The Bearded Trio

20 E.T. References You May Have Missed In The Xfinity Advert The TV advert of the year is easily the four minute E.T. The Extra Terrestrial "sequel" from Xfinity.  In it we see E.T. returning to Earth to visit his now grown up friend, Elliott played by Henry Thomas.  It really is a wonderful nostalgic trip down memory lane. Fans of the 1982 classic from Steven Spielberg probably picked up a number of Easter eggs in the commercial but some are so fast and subtle that they are easy to miss.  Thanks to Scotty Robson who sent a number of observations, we just had to share with you.  Let us know if we've missed any. The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

The official Star Wars YouTube channel  are little teasers as they've gone and released a Rise of Skywalker featurette and there's one piece in that video that has taken the Internet by storm.  It's this picture (below) where we see Warwick Davis gearing up as an Ewok.  Now, this has caused speculation that the furry little Empire beaters are back in the last of the sequels and Davis will reprise his role as Wicket.  Anyway, our picture of the day is a young Warwick Davis in his original suit ready for a scene in Return of the Jedi. You can also watch the featurette below. The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

Vlix sold at auction for over £10,000 It's missing from my collection and probably a lot of other Star Wars collector's too but someone, yesterday ended the day with a huge smile on their face as a Vlix went to a winning bidder at an auction in exchange for a rather lot of money.  Yes, a Flix AFA85+ sold at a Prop Store auction for £11.250 which is $14,463.  Now if that winner wants to send it my way as a Christmas gift then of course I would except. Want to read the full press release to see what other goodies rich people have won?  Of  course you do: one of the world’s leading film and TV memorabilia companies – has today announced results from its first UK live vintage toy auction, with toys and collectibles on offer fetching in excess of £208,790 ($268,953). Prop Store’s two-day Vintage Toys & Collectibles Live Auction was held on Tuesday 26th and Wednesday 27th November 2019 at Prop Store’s UK headquarters in Hertfordshire. Other notable sales included (sale

E.T. Has A Holiday Reunion. Xfinity , a cable television, Internet, telephone, and wireless services provider has released what could possibly be one of the best commercials I've seen in years.  In the new ad we see E.T. returning to Earth to visit his old pal, Elliott after a 37 year gap only to find that Elliott, once the young lad has grown up and now has a family and a rather nice house.  E.T. soon fits in and has some fun with the whole family including a few flying bikes and a reveal of E.T. now having his own family.  Incidentally, Henry Thomas does actually reprise his role as Elliott in the commercial.  It's effectively E.T. 2 in four minutes. It really is well put together and even has the iconic John Williams score.  Of course it wouldn't be complete without the Spielberg trademark shooting star. Look out for it. Variety tell us: “Our goal is to show how Xfinity and Sky technology connects family, friends and loved ones, which is so important during the

"Amy good gorilla."   Steven Spielberg visiting Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy on the set of Congo (directed by Frank Marshall, 1995.) The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

This Top 30 Is A Huge Surprise! We were sent this news story today and just had to share because I find it rather unusual.  According to a poll by Scala Radio , they asked 2000 adults what their favourite score is and unusually War Horse came out top!  Don't get me wrong the John Williams soundtrack is a beautiful piece of work (Dartmoor, 1912 is simply sublime) and listen to it often but would it be my number one?  What's more, The Book Thief also by John Williams made the top thirty.  Am I being too harsh here? Now, they do say they have (oddly) excluded franchises and sequels (even though Marvel films are allowed) and it's limited to releases in the last ten years but still the results are a genuine surprise to me, here's the full press release for your enjoyment: War Horse. Despite having lost out on both the Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Original Score to ‘The Artist’ in 2012, the 2011 movie’s music is considered the best among film fans. A tenth of the p

How To Not Get Eaten By Ewoks And Other Galactic Survival Skills Amazon link  If you have to visit that galaxy far, far away then you need to be prepared.  You will need to make sure your galactic skills are up to scratch if you are going to survive in that crazy, crazy galaxy.  After all, you don't want to be eaten by an Ewok or be trapped on an exploding Death Star now do you? Good job there's a book to make sure you're ready.  It's an essential purchase for any budding bounty hunter or smuggler.  It doesn't have the words "Don't Panic" on the cover but it does have some of the situations you could find yourself in just to remind you of the hazards.  "How To Not Get Eaten By Ewoks And Other Galactic Survival Skills" has over 120 full colour pages on advice and survival tips to make sure you're not captured by Stormtroopers or Tusken Raiders.  It's essential to have a good blaster by your side but this book should a

