Episode 65 – TRON: Legacy (2010)

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 must assist the “isomorphic algorithm” Quorra (Olivia Wilde) as Kevin Flynn’s fallen programme Clu (Jeff Bridges) plots to gain complete control of The Grid and access to the biological world. Less futurist manifesto and more of a contemplative reassessment of digital life Kosinski’s TRON finds its focus digging into relationships both broken and restored. Religious themes of incarnation and forgiveness abound alongside stunning visuals and a pulsing inventive score by the award winning French Electric Dance Music duo Daft Punk.

If you enjoyed this film, you may also like these Ted’s Picks: TRON (1982), Dark City (1998), Oblivion (2013)

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2010's, Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

Episode 54 – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) & Get Out (2017)

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 filled with anxiety and optimistic hope, the other with anxiety and pessimistic doubt. Putting these films together is an exercise in comparisons and contrasts, a barometer of where N. American Culture has been and where it is now. Films aren’t only conversations with their audiences, sometimes they have conversations with each other. Join Bill and Ted for this experimental double feature episode.

If you enjoyed this film, you may also like these Ted’s Picks: The Defiant Ones (1958), In the Heat of the Night (1967), The Stepford Wives (1975)

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1960's, 2010's, Auteur director, Drama, Horror, Social Problem Film, Social Thriller, 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 25 – The Tree of Life (2011) Part II / Son

Bill and Ted discuss Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life,” a film as experimental as it is poetic investigating the mysteries of grief and loss and the dynamics of family life and life in general. This second half of their two part conversation focuses more on the son Jack, Malick’s use of music and some of the additions found in the 188min version of the film. If you enjoyed this film you may also like these; here are Ted’s Picks: The Seventh Seal (1957), The Thin Red Line (1998), Boyhood (2014)

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2010's, Art House, Auteur director, Drama, Experimental

Episode 24 – The Tree of Life (2011) Part I / Mother Father

Bill and Ted discuss Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life,” a film as experimental as it is poetic investigating the mysteries of grief and loss and the dynamics of family life and life in general. This half of their two part conversation focuses on mother and father and on the organic visual effects of the film. If you enjoyed this film you may also like these; here are Ted’s Picks: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Baraka (1992), Manchester by the Sea (2016)

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2010's, Art House, Auteur director, Drama, Experimental

Episode 19 – The VVitch (2016)

Bill and Ted discuss Robert Eggers’ film “The Witch,” A New-England Folktale where a father accepts banishment from a 17th century Massachusetts puritan colonial plantation taking his family out into the wilderness to start a farm by the edge of the woods only to be tragically plagued by a Witch: A study in despair and dysfunction, a film about the evils of pride and the dangers of temptation and isolationism, a religious horror film. Here are Ted’s Picks for more films dealing with witches or witch trials: Häxan (1922), The Crucible (1996), The Blair Witch Project (1999)

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2010's, Drama, Horror

Episode 9 – Chef (2014)

Bill and Ted discuss Jon Favreau’s “Chef,” known for its pairing of foodie glamour shots and Latin infused jazz and blues music! If you enjoyed this film for its father and son story of coming back from the brink of failure check out The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), or for its father/son food focus then Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011) or its behind the scenes view of restaurant life then Big Night (1996). For a father/daughter version with great Mexican food, Tortilla Soup (2001).

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2010's, Comedy, Drama