New Videos & Other Media
Selective Listing of Recent Media Acquisitions
The Law Library Media Collection was started with an endowment bequest to the law library by the late Jo Ann Humphreys, who was the Associate Director of the Law Library and desired to leave some tangible resource that would benefit law students and law faculty. Over the years, the collection has expanded and changed formats from primarily videotape to dvd, but the library has tried to maintain the goal of acquiring media that has a relationship to the law or social change. New media will be featured on this page each month, and all titles are shelved in the Reserve Room and available for checkout to MU Law Faculty, Staff, and Students.
Sicko
Following on the heels of his Palm d'Or winning Fahrenheit 9/11 and his Oscar winning film Bowling for Columbine, acclaimed filmmaker Michael Moore's new documentary sets out to investigate the American healthcare system. Sticking to his tried-and-true one-man approach, Moore sheds light on the complicated medical affairs of individuals and local communities. |
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A Private Matter
In 1962, her decision divided a nation. The nation is still divided. Based on the true story of the regional presenter of the 1960's TV show ' 'The Romper Room' ', when Sherri has to terminate a pregnancy and the press find out, her private matter soon becomes a controversial and all-too public affair. |
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Prisoner of Honor
At the close of the 19th Century, French Army Captain Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason, stripped of his rank in a humiliating ceremony and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. But upon further investigation by Colonel Georges Picquart (a powerful performance by Oscar-winner Richard Dreyfus, "The Goodbye Girl"), a high-level conspiracy was uncovered that may have condemned an innocent man. For the next decade, Picquart would risk his career and his life to expose the truth behind The Dreyfus Affair, the shocking saga of anti-Semitism and treason that divided France, set the stage for the First World War and became one of the most notorious cases of criminal justice in history. |
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Boston Legal - Season One
Led by an Emmy Award-winning cast (James Spader, Denny Crane and Candice Bergen), "Boston Legal" tells the professional and personal stories of a group of brilliant but often emotionally challenged attorneys. Fast-paced and darkly comedic, the series confronts social and moral issues, while its characters continually stretch the boundaries of the law. |
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Commander In Chief - Season One
Geena Davis lights up the screen as President Mackenzie Allen, earning a Golden Globe(R) award for Best Actress in the show's inaugural season. Experience the first 10 thrilling episodes of the captivating drama, starring Davis, Emmy(R) Award winner Donald Sutherland, and an acclaimed cast. When the President of the United States dies in office, his independent Vice President ventures into territory no woman has ever entered before. Now, the nation's first female Commander In Chief must balance the pressures of running the country and the responsibility of raising a family while facing a sustained torrent of underhanded attacks from the Speaker Of The House (Sutherland). It's an exhilarating blend of suspense and drama that O, The Oprah Magazine, calls "realistic and riveting!" |
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A Lawyer Walks Into A Bar
Writer-director Eric Chaikin's feature-length documentary A Lawyer Walks Into A Bar. . . offers a witty, seriocomic look at myriad aspects of the American legal process and judicial system. It hones in on six individuals, all prospective attorneys at the time of the film's production, and follows them through trials and travails as they approach and take the formidable bar. Chaikin then uses the subjects' stories as springboards to broader digressions on U.S. litigation. The film features a myriad of celebrity guest appearances, from both well-respected attorneys and entertainers. Participants include: attorneys Alan Dershowitz, Mark Lanier and Joe Jamail; comics Eddie Griffin and Michael Ian Black; TV commentators John Stossel and Nancy Grace, and many others. |
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Reign Over Me
Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle, Jada Pinkett Smith and Liv Tyler star in this heart-rending story about Charlie Fineman (Sandler), who has slipped away from reality after the sudden loss of his wife and children. But Charlie’s life takes a turn for the better when he runs into his old college roommate Alan Johnson (Cheadle), whose life is torn between the demands of career and family. Their renewed friendship rekindles their long-forgotten bond, and both men emerge enriched and enlightened. |
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The Staircase
Directed by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade (Murder on a Sunday Morning), THE STAIRCASE is like the most suspenseful of page-turners, adding "layers of complexity until one is entirely hooked by its ambiguities and twists and turns." (Chicago Tribune) One of the most highly acclaimed documentaries in recent years, this shocking, real-life thriller follows the high-profile murder trial of North Carolina author Michael Peterson, who was arraigned in 2001 for the murder of his wife after her body is discovered lying in a pool of blood on the stairway of the couple's upscale Durham home. Did Kathleen Peterson fall down the stairs, or was it cold-blooded murder? As the mystery unravels, de Lestrade's cameras are granted unusual access to Peterson's lawyers, home, and immediate family, resulting in a gripping, inside look at a case so shocking, it is sure to leave you gasping for breath. |
