MOVIE
World War Two: 1942 and Hitler's Soft Underbelly
The British fought the Second World War to defeat Hitler. This film asks why, then, did they spend so much of the conflict battling through North Africa and Italy? Historian David Reynolds reassesses Winston Churchill's conviction that the Mediterranean was the 'soft underbelly' of Hitler's Europe. Travelling to Egypt and Italian battlefields like Cassino, scene of some of the worst carnage in western Europe, he shows how, in reality, the 'soft underbelly' became a dark and dangerous obsession for Churchill. Reynolds reveals a prime minister very different from the jaw-jutting bulldog of Britain's 'finest hour' in 1940 - a leader who was politically vulnerable at home, desperate to shore up a crumbling British empire abroad, losing faith in his army and even ready to deceive his American allies if it might delay fighting head to head against the Germans in northern France. The film marks the seventieth anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein in 1942.
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War Games: At the End of the Day
A game of paintball turns deadly when three unhinged and deranged ex-soldiers play a twisted mind game of catch and release with their unsuspecting victims. This quickly leads to a bloody man hunt where everyone is a target and no one is safe.
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World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel
This is an interesting documentary about Stalin, his rise to power, and the invasion of the USSR by Germany in WWII. It's split into two parts, the first a general overview of the early history. The second part is the details of WWII and after. David Reynolds does an excellent job of explaining what happened with snippets from diaries, letters and other contemporaneous accounts. Well-assembled historical work.
MOVIE
May They Rest in Revolt (Figures of War)
Ode, in black and white, to immigrants, from Calais, from elsewhere.
MOVIE
Arthur 3: The War of the Two Worlds
Maltazard, the Evil M, is now 7 feet tall and evolving among the humans, causing terror wherever he goes. His goal is simple: forming an army of giant henchmen and ruling over the universe. Meanwhile, Arthur is still a Minimoy, and thus in a state where he's unable to fend him off. With the help of Selenia and Betameche, he hatches a plan to regain his usual size: all they must do is infiltrate Arthur's house through the pipeworks, catch an electric train from his bedroom to his grandfather's study and find an elixir that will make him grow back to his human size. Sounds simple enough, if it weren't for Darkos, Maltazard's own son, hot on their tails.
MOVIE
Xiao Hua Cross Shandong and Hebei War Zone
In July 1938, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China appointed Xiao Hua as commander and political commissar, and formed an eastward anti-Japanese advance column to arrive at the Hebei-Shandong border area to establish a base. Due to its rich natural resources and convenient transportation, this area has always been a chokepoint for military strategists. Xiao Hua used his keen political insight and unique wisdom to integrate the army's troops and recruit miscellaneous armed forces. Leading the army to raid the Japanese stronghold Denming Temple. The Kuomintang county magistrate Mou Yizhi, who had been wavering, sided with the Eighth Route Army, allowing the army to gain a firm foothold. Later, facing the Japanese and puppet troops, he once again attacked the Denming Temple by surprise and united the general Gao Shuxun. Xiao Hua eventually led his troops to capture the Denming Temple and established the famous Hebei-Shandong border anti-Japanese base area.
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The Last War of the Heavenliods and Akutoliods
To save both the Magical Kingdom and the Heavens and restore the flow of akuto, the flow of energy of everything, the Magical King Munto must follow a vision and find the girl Yumemi in the normal world. Yumemi herself is just a normal girl except that she is the only one who can see the islands of the Heavens floating above. When Munto appears before her she starts thinking about hers and others responsibility to the world.
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A Story of People in War and Peace
Starting in 1988, a fierce battle raged between the two neighbouring states of Armenia and Azerbaijan (until 1991 part of the Soviet Union) over Nagorno-Karabakh. In 1994, an armistice gave control of Karabakh and the Azeri territory in-between to Armenia. Director Vadan Hovhannisyan shows the footage he shot as an independent war reporter on the front 12 years ago. He runs across the battlefield with a shaky camera, under a fierce shower of bullets. Scrawny soldiers with sunken eyes spend their days smoking, waiting and taking cover in trenches. Fallen comrades are carried down forest paths. Then, Hovhannisyan revisits the soldiers now, bringing prints of stills and frontline footage on his laptop. Although they have put on some weight, many of them are "victims of the peace," as Hovhannisyan calls it in his voice-over.
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History of World War II: The American Propaganda Machine
Struggling for renewal following the Great Depression of the early 1930s, the U.S. hoped to stay focused on domestic growth and keep out of conflicts overseas. But the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor demanded action and action demanded finances. Witness how the United States met this enormous financial challenge through innovative promotional campaigns!
