I Dig Crazy Flicks with CatBusRuss

Cat Bus Russ
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I Dig Crazy Flicks is the home of "Ninety For Chill". We do not always have the time for a two-hour movie. No one ever wants to sit down and watch a one-hour TV drama knowing that they might end up sticking around for a second (or a third...even a fourth) episode. With this said, 70 to 100 minutes is the ideal runtime. This concise timeframe has given us some of the most rewatchable movies that may not win any Oscars, but are properly fun-sized for the audience. Fun-sized sweets that may be experimental terror, outlandish horror, over-the-top action, or the most radical comedies and dramas.

  1. Indiana Comic Convention 2026: Impromptu "Aliens" Expert, Cats & Credit, and "The Sword and the Sorcerer"

    2d ago

    Indiana Comic Convention 2026: Impromptu "Aliens" Expert, Cats & Credit, and "The Sword and the Sorcerer"

    Indiana Comic Convention 2026 may not have been the most fun CatBusRuss has had at a nerdfest, but this was probably the most productive. He was able to put himself out there enough to vastly reduce his promotional material, and his efforts allowed him to demonstrate that he is a personable and authoritative voice in nerd culture. If he was not a strong convention visitor, could he have talked his way onto another panel? After visiting some really cool artists and catching up with hot sauce vendors, the rest of his day was dedicated to checking out panels. Nitin Bhojraj gave a great macroeconomics introduction by speaking of his goal to document every fiscal transaction in the "Star Wars" universe. Author/Translator/Lecturer Zack Davisson provided a fun history about cats in Japanese culture, and how they are all magical. The team from the Ray Bradbury Center had an amusing panel about historical inaccuracies in video games and whether or not they are a bad thing. But when it came to panels, Russ getting to join Chris Martinez from the "Big Dumb Monsters" podcast to talk about the 40th anniversary of "Aliens" was a highlight. Two of the panelists were no shows, there was no moderator, so a our podcast host volunteered his services and perhaps saved the panel. If he can figure how to put this in next year's panel submission form, he will at least save on the cost of admission. He just needs to keep his cool and not start a fight with the FanX group. Speaking of fighting, CatBus completed his week exploration of sword and sandals movies by checking out the "Iron Eagle" of 1982's shirtless fantasy films, Albert Pyun's "The Sword and the Sorcerer". It left our host wondering, "Why did they not give this guy all the money to make his movies?" It proved that he could be a winner when given the right budget. If you are looking for a fun snack for a Pyun budget, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    35 min
  2. Indiana Comic Convention 2026: Impromptu Transformers "Expert", The Norris/Sith Conspiracy, & Pompeii (2014)

    5d ago ·  Bonus

    Indiana Comic Convention 2026: Impromptu Transformers "Expert", The Norris/Sith Conspiracy, & Pompeii (2014)

    CatBusRuss is out of promotional buttons. This in itself would suggest that it was a successful trip to Indiana Comic Convention 2026, but its the friendships that count. Friendships that allowed him to be a substitute panelist because some people just volunteer for everything. His sign stating that "Chuck Norris was a Sith Lord" did help him get some extra attention. The first panel of the day was celebrating the 40th anniversary of Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns". Like most panels at FanX events, rarely is a moderator assigned. Novelist Darby Harn was made to take the lead with a panelist who was over her head in expectations. A sigh of relief was apparent when Russ showed up to sit in on the panel. Our podcast host may not be an expert, but he knows how to keep a conversation going. After the panel, Darby's copanelist was not up for the 40th anniversary of "The Transformers: The Movie" that was the next panel in the room. Fortunately he asked Russ if he was sitting in on the panel. This led to Darby volunteering the podcaster to fill in her spot for another moderator-free panel along side video game writer Cory Lanham. It was a fun time discussing the trauma of seeing our toys die, and how Gen X/Millennial parents are prepping their kids to watch this film at an appropriate age. For the crew behind the "Full of Sith" podcast, time is measured by exposing their kids to pop culture. This allowed for a fun juxtaposition during their "Mandalorian Changing Streaming" panel where they were joined by DePaul Accounting Professor Nitin Bhojraj. Nitin is working on documenting the macroeconomics within the "Star Wars" Universe, so it was a fun number-based panel about the evolution of streaming platforms. The next panel Russ attended was "31 Flavors of Horror" with bestselling authors Kiersten White, Alex Langley, and Ryan La Sala. This was a panel about their likes/dislikes about the current state of horror and their aspirations to see their work adapted to the streaming services. When you have a gay YA writer dropping a five-letter C-bomb, a good time was had by all. And when it comes to horror, Bootleg Safari delivered better than "Nanoshark". "The Simpsonsns" toys would give anyone nightmares with their bug out eyes and uncolored accessories. Hopefully they were meant to be accessories or that is the worst case of gout anyone has seen. The panel presented trailers for two rip offs from The Asylum and Aaron Reynolds guiding us through "Three Giant Men", a Turkish movies where Captain America and El Santo are out to stop a criminal mastermind in Spider-Man. It cannot be the webslinger because his colors were red and green instead of red and blue. That is more effort from the Turks to distinguish themselves from Western cinema than usual. With those films on his mind, Russ decided to watch a real movie and keep up sword-and-sandal week with "Pompeii". Can Paul W.S. Anderson standout with this disaster/gladiator hybrid flick, or will it just show how inadequate he is in comparison to Ridley Scott? For something that is beyond adequate, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    48 min
  3. Indiana Comic Convention 2026: "Deathstalker (1983)" & The Ray Bradbury Center

