Dust. Wind. Dude.

September 26, 2014 4:03 PM

"Dave Beeth-Oven. Maxine of Arc. Herman the Kid. Bob Genghis Khan. So-Crates Johnson. Dennis Frood. And, uh... Abraham Lincoln." Hadley Freeman revisits Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure with Alex Winter, and Ben Child reports on the long-awaited follow-up to Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey.
posted by paleyellowwithorange (59 comments total)

Note: Be excellent to each other.
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 4:09 PM on September 26, 2014 [14 favorites]

A few years ago, I gave the wedding toast at my sister and brother in law's wedding. I did the whole five minute speech in a reasonably eloquent and extemporaneous fashion, until I ran out of steam towards the end. Luckily, I was able to pull out just in time and stick the landing with a stirring Lincoln quote: "Be excellent to each other, and PAAAARTY ONNNN DUUUUDES!"

A standing ovation, I shit you not.
posted by Strange Interlude at 4:11 PM on September 26, 2014 [15 favorites]

I was teaching philosophy to some undergrads and made an ill-advised "So-Crates Johnson" joke. Nobody laughed, and I muttered that they were too young to understand. Then a kid in the back said, "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter."

1. He knew Bill's name.
2. And I still didn't get a laugh out of him.
posted by Beardman at 4:25 PM on September 26, 2014 [42 favorites]

Bill and Ted nothing. Where's my Freaked sequel, Hollywood?
posted by Iridic at 4:27 PM on September 26, 2014 [4 favorites]

Hadley Freeman correctly identifies how awesome Jane Wiedlin is *AND* that "Rush Hour" is one of the best pop songs of the '80s. I am satisfied.
posted by hanov3r at 4:33 PM on September 26, 2014 [4 favorites]

I just watched it again a couple of weeks ago for the first time in many years. It's so delightfully silly. (And wow, Napoleon is such a dick.)
posted by epersonae at 4:38 PM on September 26, 2014 [3 favorites]

I remember seeing Bogus Journey in a tiny theater in northern Ontario, I guess I was 10 years old. The projector broke down right as they arrive at the gates of heaven, and there was a few seconds of awkward silence then some guy in the back yelled "Stay-tion!!!"

Didn't really seem like anything since Station hadn't entered the movie yet (I guess random dude was seeing the movie for the second time, or maybe it was the projectionist?) but once I got the joke it became one of those little moviegoing experiences that stuck with me permanently.
posted by mannequito at 4:41 PM on September 26, 2014 [3 favorites]

I recently showed both movies to my 11 year old. We both laughed. More at the first one, but station and death got a lot of love. hearing of the third is shocking only when I realize that bill and Ted and I are all way closer to 50 than I want to think about...
posted by dejah420 at 4:45 PM on September 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

some guy in the back yelled "Stay-tion!!!"

Didn't really seem like anything since Station hadn't entered the movie yet (I guess random dude was seeing the movie for the second time

Perhaps he was a disciple of Sir James Martin, head of the Faith No More Spiritual and Theological Center?
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 4:50 PM on September 26, 2014 [6 favorites]

Iron maiden!

This was one if the three movies my son was required to see from my youth. (Along with blues brothers and princess bride)
posted by chapps at 4:52 PM on September 26, 2014 [7 favorites]

I'm kind of pumped for this but it's making me miss George Carlin
posted by threecheesetrees at 4:54 PM on September 26, 2014 [5 favorites]

Still waiting for a Matrix sequel, Mr. Reeves!
posted by hot_monster at 5:27 PM on September 26, 2014 [5 favorites]

Winter is often overlooked because of Reeves' subsequent fame; so I was delighted to read Freeman's description of Bill: "goofy looks, his almost camp California accent, his keen deployment of the single raised eyebrow and, most of all, his intriguing cropped top."
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 5:43 PM on September 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Reeves, 50,

Wait, what? When am I?
posted by A dead Quaker at 5:47 PM on September 26, 2014 [9 favorites]

Then a kid in the back said, "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter."

Suspiciously detailed information = He looked it up on his phone.
posted by The Tensor at 6:27 PM on September 26, 2014 [11 favorites]

Winter and Reeves have been best pals ever since.

