American Tragedy

Starring:Ving Rhames, Ron Silver, Bruno Kirby, Darryl Alan Reed, Nicholas Pryor, Robert LuPone, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Diana LaMar, Sandra Prosper, Clyde Kusatsu, Christopher Plummer, Richard Cox, Sandra Thigpen, Cordelia Richards, Francis Guinan, Jeff Kober, Peter Mackenzie, Jim Lau, Davenia McFadden, Meeghan Holaway
Director: Lawrence Schiller
Studio: Lions Gate
Product Type: DVD

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The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till
Director: Keith A. Beauchamp
Manufacturer: Velocity / Thinkfilm
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

American Experience - The Murder of Emmett Till
4 Little Girls
American Experience: Scottsboro - An American Tragedy
The N Word - Divided We Stand
When the Levees Broke

ASIN: B000DZ95MQ
Release Date: 2006-02-28

Amazon.com

Simple yet riveting, The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till articulates the madness of racism in the South of the 1950s. Combining archival photos and footage with deeply felt interviews, this documentary tells the harrowing story of what happened when a mischievous 14 year old black boy from Chicago, visiting his relatives in Mississippi, whistled at a white woman in the street. The lynching that followed was so gruesome that a media circus surrounded the trial--and what stunned the nation was not only the crime, but the blithe unconcern the citizens of a small Mississippi town felt toward the brutal murder of a black teenager. The interviews suspensefully unveil the story, moving from the viewpoint of Till's mother to the perspective of his Southern cousins to actual film of Till's uncle, who had the astonishing courage to accuse the two killers in court. Till's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, addressed the entire country in news footage, begging that something be done so that her son did not die in vain. The awkward, un-media-savvy quality of the 1950s interviews may seem to come from another world, but the harsh truth of what happened sprang all too clearly from America's still unresolved racial conflicts. A passionate, compelling documentary. --Bret Fetzer

Description

In August 1955, Mamie Till-Mobley of Chicago sent her only child, 14 year-old Emmett Louis Till, to visit relatives in the Mississippi Delta. Little did she know that only 8 days later, Emmett would be abducted from his Great-Uncle's home, brutally beaten and murdered by one of the oldest Southern taboos: whistling at a white woman in public. The murderers were soon arrested but later acquitted of murder by an all-white, all-male jury.

Keith Beauchamp's groundbreaking film is the result of a 10-year journey to uncover the truth behind the nightmarish murder of an innocent African-American teenager. Emmett's brutal murder - and his family's brave actions in the horrifying aftermath- served as a major impetus for America's civil rights movement and led to Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to make decisions that changed the course of history.

Customer Reviews:

Get Your Kleenex Out.......2007-02-15

This is utterly amazing that a situation of this magnitude even took place. My students were astounded by this DVD, and had many questions. Truly, a very good show of racism in America. We need to begin teaching true history and not glossed over African and African-American history.

The More Things Change...........2006-04-02

In 1995, Susan Smith drowned her own sons and blamed it on a Black man. In the 1990s, about a dozen Black men were on death row in Illinois, and none of them had actually committed the crime. Some may think the oppression of Black men in the American criminal justice system is new or sporadic, but it has a long history. Few outside of African-American studies enthusiasts remember the Scottsboro case. Luckily, this program has been made to remind the masses of injustice in this country. Because character Michael Evans was right in asserting that "Boy is a white, racist term!", I cringed hearing these accused being called "boys." However, each of the accused were between the ages of 13 and 19 when a white woman of questionable morals framed them during the Great Depression.

This tragedy will remind many of the O.J. Simpson case of the last decade: the dynamics were much larger than the individuals involved. Just as Emmett Till's murderers went free, here a Southern court and its players made incorrect decisions just to maintain the status quo and tell Northerners, "Leave us alone!" There are elements of anti-Semitism here as well as racism.

