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Christmas at Carnton: A Novella
Christmas at Carnton: A Novella
Tamera Alexander | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
When I started this novella, I was expecting a standard 150 page story....Well this is the longest novella I have ever read Lol! But that's Ok! I love Christmas stories. And this book is 250 paged of pure magical blessings! Besides, it puts me in the mood for the season and makes me feel all warm and cozy.

Set in the south during the civil war, this story has a unique view of "The Cause". When we grow up in a society that believes in certain things, we typically accept it as normal....as the normal way of life. Aletta realises this during a conversation with Tempy, Carnton's cook and a slave. I worry about the direction our society is heading and the impacts that it will have on my children. But what I CAN do is raise them to be Godly men who follow His will and His direction.

I can not imagine the heartache Aletta went through. The war between the States was such a devastating time. And yet, the community came together to support each other. The women of the Civil War were strong, determined, and fierce. But at the end of the day they just wanted their loved ones to come home safe and whole.

A beautiful story of sacrifice, love, loss, and hope...Christmas at Carnton is an excellent way to begin the holiday season.

I received a complimentary copy of Christmas at Carnton from the publishers through NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
  
Free State of Jones (2016)
Free State of Jones (2016)
2016 | Action, Drama
8
7.3 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
When we look at the Civil War period, we are often confronted with numbers: the numbers of the dead, the numbers of those fighting, the pay, the amount of bullets and munitions used. One thing we rarely discuss is depth with regard to the people and circumstances surrounding the war. We are concerned with particular battles and what major leaders were victorious or fell. We, either through school or the collective of movies created about the period, do not get to see the people for who they are and the variables surrounding their existence during this period. We do not have the ability to comprehend how the war affected them in losing their property, loved ones, or even how they face starvation and violence. We don’t get the chance to see slaves other than a myopic, generalized representation that doesn’t show us how they were able to survive in the face of danger multiple sides. The Free State of Jones corrects many of the mistakes and missed opportunities of previous films, of which there are many, that deal with slavery, the Civil War, the Reconstruction Era, and the South.

In The Free State of Jones, Matthew McConaughey plays Newt Knight a southerner who begins to see the hypocrisy of the Civil War and deserts from the Confederate Military. Upon his return he seeks to support his relatives and neighbors who are being taken advantage of by the Confederacy. His movement grows to where he and an army of men and women of different backgrounds begin fighting back against the Confederacy in the attempt to assert their autonomy and sovereignty.

The film is beautifully shot and allows for the display of serenity during all of the chaos that is shown throughout. One strength that director Gary Ross demonstrates is his ability to demonstrate that there were many layers to the War. Slavery is the central theme and he goes beyond this to show how much race played into the war and its lasting effect that we are still dealing with today. He points out through the film that we had a moment to be a transformative nation, but there were so many people who wanted to the status quo to remain that they prevented any and all social progress that seemed to threaten their perceived social standing. With respect to slavery, Free State gives voices to slaves and Freedmen during the period rather than having them on the periphery or invisible all together. The film offers an authenticity and depth that many films of this period are fearful or reluctant to engage in. There is warfare, there is violence, there is struggle, but the film offers more. It shows humanity. It demonstrates how people recognized what was wrong and took a stand. It also does not play with the history in order to have issues romanticized. It is honest in its application and for some, that will not sit well.
  
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
2017 | Action, Adventure
Tom Holland (3 more)
Iron man
Great link with Civil war
Michael Keaton
The film was far to long (0 more)
Best spiderman by far
Move over maguire and Garfield, Tom Holland has finally filled the spot of spiderman. Nothing against the other to but Tom has hit the nail on the head when it comes to being spiderman. Great action and the film didnt have to rely to much on cameos such as Iron man. By far one of the best Marvel films and ive just recently got my tickets for Thor Ragnarok which may now not be the best marvel film of the year as expected.
  
