The Bearded Trio

Brad’s April Escape - Part 18 April 28 - Solo: A Star Wars Story Each weekday this month, I’ll screen a film from The Bearded Trio Cinematic Universe and list 10 random scenes, characters, musical cues or performances that I particularly enjoy and look forward to upon every viewing. I’d love to hear similar little things you enjoy about these films, and hope you join me in this escape from the present-day world. Next up is my personal favorite Star Wars film of the Disney era so far, Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). Solo - An Introduction I'll admit to being in the majority when a spinoff film focusing on Han Solo was announced in 2014. "We don't need a Han Solo movie," was probably my scorching hot take at the time. Then in 2016 and 2017, the film went through some well-documented issues during production. Ron Howard was a known commodity to me as a director, and has a long history with Lucasfilm, which I thought was very cool, that he co...

Industrial Light & Magic Presents: Solo: A Star Wars Story I was lucky enough to get my hands on this gem of a book published by Abrams ,  It's called Industrial Light & Magic Presents: Solo: A Star Wars Story and I have to say it is easily as good as the other "behind the scenes" Star Wars books that you may have in your collection such as the ones by Jonathan W. Rinzler. The book is written by ILM guru, Rob Bredow who was the visual effects supervisor for the movie and in fact was nominated for an Academy Award for Solo: A Star Wars Story in 2019.  It goes without saying that Bredow is most definitely one of the most qualified to write a detailed book on the work that goes into bringing a Star Wars story to life and in particular the wonderful visual effects. The book really does feel like a fly-on-the-wall documentary and boasts a logical layout throughout its 256 pages.  From pre-production to production and finally the post-production, we get to see ...

Solo: A Star Wars Story will not be represented in the 'Best Original Score' category at the Oscars due to Disney/Lucasfilm missing the deadline.  Oops! According to Variety , the score from John Powell with themes by John Williams  was struck off the list of nominees after it failed to submit the score by the 15th November.  They say that misery likes company so they can feel slightly better in knowing that another three other movies will not be represented due to the same reason, Green Book, Mandy, and The Other Side of the Wind. First-round voting is underway for the Oscars and over 150 scores are in the mix.  Solo: A Star Wars Story, unfortunately isn't one of them.  Lets hope they get that Grammy that they've been nominated for. Voting ends at 5 p.m. Pacific time on Tuesday, Dec. 11. Shortlists will be announced by the Academy on Dec. 17. Source - Variety The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole ...

Win Solo: A Star Wars Story Soundtrack on CD We have another great competition and this time you can win the official soundtrack to Solo: A Star Wars Story on CD.  The score is composed and adapted by John Powell with John Williams making his magical contribution.  The track listing is: "The Adventures of Han" (composed and conducted by John Williams) "Meet Han" "Corellia Chase" "Spaceport" "Flying with Chewie" "Train Heist" "Marauders Arrive" "Chicken in the Pot" "Is This Seat Taken?" "L3 & Millennium Falcon" "Lando's Closet" "Mine Mission" "Break Out" "The Good Guy" "Reminiscence Therapy" "Into the Maw" "Savareen Stand-Off" "Good Thing You Were Listening" "Testing Allegiance" "Dice & Roll" How Do I Enter? To be in with a chance of winning the...

Relive the excitement of Solo: A Star Wars Story with this lavishly illustrated movie companion, on sale July In Solo: A Star Wars Story, Han Solo’s early life is explored as he first encounters Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, and the Millennium Falcon. Featuring: Character profiles and interviews including Alden Ehrenreich (Han Solo), Donald Glover (Lando Calrissian), and the movie’s director Ron Howard. Introduces new characters including Moloch, Dryden Vos, Lady Proxima, and Enfys Nest. Spotlights the movie’s new worlds. HARDBACK EDITION, 96 PAGES, $19.99, ON SALE JULY 24 ISBN: 9781785863011 DON'T MISS OUT! PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW! CLICK BELOW FOR THE RECOMMENDED BOOK RETAILERS: Amazon Barnes & Noble Books-A-Million Indigo - Canada ALSO AVAILABLE IN SOFTBACK EDITION! SOFTBACK EDITION 100 PAGES, $10.99 ON SALE JULY 3 The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

