Urban Film Collection (DVD)

AMERICAN VIOLET (2009, PG-13, 103 minutes) Nicole Beharie (The Express), Will Patton (Entrapment, The Postman), Charles Dutton (TV's Roc, Mimic) and Alfre Woodard (TV's Desperate Housewives, Primal Fear) star in this gripping true-life story. Falsely accused of distributing narcotics in a school zone, Dee Roberts (Beharie) is offered a deal she can't refuse: plead guilty and accept a 10-year suspended sentence. The alternative: risk serving 16-to-25 in jail. Realizing a conviction would ruin her life, Dee decides to fight back. Suing the DA for racial discrimination, Dee battles impossible odds in a case that will not only change her life but the laws of Texas as well. ALL THINGS FALL APART (2012, R, 110 minutes) (Curtis 50 Cent Jackson) is a college running back with a fierce combination of blazing speed and stunning power. At the pinnacle of his college football career and gearing up to start a successful NFL one, life unexpectedly takes a turn and what was once easy and natural becomes unattainable. With his football career in serious jeopardy, Deon begins to realize a startling truth...he is not the man he thought he was. Equipped with this newfound information, Deon sets out to better himself by reuniting his family and picking up the pieces of his life. ALL THINGS FALL APART is a triumphant and touching story about a man who loses everything, but gains the world. Also starring Lynn Whitfield, Mario Van Peebles and Ray Liotta. HOME AGAIN (2013, NR, 104 minutes) Three strangers' lives collide in surprising ways when each is deported to their native Jamaica and forced to start anew on the punishing, unforgiving streets of Kingston. Marva (Tatyana Ali, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), a single mother from Toronto, struggles to cope with being ripped from her children. Everton (Stephan James, Degrassi: The Next Generation), an irresponsible British teen, desperately awaits word of his court appeal. Dunston (Lyriq Bent, the Saw franchise), a New Yorker, tries to escape his criminal past. CCH Pounder (Avatar, The Shield) costars in this harrowingly believable (The Toronto Star) drama from award-winning director Sudz Sutherland. BLOOD DONE SIGN MY NAME (2010, PG-13, 128 minutes) Nate Parker (The Great Debaters) stars with Golden Globe-winner Ricky Schroder (TV's 24) in this electrifying true story as told in the award-winning book by Timothy Tyson. When a black Vietnam War vet is murdered by whites in small-town North Carolina, it sparks a firestorm of violent protest. Amid the rising chaos, a local teacher (Parker) and newly arrived preacher (Schroder) will risk everything to see justice done and change the brutal legacy of the past. From writer/director Jeb Stuart (screenwriter of Die Hard), it's a powerful, emotionally explosive film the New York Times applauds as ...rich and fascinating.