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WWII Battles in Color: Blitzkrieg (2021)
Bad narration ruined documentary for mw
It had a promising start. However, the faux pas of referring to the German Panzer Mark III tank as a "Panzer 111 led me to stop watching in disbelief and disgust. Panzer 111? Seriously? Who wrote this narration? Fourth graders? I understand that WWII has faded in the public consciousness. However, if you are going to produce a WWII documentary, you should get the terminology correct.
The producers either couldn't hire a renowned expert on WWII or Military History, or at least crack some books on the subject. The are dozens of books on WWII military equipment alone by reputable sources.
The colorized film was not very good. I am spoiled by Peter Jackson's WWI documentary of a few years ago.
Stargate SG-1: Disclosure (2003)
The Best Clip Show Ever
Clip shows, are the bane of fans. They are cheap way to do an episode without having most of the cast there. This episode, Disclosure, is the exception. The plot is the threat of Anubis is great that General Hammond has to reveal the Stargate program to the British, Chinese, and French governments. The Russians already know. As General Hammond explains the Stargate program. The audience sees clips of episodes from the series pilot onward. Midway through the briefing, Senator Kinsey, played by Ronnie Cox, arrives to provide his negative spin on it. Hammond has a hold card, which he plays with relish.
This episode advances the story arc for the series. This is the seed story for the rationale of non-American characters from Earth in the Stargate franchise. T]
Leverage: The (Very) Big Bird Job (2012)
I sat in the pilot seat of the Spruce Goose!
The last season of "Leverage" starts off with familiar territory for me. In April 2012 my wife and visited that very museum where the Spruce Goose is the exhibit as depicted in the episode. I sat in the pilot seat and wore Hughes actual hat for a photo. So when the episode aired in 2012 we were jazzed by what we saw.
Nate and his crew had scattered after defeating their foes in last season's finale. Now based in Portland, Nate and company set up shop in a restaurant, bought by Hardison. They can't return to Boston because they are hot. The new target is an air cargo carrier owner that skimps on maintenance for his fleet that led their client's husband killed.
His weakness is old airplanes. In particular the Spruce Goose. Nate and company use that to get him.
Like previous seasons this one has a thread about tge changes relationships of the team. Nate and Sophie are now a couple as are Hardison and Parker. Eliot is using his interest in cooking to battle his personal demons.
2000 Mules (2022)
Must watch! Keep an open mind
Whether you believe the 2020 Presidential Election was stolen or not, you should watch this movie. The cellphone data is compelling. Despite detractors claims of inaccuracies, cellphone geo tracking has proven to be very accurate over the last few years.
While there is few minutes of video of people dropping ballots at 4 AM, there is enough to warrant an investigation.
I hope there is obe.
Doctor Who: Victory of the Daleks (2010)
I love this episode
I never saw the 1966 story arc that other reviewers have mentioned. I don't have a basis of comparison. I am a WWII historian and an aviation buff, I realize there are liberties taken. I really enjoy this episode. It's a fun. ***SPOILERS*** Of course the Doctor and Churchill are friends. Amy looks sexy in her outfit. Ian McNiece is fine as Churchill. The very cute WAAF is nice to look at. And the Daleks, all swishy in their new shells. Stealing the show are three very special Spitfires. Spitfires are icons in British history. If this was an American produced show it would be a B-17 or P-51.
This episode is part of the season long story arc involving a mysterious crack.
The Phil Silvers Show: Hollywood (1956)
Hollywood war films get a comeuppance
Pentagon public relation officers are loathing a new production in the works. Lately there seems to be a rash of war pictures that neither realistic not accurate. The latest production it's set on a South Pacific island and the Pentagon finds out that the only World War II that still on active duty is Bilko. The studio wants Bay campaign to be their technical advisor. So, Bilko is sent. Bilco proceeds to screw up the production to make his own participation the key element in the film.
There have been a lot of Hollywood-produced war pictures made in the 50s that made the war glamorous. That would eventually.
Hollywood is made fun of here. Since this series wss produced in NYC, they could get away with it. Silvers is spot in here with an able support by the guest cast and by Paul Ford.
