Showing posts with label nonfiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nonfiction. Show all posts

When the Forest Ran Red: Washington, Braddock & a Doomed Army Review

When the Forest Ran Red:  Washington, Braddock and a Doomed Army
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This is an one of the best French and Indian War Videos on the Market Today. It combines historical accuracy, period costumes and settings, action-packed battle scenes and a great story line that holds the interest of military buffs, and anyone interested in the history of pre-revolutionary America. Robert Matzen brings together a great cast of re-enactors, writers and historians to make this documentary an unequaled success. This film is NOT your run of the mill off the shelf documentary. It reveals facts about Braddock, Washington and the other major players that were even new to me after studying this topic for over 20 years. I give this film the highest rating of 5 stars because it is a great film and reveals an important part of our history at a time in our own history when every American should be learning about our heritage.

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'When the Forest Ran Red' chronicles the quest of the British, French, and Native American Empires to possess the American wilderness 20 years prior to the Revolutionary War.Conflict ignites as 22-year-old George Washington steps onto the world stage as the murderer of a French emissary.In the subsequent battle of Fort Necessity, the emissary's brother leads a French army that defeats Washington.These events lead to the 1755 campaign of British General Edward Braddock and George Washington against the French in the heart of the wilderness.The French and their Native American allies watch Braddock's powerful army move ever closer.With the British a day away, a charismatic French officer leads his French/Indian guerrilla force in a desperate attack on Braddock's column.The resulting battle will change the course of American history.Set in the times of 'The Last of the Mohicans,' the film documentary 'When the Forest Ran Red' tells a haunting and tragic story of men and women caught in a desperate situation.This co-production of Paladin Communications and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania was shot with the cooperation of the National Park Service, Colonial Williamsburg, and Mount Vernon.Fred Anderson, recipient of the 2001 Francis Parkman Prize for his book 'Crucible of War,' provides commentary as does R. David Edmunds, Native American scholar and author of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated 'The Shawnee Prophet.'More than 25 units of living historians also appear, as does the work of Eastern Frontier artist Robert Griffing.Award-winning Hollywood actor Michael Rothhaar (Ally McBeal, Family Law, Space Jam) provides narration and dramatic interpretationOriginal period music recreations were provided by the Philadelphia folk band Broadside Electric and by The Colonial Williamsburg Fifes & ! Drums.'When the Forest Ran Red' earned a 2001 Silver AXIEM AWARD for Excellence in Educational Media. 2001, 59 minutes, Film and DV CAM, Color.

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Crossroads - A Story of Forgiveness - Hallmark Review

Crossroads - A Story of Forgiveness - Hallmark
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I found this to be a very moving film that I think many people (especially teens) should see as it might just make them think twice about speeding and dangerous driving. Its also quite inspirational as what the main character (and real father) did seems impossible to most of us but he managed to do it. Makes you wonder about the silly grudges we all have. Also thought Dean Cain was brillliant. I'm a huge fan of his anyway but thought this was one of his best performances.

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One Nation Under God (2004) Review

One Nation Under God (2004)
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With the ludicrous "Truth in Love" campaign now fully underway, this video is a must-see for anyone who wants a more full understanding of the concept behind ex-gay ministries. As shown in the video, many of the original founders of groups such as Exodus are no longer associated with those groups and debunk their "conversion" therapies. Although I found some of the ideas that these "ex-gay" ministries espouse to be silly and ridiculous, I thought the video was not as "funny" or "hilarious" as the box quotes make it sound. Rather it was a chilling wake-up to the way certain religious groups in our country are preaching hate and intolerance in the thinly veiled form of "Ex-gay" ministries. Ever more frightening is that many of these groups are growing every day...

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{WINNER! Audience Award-Best Documentary, 1993 San Francisco Int'l Lesbian & Gay Film Festival}ONE NATION UNDER GOD takes on the history of the religious right in America and the techniques they've used over the past fifty years to try to change gays and lesbians into straight people. ONE NATION UNDER GOD provides a historical context as well as political analysis of the frighteningly large and well-financed anti-gay campaign being waged by the religious right and conservative political leaders, who are "curing" gays and lesbians in the name of Family Values, Morality and Patriotism. It analyzes the underlying social and cultural factors that have contributed to the persistent and harmful myth that gay people are somehow damaged and can be "fixed.""Reparative therapies" such as "orgasmic re-assignment therapy" sound too humorous to be taken seriously. Yet, they are part of a system of destructive aversion therapies that includes exorcisms, beauty makeovers for butch lesbians, football for gay males, and other truly frightening methods that have been used to cure, discourage and stigmatize homosexuality.Interviews with people involved in the ex-gay movement, including the former ex-gays Michael Bussee and Gary Cooper. Bussee and Cooper were the founders of Exodus International, a large ministry aimed at changing gays into straights, but renounced the group after falling in love. Gary and Michael state, "We learn three messages growing up gay. First, don't be gay. Second, if you're gay be miserable. Third, if you're not miserable shut up!" By combining such insightful interviews with archival footage from the 1950s and 1960s in a stylish mixture of humor and horror, ONE NATION UNDER GOD not only entertains and enlightens, but also celebrates diversity and promotes a sense of shared values.

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The History Channel Presents The Revolution (2006) Review

The History Channel Presents The Revolution (2006)
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A great examination of the American Revolutionary War by the History Channel. Includes interviews with historians, battlefield maps and examinations of troop movements, letters from the battlefields, and actor portrayals of battles and historical figures.
The Revolution starts out with the examinations of the cause of the revolution, such as colonial resentment of taxes levied after the Seven Years' War without any representation. It follows this through the forging of the Declaration of Independence and the battles of the Revolutionary War. It finishes up with the problems facing the nation after the war.
I don't think I had a good enough realization in school with how hard times were for these soldiers as they waged war. This video goes into detail with the troubled supply lines that plagued Washington's army, the heavy desertion and mutiny (which Washington clamped down on with some extraordinary tactics), and the many failed battles that occured in the first few years of the Revolutionary War. It covers internal conflicts between such characters as Horatio Gates and George Washington.
Also discussed are Benjamin Franklin's efforts in France to recruit the French navy and John Paul Jone's foray into Britain and Ireland.
The first half of the series covers the battles in the north and the remaining few episodes discuss how the battles move south into Savannah, the back woods of the Carolinas, and finally Yorktown.
One problem with the series is that they tend to recycle the interviews and footage throughout.
US history books tend to lionize the founding fathers, but this series (and books such as the Founding Brothers) show how none of these people was perfect, and shows their faults as well as their strengths. I came away with this series (which I downloaded from iTunes, BTW) with a much better understanding of the Revolutionary War.

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