The Bearded Trio

E.T, the heart-warming story of a friendly extraterrestrial who is stranded on Earth, has beaten modern blockbusters such as Shrek and Finding Nemo to be named the greatest ever children's movie. The 1982 classic, which was directed by Steven Spielberg and launched a young Drew Barrymore's Hollywood career, became famous for the phrase "E.T, phone home." In the film, a group of young children look after E.T and attempt to get him back to his home planet. Second place in the poll went to Pixar's 1996 hit Toy Story , followed by Disney classic Mary Poppins , with The Lion King and The Wizard of Oz completing the top five. A spokesman for www.onepoll.com, which carried out the research, said: ''The films featured in the poll span across decades and all have something special about them. '' E.T is a movie the whole family can gather around to watch and it never fails to bring a tear to someone's eye....

Steven Spielberg has admitted that he was impressed by Avatar. The movie, directed by James Cameron, has broken box office records and was nominated for nine Academy Awards. According to Showbiz Spy, Spielberg has now praised the film. "I say thank goodness for Avatar," he said. "It is such an inspiration for all of us. I really think Jim has changed the industry forever, in a good way."

Steven Spielberg has warned his new TV miniseries The Pacific is more gruesome than Band Of Brothers. The 10-part series, which begins on Sunday, carves its own path across a lesser-known theatre of war than Band Of Brothers, which was also executive produced by Spielberg and Tom Hanks and dramatised the true story of a company of paratroopers fighting in Europe. "We want the viewing public to be prepared that there is a level of savagery in The Pacific that is more intense than in Band Of Brothers," Spielberg said. He went on: "Anything less than the graphic nature of that war, or for that matter any war, would have been met by scorn by the veterans who fought in it. "We only told a partial story in Band. My own relatives were saying to me, 'We all fought in the Pacific. That's a different story. It was jungle warfare.'" According to Hanks, the Pacific theatre they faced was far different from the European one. "The war in the Pacific was more...

Star Wars: In Concert, the unique multi-media event featuring music from all six of John Williams' epic Star Wars scores, returns to North America on May 13, 2010 in Ft. Myers, Florida (May 13), beginning a fifty-city leg of the worldwide tour that will include dates in the United States and Canada. Over 350,000 Americans attended Star Wars: In Concert during its three-month inaugural 47-city North American tour last year, which Pollstar rated as the 9th biggest tour of 2009 in January. The tour's return to North America follows a month in Europe -- from March 7 to April 8, 2010 -- with stops in Dublin, Liverpool, Glasgow, Paris, Madrid, Lisbon, Milan, Antwerp, Hamburg and the O2 Arena in London, where it began one year ago. The production features a full symphony orchestra and choir, accompanied by specially edited footage from the films displayed on a three-story-tall, high-definition LED super-screen -- one of the largest ever put on tour. The footage actually runs in sync w...

Composer John Williams is interviewed by Gene Shalit, circa 1997. He discusses his association with Steven Spielberg and is seen conducting excerpts from "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Jaws," "Superman," and "E. T."

Steven Spielberg's "Nine Lives" may find a second life at NBC. Four years ago, Syfy (then Sci Fi Channel) announced a greenlight for "Nine Lives" as a 12-hour miniseries to air in 2007. The project, with Spielberg on board as an executive producer, revolves around a group of people who find a way to reunite with their loved ones in the afterlife through near-death experiences, but those journeys unleash an evil force. "Nine Lives" ultimately didn't go at Syfy, but it has sparked interest at sibling NBC. Writer Les Bohem is reworking his script for a broader broadcast audience. NBC won't make any decision until reading the latest draft, but it's eyeing "Nine Lives" as a direct-to-series vehicle as part of a new strategy to do more event-type drama projects.

LucasArts has announced plans to publish a third multi-platform game in the Lego Star Wars franchise. Titled Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars , the game will be released on the Wii, DS, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360 and PC in autumn 2010. Developed by Traveller's Tales, the new title will include all the characters from animated TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars , as well as other popular figures from the Star Wars saga. Players can become a Jedi Knight or Separatist Fighter and make use of all-new character abilities, such as squad command, lightsaber slicing and long distance Jedi attacks. The game will also feature an upgraded level builder facility enabling the creation of customised bases and battlefields for head-to-head combat. "The Lego Star Wars franchise is a massive hit with fans, bringing in sales of over 20 million units worldwide," said LucasArts president Darrell Rodriguez. "We're thrilled to extend this experience to Lego Star Wars III: T...

Kenny Baker Answers Our Quick Fire Questions We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to ask Kenny Baker some quick fire questions. Big thanks to Ken Mills author of Tiny Acorns for making this all possible. Ken said "It was a refreshing change not to get the usual "Was it hot in the robot in the desert ? " We wanted to try something different so here goes: What was your favourite Star Wars moment? Favourite Star Wars moment was receiving the first pay cheque - £20,000 which couldn't have come at a better time and helped buy the house outright. What was your least favourite moment? Least favourite thing was having to wear the Ewok costumes - they were so uncomfortable . What is the most unusual thing you have been asked to do by a fan? Being asked to sign certain parts of ladies anatomies ( cleaned up ) Although you have worked with so many superstars over the years, is there still someone you would love to work with? Who would I loved to ha...

British film executive Gareth Wigan, behind such movies as Chariots of Fire, Star Wars and Alien, has died at the age of 78 following a brief illness. "He was there for me when I needed him and I'll always be grateful," said Star Wars director George Lucas. Barbra Streisand, director of Prince of Tides which Wigan worked on, said he was "one of the smartest, kindest, most loving people I have ever known." A pioneer of global cinema, Wigan also backed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The film's director Ang Lee said: "Gareth Wigan was a unique figure in the movie business. He was a true English gentleman, a great soul. He made quality films, and he was also a pioneer of studio investment in foreign films." Memorial service Martin Scorsese also paid tribute: "I have fond memories of our work together on The Age of Innocence. I've often wished we could have worked on another production as I've always had great admiration for Gar...