Vynl Solo: A Star Wars Story – Han Solo and Lando Calrissian The galaxy’s most famous smuggler and rebel pilot walk into an establishment for a friendly game of sabacc and arguably the most famous starship in any galaxy changes hands. And now you can bring both owners of the Millennium Falcon, not to mention the galaxy’s coolest frenemies, home for intergalactic hijinks and maybe even a rebellion or two against the Galactic Empire™. Coming in August! The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

A Personal Opinion On How I Feel About Star Wars S ome of our readers have asked me what my thoughts are on the current Solo movie, the current state of Star Wars and its fandom.  Well, here it is.  Some may not like it but this is just my opinion. I've seen Solo: A Star Wars Story and I liked it.  The end.  Want me to go on?  Well to be honest, it's a simple as that.  Okay, maybe a little elaboration is in order. It didn't leave me feeling as giddy as a school boy but I really don't think that has happened since...Well since I was a school boy.  You see I'm in my mid-forties now and that excitement, that anticipation for a movie just isn't there any more.  I look back with fond memories at myself being super excited for Return of the Jedi and having a huge smile on my face when the opening scenes played out in front of me.  That level of excitement for a movie has had its day, unfortunately, no matter how much I long for it.  I'm...

Making Tracks Episode Two Out Now O ur good friends at Fantha Tracks have released their second episode of Making Tracks and of course it's top quality listening.  Mark Newbold and Dave Tree return to talk all things Solo: A Star Wars Story - they snorkel into the story, so beware spoilers. They're joined by members of the Fantha Tracks team and friends as they look back at the Leicester Square press screening and midnight showing of Solo at Pinewood Studios, rejoin Rogue One director Gareth Edwards for the second part of our in-depth chat and head back to Empire Day as we catch up with Mosep Binneed performer Eileen Roberts at Dave Prowse's final convention. You can listen to the show on Soundcloud and if you prefer to download your podcasts then you can also do that here . For all the latest news and reviews head on over to http://www.fanthatracks.com/ The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

10 Facts About Han Solo And The Actors Who Played Him Solo: A Star Wars Story is out in cinemas as I type this and thankfully the vibe is good.  fans love the new movie directed by Ron Howard and to keep with the Han Solo theme, I've put together 10 random scruffy-looking facts about the character and the actors who've played him. 1. Who Auditioned For The Original Han Solo? We all know that Harrison Ford IS Han Solo but did you know there were some well known names that auditioned for the smuggler role?  Al Pacino was one and Nick Nolte had a shot too.  Others were Christoper Walken, Sylvester Stallone, Robert Englund and Kurt Russell.  You can watch that audition below: 2. The Door Was Opened For Harrison Ford...Literally After working on American Graffiti, Harrison Ford made an impression on George Lucas.  But it was an installation of a door that helped Ford get the ball rolling for the part of Han Solo.  You see, Ford was installing a...

NEXT BFI FILM ACADEMY FUTURE SKILLS TRAINEE PROGRAMME WITH LUCASFILM ANNOUNCED FOR ‘STAR WARS EPISODE IX’ Trainees on Solo: A Star Wars Story join cast members Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Thandie Newton onstage at BFI Southbank tonight A t a special presentation of Solo: A Star Wars Story at BFI Southbank tonight the BFI and Lucasfilm announced the next round of the pioneering BFI Film Academy Future Skills programme. Designed to give opportunities for a career in film to under-represented young people from all over the UK, the programme will have places for 30 new young people, the majority who are graduates from the BFI Film Academy, to work as paid trainees in a variety of craft and technical roles on the next Star Wars film, Episode IX, in production at Pinewood from July 2018. This follows a hugely successful pilot of the programme with Lucasfilm on Solo: A Star Wars Story in 2017, in UK cinemas from 24th May 2018, which placed 28 trainees in production roles ranging from Soun...

