Bill and Ted: Face The Music

[Leo656]

Ted. Keanu plays Ted.

[Autbot_Benz]

The movie is back at the August 28th release on vod and select theaters.

[Vegita-San]

sounds like woke bill and tedd to me..
sigh

he doesn't seem to thrilled about the daughters idea either. he had to think about the 'right' words.

[Leo656]

It's indeed annoying that Bill & Ted now have daughters despite very clearly being shown to have sons in the movies and comic books previously, and that it's "Because The Times We're In" and "Everything Needs More Vagina" and all'a that silly nonsense.

I doubt it'll hurt the movie all that much, though. Y'all know me by now, I never get excited for anything until it's in my lap but the trailers did a lot to assuage any trepidation I may have had.

It's a dumb choice and I disagree vehemently with the idea that everything, indeed, does need more vagina. I think that's one of the absolute worst things driving the "creative" forces behind the scenes of the entertainment business at this time, and I have no problem saying so, loudly and often. Women made Boy Bands a "thing". Women made Justin Bieber a bazillionaire. Women ruined Star Wars by turning it into a Grrl Power ship-fic. Women are why the IDW TMNT book has turned into Zootopia fanfic. Women are why She-Ra has to be a flat-chested lesbian. Women are why there's a Hallmark Channel. Women are why Sandra Bullock still had a movie career after 1995.

Point being, although there are quite a few individual outliers who deviate from the established norm... collectively, as a group, women have absolutely AWFUL taste and they generally ruin everything. Again, that's MOST, not All, so don't @ me. But yeah, it's because of All That, that I get nervous whenever I see anyone tout "So we got a few more vaginas in there!" as a superb creative choice, because it's not. It's just pandering to people with provably bad taste.

THIS movie seems like it'll still be fine, though. It kinda seems like their kids' characters would be the same if they were sons OR daughters, in this case, so for now I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that the movie as a whole will be fine. If my gut said "Be nervous", I'd be nervous.

But yeah, I agree, flipping their kids "Because 2020" was dumb. They clearly had sons. Eh. Should still be a good movie.

[Vegita-San]

My guess?

Despite statements otherwise, this movie was conceived of in 2016 and shipped around everywhere. They FINALLY caved in, and simply switched the rufus character, the council, and the sons to all female and everything else stayed the same.

that's what I THINK happened. I think he probably truly does hate this SJW nonsense, but is smart enough to know how to play ball in town when his foot is on the fire.

especially if he truly was 'on his last dime trying to get this made'...

[Leo656]

Well I mean, yeah, that's pretty obviously what happened. "We'll finally let you make this movie, but ONLY if there's More Vagina." Despite about 99% of Bill & Ted fans not having one. But obviously studios don't think like that, the only name of the game is "an ass every 8 inches" and that's that. The studio didn't think enough guys would pay to see Bill & Ted 3, otherwise they could have made it at any point after 1994. NOW they see an opportunity to get at least a few more dollars out of it by pandering to a certain type of audience member.

It makes sense. I don't agree with it, but it's very obviously what happened. I don't think it's ANY shock that for 25 years, the movie doesn't get made "Because there's no interest", and then magically "Well what if we flip their SONS to DAUGHTERS?" and all of a sudden it gets fast-tracked. I highly doubt more people care NOW about B&T3 than did ten years ago, I think just about the same number of people care or don't care. The only thing that's changed is that now the studio can use the movie as a vehicle for making the kind of "statement" every movie has to make nowadays with the "Chicks can do whatever Guys do" gimmick. Otherwise, they wouldn't make the movie at all. I don't doubt that one bit.

Do I LIKE that the movie only finally got made because they agreed to gender-flip a few characters? No, I don't like that at all. Do I think it's ultimately gonna hurt very much in the big picture? Eh, no, not really. I'm at a point where if "Little Ted" is actually "Thea" is the only way we can get B&T3, then whatever.

The world needs Bill and Ted. THAT trumps everything else, to me.

[Autbot_Benz]

so far all the early twitter reviews is that its really good and what we need right now in this pandemic world.

Ed Solomon Retweeted
Nick Rodriguez
@nickrod30
?
23m
LOVED
@BillandTed3
!! It?s the feel good film we need during these times!
@Winter

@ed_solomon

Danny Gallagher
@thisisdannyg

Just out of my first movie theater experience in six months to see the new Bill & Ted and it was so excellent. It?s nice to be reminded that you don?t have to be cynical all the time in order to be funny.

I missed the movies so much. Hope we al get to go back soon.

Mr. Dark
@MrDarkDFW
Level 1:
Bill & Ted Face The Music is the movie we need right now. It's a love letter to music and how it unites us. See it on VOD, at a drive in, or at a safe theater ASAP. It'll make you happy.

[Leo656]

My wife and I would love to see it in a theater, but I think all of NJ is still in "Sandy Vag" territory so I don't think that's a possibility. Real shame.

