The Bearded Trio

The first episode of the second half of the first season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch quickly resolves a cliffhanger from the last episode of the first half of the season. This episode, titled Bounty Lost, centers on Omega more than any other of the season, and creates some intriguing storylines for the show moving forward. It is also a direct continuation of last week's episode, perhaps more than any two sets of episodes in the season to date. The episode opens in space with a chase between Crosshair, still sporting bandages from damage he took last week, and the Batch's ship the Havoc Marauder. The group escapes a frustrated Crosshair as it intensifies its search for the abducted Omega. Omega is in the custody of notorious bounty hunter Cad Bane with his droid sidekick TODO-360, voiced by Seth Green. We discover Bane was under the employ of Kamino's prime minster Lama Su, who intends to get Omega back to Kamino so more of her DNA can be harvested before she is terminated. ...

Indiana Jones V and Why We Should Look Forward To It... I am excited for Indy V.  I know it's not directed by Steven Spielberg but hear me out.  It's an adventure movie that is heading for the big screen, that's a tick in my books.  It has Indiana Jones in it, that's another tick.  It has Toby Jones and he's a great actor (watch The Detectorists TV show to see what I mean.)  The movie is in good hands, I have faith in the director.   I'm not one that likes everything, honestly I'm not and I'm not being paid to write this or expecting freebies but I think an Indiana Jones movie on the big screen is exactly what we need right now or even just to look forward to.   Some had issues with Indy IV and I can see why (I liked it...I'm not convincing you that I like everything that comes my way...Honest!)  But I genuinely did enjoy Indy IV.  It has flaws but it was still good fun for a couple of hours but then I look at it like this...Let me ...

We are now at the halfway mark of the first season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch , and Friday's episode, Reunion, plotted a whole new course for the season going forward. Up until now, we followed the five members of the Bad Batch - Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Echo and Omega - on their path from Republic soldiers to struggling mercenaries who work for very little in order to just get by. The overriding plot point of the first seven episodes of the season was the group - clonetroopers from the Republic - breaking free of their inhibitor chips while staying off the radar of the newly formed Empire.  Reunion introduces an impactful new but old character, and raises the stakes for the group in a new and compelling way. We open by returning to Kamino, a place we haven't seen since episode 3. Imperial Admiral Rampart directs Crosshair, now an agent of the Empire, to take out the Bad Batch after their location was reported by Bracca's Scrapper Guild. Back on Bracca, Echo, Wrecker and Ome...

Paul Freeman, Harrison Ford, John Rhys-Davies, Ronald Lacey and Pat Roach at the UK Premiere of Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981. Karen Allen (Marion Ravenwood) on set of Raiders of the Lost Ark.  When you have an itch just out of reach, this will do nicely. Inside of the now famous Chachapoyan fertility idol that Indiana Jones goes after at the beginning of Raiders Of The Lost Ark. Douglas Slocombe along with Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford examine the Chachapoyan fertility idol. Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg in front of the The Bantu Wind, the weather beaten cargo ship Indy, Marion, and the Ark of the Covenant hitch a ride on in Raiders Of The Lost Ark Meal time on set.  During filming in Tunisia, nearly everyone in the cast and crew got dysentery or food poisoning, except a wise Steven Spielberg. He insisted on only eating out of cans that were shipped in from England. Karen Allen, Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford and John Rhys-Davies On Set Of Raiders of the Lost ...

George Lucas Feeling Unwell On The Set Of Raiders Of The Lost Ark George Lucas And His Sea Sickness On the fourth day of shooting for Raiders of the Lost Ark, cast and crew headed out to sea for what looked like a calm day, just like the day before.  Filming was on the Bantu Wind from June 23rd to the 27th, 1980.  Unfortunately, the conditions soon became rough.  The teams were divided into small boats, The Aiglon II was Spielberg's boat, Venus des Lles were the crews.  Safety boats, tugboats, and a dory were all used.  What is a dory boat?   A dory is a small, shallow-draft boat around five metres in length. George Lucas was on the dory. The dory was actually damaged during the day as the weather worsened and a large swell caused it to run into another boat.  Several people became ill including George Lucas.  He wasn't alone though as executive producer, Howard Kazanjian also came down with sea sickness.  So much that he spent t...

Karen Allen Gets Punched In The Face By Extra On the second day of shooting for Raiders of the Lost Ark, Karen Allen sustained a blow to her face.  Obviously accidentally while she struggled with Nazi extras on the set of Bantu Wind.  Ice packs had to be applied and thankfully the hit wasn't bad enough to stop her continuing with the filming. Considering it was the first location for filming Raiders of the Lost Ark, the days ahead on the Bantu Wind were challenging.  Seasickness, changeable weather conditions and to top it all, the weather services in France were on general strike.  Despite all this, time for the this particular location wrapped up fifteen minutes early even with extra scenes shot for Sallah's goodbye. If you want to find out more about the Bantu Wind and what happened to it you can read our article about the boat here. The Bantu Wind The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

How in the world does one put the power of sound into a written form that doesn't actually sound like anything? Well, I'm not sure, but I sure am going to try to do the genius work of Ben Burtt justice here. Here at The Bearded Trio, we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and the character of Indiana Jones. We tend to shine our spotlight, deservedly so, on three of the creatives behind one of cinema's transcendent characters - George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and John Williams. However, on the occasion of this anniversary, we're taking a look at other figures who played just as big a part in making the 1981 film, and Indy's character as unforgettable as they are. You can check out Rob's wonderful tribute to Director of Photography Douglas Slocombe on the site today. Ben Burtt landed his first big assignment as the sound editor of Star Wars: A New Hope (1977). He carried out George Lucas's marching orders t...

Douglas Slocombe And His Special Skills We often say how much of a genius John Williams is for the epic music he creates, or the directing talents of Steven Spielberg but movies that become classics are a collaboration of talented people at the peak of their skills and careers.   When you celebrate a movie franchise such as Indiana Jones which marks its 40th anniversary this year, we should thank the whole of the cast for the movies that we enjoy and here at The Bearded Trio we do thank them.  However, there should be a time when we pin-point particular talents that made the Indiana Jones movies unique in look, sound and feel.   Douglas Slocombe is one of those people that should be mentioned.  The look of the Indy movies is thanks to the talents of this lighting wizard. Slocombe, one of the best cinematographers of all time definitely put his stamp on Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom and Last Crusade as Director of Photography .  The look of ...

Friday's episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, "Battle Scars," to me, is the strongest episode since the season premier last month. We are reintroduced to an old friend, visit a new but familiar location and a long-simmering plot line finds resolution. The episode opens with the group flying the Havoc Marauder on the run from attacking ships, having just completed an off-screen mission to obtain an alien lizard. Echo fixes the hyperdrive and the ship escapes back to its home base and Cid. They deliver the lizard to Cid, who pays Hunter a fraction of what he believes Cid owes them. Hunter expresses frustration over how small their payment is while Wrecker and Omega escape to indulge in their end-of-mission tradition - enjoying what can only be described as "space popcorn."  While in Cid's cantina, the group is spied upon by a mysterious figure in a hood. It is revealed to be none other than Captain Rex, who tracked the group down via the Martez sisters, seen i...