The Bearded Trio

One of my favorite "bumper sticker" sayings is that conflict in relationships almost always results from expectations not being met by one side or the other. I like that line of thinking because it can apply to almost any kind of relationship. As it pertains to this post, I am thinking about the relationship between fans of an Intellectual Property (IP) and the IP itself. I am thinking of this in relation to the premier of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi , which is just one week from today. The story of Obi-Wan Kenobi between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope is the one as-yet untold Star Wars story I most want to see told, and it's the one I most would want to take a crack at as a writer. The story of a Jedi who reached the greatest heights of his craft, only to suffer a failure of galactic consequences. And to make it worse, he has to live with the guilt of his failure for another 20 years. Ah, there it is. You see it? Me laying out my own expectations for this show, and t...

SpaceCamp Gets The Intrada Two Disc Treatment I will let you into a little secret.  I love a good training montage.  Most people when they think of such a thing will instantly go to the Rocky movies but for me its got to be SpaceCamp.  John Williams brings us a cracking two minutes training montage that never fails to bring a retro 1986 smile to my face.  Actually, I've always thought that the SpaceCamp soundtrack from John Williams often gets overlooked and it's a shame because it's a classic 1980's John Williams score.  Thankfully, the good folks over at Intrada are bringing out a two-disc special edition that will hopefully give it the love it fully deserves. For this release, producer Mike Matessino built the complete score program from Armin Steiner's original three-track film mixes, featuring a breathtaking and sweeping clarity to the score. This is featured on disc 1, along with three extras. Disc 2 presents the original RCA program as mixed for record by...

The show we were first teased about 14 months ago has finished its first season. As everyone was calming their emotions from seeing the return of Luke Skywalker in the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian , we got a post-credit teaser announcing the Disney Plus show The Book of Boba Fett . BOBF saw its first season come to an end Wednesday with the chapter In the Name of Honor. It was a fitting and satisfying end to a wonderful seven-episode run that saw Fett solidify his spot as the new boss of Tatooine while Din Djarin and Grogu sped off into space, awaiting that show's third season. What follows is a summary of the events and key character movements from The Book of Boba Fett's first season. Boba Fett: The Road Less Taken The show's structure gave us insights into not only Boba Fett in the present day, but picked up his story immediately after his plunge into the Sarlacc pit in Return of the Jedi. The flashback sequences filled in gaps I have wondered about for more than 3...

Jurassic World: Dominion Trailer A new trailer for Jurassic World: Dominion has dropped on the web and it's a cracker!  The full crew are back together and I'm not just talking about the Jurassic World characters but the Jurassic Park crew too.  It's going to be interesting to watch Alan Grant (Sam Neill,) Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum,) and of course Ellie Sattler (Laure Dern) running away from bigger (yes, they always go bigger) dinosaurs with Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dealing (Bryce Dallas Howard.) Expect dino carnage on 10th June 2022. The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

Top ten lists of an artist's work are never controversial. Nope. Never any discourse, disagreement or finger-pointing with these! But eh, I don't care. My top 10 list of John Williams Star Wars tracks is unique to me and needs neither validation nor dispute from anyone else Your list is 100 percent as legitimate as mine or anyone else's. That's the beauty of the art John Williams has created over his eight decade career of film music composition. You love what you love, and no one need love it like you do. So here is my list, with YouTube links for your listening pleasure. These tracks come from officially released John Williams tracks for the Star Wars films only. 1. City in the Clouds - Empire Strikes Back For me, the word "ethereal" was invented to describe this track.  We begin this track on Dagobah as Luke's Jedi powers are clearly growing. When used correctly, as it is here, the celeste might be my favorite musical instrument. It delicately plays as ...

I was nine years old, galloping down the carpeted stairs of my childhood home in Farmington Hills, Michigan. It was 1982. I was intent on getting a snack, but it was just a quick snack. The kind of snack that wasn't worth going all the way to the record player to lift the needle while you were out of the room. I wanted that music to already be playing when I returned to my bedroom with that coveted snack. "Heroics of Luke and Han" was coming out of my primitive little record player, from the soundtrack album Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980). As I started my sprint back up the stairs, my mom called to me. I think I defied the laws of gravity in stopping, waiting to hear about either the speed of my movement or the questionable nutritional quality of my snack. "I just wanted to say how nice it is that you're listening to classical music!" my mom declared to me, also hearing the bombastic music from my bedroom.  I paused for an indignant moment before ...

