Bill & Ted

Last night, I saw the new Bill & Ted movie, so I thought that I would review the trilogy for everyone today. Let’s start with 1989 comedy classic, “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.”

There’s just something special about Stephen Herek’s timeless likable cult classic that no one can really say. Anyone can see that the nostalgic connection to the film that helps, because watching it today might be thought as dated and silly to the inexperienced. Matthew Lucas said in his review, “I was only two years old when it was first released in 1988, but I certainly grew up in its shadow, watching it on a rented VHS for the first time sometime in the early 90s when it was still a relevant icon in pop culture, and its 1991 sequel, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey was a little more fresh in everyone's mind.”

The first movie is still the main one when it comes to Bill and Ted, and it still has lasted in the public eyes enough that there was talk for a third film starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter.

Obviously, Reeves and Winter have aged a lot to be reprising their famous roles of Bill and Ted, the two airheaded “dudes” who find that they will be failing their history class because they’re too busy focusing on their band, the Wyld Stallyns. Lucas noted, “But the new blu-ray release from Fox Home Entertainment reminds us all why we fell in love with these two endearing bros in the first place.” It is difficult to see it now without thinking of the hilarious comedian who’s gone when George Carlin passed away in 2008. His performance as Rufus, Bill and Ted’s futuristic mentor through history, is one of his famous roles. In many ways, “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” is the quintessential 80s sci-fi comedy about these two bumbling morons who go through time as they meet famous figures like Abraham Lincoln (Robert V. Barron), Socrates (Tony Steedman), Napoleon (Terry Camilleri), Sigmund Freud (Rod Loomis), Joan of Arc (Jane Wiedlin), Beethoven (Clifford David), Genghis Khan (Al Leong), and Billy the Kid (Dan Shor), and bring them back to 1988 to help give a history presentation to their school.

It’s an inspired work of comedy, and one of the best of its genre. Lucas said, “It's the kind of film that Hot Tub Time Machine attempted to pay homage to with only middling success.” This is really famous, and even though Winter wasn’t acting for some time and Reeves was a one-note character until “John Wick,” they were perfect here, and famous characters of 80s films. Lucas noted, “The new blu-ray release cleans the film up nicely, and adds some special features including an interview with the inspirations for the film. Sadly we don't get to hear from Winter and Reeves, the two fans care most about, but the film looks good without sacrificing its 1980's look. Bill and Ted are back in the most excellent way possible, let's not sully it with an unnecessary sequel.” Watch the first movie, and party on dudes!

We do surprisingly get a sequel, “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey” in 1991, a film that is completely different in tone. Roger Ebert started his review by saying, “There were parts of "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" I probably didn't understand, but that's all right, because there were even more parts that Bill and Ted didn't understand. This is a movie that thrives on the dense-witted idiocy of its characters, two teenage dudes who go on amazing journeys through time and space with only the dimmest perception that they are not still playing video games.”

Ebert continued, “I missed the enormously popular movie that introduced these characters, "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," and felt myself blessed at the time. But now I'm not so sure. Their "Bogus Journey" is a riot of visual invention and weird humor that works on its chosen sub-moronic level, and on several others as well, including some fairly sophisticated ones. It's the kind of movie where you start out snickering in spite of yourself, and end up actually admiring the originality that went into creating this hallucinatory slapstick.”

The movie starts off in the future, where students at Bill & Ted’s University have the chance to speak personally with Thomas Edison and Beethoven, and look at amazing classics like the “Star Trek” TV series. A villain of time, named De Nomols, played by Joss Ackland, says he will rewrite history by destroying Bill and Ted. He has invented robots that look and act exactly like the two heroes, and are just as stupid, and he sends them back through time in a telephone booth.

Bill and Ted are meanwhile trying to win a rock band contest with their group, the Wyld Stallyones, which includes a couple of girls (Annette Azcuy and Sarah Trigger) they got from in the 15^th century. Shocked by the appearance of the robot doppelgangers, they go on their own journeys through time and space in a serious mission to destroy them, save themselves, preserve the book of history, stay cool, and meet good looking girls.

