LauraAnnG

This is an excellent documentary. 3 episodes that pull you in immediately. Never boring. Never repetitive. Astonishing revelations and seamless editing.

The interviews are incredible. Listening to the CIA operatives and other people in the Bush and Obama administrations who gave years and years of their lives to bring justice to the victims and their families is almost a religious experience.

This is storytelling at its finest.

Of course the one interview that will stand out is that with the SEAL Team 6 member. The last 30 minutes of the 3rd episode are absolutely gripping. I was left in awe that the impossible was accomplished. I am left with images I will never forget.

But perhaps even more riveting are the CIA operatives and analysts. We get an in depth look into their jobs and their lives, their fears and hopes. You get the sense that they were never the same after what they went through.

I think I had forgotten this manhunt. And clearly what I remembered of it was minimal. I still remember the day the towers fell but I had forgotten the level of national anguish we experienced. The first episode, as it sets the stage for the documentary, reminds us of this.

The very end of the last episode is cautionary. Did the U. S. win the battle, but Osama win the war? That's the question we are left with.

Recommended. Ten stars.

I often watch a movie these days and up thinking "I wish I had those two hours back. What a waste."

This movie was just the opposite. Two hours very well spent. It has a great story that made me laugh and cry.

It has a fantastic cast. Every single one of the actors in this is stellar.

It has great music.

And it has food. Oh my goodness the food. Served family style - there are huge bowls of streaming pasta and pans of lasagne. Plates of cannoli.

The food looks so good that it made me feel faint.

Even writing this, my stomach is rumbling.

I'm not Italian but I am fond of Italian-leaning movies like Moonstruck, and I totally love the Inspector Montalbano detective series (it takes place in Sicily and is very food-forward).

I didn't know about the "sauce versus gravy" question. Hmmm.

So this movie is about love and family and grief and hope and friendship and perseverance. It is easy on the eyes - not overly directed or overwhelmingly produced. It's about growing old and staying young. And it's about food.

I recommend it. 9 stars but it probably could be 10. It's not like "Best Picture" quality but it is sweet and has heart. I have nothing bad to say about it.

I need to preface this by saying while I'm not a medical professional, I have unfortunately spent a lot of time as a patient in E. D.s and the medical writing here is not bad. It seems fairly accurate. In other words they say the right things. So the show has that going for it.

I haven't seen The Pitt, which everyone is raving about right now. But I have watched most medical dramas since "E. R." because I enjoy them. There've been some good ones lately (for example, "Transplant" is a hidden gem and much better than this series).

I watched all ten episodes of Pulse in a day. I usually don't do that but I did want to say that I finished the "season".

This is despite the fact I did not at all like many of the characters including the lead (female) doctor -- Danny Simms. I found her incredibly annoying and never really understood (and I tried!) what her numerous problems are. She is just incredibly unlikable.

There are similar issues with the other major characters. I feel incredibly ambivalent about them and in the end did not at all find Doctors Phillips, Cole and Elijah likable or even relatable. Basically they are, all of them, not very nice people. There's nothing really redeeming about them.

But I shine a light on the Simms character as she's so prominent in this show and is just such an unpleasant person.

There are a couple of characters that I did like: Luis and Gabriel (both are RNs and I think Luis is the Charge Nurse -- an important role in the E. D.).

So the character drama part of this show pretty much sucks. The medical part is not bad and in fact I did get caught up in the stories of the patients. But those stories are secondary to the character drama plots and they are not enough to carry this series.

I also very much like the music.

The timey-wimey aspect where we see flashbacks did not bother me -- it seems it has become fairly standard and they do "warn" you with various clues so you're not surprised.

Bottom line is that I'm not looking forward to another season of this.