Sean Penn
1) The pledge
Description
A veteran police detective, on the day of his retirement, handles the case of a seven-year-old girl who has been brutally murdered. When a mentally retarded man confesses to the murder and then kills himself, the detectives consider the case closed, but was he actually the murderer? Before long evidence is uncovered that suggests the the girl was just one in a series of brutal killings involving young girls and a mysterious man.
Description
War Made Easy exposes how presidential administrations of both parties have relied on a combination of deception and media complicity to sell one war after another to the American people. Narrated by actor Sean Penn, and based on the acclaimed book by Norman Solomon, the film exhumes five decades of remarkable archival footage to reveal in stunning detail how the American news media have uncritically disseminated and glamorized the pro-war messages...
Description
Analysis of how governments bent on war-making have relied on a vast arsenal of propaganda techniques to overcome resistance at home and disapproval abroad ... Moving from Vietnam to Iraq, the film examines how news reports have become nearly indistinguishable from White House and Pentagon talking points, a problem that has become exacerbated by journalists who have grown accustomed to being fed information by official sources.
4) Daddio
Description
A young woman jumps into the backseat of a yellow taxi. The cabbie throws the vehicle into drive as they leave JFK airport and head into the night toward Manhattan, engaging in a conversation that takes them both on a single remarkable journey. As the two navigate the very human connection between passenger and driver in the world's biggest city, they locate a common ground that helps each of them see the other's point of view bringing them both closer...
Description
As our country continues to embroil itself in foreign wars, Phil Ochs: there but for fortune is a timely and relevant tribute to an unlikely American hero. Over the course of a meteoric music career that spanned two turbulent decades, Phil Ochs sought the bright lights of fame and social justice in equal measure - a contradiction that eventually tore him apart. From youthful idealism to rage to pessimism, the arc of Ochs' life paralleled that of the...
Description
Susan Sarandon portrays Sister Helen Prejean, a spiritual woman who embarks on a dangerous quest with a convicted killer (Sean Penn) and the profound changes it makes in her life. Confronted with the anger of the community and the private pain of his victims' parents, Sister Helen overcomes her own fears to fight for the life and soul of a death row inmate. Winner of Best Actress (Susan Sarandon) at the **Academy Awards.** Nominated for Best Actress,...
Description
Watch the classic story by James Thurber, about a daydreamer who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance, and action. When his job along with that of his co-worker are threatened, Walter takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.
12) Gangster squad
Description
Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless mob king Mickey Cohen runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, guns, and if he has his way, every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control. It's enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop, except for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders who come...
13) The last face
Description
A passionate and poignant story of two lovers brought together and brutally torn apart by violent conflict in a war-torn country.
14) The interpreter
Description
In one of the hidden corridors of power at UN headquarters, translator Silvia Broome overhears a potentially explosive secret about a planned assassination attempt. But when federal agent Tobin Keller investigates her claim, is she a victim or a suspect?
15) Fair game
Description
Based on the autobiography of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame, whose covert identity was exposed when her husband, retired Ambassador Joe Wilson, wrote a newspaper article challenging the basis for the claim that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Description
A squad of soldiers are caught in the moral quagmire of wartime Vietnam. Witness to a vile crime, Private Eriksson is forced to stand alone against his fellow soldiers and commanding officer Sergeant Meserve, a powerful and charismatic man pushed over the edge of barbarism by the terror and brutality of combat.
Description
The world watched in horror as Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005. Many were shocked, not only by the scale of the disaster, but the slow, inept and disorganized response of the emergency and recovery efforts. Structured into four acts, each dealing with a different aspect of the events that preceded and followed Katrina's catastrophic passage through New Orleans. Tells the heartbreaking personal stories of those who endured this...
19) September 5
Description
September 5 unveils the decisive moment that forever changed media coverage and continues to impact live news today. Set during the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, the film follows an American sports broadcasting team that quickly adapted from sports reporting to live coverage of the Israeli athletes taken hostage. Through this lens, September 5 provides a powerful new perspective on the live broadcast seen globally by an estimated one billion people...
20) I am Sam
Description
Sam Dawson has the mental capacity of a 7-year-old. He works at a Starbucks, is obsessed with the Beatles and has a daughter with a homeless woman who abandons them. As the daughter reaches age 7, Sam's limitations start to become a problem. When the authorities take his daughter away, Sam shames a high-priced lawyer into taking his case pro bono. In the process, he teaches her a great deal about love, and whether it's really all you need.

