A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Episode One: Déjà Vu (1858-1961) Written by: Geoffrey C. Ward Directed by: Ken Burns & Lynn Novick After a long and brutal war, Vietnamese revolutionaries led by Ho Chi Minh end nearly a century of French colonial occupation. With the Cold War intensifying, Vietnam is divided in two. Communists in the North aim to reunify the country, while America supports Ngo Dinh Diem’s untested regime in the South. – from The Vietnam War’ s Episode List. On September 17, 2017, PBS premiered “Déjà Vu (1858-1961),” Episode One of The Vietnam War, a 10-part documentary series directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick ( The War, Prohibition ). Produced by Burns, Novick, and Sarah Botstein, this 18-hour exploration of one of the most divisive events in modern American history was 10 years in the making. It features interviews of participants from all sides, including civilians and veterans from North and South Vietnam. (Hence the series’ tagline: “There is no single truth in war.”

On the afternoon of November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy, the youngest Chief Executive ever elected, was mortally wounded by a series of rifle shots fired from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas' Dealey Plaza. Within an hour, the President was declared dead at Parkland Hospital, and Lyndon Johnson, having been sworn into office aboard Air Force One, flew back to Washington, D.C. believing the assassination was part of a larger Soviet-led conspiracy to wipe out America's top leaders as a prelude to World War III. Later that afternoon, Dallas police officers arrested Lee Harvey Oswald, a 24-year-old ex-Marine and avowed Communist sympathizer who had once defected to the Soviet Union, for the murder of Officer J.D. Tippett. Later it was determined that he was the only employee at the School Book Depository unaccounted for after JFK's shooting, and he became the prime suspect for the murder of the President. Sadly, before Oswald cou

(C) 2017 Public Broadcasting Service and Florentine Films "I never make films about things I know about. I make films about things I want to know about." - Ken Burns on Twitter, September 11, 2017.  On Sunday, September 17, The Vietnam War, a 10-part, 18-hour-long documentary series directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, premiered on PBS with the episode "Deja Vu: 1858-1961." Written by Burns' frequent collaborator, historian Geoffrey C. Ward, this epic series seeks to explore a complex and still divisive topic - the Vietnam War.  Two days later, PBS Distribution released The Vietnam War on DVD and Blu-ray even though the series is still (as of this writing) in progress. PBS affiliates all over the country will air "Resolve: January 1966 - June 1967"  tonight, although some PBS members are already able to stream the series as part of their paid supporter's perks. Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's ten-part, 18-hour documentary series, THE V

(C) 1980 Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) The Millennium Falcon Pursuit Cast: Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) Han Solo (Perry King) Chewbacca Princess Leia Organa (Ann Sachs) See-Threepio (Anthony Daniels) Artoo-Detoo Darth Vader (Brock Peters) Tarrin Wedge Antilles (Dan Scardino) Transport Admiral Piett (David Rasche) General Veers (Gordon Gould) Imperial Pilot (Jay Sanders) Narrator (Ken Hiller) Reviewer's Note: All quoted material is from the 1995 Del Rey book  Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - The National Public Radio Dramatization.  This edition contains Brian Daley's complete radio play, which differs slightly from the version of the Radio Drama which aired on National Public Radio in 1983 and the original 1990s HighBridge Audio cassette and compact disc editions. The version in Daley's script  was r ecorded, but as with the original 1981  Star Wars Radio Drama,  edits were made at the request of NPR due to the needs of the radio format. The longer ver

"We have Imperial walkers on the north ridge." (C) 1980 Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) Fire and Ice Cast:  Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) Princess Leia Organa (Ann Sachs) Han Solo (Perry King) Chewbacca See-Threepio (Anthony Daniels) Artoo-Detoo Darth Vader (Brock Peters) General Carlist Rieekan (Merwin Goldsmith) Too-Onebee (Russell Horton) First Rebel P.A. System Second Rebel Hobbie Third Rebel Controller (James Hurdle) Beta Technician Janson Zev, aka Rogue Two Dak (Peter Friedman) General Veers (Gordon Gould) Captain (later Admiral) Piett (David Rasche) Admiral Ozzel (Peter Michael Goetz) Imperial Technician Imperial Pilot (Jay Sanders) Narrator (Ken Hiller) Reviewer's Note: All quoted material is from the 1995 Del Rey book  Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - The National Public Radio Dramatization.  This edition contains Brian Daley's complete radio play, which