Films with: Black, Todd

Fences

In 1950s Pittsburgh, a Black garbage collector named Troy Maxson--bitter that baseball's color barrier was only broken after his own heyday in the Negro Leagues--is prone to taking out his frustrations on his loved ones.

DVD 12143

Great debaters

Melvin B. Tolson is a professor at Wiley College in Texas. Wiley is a small African-American college. In 1935, Tolson inspired students to form the school's first debate team. Tolson turns a group of underdog students into a historically elite debate team which goes on to challenge Harvard in the national championship. Inspired by a true story.

DVD 5678

Pursuit of happyness

Chris Gardner is an intelligent, energetic guy who can't catch a break. In the sluggish Bay Area economy of 1981, he's losing ground, by investing all his family's money in high cost bone-density scanners. His wife leaves him, he loses his apartment, and with his 5-year-old son in tow joins the ranks of the homeless, if not the hopeless. Bounced from shelter to shelter, he finds himself a single dad who has to support and care for a young child. Impressing a Dean Witter higher-up by solving a Rubik's cube during a taxi ride, Chris gets a place in a stockbroker-training program. But internships don't pay, and there's no guarantee he'll be offered a job at the end of it. Against all odds, he pushes toward success, and eventually turns his life around.

DVD 7155

Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Denzel Washington stars as Roman Israel, a driven, idealistic defense attorney who, through a tumultuous series of events, finds himself in a crisis that leads to extreme action.

DVD 12566

Southpaw

Billy "The Great" Hope, reigning Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World, seemingly has it all: an impressive career, a beautiful and loving wife, an adorable daughter, and a lavish lifestyle. When tragedy strikes and his lifelong manager and friend leaves him behind, Hope hits rock bottom and turns to an unlikely savior at a run-down local gym: Tick Wills, a retired fighter and trainer to the city's toughest amateur boxers.

DVD 11291

Upside

A recently paroled ex-convict, Dell, strikes up an unusual and unlikely friendship with a quadriplegic billionaire, Philip Lacasse, in this funny and warm-hearted buddy comedy. From worlds apart, Dell and Philip form an unlikely bond, bridging their differences and gaining invaluable wisdom in the process, giving each man a renewed sense of passion for all of life's possibilities.

DVD 13053