The funniest thing that happens to them is their faceoff with the Grim Reaper, played by William Sadler, who, as Ebert said, “looks just as he does in Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal." In that film (as most of the audience for this one will probably not know), Death played chess with a medieval knight, with the knight's soul at stake. This time the dudes challenge the Reaper to a pocket video game, and beat him, even after he tries to weasel out with an offer of best of three.”

Ebert continued, “Death, having lost, has to accompany Bill and Ted on their journey and do what they tell him, and this leads to some of the funniest moments I have seen in any movie in a long time, including one where the Reaper does a little comparison shopping for scythes at the hardware store.”

One of the stops on the bogus journey is Heaven, made with amazing imagination and a lot of light and echoing sound effects and a really unusual conversation with God. Ebert said, “Bill and Ted handle this summit meeting, as they handle everything else in the film, like two dudes for whom "Pee Wee's Playhouse" would be too slow and intellectual.”

Every actor (including George Carlin, who appears in an important supporting role) have a lot of fun with this material, and it becomes more subtle fun, based on more clever timing, than you would think. Mandy of Sadler’s laughs as the Grim Reaper come from simple physical flinching, as he shows his embarrassment and lost dignity.

Ebert noted, “Of Bill and Ted, I can say that I have not seen Alex Winter much before (he was in "Rosalie Goes Shopping"), but I have seen Keanu Reeves in vastly different roles (the FBI man in the current "Point Break," for example), and am a little astonished by the range of these performances. Like Sean Penn, who immortalized the word "awesome" in a Bill & Ted-like performance in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," he brings more artistry to this cretinous role than might at first meet the eye.”

Who is the movie made for? Obviously fans of “Bill & Ted” and other interested young movie watchers looking for something that is a bit more challenging than “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” However, it’s also for fans of fantasy, fancy, and amazing special effects. Ebert ended his review by saying, “This movie is light as a feather and thin as ice in spring, but what it does, it does very nicely.”

Now we have come to the latest sequel, which was released on VOD yesterday. The relieving news in a while when everyone could use a laugh is that “Bill & Ted Face the Music” is really everything it needed to be. It’s a much-talked sequel that doesn’t disappoint the famous characters, and it doesn’t simply repeat what people loved about them originally. Most importantly, it is a nice likable comedy about two good guys still trying to conquer their dream that was given by really good beliefs about the importance of friendship, honesty, and, importantly, music. Be excellent to each other, dudes. That’s still important.

So many years after them just needing to pass their history class, Bill and Ten are now parents to daughters named Thea (Samara Weaving) and Billie (Brigette Lundy-Paine). They’re still married to the princesses from the first film, now played by Erinn Hayes and Jyama Mays, but the marriage is now on edge. Partly because when Bill & Ted are told they need to go to couples therapy, they think both couples need to be there at the same time – Bill does nothing without Ted, and vice versa. They can’t even say “I” when they’re in therapy, instead say “We.” Anything one person feels, the other person also feels the same.

The problem is that their band Wyld Stallyns has yet to write the song that will bring the universe together. After years of popularity that sank to such a low that they have now been just playing open mics, they’re still trying to write just the right song, and failing over and over again. In a way, “Face the Music” is really about feeling like you didn’t accomplish your dream, like you failed a younger version of yourself who was set on making a difference.

Now Bill & Ted have run out of time to do what they were told they had to do by Rufus – George Carlin is rightfully tribute here and then recast in a way with his own daughter Kelly, played by Kristen Schaal. After therapy, Bill & Ted are taken to another reality by Kelly, where they meet The Great Leader, played by Holland Taylor, who tells them they have to write the song that brings the entire universe together or humanity will really come to an end. It’s already beginning to happen as historical figures are being brought to the present day, tearing apart the fabric of time. Brian Tallerico said in his review, ““Tenet” isn’t the only time travel movie this week.”

As you could guess, Bill & Ted decide to go to future to steal the song from themselves, which gets to some amazing, funny scenes where the two meet versions of themselves in their possible futures. Most of them, they’re angry and alone, and Bill & Ted realize that they’re going to lose their wives if they don’t also fix their marriages. Meanwhile, their daughters have the classic Bill & Ted roles of going back through time to meet important figures from history. They try to put together the dream band to help their dads make the song, including Mozart (Daniel Dorr), Jimi Hendrix (DazMann Still), Louis Armstrong (Jeremiah Craft), and Kid Cudi, who is really playing himself. Eventually, Bill & Ted meet up with Death again and even face off with a weak killer robot named Dennis Caleb McCoy, played hilariously by Anthony Carrigan from “Barry.”

