRuss⁠ ponders if the ⁠Indiana Comic Convention⁠ appreciates that he has been promoting the fun of the 2025 event for nearly two months after it had concluded. The odds are looking good that he will be invited to sister con, ⁠ATL Comic Convention⁠, near the end of July, so "⁠I Dig Crazy Flicks⁠" panel coverage does not seem to be hurting their opinion of him.

This podcast covers the last panel he "moderated". The premise was to discuss the sci-fi films that bombed either critically or financially (and in the event of the financial flops, the critics were not too kind at the time), but VHS provided the seeds for new cults to emerge. Too bad the panelists all had multiple panels over the three day event, so the "Ghoulies" may have eaten their homework. They decided to embrace the title instead of the description. Thus the three went on to hold a celebration of bad sci-fi movies from the eighties and nineties that are beloved.

Our podcast host is joined by Indianapolis-based promoter Madison Martin and LEGENDARY creature effects fabricator and performer, ⁠Lynette Eklund⁠. She was the star of the show having done FX work on two of the 1995 films suggested in the description, "⁠Tank Girl⁠" and "⁠Species⁠". Being an monster-making master, she tended to favor horror features.

⁠CatBusRuss⁠ is game for that kind of conversation, but he soon found that Lynette was out to put him in his place for feeling that horror is the ideal place to get political. She does her best to make it clear that things with sharp teeth and claws are scary enough. When you are getting chased down by one of these things, are you really thinking about the socio-economic factors that are motivating them?

Episode 221 - "Companion" featuring "Cherry 2000" and Gregory Carl

CatBusRuss⁠'s favorite ⁠Michael Crichton⁠ film was 1973's "⁠Westworld⁠". He is also more of a ⁠Jonathan Nolan⁠ fan than his older brother. Gregory Carl is quite the well-read, sci-fi-loving truck stop employee in Central Illinois. "⁠Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?⁠" is a tale he is fascinated by. Thus, "⁠Companion⁠" is a film the two should have quite an interesting conversation about.

And for this podcast's host, it was indeed interesting. Can a robot consent? Gregory, an aspiring comedian, tries to question if consent can actually exist. This leads to a bit of editing of the conversation to protect the parties involved. To make up for it, ⁠Russ⁠ watched "⁠Cherry 2000⁠" to further explore the inevitable objectification of synthetic life. He may have found that it should be treated as equal. It maybe said, CatBus just does not think you should be a bad person to anyone regardless of who/what they are.

In the end, perhaps the two even think we should all love those who want to be loved. Except for CM Punk in CatBus's case, and Gregory has a few names as well.

 

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.

#ICC25: "Young Frankenstein" with Magician Paul Draper & "Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Masterpiece"

 

I Dig Crazy Flicks with @CatBusRuss

Episode 217: #ICC25: Young Frankenstein - Another Roll in the Hay with Paul Draper

The "⁠Young Frankenstein⁠" panel at ⁠Indiana Comic Con⁠ was another, "Let's see who volunteers," experience for ⁠CatBusRuss⁠. Fortunately, he could not have asked for a better co-panelist than the Disney Imagineers' official magician/mentalist, ⁠Paul Draper⁠. Would either of them claim to be experts about ⁠Mel Brook⁠'s film? No. But a pro-wrestler and Vegas entertainer surely would provide the audience an amusing show.

The performer who had recently appeared with Shaq and Sir Charles on "Inside the NBA" must of gained some play-by-play skill from the crew as he posed the questions and CatBus gave the analysis. They had a great crowd to interact with who seemed to have ball just wanting to express their love for the feature. Everyone left with new insights about this ⁠Gene Wilder⁠ classic and similar movies like "Putney Swope" that would be worth their time. If Russ can make it to ⁠ATL Comic Con⁠, he would love to share the stage with Paul once again.

Bonus Episode - #ICC25: The Last Jedi - Masterpiece with Bryan Young, Clayton Sandell, and Darby Harn

It is about 3:45 am on ⁠Stacia Hardin⁠'s Birthday. She happens to share that day with one of the most important days in the whole of nerdom, May the Fourth Be with You. The last time ⁠CatBusRuss⁠ saw her, she was playing nurse as his right wrist had just been surgically repaired, feeding him chocolate pie and giving him a comfort plush Ewok. Damn she was a truly a great person to let our host know that today was the day to release "⁠Star Wars: The Last Jedi⁠" panel from ⁠Indiana Comic Con 2025⁠ on the "⁠I Dig Crazy Flicks⁠" podcast feed.

It was an honor for ⁠Russ⁠ to even be invited on this panel. The man who pitched the panel was ⁠Bryan Young⁠, an award-winning writer and filmmaker who sports a "Revenge of the Sith" t-shirt on his Wikipedia page. Joining the two were ⁠Darby Harn⁠, sci-fi/fantasy author of books like "Stargun Messenger" and Emmy award-winning, Scripps New Correspondent and "Star Wars" expert ⁠Clayton Sandell⁠. Our podcast host just did his best to be the voice of the everyday fan in a round table with people who have made a living from their expertise. Was he able to hang with them as they discussed one of the best "Star Wars" features, regardless of what the Internet says? Listen and judge.

 

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.