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Showing posts from January, 2018

BFI STATISTICS FOR 2017 SHOW NEW RECORD FOR FILM AND HIGH-END TV PRODUCTION SPEND IN THE UK AND INCREASED CINEMA ADMISSIONS AND BOX OFFICE

Official figures published today by the BFI’s Research and Statistics Unit reveal a record breaking performance from the UK film industry in 2017, reinforcing its global reputation as a world leading centre for film and TV production alongside the continued growth of UK cinema audiences. The spend on film production in the UK in 2017 reached the highest level on record with £1.9 billion, a 12% increase on the previous year.   Major films including Tim Burton’s  Dumbo,  Ron Howard’s   Solo: A Star Wars Story,  Idris Elba’s  Yardie,  Guy Ritchie’s  Aladdin , David Yates’  Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2 , Wash Westmoreland’s  Colette , Joanna Hogg’s  The Souvenir,  Paul Thomas Anderson’s  Phantom Thread,  Chiwetel Ejiofor’s  The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind  and Christopher McQuarrie’s  Mission Impossible 6 , underlined the continued world-class excellence of UK talent, crews, VFX and production services, locations and the supportive fiscal environment created by the UK

#WednesdayWisdom Quote of the day - John Williams on Inspiration

Any composer, painter or sculptor will tell you that inspiration comes at the eighth hour of labour rather than as a bolt out of the blue. Get our vanities and preconceptions out of the way and do the work in the time allotted. - John Williams  #WednesdayWisdom The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more. THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+ THE BEARDED TRIO ON PINTEREST CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON STEVEN SPIELBERG CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON GEORGE LUCAS CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON JOHN WILLIAMS

John Williams Wins His 24th Grammy For Catch Me If You Can

The awards keep on coming for John Williams as he picks up his 24th Grammy. The 60th Grammy Awards took place in New York City on Sunday, January 28th and Williams won yet another award in the Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella for his “Escapades For Alto Saxophone And Orchestra" From Catch Me If You Can.  The piece was put together for the double CD "John Williams & Steven Spielberg: The Ultimate Collection" which we did an unboxing video of.  You can watch that here. That's three in a row for John Williams after last year he picked up a Grammy for his work on The Force Awakens and The Book Thief previously.  John Williams has been nominated a total of 68 times. There was an emotional posthumously award for Carrie Fisher who won an award in the Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling) for the recording of her final book, The Princess Diarist The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas,

Hope In The Star Wars Saga by Patty Hammond

In my opinion, the Star Wars saga, at the heart, is about concept of ‘hope’. What is ‘Hope’? According to the Oxford English Dictionary it is both a noun and a verb. As a noun it is ‘A feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen.’ and as a verb it is ‘Want something to happen or be the case.’ Star Wars embraces both of these definitions.  There are many examples of these throughout the saga… In Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the concept of hope is mentioned by three characters in the film.  First by Cassian Andor, next by Jyn Erso and finally Princess Leia Organa herself with the last word, “Hope”. “Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you are my only hope” Princess Leia Organa in Star Wars: A New Hope. It is these words of hope, shown by the Astromech droid R2-D2, that steers Luke Skywalker towards the heroes path in Star Wars: A New Hope and again in The Last Jedi to his ultimate destiny. “We have hope. Hope that things get better.” Hera Syndulla in

Rian Johnson Posts Video Of John Williams Scoring The Last Jedi

Star Wars and John Williams.  Those two go together like fish and chips (yes, I'm a Brit) or bacon and egg.  Thankfully, we were treated to more from the maestro for the latest instalment of the space opera with The Last Jedi.  Director, Rian Johnson posted this wonderful video on his Vimeo account a few days ago and I just had to share with you.  It shows the composer conducting the latest soundtrack.  I don't care what anyone says, he hasn't lost his touch. Watching him at work, especially when it comes to Star Wars, it's still goose-bump inducing. Rian Johnson tweeted: Nothing I can type will set this up well enough, so I’ll just say: John Williams.  https://t.co/KpPnDMcOoL — Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) January 23, 2018 If you're not on twitter you can watch the video below: John Williams! from rcjohnso on Vimeo . Star Wars: The Last Jedi sees returning cast members Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa), Adam Driver