This makes me inordinately happy.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:33 PM on September 26, 2014 [9 favorites]

Grim Reaper: A hit. You have sank my battleship!
Dead Bill, Dead Ted: Excellent! Yeah!
Dead Ted: I totally knew he put it in the J's, dude!
Dead Bill: Good thinking, Ted.
Grim Reaper: You must play me again.
Dead Bill: WHAT?
Grim Reaper: Um, best two out of three.
Dead Ted: No way!
Grim Reaper: Yes way.
posted by leotrotsky at 6:35 PM on September 26, 2014 [11 favorites]

One of my favorite answers in the history of AskMe
posted by Wolfdog at 6:39 PM on September 26, 2014 [5 favorites]

ah that's right, James Martin!

(still convinced in retrospect it was the projectionist)
posted by mannequito at 6:51 PM on September 26, 2014

Everything is different, but the same...things are more moderner than before...bigger, and yet smaller...it's computers.... San Dimas High School football rules!
posted by Chrysostom at 7:56 PM on September 26, 2014 [7 favorites]

YOU STOLE DEACON'S EASTER BASKET!
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:05 PM on September 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

On the other hand, Keaneau's leading man in numerous action-adventure roles has provided ample opportunity for me to shout out in crowded theaters at dramatic moments in the film, "You killed TED, you medieval dickweed!"

non-non-non-non-NON-Heinous
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:10 PM on September 26, 2014 [4 favorites]

After crossing the boundaries of time and death, Bill and Ted will discover the true final frontier, or perhaps the only real froniter: self.
posted by BiggerJ at 8:12 PM on September 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

My go-to when people are expecting me to say something profound is "All we are...is dust in the wind dude."
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 8:20 PM on September 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Alex Winter was also swell as Dr. Polidari in 'Haunted Summer'.
posted by ovvl at 8:30 PM on September 26, 2014

"Be excellent to each other" is tough advice to beat. I have looked a few times for a bumper sticker with Abe Lincoln's head and that quote. It's about the only thing I could make such a public commitment to.
posted by AgentRocket at 8:46 PM on September 26, 2014 [5 favorites]

"You killed TED, you medieval dickweed!"

I think the moment I fully comprehended the genius of the B&T films was when I noticed the reversed pun/callback in the sequel: "You killed us, you evil metal dickweeds!"
posted by Strange Interlude at 9:02 PM on September 26, 2014 [11 favorites]

This movie is on Netflix, and I have never seen it before. Should I?
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 9:08 PM on September 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

YES!
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 9:15 PM on September 26, 2014 [4 favorites]

It's not the greatest movie of all time or anything, but it's kind of fun.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:15 PM on September 26, 2014

Yes.
posted by dogheart at 9:15 PM on September 26, 2014

St. Alia: Give my love to the princesses.
posted by namewithoutwords at 9:17 PM on September 26, 2014 [10 favorites]

Also, Rufus is totally a Time Lord.
posted by namewithoutwords at 9:21 PM on September 26, 2014 [9 favorites]

This movie is on Netflix, and I have never seen it before. Should I?

If you can buy into the totally insane premise of a telephone box that's actually a time machine.
posted by straight at 9:23 PM on September 26, 2014 [9 favorites]

Don't even hesitate watching it, St. Alia. You will have a most triumphant time.
posted by downtohisturtles at 9:26 PM on September 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

After crossing the boundaries of time and death, Bill and Ted will discover the true final frontier, or perhaps the only real frontier

Pansy Division!
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 9:27 PM on September 26, 2014

Maybe next we can get a revival of The Idiot Box.
posted by waraw at 9:49 PM on September 26, 2014 [3 favorites]

"You killed TED, you medieval dickweed!"

I think the moment I fully comprehended the genius of the B&T films was when I noticed the reversed pun/callback in the sequel: "You killed us, you evil metal dickweeds!"

Oh, wow! That's so cool! Such attention to detail!
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 9:50 PM on September 26, 2014

This movie is on Netflix, and I have never seen it before. Should I?

Yes.

And then you should watch the Princess Bride.

And then you should watch Big Trouble in Little China.

At this point you might have gathered enough chi to watch Death Race 2000.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:57 PM on September 26, 2014 [13 favorites]

Okay, tomorrow Bill and Ted it is! :-)
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 10:15 PM on September 26, 2014 [3 favorites]

Also, Rufus is totally a Time Lord.

