Episode 60 – The Wizard of Oz (1939)

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 magical Ruby Red Slippers Dorothy obtained after accidentally killing the witch’s sister upon arriving in Oz. Joined by a seemingly brainless Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), heartless Tin Woodman (Jack Haley) and cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), the foursome dance and sing their way down the yellow brick road to see the Wizard (Frank Morgan) in the Emerald City hopeful that he can give each of them what they desire most in life.

If you enjoyed this film, you may also like these Ted’s Picks: The NeverEnding Story (1984), Labyrinth (1986) The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

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March 2, 2021

1930's, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Musical

Ted Giese

Episode 52 – Time Bandits (1981)

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 the likes of Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall, and John Cleese, Gilliam makes a kid’s film that doesn’t talk down to its audience. Part of a trilogy of film by Gilliam dealing with the imagination which also includes “Brazil” (1985) and “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” (1989) Time Bandits is more concerned with questions of good and evil than the typical time travel obsession with causality.

If you enjoyed this film, you may also like these Ted’s Picks: Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), Groundhog Day (1993) 12 Monkeys (1995)

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July 21, 2020

1980's, Auteur director, Comedy, Family, Fantasy

Ted Giese

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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December 25, 2019

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

Ted Giese

Episode 6 – The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)

Bill and Ted discuss Terry Gilliam’s “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,” known for its inventive art direction, fantastic storytelling and extraordinarily warmhearted investigation of fantasy and reality. If you enjoyed this film you may also like these: Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), The Fisher King (1991)

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May 24, 2018

1980's, Adventure, Auteur director, Comedy, Family, Fantasy

Ted Giese

Episode 4 – The Goonies (1985)

Bill and Ted discuss the classic 80’s Richard Donner kid’s adventure film “The Goonies,” known for the truffle shuffle, One-Eyed Willy’s hidden treasure and a lot of quotable one-liners. If you enjoyed this film you may also like these; here are Ted’s Picks: Explorers (1985), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), The Monster Squad (1987)