“Bill & Ted Face the Music” is fast-paced and funny. Winter goes back into his role a little better than Reeves, but Reeves’ new likability as an actor goes a long way with some of his best lines. There’s a refreshing lack of sarcasm in these movies that honestly believe that friendship and creativity are going to bring everything together through history, something that feels like it happens with Winter and Reeves in real life. These are likable actors and that is shown in the roles. Tallerico said, “This is not the kind of late sequel that's a cash grab. It's clearly a labor of love.”

Tallerico continued, “The “troubled marriages” subplot gets a bit too much screen time and doesn’t work as well as the best material in the film (and some early scenes feel a little clunky in terms of pacing), but it’s never anything that lasts too long.” By the time Bill, Ted, their equally likable daughters, Death, an unforgettable robot, and Kid Cudi are in the last part of trying to save the universe; it’s a movie that almost warns you not to like it. Tallerico ended his review by saying, “It’s goofy in all the right ways and even serves as a reminder that it’s never too late to face the music, but only if we do it together.”

Anyone who hasn’t seen this trilogy should definitely check it out. You will love every single one of the films. The first one is a classic that still holds up to this day, the sequel is not as bad as everyone says, but is different in tone and is adequate, and the third movie is a welcome return and a nostalgic trip. I think the third one is the best, but that’s just my opinion. Check them out and rock on dudes.

Thank you for joining in on the review of this trilogy, look out next month to see what I will review next.

Robots

In 2002, Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha co-directed “Ice Age,” a nice animated movie that was about prehistoric animals among them being a wooly mammoth, a sloth and saber-toothed tigers. They joined together in 2005 on another CGI family film that is set in the future about a society that is filled with robots.

The filmmakers brought together a talented cast of voice actors for the animated characters that include Halley Berry, Jim Broadbent, Mel Brooks, Dianne Wiest, the late Robin Williams, James Earl Jones, and Greg Kineear. The movie also has the different voices of famous character actors Paul Giamatti, Stanley Tucci, Jennifer Coolidge, Ewan McGregor, and Dan Hedaya, along with popular TV celebrities Drew Carey, Amanda Bynes, Al Roker, Jay Leno, Carson Daly, D.L. Hughley, Jamie Kennedy, Conan O’Brien and Terry Bradshaw.

Kam Williams said in his review, “Out of the cacophony of all these colorful accents competing for attention, it is Robin Williams' trademark stream-of-consciousness which emerges as the driving force for the film. In accordance with the current formula for animated films made for children, the hero is on an epic journey accompanied by a scene-stealing, wisecracking sidekick.” “Shrek” had Eddie Murphy as the friendly donkey, “Finding Nemo” had Ellen DeGeneres as the fish with short-term memory loss, “The Emperor’s New Groove” had David Spade as a llama, Billy Crystal did the same type of role in “Monsters’ Inc.,” and Will Smith was in “Shark Tale” (a movie I have never seen).

The story beings in Rivet Town where a creative robot named Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor), inspired by his hero, Bigweld (Mel Brooks), says goodbye to his parents, and leaves to Robot City to find work as a trainee at Bigweld’s factory.

What Rodney doesn’t know is that Phineas T. Ratchet, voiced by Greg Kinnear, has gotten complete control of the company from Bigweld, in order to plan out an evil scheme to get a lot of money by no longer making spare robot parts. Necessary upgrades, instead of repairs, will be disastrous for most of the older robot population.

Out of a job, Rodney becomes friends with Fender, voiced by the late Robin Williams, leader of the Rusties, a rebel gang that live on the suburbs of town. Williams asks, “Can these almost obsolete mechanical beings team-up to change the course of history before they all end up on the scrap heap?”

Children will love the realistic animation, and their parents will enjoy the references to “The Wizard of Oz,” “Singing in the Rain,” James Bond, “Analyze This,” “Jaws,” and “Road Trip.”