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When the Levees Broke
One year after Hurricane Katrina decimated New Orleans, director Spike Lee presents a four-hour, four-part chronicle recounting, through words and images, one of our country?s most profound natural disasters. In addition to revisiting the hours leading up to the arrival of Katrina, a Category 5 hurricane before it hit the coast of Louisiana, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts tells the personal stories of those who lived to tell about it, at the same time exploring the underbelly of a nation where the divide along race and class lines has never been more pronounced. |
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Breaking and Entering
Sexy and seductive, Breaking & Entering stars Academy Award nominee Jude Law (Cold Mountain), Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche (The English Patient), and Robin Wright Penn (Message in a Bottle) in "one of the most personal, provocative, and satisfying dramas in recent memory" (Leonard Maltin, Entertainment Tonight). A string of robberies brings two very different Londoners together, drawing them into an unexpected, passionate, and forbidden affair that threatens to destroy the lives of everybody around them. Written and directed by Academy Award winner Anthony Minghella (The English Patient), Ebert and Roeper’s Richard Roeper calls it "a beautiful piece of work." |
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Casino Royale
Casino Royale introduces James Bond before he holds his license to kill. But Bond is no less dangerous, and with two professional assassinations in quick succession, he is elevated to "00" status. "M" (Judi Dench), head of the British Secret Service, sends the newly-promoted 007 on his first mission that takes him to Madagascar, the Bahamas and eventually leads him to Montenegro to face Le Chiffre, a ruthless financier under threat from his terrorist clientele, who is attempting to restore his funds in a high-stakes poker game at the Casino Royale. "M" places Bond under the watchful eye of the Treasury official Vesper Lynd. At first skeptical of what value Vesper can provide, Bond's interest in her deepens as they brave danger together. Le Chiffre's cunning and cruelty come to bear on them both in a way Bond could never imagine, and he learns his most important lesson: Trust no one. |
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Dreamgirls
Director Bill Condon brings Tom Eyen's Tony award-winning Broadway musical to the big screen in a tale of dreams, stardom, and the high cost of success in the cutthroat recording industry. The time is the 1960s, and singers Effie (Jennifer Hudson), Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose), and Deena (Beyoncé Knowles) are about to find out just what it's like to have their wildest dreams come true. Discovered at a local talent show by ambitious manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx), the trio known as "the Dreamettes" is soon offered the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of opening for popular singer James "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy). Subsequently molded into an unstoppable hit machine by Taylor and propelled into the spotlight as "the Dreams," the girls quickly find their bid for the big time taking priority over personal friendship as Taylor edges out the ultra-talented Effie so that the more beautiful Deena can become the face of the group. Now, as the crossover act continues to dominate the airwaves, the small-town girls with big-city dreams slowly begin to realize that the true cost of fame may be higher than any of them ever anticipated. |
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The Lives of Others
This critically-acclaimed, Oscar®-winning film (Best Foreign Language Film, 2006) is the erotic, emotionally-charged experience Lisa Schwarzbaum (Entertainment Weekly) calls "a nail-biter of a thriller!" Before the collapse of the Berlin Wall, East Germany’s population was closely monitored by the State Secret Police (Stasi). Only a few citizens above suspicion, like renowned pro-Socialist playwright Georg Dreyman, were permitted to lead private lives. But when a corrupt government official falls for Georg’s stunning actress-girlfriend, Christa, an ambitious Stasi policeman is ordered to bug the writer’s apartment to gain incriminating evidence against the rival. Now, what the officer discovers is about to dramatically change their lives - as well as his - in this seductive political thriller Peter Travers (Rolling Stone) proclaims is "the best kind of movie: one you can’t get out of your head." |
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Sweet Land - A Love Story
Inge (Elizabeth Reaser) is a feisty German mail-order bride who has come to Minnesota to marry Olaf (Tim Guinee), a young Norwegian immigrant farmer of few words. But in a post-WWI, anti-German climate, the local minister (John Heard) openly forbids the marriage. Inge and Olaf fall in love despite the town's disapproval. But when the town banker (Ned Beatty) attempts to foreclose on the farm of his friend Frandsen (Alan Cumming), Olaf takes a stand...and the community unites around the young couple, finally accepting Inge as one of their own. |
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Wedding Crashers
