Bill and Ted Watch Movies

Bill and Ted discuss Ari Folman’s film 2013 “The Congress” inspired by Stanislaw Lem’s 1971 overpopulation dystopian think piece “The Futurological Congress.” Delving into questions of personal sovereignty and self-ownership in an increasingly digital age mired in obsession, nostalgia and triviality the actress Robin Write, here playing a version of herself, contacts away her likeness […]

Bill and Ted discuss John Carpenter’s 1988 adaption of Ray Nelson’s 1963 cosmic horror short story “Eight O’Clock in the Morning.” Largely inspired by Bill Wray’s comic book version of Nelson’s story in Alien Encounters #6 (from April 1986) Carpenter’s “They Live” provides a clever political satire wrapped in a campy Sci-Fi B-Movie wrapper where […]

Bill and Ted discuss Stanley Kubrick’s 1975 adaption of William Makepeace Thackeray’s satirical 1844 novel “The Luck of Barry Lyndon,” about the challenges and hazards of attempting to climb the social ladder of late 18th century Europe. Set between the 1750’s through to the end of the 1780’s the plot — which includes the 7 […]

Bill and Ted discuss Michael Mann’s 1992 adaption of James Fenimore Cooper’s 1826 novel “The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757.” Set in colonial New England during the French and Indian War the frontiersman Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis) the adopted son of the Mohican Chingachgook (Russell Means) and his natural son Uncas (Eric Schweig) […]

Bill and Ted discuss Werner Herzog’s 2005 documentary “Grizzly Man” largely assembled from footage shot by troubled aspiring actor Timothy Treadwell for an unrealized TV Nature programme interspersed with interviews featuring people connected to the man and/or to the tragic death of Treadwell and his girlfriend at the time. Asking questions about the nature of […]

Bill and Ted discuss Matthew Robbins’, J.R.R. Tolkien inspired, 1981 dark fantasy film “Dragonslayer” set in the gritty fictional sixth-century British Iles kingdom of Urland, terrorized by Vermithrax Pejorative, a 400-year-old dragon. Wishing to be rid of the dragon a delegation of common folk led by the young lad Valerian (Caitlin Clarke) seek the help […]

Bill and Ted discuss Alfonso Cuarón’s 2006 brooding adaption of P.D. James’ 1992 dystopian novel “The Children of Men” where infertility has rendered humanity collectively childless for 18 years pushing the world into a melancholy of despair and hopelessness. Former activist, Theo Faron (Clive Owen), is drawn into a revolutionary plot co-ordinated by a group […]

Bill and Ted discuss Mike Judge’s 2006 film “Idiocracy,” the Rip Van Winkle style comedy about an exceptionally average man, Corporal Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson), left to awaken to a future so stupid and idiotic that it boggles the mind five hundred years after a botched one year top-secret military hibernation experiment. The average Joe […]

Bill and Ted discuss Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1947 film adaptation of Margaret Rumer Godden’s 1939 novel “Black Narcissus.” Set in the Himalayas a newly minted mother superior, Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr), is sent to the palatial yet rundown former mountaintop harem house of Mo- Poo to establish a convent and open a combination […]

Bill and Ted discuss Martin Campbell’s 1995 James Bond film “GoldenEye” staring Pierce Brosnan as 007. Set after the fall of the Iron Curtain Bond finds himself racing against the Janus Syndicate, a cadre of self-interested villains, to retrieve the access codes for a satellite space weapon named “GoldenEye” that can fire a devastating electromagnetic […]

A quick update about some upcoming changes at Bill and Ted Watch Movies. Hiatus and a big move, plus some technical stuff: if you’re wondering where the film clip is from in the announcement it’s from Alan Metter’s 1988 Richard Pryor comedy “Moving.”

