“The Hurt Locker”  (check title for avaiability)
2009
131 Minutes

From Amazon.com
The making of honest action movies has become so rare that Kathryn Bigelow’s magnificent The Hurt Locker was shown mostly in art cinemas rather than multiplexes. That’s fine; the picture is a work of art. But it also delivers more kinetic excitement, more breath-bating suspense, more putting-you-right-there in the danger zone than all the brain-dead, visually incoherent wrecking derbies hogging mall screens. Partly it’s a matter of subject. The movie focuses on an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, the guys whose more or less daily job is to disarm the homemade bombs that have accounted for most U.S. casualties in Iraq. But even more, the film’s extraordinary tension derives from the precision and intelligence of Bigelow’s direction. She gets every sweaty detail and tactical nuance in the close-up confrontation of man and bomb, while keeping us alert to the volatile wraparound reality of an ineluctably foreign environment–hot streets and blank-walled buildings full of onlookers, some merely curious and some hostile, perhaps thumbing a cellphone that could become a trigger. This is exemplary moviemaking. You don’t need CGI, just a human eye, and the imagination to realize that, say, the sight of dust and scale popped off a derelict car by an explosion half a block away delivers more shock value than a pixelated fireball.

West Wing: Series 1-6  (check title for availability)
5759 Minutes on 30 Discs
2006

From Amazon.com
SEASON 1 Hail to the Chief! First-season honors for The West Wing include the prestigious Peabody Award for excellence in television, plus an unprecedented 9 Emmy Awards that established this powerful series as the all-time leader in single-season Emmy wins. This complete, 22-episode debut year of the exciting and thought-provoking series about the inner workings of a White House headed by President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen). The U.S. thrives because of – even in spite of – what happens in the bustling executive offices of The West Wing. SEASON 2 The President and his staff have been targeted for disruption by rival politicians, soon after being targeted by would-be assassins. Yet the determined colleagues continue to serve the U.S. and its President as the administration heads through midterm elections and into a crisis that leads to allegations of criminal conduct. SEASON 3 This November 2nd follow the riveting re-election campaign of President Josiah Bartlet in this clever and compelling multiple Emmy Award winning series. Season Three includes Issac and Ishmael, the special episode written by Sorkin following the events of September 11th, 2001 and an award-winning documentary featuring former US Presidents and White House Staffers. SEASON 4 This April 5th follow the re-election of President Bartlet to his second term and witness the gripping personal crisis that forces him to chose between the best interests of the country and those of his family! SEASON 5 Follow the drama this December 6th, when the government is temporarily passed from a Democratic Administration to the Republican Speaker of the House, as President Bartlet copes with the kidnapping of his youngest daughter Zoey. SEASON 6 The presidential race is on, with Senator Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) as the Republican frontrunner and a Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits) vying for the hotly contested Democratic presidential nomination.

Race is the Place  (check title for availability)
2005
92 Minutes

From Paradigm Productions:
RACE IS THE PLACE offers a new and compelling look at one of the most explosive issues in America today. This video performance documentary presents a bold, lyrical, and often poetical montage of performances by established artists and up-and-coming young talent from minority communities who use words—spoken, sung or chanted—to get their message across.

 Each explores racism and its continued survival in this country, and each finds a new and innovative way to engage audiences and challenge them to think beyond our traditional conceptions, viewing race through the lens of creativity and performance to stimulate throught and debate.

O’bama’s War  (check title for availability)
2009
60 Minutes

From Amazon.com
Tens of thousands of fresh American troops are now on the move in Afghanistan, led by a new commander, and armed with a counter-insurgency plan that builds on the lessons of Iraq. But can U.S. forces succeed in a land long known as the “graveyard of empires?” FRONTLINE producers Martin Smith (Beyond Baghdad, Return of the Taliban) and Marcela Gaviria (In Search of Al Qaeda) once again make the dangerous journey to the frontlines of America’s biggest fight. Through interviews with the top U.S. commanders on the ground, embeds with U.S. forces, and fresh reporting from Washington, Smith and Gaviria examine U.S. counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan — a fight that promises to be longer and more costly than most Americans understand.