    6d ago ·  Bonus

    Indiana Comic Convention 2026: "Deathstalker (1983)" & The Ray Bradbury Center

    CatBusRuss concluded his first day at the Indiana Comic Convention with 20 3-Mile Island Wings at Hooters, so all would seem to be a success after a comedy of errors resulted in a late arrival to Indianapolis, failing to be in the right panel rooms at the right times, and enduring the original "Deathstalker". The crew from the Ray Bradbury Center at Indiana University Indianapolis and some pushing from a new friend made it all worthwhile. Our host was late to the con because he chose to try and see if he could make it "Deathstalker" week. He saw the second one at B-Fest this year and he had just watched the 2025 remake for the last episode of the podcast. Wanting to get a full eight hours of sleep (or the most he could get based on the whims of Eva the Queen Kitty), he did not pack his bag till the morning. As he was packing, and trying to forget about the poorly directed and overly rapey "Conan: The Barbarian" knock off, the thought dawned on him that he should break out the Captain N cosplay for at least one day. The wardrobe decision paid off for Russ because as he was trying to get an idea of what "Bootleg Safari" would be Saturday night from Effin' Birds creator Aaron Reynolds, he drew the attention of graphic novel writer Lan Pitts. Pitts felt he found a kindred spirit because of his eighties cartoon nostalgia and I Dig Crazy Flicks button that replaced "Dig" with the Cannon Group logo. A conversation would ensue about "Masters of the Universe", his latest novel "Beat Every 1-Up", and what is the sexuality of just being attracted to those who do not identify as men. From there he went and accidentally sat in on a very educational panel from Jason Aukerman of the Ray Bradbury Center about the history and need to resist censorship in arts. Russ's original plan was to check out one of the few older nostalgia panels at the con about THE "Star Trek Trilogy". It was probably for the best that he was not in a position to demand recognition for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" meaning they should be celebrating a quadrilogy. The serendipity of being in room 140 was that four more representatives of the Bradbury Center had three panels after Aukerman to check out. Russ only meant to stick around for two of them, a discussion about the history of fembots and an effort to shutdown those who say "Sinners" was no different than "From Dusk Till Dawn", but Kylie Adkins, Coye Lloyd, Christopher Adkins, and Andy Jorgenson were so inviting and friendly, he had to sit in on their queer legacy in video gaming panel. After this day, will Russ have the energy for the rest of the con? A good way to get that energy is to give a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough a try. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    52 min
  4. Shudder Shenanigans: "Deathstalker" (2025) & "The Sadness" (2021) with Gregory Carl

    Jun 3

    Shudder Shenanigans: "Deathstalker" (2025) & "The Sadness" (2021) with Gregory Carl