Bill and Ted discuss Joseph Kosinski’s 2010 “TRON Legacy” the action packed follow up to Steven Lisberger’s 1982 groundbreaking sci-fi cult classic TRON. Computer programmer, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), long trapped within his own digital creation is forced into action when his son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) surprisingly arrives within The Grid. Together father and son […]

Bill and Ted discuss Fritz Lang’s 1927 landmark silent science-fiction drama “Metropolis” where utopia collides with dystopia and the head of the planner desperately needs a mediator for the hand of the worker. Gustav Fröhlich stars as Freder, the privileged son of Johann Fredersen (Alfred Abel), the technocratic designer and overlord of the futuristic city […]

Bill and Ted discuss Steven Lisberger’s 1982 boundary pushing Sci-Fi film “TRON,” a futurist film made at the dawn of the personal computer and the explosion of the video game market. Lisberger envisions a world where analogue collides with digital in a struggle over what is real and what is programmed. Jeff Bridges stars as […]

Bill & Ted discuss early silent short films from the dawn of film making: Thomas Edison’s “The Kiss,” (1896); Louis Lumière’s proto cinéma vérité film “The Arrival of the Train,” (1896); Georges Méliès’ iconic Jules-Verne’s-esque sci-fi film “A Trip to the Moon,” (1902); Edwin S. Porter’s Western “The Great Train Robbery,” (1903); D.W. Griffith’s Rom-Com […]

Bill & Ted discuss “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” – John Hughes’ 1986 classic teen comedy. Fast-talking high school senior Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick), his neurotic best friend Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck), and carefree girlfriend Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara) put Ferris’ “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, […]

Bill & Ted discuss “The Wizard of Oz,” Victor Fleming’s 1939 adaptation of Frank L. Baum’s 1900 children’s novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland), a young Kansas farm girl, finds herself in the magical Land of Oz pitted against the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) over a pair of […]

Bill & Ted discuss the Extended Edition of Peter Jackson’s 2003 adaptation of the JRR Tolkien’s 1955 Lord of the Rings Book “The Return of the King.” This is the inspirational epic conclusion where everything comes to a head and all obstacles both internal and external are overcome one way or another: the fate of […]

Bill & Ted discuss the extended edition of Peter Jackson’s 2002 adaptation of the JRR Tolkien’s 1954 Lord of the Rings Book “The Two Towers.” On the hunt for Hobbit-nappingOrcs, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli meet an unexpected old friend and become embroiled in the defense of Rohan at Helm’s Deep against the tower of Orthanc […]

Bill & Ted continue their discussion of the Extended Edition of Peter Jackson’s 2001 adaptation of the JRR Tolkien’s 1954 The Fellowship of the Ring, as they dig into the themes and theological underpinnings of the film asking, “What is the nature of the Ring that Frodo Baggins carries and its impact on the characters in […]

Bill & Ted discuss the Extended Edition of Peter Jackson’s 2001 adaptation of the JRR Tolkien’s 1954 Lord of the Rings Book “The Fellowship of the Ring” a sprawling fantasy epic staring Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, the Hobbit, setting out on an adventure beyond his expectations. “The Fellowship of the Ring” is the first […]

Bill & Ted discuss Guy Hamilton’s 1974 Bond film “The Man with the Golden Gun.” Amidst the international energy crisis of the early 1970’s, Bond (Roger Moore) must find and liquidate the million dollar hit man Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee). Hamilton’s last venture as a Bond director has many of the 007 staples audiences come […]

Bill and Ted discuss Stanley Kramer’s social problem film “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (1967) and Jordan Peele’s social thriller/horror film “Get Out” (2017). Released fifty years apart, Kramer’s film is about encouraging changing attitudes regarding racism in America where Peele’s film is about investigating how slow that progress actually has been. One film is […]

Bill and Ted discuss Milos Forman’s 1975 adaptation of 60’s drug culture author Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” R.P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), a violent offender, is sent to receive a psychiatric evaluation, and while institutionalized, befriends a group of residents as he struggles against the domineering Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) […]

Bill and Ted discuss Terry Gilliam’s 1981 Python-esque “Time Bandits” which focuses on a ten-year old boy, Kevin, who goes on an adventure through time with a band of would-be bandits on the lam having absconded with the Supreme Beings’ map of all the holes in the fabric of time. Filled with fun cameos from […]

