Welcome to Rosie the Reviewer, a Dutch-Canadian female-led WW2 media podcast. A new episode airs every Friday!
Rosie the Reviewer is a passion project, built episode by episode. If you’d like to support what we do, you can help keep us on the air or pick up some Rosie merch. We’re working on more ways for you to get involved in the future.
In this episode, we discuss Hacksaw Ridge, southern accents, our love for Andrew Garfield and our hopes that Desmond Doss gets one moah.
In preparation for this podcast, we watched the documentary The Conscientious Objector, which is available on YouTube and features interviews with Doss and those who knew and served with him. Highly recommend.
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In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we head to the South Pacific to explore Rodgers & Hammerstein’s classic World War II musical. Maartje and Sam discuss whether war is a suitable backdrop for a musical, and dive into the show’s complicated relationship with racism — from its progressive anthem “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught” to its undeniably stereotypical portrayals. Plus, a detour into the CB’s (Maartje’s obsessed!) and cultural memory.
We discuss the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora! about the attack on Pearl Harbor just to see how much Michael Bay ‘borrowed’ from it. Kidding! We giggle over the Star-Spangled Banner played at 8 times the speed. Kidding! This might be the most accurate film about WW2 events ever made.
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we discuss Windtalkers (2002), a World War II film inspired by the real Navajo Code Talkers who served in the Pacific theatre. Set primarily during the Battle of Saipan, the film follows Navajo Marines using their language as an unbreakable military code. Unfortunately, the main character is white. Why?
Still, we’re happy to talk about Code Talkers.
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we talk about Godzilla Minus One (2023), written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki. We can hear you thinking… What? Set in the immediate aftermath of WWII, the film follows a former kamikaze pilot grappling with survivor’s guilt, PTSD, and the struggle to rebuild a life in a shattered Japan – while Godzilla looms as both a literal threat and a powerful metaphor.
We discuss why this film works even if you think you don’t like monster movies (cough Maartje cough), how it uses Godzilla to explore nuclear trauma and post-war grief, and why the human story at its centre is surprisingly moving. We’re joined by our friend Julie, resident Godzilla enthusiast, because this movie deserves her commentary.
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we wrap up our three-part discussion of The Pacific (2010) with episodes 7-10. Brace yourself for the brutal fighting on Peleliu and Okinawa to John and Lena Basilone, his final chapter and the long road home for Eugene Sledge and Robert Leckie. Alongside our returning guest George, we talk about leadership, disillusionment, the role of civilians, and the way grief and memory follow these men long after the war ends.
Rosie the Reviewer is a passion project, built episode by episode. If you’d like to support what we do, you can help keep us on the air or pick up some Rosie merch. We’re working on more ways for you to get involved in the future.