CatBusRuss might need to do some research because this may be the last Merry Mark L. Lester Christmas. Last year, he covered what maybe perhaps his most memorable films, "Showdown in Little Tokyo" and "Commando". Our host is prepping for a 1986 panel to tour the comic cons, so maybe he will get around to watch "Armed and Dangerous" to compare and contrast with "Police Academy 3: Back in Training", but reviewing "Class of 1984" and the "Class of 1999" franchise may address the pinnacle of his filmography.

He did not direct "Class of 1999 II: The Subsitute", but when you compare it to his attempts to become the next Roger Corman, like "Groupie", there is a lot of potential left on the table. It should be accepted as fact, a little more or just some Eric Roberts could elevate them both to B-Movie classics.

Lester is a man who knew his limitations, and these class of movies show that he was a wise director because of it.

CatBusRuss was doing his best to enjoy Chicago TARDIS. ThePoeticCritic has done her best to get him to invest in "Doctor Who", but sixty years of content and everyone having their ideal Time Lord (or Lady), he was very much lost in the Westin of Lombard.

The most fun he had the first day may have been spent in his hotel room watching "A Whisker Away", an anime exclusive on Netflix. A story that investigates the escapism of turning into a cat was not one that they presented to the 17 Doctors. This cartoon harkens back to "The Cat Returns". If that Studio Ghibli feature inspires other Japanese artists, why should the BBC not take a hint?

Pardon the harshness towards the Whovians. Day two ended up offering a lot to amuse our host. The Christopher Eccleston panel was a lot of fun leaving us with the message, "Don't Trust the Wiki." CatBus then got to admire the dedication this fanbase has to keep all their favorite heroes alive in the form of the massive Big Finish Productions panel. If the BBC does not want to spend the cash to make new television episodes, the fans will buy audio stories where the original actors (and their kin) bring back their greatest characters.

Eventually, Russ got to cut loose. There were panels about television shows that lack aliens from Gallifrey and looks at the futures of the DCU and MCU'. The latter panels only had the Stevens siblings and the panelists' podcast co-hosts in the audience, so it allowed the Peoria contingent's voices to be heard, dare dominate the direction of the panels.

And then, there was the "Don't Blink Ball". You cannot complain about a day that ends with a DJ pulling out David Bowie, the heroes of new wave/early emo, and the less angry sounds from Chicago's Wax Trax.

ThePoeticCritic is having a good time at Chicago TARDIS, but CatBusRuss is not quite feeling it. This is indeed a convention DEDICATED to "Doctor Who", and our host is not the target audience.

It is a neurospicy neighborhood. Russ has his eccentricities, but he also has patience and a degree of innate empathy. Make this crowd wait, and this crowd wants their true feelings known. This is a boys of "Big Bang Theory" vibe that brings CatBus comfort in knowing that he does not need to be tested like Sheldon, but taken a back by the stereotypes Hollywood sells.

He found the panel with Jo Martin, the Fugitive Doctor, and supporting actresses Steph de Whalley and Susan Twist to be fun, but he was there to find out what he has seen them in that is not from the BBC. With his sister and her beau leaving him on his own, the challenge became finding the panels that were not too Whovian. When the one half of the panels that did not mention the Time Lord was hosted by two of the organizers, it maybe a fool's errand.

CatBusRuss & ThePoeticCritic did not have a traditional Thanksgiving. If you want to stay at the hotel that is hosting Chicago TARDIS, you gotta check in on the night dedicated to the false narrative of pilgrims and natives. Thus, where are you going to get a meal when all the restaurants are closed? The answer, head to Lombard's AMC Dine In and watch a family flick. For the older Stevens kid, "Wicked for Good". For her little brother, "Predator: Badlands".

Russ would think that a feature involving animal prosecution would earn a PG-13, but his sister explains its PG rating. He is cool with that despite musicals seemingly be an out when it comes to a more restrictive rating. As for the latest Predator movie, making all the bad guys robots kind of takes the fun out of a creature that we know can rip a spine and skull out of a human in a single tug.

The story is about a Yautja runt, so maybe it is for the kids who may only know the term from "Charlotte's Web".

Like most episodes of "I Dig Crazy Flicks" that this brother/sister duo partake in, the two do talk about the state of the movie industry and the excessive amount of trailers you have to endure. The two finished their respective meals before the Nicole Kidman spiel. Perhaps more importantly, the elder of the two does give the younger an idea of what TARDIS will be like. Will be that enough for CatBus to manage a fandom he has no investment in? If not, at least there is a swimming pool on the second floor.

It is Thanksgiving Week, and CatBusRuss is very thankful for the opportunity to interview the writer/director of "Cuisine de la 'Pocalypse", Kyle Weingart. If you want a story about good food in a desolate land, this is a far better tale than the white washing of colonialism's effect on Native Americans.

"Cuisine de la 'Pocalypse" stars Kevin Jack as Chef John. John is an aspiring cook who yearns for fame in a world where all conceivable apocalypses have occurred. But his pursuit of this dream may have just put the newest bastion of civilization, New Missoula, at risk of destruction. If Hollywood learns of this paradise, it will inevitably be overrun with solar-powered homicidal robots, roaming biker gangs, and whatever scum the television industry can come up with. Zombies outside the city limits will be made to look quite quaint.

