confederacy – The Mind Reels

The Bass Reeves Trilogy: Follow the Angels Follow the Doves (2020), Hell on the Border (2021), and The Forsaken and the Dead (2023) – Sidney Thompson

After watching Paramount’s Lawmen: Bass Reeves and seeing in the opening credits that it was based on two books in a historical fiction trilogy written by Sidney Thompson, I had to hunt them down and dig into this historical personage that no one seems to know about. Over the course of three novels, Thompson documents…

Quantum Leap (1993) – The Beast Within and The Leap Between the States

Sam (Scott Bakula) finds himself in rural Washington state on 6 November, 1972. Despite the fact that he is mistaken for bigfoot in the episode’s opener, we soon learn he’s a Vietnam vet, named Henry, who has been living in the woods. The Beast Within was written by John D’Aquino, who previously played Frank in…

Cold Mountain (2003) – Anthony Minghella

This beautiful, cinematic adaptation of Charles Frazier’s novel is masterfully brought to life by Minghella, who also wrote the screenplay. My last Civil War stop for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film following my screening of The Red Badge of Courage is by turns brutal, moving, and gorgeously photographed. Nicole Kidman is…

Glory (1989) – Edward Zwick

An all-star cast, including Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes and Andre Braugher bring the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for my screening of The Red Badge of Courage. Based on the letters by Robert Gould Shaw, played in the film by Broderick, the film…