    CatBusRuss's friend, coworker, and Patreon backer Tim Bates brought up watching "The Dungeonmaster" from 1984 and how wild that film was. The immediate reaction from the "I Dig Crazy Flicks with CatBusRuss's" host was to comeback the next day with a potentially crazier flick to discuss. This was the push to get him to watch the remake/reimagining of "Deathstalker" that is currently on Shudder, the streaming service that past guest Gregory Carl turned to for films to bring up on the podcast. Russ is getting ready for a social networking excursion to Indiana Comic Convention 2026, so it brought back memories of when he hosted his fourth "Ninety For Chill: The Panel" with Gregory Carl as his guest. The two now have a shaky relationship, perhaps from their first IRL meeting, so if it is not going to find solid ground, it is probably best to release the last episode they recorded before the "I Dig Crazy Flicks" era of this podcast. This was another feature from Shudder, the ultra-violent, viral-outbreak horror film from Taiwan "The Sadness". This #RewindWednesday runs the gamut of what can be done with ultra-violence. "Deathstalker" is a campy, tongue-in-cheek love letter to the Roger Corman produced franchise while "The Sadness" is straight up drama and violence that was perhaps to intense for George A. Romero. One film is an ode to bright blood while the other revels in realistic claret. Russ thinks they are both winners, but you may need a heads up before you delve into either. If you want a definitive winner, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    2h 8m
  5. Quad Cities Comic Con: Mick Foley Movie Star, Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation, Trapped in Anime

    May 27

    Quad Cities Comic Con: Mick Foley Movie Star, Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation, Trapped in Anime

    CatBusRuss and ThePoeticCritic have made it back to the Heart of Illinois and Chambana respectively from Quad Cities Comic Con. It was a pretty successful trip to deliver a trio of "I Dig Crazy Flicks" panels despite the growing pains VXV Events has in their expansion. If the cosplayers are not gathering by the backdrops, how are they going to find the panel rooms? The two siblings ended up getting a small crowd for the "1985 Action Movie Triple-Threat Match", but these members of Generation X may have realized that the convention goers are generally 20 years younger than them. ThePoeticCritic's thoughts about millennials and gen-z kids not wanting to watch movies before "Jaws" maybe accurate. Fortunately, those who stopped by the panel were polite and supportive despite it not being for them. If you want to speak about someone who is kind and supportive, Mick Foley was kind enough to answer Russ's question about the lack of a Cactus Jack Cinematic Universe. After seeing his debut at "AEW: Double or Nothing", our host might have been better served to ask "Will Mrs. Foley's Baby Boy change his clothes from the previous day?" (The panel was on Saturday. #AEWDoN was on Sunday.) If you want more of CatBus hot takes, Russ included his hot take from "Trapped in Anime". The first comment he saw was, "If gatekeeping was a person," so he thinks he nailed that appearance from C2E2 2026. To conclude this #Ani-May, CatBus decided to revisit "Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation". It is an interesting take on the SF franchise, but our host is not a "Dragon Ball" fan. Is he fine with that style mixed with the World Warriors? What CatBusRuss does like is Doich! Snacking Dough. Try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    23 min
  6. Quad Cities Comic Con: The Mandalorian and Grogu...and ThePoeticCritic

    May 24 ·  Bonus

    Quad Cities Comic Con: The Mandalorian and Grogu...and ThePoeticCritic

    CatBusRuss and ThePoeticCritic received the honor of being the first fan panel at the first Quad Cities Comic Con. How did "Ninety For Chill: The Panel" and the "1986: RAD Movies or BAD Movies" go over? Thank the gods for Generation X chaperones. It is usually a great spot to be the first fan panel. They set the tone for the rest of the panels to come. Russ wanted to catch the Mick Foley panel, so he did not get to see if offering punch and pie really makes a difference in convincing an audience to stick around. Could Eric Cartman's hypothesis be wrong? The two Stevens siblings had a good time, but this being the first VXV Event in Northwest Illinois/Southeast Iowa, the vendors were lacking in quantity. But Russ left with a 3-D-printed Catpool, so there were quality vendors. Will his big sister leave a three-foot tall, fluffy Psyduck plushie? That is the question for the last day of the convention. Speaking of Pokemon, ThePoeticCritic introduced her brother to "Pokemon Concierge". It is a fun stop-motion animation series that tries to take the piss out of hustle culture, but is it #Ani-May appropriate? The series's characters mouths make different shapes when they are talking. The two siblings have a discussion about how it now seems that anime and gaming are taking over comic cons. It was not a big cosplay day, but when he saw some, our host recognized only a few of them. But all is not hopeless for nerdom, there was a Mandalorian that Russ could look at the top of his helmet's "T". There was also a fun build-your-own lightsaber vendor. Can the CatBus resist spending three-figure on a new one? Obviously, he could not resist catching the first showing of "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu" in East-Central Illinois. Should he have waited till AMC's RealD showing instead of settling on a plain old, digital presentation? If your questioning your snacking choices, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    42 min
  7. Ninety For Chill: Otaku No Missouri Comic Con

