Episode 44 – A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

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, and rampant consumerism at every turn. Melendez’s short film effortlessly cuts through the cultural clutter of the 1960’s bringing Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip to animated life while providing Charlie Brown, and all of us, with the answer he seeks.

If you enjoyed this film, you may also like these Ted’s Picks: Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol (1962), A Christmas Story (1983), The Star (2017)

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1960's, Animation, Comedy, Drama, Family, Holiday, Short Film

Episode 43 – The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

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 mysterious and possibly nonexistent Jaguar Shark. Ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime, Anderson’s film deals with the nature of perception and its effects on personal insecurities and relationships.

If you enjoyed this film, you may also like these Ted’s Picks: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Rushmore (1998), Big Fish (2003)

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2000's, Adventure, Art House, Auteur director, Comedy, Drama

Episode 42 – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

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 rich character study of the three central characters as they deal with the dangers of greed and the length people will go to get material riches.

If you enjoyed this film, you may also like these Ted’s Picks: The Maltese Falcon (1941) A Simple Plan (1998) There Will Be Blood (2007)

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1940's, B/W Film, Drama

Episode 39 – Cape Fear (1991)

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 remake of Lee Thompson’s 1962 black and white film noir inspired pulp fiction thriller Cape Fear. While he, his wife. and teenage daughter are stalked, threatened, and terrorized, Bowden increasingly faces having to take the law into his own hands.

If you enjoyed this film, you may also like these Ted’s Picks: Single White Female (1992), Unlawful Entry (1992), One Hour Photo (2002)

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1990's, Auteur director, Drama, Thriller

Episode 38 – Cape Fear (1962)

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 threatens Bowden’s wife and teenage daughter as the prosecutor is faced with the prospect of having to take the law into his own hands.

If you enjoyed this film, you may also like these Ted’s Picks: Shadow of a Doubt (1943), The Night of the Hunter (1955), Changing Lanes (2002)

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1960's, B/W Film, Drama, Film Noir, Thriller

Episode 37 – Interstellar (2014)

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 humanity in the darkness of interstellar space. A graceful film full of love and rockets, physics and ghosts, gravity and robots, the 5th dimension and even a sort of time travel co-starring Michael Caine, Anne Hathaway, Casey Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Topher Grace, Ellen Burstyn and a young Timothée Chalamet and Mackenzie Foy.

If you enjoyed this film, you may also like these Ted’s Picks: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Contact (1997), Arrival (2016)

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2010's, Drama, Sci-Fi

Episode 36 – Rear Window (1954)

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 voyeurism with a plot that hinges on Jefferies’ suspicion that one of neighbours has committed murder. Hitchcock deftly provides tension coming from both inside and outside of Jefferies NYC Greenwich village apartment with the contrasting themes of romance and murder.

If you enjoyed this film, you may also like these Ted’s Picks: Dial M for Murder (1954), Blue Velvet (1986), The ‘Burbs (1989) [Music credit: Vienna Teng, The Hymn to Acxiom]

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1950's, Auteur director, Drama, Romance, Thriller, Uncategorized

Episode 35 – Director Alfred Hitchcock

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 about suspense and tension. Loved by directors, critics and the public, Hitchcock provides just the right amount of white knuckled fear and cleaver storytelling to keep everyone hooked and on the edge of their seats.

Looking for more recent suspense thrillers? Here are Ted’s Picks: Frantic (1988), The Game (1997), Get Out (2017)

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Auteur director, Drama, Horror, Thriller

Episode 33 – Batman (1989)

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 lines and iconic moments the film is not without its narrative and structural problems; certainly a film that paved the way forward toward the ensuing proliferation of blockbuster superhero films. If you enjoyed this film you may also like these: Ted’s Picks: Batman Returns (1992), The Dark Knight (2008), Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)

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1980's, Auteur director, Drama, Superhero

Episode 32 – The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

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. A quirky movie about life and death, regret and reconciliation amidst an eccentric and eclectic ensemble cast that perfectly embodies the maxim “Family is not a word; it’s a sentence.” If you enjoyed this film you may also like these Ted’s Picks: Home for the Holidays (1995), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Nebraska (2013)

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2000's, Art House, Auteur director, Comedy, Drama