• Home
  • popular
  • Events
  • Submit New Event
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • News
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Home + Design
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • Innovation
  • Sports
  • Charity Guide
  • children
  • education
  • health
  • veterans
  • SOCIAL SERVICES
  • ARTS + CULTURE
  • animals
  • lgbtq
  • New Charity
  • Series
  • Delivery Limited
  • DTX Giveaway 2012
  • DTX Ski Magic
  • dtx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Your Home in the Sky
  • DTX Best of 2013
  • DTX Trailblazers
  • Tastemakers Dallas 2017
  • Healthy Perspectives
  • Neighborhood Eats 2015
  • The Art of Making Whiskey
  • DTX International Film Festival
  • DTX Tatum Brown
  • Tastemaker Awards 2016 Dallas
  • DTX McCurley 2014
  • DTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • DTX Beyond presents Party Perfect
  • DTX Texas Health Resources
  • DART 2018
  • Alexan Central
  • State Fair 2018
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Zatar
  • CityLine
  • Vision Veritas
  • Okay to Say
  • Hearts on the Trinity
  • DFW Auto Show 2015
  • Northpark 50
  • Anteks Curated
  • Red Bull Cliff Diving
  • Maggie Louise Confections Dallas
  • Gaia
  • Red Bull Global Rally Cross
  • NorthPark Holiday 2015
  • Ethan's View Dallas
  • DTX City Centre 2013
  • Galleria Dallas
  • Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty Luxury Homes in Dallas Texas
  • DTX Island Time
  • Simpson Property Group SkyHouse
  • DIFFA
  • Lotus Shop
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Dallas
  • Clothes Circuit
  • DTX Tastemakers 2014
  • Elite Dental
  • Elan City Lights
  • Dallas Charity Guide
  • DTX Music Scene 2013
  • One Arts Party at the Plaza
  • J.R. Ewing
  • AMLI Design District Vibrant Living
  • Crest at Oak Park
  • Braun Enterprises Dallas
  • NorthPark
  • Victory Park
  • DTX Common Desk
  • DTX Osborne Advisors
  • DTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • DFW Showcase Tour of Homes
  • DTX Neighborhood Eats
  • DTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • DTX Auto Awards
  • Cottonwood Art Festival 2017
  • Nasher Store
  • Guardian of The Glenlivet
  • Zyn22
  • Dallas Rx
  • Yellow Rose Gala
  • Opendoor
  • DTX Sun and Ski
  • Crow Collection
  • DTX Tastes of the Season
  • Skye of Turtle Creek Dallas
  • Cottonwood Art Festival
  • DTX Charity Challenge
  • DTX Culture Motive
  • DTX Good Eats 2012
  • DTX_15Winks
  • St. Bernard Sports
  • Jose
  • DTX SMU 2014
  • DTX Up to Speed
  • st bernard
  • Ardan West Village
  • DTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Taste the Difference
  • Parktoberfest 2016
  • Bob's Steak and Chop House
  • DTX Smart Luxury
  • DTX Earth Day
  • DTX_Gaylord_Promoted_Series
  • IIDA Lavish
  • Huffhines Art Trails 2017
  • Red Bull Flying Bach Dallas
  • Y+A Real Estate
  • Beauty Basics
  • DTX Pet of the Week
  • Long Cove
  • Charity Challenge 2014
  • Legacy West
  • Wildflower
  • Stillwater Capital
  • Tulum
  • DTX Texas Traveler
  • Dallas DART
  • Soldiers' Angels
  • Alexan Riveredge
  • Ebby Halliday Realtors
  • Zephyr Gin
  • Sixty Five Hundred Scene
  • Christy Berry
  • Entertainment Destination
  • Dallas Art Fair 2015
  • St. Bernard Sports Duck Head
  • Jameson DTX
  • Alara Uptown Dallas
  • Cottonwood Art Festival fall 2017
  • DTX Tastemakers 2015
  • Cottonwood Arts Festival
  • The Taylor
  • Decks in the Park
  • Alexan Henderson
  • Gallery at Turtle Creek
  • Omni Hotel DTX
  • Red on the Runway
  • Whole Foods Dallas 2018
  • Artizone Essential Eats
  • Galleria Dallas Runway Revue
  • State Fair 2016 Promoted
  • Trigger's Toys Ultimate Cocktail Experience
  • Dean's Texas Cuisine
  • Real Weddings Dallas
  • Real Housewives of Dallas
  • Jan Barboglio
  • Wildflower Arts and Music Festival
  • Hearts for Hounds
  • Okay to Say Dallas
  • Indochino Dallas
  • Old Forester Dallas
  • Dallas Apartment Locators
  • Dallas Summer Musicals
  • PSW Real Estate Dallas
  • Paintzen
  • DTX Dave Perry-Miller
  • DTX Reliant
  • Get in the Spirit
  • Bachendorf's
  • Holiday Wonder
  • Village on the Parkway
  • City Lifestyle
  • opportunity knox villa-o restaurant
  • Nasher Summer Sale
  • Simpson Property Group
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2017 Dallas
  • Carlisle & Vine
  • DTX New Beginnings
  • Get in the Game
  • Red Bull Air Race
  • Dallas DanceFest
  • 2015 Dallas Stylemaker
  • Youth With Faces
  • Energy Ogre
  • DTX Renewable You
  • Galleria Dallas Decadence
  • Bella MD
  • Tractorbeam
  • Young Texans Against Cancer
  • Fresh Start Dallas
  • Dallas Farmers Market
  • Soldier's Angels Dallas
  • Shipt
  • Elite Dental
  • Texas Restaurant Association 2017
  • State Fair 2017
  • Scottish Rite
  • Brooklyn Brewery
  • DTX_Stylemakers
  • Alexan Crossings
  • Ascent Victory Park
  • Top Texans Under 30 Dallas
  • Discover Downtown Dallas
  • San Luis Resort Dallas
  • Greystar The Collection
  • FIG Finale
  • Greystar M Line Tower
  • Lincoln Motor Company
  • The Shelby
  • Jonathan Goldwater Events
  • Windrose Tower
  • Gift Guide 2016
  • State Fair of Texas 2016
  • Choctaw Dallas
  • TodayTix Dallas promoted
  • Whole Foods
  • Unbranded 2014
  • Frisco Square
  • Unbranded 2016
  • Circuit of the Americas 2018
  • The Katy
  • Snap Kitchen
  • Partners Card
  • Omni Hotels Dallas
  • Landmark on Lovers
  • Harwood Herd
  • Galveston.com Dallas
  • Holiday Happenings Dallas 2018
  • TenantBase
  • Cottonwood Art Festival 2018
  • Hawkins-Welwood Homes
  • The Inner Circle Dallas
  • Eating in Season Dallas
  • ATTPAC Behind the Curtain
  • TodayTix Dallas
  • The Alexan
  • Toyota Music Factory
  • Nosh Box Eatery
  • Wildflower 2018
  • Society Style Dallas 2018
  • Texas Scottish Rite Hospital 2018
  • 5 Mockingbird
  • 4110 Fairmount
  • Visit Taos
  • Allegro Addison
  • Dallas Tastemakers 2018
  • The Village apartments
  • City of Burleson Dallas