Mulan II  (check title for availability)
2005
79 Minutes

From Amazon.com
With less drama and more slapstick than its predecessor, Disney’s Mulan II continues the animated saga of the young Chinese heroine, Fa Mulan (voiced by Ming-Na Wen, sung by Lea Salonga). The story picks up one month after Mulan has saved her country through bravery and determination. Revered by all, she now returns to her village and becomes engaged to General Li Shang. Wedding plans must wait, however, when the Emperor assigns the couple to a secret mission to escort his three princess daughters across China where their arranged marriages to waiting princes will secure an alliance with a rival kingdom and save China from invasion. Meanwhile, Mulan’s wise-cracking guardian dragon, Mushu (voiced by Mark Moseley), realizes that if Mulan’s marriage takes place, he is out of a job and so he undertakes his “18-phase master plan” of relationship sabotage to breakup the happy couple. Most of the film’s jokes come from Moseley’s Mushu (as quick-witted as Eddie Murphy’s earlier performance), while a trio of prankish soldiers provide additional comic relief. While the film’s overall effort is not as sensational as the original, it offers solid family entertainment, healthy female role models, and a handful of catchy songs. (Ages 6 and older) –Lynn Gibson

The Boy in Striped Pajamas (Check title for availability)
2008
94 Minutes

From Amazon.com
The innocence of childhood savagely collides with the Holocaust in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Bruno (Asa Butterfield) knows that his father is a soldier and that they have to move to a new house in the country… a house near what he thinks is a farm. But his father isn’t just a soldier; he’s a high-ranking officer in Hitler’s elite SS troops who’s just been placed in command of Auschwitz. As Bruno explores the woods around the house, he discovers the concentration camp’s perimeter fence. On the other side sits a boy his own age, with whom Bruno strikes up a friendship–a friendship that will have tragic consequences. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is most powerful in the details: The casual brutality of a Nazi lieutenant; the uncomfortable juxtaposition of the family’s domestic life with glimpses of the treatment of the imprisoned Jews; a ghastly propaganda film suggesting that life at Auschwitz was like a holiday. But more than anything else, Butterfield’s performance makes this film compelling. The young actor perfectly conveys Bruno’s limited perspective even as the film carefully unveils the larger, darker reality. The movie’s ending will undoubtedly spark arguments, but only because of the emotional complexity of what happens–The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is made with great skill and compassion. Also featuring David Thewlis (Naked) and Vera Farmiga (The Departed) as Bruno’s parents. –Bret Fetzer

Persepolis (Check title for availability)
2007
96 Minutes

From Amazon.com
A fascinating and wholly unexpected take on Iran’s Islamic revolution beginning in the 1970s, Persepolis is an enthralling, animated feature about a spirited young woman who spends her life trying to deal with the consequences of her nation’s history. Based on an autobiographical comic book by Marjane Satrapi, the story concerns Marji (voiced as a teenager and woman by Chiara Mastroianni), whose natural fire and precociousness are slowly dampened by the rise of religious extremists. Marji grieves over the imprisonment and execution of a beloved uncle, then begrudgingly adapts to ever-tightening rules about dress, social mores, education for women, and expectations about marriage and divorce. Along the way, her grandmother (Danielle Darrieux) and mother (Catherine Deneuve) help keep Marji grounded during her rebellious teens and encourage her to find life beyond Iran’s borders, a decision that proves both a blessing and curse. An unique window onto a crucial chapter of 20th century history, Persepolis is graphically engaging with its black-and-white, bold lines and feeling of repressed energy, fit to burst. The emotional content is so strong that after awhile, one almost forgets the film is a cartoon. Satrapi co-wrote the screenplay and co-directed the film along with animator Vincent Paronnaud. –Tom Keogh