I don't care for André Braugher as an actor, but he did a good job of narrating this work. Actors re-interpreted the court dialogue, but photos were the visuals, instead of modern background actors being recorded. People who love Court TV will love seeing this, besides the serious issues here, this is basically a court drama, a genre that many Americans love.

I continue to applaud the "American Experience" series for including the low points of American history and not just the high points. I also thank them for including people of color, and how we've been wronged.

Average customer rating:

The River Niger
Starring: Cicely Tyson , James Earl Jones , Louis Gossett Jr. , Glynn Turman , and Jonelle Allen
Director: Cicely Tyson , and Krishna Shah
Manufacturer: Echo Bridge Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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Malcom X: Death of a Prophet
Nightjohn
Once Upon a Time...When We Were Colored
Claudine (1974)
Rosewood

ASIN: B00005JA9A
Release Date: 2000-11-01

Product Description

The River Niger is a Tony Award-Winning Broadway Play Adapted for the Big Screen. DVD Features: Digitally Mastered; Interactive Menus; Chapter Selections; Quiz

American Experience: New York: The Center of the World

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American Experience: New York: The Center of the World
Starring: Bebe Neuwirth , George Plimpton , and David Ogden Stiers
Director: Ric Burns
Manufacturer: PBS Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

American Experience: America 1900
American Experience: Chicago - City of the Century
American Experience: Jimmy Carter
American Experience - Transcontinental Railroad
American Experience: TR: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt

ASIN: B000BITUIE
Release Date: 2004-09-28

Average customer rating:

DC 9/11 - Time of Crisis
Starring: Timothy Bottoms , John Cunningham , David Wolos-Fonteno , Gregory Itzin , and Penny Johnson
Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith
Manufacturer: Showtime Ent.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

7 Days in September: A Powerful Story About 9/11
Clear the Skies - 9/11 Air Defense
WTC 9/11/01 Day of Disaster
CNN Tribute - America Remembers - The Events of September 11th (Commemorative Edition)
In Memoriam - New York City, 9/11/01

ASIN: B0002F6AJI
Release Date: 2004-09-07

Amazon.com

If you're looking for an unrepentantly flag-waving, pro-Bush depiction of the President's actions in the wake of 9/11, look no further--DC 9/11: Time of Crisis will have any fan of Michael Moore reaching for an airsickness bag. "Whoever did this isn't going to like me as president," intones Timothy Bottoms as George W. Bush, who never speaks with anything but firm resolve and terse machismo; this slick Showtime production even imagines heroic pillow talk between the President and the First Lady. Donald Rumsfield, Dick Cheney, and the rest of the administration are all portrayed as selfless and well-informed civil servants, and the movie subtly promotes the USA Patriot Act, increased military spending, and the policy of pre-emptive war. DC 9/11 also mixes documentary footage of the 9/11 attacks and rescue efforts with fictional accounts of the behind-closed-doors meetings, which will polarize any discussion of its subject matter. --Bret Fetzer

Description

DC 9/11: Time of Crisis focuses on the difficult decisions and tasks faced by President Bush and his staff on September 11, 2001 and the days following the attacks. This dramatic film will be released shortly before the third anniversary of September 11th. Based on in-depth interviews and extensive research, the film recounts the tragic events from the moment Bush hears the news of the attacks to significant briefings with advisors. Chronicling national security meetings, which piece together evidence linking Osama bin Laden and the Al Caeda network, the film uncovers how Bush and his staff dealt with the volatile situation. In addition, DC 9/11: Time of Crisis illustrates the Administration's strategy for responding both to the terrorists and the American people. Eschewing their own feelings and healing process, the President and his team instead tended to the needs of a wounded country.

