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DSL Video Collection — S thru T |
Samurai I and II (Toho Co. 1954), color, Japanese with subtitles, 92 and 102 min. (#60 and #61)
Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki. Cast: Toshiro Mifune.
This story of Miyamoto is the most popular martial arts picture ever made. His life begins on a farm in 17th century Japan. He fights on the wrong side in a civil war in search of glory only to end up an outlaw. He is saved by a village girl who loves him and a Buddhist priest who tries to heal him.In Samurai II he wanders, learning the skills of a great warrior, abandoning the woman he loves and fighting his life-long enemy.
Samurai III — Duel at Ganryu Island (Toho Co. 1956), color, Japanese with subtitles, 102 min. (#52)
Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Koji Tsuruta.
Third of the Samurai Trilogy, a classic martial arts film based on the life of Musashi Miyamoto, the most famous of all Samurai warriors. It ends with "scintillating swordplay."
The Scarlet Letter (1934), b & w, 70 min. (#74)
Cast: Colleen Moore, Hardie Albright, and Henry B. Walthall.
You've read the book — now see the movie! The old version, one of the very early talkies. What was this movie saying to the Great Depression audience? Does Massachusettes still have the A for Adultery law on the books?
Serial Mom (Savoy 1994), color, 93 min. (#202)
Cast: Kathleen Turner, Sam Waterson, Ricki Lake, and Suzanne Sommers.
The mom in a to-good-to-be-true family has a problem with people who don't behave like good little boys and girls. Seems she is eliminating these miscreatants from the scene — yes it is a comedy.
1776 (1972), color, 148 min. (#101)
Film of the Broadway musical based on the events leading up to the Declaration of Independence. Great background for your Con Law class if you slept through eighth grade history.
Silence of the Lambs (Orion 1991), color, 100 min. (#194)
Cast: Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins.
Intense story of Foster's inquiry into what makes the serial killer Hannibal Lecter tick.
Simple Justice (Panorama ?), color, 90 min. (#210)
Cast: Ceasar Romero.
Violent dreck.
The Star Chamber (20th Century 1983), color, 109 min. (#45)
Directed by Peter Hyams. Cast Michael Douglas, Hal Holbrook, Yaphet Kotto, and Sharon Gless.\
An idealistic young judge joins a small group of powerful men to form the Star Chamber, meeting out justice to those who slip through the judicial system without paying for their crimes. Warning: Marilyn Chambers is not in this movie.
Star Trek: The Court Martial (Paramount 1967), color, 51 min. (#46)
Directed by Marc Daniels. Cast: the usual crew.
Captain Kirk is on trial for negligence in command of the Enterprise in an incident where a crew member was killed. The computer log will convict him if his wiley old lawyer doesn't pull a trick out of the piles of dusty law books in his office.
State's Attorney (1932), b & w, 79 min. (#85)
Cast: John Barrymore.
A brilliant young lawyer keeps his powerful gangster friends out of the slammer until he is appointed State's Attorney and, influenced by a beautiful woman, goes after his old friends.
The Story of Qiu Ju (1993), color, 100 min. (#132)
Directed by Zhang Yimou. Cast: Gong Li.
The story of a peasant woman's quest for justice in the Chinese legal system.
Straight Time (First Artists 1977), color, 114 min. (#59)
Directed by Ulu Grosbard. Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Harry Dean Stanton, and Gary Busey.
Max Dembo (Hoffman) is released after years behind bars. He wants a new life but the odds, criminal justice system, etc., are all against him.
Suspect (1987), color, 101 min. (#103)
Cast: Cher and Dennis Quaid.
Cher is an overworked public defender (who cast this thing?) who ends up finding the seamy underbelly of the highest levels of government (trapped in an elevator with Phil Gramm and Newt Gingrich? — not really).
Swoon (1992), b & w, 95 min. (#191)
Cast: Tom Kalin and Daniel Schlachet.
