Got home late and started watching history of the French Foreign Legion...the Battle of Dien Bien Phu didn't turn out as expected.
Watched the Dokument for attacking Brest. Such Bravery By the US forces. Among other things clearing the mine fields during the night.
These youtube channels have a lot of WWII off the beaten path type stuff. Mark Felton Productions, The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered, Drachinifel, and Ruiter Productions.
We have been watching the dvd series we have of “The Sopranos” after years of it sitting aside. We have the entire boxed series. It was also on Comcast on Demand for free for a while. Also watching some free western and war movies on Comcast on Demand. Just finished watching “Apocalypse Now” yesterday. I had forgotten a lot of it and am still not sure if I consider it my favorite Vietnam war movie but it is right near the top for me. May watch “Platoon” soon as it is still offered there. Other good free WWII movies offered are, Saving Private Ryan, Patton, the original Midway, Schindler’s List, Fury, Battle of the Bulge, The Big Red One, Sands of Iwo Jima, Memphis Belle and Pearl Harbor, U-571 and Redtails.
Just finished going through the Band of Brothers series again. Didn't find anything that I didn't see before, but was aware of more historical inaccuracies from reading about them. Still very enjoyable all and all.
Finally watched the latest Midway movie..wasn't as bad as I was expecting but Woody Harrelson with that hair as Admiral Nimitz was awful and Etsushi Toyokawa as Admiral Yamamoto was ok but there was only one who pulled it off and that was the late Toshiro Mifune..as for the CGI throughout..sometimes wanted to grab my X-Box controller as a natural reflex...give it C+ for effort.
Also in regards to World War II series, I have been watching “World on Fire” from 9:00 to 10:00 every Sunday night on Public Television. (PBS) which on my Comcast cable here is channel 803. This is a series, which is excellent in my estimation. PBS produces excellent series, Downton Abbey being an example. The acting and story line keeps your interest in each episode with great sets, scenery, period dress and uniforms and arms. It involves families in Poland, Germany and Britain. It started with the invasion of Poland by Germany and also has a good amount of time devoted to the Polish Underground movement. It can be graphic at times. They did a pretty good job of portraying the evacuation of Dunkirk too. Helen Hunt is actually the only name among the actors and actresses that I recognize but all are very good in their roles. She plays an American correspondent working in Germany and Poland. There is also episodes devoted to the RAF and shows the spitfires in and out of their hangers. It is actually part love story in a way between this English soldier who has a Polish wife who, after they were married stayed behind to fight with the underground and to kill Germans.
I also enjoyed WOF on PBS and am glad a second season has been greenlit. Good acting, story lines and production values. Now the downside. Of late PBS has not stuck with WW II themed shows very long as both Home Fires ( 2 seasons) and Lies my Mother Told Me (1 season) were cancelled early, Foyle's War did go the distance but at it heart it was a mystery show which are very popular over there. It has two other small issues. Not quite jumping the shark (maybe jumping the river trout) they had two Polish soldiers trek all the way across Germany to reach the western front in time to experience the invasion of France. The other, BBC has something of a controversy brewing over what some have called excessive diversity (see the modern Doctor Who) for diversities sake over good story telling. The English girls best friend is a black woman, a American doctor in Paris is gay, who has a black Algerian lover, who is warned by a gay Nazi officer. Harry saves two black French Colonial soldiers at Dunkirk, taking one back home with him and then is sent to Poland by a Indian SOE major. So far the good has outweighed the agenda hires by a large margin and I hope they can continue.
The Greatest Generation, series of BBC documentaries, they are about 5 years old now but still amazing.
Rewatched tonight the Battle of Hue in 1968 on the AHC channel...my hats off to those U.S. Marines...outnumbered and who took a beating but persevered in the end.
Watched a really bad horror movie..it's called Flesh Feast from 1970. Only thing notable about this "B" movie that it was Veronica Lake's last movie..yeah that Veronica Lake ..a real sex symbol from the 40's. She plays a mad scientist who is working on developing maggots that prefer human flesh, while also asked to make a clone of Adolph Hitler (I warned yeah it was a "B" movie), but she has a big surprise for der Fuhrer...how did I miss this one at my local drive-in???
I've always read that maggots only ate dead flesh, making them useful for cleaning out wounds. Far as I know they have no preference among species (or as some would phrase it today, they don't commit speciesism) but I guess making them like live humans was Veronica's project
I've enjoyed the show, but I agree there were a lot of stretches. A few unlikely things are o.k..... There was a substantial Polish force in France in 1940, but most of them had either been overseas at the start or got out through neutral countries. Interesting to see Sean Bean (Richard Sharpe, Eddard Stark) as a pacifist; he always does a good job.
Spent downstairs today watching two war movies with some cold beer and nachos...first one is called "Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS" from 1975..I had heard of this twisted movie for years but finally decided to buy it..but after about 20 minutes was enough for me..if anybody is interested in buying it let me know..this is the Anchor Bay uncut version..next on my watch list was "War of the Dead" from 2011. Part of the Nazi zombie genre which was peaking at the time...it was ok...more shots fired than at the Normandy invasion I think...give it a C for effort.