To save New Missoula, he must go on a quest to stop this dial up transmission. Joining him on this mission are his sister-in-law Laura (Zuzu Weingart), her father and town preacher Wallace (Douglas 'Hurricane' Hall), local celebrity Landeaux (Nelo Butler), and "Hercules" Kevin Sorbo.

Kyle Weingart went to film school, and after a few years serving as PA, returned to Montana to make movies. And the state was happy to help him. Thanks to a Big Sky Film Grant, there was no limit to hokey B-movie special effects he could use. It also helped him secure other established Hollywood actors like Natasha Leggero and Emilio Rivera. What more can one ask for in a sophomore directorial effort?

Russ does his best to ask about the filmmaking process. Where did this idea came from? Is "Iron Chef" comfort television for him? What does he and the film have to say about granola? Our host may even try to pick his guest's brain on what needs to be done to be a successful (and since this film is over 100 minutes) and overly ambitions filmmaker.

The film is worth a purchase on Prime Video, but Kyle would just be happy that you give this film a watch on Tubi. Happy Thanksgiving.

This is the conclusion of CatBusRuss and Gregory Carl's conversation about the most politically-minded movie from The Horror Master John Carpenter, 1988's "They Live". Being a film that stars Rowdy Roddy Piper, these two marks (an underemployed wrestler and a wrestling podcaster) will have their pro-wrestling tangents, but they have paid enough attention to the film to recognize the actor/stuntman legend Al Leong and the use of props from far more renowned films. Let's go bust some Reagan policies.

Russ also suggests how Kevin Smith maybe Generation X's incarnation of Carpenter, at least in terms of directorial style. Our host may have suggested this in the podcast about "Big Trouble in Little China", but its good to run this concept by another cinema aficionado. There may not be many action films in the Jersey guy's filmography, but "Tusk" and "Red State" show he has a grasp on horror. A completed the "Great White North" trilogy is something that CatBus and Greg are hoping for.

Smith is primarily comedic director, so it seems appropriate to attach a review of Carpenter's sci-fi comedy "Memoirs of an Invisible Man". Again we are made to ask, "Is this a Carpenter flick?" Regardless of how Carpenter it is, if he can handle James Woods, surely he can manage divas Chevy Chase and Daryl Hannah.

CatBusRuss is dedicating this week to the film that truly opened him up to the works of "The Horror Master" John Carpenter. This was a frequent post WCW Nitro/Thunder movie back during the Monday Night Wars. Featuring Keith David and Rowdy Roddy Piper, our host does not consider it the best Carpenter flick, but it maybe his favorite. If David had a role in "Big Trouble in Little China", it may not be able to claim that title.

Russ is joined by Gregory Carl. He may not have been the ideal guest because there are a lot of wrestling tangents that come out. This should have been expected since Russ is an underemployed pro-wrestler and Gregory was an aspiring pro-wrestling podcaster. Of course they were going to honor the legend of the Kilted One. If it was not for that, this conversation would probably have been a one a one episode endeavor.

Gregory was Zooming in via a Motorola Stylus phone (This is a conversation from 2022.), so his audio is a little choppy. His points are still made, but our host may not have been able to remove all of his guest's R-rated language. But if its not audible, did it actually get said?

To add a little more Carpenter to the mix, CatBus has finally gotten around to the last film that he directed, "The Ward" from 2010, starring Amber Heard. Our host is sympathetic to this actress after Johnny Depp defamed and essentially blackballed her from Hollywood. Is she enough to carry a film that Carpenter directed, but did not score or pen?

On Thursday, November 20, "I Dig Crazy Flicks" will further investigate what a John Carpenter movie is along with concluding this conversation about "The Live".

CatBusRuss headed to GalaxyCon Des Moines to see if the capital of Iowa could help determine who was the baddest action hero(es) from forty years prior. 1985 was the last year where action movies were celebrated solely for being violent. One liners are fun, but chaos reigned supreme.

Sylvester Stallone may have had the box office with "Rocky IV" and "Rambo: First Blood - Part II", but this may have been the dawning of Arnold Schwarzenegger taking over the action hero crown from Sly. But is there a dark horse?

The Cannon Group may have only survived as long as it did because of their low-budget action flicks. Michael Dudikoff and Chuck Norris bring the martial arts while Charles Bronson returns to the Death Wish franchise.

And to make sure CatBus is not looking over any of the action legends, he reviews Sho Kosugi's fourth ninja film of the eighties, "Pray for Death". After Golan-Globus replaced his with the girl from "Breakin'", he started making hooded assassin flicks just to spite them.

Russ provides a TED Talk energy to this panel. Without having a cohost for the panel, our podcast host talks a lot and goes on some very pertinent tangents. These were the movies that Ronald Reagan loved. Are these movies truly more than right-wing escapism? Is this the machismo that modern male influencers trying to capture?

In the end, was it a good thing that PG-13 action movies would dominate the next 35 years? Are we mature enough as a society to know that these ultra-violent affairs should not be taken seriously?

There is a charm to these films. They are mindless crazy flicks. Please leave your brain at the door.