Tom Hanks and Steve Spielberg Go to War Again

This Sunday night at 9pm, HBO will debut The Pacific, a harrowing new 10-part miniseries set in World War II, executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. The project is a natural follow-up for the pair, who previously went to war in Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan. The Pacific, which tells the parallel story of Band of Brothers, chronicles the lives of three U.S. Marines—Eugene Sledge (Joe Mazzello), John Basilone (Jon Seda), and Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale)—as they fight along the Pacific Theater, from Guadalcanal to Cape Gloucester to the horrors of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The critics have started to weigh in, and the San Francisco Chronicle calls it “superb and viscerally moving.” And veteran and former Senator Bob Kerrey, writing for The Daily Beast notes, “ The Pacific pushes the limits of what human beings can bear to be shown about the reality of war. If you do not cry while watching this series, you need professional help.”

The Art of the Grateful Dead

The New-York Historical Society is not exactly known for its mellow vibe, but its current exhibition, The Grateful Dead: Now Playing at the New-York Historical Society is about as freewheeling as museum retrospectives come. It turns out the legendary Bay Area band kept every piece of ephemera during its long strange trip, from Jerry Garcia’s first show in 1965 through his death in 1995. In 2008, the Dead donated the archive to University of California at Santa Cruz, presenting so many documents that end to end, they would stretch the length of two football fields. So what’s there? Original posters, photographs, and whimsical sketches for tape artwork. Garcia’s comic book collection is there, as are dozens of letters from Deadheads who wrote to the band for tickets. Judith H. Dobrzynski reviews the collection, along with a gallery on Art Beast.

A New Indie ‘It’ Band

If the Grateful Dead is not your style, consider the buzzy new Los Angeles band Local Natives, whose debut album, Gorilla Manor, is beautiful, harmonic, energetic, and sounds like spring. The young quintet will be performing at the ultimate indie music event this weekend—Austin’s SXSW Festival, where they are playing at least seven times.