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn (2012)
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn (2012)
2012 | Action, Animation, Mystery
9
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Call me, Master Chief!
Cadet Thomas Lasky and fellow students train at Corbulo military academy. Lasky is unsure of his path and suffering from emotional conflict causing problems with his fellow cadets. One night, the academy is heavily attacked buy alien insurrectionists causing a Galactic civil war.
This is where the cadets must lay down all issues with eachother and work together if their going to survive the night.
With surprise help from a mysterious ally, a legendary armoured super-soldier known as the Master Chief.

This movie by Microsoft studios & 343 industries is definitive proof that a multi billion dollar production isn't what make a great sci fi, action movie.
  
I had never heard about this true crime cases till I come upon  Ann Marie Ackermann most excellent book. The story begins in the German town of Bonnigheim in the year 1835 where the town is left shocked by the assassination of its most respected citizen it's mayor. The reader follows the twists and turns of the muder investigation as a killer is searched for. 

Eventually the investigation leads to the other side of the world and to one of Americans most respected Civil War heroes General Robert E Lee. The author has produced an excellent well researched study of the case and I would highly recommend this to other readers .
  
I just loves series. I have already review the first book to this series. I really like learning about Civil War era. I do not know what bring it out or if it the writing. I just enjoy the story behind it. You can learn so much. Why it just a wonderful thing to see the bonds of friendship and what all can bring people together. The stories are all different but it all great to read. To me it just makes me wonder and these stories also take me back in that time era. What life might have been if I was born in that era.
  
The third in Michael Arnold's <i>Civil War Chronicles</i>, again following the exploits of Captain Stryker and his men, who are fighting for the (doomed) Royalist cause.

At the start of this particular entry, Stryker and his men are unknowingly behind enemy lines, after the cessation of a brief truce. This novel could also be split into three main sections: the first dealing with their journey back to their own side of the lines, the second with what is effectively a siege that they are forced to undergo while on that journey, and the final part with the battle of Stratton.

As before, this was a thoroughly entertaining read!
  
No. 7 Cherry Lane (2021)
No. 7 Cherry Lane (2021)
2021 | Animation, History, International, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
The movie is a lot to unpack. It is a love letter to international film. Madame Simone Signoret's films are screened and discussed throughout. The films serve as a guide to the various relationships within the film. No. 7 Cherry Lane deals with the 1967 student uprising and the aftereffects of the Chinese Civil War as Mrs. Lu is a Taiwanese refugee in Hong Kong. The animation is static, either the cels were shot at 48 fps or cels took up multiple frames to give a slow motion effect to all the action. The film is also comparable to Soul since both deal with life and falling leaves.
  
40x40

Jon Dieringer recommended El Sur (1983) in Movies (curated)

 
El Sur (1983)
El Sur (1983)
1983 | Drama, Mystery, Romance
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Like Night of the Hunter, this is a movie that captures this uncanny, twilit feeling of childhood, one that’s full of wonder and possibility but also the dread of carrying the burden of a parent’s secrets. Of course here it’s inextricably linked to the Spanish Civil War and a reflection on the Franco era. But seeing El Sur for the first time, with very little knowledge of Spanish history or that Erice considers the film “incomplete,” I was still completely enraptured by it. I find the idea of a daughter discovering and living with her father’s hidden longing unbelievably powerful, and Erice and José Luis Alcaine’s imagery is unparalleled."

Source
  
Black Panther (2018)
Black Panther (2018)
2018 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Prince, soon-to-be-King, T'Challa's first solo outing, after the events of Captain America: Civil War, in which he returns home to be crowned King of Wakanda and soon finds himself challenged by the sins of his (father's) past.

Very much a movie of two halves (both literally and figuratively), I found the first half to be a wee bit on the slow side, before events - and the pace -picks up in the second.

I'm not enamoured, however, of the now-overused CGI throw-down between T'Challa and Eric Killmonger (who does have a legitimate grievance) in the final third of the movie.