    May 21

    Ninety For Chill: Otaku No Missouri Comic Con

    CatBusRuss & ThePoeticCritic will be heading up to East Moline for Quad Cities Comic Con (May 23 & 24), so it is about time that they gave the audiences from Missouri Comic Con their proper respect. The first and most attended panel was "Ninety For Chill: Because Movies Are Now Too Long". It will be the first panel this weekend that "I Dig Crazy Flicks" will be presenting (Saturday, 11:30 am, Panel Room 2), but they are going up against Mick Foley. Thus, this episode of "Ninety For Chill: The Panel" may be the best the podcast can offer. It is going to be a lot of fun for Russ to chat about filmmaking philosophy with his big sister this weekend. Like many times before, she has saved the day when it comes to this podcast (including the first two "Ninety For Chill" panels). But hopefully, they will get an audience like the one from Springfield, MO. Our podcast host was on his own at Missouri Comic Con, and thanks to those otakus, it ended up being a great show. To further prep himself for Quad Cities Comic Con (and to honor #Ani-May), CatBus got around to watching "Otaku No Video". It is an ode to fandom culture, reminds you why it is fun to be a part of it, and laid the groundwork for "Neon Genesis Evangelion". This watch may reinvigorate our host's love of being a con-goer, not just a presenter. If your snacking game needs reinvigorated, "Perfect Blue" is a must see, but if you want to find a must taste, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    58 min
  8. MORTAL MONDAY 2026: Mortal Kombat II vs. Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie

    May 18 ·  Bonus

    MORTAL MONDAY 2026: Mortal Kombat II vs. Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie

    This is a bonus episode born out of CatBusRuss's nostalgia. 33 years ago, the arcade ports of "Mortal Kombat" were released on Mortal Monday. Our host was invited out to the AMC in Champaign last Tuesday, so it only makes sense to review "Mortal Kombat II" while it is still early in its box office run. But Russ still has panels from Missouri Comic Con to release on this podcast feed. On top of that, ThePoeticCritic and her little brother will be hosting three panels at Quad Cities Comic Con on May 23 and May 24. There is too much content to release on the regular schedule, so our standard Wednesday release is going to be bumped to Thursday, so that we can bask in the memories of the bloodless SNES adaptation of the game that started it all. (All hail the Sega Genesis and ABACABB.) Of course, it is still #Ani-May, so Russ rewatched the first anime that he ever got to rent and attached it to this bonus podcast. Our host was always a Capcom guy, so he could not resist the chance to put up "Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie" against the feature that may bring back campy tournament fighter back to cinema prominence. If you are looking for a champion, try a flavor from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Doich! Snacking Dough. It is cookie dough with more protein, less sugar, and none of the eight major allergens. Our host is not a cookie fan, but this stuff taste great and leaves you feeling full quickly. Follow the link below to save 20% on your order and give Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, or WTFudge Brownie dough a try.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    23 min
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About

I Dig Crazy Flicks is the home of "Ninety For Chill". We do not always have the time for a two-hour movie. No one ever wants to sit down and watch a one-hour TV drama knowing that they might end up sticking around for a second (or a third...even a fourth) episode. With this said, 70 to 100 minutes is the ideal runtime. This concise timeframe has given us some of the most rewatchable movies that may not win any Oscars, but are properly fun-sized for the audience. Fun-sized sweets that may be experimental terror, outlandish horror, over-the-top action, or the most radical comedies and dramas.

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