Bill and Ted discuss Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 darkly satirical “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” a film that invites viewers to question their general safety and sanity, and maybe even their precious bodily fluids. It’s a movie about geopolitics, atomic bombs, loyalty, patriotism, fluoridation, and fear … not […]

Bill and Ted discuss John Milius’ 1982 film “Conan the Barbarian” drawn from the sword-and-sorcery pulp fiction writings of Robert E. Howard featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan, a gladiator bent on finding the warlord wizard Thalsu Doom (James Earl Jones) who killed his family. With a phenomenal score by composer Basil Poledouris, Milius brings to […]

Bill and Ted discuss Marc Forster’s 2006 film “Stranger Than Fiction” featuring Will Ferrell as Harold Crick an IRS agent who becomes concerned after hearing the voice narrating his life say, “Little did he know that this simple, seemingly innocuous act would result in his imminent death.” With the help of literary professor Jules Hilbert […]

Bill and Ted discuss David Fincher’s 1999 film “Fight Club” featuring Edward Norton as an insomniac accountant resentfully living a consumer- driven apathetic life devoid of happiness whose chance meeting with the devil-may-care, philosophizing traveling soap salesman Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) turns his whole world upside down. Adapted from Chuck Palahniuk’s raw nerve of a […]

Bill and Ted discuss Joel Zwick’s 2002 film “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” written by and starring Nia Vardalos as Toula a Greek woman who falls in love with a non-Greek man, Ian played by John Corbett, prompting her to come to terms her Greek heritage and identity while integrating him into her family. With […]

Bill and Ted discuss David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Hugo and Nebula award winning novel “DUNE” first published in 1965. A complex, epic, science-fiction, surreal, eye-popping, auditory, extravaganza puzzle of a film that comes across like a dream, and, like a dream when awake, all the pieces of the puzzle don’t exactly fit. […]

Bill and Ted discuss Joel and Ethan Coen’s 2000 film “O Brother, Where Art Thou” featuring George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson as escaped convicts Ulysses Everett McGill, Pete Hogwallop, and Delmar O’Donnell. Roaming rural 1930’s Mississippi, the trio embark on a search for a time-sensitive, hidden treasure while pursued by a relentless, […]

Bill and Ted discuss Bill Melendez’s 1965 film “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” the beloved TV holiday special written by Charles M. Schulz and starring the Peanuts gang featuring the sweetly melancholic jazz score by Vince Guaraldi. Charlie Brown simply wants to know what Christmas is all about. In his search, he encounters  pop psychology, sociology, […]

Bill and Ted discuss Wes Anderson’s 2004 film “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.” Set against a quirky backdrop populated with colourful characters, the film features Bill Murray as a Jacque Cousteau-esque oceanographer contemplating fatherhood and failure following the death of his long time partner and friend Esteban (Seymour Cassel), who was eaten by the […]

Bill and Ted discuss John Huston’s 1948 film “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” featuring Humphrey Bogart as an out of work American Fred C. Dobbs who convinces an old prospector (Walter Huston) to help him and a buddy (Tim Holt) mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains of 1920’s Mexico. Huston provides a […]

Bill and Ted discuss Frank Capra’s 1944 film “Arsenic and Old Lace” featuring Cary Grant as Mortimer Brewster, a theatre critic who finds unexpected drama of his own tucked away in his aunts’ window seat on Oct 31st in Brooklyn New York when he and his bride come to tell the family the good news […]

Bill and Ted discuss Jared Hess’ 2004 film “Napoleon Dynamite” featuring Jon Heder as the idiosyncratic, yet endearing, Napoleon Dynamite a high school student navigating friendship and family life in rural small town Idaho. A film that’s as much about being awkward as it is about being honest, a slow burn comedy that is extraordinarily […]

Bill and Ted discuss Martin Scorsese’s 1991 film “Cape Fear,” featuring Robert De Niro as Max Cady, a hardened convict who, after 14 years of incarceration, obsessively seeks revenge on his former defense attorney Sam Bowden, played by Nick Nolte, who failed to keep Cady out of prison. Scorsese ramps up the tension in this […]