Still looking forward to seeing it as soon as possible, though.

[TigerClaw]

The theater I normally go to is still closed. When I check on it in the AMC Theaters app. It just tells me this. "This theater is temporarily closed in accordance with local, state, and federal guidelines. It will re-open when those guidelines allow. Please check back here for updates.

I don't think any theater in Florida is open and the one I go to is the only one that's not far.

[Leo656]

At least it's finally here.

At least 2020 gave us SOMEthing worth celebrating.

Sometimes the small victories are all you have.

[Autbot_Benz]

IGN Review 7.0 Good

GOOD
Bill & Ted Face the Music isn't quite excellent but it's sure not bogus either. Party on, dudes!

https://www.ign.com/articles/2020/08...e-music-review

Collider

?Bill & Ted Face the Music? Review: A Most Triumphant High Note to End the Trilogy

https://collider.com/bill-and-ted-fa...source=twitter

[TigerClaw]

Originally Posted by Autbot_Benz

IGN Review 7.0 Good

GOOD
Bill & Ted Face the Music isn't quite excellent but it's sure not bogus either. Party on, dudes!

https://www.ign.com/articles/2020/08...e-music-review

Collider

?Bill & Ted Face the Music? Review: A Most Triumphant High Note to End the Trilogy

https://collider.com/bill-and-ted-fa...source=twitter

Some more reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bil...face_the_music

[CyberCubed]

This is coming to online streaming tomorrow?

[Leo656]

Apparently that's the plan.

Wife and I are planning to do a full-series run tomorrow, watching the first two and then the third. I imagine a ton of folks doing the same.

After over 25 years of waiting I'm glad to give them my money for this.

[Andrew NDB]

It's online right now. Grabbing it, but I suspect it will take a while as everyone else is, too, apparently.

Also, RLM just dropped this, a retrospective on 1 and 2 (sure to be followed by a "Half in the Bag" on part 3):

[Roseangelo]

Will be watching this tomorrow night after dinner. So excited!

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Roseangelo

Will be watching this tomorrow night after dinner. So excited!

I think it's exactly the right movie at exactly the right time, honestly.

Also, I was very pleased that my daughter really enjoyed 1 and 2 a week ago. She was in hysterics at the "Matrix and John Wick guy" could possibly play such a role much younger. And upon ANOTHER viewing of Bogus Journey, I find I'm much more forgiving and appreciative of it than before. There's some good stuff there.

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

I think it's exactly the right movie at exactly the right time, honestly.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I've been hearing.

Since I like to at least check the temperature and try to understand people's "Why", I took a look at some of those tepid reviews, and the content of them really illustrates why you can't just read the header blurb and need to actually take in the content of the text. Most of the "bad" reviews say "It's fine, I guess", and most of those "meh" critiques are primarily from one of two positions:

- People who openly didn't think the originals were all that great in the first place, and this always bothers me when this happens with movies. I understand the need for an objective opinion, but every Bill & Ted project was something that only played to a specific audience to begin with, and if you didn't get it then it wasn't for you, simple as that. Like, even back in the day, chicks with Lisa Frank stickers generally weren't watching Bill & Ted movies, or kids listening to Dr. Dre weren't watching Bill & Ted movies, and if you weren't part of the demographic of "suburban youth with dreams of grandeur an obsession with the rock n roll lifestyle" then there was nothing personal to connect with and thus the movies were "just" vapid comedies. If you didn't like the first two, I doubt anyone was expecting this one to change your mind at all. That's true of a LOT of films, which doesn't mean they lack quality in any way insofar as executing their specific mission AS films, it just means that if you're not part of the specific demo you're probably not gonna care at all, or at least care less.

- Seeing too many critics - mostly female, obviously - bemoan the fact that Bille and Thea don't get more to do. Alright, look, I get it, and it's kinda silly to even have the characters in the movie if they don't get to do much. BUT. I kinda heavily doubt that what any B&T fans wanted after a 30-year wait on an impossible dream was to spend the bulk of a very short movie's already compressed running time focusing on the kids of the two main characters.

Let's face it, this is the swan song for Alex and Keanu in the roles that got them famous, at least insofar as being the leads of the series. I'm hearing rumblings that the studio wants to spin the franchise off with their daughters in the lead roles making it the "Billie and Thea Franchise" going forward, and that's obviously no surprise given the current climate and everything combined with the fact that Alex and Keanu are pretty much aged out of the roles. But given that this is undoubtedly the very last proper "Bill & Ted" movie, even one second of time that's not centered on THEM is frankly a wasted one. NOBODY signed up to watch this thing because of their goddamn kids, let's just be 100% real about that. I'm hearing that they shine in their limited roles, and that's GREAT, but c'mon... nobody "bought a ticket" because they were curious what Bill & Ted's KIDS would do in this movie, they ONLY care about seeing Bill & Ted do their thing One Last Time, that's the movie's ENTIRE raison d'etre. So saying "The movie suffers from not giving the daughters enough to do" might be valid but it's also bad criticism because it's ultimately irrelevant to the larger conversation.