Oh I have fond memories of The Jurassic Park Ride. My wife, on the other hand doesn't. You see I managed to convince her to join me on the ride at Universal Studios, Hollywood. It starts off gentle, a nice sedate ride but I forgot to mention the rather steep drop at the end. All I can remember was her saying "I want to get off" as we were climbing. Nasty? Yes, but she's got me back plenty of times since then.

by Rob Wainfur Well lets get one thing straight here. I have no doubt that 3D is the way of the future. Having watched Avatar you can't help but think that anything else is, well, just flat! But come on! A Jaws remake in 3D? You see I'm a bit worried here. In the eighties there was a time when 3D was the talk of the movie industry. Movies started coming out in 3D, every other sequel was in 3D and they were bad, VERY BAD! The best you could hope for was some character on screen pointing a stick at the screen or something being thrown at you. It was terrible and the story was non-existent. 3D movies dwindled away as the viewing public lost faith and interest. Now I just hope the same thing doesn't happen again. You see riding on the success of Avatar, film companies are green lighting a lot of movies in 3D especially remakes. Halloween 3D, Swamp Thing 3D, Re-animator 3D, The Gate 3D to name a few and now there is a rumour of Jaws being remade in 3D. Acco...

Goonies Remake On The Way? We've been hearing about a "Goonies" remake for a while, one that would focus on the kids of the original characters. And during a press junket for "Percy Jackson and the Olympians," director Chris Columbus confirmed that he and Steven Spielberg have been working on ideas. " I'd love to see another Goonies movie out there, " said Columbus. " The kids would have to be the parents, and their kids would be the Goonies. We just need something, as Steven [Spielberg] said the other day, he said, 'How do you beat finding an entire pirate ship filled with treasure underground? What can be as exciting?' So we have to come up with something that can be equally as exciting. What can be the next adventure? " Unfortunately, until there is a story, the "Goonies" remake is nothing more than just wishful thinking. " I'm not working on it, " added Columbus. " Everybody is coming to m...

by Rob Wainfur Lets get the one criticism out of the way. James Horner's Avatar soundtrack sounds very similar in places to his other work especially Titanic. He has been criticised before for re-using his material. But you know what? I don't care. Why get criticised for re-using stuff if the material in the first place is spectacular? I for one am pleased because I know if I listen to a James Horner soundtrack I am getting top class music consistently. Avatar is no exception. In fact I would probably go as far as to say that this is his finest work. Horner use of a jungle rhythm and ethnic choir voices combined with his signature long cues make this a soundtrack for every one's collection. The soundtrack can be split into three. The first few tracks are soft and a build up to the experience of Pandora. Once the movie enters Pandora then the soundtrack really shines. Uplifting, happy, spiritual music that will make you want to watch the movie again and again...

Steven Spielberg on Gremlins Remake "I spoke to Steven Spielberg a couple days ago and said, 'You know, I've been reading on the internet about this 'Gremlins 3D' and no one's approached him either, so I don't know if that's really true," said Columbus. "Maybe it's going on behind our backs." It's very unlikely that a "Gremlins" reboot would happen without the Spielberg knowing about it, but it doesn't mean that Spielberg and Columbus would not want to give the franchise another shot. "It would be fun to go back and revisit them," said Columbus. But he warned that if someone makes another installment to not go down the CGI route. "Something like 'Gremlins,' which is a movie I really like, I think it's impossible to recreate in a CGI environment," Columbus continued. "I think it will inevitably lose some of its charm. Those are edgy Muppets in a sense and you don't want t...

Zachary Quinto has reportedly been cast as George Gershwin in Steven Spielberg's biopic of the famed composer. The Star Trek actor will lead the cast of the Dreamworks feature, which will tell how Gershwin and his brother Ira were responsible for more than a dozen Broadway shows, including Strike Up The Band , Funny Face and Show Girl . Gershwin passed away in 1937 at the age of 38 following surgery to treat a brain tumour. He received a posthumous Oscar nomination for his song 'They Can't Take That Away From Me', which featured in Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musical Shall We Dance . Doug Wright wrote the script for the untitled Gershwin movie, which is one of three projects Spielberg is considering directing this year. Tags: steven spielberg , quinto

Veteran film producer David Brown, whose credits include Jaws and Driving Miss Daisy , has passed away at the age of 93. The star died at his home in Manhattan, NY on Monday after battling with a long illness. He also introduced Elvis Presley in Love Me Tender and Steven Spielberg as a now Oscar-winning director to the big screen. Brown, who was born in New York City, was married for more than 50 years to Cosmopolitan editor, author and sole survivor Helen Gurley.

D reamWorks has launched a nationwide casting call for its upcoming action drama Reel Steel. Director Shawn Levy and his fellow producers are searching for the role of a ten-year-old boy to star opposite Hugh Jackman (pictured). Real Steel is set in a future where robot boxing is a popular spectator sport. Jackman plays a former boxer who reunites with his long-lost son to train a unique robot for a championship fight. John Gatins wrote the screenplay. Levy is producing with Don Murphy and Susan Montford, while the executive producers are Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey, Josh McLaglen and Mary McLaglen. Child actors can make themselves known either by submitting a videotaped audition or attending a series of open calls in Chicago and New York later in the month.

These congratulatory pieces of artwork are almost a tradition between big directors. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have exchanged similar compliments in the past. This one is of course for James Cameron from George Lucas

Gold THX Logo with The Audience Is Listening and Lucasfilm, fantastic wallpaper or to print out for your cinema room.