Heeeeeeeey... Hurt, Eccleston, Tennet, or Smith: surely at least one of them is available to step into Carlin's shoes.
posted by Fiberoptic Zebroid and The Hypnagogic Jerks at 10:17 PM on September 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

And I still didn't get a laugh out of him.

I think if you were expecting big belly laughs, out of philosophy undergraduates, for just the reference, your expectations were rather high. A couple of wry, sneering smirks here and there, maybe. I'll wager there was at least one who was thinking "Oh, goodness, how dreadfully inapposite, that film was even worse than Aristophanes in the wilful ignorance of its mockery..."
posted by Segundus at 12:22 AM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]

And how do you think they knew that Thomas Anderson was The One despite his appearance as an office drone?

Well, several years earlier, fuelled by teenage hormones and willpower alone, he'd caused a magical phonebox to appear outside the circle-K, with disastrous results for the continuity of the Matrix. Thousands of agent-hours were required to eliminate all traces of Wyld Stallyns and reintegrate Preston back into society in Capital City. The only evidence left behind of the discontinuity was a a society-wide fondness for oddly spelled names, and a pair of inexplicably successful documentary films ...
posted by nickzoic at 4:44 AM on September 27, 2014 [7 favorites]

The hating on Weird Science was entirely uncalled for.
posted by schoolgirl report at 5:25 AM on September 27, 2014

"The film about Cameron". Brilliant.
posted by chapps at 7:17 AM on September 27, 2014 [2 favorites]

Long-in-coming doesn't necessarily mean long-awaited.
posted by Legomancer at 7:39 AM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]

"See you real soon."
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 7:42 AM on September 27, 2014

(I would argue the almost permanently 'WTF is going on here'-ness of Neo in the Matrix is another of these roles).

I've always maintained that they never leave the Matrix, Neo is actually software, and thus having a piece of wood with great hair portray a soulless and emotionless automaton was actually inspired casting.

Also, Death was the best onscreen Death ever. "Three out of five?"
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:45 AM on September 27, 2014 [3 favorites]

I used to/still kind of think that a great idea for a Bill & Ted sequel would have been dropping them into Hamlet as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, just to explain why he refers to them as "my excellent friends!"

Then I saw Strange Brew and realized that it had more or less been done. Alas.
posted by Strange Interlude at 10:15 AM on September 27, 2014 [4 favorites]

Strange Interlude, if you pass through Victoria, Phillips Brewery offers an Elsinore, a worthy homage to a great moment in Canadian comedy.

The beer rep for my restaurant tells me the plan for a toy mouse in one bottle to identify a prize winning buyer was sadly quashed, but I keep hoping.
posted by chapps at 3:52 PM on September 27, 2014 [4 favorites]

Okay, tomorrow Bill and Ted it is! :-)
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies

Let us know what you think!
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 2:17 AM on September 28, 2014

And then you should watch the Princess Bride.

And then you should watch Big Trouble in Little China.

At this point you might have gathered enough chi to watch Death Race 2000.

Also, Buckaroo Banzai
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 2:57 PM on September 28, 2014 [4 favorites]

I started to watch, but when I realized Ralph will love this movie, decided to wait till we both have time to watch together. But I have to say the beginning was great!
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 9:05 PM on September 28, 2014 [2 favorites]

Oh, Buckaroo Banzai! That's going on the list for my son!
posted by chapps at 10:34 PM on September 28, 2014

Ah, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, which I saw because my mom saw it and got such a huge kick out of it that she insisted we all see it.

I loved the whole movie, but the mall scene remains one of my favorite moments in film. It was a perfect and hilarious set of madness. Socrates calling Freud a geek was the perfect way to kick it all off.
posted by azpenguin at 11:22 PM on September 28, 2014

And then you should watch the Princess Bride.

And then you should watch Big Trouble in Little China.

At this point you might have gathered enough chi to watch Death Race 2000.

Also, Buckaroo Banzai

Repo Man needs to go on the list.
posted by Slap*Happy at 6:15 AM on September 29, 2014

I think everyone is losing focus here.

After watching Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, watch fucking Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey.

I mean c'mon people.
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 6:18 AM on September 29, 2014

ok you've convinced me, bill and ted are now NPCs in the Numenera High rpg I'm running.
posted by rebent at 7:27 AM on September 29, 2014

Well, that was something. Heh.

I wish I'd seen it when I first came out. But as a period piece, it does add that extra layer. ;-)
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 10:19 AM on October 5, 2014 [1 favorite]