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Legacy
Starring: Nickcole Collins , Dorothy Jackson , Marquis Collins , Terrell Collins , and Alaissa Collins
Director: Tod Lending
Manufacturer: Docurama
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

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Broken Rainbow
Omar & Pete
Aging Out
Regret to Inform
I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School

ASIN: B000FBFZ0Y
Release Date: 2006-06-27

Description

Academy Award-nominated LEGACY is the unflinching chronicle of one family's triumphant journey out of povery and despair. Touchingly narrated by Nickcole Collins, a teenage girl wise beyond her years, the film follows the Collins family over five years as they slowly pull themselves out of a haze of poverty, drug addiction, and violence that plagues their public housing project in Chicago. Stereotype-busting and open-minded, LEGACY paints the American Dream in honest colors to rousing effect. Improbably, the senseless killing of 14-year-old Terrell, a straight-A student and role model for the neighborhood, spurs the family to seek a better life against impossible odds. Nickcole's mother, a high school dropout, moves in fits and starts to find a meaningful job. Aunt Wanda, mother of Terrell and longtime crack addict, enrolls herself in a drug treatment program. Nickcole catapults herself out of the inner-city trap to a college degree and a comfortable life. It's impossible not to cheer for these incredible real-life people as they cry and laugh, stumble and get back up again on their way to something better. In LEGACY, award-winning filmmaker Tod Lending does that rarest of things--he gives voice to the voiceless. The result is a stirring, must-see film that is "inspirational in the best sense of the term" (Variety). DVD Features: Trailer; Filmmaker Interview; Collins Family Update; Deleted Scene: Interview with O'Brian McGee; Filmmaker Biography; Interactive Menus; Scene Selection

Let Freedom Ring - Images of the American Spirit

Average customer rating:

Let Freedom Ring - Images of the American Spirit
Starring: Let Freedom Ring-Images of the
Manufacturer: Mpi Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Northwest Outpost
Balalaika
Chocolate Soldier
Rose Marie (1936)
New Moon

ASIN: B00005S8LA
Release Date: 2001-11-27

Amazon.com

As a tribute to the American spirit conceived after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Let Freedom Ring: Images of the American Spirit takes an unusual and not entirely successful approach. Proceeding without an overall narration, the production features footage of events that have become icons of American history. Included are scenes of the legendary flag raising on Iwo Jima, World War II victory celebrations, the inauguration of John F. Kennedy, the liftoff of Apollo 11, and the explosion of the Challenger. The film concludes with CBS News clips of the September 11 attacks and lengthy excerpts from speeches of President George W. Bush that followed the tragedies. While this video seems haphazardly constructed, and there are some odd mistakes (such as indicating that President John F. Kennedy's funeral took place in 1962), it is interesting as a collection of footage of some remarkable and inspiring historical events. --Robert J. McNamara

Description

Since our country's inception, heroism and patriotism have made us strong and united. This CBS News anthology depicts some of the most memorable acts of patriotism in American history, beginning with World War II and ending with acts of heroism that followed the World Trade Center disaster. Through individual vignettes, patriotic songs, and stunning footage, you'll watch as times of hardship and heroism serve to unite our nation. Highlights include Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima flag raising, VE and VJ days, JFK's inauguration, man landing on the moon, the Challenger explosion and reaction from President Reagan, heroism in the wake of the World Trade Center disaster, and President George W. Bush's address to the nation. DVD includes George W. Bush's 9/20/2001 address in its entirety. 105 minutes.

Charlie Rose with Tom Clancy; David Grubin; Ron Silver (November 10, 2000)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Tom Clancy; David Grubin; Ron Silver (November 10, 2000)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose, Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Charlie Rose with Stephen Cohen & Michael Elliott; C. Michael Armstrong (May 15, 2002)

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Charlie Rose with Stephen Cohen & Michael Elliott; C. Michael Armstrong (May 15, 2002)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose, Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

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Description

A talk about the bilateral relationship between the United States and Russia with Stephen Cohen of New York University and Michael Elliott of Time. Also, a conversation with Michael Armstrong, chairman and CEO of AT&T, about his corporation's technologies and future.

DVD:

DVD

Man's Favorite Sport (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: The Most Terrible Time in My Life

SimsalaGrimm 08: Der Froschkönig/Die Kristallkugel