New Books, Films, Databases, and other Resources: New Films August 2011

A beautiful, tough drug enforcement agent intercedes when a menacing drug ring attempts to stage a retaliatory raid on a Los Angeles drug rehabilitation center.

Teena Brandon alters her appearance to appear as a man, and assumes the name Brandon Teena. She moves to a tiny Nebraska town and begins making new friends under her new identity. All goes well until her new friends discover her secret. Based on a true story about hope, fear, and the courage it takes to be yourself.

Uncovers the inside story of the Second Wave of the Women's Movement. Joan Braderman, who joined the group in 1975 as an aspiring filmmaker, reconnects with other members of a New York feminist art collective which was active from 1977-1992 in lower Manhattan. This first person account focuses on the Heresies Collective as a microcosm of the larger international Women's Movement. The film describes how thousands of small intimate groups of women met together to consider their situation--as women in a man's world--and to devise strategies for unlocking their potential.

Follows the adventures of master detective Sherlock Holmes and his assistant, Dr. Watson as they take on one baffling case after another in London

After the end of the American Civil War, an ex-Confederate colonel stalks an ex-Union captain in hopes of exacting revenge.

Living a life of luxury, Ripley attends a party thrown by Jonathan Trevanny and overhears the host making critical comments about Ripley's fashion sense. Enraged, Ripley immediately plots his retaliation. This comes via his former business partner Reeves. Reeves seeks out Ripley's help in finding an unrecognized assassin to kill a Russian gangster, and Ripley suggests he talk to Trevanny. Trevanny reluctantly accepts the offer and the situation quickly spirals out of control to the point of drawing the attention of the Russian mob, forcing Ripley to intervene

Based on the true story about the sailors who gave their lives for freedom, and the horrible cost of war. Upon completing a top-secret mission to deliver an atomic bomb to a U.S. port at the end of WWII, the U.S.S. Indianapolis is torpedoed by enemy fire and sinks. Because of the classified nature of its mission, its surviving crew members become helplessly stranded in shark-infested waters for 5 grueling days. The tragedy that occurred on the U.S.S. Indianapolis is the worst at-sea loss of life in the history of the U.S. Navy-- and a horrifying indictment of covert motives, corruption and scandal. Captain Charles Butler McVay III survives the ordeal and becomes a scapegoat as he is court-martialed in a highly controversial U.S. military cover-up

The year is 1964. Carolina Military Institute has admitted, for the first time, a young Black man into its freshman class. Will is asked to protect him from The Ten--a secret society of cadets dedicated to eliminating from the school those it deems unfit. Steeped in myth and legend, The Ten's power extends to every corner of Will's life, and he is ultimately forced to risk his career, the love of his closest friends and his own life

Loosely based on true episodes, this film tells the story of German, French, and Scottish soldiers in the bloody trenches of World War I and the miraculous Christmas Eve truce they unexpectedly forge. Follows a French lieutenant, a Scottish priest, and a German tenor and his beloved Danish soprano as music and the spirit of Christmas create bonds between enemies.

Dennis Peck knows how to get around the law, because he is a cop. Raymond Avilla is the investigator who is determined to bring Peck to justice, even as Peck threatens Avilla's career, marriage, and sanity.

Follows a group of soldiers through the Battle of the Bulge.

Widower Andrew Shepherd decides it's time to get back into the dating game, but there is one slight problem, he is the President of the United States. He falls for an environmental lobbyist and is lofted even more into the public eye.

Trent is a successful music producer who thinks he has his life together and has all the answers. That is until he meets and falls for Salma, the choir director of the local church. Despite their differences, sparks fly as they try to save two imperiled churches of different ethnicities. Their only hope is to joining the choirs together to win first prize in a national gospel competition. Meanwhile, as their relationship grows, Trent and Salma both question the paths they have chosen

Belle, an animal-loving 12-year-old, becomes withdrawn after her mother's death in an automobile accident. Rebelling against her father, she is sent to live at the horse ranch of her gruff maternal grandfather. With the help of the animals, Belle's work on the the farm transforms the entire family.

A low-rent private eye proposes a whirlwind Vegas marriage to his long-suffering girl, but before they can say "I do," he loses her in a poker game to a slick and sinister card-shark, and embarks on a wild quest to get her back.