Williams ended his review by noting, “The picture has few product placements, which is a departure from the norm for children's fare. It is welcomed, since we've come to expect children's movies to be laced with cross promotions and sales pitches.”

I remember seeing this in theaters and I can’t remember a movie that I laughed so hard at until “The Lego Franchise.” It was one of the funniest animated movies I had ever seen and I enjoyed it thoroughly. This is a really fun movie for the whole family to watch and enjoy. You should definitely see this and you will love the puns in this film.

Thank you everyone for joining in on “Robots Month.” I hope you enjoyed this and I hope that I made some good recommendations. Check in next month for what I will review next.

I, Robot

Ken Hanke started his review by stating, “Ah, the merits of low expectations! And what I anticipated with I, Robot could not possibly have been any less.”

Hanke continued, “As I walked into the screening, I was asked if I was looking forward to the film. Unfortunately, the dictates of good taste prevent me from repeating my answer here, though I can say it involved a suggestion that the film would almost certainly engage in a highly personal activity with a certain barnyard animal. After all, I’d seen the trailer, which suggested yet another mindless CGI-created action-athon with occasional time-out for snappy one-liners from its star. It looked for all the world like a rehash of the cosmically godawful Men in Black II. That is, without Tommy Lee Jones — thus leaving us only with Will Smith, who hasn’t impressed me since Six Degrees of Separation.”

There was a statement that just gave people the author who the makers of “I, Robot,” released in 2004, said they based it off of: “suggested by the book by Isaac Asimov.” For those that have seen the 1934 “The Black Cat” will know that Universal said that exact sentence by stating “suggested by Edgar Allen Poe’s immortal classic.” Hanke noted, “While I freely admit that the 1934 Black Cat is in my personal pantheon of top-10 movies ever made, it has absolutely nothing to do with Mr. Poe’s “immortal classic.””

Hanke continued, “So with this to work from, the atmosphere of the screening was definitely one that mixed grave misgivings with gloomy foreboding (and I’m again being polite). Well, I was wrong — very wrong!” No, “I, Robot” is not Asimov’s story (or stories), but it is inspired from the great works of sci-fi. The three laws of robotics, which state that a robot cannot hurt a human, are true to Asimov. Along with that, the film’s basic story is rooted in his writing too. Of course, that is a small fact, hurting only huge sci-fi fans, since the movie’s quality relies very little on this main inspiration to its sources.

The real surprise is that “I, Robot” is a rare release with summer blockbusters, a film with something it’s thinking of. This doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have the necessary requirements of a summer movie: It’s loud, it’s very funny, it’s filled with perfectly enjoyable action scenes. However, there’s more to it than that, some of which is really surprising. Hanke noted, “I, Robot may just be the most subversive $100-million-plus movie ever made, with the kind of sinister attitude usually associated with exploitation or art-house fare.”

Particularly, the film has interested parallels between robots and racism, which is given a scheming twist by having the prejudices against the robot population mainly from Will Smith’s Del Spooner. “I saw a robot running with a woman’s purse. What was I supposed to think?” he asks his supervisor, Lt. Bergin, played by the great Chi McBride, after Spooner wrongly arrests a robot for “stealing” a purse. Later, robot magnate Lawrence Robinson, played by Bruce Greenwood, cautiously blames Spooner of bigotry, thinking that the policeman wants to believe a robot is guilty of murder just because Spooner doesn’t “care for their kind.” (Hanke said, “All of this would play better if the film — which otherwise oddly provides more Smith beefcake than Bridget Moynahan cheesecake — didn’t insist on injecting a wholly arbitrary, homophobic gag between Spooner and Robinson.”)

By the time “I, Robot” explains what’s the problem with the strange events happening, it’s hard to miss the (definitely intentional) parallels between the reasoning of the villain and the language of the Patriot Act. Like with “X2,” which tells a similar, but more specific, subtext, this works because it’s a logical result of the story.

For a large summer movie, “I, Robot” has a nicely solid story line, with Spooner’s racism against robots the main factor of the film’s mystery. Also, the inventor of the robots, Dr. Alfred Lanning, played by James Cromwell, has expected Spooner’s bigotry. What really causes the action here is the robots’ growth to the point where they can understand the three laws of robotics in a way that completely challenges those laws (and here again, there’s a lot of subtext to see here).

