DVD Collection

Eleven jurors are convinced that the defendant is guilty of murder. The twelfth has no doubt of his innocence. How can this one man steer the others toward the same conclusion? It's a case of seemingly overwhelming evidence against a teenager accused of killing his father. Originally released as a motion picture in 1957.
Genre: Courtroom, Drama
Director: Sidney Lumet
Writer: Reginald Rose
Cast: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, E.G. Marshall, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Joseph Sweeney, George Voskovec, Robert Webber.

Based on an incredible true story of one man's fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner), as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon's chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life. Originally released as a motion picture in 2013.
Director: Steve McQueen
Writers: Solomon Northup (based on his memoir 12 Years a Slave), John Ridley (screenplay)
Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong'o, Sarah Paulson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Brad Pitt

Based on a true story, the movie chronicles the 1839 journey of a group of enslaved Africans who overtake their captor's ship and attempt to return to their beloved homeland. When the ship, La Amistad, is seized, these captives are brought to the United States where they are charged with murder and await their fate in prison. Much of the story involves the court-room drama about the slave who led the revolt. Originally released as a motion picture in 1997.
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: David Franzoni
Cast: Morgan Freeman, Nigel Hawthorne, Anthony Hopkins, Djimon Hounsou, Matthew McConaughey, David Paymer, Pete Postlethwaite, Stellan Skarsgård.

When Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was but a modest young Baptist minister suddenly thrust into the leadership of local bus boycott. What started as a one-day protest of unfair bus laws turned into the 381-day boycott that gave birth to the civil rights movement. This riveting made-for-cable drama meticulously recounts the challenges the protest faced. Jeffrey Wright is excellent as King, capturing his charisma and rousing speeches while grounding his heroism in human vulnerability and fear, but Boycott reminds us that he was only one of the thousands of ordinary people roused into extraordinary action in the name of equality and social justice. That portrait of everyday heroes changing the course of history remains the film's most rousing message. Originally broadcast on HBO in 2001.
Director: Clark Johnson
Writers: Stewart Burns, Herman Daniel Farrell, and Timothy J. Sexton
Cast: Jeffrey Wright, Terrence Howard, CCH Pounder, Carmen Ejogo

Three Australian lieutenants are court martialed for executing prisoners as a way of deflecting attention from war crimes committed by their superior officers. Based on a play and true story. Originally released as a motion picture in 1979.
Director: Bruce Beresford
Writer: Jonathan Hardy, David Stevens, Bruce Beresford
Cast: Edward Woodward, Jack Thompson, John Waters, Bryan Brown, Rod Mullinar, Charles Tingwell.

An all-powerful press magnate, Kane, dies in his fabulous castle Xanadu, his last word being "Rosebud", which leads a reporter to seek the meaning behind the word and find the meaning of Kane. Prominent publisher, William Randolph Hearst, saw the film as a thinly disguised version of his career and attempted to suppress it. Citizen Kane originally produced as a motion picture in 1941 ; The battle over Citizen Kane originally produced for television broadcast in 1996 by WGBH Educational Foundation.
Disc 1. Citizen Kane
Disc 2. The battle over Citizen Kane
Director: Orson Welles
Writers: Herman J. Mankiewicz, Orson Welles
Cast: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead, Ruth Warrick, Ray Collins, Erskine Sanford, Everett Sloane, William Alland, Paul Stewart, George Coulouris.

Based on the book by Jonathan Harr. A high-priced personal injury attorney takes on a case that becomes an epic legal battle ... one that may cost him his career, reputation and all that he owns.
Writer/Director: Steven Zaillian
Cast: John Travolta, Robert Duvall, John Lithgow, William H. Macy, Kathleen Quinlan, Tony Shalhoub.

Based on the book Red alert by Peter George. A satire in which the U.S. president and his military advisors struggle ineptly to avert a holocaust after a psychotic Air Force general launches a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union because he fears that the Russians are poisoning the water supply in the United States. Originally released as a 1963 motion picture by Columbia Pictures.
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Writers: Stanley Kubrick, Peter George, Terry Southern
Cast: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens.

Erin Brockovich is a feisty young mother who convinces attorney Ed Masry to hire her and promptly stumbles upon a monumental law case against a giant corporation. Erin's determined to take on this powerful adversary even though no law firm has dared to do it before. The two begin an incredible and sometimes hilarious fight that will bring a small town to its feet and a huge company to its knees. Originally released as a motion picture in 1999.
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Susannah Grant
Cast: Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Aaron Eckhart, Marg Helgenberger, Cherry Jones, Veanne Cox, Conchata Ferrell, Tracey Walter.

Based on the play by Aaron Sorkin. Cruise stars as a brash Navy lawyer who's teamed with a gung-ho litigator in a politically-explosive murder case. Charged with defending two Marines accused of killing a fellow soldier, they are confronted with complex issues of loyalty and honor - including its most sacred code and its most formidable warrior. Originally released as a motion picture in 1992.
Director: Rob Reiner
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Bacon, James Marshall, J.T. Walsh, Kiefer Sutherland, Wolfgang Bodison, Michael DeLorenzo.

The story of Ray Kroc, a salesman who turned two brothers' innovative fast food eatery, McDonald's, into one of the biggest restaurant businesses in the world with a combination of ambition, persistence, and ruthlessness. Originally released as a motion picture in 2017.
Director: John Lee Hancock
Writer: Robert Siegel
Cast: Michael Keaton, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch, Laura Dern.

