News Archive - 2007
December
2, 2007
Who says Christmas is Bah, Humbug?
Hal Landon, Jr. does, that's
who! In fact he has said it every year for the past 28 years in the role
of Ebenezer Scrooge in South Coast Repertory's annual production of A
Christmas Carol, a perennial favorite for those living in and around Orange
County, California! And this year is no exception! Our favorite
stage and film curmudgeon will be treading the board as Dickens' grouchy
protagonist again this holiday season and as we say every year if you haven't
seen this wonderful production and have the chance to then by all means don't
miss out again! This year the SCR website has some really wonderful bonus
material, including a slideshow and even video clips, including an interview
with Hal Landon, Jr. and director John David-Keller. It just wouldn't be
Christmas without Dickens, so treat yourself to this wonderful show!
And as Tiny Tim would say, "God bless us, every one!" (translation . .
. be excellent to each other!)
Click
here for more information on A Christmas Carol,
including a slideshow and video clips!
November
17, 2007
Alex Behind the Scenes of Ben 10 movie!
Alex Winter continues working behind the camera and his latest directorial project was the live-action movie version of Cartoon Network's popular animated Ben 10 series. The series follows the adventures of 10-year-old Ben Tennyson who discovers a mysterious watch-like device which gives him the power to morph into ten different alien heroes, each with unique super abilities.
The
live action movie, entitled Ben 10: Race Against Time, debuts Wednesday
November 21st at 8:00p.m. on Cartoon Network. Alex not only directed the
film but acted as executive producer as well! According to TV Guide,
Alex's eight-year-old son happens to be a fan of the series, so Alex listened
carefully to the input from his son and also his son's second grade class:
"They made sure I didn't mess up their favorite TV show." Alex
also had to make some tough decisions regarding special effects and the film's
budget. "I didn't want to have 10 to 15 crummy-looking aliens.
I would rather have really fantastic-looking aliens."
Starring in the film are Graham Phillips as Ben Tennyson, Haley Ramm as Gwen, Lee Majors as Grandpa Max and Christien Anholt as the evil Eon.
For
More Information, visit Cartoon Network's
Ben 10: Race Against Time page!
Watch
a Behind the Scenes interview with Alex
about the movie on YouTube!
September 22, 2007
David Newman Rocks, Dude!!!
The most excellent Hans dude recently alerted us to the fact that the soundtrack score from Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, composed and conducted by David Newman (composer of many outstanding film scores), has been released officially on CD by Intrada Records! We sent off immediately for our own copy to check it out, and faster than we could say non-non-non-non-non-non-non-NON-excellent (that's good, by the way), our copy was already in the mailbox! And what an outstanding release it is! The CD includes a booklet with lots of non-heinous photos!
This booklet gives an interesting overview of the film with some notable background information thrown in (our only complaint is the use of the terms "stoners" and "surfers" to describe our heroes, neither of which are correct). As for the music itself, the CD sounds as outstanding as it does in the film itself! This music from the movie has been kicked about the internet for some time as a bootleg, but here it is packaged-well, sounding clean and precise and given the respect it deserves. Intrada specializes in releasing movie score soundtracks and their expertise definitely shows with this special collection. Bear in mind this is only the orchestrated background music from the film . . . no excerpts from Steve Vai's work or other metal bands are in this volume. Also keep in mind that this release is being limited to 1,500 copies, so if you want to get one be sure to buy sooner rather than later! If this CD does well maybe Intrada will be convinced to release David Newman's score for Excellent Adventure as well!!!
To order your copy, visit the Intrada website by clicking here!
August 18, 2007
Making Air Guitar Look So Easy!
Most sincere congratulations to William Ocean for winning this year's U.S. Air Guitar Championship! New York City's Andrew "William Ocean" Litz, whose signature song is Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" and who is also known for a daring (and potentially spine damaging) move called the back-flip beer can crush, was a hot contender for the title in 2006, which ended up going to Hot Lixx Hulahan. For all the latest about this year's competition, and to learn more about the Championship competition in general, visit this website:
July 14, 2007
Could This Be It? A Sequel (of sorts) at Last?
Over the years there have been
countless rumors about a third Bill & Ted movie being in the works.
It's gotten to the point that with each new rumor we roll our eyes and say
"Not this again!" We've usually been most hopefully when the
talk has supposedly come
from either Alex and Keanu or Bill & Ted creators Ed Solomon and Chris
Matheson. Everything else seemed suspect at best. But now we are
faced with a story published by the L.A. Times, no less, stating that a third
Bill & Ted film is indeed on the drawing board. The fact that the
article names a production company, producer and even the writers makes this
certainly one rumor that already warrants more attention than most. So a
third movie may indeed be in the works!