Hanke noted, “At the same time, it’s impossible to overlook the fact that I, Robot, for all its merits, borrows shamelessly from a variety of sources — especially Blade Runner and The Matrix series. The former is hardly surprising, since director Alex Proyas has evoked that cult favorite at least twice already (The Crow and Dark City).” When looking at the latter, it’s not much of a surprise to go from Spooner’s apparently intelligent, pie-baking grandmother, played by Adrian Ricard, to the Oracle of “The Matrix.” Still, there’s not really a feel of a rip-off than a tribute and influence, and that popular culture is simply being interrupted into the happenings.

Hanke mentioned, “The biggest surprise is that it all works — or so nearly does that it seems nit-picky to complain. Smith is impossibly good in the lead, and the obligatory one-liners that seemed so arbitrary in the film’s trailer are actually held in check and nicely integrated into the script. Plus, the Hollywood Screenwriting 101 antagonistic quasi-romantic relationship between Spooner and no-nonsense scientist Susan Calvin (Moynahan) is handled with enough assurance to overcome its cliched underpinnings.”

However the most successful part of “I, Robot” is the creation of the film’s “renegade” robot, Sonny, played by Alan Tudyk. Hanke mentioned, “Sounding somewhat creepily like Hal in Kubrick’s 2001, Sonny is a CGI creation that has the kind of believable reality we find in The Lord of the Rings‘ Gollum and with the mechanical tentacles of “Doc Ock” in Spider-Man 2.”

Hanke continued, “In other words, though I, Robot occasionally succumbs to a bit of Hollywoodized cuteness, it also manages to turn an effect into a real character.” That in itself makes this film worth watching.

I really liked and enjoyed this movie when I saw it in theaters. It was definitely one of the most enjoyable summer movies that I had saw that year. If you haven’t seen this movie and you’re a Will Smith and/or robot movie fan, then you should definitely check this one out. You will love it.

Look out next week for the finale of “Robots Month.”

Bicentennial Man

In “Good Will Hunting,” “Patch Adams,” and this 1999 film based on a short story by Isaac Asimov, the late Robin Williams has put on screen a series of characters who are all involved in the spiritual way of “gentling the heart.” Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat said in their review, “While many reviewers have been highly critical of these touchy-feely dramas, this talented and sensitive actor is modeling for us what Buddhists call "training the heart." This inner work is an essential path and practice for anyone on a spiritual journey. Williams is to be commended for doing such pioneer work on the screen.”

Richard Martin (Sam Neill) surprises his wife (Wendy Crewson) and two daughters (Lindze Letherman and Hallie Kate Eisenberg) with a new NDR-114 robot that the youngest girl names Andrew. This shiny robot cooks, cleans, and looks after the children. Soon Richard sees that Andrew is very unique – he shows signs of creativity, curiosity, and an interested mind. His friendship with “Little Miss,” as he calls the youngest daughter, increases as she grows up as a young woman, now played by Embeth Davidtz).

After asking for and gaining his freedom, Andrew finds his own place to live and then goes out to find other robots of his kind. With some good luck, he meets Rupert Burns (Oliver Platt), a robotics inventor and Galatea (Kiersten Warren). Together they find ways to upgrade Andrew’s nervous system and his outer appearance. When he meets Little Miss, who’s now an older woman, he is in love with her look-alike granddaughter Portia. The movie then tells in years of friendship and his attempts to officially be called a human being ends up with them in love. As Andrew tells Portia, “I would rather die a man than live forever as a machine.”

Brussat said, “Director Chris Columbus brings the same tenderness to this android's 200-year quest to achieve full humanity as he did to the father's desire to spend more time with his children in the immensely popular Mrs. Doubtfire.” Andrew’s respectful relationship with Richard Martin, whom he calls “sir,” is one of mutual respect. As this father says to his daughters: “Though Andrew is technically a piece of property, he shall be treated as if he is a person.” Brussat is right when they said, “More of us need to adapt this wise and hospitable attitude toward the technology with which we live.”