SOLO: A Star Wars Story Starring Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo and Paul Bettany Screenplay by Johnathan Kasdan and Lawrence Kasdan Directed by Ron Howard Reviewed by Paul & Patrick Gibbs   Out of Four As most people know by now, the second Star Wars  anthology film has been plagued by controversy since the surprise firing of the film's co-directors, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, best known as the directors of The Lego Movie and the 21 Jump Street films. The duo were quickly replaced by Academy Award winner Ron Howard, but this didn't stop the negative buzz on the internet, much of it centring around the film's star, young Alden Ehrenreich. Some internet fans were outraged and disappointed.  There was weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth and wild rumors that Ehrenreich couldn't act, complaints about Howard being a lousy director with no sense of style (a persi...

Tour The Falcon With Donald Glover To help promote the imminent release of Solo: A Star Wars Story, the official Star Wars YouTube channel have released a short video showing Donald Glover (young Lando Calrissian) touring the Millennium Falcon. It's only one minute and forty five seconds but what it does show in that time is how impressive this actual set is and how well thought out it is with minute detail.  How about those guest quarters?  Glover also visits the kitchen which is a first.  I've never thought of the Falcon having these kind of facilities.  Of course the Falcon has a kitchen, can I get some blue milk over here? Solo: A Star Wars Story. See the film in theaters May 25. The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

Solo: A Star Wars Story Presales Are The Second Biggest Of 2018.  Beaten Only By Avengers: Infinity Wars. The news will be a welcome relief for Lucasfilm and Disney as the whispers were Star Wars: A Solo Story was going to struggle.  The movie hasn't had the mega build up the other Star Wars movies from Disney have enjoyed and the production has seen its fair share of trouble.  A director change happened during shooting.  Ron Howard took over from Phil Lord and Chris Miller after only three weeks of shooting. The movie is said to have taken double the tickets of Black Panther during the first 24 hours of sales. Board the Millennium Falcon and journey to a galaxy far, far away in “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” an all-new adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy. Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo befriends his mighty future copilot Chewbacca and meets the notorious gambler Lando Calri...

Star Wars: Force for Change to Donate Up To $1 Million to Support UNICEF Disney store Offers ‘Roar in Store’ Discount on all Star Wars Products to Celebrate Star Wars Day Lucasfilm and Star Wars: Force for Change today announced Roar For Change, a global challenge in support of UNICEF. The initiative invites fans and families to share their own version of Chewbacca’s iconic roar. For each public post, like, or share on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter that includes #RoarForChange between May 3 - 25, 2018, Star Wars: Force for Change U.S. will donate $1 to UNICEF USA, up to $1 million. Funds will be used to support UNICEF’s lifesaving work for children around the world. “Every year, May 4th has seen fans across the globe become Forces for Change and rally around good causes,” says Paul Gainer, Head of Disney Consumer Products Commercialization. “This year, as part of the countdown to the launch of Solo: A Star Wars Story, we’re giving them a fun way to support UNICEF while celebrati...

Join director Ron Howard, screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, and stars Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover and Emilia Clarke as they talk about Han Solo’s rite of passage to become the galaxy’s most beloved scoundrel in “Becoming Solo,” a fun, new featurette for “SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY.” Board the Millennium Falcon and journey to a galaxy far, far away in “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” an all-new adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy. Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo befriends his mighty future copilot Chewbacca and meets the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian, in a journey that will set the course of one of the Star Wars saga’s most unlikely heroes. The film stars Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo, and Paul Bettany. Ron Howard directs “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” and Kathleen Kennedy, Allison Shearmur and Simon Emanuel...