Gotta vote for Victory at Sea for that category. And the soundtrack for that series was fantastic. Music to crush fascists by.
Posted on 09/24/2009 6:44:56 PM PDT by nickcarraway
SNIP
In other words, the entire origin of the national park system, whose most passionate backer was a Republican, Teddy Roosevelt, is based on a firm belief in -- Glenn Beck, cover your ears, please -- government intervention to regulate an out-of-control free-enterprise system. In fact, one of the more dramatic moments in Burns' documentary involves the battle to create a park in the Great Smoky Mountains, while logging companies bankrolled anti-park ads and were "frantically cutting the old-growth forests to extract everything they could before the land was closed to them."
In some ways, Burns' new series sounds like almost as radical a critique of free market excess as Michael Moore's new "Capitalism: A Love Story." Of course, it's unlikely to cause as much of an uproar as "Capitalism" because Moore is a natural magnet for controversy while Burns' films, with their lilting music and cozy slo-mo zooms, can make the most incendiary historical events appear almost as soothing as a glass of warm milk.
However, Poniewozik has uncovered the razor blade inside Burns' cinematic pillow. To hear him tell it, Burns' portrait of the creation of our national parks should give conservatives pause in their rush to pillory government at every turn. As Poniewozik writes: "The national parks -- and 'The National Parks' -- are based on ideas that are classically, if not radically, communitarian: That the free market doesn't always act in the public interest. That it's good that every American shares ownership of and responsibility for the most exclusive properties in the country.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...
I agree except in calling them documentaries. They're actually just slide shows. It's kind of bizarre, putting slide shows on video tape.
Agreed. I still get a lump in my throat when Sir Laurence talks about, "The day the soldiers came...." during the opening of the first episode.
Rightly, or wrongly, at that time in American history, the country was run by white males. They were the movers and shakers to make things happen. But let's not forget this lone black guy, and this woman...blah, blah, blah.
His view is a little skewed to the left.
Burns has made a career - and quite a good one - out of describing the tension between the individual and the group. "The Civil War" was the conflict between the individual (the states) and the group (the Union). "Baseball" - the individual within the team. "Jazz" - the tension between the soloist and the ensemble.
He is a genius as a documentarian.
He has moved on to topics which help to define us as uniquely American - Mark Twain, Lewis & Clark, National Parks - and he tells the stories very well. I could care less about his politics.
Amen!
Burns’ Civil War series was emotionally potent and I was smitten by it, but then when I looked at his baseball series, an area where I am extremely knowledgeable, all I could see was his bias and agenda. Nothing existed except Yankees, Red Sox, and downtrodden excluded blacks. Since then I have not trusted his take on any other topic.
I don’t mind hearing a story about the “exceptions” (although I guess they could give the wrong impressions getting too much time, also). It may have been wrong, but harping constantly on the downtrodden blacks as a whole segment of every general subject grates on my nerves and smacks of nothing more than “see how bad this horrid country is?”
Aha! Burns is a Communist. When you remove the 3rd, 5th and 6th letters, you've got Red's Digest, Comrade!
You can bet your boots the “Civil War” was full of it. Typical victor’s story.
I’m not talking about the parks, just the fact that he supported retards like Kerry and the boy marxist
I agree with you that we lost the cold war — before it even started, with the election of FDR.
If Ken Burns is a secret anything, I suspect very, very strongly that he’s a secret something else.
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The United States lost the Cold War. A dedicated huge cadre of communists first seized the democrat party, and then the reins of Washington power.
Ken Burns is just on of many thousands of communists receiving taxpayer money.
If the Stupid Party ever stumbles back into power, it must defund the evil NEA and Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Even here in NY. the leftists I know think his films are boring.
Call Colonel Flagg!
You make an interesting point — it’s different when you know someting about the topic. I feel the same way about his doc on jazz that you do about his doc on baseball.
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