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?

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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?

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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.

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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.

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Jess McCord, a mind behind the tabletop role-playing game "Skies of Fortune" might be CatBusRuss's go to anime expert. The last time our host was up to speed with the animation genre were the days of ADV Films, Central Park Media, and Manga Entertainment.

When it came to the distributor with the best full-length films, Manga was the company to turn to for timeless, possibly perfect offerings. One of those features being Satoshi Kon's "Perfect Blue".

Russ still has panels from Missouri Comic Con to post on the I Dig Crazy Flicks podcast feed, but it is Ani-May, so he feels its only appropriate to post a review for an anime film before the TED Talk. The best attended panel was dedicated to the concept of Ninety For Chill. Since that was a discussion about the entertainment industry, it would only be fitting to feature a Japanese-animated feature about that.

"Perfect Blue" is the story of a woman leaving the world of being a pop idol to become an actress. If you know anything about that music genre, you know that this is the right career move. But all groups have fandoms, and all fandoms have unhealthily obsessed members. Fanatics who will not let you change the image they determined to be perfect.

Satoshi Kon's debut feature deserves more than just a two to five minutes on this podcast. Fortunately for CatBus, Jess was in the midst of a binge of this maestro who tragically passed away at age 46. On a two-day turnaround, the Dread Pirate Syzer was ready to discuss this must see film.

"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.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

CatBusRuss and ThePoeticCritic are going to be hosting panels at Quad Cities Comic Convention, so they are going back to the vault to offer up a sample of their rapport. Our host also wants to celebrate Ani-May, but the two siblings have not focused on any anime from their past conversations on the podcast. But they can honor the Land of the Rising Sun with the big sister's love for the Queen and King of the Monsters. This episode is dedicated to their first tussle in 1964, "Mothra vs. Godzilla".

Good on Japan for giving the lass top billing.

Russ still wanted to attach some anime flair for this 2022 chat. Unfortunately, he does not have any giant-kaiju Japanese animation in his physical media or digital collections. But if the big green lizard can go toe-to-toe with a mechanical version of himself, it is not too much of a stretch to review a mecha anime. Thus, he pulled out his DVD of the motion picture sequel to one of his favorite nineties giant robot comedies, "Martian Successor Nadesico: The Motion Picture - Prince of Darkness (1998)".

Because sometimes, you just have to get rid of the overly dramatic taste of Gundam. Thankfully, there is a cartoon about mech pilots who love the over-the-top seventies robot shows to do that.

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Reality may be getting the best of CatBusRuss. The search for full-time employment has sprouted some leads, but it left our podcast host so exhausted, he may have lost a week. He was doing his best to have the energy to check out the final Ebertfest. Unfortunately, the focus of regaining that power led him to think Champaign's film festival was a week later.

Thankfully, parking was free the Friday when Russ arrived at the Virginia Theater to see the Academy Award Winning feature "Get Out". So it was not that much of a gut punch when he found all the lights to be out. He should have gone home to prepare for his early Saturday shift, but he had done his hair up, was smelling good, loaded himself up with "I Dig Crazy Flicks" buttons. It would be a wasted effort not to go to a cinema that was open.

This led CatBus to see "Ready or Not 2: Here I Come" during its last weekend on the big screen. He and Michael Dubois both enjoyed the original "Ready or Not", so he was expecting a good time. It was just a weird day in the sense that he watched another African-American focused film, "Black Dynamite" to get in the right mind set to watch Jordan Peele's debut film.

Russ had always been hesitant about revisiting this Michael Jai White film because, when he first saw it, he thought it was perfect. Why risk staining those memories? Since our host was asking himself that, he decided to also muster up the courage to rewatch "Dude, Where's My Car?".

It was a movie where he may have left being the biggest fan of this 2000 flick after watching it with his classmates during their college days. All of them would tell you that was out of character for him. People do change, but does Russ really want to?

If you want to make a great change to your snacking routine, 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.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