Last week (12/23), CatBusRuss talked about movies that he would like to see take on "Coraline" as his best sub 100-minute film discovery of 2024. One of these films was "Shredder Orpheus" which, after he chatted with ThePoeticCritic and consulted HappyBeebsMeowMeow, determined that the skater-punk, shot-on-VHS take on Greek mythology was not going to top the Henry Selick classic.

Our host purchased the Brandon Lee starring "Rapid Fire" on DVD 15 years ago, and despite not giving it the proper attention when viewed on cable TV, he has seen Walter Hill's "Last Man Standing" in its entirety. Thus, it is up to Russ's favorite comedic screenwriter, Kevin Smith's, most recent film to end the streak of animated features from ending up as "Ninety For Chill's" top movie of the year.

"The 4:30 Movie" is Smith's version of Steven Spielberg's "The Fabelmans". It is an "autobiographical" take on how he became a filmmaker. If anything, this film has inspired CatBus to put the Spielberg flick on his queue just to see if he makes all the tongue-in-cheek jokes that Smith does about how movies have changed since then. Thank the gods Smith has only been doing this for 30 years, and his love for cinema was an inspiration to all of Russ's entertainment projects.

It might be an overstatement to suggest that ThePoeticCritic is miraculous, but she allows for this year (and this incarnation) of "Ninety For Chill: The Podcast" to conclude the only way CatBusRuss would allow it. That is with a guest. This was a near last minute arrangement, so the two siblings will not be chatting about a movie. They will be reviewing their experiences from this year in cinema, but with our host's work situation, his big sister wanted to bring in a little Christmas right now.

The two do investigate what makes a holiday picture. Does it need to be released (or intended to be released) around the season? How Christmassy does it have to be? Has Shane Black actually wrote a genuine Xmas movie? Are all Oscar-bait features representative of the holiday spirit as "Mystery Science Theater 3000" suggests?

As for the best experiences this year, ThePoeticCritic does not offer too many opinions, but helps guide Russ in coming to a decision in the three feature race of "Coraline (09)", "A Boy and His Dog (1975)", and "Shredder Orpheus (1990)". Maybe CatBus will get caught up on 2024's actual movies once he can step away from the retail hell that might have driven his cynicism. Buy batteries before the kids open the damn gifts.

Ninety for Chill 200 will drop on Monday, December 22, 2024. Thanks for all the support.

ThePoeticCritic is back and focused to start spreading that Christmas cheer. She fondly looks back on the holiday offerings that bring joy to the world indiscriminately while CatBusRuss focuses on the cynical side of the season with films like Dennis Leary in "The Ref" and Bill Goldberg in "Santa's Slay". What they can agree on is that their should be no seasonal restrictions on when we can watch "Ernest Saves Christmas".