    Movie Review

    Bill & Ted Face the Music is half the fun of the original films

    Alex Bentley
    Aug 28, 2020 | 10:51 am
    Bill & Ted Face the Music is half the fun of the original films
    play icon

    It’s funny how some films can worm their way in to cult classic status. Even by the standards of when they were released, neither 1989’s Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure nor 1991’s Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey were big hits, yet they live on in myriad ways. That will only increase with a third film 30 years in the making, Bill & Ted Face the Music.

    Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) have somehow still not written the song that will unite the world despite the prophecy at the center of the first two films. In fact, they’ve gone in the opposite direction, experimenting with music so bizarre that not even their friends and family can stand it. Everyone, that is, except for their devoted daughters, Billie (Brigette Lundy-Paine) and Thea (Samara Weaving).

    And so the elders to which Rufus (George Carlin, who appears in archival footage) brought them many years ago set one final deadline for them to write the song. Bill and Ted, being the slackers they are, decide to use the time machine phone booth to try to steal the song from their future selves who will, presumably, have already written it. Needless to say, things don’t exactly go swimmingly, and Billie and Thea have to come to the rescue.

    Written by original writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon, and directed by Dean Parisot, the film doesn’t try too hard to reinvent the wheel, to its own detriment. Despite being three decades older, neither Bill nor Ted has changed very much, which doesn’t make much sense. Sure, you want to give fans callbacks to the first two films, but having two men in their fifties without any maturity whatsoever doesn’t play very well.

    Likewise, if they wanted to pass off the reins to a new generation, they should have invested more in the lives of the daughters. As portrayed, they’re merely Bill and Ted clones, and neither Lundy-Paine nor Weaving does a particularly good job at imitating their “fathers.” Their mission also never gels, as, similar to the first film, they gather historical figures, but in much less entertaining fashion.

    That’s not to say that the film doesn’t have its moments. As Bill and Ted visit various versions of their future selves, their different appearances are consistently humorous, especially a version of them as jacked-up prisoners. A vengeful robot played Anthony Carrigan (who plays NoHo Hank on HBO’s Barry) is an inspired new character. And bringing back original actors like Amy Stoch as Missy, Hal Landon, Jr. as Chief Logan, and especially William Sadler as Death makes for some extra fun.

