The Bearded Trio

Peter Falk, the American actor most famous for his role as TV's scruffy detective, Columbo, has died at the age of 83. The actor died peacefully at home in Beverly Hills on Thursday night, his family said in a statement. He had been suffering from dementia for a number of years. Peter Falk won four Emmys for his cigar-chomping role as the deceptively bumbling Columbo, and was nominated for Oscars in 1960 and 1961.  Steven Spielberg directed an episode called Murder By The Book in 1971. In the 1987 cult classic The Princess Bride, he played a kindly old man regaling his sick grandson with a fairytale combination of swordplay, giants, a beautiful princess and fearsome rodents of unusual size. But for most fans, even his best-supporting actor nominations in Murder Inc and Pocketful of Miracles were eclipsed by his incarnation as the sleuth in the shabby mac with no known first name and the killer catch-phrase: "One more thing......

Steven Spielberg has revealed that it feels surreal that Raiders of the Lost Ark is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The Jurassic Park director spoke to the Los Angeles Times about the first instalment in the Indiana Jones franchise, stating that he cannot believe that the film was made 30 years ago. "It's really startling," Spielberg said. "Number one, it seems like it was only five years ago, it does not seem like 30 years ago. And the other great thing is I'm still close to everybody that made the movie." Spielberg continued: "I love how that Raiders family has stayed together for 30 years. We're all still the closest of friends." Raiders of the Lost Ark was the first of four Indiana Jones movies starring Harrison Ford as Jones. It was followed by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom , Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull . The 64-year-old is executive producing J.J. ...

"Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" (Disney) When Oscar-nominated director Rob Marshall came aboard as the new captain of the “ Pirates of the Caribbean ” franchise, he was immediately possessed by the siren call of one particular element in the script — beautiful mermaids. No one needs to explain cinematic possibilities of dangerous lust and predatory women to the director of “ Chicago ” and “ Memoirs of a Geisha ,” and when he took over the Disney buccaneer franchise he zeroed in on the script’s presentation of the magical aquatic creatures as a place to make his mark. “They are beautiful, seductive women but they use that beauty to lure men to their deaths,” Marshall said with an approving grin. “They are women but they are also animal. These are creatures and carnivores and they want to feed.” And when they feed, sailors in salt water are the main course. Marshall made the mermaids a paramount priority for Ben Snow ...

Thirty-seven years ago today, Director Steven Spielberg began filming “Jaws” in Martha’s Vineyard. The film went more than twice over its budget, but more than made up for it at the box office – and scared a generation of moviegoers.

The Lucasfilm Animation building in Singapore looks rather like a sandcrawler , don’t you think? This is just an artist’s conception, as groundbreaking occurred only this week. link http://www.neatorama.com/2011/04/18/the-new-headquarters-of-lucasfilm-looks-like-a-sandcrawler/

Just got back from the Sci-fi fair held at Newport South Wales.  What a great time.  I met Gerald Home who played Squid Head and Mon Calamari in Star Wars, Alan Ruscoe who played Plo Koon and numerous Doctor Who characters and Toby Philpott who helped control Jabba in Return Of The Jedi. Take a look at some of the photos and videos.  Feel free to leave me a comment or tweet on twitter. Gerald Home - Great guy who spent time to discuss his experience on Return Of The Jedi Hes the one on the left. Alan Rusco with me sharing a joke      Below are some more photos including a video of the fair.  Includes Daleks, K-9, a David Tennant look-a-like, Stormtroopers and errrr a bird! Thats the wife...in the middle Last time I try the "you don't need to see my identification" trick  David Tennant look-a-like Matt Holden has a face book page over at http://www.facebook.com/MH10th

 MT-32 version starts at 2:10 The title music from Monkey Island 2 played using both Adlib and the Roland MT-32 sound module.

Below are two videos showing the opening of Tie Fighter. Both are the Collector's CD-Rom version but listen to the difference. One is with a Gravis Ultrasound the other without. What a difference a decent soundcard made. Star Wars: TIE Fighter (Collector's CD-ROM) [1995] - Intro and Credits (Gravis UltraSound) TIE Fighter: Opening (Collectors' CD-ROM)

Cars 2 characters: Lewis Hamilton & David Hobbscap The Cars 2 character rollout continues with Lewis Hamilton and David Hobbscap, inspired and voiced by real life racers Lewis Hamilton and David Hobbs. HeyUGuys got the first look and official descriptions for both characters. With his striking black paint job, Lewis Hamilton is one of the coolest Cars cars ever. David Hobbscap, on the other hand, is a quintessentially British driver turned commentator.

The last episode of Season 3 of Clone Wars hides an Indy nod. Blink and you will miss it. Its near the end where you can see a crystal skull just like the one from the fourth Indy movie. Take a look...

 Video I compiled with music from the rare "Square Song" from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.

Karen Allen stars in the indie film White Irish Drinkers, opening Friday, March 25th. The actress is perhaps best known for playing Indiana Jones' love interest Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark and, more recently, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which also starred Shia LaBeouf as her son with Indy. Will we ever see her in another Indiana Jones film? Allen is open to the idea. "I would adore to do another one," she says. "I would be so interested to see where they take a story if we moved forward with Shia being introduced into the story now as our son, and Indy and Marion being married and where do you go from there." Allen's credits also include Animal House, but don't expect a sequel to the classic 1978 comedy. She says, "Our joke now whenever we get together as a group is that we're going to make a film called Animal Home, where all of us end up in an old age home together."

NEWPORT EASTER SCI-FI COLLECTORS FAIR Newport Leisure Centre - Easter Sunday 24th April 2011 50 Tables of merchandise from some of the best dealers in the UK. 501st Garrison will be at the show in full costume. Plus Daleks and other Dr.Who characters. Guests TBA £5 for adults, £2 for under 12s and under 9s free Opening Times 11.00 - 3.30 Tickets only available on the day. More information to follow

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This has been scanned from my personal collection. From 1990 Lucasfilm Club Magazine Number 11. Celebrates the 10th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back.

Super 8 Trailer Features Cocoon Music I personally cannot wait for this movie.  Super 8 will feel very retro.  Set in the 70's this will feel like an old fashioned Spielberg movie and that's no bad thing.  directed by J. J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg, and starring Elle Fanning, Amanda Michalka, and Kyle Chandler Super 8 hits theaters June 10, 2011 Set in 1979 Ohio, a group of six young children use a Super 8 camera to make their own zombie movie. One night while filming near a remote stretch of railroad tracks, the children witness a truck collide with an oncoming train leading to a catastrophic derailment. Amidst the fire and destruction, something inhuman emerge Watch the trailer and feel all warm inside as we return to the 70's and 80's with a hint of Close Encounters and The Goonies.  The music in the trailer is from Cocoon composed by James Horner.  Enjoy.  I cannot wait! Rob Wainfur

Rolling Stone magazine cover from October 1985 featuring a pondering Steven Spielberg