Howl (Blu-ray) Blu-ray, 2011

Starring James Franco (127 Hours), Jon Hamm (Mad Men) and David Strathairn (Good Night & Good Luck), Howl is the story of Allen Ginsberg, young rebel, chronicler of the Beat Generation and the author of a work that started a revolution.

James Franco gives an uncanny performance as Ginsberg being interviewed about the Beat Movement. Elsewhere in San Francisco, his poem Howl is on trial for being obscene. Prosecutor Ralph McIntosh (Strathairn) sets out to prove that the book should be banned, while suave defense attorney Jake Ehrlich (Hamm) argues fervently for freedom of speech and creative expression. The proceedings veer from the comically absurd to the passionate as a host of witnesses pit generation against generation and art against fear in front of conservative Judge Clayton Horn (Bob Balaban).