Pretty good re-telling of the Leopold and Loeb trial exploring the climate of homophobia in Chicago at the time.
A Taxing Woman (1987), color, Japanese with English subtitles, 127 min. (#154)
Written and Directed by Juzo Itami. Cast: Nobuko Miyamoto.
Tokyo's hardest working tax inspector matches wits with Gondo, a tax cheat extraordinaire. If you think our taxes are high and the IRS is ruthless, this comedy will provide a bit of perspective.
The Thin Blue Line (American Playhouse 1988), color, 101 min. (#55)
Directed by Errol Morris.
Dallas policeman Wood's routine stop of a night driver became his last as the driver shot him dead. David Harris, 16, was arrested for the killing but swears that a hitchhiker, Randall Adams, did it. Harris is released — Adams sentenced to death — who really did it?
To Kill a Mockingbird (Universal 1962), b & w, 131 min. (#47)
Directed by Robert Mulligan. Screenplay by Horton Foote based on the novel by Harper Lee. Cast: Gregory Peck, Robert Duvall.
Two children in a small southern town are thrust into the adult world of racial bigotry when their lawyer father chooses to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman. The film is a masterpiece of time, place, and mood.
To Race the Wind (1980), color, 97 min. (#94)
Cast: Steve Guttenberg, Barbara Barrie, and Randy Quaid.
Young blind man overcomes his disability dating, playing football and eventually attending Harvard Law School.
Trading Places (1983) color, 118min. (#152)
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis.
The rich and greedy Duke Brothers make a wager. Can Billy Ray Valentine (Murphy) be as successful as Louis Winthrope III (Aykroyd) if their positions were reversed? Billy and Louis find out about the bet and turn the tables on the Duke Brothers.
The Trial (1963), b & w, 118 min. (#48)
Directed and written by Orson Welles, based on the novel by Franz Kafka. Cast: Anthony Perkins, Romy Schneider, Jeanne Moreau, Orsen Welles, and Elsa Martinelli.
A young banker, Joseph K., is awakened by arresting officers though he knows he has committed no crime. He is led through a nightmarish world of attorneys and a trial. He defies his executioner to the end. Orson Wells proclaimed this the best film he ever made.
Triumph of the Will (1943), b & w, 110 min. (#73)
Directed by Leni Riefenstahl.
Perhaps the greatest propaganda film ever made, this documentary of the Sixth Nazi Party Congress at Nuremburg will give you insight into how the Nazis came to power, and to the frightening power of propaganda. Told visually with little dialog except for the speeches of Hitler, Hess, etc.,the fact that there are no subtitles will have little consequence to your understanding.
True Believer (1989), color, 103 min. (#112)
A once idealistic lawyer is brought back from cynicism by a hero-worshipping young clerk who gets him to take an almost impossible case in the search for justice.
True Colors (Paramount 1991), color, 111 min. (#190)
Cast: John Cusack and James Spader.
Best friends from law school move to the corridors of power in Washington where they put what they learned in Professional Responsibility to work.
Tucker: the Man and His Dream (Paramount 1988), color, 111 min. (#187)
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Joan Allen, and Martin Landau.
Ever wonder why we only have Fords, Chevys, and Chryslers? The Tucker Torpedo was pretty cool but Corporate America is not to be toyed with. (They did the same thing to public transportation in L.A.)
Twelve Angry Men (MGM 1957), b & w, 96 min. (#50)
Directed by Sidney Lumet. Cast: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, E.G. Marshall, and Jack Warden.
A teenage boy is accused of killing his father. Between the boy and capital punishment stands one just man. Watch this film and get new respect for the concept of "beyond a reasonable doubt."
2001: a Space Odyssey (1968), color, 139 min. (#82)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Cast: Keir Dullea and Gary Lockhart. Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke.
Science fiction classic which defined our idea of life in outer space and gave many a healthy skepticism about the benign nature of computers.