Two New TV Spots For Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One

Get ready for more Ready Player One.  Thanks to Warner Bros. Pictures we can now fly pass the 'checkpoint' on two new TV spots for Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One which will hit screens a day earlier than anticipated .  The movie will now be shown on 29th March. The one TV spot, Odyssey shows a little more of the creator of the Oasis, James Halliday (Mark Rylance) who sounds a lot like Elma Fudd in the footage. In the short video he is explaining the whole point of the easter egg hunt and the ultimate reward. We also get extra footage of the epic battle that takes place at the end of Ernest Cline's story with a huge barrier that needs to be brought down protecting the last part of the easter egg hunt. It was revealed in the week that the movie is set for a PG-13 rating. Ready Player One comes out of beta and into theaters on March 29, 2018. Change The World Odyssey The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams a

Ex-Lucasarts Employee Chris Baker Talks To Ministry of Cinema About The History Of Star Wars Games

An ex-Lucasarts employee talks to Ministry of Cinema about the history of Star Wars video games. Star Wars is probably the world’s premiere intellectual property. The world of George Lucas has taken over movies, comics, books, theme parks, conventions, and maybe most of all, video games. So much of the Star Wars culture overlaps with that of the video game culture. In this episode, we have a conversation with Chris Baker about the history of Star Wars video games, and how the galaxy far, far away has changed the industry. A year ago, documentary film The Prequels Strike Back challenged viewers with new and interesting perspectives on George Lucas and his controversial prequel trilogy.  Now, indie studio Ministry of Cinema is at it again with The Prequels Strike Back...Strikes Back! Get all episodes ad-free when you purchase through their website! Join their community and re-unlearn what you have learned at https://prequelsstrikeback.com The Bearded Trio - The Site For

Ready Player One Will Be In Cinemas A Day Early. Rating For Film Revealed

Ready Player One is set to hit cinemas a day earlier than anticipated.  Originally set for Good Friday, 30th March.  It is now going to hit the big screen on the Thursday 29th.  Of course this means some cinemas will do a preview showing on the Wednesday. Spielberg's READY PLAYER ONE has changed its release date...to Thursday instead of Friday. Yep, just one day. Now officially opens 3/29, instead of 3/30. Which really means 3/28 for preview screenings. — Exhibitor Relations (@ERCboxoffice) January 25, 2018 Also, it has been revealed that the movie has been rated as a PG-13 due some violent scenes, bloody images and 'some suggestive material.'  Having read the book I know there are some epic battle scenes and being in a world with limitless possibilities this is likely to be shown on screen to a certain extent with a huge amount of suggestiveness left up to the viewer.   Spielberg's READY PLAYER ONE is rated PG-13: sequences of sci-fi action violenc

Movie Review: Maisie Richardson-Sellers Shines In Beautifully Filmed Short "Melody"

MELODY Starring Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Maja Laskowska,Dudley O'Shaugnessy DIrected by Bernard Kordieh Out of Four Reviewed by Paul Gibbs Early in the pre-release publicity for Star Wars: The Force Awakens , there was some discussion of an actress named Maisie Richardson-Sellers who had been chosen as part of the cast. Unfortunately, by the time the film was released her role as a trusted adviser to Princess Leia had be reduced to a non-speaking one in post-production. But those of us who have seen her in other roles (her most prominent is most likely her current gig as the superhero Vixen on DC's Legends of Tomorrow ) know she is an engaging and exciting prescence. And in the new short film Melody , we see a soulful side of her that makes me hope to see much more of her in the future. We also see the emergence of a potentially major directing talent in Bernard Kordieh. Melody is somewhat experimental short which is more

Steven Spielberg Set To Direct West Side Story Next. *Update*

Spielberg to set for West Side Story Indy V or West Side Story?  That's the question all Spielberg fans are asking right now.  Which movie is he doing next?  Well, it seems to be leaning towards the movie based on the 1957 Broadway musical. The reason we say this, is that a pro-forma casting call has gone out for West Side Story, in particular a new Tony, Maria, Anita and Bernado.  They are looking for people who are ages 15 to 25 and of course must be able to sing and probably not too shabby on their feet. Steven Spielberg will be working with Pulitzer prize winner, Tony Kushner on the script and also recruited Kevin McCollum who worked on the 2009 Broadway revival of the show. Showbiz411.com on the casting call: It’s a pro-forma casting call because, in the end, the new “West Side Story” is going to need stars. Big names. And because of the setting and the time we are in, it’s going to need actual Puerto Ricans or Latinos for the parts of characters like Maria, Anit