Now for the bad news . . . this third movie is slated to be a direct-to-DVD release and will NOT star Alex Winter or Keanu Reeves. And, as we've noted, it will not be penned by Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson.
The details are that MGM is developing a "revisiting" (in other words, perhaps, a straight remake of sorts) of Excellent Adventure for release to the DVD market. Slated to produce the film for 360 Pictures Inc. (which released the film Crossover in 2006 and has the movie I Know Who Killed Me coming out at the end of July) is Frank Mancuso, Jr. The L.A. Times further reports that an outline for the film has already been submitted by Gabe Grifoni and Suzanne Francis, who co-wrote the yet-to-be-released 2007 film Wieners. The article does state that the deal with the writers is still being worked out.
What people seem to be picking up and running with from the article is the one line about Keanu's agent discouraging Keanu from making a third Bill & Ted movie. Some reporters are interpreting this to sound like there was going to be a third movie and Keanu's agent is the one who stood in the way of it! I don't know what kind of career advice Keanu's agent gives him, but certainly Keanu can either take or leave advice from his agent, that wouldn't be a deal breaker. Let's not forget that Keanu's manager produced the original Bill & Ted films! So that's probably the least credible part of the story (note: that is solely this editor's personal opinion).
Now normally we don't give much credence to third movie rumors when nothing is actually in production, but this one is already making enough of a buzz in two days to be noticed and commented upon. We will be waiting and watching for further developments and if we find out any more about it we will be sure to report on it here! Many thanks to Thomas dude for first bringing this story to our attention, and thanks to everyone else who has contacted us about it!
Read the original L.A. Times article here!
July 7, 2007
Professional
Wrestlers as Bill & Ted? Whoa!
Most appreciative thanks to
j_sundude on our B&T forums for letting us know about this! Page 26 of
the June 2007 issue of WWE Magazine (that's World Wrestling Entertainment for
anyone not up on their anagrams) featured a photo of tag team Brian Kendrick and
Paul London dressed as Bill & Ted and posed in front of a phone booth, a la Excellent
Adventure! Their names are listed as Brian D. Kendrick, Esq. and Paul
"Paul" London. The page includes information on how to get the
photo as a wallpaper on your cell phone.
Not bad!!
For
more information about WWE Magazine, click here!
July 7, 2007
Now You, Too, Can Be An Air Guitar Star!
Our
thanks to Keanuweb for
this scoop on the latest in air guitar technology from Japan! Ever wished
you could actually produce your own air guitar sounds like Bill & Ted?
Now it's possible, with the Air Guitar Pro! Although technically it takes
a little of the "air" out of air guitar, this new toy from TakaraTomy
is an electronic wonder. Imagine the top of the guitar neck and you have
the picture . . . that's all you need! As you press your fingers on the
chord buttons found on the handheld device and strum your fingers in all your
air guitar glory, infrared sensors pick up the movements of your strumming and
play the music! Comes with a built in speaker but can be attached to an
external amplifier. Also comes with ten songs to play along with.
June 16, 2007
Death
Takes a Holiday . . . er, um, we mean to
say William Sadler co-stars in ABC's Traveler.
Many thanks to the outstanding Nathaniel for letting us know on the Bill and Ted forum about William Sadler being in the cast of ABC's new action series Traveler. A complex ongoing drama in the spirit of 24, Traveler follows the story of three grad school students embarking on a cross-country road trip when something unspeakable happens . . . and two of the friends find themselves unwilling pawns in the third friend's doings. Wanted by the FBI and unable to prove their friend, Will Traveler, even existed, Jay Burchell and Tyler Fog must elude the authorities while trying to solve the mystery of their enigmatic "friend." William Sadler plays Carlton Fog, Tyler's father. Reviews and word of mouth on this series seems very good so far, so be sure to check it out!
Find out more about Traveler and watch full episodes online at ABC's official website!
May 24, 2007
Bill & Ted Co-Creator to Speak in Seattle!