Also, I have HUGE doubts that they'll be able to successfully spin this off into a franchise about their daughters, because as the reviews illustrate: 1. Most chicks simply don't "get" Bill & Ted to begin with, and 2. The ones who DO like the series aren't the ones who typically get jobs critiquing movies, so such an exercise would undoubtedly fail, for the same reason stuff like "Charlies Angels" and "MIB4" failed: chicks don't like those kids of movies to begin with, or at least not enough do to carry a franchise.

I will say, though, that the chicks who DO like Bill & Ted, in my experience, also have impeccable taste in just about everything. Like you know she's a hip lady when she's got the Bogus Journey soundtrack on CD. That's marriage material.

So yeah, we'll see. I kinda think this is "It" for the franchise, personally, and I'm ultimately okay with that. Although if someone wants to do a Telltale-style video game with them someday a'la "Back the the Future", sign me up on Day One. But yeah, I doubt the "Billie & Thea" spin-off ever happens. We'll see.

Anyways, I kinda feel like any outlet that reviews films such as this that are inarguably and unashamedly aimed at a "niche" audience, should do it like video game magazines used to and have two reviewers, one who's a "fan" of the franchise and another who's not, so you get a more well-rounded perspective; like "How does this work just as a movie?" and "How likely are FANS to enjoy it?". Like it would be NICE if B&T 3 were a "great" film but I don't think anyone was expecting Citizen Kane. Rather, it sounds like a perfect (or as close to it as possible given the circumstances) conclusion of a very specific of story. But someone might potentially be turned off by skimming reviews by people who aren't fans and are thus grading it "just" as a movie without any of the personal context and connection that any Bill & Ted fan would have for the material. And that would be a shame.

Anyways, not sure what time I'll end up watching it since we plan to run all three in a row, but I'm very much looking forward to it. I've seen enough already to feel like it's more or less exactly what I was hoping for.

STATION!

[Andrew NDB]

Dumb critics. They're lucky the daughters were even female at all, as like 99.9% of all of us Bill & Ted fans have been assuming for 30 years they were sons this whole time.

I doubt there's any set in stone plans or even hopes for spinning off the daughters into stuff. But they COULD.

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Dumb critics. They're lucky the daughters were even female at all, as like 99.9% of all of us Bill & Ted fans have been assuming for 30 years they were sons this whole time.

I doubt there's any set in stone plans or even hopes for spinning off the daughters into stuff. But they COULD.

I think it's only so far as they do with anything. "If we CAN try and get a little more milk outta this thing... how would that work...?"

I mean to NOT do that is kinda foolish, I guess. And yeah, it's 2020, taking "guys' things" and making them female-centric is the hot gimmick. It doesn't WORK and it never has, but that doesn't mean they're gonna stop trying. So yeah, I get it.

It really depends on who you listen to. It's fascinating to me that in all the reviews I've read, it's pretty much 50/50. Half the critics say, "Obviously they're leaving it open to do a spin-off" and the rest say "They're definitely not leaving that door open and it's refreshing." So it's interesting to me that so many people can kind of see what it is that they're looking or maybe hoping to see, and that it's pretty much 50/50 either way.

I think they'll announce "plans" to develop one and then it'll just very quietly go away due to a collective lack of interest. Like that Dafne Keene "X-23" solo movie we were absolutely positively definitely getting after she stole the show in "Logan". Remember that? That was a "sure thing" and now nobody even remembers that was a discussion. Same thing will happen here, I'd put money down.
-----------

As for their kids, I have the entire Marvel comics run of Bill & Ted and they're clearly sons. Don't tell me that Evan Dorkin masterpiece ain't canon!

Honestly, I don't really care THAT much. It honestly sounds like the story would be the EXACT same story either way. But that's just what makes it more irritating, that it was a choice made for sociopolitical reasons rather than story-driven ones. Again, the writers SAY that "the story just wasn't working" when they were written as their sons, but every single review makes it sound like it would be the exact same story and their sex/gender is irrelevant anyway because they barely have anything to do.

So like, the writers lie publicly and say "Well, the story just wasn't working when they had sons, but once we switched it, it all came together!" No, that's a lie. What happened was, you couldn't get a bankroll on the project, and some executive said "Give them daughters because it's 2020 and THEN you get to make your little movie," and the guys were all so sick of spinning their wheels that they took the deal just to get the movie made. It's obvious.

Like I said, doesn't sound like a deal-breaker, it's just a minor irritation. I'm more mad at WHY they made the decision than I am at the decision itself. Sounds like they do fine in the parts they're given.