Book of Boba Fett Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes A Stranger Director: Dave Filoni Writer: Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni Air date: February 2, 2022 After viewing Wednesday's sixth chapter in Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett , some people have expressed confusion as to what the proper title of the show they're watching actually is. Don't overthink this. It's Star Wars, through and through . And with this chapter, From the Desert Comes A Stranger, the show's connections to the greater saga have never been stronger. Dave Filoni stepped into the director's chair and shared writing credits with Jon Favreau in this all-star episode, which welcomes characters and themes from every corner of the galaxy far, far away. The episode opens with Cobb Vanth, last seen in the season 2 premier of The Mandalorian , chasing away Pyke Syndicate spice traders from his Mos Pelgo territory. He's a quick draw with his blaster, dispatching three of the four Pyke agents. We then cut t...

Book of Boba Fett Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian Director: Bryce Dallas Howard Writer: Jon Favreau Air date: January 26, 2022 So, about the latest episode of The Book of Boba Fett - err, the season 3 premier of The Mandalorian - um, maybe both? Which was it? Doesn't matter. This was Star Wars at its finest, expertly woven together by director Bryce Dallas Howard. Wednesday's fifth episode of the first season of The Book of Boba Fett took a sharp turn from following the exploits, past and present, of Boba Fett on Tatooine as he went about resetting his life after escaping the Sarlacc Pit. In this chapter, we see another familiar character, also going through kind of a life reset in the form of Din Djarin, the Mandalorian, famous of the show from the same name, currently filming its third season. Return of the Mandalorian centers on Din after he delivers Grogu to Luke Skywalker in the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian . He has returned to his old bounty hunting ways, as...

Book of Boba Fett Chapter 4:  The Gathering Storm Director: Kevin Tancharoen Writer: Jon Favreau Air date: January 19, 2022 A plus. That was my overriding thought upon the conclusion of Star Wars The Book of Boba Fett: The Gathering Storm , which aired Wednesday on Disney Plus. The official halfway mark of this season also represented a high point of the show to this point, in my opinion. The loop between flashbacks and the present day is fully closed, as the episode opens in the flashback period and tells the stories of how Boba Fett partners up with Fennec Shand, reclaims his beloved ship Slave I and decides to pursue becoming a Tatooine crime boss. The flashbacks conclude with the post-credits scene from the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian , which show Fett killing Bib Fortuna and sitting on the throne that once belonged to Jabba the Hutt. There is so much good stuff in this episode's flashback sequences. Fett takes Shand to a mod shop where her blaster wounds are healed and ...

Book of Boba Fett Chapter 3: The Streets of Mos Espa Director: Robert Rodriguez Writer: Jon Favreau Air date: January 12, 2022 Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett nears the halfway mark in its run with Wednesday's third episode of the season, The Streets of Mos Espa. We spend much more time in the "present day" than in flashbacks in this episode, but it still delivers some truly gasp-worthy moments. The bone-white service droid 8D8, seen in Return of the Jedi  (1983) as the torture droid, catches us up on which factions control what territories around the bustling Tatooine town of Mos Espa. It's a good bit of exposition, giving us a better idea of the challenges Fett faces in uniting the territory under his rule. Fett goes on to recruit a band of teenagers on shiny and colorful mini-bikes to help him cover the territory. In the lone flashback sequence, we see Fett riding upon a Bantha, the preferred mode of transportation among the Tusken Raiders. Fett has clearly risen...

Book of Boba Fett Chapter 2:  Tribes of Tatooine Director: Steph Green Writer: Jon Favreau Air date: January 5, 2022 After a 38-minute premier episode, we got to enjoy a much longer second entry in the first season of Star Wars: Book of Boba Fett , Tribes of Tatooine, which aired Wednesday.  For 52 minutes, we dug deeper into Boba Fett's past and present, this time with just one changeover from the present day to the (more recent) past. I was pleasantly surprised to see the positive response this episode got from Star Wars discourse. My guess, upon viewing Tribes of Tatooine, was that the fandom would like this one less than the premier. The opposite was true, which reaffirms my complete inability to read which direction this fandom will go to a new slice of the story. In both the present day and flashback, we see Fett growing in confidence from the low points he was at in the first episode. In the present, Fett is more confident and assertive in Tribes of Tatooine, being more...

Book of Boba Fett Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land Director: Robert Rodriguez Writer: Jon Favreau Air date: December 29, 2021 For just over one (very long) year, Star Wars fans have awaited a show speculated about for nearly 20 years. A live action series with bounty hunter Boba Fett as the central character. The post-credit scene in the final episode of the second season of The Mandalorian confirmed The Book of Boba Fett would be a brand-new series on Disney Plus, and Wednesday, the show aired its first episode, Stranger in a Strange Land. I saw references to The Godfather as well as Iron Man in this episode, which I feel was a very strong opening to this seven-episode season. The episode is bookended by extended flashback scenes, taking place within dreams Fett is having while healing in a bacta tank. The center of the episode is the "present day," taking place right after the events in the aforementioned post-credit scene. The Boba Fett we meet in this episode is ...