SIDESHOW’S LUKE SKYWALKER DELUXE FIGURE IS A JEDI LIKE HIS FATHER BEFORE HIM

The Force is strong with this one. Sideshow is thrilled to present the Luke Skywalker Deluxe Sixth Scale Figure from  Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi .   Sideshow’s artists have captured an immense range of details and accessories into one deluxe collectible so fans can display their favorite moments from Luke Skywalker’s heroic journey in any collection.  Recreate key scenes from Episode VI of the Star Wars saga with the  three distinct looks  included with the Luke Skywalker Deluxe Sixth Scale Figure- Jabba’s Palace Luke, Endor Luke, and Jedi Knight Luke.   Featuring a detailed portrait of the character’s appearance in Star Wars Episode VI, for his  Jabba’s Palace  look, Luke Skywalker wears a hooded brown cloak over his iconic black Jedi outfit of a long sleeve shirt and pants, along with a gray tunic and sash.  Remove the tunic and attach Luke’s black leather-like belt with a pouch and saber hook to recreate his  Jedi Knight  look from the fateful final showdo

VIDEO - Death Star Construction Timelapse

This is an impressive and high quality time-lapse video showing how the Death Star was constructed.  The worrying thing is if you watch right at the beginning then alarm bells will start ringing.  Why?  well I've just figured out what they're doing up there above our own planet.  That International Space Station is only getting bigger you know.  Baby steps and all that.  Remember, you read it here first. The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more. THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+ THE BEARDED TRIO ON PINTEREST CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON STEVEN SPIELBERG CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON GEORGE LUCAS CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON JOHN WILLIAMS

VIDEO - John Williams interview on composing Steven Spielberg's The Post

John Williams interview on The Post, composing the score / soundtrack / music, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Meryl Streep The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more. THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+ THE BEARDED TRIO ON PINTEREST CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON STEVEN SPIELBERG CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON GEORGE LUCAS CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON JOHN WILLIAMS

The NEWEST, ‘cutest’ Star Wars character, the PORG, unveiled in sneaker-form by London Footwear Brand, Po-Zu, today

Hold on to your hats, (or your socks!). Porg sneakers are here. Star Wars fans and sneaker-lovers will have the chance to stride out in footwear printed with the newest character to capture the heart of Star Wars: The Last Jedi fans throughout the galaxy.  The new PORG sneaker is the latest in the range of co-branded Star Wars footwear to be released by ethical shoe brand, Po-Zu, under license by Lucasfilm and Disney. Launching for pre-sale today, for dispatch at the end of April, with global shipping. Dubbed a game-changer for ethical footwear consumers and Star Wars enthusiasts alike, the new Sri Lankan ethical range will include UNISEX and vegan sneakers at a very affordable price point. The new line is headed up by the key Porg style low-cut £59 and high-top £69, with the Porg beautifully printed onto organic cotton and signature Star Wars | Po-Zu tongue detail. The sneakers, made with organic cotton canvas upper, a coconut husk and natural latex FootMattress™ an

Oscar Nominations. Full List Here. The Post Gets Two. John Williams Gets 51st Nomination

T he Oscar nominations are in and Steven Spielberg's The Post has grabbed two nominations, one in the Best Picture category and the other for Meryl Streep in the Best Actress category.  Once again it seems the Academy overlook Steven Spielberg for best director as he misses out on a nomination. John Williams is up for an Oscar for his work on Star Wars: The Last Jedi .  That makes it 51 Oscar nominations for the maestro.  In fact The Last Jedi is sitting pretty with four nominations in total, predictably in best special effects, sound editing, sound mixing and the previously mentioned best score categories. Leading the way for nominations is The Shape of Water which picked up an impressive 13 nominations including best picture.  You can read our review of the movie here. The Nominations: Best picture Call Me By Your Name Darkest Hour Dunkirk Get Out Lady Bird Phantom Thread The Post The Shape of Water Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Best actres