Bill and Ted discuss Lee Thompson’s 1962 suspense thriller “Cape Fear,” featuring Robert Mitchum as Max Cady a hardened convict seeking revenge on prosecutor Sam Bowden, played by Gregory Peck, who helped send him away to prison for 8 eight years. Tension in this black and white film noir inspired pulp-fiction thriller mounts as Cady […]

Bill and Ted discuss Christopher Nolan’s 2014 film “Interstellar,” featuring Matthew McConaughey as Joe Cooper a former NASA test pilot and engineer venturing into space to save the world and his family from a worldwide blight-induced famine: Cooper’s odyssey sees him brave relativity, wormholes, a gargantuan black hole and the best and worst aspects of […]

Bill and Ted discuss Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film “Rear Window,” featuring Jimmy Stewart as LB Jefferies a convalescing photo-journalist who can’t recuperate without spying on his neighbours with Grace Kelly as his socialite girlfriend Lisa who gets drawn into a world of intrigue. An intricately crafted claustrophobic mystery thriller about the ethics of surveillance and […]

Bill and Ted are joined by Tom Caldwell from “Good Evening: An Alfred Hitchcock Podcast” for a conversation about Hitchcock director of The Birds (1963), North by Northwest (1959), Vertigo (1958) and his most famous work Psycho (1960). Often referred to as the father of horror flicks, his work is less about gore and more […]

Bill and Ted discuss Tim Burton’s 1988 film “Beetlejuice,” featuring Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis as the ghosts of newly deceased Adam and Barabra Maitlandas they try to spook the NYC high society Deetzes’ and their Goth daughter Lydia played by Winona Ryder who purchased their house in a sleepy New England town. Failing to […]

Bill and Ted discuss Tim Burton’s 1989 film “Batman,” featuring Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Jack Nicholson as the Joker. Dark and brooding Burton twists the campy qualities of the 1960’s Adam West version of Batman in into a dark freak show doubling down on Wayne’s introspection and the Joker’s psychosis. Brimming with memorable […]

Bill and Ted discuss Wes Anderson’s 2001 film “The Royal Tenenbaums,” featuring Gene Hackman as the conniving patriarch Royal Tenenbaum with Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow as his adult children Richie, Chas and Margot and Anjelica Huston as their mother Etheline also featuring Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Danny Glover, Seymour Cassel and Kumar Pallana. […]

Bill and Ted continue their two-part discussion of director Wes Anderson. The focus of this episode is themes and characters in Anderson’s films Bottle Rocket (1996), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Moonrise Kingdome (2012) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). Looking for other films with offbeat ensemble casts? Here are Ted’s Picks: The Princess […]

Bill and Ted launch a two-part discussion about auteur director Wes Anderson. The focus of this episode is Anderson’s direction, style and technique. This conversation includes but is not limited to Bottle Rocket (1996), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Moonrise Kingdome (2012) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). Looking for other deeply quirky […]

Bill and Ted discuss Nicholas Meyer’s 1982 Sci-Fi film “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.” The crew of the Star Ship Enterprise encounter a nemesis from their collective past, Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban), bent on revenge and desperate to use an experimental terraforming technology called Genesis. Themes of friendship, self-sacrifice and aging permeate […]

Bill and Ted discuss Anthony Mann’s 1961 epic “El Cid,” featuring Charlton Heston as the 11th Century Christian Spanish nobleman Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar. Branded a traitor for releasing captured Muslim Emirs after a clash between Muslims and Christians, Rodrigo fights to clear his name and becomes one of Spain’s enduring heroes – the legendary […]

Bill and Ted discuss Peter Weir’s “Witness,” a thoroughly satisfying 80’s classic. Harrison Ford as police detective John Book protects an Amish boy (Lucas Haas) and his mother (Kelly McGillis) after the child witnesses a murder in the big city. It’s a crime thriller, romances, and a compelling fish out of water story set in […]