Wedding Crashers John Beckwith (Wilson) and Jeremy Grey (Vaughn), Washington D.C.’s top divorce mediators and lifelong best friends, have never met a wedding they couldn’t charm their way into. Guided by a secret set of “wedding crashing rules,” the pair attends a different wedding – and romances different bridesmaids – every week. But, when they crash the social event of the season, John falls for the daughter (McAdams) of an influential and eccentric politician (Walken) and decides to break the “rules” in pursuit of her love. What results is a wild weekend at her family’s palatial estate where the ultimate “crashers” quickly find themselves in way over their heads! |
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Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection
14 of the finest works from the universally acclaimed Master of Suspense come together for the first time in one collection. These captivating landmark films boast three decades of Hollywood legends, including James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Anthony Perkins, Sean Connery and Doris Day. The premium packaging and collectible book make Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection the must-own, definitive anthology of gripping works by a true genius. |
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Midsomer Murders
The cozy villages of Midsomer County reveal their most sinister secrets in these darkly humorous British television mysteries. John Nettles stars as the unflappable Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby with Daniel Casey as Sergeant Troy, his brash young assistant. Based on the novels by Caroline Graham, a modern master of the English village mystery. |

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Blood Diamond
Set against the backdrop of the chaos and civil war that enveloped 1990s Sierra Leone, Blood Diamond is the story of Danny Archer (DiCaprio), an ex-mercenary from Zimbabwe, and Solomon Vandy (Hounsou), a Mende fisherman. Both men are African, but their histories and their circumstances are as different as any can be until their fates become joined in a common quest to recover a rare pink diamond, the kind of stone that can transform a life... or end it.
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An Inconvenient Truth
This documentary offers a passionate and inspirational look at Al Gore's fervent crusade to halt global warming's deadly progress in its tracks by exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround it. |
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Thank You For Smoking
Thank You for Smoking is a fiercely satirical look at today's "culture of spin." The hero of the film is Nick Naylor (Eckhart), chief spokesman for Big Tobacco, who makes his living defending the rights of smokers and cigarette makers in today's neo-puritanical culture. |
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The Good Shepherd
Edward Wilson, the only witness to his father's suicide and member of the Skull and Bones Society while a student at Yale, is a morally upright young man who values honor and discretion, qualities that help him to be recruited for a career in the newly founded Office of Strategic Services (OSS, the predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency). While working there, his ideals gradually turn to suspicion influenced by the Cold War paranoia present within the office. Eventually, he becomes an influential veteran operative, while his distrust of everyone around him increases to no end. His dedication to his work does not come without a price though, leading him to sacrifice his ideals and eventually his family. |
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The Departed
This gritty crime drama from director Martin Scorsese takes us into the lives of two cops: Colin Sullivan (Damon), smart and unabashedly ambitious, appears to be on the fast track in the Massachusetts State Police Department's elite Special Investigations Unit, whose prime target is powerful Irish mob boss Frank Costello (Nicholson). Billy Costigan (DiCaprio), street-smart and tough, is purported to have a violent temper that costs him his badge and eventually lands him back on the rough streets of South Boston, where he is recruited into Costello's ranks. But neither man is what he seems and, as they work at cross purposes, they are plunged into a dangerous game of cat and mouse in which the stakes could not be higher. |
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Children of Men
Children of Men envisages a world one generation from now that has fallen into anarchy on the heels of an infertility defect in the population. The world's youngest citizen has just died at 18, and humankind is facing the likelihood of its own extinction. Set against the backdrop of London torn apart by violence and nationalistic sects, the film follows disillusioned bureaucrat Theo (Owen) as he becomes an unlikely champion of Earth's survival. |
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Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Sacha Baron Cohen brings his Kazakh journalist character Borat Sagdiyev to the big screen for the first time. Leaving his native Kazakhstan, Borat travels to America to make a documentary. As he zigzags across the nation, Borat meets real people in real situations with hysterical consequences. His backwards behavior generates strong reactions around him exposing prejudices and hypocrisies in American culture. |
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With All Deliberate Speed
History ignored is history repeated. On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Brown Vs. Board of Education that the concept of "separate but equal" school segregation was unconstitutional. But in this landmark ruling, the Justices used a four-word phrase that many believe has delayed the process of change for over 50 years: "With All Deliberate Speed."