Look out behind you, Richard!  Richard Donner the director of The Goonies is about to get a scare from executive producer, Steven Spielberg The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

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

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES 6-INCH HEAVY INFANTRY MANDALORIAN FIGURE The Mandalorian is hot property right now so any gift to do with the Disney+ TV series is bound to be a hit.  An even bigger hit would be this 6-inch Heavy Infantry Mandalorian Figure from Hasbro that is so hot off the press right now that it's only available to pre-order from BestBuy.Com .  Make sure you get yours now! Price is $29.99 The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

71 not out for John Williams Grammy Nominations John Williams is up for another Grammy nomination.  That makes it 71!  71 nominations over 58 years.  Just take that in for a moment.  John Williams is a legend!  Of those 71 nominations he has won a total of 24.  Imagine all those on his mantelpiece? So what are the nominations for?  He's up for two in the composing and arranging field.  “Galaxy’s Edge Symphonic Suite,” written for the new “Star Wars”-themed park at Disneyland, was nominated for best instrumental composition, while his arrangement of “Hedwig’s Theme,” the best-known piece from the “Harry Potter” films, for violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter’s all-Williams album, was cited for best instrumental arrangement.  That's number 70 and 71. Variety tell us: Williams’ new version of “Hedwig’s Theme,” a tour de force for violin and orchestra, was written specifically for Mutter, who first begged Williams to write a concert work for her (“Markings,” which is on the delux

Jurassic Park - Premium Bottle Opener "That doesn't look very scary!"  Now, thanks to Fanattik you can re-enact Dr Alan Grant giving that volunteer boy a lecture from Steven Spielberg's 1993 classic, Jurassic Park.  Yes!  Every time you grab a cold bottle of beer you can open that cold one in style and then give someone a lecture on how ferocious a Raptor is.  Just don't do it too often otherwise you might get the empty bottles flying your way. It's officially licensed by Universal Studios, a great gift for a fan of this amazing film, this heavyweight metal bottle opener has magnets on the reverse so it can be attached to the fridge door for easy storage. Cost - £12.99 Free shipping within the UK The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD Starring Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys, Chris Cooper, Suusan Kelechi Watson, Christine Lahti, Enrico Colantoni Written by Micha Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster Directed by Marielle Heller Out of Four Reviewed by Paul and Patrick Gibbs Fred Rogers (better known to most of us as Mister Rogers) can't be an easy character to play. It's been 16 years since the children's television icon passed away, and by now he's typically remembered with respect and even reverence, which is well deserved. But many of us remember a time in the 1980s and '90 when he was a popular target of comics and impersonators, who caricatured his gentle mannerisms and tenor voice as syrupy or effeminate. Trying to capture the mannerisms and  voice of such an icon is always a difficult task for an actor, and it;s even harder when the actor is iconic in their own right. Two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks certainly qualifies as iconic, and while he seems l

We Meet a Resistance Pilot from Doza's Past on the All-New Episode of Star Wars Resistance 11/24 @ 6PM on Disney XD and 10PM on Disney Channel In "Rendezvous Point," Doza attempts to meet a Resistance pilot from his past. Meanwhile the pilot has been captured by the First Order. The new episode - "Rendezvous Point" - will also be available SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24th (12:01 a.m. PT) on the DisneyNOW app and Disney Channel VOD, giving kids and families access to the series wherever and whenever they want to watch. The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

FROZEN II Starring the voices of Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Sterling K. Brown and Evan Rachel Wood Screenplay by Jennifer Lee Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee Reviewed Patrick Gibbs &  Paul Gibbs  Out of Four There’s a lot of talk about whether we “need a  Frozen II . Well, Of course we don’t “need” it. Let’s be honest, we don’t “need” any sequel (and that includes any and all Marvel or Star Wars movies). The question often would be more accurately phrased as “is there really anything more they can do with this story?” and most of the time that’s a debatable point. But the answer here is a qualified yes: Frozen lends itself to a sequel more so than, for example, Tangle d, because it’s a different type of story that broke the mold on the traditional idea of what happily ever after means, and there were still some questions left unanswered (where did Elsa’s powers come from? What happened to Else and Anna’s parents? Is there a w