A suspenseful psychological drama delves into the inner workings of the human mind. An egocentric lawyer, Arthur Jamison, conducts an ongoing debate with his conscience about the ramifications of killing his wife, Louise, to be with his mistress. The tension builds to a peak as he weighs the pros and cons of the impending crime. Originally released as a made for television movie in 1985.
Director: David Greene
Writers: Richard A. Levinson, William Link
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Blythe Danner, Swoosie Kurtz, Donegan Smith, Wiley Harker, Ruth Manning

Based on the thrilling and inspirational life of an iconic American freedom fighter, the movie tells the extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and transformation into one of America's greatest heroes. Her courage, ingenuity, and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves by way of the Underground Railroad and changed the course of history. In English, French or Spanish dialogue; French or Spanish subtitles.
Director: Kasi Lemmons
Writers: Gregory Allen Howard, Kasi Lemmons
Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom, Jr., Joe Alwyn, Clarke Peters, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Vondie Curtis Hall, Jennifer Nettles, Janelle Monáe.

The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Mankind’s best weapon is the will to survive. 2013 release of the 1996 blockbuster.
Director: Roland Emmerich
Writers: Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich
Cast: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Margaret Colin, Randy Quaid, Robert Loggia, James Rebhorn, Harvey Fierstein.

American judge Dan Haywood presides over the trial of four German jurists accused of "legalizing" Nazi atrocities. But as graphic accounts of sterilization and murder unfold in the courtroom, mounting political pressure for leniency forces Haywood to make the most harrowing and difficult decision of his career. Originally released as a motion picture in 1961.
Director: Stanley Kramer
Writer: Abby Mann
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Maximilian Schell, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift, William Shatner, Werner Klemperer, Virginia Christine.

Based on the novel Kramer versus Kramer by Avery Corman. When his wife walks out, Ted Kramer and his six-year-old son have a chance to really get to know each other. Then Ted's wife returns and she wants her son back. A heated custody battle ensues over the divorced couple's son, deepening the wounds left by the separation. Originally released as motion picture in 1979.
Writer/Director: Robert Benton
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, Justin Henry.

The story of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple, whose challenge of their anti-miscegenation arrest for their marriage in Virginia led to a legal battle that would end at the US Supreme Court. Based in part on the documentary "The Loving story" by Nancy Buirski.
Writer/Director: Jeff Nichols
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga, Marton Csokas, Nick Kroll, Michael Shannon

Set in Mississippi in 1964, this controversial film is based on the true story of the case of three young civil rights workers (real life names: James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner) who were brutally murdered in June 1964. The chaotic aftermath was dubbed Mississippi Burning. This movie is told from the perspective of the FBI's operations to uncover evidence and bring the killers to justice. Anger over the real incident prompted the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Originally produced as a motion picture in 1988.
Director: Alan Parker
Writer: Chris Gerolmo
Cast: Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand, Brad Dourif.

Two carefree pals mistakenly arrested and charged with murder are defended by the cousin of one of them (Vinny), a former auto mechanic of Brooklyn who just passed his bar exam after his sixth try. Vinny has never been in court and this case quickly turns into a hysterical escapade. Originally produced 1992 as a motion picture.
Director: Jonathan Lynn.
Writer: Dale Launer
Cast: Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei, Ralph Macchio, Mitchell Whitfield, Fred Gwynne.

Based on the novel by John Jay Osborn, Jr. A first-year law student at Harvard Law School struggles with balancing his coursework and his relationship with the daughter of a stern professor. Originally released as a motion picture in 1973.
Writer/Director: James Bridges
Cast: Timothy Bottoms, Lindsay Wagner, John Houseman, Edward Herrmann, James Naughton.

Adapted from the best-selling novel by Leon Uris, QB VII tells the story of the gripping court battle between a Polish-born doctor and the American author who accuses him of having performed atrocious experiments on concentration camp prisoners during World War II. Originally released as a motion picture in 1974.
Director: Tom Gries
TV Adaptation: Edward Anhalt
Cast: Ben Gazzara, Anthony Hopkins, Leslie Caron, Lee Remick, Dan O'Herlihy, Anthony Quayle, Jack Hawkins.

The unforgettable true story chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Originally released as a motion picture in 2015.
Director: Ava DuVernay
Writer: Paul Webb
Cast: David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Carmen Ejogo, Giovanni Ribisi, Alessandro Nivola, Tim Roth, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Oprah Winfrey.

Atticus Finch, a lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his kids against prejudice.
Director: Robert Mulligan
Writers: Harper Lee (based on her novel To Kill a Mockingbird), Horton Foote (screenplay)
Cast: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Philip Alford, John Megna, Ruth White, Paul Fix, Brock Peters, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy, Collin Wilcox

Drama revolves around the President, Josiah Bartlet, and his staff at the White House. Among the global crises Bartlet faces are a nuclear showdown between India and Pakistan, an American plane shot down by terrorists and another plane shot down by Syria. Originally aired on television from 1999-2000.
Writer/Director: Aaron Sorkin
Cast: John Spencer, Robe Lowe, Stockard Channing, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Moira Kelly, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford.

The President and staff have been targeted for disruption by rival politicians, soon after being targeted by would-be assassins. The President heads through midterm elections and into a crisis that leads to allegations of criminal conduct. 22 episodes. Originally aired on television from 2000-2001.
Directors: Thomas Schlamme [and others]
Writers: Aaron Sorkin [and others]
Cast: Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Allison Janney, Stockard Channing, Dulé Hill, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford.

The 22-episode third season whose storylines include the investigation into the alleged cover-up of President Barlet's illness, the early bid for a second term and confrontations with global terrorism. Reel- and real-life events profoundly intersect in the historic Isaac and Ishmael episode made in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Must-see bonus features include a special The West Wing look at the executive branch featuring interviews with former U.S. Presidents and staff. Originally aired on television from 2001-2002.
Executive Producers: Aaron Sorkin, Thomas Schlamme, John Wells
Cast: Rob Lowe, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford, Stockard Channing, and Martin Sheen.