The Bearded Trio

I remember the first time I laid eyes on the Star Wars Arcade cabinet.  It was at a holiday camp's arcade back around 1984 and it was pride of place in the middle of the floor.  I spent many 10p coins playing that game and I genuinely thought I had the Force while playing. the This gem of a video comes from the pilot episode of a 1983 show called "The Video Game Challenge" and shows off the then-brand-new Star Wars arcade game from Atari.

It is safe to say the original Star Wars Arcade machine is one of the greatest arcade machines of all time.

The next entry from Lucasfilm Animation was announced Monday afternoon. The folks who brought you The Clone Wars (2008-14, 2020) and Star Wars: Rebels (2014-18) have been hard at work on the next animated series from the saga, which will be The Bad Batch.

Read the official announcement from Starwars.com here. The show will debut on Disney+ in 2021.

For those unfamiliar, the Bad Batch are a group of four (some would say five, more on that in a moment) misfit clonetroopers. Much like many super hero ensembles, they all have differing and complementary abilities and work completely as a team. Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair and Tech make up the group, recruited by Commander Cody for the assault on Anaxes, a world controlled by Separatist general Trench, an arch-enemy of Anakin Skywalker.

Hunter has a real Rambo vibe about him, with his unruly hair and red headband. Wrecker has been a fan favorite. He's a brute who is afraid of heights but unafraid of smashing battle droids together by the…

What is the John Williams Moment? I can safely say that John Williams and his wonderful, his magical, his sublime music has been with me every single day since I walked out of that cinema having watched Star Wars for the first time in 1977. For four decades I have amassed some truly magical music moments thanks to the master, but every now and then you get what I call a John Williams moment that if you’re lucky will stay with you for the rest of your life.

What is the John Williams moment? Well, let me try to explain. You know when you smell a certain food and it instantly reminds you of another time in your life? Perhaps it’s the smell of toast in the morning that takes you back to your mother cooking you breakfast before heading out to school. Or maybe it’s not a smell. Perhaps it’s a special place that you had fond memories of and when you visit it brings a smile to your face. Well, for me there are certain tracks from the vast soundtrack collection of John Williams that do…

Get Ready Player Two. Strap on your headset and let's return to the Oasis.  The sequel to the 2011 Ernest Cline virtual world adventure, Ready Player One is set for release on November 24th. Ernest Cline has been hard at work to bring us the sequel to Ready Player One and it was announced yesterday that the sequel will be release in November with pre-orders already available.  Expect more 1980s pop-culture references and a virtual world where all dreams are possible in Ready Player Two.

Not much is known about the sequel apart from Ernest Cline confirming the main characters from Ready Player One will be returning and the book is 384 pages.  We do have the cover which doesn't give much away except for an 8-bit figure that looks like the main character from the Atari 2600 game, Pitfall.  Could we see an Indiana Jones style adventure perhaps?

Ready Player One had the Steven Spielberg treatment in 2018 and went on to gross $582 million globally which saw box-office receipts from…

This is a rare gem.  It's from 1982 and Japanese TV.  Steve Spielberg talks about Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Also see his eyes light up when he sees all the arcade games in the room. The video is in English except for the Japanese commercial breaks but are still worth watching for their entertainment value.  Look out for Steven Spielberg on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie where Spielberg directs the segment, "Kick the Can."

From 1976REDRYDER:
This is an interview with Steven Spielberg that was on Japanese Television when I was stationed in Japan while in the Air Force back in Christmas of 1982. The TV crew came to his house for the interview. It is very good. This was taken from original broadcast with Japanese commercials! It is so awesome. It was on VHS tape and converted a few years ago to DVD.

Here's a gem of a photo.  This is the creator of Star Wars, George Lucas playing the Star Wars Arcade machine.  Easily the finest arcade machine to ever exist.

Game play of the original Star Wars Arcade from 1983 complete with those excellent Vector graphics.



The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

Ron Howard Answers Our Questions About Willow 2Warwick Davies Is Very Happy With The Sequel
Wales Being Considered For A Location
Sequel Not Green-Lit Yet

During a live Q&A with Ron Howard on Facebook I was lucky enough to get my question answered by the director about the current progress of Willow 2 and whether there's a chance we could see a return to Wales where the first movie was shot.

Ron Howard was answering questions on a Facebook live video chat for the Edinburgh International Film Festival's #EdFilmFestAtHome event.  Howard was promoting his latest documentary REBUILDING PARADISE about the destruction of the city of Paradise in the United States due to horrendous fires and how the community pulled together during these recent tragic events.  Rebuilding Paradise is sure to be a moving but essential watch.  We've added the trailer below.

I had to get a quick question in at the end of the chat about the potential sequel to the 1988 Lucasfilm produced Willow whic…

J.W. RINZLER ANNOUNCES NEW BOOK ON THE CAREER OF PRODUCER HOWARD KAZANJIANWednesday afternoon, prolific Star Wars author J.W. Rinzler hosted a YouTube chat in which he promoted his forthcoming book "All Up" but also teased a new Star Wars-focused book project, announced for the first time.

A little more than 25 minutes into the chat, Rinzler announced he will pen a book that will chronicle the career of producer Howard Kazanjian.

Kazanjian is best known as the producer of both Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Return of the Jedi (1983). He attended USC Film School with George Lucas, and joined Lucasfilm in the wake of the success of Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), leading the company's non-Star Wars film projects.

As part of that book, Rinzler revealed he conducted a four-hour interview with Marcia Lucas, the former wife of George Lucas and enormously valuable part of the editorial team during the original trilogy era. This can certainly qualify as a coup, since Marcia r…