Cats Gets A New Trailer Cats has a new trailer and one sheet which were both released today.  It's in Theatres on December 20th, 2019 so will be going up against Rise of Skywalker, Cats is executive produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Tom Hooper.  Read more details about the movie below along with the new trailer: Oscar®-winning director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech, Les Misérables, The Danish Girl) transforms Andrew Lloyd Webber’s record-shattering stage musical into a breakthrough cinematic event. Cats stars James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson and introduces Royal Ballet principal dancer Francesca Hayward in her feature film debut.  Featuring Lloyd Webber’s iconic music and a world-class cast of dancers under the guidance of Tony-winning choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton, In the Heights), the film reimagines the musical for a new generation with spectacular production design,

Win A Jaws Pin Badge and E.T. Necklace Courtesy of Fanattik.co.uk Christmas Gift Ideas If you're reading this site then chances are you are a Steven Spielberg fan and probably have a friend or two who also like a Spielberg movie.  But what do you get a Spielberg fan for Christmas?  Well fear not as The Bearded Trio can recommend one site that has a HUGE collection of Spielberg related products for sale and they are official products too! The site is Fanattik.co.uk and they are one of the best sites for Spielberg movie related items.  Be it a Back to the Future - Limited Edition Pin Badge ,  Jaws – Quint’s Shark Charter Playing Cards ,  E.T - Limited Edition Necklace  or a  Jaws - Limited Edition Large Pin Badge . Competition Those last two on the list, the E.T. limited edition necklace and the Jaws limited edition pin badge we are giving away in our latest competition.  One lucky winner will win both items thanks to the good folks over at Fanattik.  I'll even thro

A CGI George Lucas?  Have We Gone Too Far? How far is too far?  That's the question I've heard and seen recently being asked regarding CGI versions of real people.  Whether it's a CGI version of James Dean, actors in a Star Wars movie or the latest YouTube craze called Deepfake. What is Deepfake?  Well Wikipedia tells us "media that takes a person in an existing image or video and replace them with someone else's likeness using artificial neural networks. They often combine and superimpose existing media onto source media using machine learning techniques." In short, it's using CGI to make it look like someone you know is on screen.  Here's an example.  In the video below you can watch an interview conducted by Mark Ellis (he is real.)  The other celebrities in the room are not.  Jeff Goldblum, Tom Cruise, Ewan McGregor, Robert Downey, Jr. and George Lucas all appear to be talking about the status of streaming and what it means to them. There

STAR WARS - 30 CHARACTERS Top Trumps Amazon link If you grew up in the UK in the 70's and 80's then you were more than likely to have had a pack of Top Trumps at some point during your childhood.  Whether it was a Dinosaurs pack, horror creatures or simply high performance cars, Top Trumps were a popular thing back then.  It's good to see that Top Trumps is still going strong and seems to be a perfect fit for the large movie franchises such as Star Wars. That is exactly what we got here as our gift recommendation.  It's an inexpensive gift to give to someone and what's more you can have a game on Christmas day.  Just don't blame me if you end up arguing about who's got the strongest card. This fantastic pack of top trumps contains 30 playing cards featuring classic Star Wars characters. Compare fear and anger, honour, attitude, greed and top trump rating! Features a short overview of each character Contains Boba Fett and Jango Fett Features Ana

FORD v. FERRARI Starring Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Catriona Balfe, Jon Bernthal, Ray McKinnon,   Noah Jupe, Josh Lucas, Tracy Letts, Remo Girone Written by Jez Butterworth, John Henry Butterworth and and Jason Keller Directed by James Mangold Reviewed by Patrick  & Paul Gibbs   Out of Four In 1963, desperate to be a modern sensibility to their image, the Ford Motor Company approached Enzo Ferrari to propose a buyout.  The negotiations were cut short when  Enzo suddenly realized that the deal included the purchase  Ferrari's racing program, the champions at the 24 hours of Le Mans for 10 years running. Not one to accept defeat, Henry Ford II directed his team to build a race car capable of winning Le Mans.     Images Courtesy 20th Century Fox Enter Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon), the legendary automotive designer, who recruited the one driver he felt was up to the task: Ken Miles (Christian Bale), a brash and fiercely determined British race car driv