Monday, May 06, 2019

Announcing the D-Day Blogathon


Did you know that June 6, 2019 will be the 75th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion during WWII?  Somehow, that fact just hit me between the eyes last week, and I immediately knew I had to commemorate it on my blog somehow.  And how better than with a blogathon?  So I asked Eva of Coffee, Classics, and Craziness to co-host one with me, and she honored me by saying yes.


While the obvious thing to do would be to have a blogathon dedicated solely to movies about the Normandy invasion, the truth is, there are only a handful of films that involve that one particular part of the war.

So we are going to broaden this event's scope a bit and use this event to celebrate the Allied troops in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) as a whole.  And we will welcome reviews about movies, TV shows/episodes, and books, as well as any posts about the history of the war, as long as they focus on the war in Europe, not the Pacific.  (Maybe next year, we'll do a blogathon in honor of the Battle of Iwo Jima or something and focus on the war in the Pacific instead?)

Because we're opening it up to such a wide scope of possibilities, we ask that there be NO duplicate entries.


This event will run June 6-8, and you are hereby invited to sign up either on this post or on Eva's post with your ideas of how you will participate.

We insist that all entries be respectful of military personnel on all sides.  This is not a time to air personal ideologies or trash those you disagree with.  If you want to talk about American, British, Canadian, French, Russian, German, or Italian soldiers, that will be okay.  But we insist you be respectiful and polite, or we will remove your review from the ranks.

Feel free to use these buttons to spread this news about this event, invite your friends, and generally encourage people to help us celebrate!  Eva will have totally different buttons on her post, so check that out if you don't care for any of these.

THE LIST

+ Coffee, Classics, and Craziness -- review of The Longest Day (1962)
+ Hamlette's Soliloquy -- review of D-Day: The Sixth of June (1956)
+ Widescreen World -- James Doohan's military career, including the D-Day landing
+ Trekking Thru Hobbit Holes -- review of Band of Brothers (2001)
+ Books, Life, and Christ -- review of the book To Hell and Back by Audie Murphy
+ Sidewalk Crossings -- review of Von Ryan's Express (1965)
+ Healed1337 -- review of Saving Private Ryan (1998)
+ The Midnite Drive-in -- review of Eye of the Needle (1981)
+ Taking Up Room -- review of What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? (1983)
+ Allison's Well -- overview of Garrison's Gorillas (1967-68)
+ Movies Meet Their Match -- review of Combat! tv episode "A Day in June" (1962)
+ You're next!

19 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness this is going to be AMAZING!!!!!! I'm signing up for sure ^_^

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    1. Florid Sword, that's awesome! Let me know what you're going to write about and I'll add you to the list :-)

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  2. Can I write about the military career of James Doohan (Scotty from STAR TREK), who served on D-Day?
    http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com

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    1. Rich, I LOVE IT! That is a perfect idea and I can't wait to read it. You're added!

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    2. I had no idea he participated in D-Day. Looking forward to that!

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  3. Ignore the comment I sent you in an email. I think I'll go with "Eye of the Needle" the 1981 spy film with Donald Sutherland.

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    1. Okay! Sorry I never got back to your email, Quiggy. Eye of the Needle sounds like a perfect fit!

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  4. Oh, I was going to do SPR, but I saw on Eva's blog that someone else has already claimed it. I wan't quick enough! ;-) Um, I want to participate, but I don't know how. Any suggestions?

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    1. MC, I do have a suggestion! And I think you'll totally dig it, too. The Man Who Never Was (1956). It's based on the true story of one of the ways the Allies worked to decieve Axis spies about when and where they would invate Europe. It's a really good movie, with Clifton Webb, Gloria Grahame, and a young Stephen Boyd.

      You can pick it up for under $10 new on Amazon or under $5 used. Or if you'd rather read and review the book it's based on, by Ewan Montagu, that's a quick read and available in both paperback and e-book.

      If that doesn't work for you, I do have another suggestion. The pilot episode of Combat! is all about the D-Day invasion. Because it's a pilot, some of the characters are not much like they will be in the show itself, but it's a good look at how troops were affected by waiting for the invasion and then taking part in it. And you can watch it on YouTube here.

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    2. I looked for copies in my library but with no luck. Oh well. But, I would love to review that episode of Combat! I've heard so much about it that I am very excited to watch it!

      (Sorry that it took me so long to get back to you!)

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    3. MC, okay! Sounds great :-) Adding you to the list now. Thanks!

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  5. Hi there. Anna or I will probably be entering a review for this event. Can't believe it's been 75 years. Wow. Thanks for hosting it!

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    1. Anna & Irene, that's awesome! Any idea what you might want to cover?

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  6. Hi, Hamlette--would "What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown?" be OK? It's not exactly conventional, but it was really good.

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    1. Rebecca, that would be great! Can you give me the URL to your blog so I can add you to the roster properly? Thanks!

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    2. Argh, I just now noticed this. Sorry about that. Anyway, my blog is at http://takinguproom.wordpress.com

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    3. No problem, Rebecca! Glad to have you on board :-)

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  7. https://midnitedrive-in.blogspot.com/2019/06/spy-games.html
    My post

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    1. Thanks, Quiggy! I'll add you to the roster... as soon as I post the main post, heh.

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