Films with: Penn, Sean

21 grams

Fate brought them together, now vengence will tear them apart. A violent car accident unexpectedly throws together the lives of a college professor, an ex-con and a young mother with a reckless past. The crossing of their paths takes them through the heights of love, the depths of revenge and the promise of redemption.

DVD 3722

Assassination of Richard Nixon

Based on real-life events, Assassination is set in 1974 and centers on a businessman who takes extreme measures to achieve his American dream.

DVD 3716

Before night falls

A look at the life of the late Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas, who is victimized by a government that banned his books and jailed him for a crime he didn't commit. He flees to the U.S. where he continues to fight for personal expression through his writings.

DVD 1128

Carlito's way

After getting out of jail, a Puerto Rican drug lord wants to go straight, but his cohorts in the New York Underworld won't let him.

DVD 5457

Casualties of war

Based on the true story of a squad of soldiers caught in the moral quagmire of wartime Vietnam. Witness to a vile crime, Private Ericksson (Michael J. Fox) is forced to stand alone against his fellow soldiers and commanding officer Sergeant Meserve (Sean Penn). Master filmmaker Brian DePalma creates a devastating and unforgettable tale of one man's quest for sanity and justice amidst the chaos of war.

DVD 1220

Crossing guard

For six agonizing years, Freddy Gale has waited for John Booth, the man jailed for a crime that destroyed Freddy's life. Now, Booth is out of prison and Freddy's giving him three days before he returns...to even the score.

DVD 389

Dead man walking

Tells the story of convicted killer Matthew Poncelet and Sister Helen Prejean, his spiritual advisor, and the journey they undertake in search of the truth.

DVD 161

Deflating the elephant the framed messages behind conservative dialogue /

Teaches us how language affects our lives and more significantly, our political discourse. Language is influenced by what is known as 'framing, ' meaning every word is connected to a concept. How those concepts are used and repeated have proven to shape ideology, behavior and thought-process.

DVD 8941

Dogtown and Z-boys

The story of a gang of discarded kids who virtually revolutionized skateboarding with an aggressive style, awe-inspiring moves and street smarts, and in the process, transforming youth culture forever. Captures the rise of the Zephyr skateboarding team from Venice's Dogtown, a tough "locals only" beach with a legacy of outlaw surfing, who used abandoned swimming pools to sharpen their skills.

DVD 2470

Falcon and the snowman

A disillusioned young man and his drug dealing friend, under the code names "Falcon" and 'Snowman" commit a brazen act of espionage, by selling some of America's most sensitive secrets to the KGB.

DVD 2450

Fast times at Ridgemont High

The struggles of teenagers as they deal with independence, success, sexuality, money, maturity, school, and particularly with just making it through the formative years.

DVD 197

Fast times at Ridgemont High

A comedy that chronicles the trials and tribulations of several high school students. Includes a commentary with director Amy Heckerling and screenwriter Cameron Crowe, music highlights, and much more.

DVD 12709

Game

A shrewd and successful businessman millionaire is given an unexpected birthday gift from his brother that threatens to dismantle everything he has built in his life.

DVD 220

I am Sam

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.

DVD 6878

Into the wild

Freshly graduated from college with a promising future ahead, Christopher McCandless walked out of his privileged life and into the wild in search of adventure. What happened to him on the way transformed this young wanderer into an enduring symbol for countless people, a fearless risk-taker who wrestled with the precarious balance between man and nature. Based on a true story.

DVD 5404

Milk

His life changed history, his courage changed lives. Harvey Milk is a middle-aged New Yorker who, after moving to San Francisco, becomes a Gay Rights activist and city politician. On his third attempt, he is elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors in 1977, the first openly-gay man to be elected to public office in the United States. The following year, both he and the city's mayor, George Moscone, are shot to death by former city supervisor, Dan White, who blames his former colleagues for denying White's attempt to rescind his resignation from the board. Based on the true story of Harvey Milk.

DVD 6418

Mystic River

Boston childhood friends Jimmy, Sean and Dave are reunited after a brutal murder. Reformed confict Jimmy and his devoted wife Annabeth find out that their teenage daughter Katie has been beaten and killed. Jimmy's old friend Sean is the homicide detective assigned to the case. Jimmy gets his relatives, the Savage brothers to conduct their own investigation. Jimmy and Sean soon suspect their old pal Dave, who now lives a quite life, but harbors some disturbing secrets of his own.

DVD 3096

People speak

A look at social change throughout history, as seen through the music, poetry, speeches, and manifestos of rebels, dissenters, and visionaries from our past - and present - including Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, Bob Dylan, Langston Hughes, Chief Joseph, Muhammad Ali, along with unknown veterans, union workers, abolitionists, and many others never featured in high school textbooks. Celebrates the extraordinary possibilities for creating social change that ordinary people have realized throughout the course of our nation's rich but often ignored history of dissent and protest.

