In this video, I will examine the 1st episode of 'Band of Brothers: Currahee'

Utah Beach--code name of the German occupied beachhead on France's northwest coastline; Camp Toccoa, Georgia--home of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division
Utah Beach--June 6, 1944; Camp Toccoa--June 4, 1942

Between Utah Beach and Camp Toccoa, June 4, 1942 and June 6, 1944 , the US Army will train men to jump out of C-47s into hostile territory. But before these recruits can call themselves Easy Company they must conquer 2 great foes: a steep hill called Currahee in 15 minutes, 3 miles up and 3 miles down; and they must also conquer a steep hill of ego in an extremely detailed, overly ambitious drill sergeant named Sobel, who himself finds out that there's a huge difference between having rank and being a leader!

This outstanding 2001 American war drama miniseries is widely considered THE greatest miniseries ever (along with Mad Men) based on Stephen E. Ambrose's 1992 non-fiction book of the same name. Executive Produced by Tom Hanks and Stephen Spielberg on the heels of 1998's 'Saving Private Ryan', Band Of Brothers follows the soldiers of Easy Company, then an experimental regiment of the Armed Forces, and their battles throughout France against German forces. Each of the 10 episodes focus on a member of the unit which gives the series an advantage over other war films in terms of character development. At the time, the series was the most expensive and given that there are 10 episodes, each 1 could hold up to any single war feature in any area of production, nominated for 20 Emmy's and walking away with 7 and numerous other awards. There are war films, but this is the grand-daddy of them all! 

Video analysis of the 1st episode of 'Mad Men'

Some thoughts on Mad Men: Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Don Draper is a product of his time: he is sexist; he is racist; and he smokes! But he is also discreet, professional, and principled. Don Draper is the top ad man at Sterling Cooper because he can sell anything, even a lie, even death--the trick is to make it seem like happiness. Everything and everybody stays in their place, but, like the Dylan song goes, "times are a changin'" and Draper's changing, too, whether he wants to or not!

This period drama that looks at the world of advertising as a metaphor for the 60's-the most turbulent decade of the 20th century-is the history of America in a nutshell. What makes Don Draper appealing to me as a Black man is that despite the fact that he's racist, sexist, and steeped in the mindset of the establishment, he is conflicted as all of us are--if we are willing to admit it! He has secrets and isn't what or who he pretends to be. But, above anything else, he's principled. Don Draper is a microcosm of a nation at the epicenter of changes and revelations. This is 1 of the best written and directed series ever (created by Matthew Weiner), on par with Dallas of the 80's, a truly iconic, larger-than-life-flawed-everyman whom you can't help but like and respect even against your will. 

My thoughts on 'Easy Rider'

Some perspectives on Dennis Hopper's 'Easy Rider'

After scoring a drug deal in Los Angeles, 2 hippie bikers with a gas-tank full of money travel cross-country to Mardi Gras. Their ride starts in the Southwest where they see the American Dream in a man and his family living off the land and a weed-smoking commune, disconnected from modern civilization. Their ride, the American Dream, and the hippie movement ends violently in the Deep South: 

"They talk to you about individual freedom, if they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em."
"Well, I don't make them runnin' scared."
"No, it makes 'em dangerous!"

This low-budget 1969 road film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Terry Southern won "Best Film By A New Director" at Cannes for Dennis Hopper, a film based on 60's counterculture that attained cult status by defining its period in the same way that Saturday Night Fever defined Disco in the 70's. This is a deceptively intelligent and well-thought out film that Peter Fonda imagined as an American Western with motorcycles, shot on a budget of $360,000.00 and going on to earn over $60,000,000.00! 

My thoughts on Ingmar Bergman's 'The Seventh Seal'

Some thoughts on Ingmar Bergman's 'The Seventh Seal'

In this video, I offer my perspectives of Ingmar Bergman's 'The Seventh Seal', a story set in medieval Europe that follows a Knight who returns from the Crusades to find his homeland of Sweden ravaged by the Black Plague. Antonius Block challenges Death to a game of chess to buy time to get the answers to existential questions pertaining to the meaning of life and the existence of God. A truly great film from a true master. 

Why 'Citizen Kane' is still the greatest film ever made!

My perspectives on Orson Welles' 'Citizen Kane'

He took a fledgling newspaper and transformed it into the most powerful newspaper in the world; Xanadu, his luxury palace, was half the size of Rhode Island and housed more priceless works of art than any museum in the world; he bought his own opera house and from nothing--like his paper, The New York Inquirer-- took Susan Alexander, his mistress, and willed her from nothing into an opera star; when he needed writers for his paper, he went across the street to his rival's paper, pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket, and bought his rival's entire staff. Charles Foster Kane had everything and lacked nothing, nothing except 1 thing: Rosebud!

Based on the life of newspaper titan William Randolph Hearst, Citizen Kane was a film ahead of its time, so good that it literally destroyed Director Orson Welles's career. Considered the greatest film ever made, Citizen Kane--released in '41--received 9 Academy Award nominations and won only 1 for the script, which Orson co-wrote with Herman J. Mankiewicz. But there is no denying the sheer greatness of this film, told in a series of flashbacks similar to Kurosawa's Rashomon.