Brussat mentioned, “Best of all, Andrew is a near-perfect example of the spiritual practice of kindness. His saying, "One is glad to be of service," is the mantra of anyone who is spiritually realized.” “Bicentennial Man” is a film to really take seriously.

This is an absolutely heartwarming movie that you should see. As one of Robin Williams’ dramatic performance, he really delivered like he always did. If you’re a fan of Robin Williams, you will love this movie a lot. Don’t miss your chance on seeing this because you will really feel emotional after seeing it, especially with how it ends.

Sorry for posting this late as I had family to be with for a good majority of the day. However, stay tuned next Friday for the next review in “Robot Month.”

Short Circuit

I thought for the month of August that I would look at certain robot movies that I really found myself enjoying. Let’s get started with the enjoyable “Short Circuit” movies.

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat noted, “The word robot was coined in 1921 from the Czech word "robotta" meaning compulsory labor. Since then, we've been treated to a variety of science fiction tales about these technological creations. Today's personal robots can do little more than talk, move around, and pick up lightweight objects. Experts believe that someday the robot will evolve into a companion and information base, similar to C3PO in the Star Wars trilogy. With their fast silicon brains and their tireless bodies, these intelligent machines will be capable of round-the-clock work, creative thought, and perhaps even independent action.”

In “Short Circuit,” a thoroughly enjoyable 1986 fantasy movie, the president of Nova Robotics, played by Austin Pendleton, shows a group of stylish robots before some military personal. Costing $11 million each, these robots are designed with lasers that make them the perfect weapons.

When No. 5, voiced by Tim Blaney, is struck by lightning, it malfunctions and runs away from the laboratory. Newton Crosby (Steve Guttenberg), who originally made by robots, and his associate, Ben (Fisher Stevens), drive around to find the escaped robot. An aggressive security officer, played by G.W. Bailey, from Nova Robotics wants to disassemble No. 5, which he says is a “stupid contraption.”

No. 5 goes to Stephanie, played by Ally Sheedy, a young woman who drives a snack van and her home is a shelter for stray animals. Initially, Stephanie thinks No. 5 is an alien. Brussat said, “Later, she learns that he has refashioned his circuitry. The ultimate killing machine is now a peacenik who no longer wants to kill — or "disassemble."”

Brussat continued, “No. 5 digests new "input" by speed reading Stephanie's set of encyclopedias and her dictionary; and he views hours of nonstop television. Soon the lovable robot is doing John Wayne impressions, spouting advertising jingles, and even miming John Travolta's dancing from Saturday Night Fever.”

Since this is a fantasy film, No. 5 outsmarts his enemies (he even reprograms three robots that are chasing him and turns them into the Three Stooges). In the end, he laughs. This “spontaneous emotional response” makes his creator Newton Crosby believe that “No. 5 is alive.” “Short Circuit’s” happy ending will make every viewer a child.

The 1988 sequel, “Short Circuit 2” is mild and gentle with an uncomplicated likeness as a successful sequel to the original robot comedy.

No.5, now called “Johnny Five” is delivered to the Big City, where friend Ben (Fisher Stevens) is having a difficult time creating toy models of his mechanical gadget on the street.

Beautiful store employee Cynthia Gib needs to bring a novel item to her shelves, and sends Ben and self-made entrepreneur Michael McKean into work by ordering 1,000 of the little trinkets for the Christmas season. Variety noted in there review, “Underhanded banker Jack Weston has some other ideas for the tireless automaton, scheming to kidnap it and press it into service stealing some priceless jewels from a safe deposit box.”

Variety continued, “Although derivative, the robot, made up of all manner of spare electronic parts, remains charming, and kids will undoubtedly find delightful scenes in which Number Five jumps around from place to place and sails through the air amid the skyscrapers of Toronto.”

The film takes place in a basic US city, consisting with American flash and a citizenship swearing-in ceremony. However, the movie was actually shot in Toronto.

Now, these films can be considered guilty pleasure. Even though Fisher Stevens can be considered racist for the way he is portraying an Indian, he is still a likable character, along with Johnny Five. You should check these 80s movies out because you will thoroughly enjoy them.

Check in next week for the next installment in “Robots Month.”