Anybody else tuning into Ken Burns' Vietnam tonight? His productions have often been excellent and some outstanding; not sure if enough time has passed for any American to revisit Vietnam with a fair eye but I have been waiting for this one to see if Mr. Burns can apply a fair and even hand.
Peter Coyote is narrating this one so that is a plus, at least IMO. David McCullough would have been even better but now in his mid- 80's, he has not narrated anything in some years, though he is active here and there as a guest historian.
It starts tonight and per the usual Burns documentary, runs on and off for the next 10 days or so; 10 episodes totaling 18 hours.
Brian
Oh man, I'd love to see that.~~Apparently it is/will be available on Amazon in the US
My wife and I watched the first ep last week. I was surprised at how interested she was in the show. Normally 'war stories' put her off but she raved at how well done this one is. I agree, most excellent! The different perspectives that Burns brings to this subject is fantastic.
~~Apparently it is/will be available on Amazon in the US
Most of Ken Burns productions are like this and are usually excellent. Even the ones about subjects you would not think you would like, he presents them in a neutral enough way, while preserving the essence and interesting content that they really are very easy to watch. I think the first one was about the Brooklyn Bridge back in the early '80's and there have been quite a few since. The Civil War is probably his most well known work but I have found others that are the equal of that, at least IMO.
I hope you recorded the episodes when they were broadcast because they often will not reappear for a long time after the initial showing, and his series are aired a bit stangely, with around five episodes per week until the series is finished. I grabbed the whole series on DVR and so did not pay attention to what days it was on but I think the next episode aired on the next night (Monday).
I am current at E6 I think and as has always been the case, the series is extremely even- handed and well- paced throughout. Honestly I was not sure any American could do a neutral overview of that conflict yet but I think he has managed to pull it off, or at least it seems so to me, viewing it with my own biases perhaps (I grew up right in the middle of that time and for a while, I thought I was going to get the 'all expenses paid trip to Southeast Asia myself' but missed it by 1 1/2 years).
Glad to hear you liked it. And as I said, it will be well worth your time to check out his other productions if you like this one IMO. The only one I have not been able to connect with is 'The West'.
Brian
Started WestWorld, since I now have HBO even though I didn't really want it but got it for "free."
Finished the Vietnam War last night.
Watched Gerald's Game, it was recommended to me. I would give it a solid meh. Well, maybe not quite that good. For whatever reason, it just did not float my boat, and frankly I just do not understand parts of it. Another Stephen King novel made into a movie and they have been all over the place; this one is on the 'less than stellar' side for me.
Brian
We watched this the other day and we concur with your 'meh'.
*****spoiler alert******
Although the scene where the wife gets her hand free of the handcuffs is NOT for the squeamish!
I might have tried using my legs to break the bedposts first...
Handcuffs are not allowed in my home.
Zip ties then?
We watched Guardians of The Galaxy 2 and Wonder Woman last night.
Guardians 2 was great! 5 stars.
Wonder Woman gets a meh and 3 stars.