A Series Of (Un)Fortunate Reviews

The Crimson Field is a British mini-series that aired on PBS recently.  The BBC commissioned the mini-series as part of its special programming in observance of the centenary of World War I.  Apparently the series did not receive good reviews in the British press.  And I guess it didn't get very good ratings either because it's not coming back for another season.  I've heard that some people have started a petition to get the BBC to bring it back, but I don't think that's going to happen. I think I mentioned this program or other programs set during World War I in my review of ANZAC Girls .  At first I wasn't going to review The Crimson Field because I just reviewed another mini-series and also TCF is six episodes long.  However, after viewing the first episode, I had opinions, and I need to vent about some characters.  So now I'm reviewing it.  I'll be splitting it into three more posts, each of which will cover two episodes. While ANZAC...

Episode 3: Independence The episode opens on the green in Lexington with the shot heard round the world.  Unfortunately, the redcoats pretty much roll right over the colonial militia men in what turns into a bloody massacre that is a short stop for the British as they march on toward Concord.  The rebels' munitions stores at Concord needs to do some fancy footwork to hide all the guns from the redcoats.  Paul Revere, Hancock, and Sam Adams (very) narrowly escape being taken captive (again).  Revere and his band hide out in the woods (again narrowly avoiding the redcoats) as they watch the regulars tear the farm turned munitions stores apart in a futile attempt to find the rebels' guns.  This time it is the rebels who run the British off rather than the other way around. General Gage is none too happy when his troops slink back to Boston with their tails between their legs and licking their wounds.  Meanwhile, the second Continental Congress meets in P...

I just want you all to know that every time I type the title of this mini-series for the blog post title, I always type "Sons of Library."  So I think that should be the title of History Channel's next mini-series. Episode 2: The Uprising The Boston Tea Party commences when Sam Adams and friends seize a British ship and proceed to dump its cargo in Boston Harbor.  In retaliation the British prime minister back in London, despite Ben Franklin's futile ministrations on behalf of Boston, dispatches the "cancer" otherwise known as General Gage to Boston with more troops to bring the city to heel. After relieving the governor of his duties in Boston and putting the city under military rule (for all intents and purposes really), Gage attempts to placate the Sam Adams problem by buying the man off.  This fails miserably, and so Gage decides the next best thing is to send a message to the city and its citizens by publicly flogging a man caught stealing.  In ...

Episode 1: A Dangerous Game The British have put out an arrest warrant for Samuel Adams, tax collector, because he hasn't been collecting taxes.  That is, rather than put his friends out of their homes or businesses or throw them in jail when they can't afford to pay, he lets it slide.  And now the British want their money and have come to Sam to collect the debt.  Instead Sam leads his would be captors on a wild chase through the streets and over the roof tops of colonial Boston eventually eluding them when a mob of colonials chases the British regulars back to the governor's mansion.  The soldiers grab up the governor and skedaddle before the mob descends on the mansion.  And so begins Boston's ever escalating British problems. Following the failed arrest of Sam Adams and the ensuing debacle that ended with the mob taking apart the governor's mansion, the governor decides to approach the Sam Adams problem from a different angle.  The governor reache...

It's been a while since my last post.  I took two classes this summer, and I didn't really have a lot of time to read anything other than class assignments, especially after the second class started.  I've been reading the same book since May and have picked that one back up after the end of the second class.  So there will be a review for that one eventually. I recently watched History channel's mini-series, Sons of Liberty (for which I've now typed 'Sons of Library' twice).  Prior to Sons of Liberty I watched the movie Seventh Son , which stars Ben Barnes (of Prince Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia fame) as the apprentice and seventh son of a seventh son of the title.  Ben Barnes also stars in this mini-series as Sam Adams.   Anyway some people watch this mini-series and are all 'so many errors--it's so bad.'  People.  I realize History channel didn't advertise this fact (it sounds like they buried it a little bit), but it's...

I'm not sure how I ran across this mini-series.  I think I was looking at something on Amazon, and this was one of the recommended titles or something like that.  I thought it would be something a little different from the usual English period dramas that I watch.  With the centennial of the beginning of the first World War, there are several mini series and such that have been released--most are Australian or British productions.  Hollywood tends to focus more on World War II (there are always World War II movies coming out every year... hardly any about World War I with the recent exception of Spielberg's War Horse ).  There is also the upcoming mini-series  The Crimson Field which will air this summer on PBS about a British nurse (I think) serving in a military hospital in France during World War I.  It's based on a true story.  As it happens Anzac Girls is also based on a true story originally told by Peter Rees in his book, The Other ANZA...

If you missed the first installment of this review, please click here to catch up or you can scroll down through the blog to catch it. In episode 2: The magistrate continues and concludes his investigation of the woods so he can accrue more evidence to snow Wickham for Denny's murder (this is strictly my own interpretation, okay?  I really don't like the magistrate).  The inquest for the murder of Captain Denny which will determine if George Wickham will stand trial for these charges begins and concludes with an unfavorable outcome for the scoundrel Wickham, whose extracurricular activities are also revealed at the conclusion of the episode. The love triangle is also seemingly resolved and not in a favorable way for Alveston and Georgiana.  And I don't like it.  I can't help but think this particular love story is meant to parallel Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy's from Pride and Prejudice .  And I still hold out hope for a reunion between Georgiana and...

It's been years since I've reviewed a DVD on this blog, but I had a lot to say about Death Comes To Pemberley (the mini-series, not the book) and no one to say it to.  So I decided to review it on the blog.   Death Comes To Pemberley is the BBC/PBS Masterpiece three-part mini-series adaptation of the P.D. James novel of the same title (which I have not read).  James's Pemberley is basically a mystery genre sequel to Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.  I've decided to write about each of the three episodes in the mini-series, and to avoid a rather long blog post, I've split the review into three parts, one for each episode. Ya'll know I love a good Jane Austen adaptation.  Of them all my favorite is Pride & Prejudice (2005), the one with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen cast as Lizzie Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy respectively.  It holds a special place in my heart.  I can't even describe the feeling I get when I re-shelve the library...