ThePoeticCritic (aka Rori Stevens)
ThePoeticCritic has been an amateur cinephile going back to her toddlerhood having access to both a VCR and pay cable. By the turn of the '90s she was seeking out professional film reviews in newspapers, libraries, and bookstores. While her formal education in film did not extend beyond two college classes while getting her degrees in other subjects, she feels she has some authority to speak.
ThePoeticCritic is CatBusRuss’s older sister. She has come to the rescue of the podcast many of time when our host could not secure a guest for the show and has participated in panels to promote “NinetyForChill” at comic conventions. CatBusRuss is usually her escort to these events, so the two have quite the symbiotic friendship.
At least half of her appearances, the two siblings just discussed the state of cinema instead of an individual film or theme. Thus, a lot of their conversations cannot be easily categorized. The only thought that CatBusRuss can categorize it as Stevens Debates. Our host thinks it is best to just give her own tab.
ThePoeticCritic’s Contributions
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Chicago TARDIS Warm Up: Wicked for Predator with ThePoeticCritic
The Stevens’s siblings needed to be in Chicago on Thanksgiving for the “Doctor Who”, TARDIS. Only the Lombard AMC had food for sell that holiday, so CatBusRuss & ThePoeticCritic went to the movies.
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Dressing Up Halloween: The Story of Ben Cooper, Inc. (2024)
Per IMDb: Ben Cooper Inc.'s costume-in-a-box revolutionized Halloween in the late 1930s, allowing children to dress as pop culture characters.
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Captain America v. #Filmsky & ThePoeticCritic
Welcome to the "I Dig Crazy Flicks" era of the podcast. It allows for a greater range in cinema to discuss and is definitely more marketable. And the craziness kicks off this year after Russ saw his father's reaction to a television ad for "Captain America: Brave New World".
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Ninety For Chill 200: A Christmas Miracle with ThePoeticCritic
An investigation of what makes a holiday picture. 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?
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X-Mas Deathmatch: Dudley versus Goldberg
CatBusRuss and ThePoeticCritic discuss a wide rage of Christmas movies. “Santa Claus: The Movie” to “Santa’s Slay”
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Buddy the Elf, Zombie Diaries, Antibirth, Sailor Moon & Muppets
ThePoeticCritic and CatBusRuss discuss “Elf” and other Xmas flicks. CatBus reviews “Zombie Diaries”, “Sailor Moon S: The Movie” and “A Muppet Christmas: Letter to Santa”.
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"Earth Girls Are Easy"??? ThePoeticCritic Responds
CatBusRuss and ThePoeticCritic discuss a movie with all of her favorite things: Jeff Goldblum and Jim Carrey.
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The Return of Godzilla (aka 1985)
The King of Monsters demands his spot in spooky month. ThePoeticCritic returns to Ninety For Chill to discuss what is truly scary about kaiju. International politics and Western adaptations.
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Ghost World, Ebertfest, & ThePoeticCritic’s Summertime Sadness
It is only appropriate that this #RewindWednesday podcast falls on the same week as Ebertfest in Champaign, IL. It gets pretty personal since Russ is just expressing his thoughts about the film, so to lighten things up, you can listen to him and his big sister, ThePoeticCritic, try not to be too down on the summer box office of 2022.
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#RewindWednesday - Dead Dogs - Capcom Zombies - Ozploitation
Inspired by George Miller's means to make Mel Gibson feel something in "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior", CatBusRuss addresses how you rarely go wrong by killing a dog on the big screen.
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From Dreamy "Nocturna" to "A Nightmare on Elm St."
ThePoeticCritic and CatBusRuss take you on a journey ranging from the Criterion Channel's Saturday Matinees for the smart kids to the directors with obsessions of dreamlike environments. The Spanish animated gem "Nocturna" and Wes Craven's "A Nightmare on Elm St" serve as bookends.
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@HDTGM Pandering: Rollerball (2002), Jason Statham's Blitz + ThePoeticCritic
ThePoeticCritic and her little brother discuss whether or not Martin Scorsese is a nihilist. This comes through a discussion about the current cinema scene and TPC believing that the superhero era cinema is over.
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ThePoeticCritic Mega Pod: Scorsese/Disney/Vampire Cinematic Salad
CatBusRuss gets himself ready for the five hours of driving to and from C2E2 by playing back a pair of conversations with his travel companion, ThePoeticCritic. These discussions are where the two siblings have to come to terms with how they may now be the biggest cinema snobs in Central Illinois.
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TV Animation & Disney Damnation the MEGA Pod
If there was anything you could count on as brief, fun films, it was cartoons. Then the Disney "Renaissance" came, and animated features became longer and longer. Joe Golwitzer (@quidpro_joe) and ThePoeticCritic(CatBusRuss's big sister) look back the time where VHS was king and animation was cheap.
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#Oscars & Cinematic Potluck with ThePoeticCritic
ThePoeticCritic has always had a lot to say about the state of cinema at the moment, and she seems to appreciate the platform. The two siblings have a boundless conversation to address their favorite actors, the upcoming (2023) and previous Oscars, and hopes of fewer comic book movies.
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