Films with: Dano, Paul

12 years a slave

Based on the true story of Solomon Northup. It is 1841, and Northup, an accomplished, free citizen of New York, is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Stripped of his identity and deprived of all dignity, Northup is ultimately purchased by ruthless plantation owner Edwin Epps and must find the strength within to survive. Filled with powerful performances by an astonishing cast including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbener, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, and newcomer Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave is both an unflinching account of slavery in American history and a celebration of the indomitable power of hope.

DVD 10279

Ballad of Jack and Rose

Jack lives on the sight of his abandoned island commune with his 16-year-old daughter Rose. Since the breakup of the commune, Jack has sheltered Rose completely from the influences of the outside world.

DVD 3808

Cowboys & aliens

In Arizona in 1873, a stranger leads a posse of cowboys, outlaws and Apache warriors against an alien enemy.

DVD 13396

Fast food nation

If it's true that we are what we eat, then how do we even know who we are? Don Anderson is trying to balance his search for the truth with an apparent desire not to do anything that might hurt his career. Raul and Sylvia, having crossed the border illegally, take up dangerous, stomach-turning jobs at the meat-processing plant. Amber is a teenage burger-slinger who wants to both change the world and get out of town. These two desires--to fight the system and to win by its rules--are not necessarily incompatible, though they may seem contradictory. Everyone has something to say, but hard ethical choices are set down by the logic of 21st-century consumer capitalism.

DVD 5402

King

A young man discharged from the Navy sets out for Corpus Christi, Texas, to find the father he has never met. Now the pastor of a Baptist church, David Sandow wants nothing to do with his son. Rejected, the young man slowly infiltrates the Sandow family by befriending the teenaged daughter, setting the stage for violence and tragedy.

DVD 4677

L.I.E.

Fifteen-year-old Howie loses just about everything and everyone in the space of a single week, but ends up finding himself in the process. His mother has just died. His father, a corrupt building contractor, can barely keep tabs on his young girlfriend, let alone his own son. Thusly, the teen must navigate his adolescence virtually unsupervised. Floating towards an ill-behaved existence, Howie and his crowd begin robbing houses in the middle-class neighborhoods off the Long Island Expressway. Together, he and his best friend Gary break into a place belonging to an old guy named Big John, a local man who is a respected pillar of the community. When Big John fingers Gary for the crime, Howie learns that his pal has been leading the secret, dangerous life of a gay hustler. Subsequently, we also discover that Big John is a pedophile.

DVD 4608

Little Miss Sunshine

Olive is a little girl who dreams of winning the Little Miss Sunshine contest. Her family wants her dream to come true, but they are so dysfunctional that they can barely make it through a day without some disaster befalling them. Olive's father, Richard, is unsuccessful as a motivational speaker. He is barely on speaking terms with Olive's mother. Her uncle Frank has attempted suicide following an unsuccessful romance with a male graduate student. Her brother Dwayne, a fanatical follower of Nietzsche, has taken a vow of silence. And Olive's grandfather is a loser with a drug habit, but at least he enthusiastically coaches Olive in her contest talent routine. Circumstances conspire to put the entire family on the road together with the goal of getting Olive to the Little Miss Sunshine contest in California.

DVD 5527

Love & mercy

An unconventional portrait of Brian Wilson, the mercurial singer, songwriter and leader of The Beach Boys. Set against the era-defining catalog of Wilson's music, the film intimately examines the personal voyage and ultimate salvation of the icon whose success came at extraordinary personal cost.

DVD 11271

Meek's cutoff

A wagon train of three families has hired mountain man Stephen Meek to guide them over the Cascade Mountains. Claiming to know a shortcut, Meek leads the group on an unmarked path across the high plain desert, only to become lost in the dry rock and sage. Over the coming days, the emigrants face the scourges of hunger, thirst, and their own lack of faith in each other's instincts for survival. When they encounter a Native American, they must choose between following their guide or an 'enemy.'

DVD 8312

Prisoners

Keller Dover is facing every parent's worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had been parked on their street. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki arrests its driver but a lack of evidence forces his release. As the police pursue multiple leads, Dover knows his child's life is at stake and decides he must take matters into his own hands. How far will he go to protect his family?

DVD 10204

Ruby Sparks

Struggling with writer's block and a lackluster love life, once-famous novelist Calvin creates a beautiful fictitious character named Ruby who inspires him. But not only does this bring his work to life, it also brings Ruby to life, literally. Face-to-face with an actual relationship with his once virtual girlfriend, Calvin must now decide whether to pen this love story or let it write itself.

DVD 9311

Swiss army man

Hank is stranded on a deserted island, having given up all hope of ever making it home again. One day everything changes when a corpse names Manny washes up onshore. The two become fast friends, and ultimately go on an epic adventure that will bring Hank back to the woman of his dreams.

DVD 11869

There will be blood

A down-and-out silver miner raising a son, self-made oilman Daniel Plainview, whose voracious appetite for oil turns him into a California tycoon in the early years of the 20th century. Getting the oil from the ground is an intensely physical process that later broadens into Plainview's equally indomitable urge to control land and power. Along the way, Plainview deals with a mighty derrick fire, a visit from a long-lost brother, and the ongoing involvement of Plainview's poker-faced adoptive son. Plainview's rivalry with Eli Sunday, the local preacher.

DVD 5493