The Warren Report has alerted us to a special event which will be taking place at Silver Platters in Seattle, Washington on June 1st! Chris Matheson, co-creator of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey will join Warren Etheridge to talk about comedy and filmmaking, focusing on his work with Kyle Gass of Tenacious D to promote the DVD release of two cult classic short films by Matheson and Gass, Mike the Detective and Monkeys (click on thumbnail to left for DVD artwork). Chris Matheson will be signing copies of the DVD after the event. The event is free to paid members of The Warren Report.
For more information about The Warren Report and their upcoming events click here!
Copies of the Mike the Detective / Monkeys DVD can be purchased through The Warren Report Store!
NEW!!! - Read our review of the new DVD here!!
If anyone is planning to attend this event and would like to cover it for our website, e-mail us by clicking here!
March 31, 2007
Excellent Adventure to Hit the (or at
least *a*)
Big Screen Again!
Anyone who's lived in or around
Hollywood, California, are familiar with the geodesic movie theater on Sunset
Blvd. near Vine built in 1963 called the
Cinerama Dome (now a part of Arclight Cinemas). What better place to see Bill
& Ted's Excellent Adventure where the future was a most outstanding
geodesic dome shape as well! Are the fates at play, or have Bill & Ted
met the future? A most outstanding Steven alerted us to the fact that Excellent
Adventure will be playing at the Cinerama Dome at 8:00 p.m. on April 2nd.
This movie is being shown as part of the theater's 21+ series in which adults
are allowed to imbibe while watching films (that means drinking alcoholic
beverages). Of course this means attendance is restricted to moviegoers 21
years or older (I.D. required). If anyone in the L.A. area plans on going
drop us an e-mail to see if we
can't hook up and get some of the fans together!
To visit the ArcLight Cinema's website for more info, click here!
February 24, 2007
Alex Winter Brings Freekland Up to Date!
The most excellent personages that are (is) Freekland.com have posted a new Q&A with Alex Winter in which he talks about his current projects, acting on Bones and NON-projects including a 3rd Bill and Ted film . . . "Unlike my screen doppelganger (Bill) I have no interest in time travel.") To read the entire interview, visit Freekland by clicking here.
In other news, Alex is providing one of the voices for the new Adult Swim series Saul of the Mole Men, directed by Alex's long-time filmmaking buddy Tom Stern. For more information about the show check out the official website by clicking here (as with all of Adult Swim's programs, some of the content is not suitable for kids).
February 10, 2007
Alex Winter Makes a Dramatic
Return to Acting in Fox Series Bones
It's
been a while since Alex Winter has stepped in front of the camera to perform as
an actor (his last notable role was in his own collaborative effort with Tom
Stern, Freaked, although he did make a brief cameo appearance a la
Hitchcock in his moody masterpiece Fever) but his guest appearance on the
forensic investigation series Bones on the Fox Network proved Alex can
still turn in a truly excellent performance on screen as well as behind the
camera. On the February 7th episode entitled The Girl in the Gator,
Alex played Monte Gold, "internet kingpin and aspiring Hugh
Hefner." Monte is head honcho of the internet site and video empire
"Hotty Student Body," a take-off on the real-life Girls Gone Wild
franchise in which producers target college girls for cheap sex thrill videos
(usually involving the girls pulling up their tops to show their breasts while
drunk). When a college girl on spring break turns up dead in the stomach
of an alligator Monte is one of the main suspects after the investigating team
finds out the girl can be seen on the Hotty Student Body website. Alex
plays the sleazy Monte Gold to perfection, covering his butt legally and doing
everything he can to put the investigating team off his tail to protect himself
and his goldmine website. Let's hope Alex will return to acting more
frequently so we can see more great performances like this one!
Fox on Demand allows free viewing of the
latest episodes of their shows online.
The Girl in the Gator will probably be available for a week or so, so it
you would like to watch this episode online click
here
and go to the Bones section.
January 13, 2007
Bill & Ted . . . Together Again?
Well, at least Alex and Keanu were!
Okay, let's face it . . . Britain's rag mag News of the Sun isn't exactly our favorite source of information in the world, but when the most outstandingly awesome Nicolette, creator of An Alex Winter Fansite, brought this particular photo to our attention, well what can we say? The idea of Alex and Keanu hanging out together again just warms our cockles . . . whatever those are. A third movie in the works? Well that's a pretty big supposition, but one can always hope!
Update: This photo can be found currently
in the U.S. in the January 22, 2007 issue of In
Touch magazine!
According to In Touch, Keanu and Alex had dinner together at Koi restaurant in
L.A. on January 6th.
Click here to see Alex and Keanu together again!
For more B&T related News from the past, click
here!
