New Videos - February 2006
On DVD:
How Do We Get There From Here? - DVD TAC-527
Describes the major issues facing our region's transportation system. [It] sets out the system's major problems, suggests potential solutions, and provides informed commentary from local officials, transportation experts, and civic leaders.
2002 AT&T Visiting Artist Documentaries - DVD TAC-528
Two documentary videos created by the Museum of Glass to commemorate the 2002 visiting artists residency ; the first looks at visiting artist Deborah Oropallo, and the second chronicles the opening of the Museum of Glass, and its first visiting artist, Dale Chihuly.
Kingdom of Heaven - DVD TAC-529
Orlando Bloom stars as Balian, a young Frenchman in Medieval Jerusalem during the Crusades, who, having lost everything, finds redemption in a heroic fight against overwhelming forces to save his people and fulfill his destiny as a knight.
L.A. Confidential - DVD TAC-530
Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slaying of the patrons at an all-night diner in this lush tribute to tough film noir crime films.
Kung Fu Hustle - DVD TAC-536
Sing, a hapless gangster, must overcome his inability to wield a knife and demonstrate his mettle in order to become a member of the notorious Axe Gang. He realizes he is the greatest kung fu master of them all, destined to protect the sacred streets.
Laura - DVD TAC-538
The detective assigned to the murder case of a beautiful young woman named Laura is stirred by her portrait and adoring descriptions by her admirers, and finds he, too, is strangely under her spell.
Frank Miller's Sin City - DVD TAC-539 & supplement
Welcome to Sin City , the town that beckons to the tough, the corrupt, and the brokenhearted. A universe of unlikely and reluctant heroes still try to do the right thing in a city that refuses to care.
Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Price - DVD TAC-540
Wal-Mart: the high cost of low price takes you behind the glitz and into the real lives of workers and their families, business owners, and their communities, in an extraordinary journey that will challenge the way you think, feel and shop.
The Usual Suspects - DVD TAC-541
Police investigating an exploded boat on a San Pedro pier discover 27 bodies and $91 million worth of drug money. The only survivors are a severely burned Hungarian terrorist and Roger Kint, a crippled con-man. Reluctantly, Kint is pressured into explaining what happened on the boat. His story begins six weeks earlier with five criminals being dragged in by New York police desperate for suspects in a truck highjacking, and ends with the possible identification of a criminal mastermind.
The Maltese Falcon - DVD TAC-543
After the death of his partner, San Francisco private eye Sam Spade is dragged into a quest for a priceless statuette.
Ada Byron Lovelace: To Dream Tomorrow - DVD TAC-544
A documentary about Ada Byron Lovelace, focusing on her contributions to computers and computing. Lovelace, the daughter of George Gordon Byron, was a mathematician and an associate of Charles Babbage.
Blood Simple - DVD TAC-545
A jealous husband hires a detective to murder his wife and her lover.
Short Cuts - DVD TAC-546 & supplement
While helicopters overhead spray against a Medfly infestation, a group of peoples' lives in Los Angeles intersect, some casually, some to more lasting effect. While they go out to concerts and jazz clubs and even have their pools cleaned, these same folks also lie, drink, and cheat. Death itself seems never to be far away. A look at human life and American culture with over 20 lives interweaving.
Life and Debt - DVD TAC-547
Jamaica became an independent country from Great Britain in 1962. It is the land of sea, sand and sun ... but it is also a prime example of the complexities of economic globalization on the world's developing countries. Effectively portrays the relationship between Jamaican poverty and the practices of international lending agencies while driving home the devasting consequences of globalization.
Walking With Dinosaurs - DVD TAC-548
Examines the 155-million-year history of dinosaurs from the aggressive Coelophysis, who first learned to hunt in packs, to Tyrannosaurus Rex, the most terrifying carnivore on the planet. Covers the Late Triassic, Late Jurassic, Early Cretaceous, and Late Cretaceous periods.
A Decent Factory - DVD TAC-549
Follows representatives of Nokia as they examine working conditions at a Chinese factory that manufacturers products for the company.
Devil in a Blue Dress - DVD TAC-550
Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins is a decorated war hero who returns home to work as a private eye. His job of finding a missing socialite puts him between the white power elite and the vibrant black commumnity of Central Avenue . As soon as Easy and his trigger-happy friend Mouse find Daphne Monet, trouble follows.
Class Dismissed: How TV Frames the Working Class - DVD TAC-551
Featuring interviews with media analysts and cultural historians, this documentary examines the patterns inherent in TV's disturbing depictions of working class people as either clowns or social deviants, stereotypical portrayals that reinforce the myth of meritocracy.
Donnie Darko - DVD TAC-554
A high school student must face his dark destiny as delusions bring him face to face with a demonic rabbit who has eerie visions of the past and deadly predictions for the future in this intricate web that will leave you questioning what is real and what is mere hallucination.
School, the Story of American Public Education - DVD TAC-556 pt. 1-4
Episode 1. The common school, 1770-1890 -- Episode 2. As American as public school, 1900-1950 -- Episode 3. A struggle for educational equality, 1950-1980 -- Episode 4. The bottom line in education, 1980 to the present.
Grizzly Man - DVD TAC-557
Acclaimed director Werner Herzog explores the life and death of amateur grizzly bear expert and wildlife preservationist Timothy Treadwell, who lived unarmed among grizzlies for 13 summers.
Microcosmos: le people de l'herbe - DVD TAC-558
A wordless close-up view of a variety of insects as they hatch from eggs, search for food and cope with a rain storm. Ants race to gather food as a pheasant gobbles them up while a dung beetle moves his prize up hill and down. Makes use of time-lapse and microphotographic techniques.
On VHS:
Testing Our Schools - Videorecord TAC-1881
President Bush's proposal for mandatory public school testing signals the beginning of a new era of public education, one marked by increased federal involvement in schools. Frontline examines how states decide what's important for students to know, what standardized tests really measure, and how the quest for higher score in changing teaching and learning in America .
Mothers and Daughters: Mirrors That Bind - Videorecord TAC-1882
Examines the mother-daughter relationship and the impact it has on each woman's body image, sexuality, and self-esteem.
New York : a Documentary Film - Videorecord TAC-1883 pt. 1-5
Series chronicles the history of New York from its founding in 1624 as a Dutch trading post to its continuing pre-eminence in the culture and economy of the world.
New School Order - Videorecord TAC-1884
Captures the dilemma of young families moving to suburban communities facing hostile confrontations with fiscally and socially conservative school boards in the battle over who should control schools and children's education. Documents the nine-month ordeal in the North Penn School District near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in which the Taxpayer's Association and Christian conservatives joined to create a powerful voting block, pitting conservatives against liberals and religious leaders against one another.