The Phil Silvers Show: The Centennial (1955)
Thankless job of a morale officer.
The mid 1950s US Army was full of young draftees but no war. The peacetime draft led to the unintended consequences concerned parents and other citizens lobbied Congress protect draftees from "corruption".
Enter the morale officer. On "The Phil Silvers Show" the morale officer id the roadblock to Bilko's money making schemes. Morale officers come... and quickly go at Fort Baxter. The newest one is a little smarter than his predecessor. So Bilko uses his secret weapon, the history of fort Baxter. Why is this a secret weapon? Well, the history of fort Baxter is not a proud one. Bilko tricks the morale officer into producing a pageant since it's "coincidentally" the Fort's Centennial.
Colonel Hall, alerted to the production of the pageant is underway, confronts Bilko. The kernel knows the real history of Fort Baxter and knows it should not be published. As he put his foot down to stop the pageant, Hall finds out the morale officer has shut down his weekly card night with a night if culture that his wife approves. Hall gives Bilko the green light.
The morale officer gradually learns the true history of Fort Baxter as each epoch in the history of the post is revealed to him in rehearsals. He cancels the pageant and is transferred to another post. The episode ends with a new morale officer. The cycle continues.
Police Squad! (1982)
A Classic!
The series aired all too briefly in the early 80s. Too bad. Created by the same bunch behind "Airplane!" (1980), each episode is full of sight gags and strange humor.
The World Wars (2014)
What the they were thinking?
I used to be fan of the History Channel until it went full tilt into the realty TV craze. I waited with anticipation for The World Wars. What a waste of digital media or film. It's a steaming pile of (rhymes with hit)!
Others have discussed the inaccuracies of equipment used, wrong rank insignia, and such oversimplification that would make fifth grade history text book like my favorite professor's dissertation.
This documentary series should not only be avoided, but every known copy should be destroyed.
Eight Iron Men (1952)
Great War Flick That Highlights Future Stars
Eight Iron Men is a WWII movie about a weary understrength squad that faces a dilemma in the rainy ruins of an Italian town. When the squad Sad Sack is pinned down by a German machine gun, the Squad Leader (Lee Marvin) wants to get him back but it has to be with approval of their Captain (Barney Phillips). Tensions mount as the German machine gun crew takes pot shots at the trapped GI and hidden sniper has the American position in his sights.
The lead of this film was Bonar Colleano, Who? He plays the squad's girl happy wise-cracking member, Colluci. He daydreams about women lead to funny fantasy sequence.
As the Captain, a supporting roles by Phillips that the strain of command is gnawing at him. His graying temples is a physical manifestation of the stress. It has been argued he was too old for the part. If that is case then nearly every actor in this film was as well. Contrary to popularly belief, not every American company commander was in their early twenties. Some were older. Mature men were needed to lead younger ones. That usually meant men who were over thirty.
A interesting film that has been overlooked.
Stargate SG-1: 200 (2006)
Great self-parody
One of the reasons I love show is the cast and crew don't themselves too seriously. There are plenty examples of this throughout the series. 200 is the pinnacle of self-parody.
On the occasion of Mitchell's 200th trip through the gate, TV producer and ET refugee Martin Lloyd has arrived with a problem. He needs a help with movie script based on the failed TV series "Wormhole Xtreme" that he created a produced. He is hoping SG-1 could help him come up with a hit.
Mitchell and Vala are all for it the rest of the team not so much. As they pitch ideas we are treated with a vision of funny sequences. Former SGC and SG-1 commander Major General Jack O'Neill returns from Malibu to give them a helping hand.
All in all a fun break in action before the final thirteen regular season episodes and two movies.
Stargate SG-1: 2010 (2001)
Beware of the Aschen's gifts
It's the future! It's so bright. One has to wear... Oh wait maybe not. 10 years after SG-1 makes contact with the Aschen, an advance human civilization that rescue Earth from the goa'uld.
Carter is married. The Jaffa are free. Hammond is dead, Jack is retired, and Kinnsey is President. Kinnsey being President is worse than Hammond being gone.