    Two roles that are recast — Elizabeth (Erinn Hayes) and Joanna (Jayma Mays) — stand out for two reasons. The roles are now being played by much younger actors, which is noticeable but also kind of funny, since the roles were recast in Bogus Journey, as well. But both Hayes and Mays are talented comic actors, and they bring something extra to what amounted to throwaway roles in the first two films.

    Unfortunately, Reeves and Winter don’t carry the film in the way they once did. It’s not that either is bad, but they just don’t hold your attention very well. It doesn’t affect their acting ability, but both have a vaguely plastic appearance that proves to be distracting throughout.

    Bill & Ted Face the Music isn’t a disaster, but there’s nothing about it that justifies returning to the property after so many years. The dudes still love to party, but their excellence left them long ago.

    ---

    Bill & Ted Face the Music is in select theaters and is also available on VOD/streaming platforms.

    Brigette Lundy-Paine, Kid Cudi, and Samara Weaving in Bill & Ted Face the Music
      
    Photo by Patti Perret/Orion Pictures
    movies
    news/entertainment

    most read posts

    Kendra Scott talks her new memoir and shining career ahead of Southlake appearance

    Farm-centric Alabama restaurant enters Texas with location in Prosper

    Mi Cocina secret Monkey Bar to open on rooftop at Dallas hotel

    Movie Review

    Horror film Bring Her Back may shock even fans of the genre

    Alex Bentley
    May 30, 2025 | 1:33 pm
    Sally Hawkins and Sora Wong in Bring Her Back
    Photo courtesy of A24
    Sally Hawkins and Sora Wong in Bring Her Back.

    While there have been plenty of great horror movies that have come out of the United States, there are also many examples of other countries delivering films that put American ones to shame. Whether it’s the freedom of working outside the U.S. studio system, different sensibilities, or something else, international horror movies often hit way harder than domestic ones.

    The latest example is the Australian film Bring Her Back, directed by Danny and Michael Philippou, the same filmmakers behind the 2023 sensation Talk to Me. The fantastically unnerving story centers on Andy (Billy Barratt) and his sister, Piper (Sora Wong), who’s legally blind. The two are put into foster care after the death of their father, finding a home with Laura (Sally Hawkins), a former social worker. Laura is enthusiastic about having Piper, who reminds her of her blind daughter who passed away, but Andy feels a coolness toward him right away.

    Also living with Laura is Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips), whom Laura says has been mute since her daughter’s death. But Oliver’s actions are much weirder than him not being able to talk, and Laura alternates between being dismissive of him and overly attentive. Things start to go off the rails when Andy witnesses a horrific event, and he and Piper - along with the audience - are unprepared for how awful things will get.

    The film, written by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman, ranks extremely high on the list of most disturbing films you’re likely to see. It’s not just the blood and gore that can be found in many other horror movies; it’s the manner in which the carnage comes about that may haunt the dreams of viewers. The things that the filmmakers choose to show are so shocking that it’s fair to wonder what kind of a mind comes up with such atrocities.

    But the Philippous have more on their mind than trying to traumatize viewers visually. It’s a movie about grief and a broken foster care system mixed with a tinge of the supernatural. While it’s not entirely clear what’s going on with Laura and Oliver, it involves something spooky that has affected both of them in inexplicable ways. The film combines the horrors of real life and the incomprehensible for a highly effective story.

    The film also veers far away from your typical horror film arc. While Laura is the “villain” of the film, she’s also a victim in a certain way, and the filmmakers have empathy for the trauma that she has endured. They don’t excuse her actions, but the reasons behind them are explained, and so the journey that Andy and Piper go on becomes more meaningful than if it involved a monster with no back story.

    Hawkins, who’s been nominated for two Oscars, elevates the film with her high-level acting. No matter what kind of weird thing Laura does, it feels grounded because Hawkins is bringing it to life. Barratt and Wong play their roles well, but it’s Phillips who’s the real revelation. Without speaking a word, he turns in a supremely creepy performance, one that’s especially amazing for the physical things he’s asked to do.

    Even horror film aficionados may not be able to anticipate the level of depravity on display in Bring Her Back. Unlike other movies in the genre, it’s not out for cheap thrills. The Philippous give it heart and soul, along with some of the most messed-up scenes you’ll see this year.

    ---

    Bring Her Back is now playing theaters.

    moviesfilm
    news/entertainment

    most read posts

    Kendra Scott talks her new memoir and shining career ahead of Southlake appearance

    Farm-centric Alabama restaurant enters Texas with location in Prosper

    Mi Cocina secret Monkey Bar to open on rooftop at Dallas hotel

    Loading...