Direct Peter Gilbert (producer of Hoop Dreams and Stevie) explores the shocking history and legacy of the legal decision that tore our nation apart and still divides us today. Jeffrey Wright narrates this acclaimed documentary featuring stunning archive footage, powerful readings by Mekhi Phifer, Larenz Tate, Terry Kinney, and Alicia Keys, and revealing new interviews with the heroic men and women who fought - and still fight - the battle for racial equality in America. |
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The Supreme Court
It's known as the court of last resort - The Supreme Court-where nine judges appointed for life make monumental decisions that govern our everyday lives, from the contents of the nation's daily newspapers to what we can do in the privacy of our own homes. With immense power and considerable mystery, the court of final appeal has helped author the history of America. But even though it is one of the pillars of American democracy - the ultimate interpreter of the Constitution - no series has ever fully profiled the inner workings of the court. Until now.
By fusing history with biography, The Supreme Court humanizes the enigmatic black-robed figures,revealing their temperaments, passions deeply held personal beliefs, and life stories. The series also explores the dramatic stories of the people whose cases have come before the court, as well as the often controversial rulings that impact all Americans.
The series charts the court's unique evolution, using archival footage and innovative graphic techniques to help audiences grasp complex legal concepts. Interviews with some of the greatest legal minds in the country as well as exclusive access to the court help personalize the justices while providing context to key decisions and hot-button issues of the day.
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The Interpreter
Escalating events begin when U.N. interpreter Silvia Broome alleges that she has overheard a death threat against an African head of state, spoken in a rare dialect few people other than Silvia can understand. With the words "The Teacher will never leave this room alive," in an instant, Silvia's life is turned upside down as she becomes a hunted target of the killers. Placed under the protection of federal agent Tobin Keller, Silvia's world only grows more nightmarish. As Keller digs deeper into his eyewitnesses' past and her secretive world of global connections, the more suspicious he becomes that she herself might be involved in the conspiracy. With every step of the way, he finds more reasons to mistrust her. Is Sylvia a victim? A suspect? Or something else entirely? And can Tobin, coping with his own personal heartache, keep her safe? Though they must depend on one another, Silvia and Tobin couldn't be more different. Silvia's strengths are words, diplomacy and the subtleties of meaning, while Tobin is all about instinct, action and reading into the most primal human behaviors. Now, as the danger of a major assassination on U.S. soil grows and Silvia's life hangs in the balance, Silvia and Tobin play out a gripping dance of evasion and revelation that keeps them both guessing as they race to stop a terrifying international crisis before it's too late. |
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Lord of War
This film charts the rise and fall of Yuri Orlov, from his early days in the early 1980s in Little Odessa, selling guns to mobsters in his local neighbourhood, through to his ascension through the decade of excess and indulgence into the early 90s, where he forms a business partnership with an African warlord and his psychotic son. The film also charts his relationship through the years with his younger brother, his marriage to a famous model, his relentless pursuit by a determined federal agent and his inner demons that sway between his drive for success and the immorality of what he does. |
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