DVD 7167

Pledge

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 girl was just one in a series of brutal killings involving young girls and a mysterious man.

DVD 12002

Professor and the madman

Professor James Murray begins work compiling words for the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary in the mid 19th century, and receives over 10,000 entries from a patient at Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, Dr. William Minor.

DVD 13230

Secret life of Walter Mitty

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.

DVD 10322

See how they run

"In 1999, celebrity Mayor Willie Brown ruled San Francisco and appeared to be a shoo-in for re-election to a second term. Twelve candidates wanted his job, but of these pretenders to the throne, the only threat was a write-in candidate - openly gay city supervisor and stand-up comedian Tom Ammiano. What ensued was a David vs. Goliath showdown mired in intense political backstabbing and media fighting that, lucky for us, was all captured on film. A sharp-witted, scandalous expose of an historic, only-in-San Francisco grassroots campaign, See how they run features a host of well known celebrities and political figures including Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sean Penn, Regis and Kathy Lee, Bill Maher and others to ultimately reveal all the behind-the-scenes mud-slinging, back room brawls and daily dramas that together helped shape this one-of-a-kind race."--Publisher's website.

DVD 2683

September 11

Eleven filmmakers from eleven countries reflect on the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in short films each lasting 11 minutes, 9 seconds and 1 frame. Samīrā Makhmalbāf presents a female teacher, at an Afghani refugee camp in Iran, organizing the children for a minute's silence; meanwhile the adults express fears of an American bombardment. Claude Lelouch presents the tale of a World Trade Center tour guide who is on the verge of a breakup with his deaf girlfriend when the terrorist attacks occur. Yūsuf Shāhīn presents a young American soldier who comes to haunt a famous film producer and they engage in a highly conflicted dialogue. Danis Tanovič presents the women of Srebrenica (a town where thousands of Bosnian Muslim men and boys were massacred Serbs on July 11, 1995) continuing their monthly protests, despite the September 11th terrorist attacks. Idrissa Ouedraogo presents a young boy in Burkina Faso on the trail of a man he believes to be Osama Bin Laden. Ken Loach's presents a Chilean refugee who offers his condolences to the American victims; he then, in an open letter, describes the CIA-sponsored coup d'ťat of September 11, 1973, which installed the dictatorship of General Pinochet. Alejandro Gonzl̀ez Iñàrritu presents flashes of images of bodies falling from the World Trade Center, accompanied by chanting. Amos Gitaï presents a preening television news journalist enraged that her report about a Palestinian bombing in Tel Aviv will not be broadcast because of late breaking news about the attacks. Mira Nair presents a New York Muslim suspected of being a terrorist, but who is actually a heroic rescue worker. Sean Penn presents a lonley widower who lives in an apartment that is shaded by the World Trade Center. Shōhei Imamura presents a Japanese soldier who returns home from fighting in World War II. He is convinced that he is a snake, and he refuses to eat anything other than live rats.

DVD 8659

State of grace

When Terry Noonan returns to New York's Hell's Kitchen after a mysterious ten year absence, he immediately rejoins the Irish mob run by Frankie Flannery and soon finds himself torn between loyalty for his Irish cronies and loyalty to a secret that could bring them down.

DVD 8726

Sweet and lowdown

In the 1930's, the fictional Emmet Ray ruled as the second greatest jazz guitarist in the world. But his reputation was eclipsed by his eccentric career moves, hilarious clashes with gangsters and stormy love affairs with two very different women.

DVD 357

Thin red line

This adaptation of the novel by James Jones is a realistic view of military and moral chaos in the Pacific during World War II.

DVD 1211

This must be the place

A bored, retired rock star learns that his father is close to death, and travels to New York to reconcile with him, only to arrive too late. He embarks on a quest to find his father's nemesis and persecutor, an ex-Nazi war criminal taking refuge in the U.S.

DVD 10428

This so-called disaster Sam Shepard directs "The late Henry Moss" /

It's three weeks until Sam Shepard's "The late Henry Moss" opens at the Magic theatre in San Francisco ... and tensions are rising between the shows stars Sean Penn, Nick Nolte and Woody Harrelson. As sparks begin to fly between their characters, they set off a powderkeg of emotions so explosive that the actors themselves are drawn into the fray.

DVD 7399

Tree of life

The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father.

DVD 8433

U turn

A small time gambler and a woman caught in a twisted relationship with her powerful husband want to get out of the town of Superior, Arizona.

DVD 1208

War made easy how presidents & pundits keep spinning us to death /

"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"--Container.

DVD 5019

Witch hunt

Documents the injustice in the legal system of a small town in Bakersfield, California, and shows what happens when power is allowed to exist when civil rights are jeopardized. Here the district attorney has been in office for more than 25 years and has convicted dozens of innocent working-class people, sending some of them to prison for decades before they were exonerated.

DVD 7751