Carter discovers the Aschen are systematically sterilizing the Earth's population, included herself, but doubling the life span and curing all the diseases at the same time.
What a better way to conquer a populated world? All you need is lots of patience, superb emotion control and complete disregard for other peoples.
Carter meets with the old team and Dr Fraiser. Sam recalls SG-1's trip to 1969 which happened because of interaction with a solar flare. The Aschen have the knowledge to predict solar flares accurately.
The final battle is bloody and final.
The Great Martian War 1913 - 1917 (2013)
Fun. Interesting idea. Made like a documentary on WWI
I thought this is a well executed program. At first I thought I was going to hate it due to the recycled footage. Then I remembered that WWI documentaries are stuck with the same problem. Movie cameras were bulky, finicky and needed the right light, etc.
Th interviews were pretty good. I like the use of lighting techniques to make the interviews look "old". Good performances all. I did like the two buddies from the American Frontiersmen.
As a long time alternate history buff, I liked it. Though I did see what I believe are flaws. Such as, where are the Russians? I don't think Tsar Nicky II would sit idly by while France is invaded and most of Germany destroyed. The late entry of the U.S.? An alien invasion has taken place, even Wilson would see there is no time to lose. The American Frontiersman was a nice touch. Though I think Teddie Roosevelt would have led it, health conditions not withstanding.
A good effort.
SeaQuest DSV (1993)
Not quite original but still a good show that NBC messed up
I agree with "Kylic" that the boobs at NBC didn't know what they had. However, I don't think the show was that original. To me SeaQuest was a redo of "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea." If you watch some episodes you might sea the resemblance. Not that I'm complaining: I liked that old show. A quick comparison. The Seaview was the most advanced sub -- as is "SeaQuest". Both explored the ocean, both fought bad guys. Both dealt with E.T.s, time travelers and weird science. The two leading men on each show were at times babe magnets. "Voyage" had a smaller cast especially compared to "SeaQuest" in season 1. But the crews did comparable duty. Though SeaQuest had an ensemble look to it.
All in a show a that was badly abused by a network.
Road to Avonlea (1990)
Great family show worth anyone's time
We started watching "Avonlea" four years ago on the Disney Channel. It is set on Prince Edward Island in the early 1900s and follows a young rich girl sent to live with her deceased mother's relatives. Originally, the show focused on the lead character, Sara Stanley, played by Sarah Polley, but eventually became an ensemble show. I was able to identify with the characters on the show because they reminded me of my relatives. One early episode "Proof of the Pudding," is an example of how the show strikes this historic chord with me. Another favorite character is Hetty King, Sara's spinster aunt, played by Jackie Burroughs. Hetty is full of opinions, some unkind, but she has a good heart and has three great loves. Her niece Sara, the King family, and Avonlea. She will defend these three with everything at her disposal, with her tongue as her most important weapon.
The show can be a bit slow, but it can grow on you. It did on me.
Rhubarb (1951)
screwball comedy--poking fun at baseball, superstition, and New York vs. Brooklyn
The movie is great fun. However, younger viewers, i.e Gen-Xers may not get some of the references. The plot is about a lovable but crusty industrialist, T. J. Banner, who finds a even more crustier cat which he names Rhubarb. When the man dies, six years later, he lives his fortune and baseball team, the Brookln Loons, to Rhubarb. Ray Milland plays the dead man's attorney Eric Yeager who is assigned as guardian to the the cat. The team resist the idea of being owned by the cat until Yeager convinces them that the cat is a good luck charm. Complicating matters is the late owner's daughter who was left with nothing and Yeager's fiancee, who is the teams manager's daughter, Polly Sickles, played by Jan Sterling, who is allergic to Rhubarb. This condition prevents the couple from marrying.
This movie is a skewed window on a bygone era. What I found amusing is that a TV broadcast broke away from a game during play for a commercial. Something I've never seen. Polly's reaction was no doubt standard for fans of that era.
Watch for the ending where Sterling's real-life husband, Paul Douglas, is sitting at a park bench, as Sterling, Milland, and Rhubarb walk by.