Milk

The story of San Francisco activist and politician Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to California public office, was first brought to the screen in the Oscar-winning 1984 documentary "The Times of Harvey Milk." It took more than 20 years for Hollywood to finally tackle the story, with Gus Van Sant directing and Sean Penn giving an inspiring, Oscar-winning performance. Their Harvey Milk is not a crucified messiah but a flesh-and-blood human being who rediscovers himself and his potential when he moves to San Francisco and comes out as a proud gay man. Penn plays Milk as a goofy, gay nerd who wins folks over with his sincerity, his passion and his complete lack of self-consciousness. Dustin Lance Black also won an Oscar for his screenplay, which focuses less on Milk's triumphs than on his activism, how he shaped a movement and showed gay men and lesbian women all over the country that they could stand up for their rights as a political force.

The supplements are rather thin: three conventional featurettes, each less than 15 minutes, none of them featuring director Van Sant (outside of a couple of behind-the-scenes shots). The most interesting are "Remembering Harvey," featuring the friends and colleagues of Milk (including some of the people portrayed in the film), and "Marching for Equality," in which extras in the recreations reflect back on the real events. Also features "Hollywood Comes to San Francisco" with the cast and the screenwriter discussing the legacy of Milk. The Blu-ray disc features BD-Live extras.