2003 Least Anticipated Movies (Page #12)

In this erotic drama, John (Josh Hamilton), a guy trying to get over a bad breakup, and his roommate, Moe (Harold Perrineau), set up an adult chat room on the Internet and watch their lives change as a result of the various people they meet.

April Burns (Katie Holmes) is a 21-year-old wild child with a very big problem. Against her better judgment, she's invited her straightlaced family for Thanksgiving dinner. Her boyfriend, Bobby, wants to help, but she banishes him from the apartment while she attempts to cook the meal. To make matters worse, she then discovers that her oven doesn't work. So, while April is forced to ask her eccentric neighbors for help in cooking her fifteen pound turkey, the Burns Family begins a reluctant journey from suburban Pennsylvania toward New York City's Lower East Side. April's Dad, Jim Burns (Oliver Platt) tries to convince the family that the day will be beautiful. Her mom, Joy (Patricia Clarkson) has her doubts and freely voices them. April's teenage sister and brother are squeezed between Grandma Dottie and a bag of snacks in the back seat as the Burns' family car hurtles toward Manhattan and what will most likely be certain disaster.

The winner of the second Project Greenlight screenwriting contest, "The Battle of Shaker Heights", is a uniquely funny portrait of modern youth under siege. For high school senior Kelly Ernswiler, life is war - or, at least, it's simulated war. In all his 17 years, Kelly has found just one true passion: re-enacting the epic battle scenes of World War II. When he meets Bart Bowland, a fellow war re-enactor who is Kelly's direct opposite, his life take twists and turns he never expected – including a real-life Special Ops mission against a school bully, an ongoing battle with his outrageous family and the epic teenage crush of a lifetime.

September 1944. Several days before Finland, an ally of Nazi Germany, pulls out of World War II, Veiko, (Ville Haapasalo) a lone Finnish sniper, is turned on by his compatriots for a being a pacifist and, in their eyes, a reluctant fighter. As a punishment, the young man is placed in shackles, nailed to a heavy rock and forced to wear a German uniform, knowing full well that Russian soldiers have orders to shoot Germans on sight, without accepting surrender. Veiko is thus left to die in a remote Lapland forest, with nothing but a few supplies and his wits. Days pass, and after several failed attempts, he succeeds in freeing himself and heads for safety, shackles still attached. While trying to escape, Veiko witnesses the following through his rifle's telescope: Ivan, a captain in the Russian army accused of anti-Soviet correspondence, is being held prisoner by the Soviet Military secret police. En route to his court martial, Russian planes accidentally bomb the vehicle carrying the disgraced captain, killing the driver and his guard. Not far away is Anni (Anni-Kristiina Juuso), a Lapp reindeer farmer whose husband was drafted into the war by the Finnish authorities four years earlier, never to return. Hungry and alone, the young and resourceful widow locates the bodies of Ivan and his captors while foraging for food. As she begins to bury the dead, Anni discovers that Ivan is still alive, but seriously hurt. She carries him to her wooden hut and nurses him back to health. Meanwhile, Veiko, in search of tools to remove his shackles, stumbles upon Anni's farm. Thus World War II creates the unlikeliest of bonds (between three different people, from three different cultures, speaking three different languages.) Comic, and sometimes tragic, misunderstandings soon arise, resulting in a passionate, and very human, three-way relationship. Unable to communicate with the others and unaware that the war between the USSR and Finland is over, Ivan is convinced that Veiko is a German soldier gone astray; to Ivan, the German uniform the Finnish soldier was forced to wear is further proof. But Veiko is unaware of Ivan's hatred and just wants to cut off his shackles, return home and put the war behind him. Yet, to avoid falling into enemy hands, Veiko opts to stay on Anni's farm for temporary safety. The earthy and sensuous Anni, who has not been with a man in four years, could not be more delighted with her good fortune, language barrier be damned. For Anni, Veiko and Ivan are not enemies, but just men. An uncommon and touching bond develops, as the three unlikely souls begin a domestic routine of hunting and gathering in preparation for the long Lap winter. The two men do what they can to contribute to Anni's well being: Veiko builds a sauna and Ivan picks mushrooms... but their war is not over.

Genya Tachibana is a director and the president of a small production company. One day, he is contacted by the famous Gin Ei studios, that ask him to direct a documentary commemorating their 70 years of existence. Genya chooses as a subject the legendary actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, a superstar actress who 30 years earlier chose to end her career and disappear from public life. Chiyoko Fujiwara is a cinematographic enigma that nobody ever seemed to shed light on. Genya is obsessed by this fallen star, wanting to unravel the truth behind her secret. Accompanied by a young cameraman, Genya finds his way to Chiyoko, who has transformed into an elderly hermit living alone in an isolated house. At their first meeting, Genya sees that Chiyoko, although touched by the hand of time, has not lost any of her charm or energy. To gain her confidence, he brings her an ancient key that holds sentimental value, that rapidly allows Chiyoko to begin recounting her memories. The interview takes course, and our 3 protagonists are plunged into the past, visiting each fragment of what has been long gone, where the past and present meld together. The actress' recollections soon metamorphosize into a great adventure where cinema confronts her history and an incredible love is unveiled, that conflicted with her rather uncommon lifestyle...

Two male soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces fall in love, which is forbidden in the army. They hide their love while stationed at an outpost during the Lebanon war.

A comedy about the oppositional relationship that evolves between a set of Siamese twins--conjoined at the torso--named Bob and Walt. They have used their "disability" throughout life to great advantage; for example, they excelled in High School by using the fact that they are joined at the hip to their advantage in sports, where they were a great hockey goalie and wrestling champion. Unfortunately, their different life goals may begin to threaten their happy union, as they vowed they would never split up. So, after graduation Walt wants to go to Hollywood to pursue an acting career, and although Bob opposes the move, he begrudgingly goes along. When the twins get to Los Angeles, the duo soon finds themselves landing a job on a TV show starring Cher, which results in quick fame and fortune, but will the new changes in their lives ultimately drive the twins apart?

In 1973, Alan Oakley, a 24 year old Republican journalist working for the Los Angeles Chronicle, has a promising future sure to make his military father proud. At the other end of the spectrum, certain to strike shame into conservatives everywhere is Tommy Ballenger, a 19 year old Texas native relocated to California to form "Out Loud", a gay civil rights group. When a chance meeting brings these opposites together, the attraction is obvious to everyone except Alan, who is desperately trying to stick to the program. Stumbling all the way, the neurotic Alan falls in love and the two form a loving relationship. A jealous lawyer publishes Alan's anti-gay book, however, which he wrote before meeting Tommy. This breaks up their relationship, but later they are reunited once again.

Follows various escapades going on inside a hotel: a film being shot, an entertainment news crew tracking the film's production, a mysterious surgical operation and a torture chamber in the hotel basement. All this is tied to a murder subplot.

New York City music executive Harry Langer (Jack Nicholson) is a man of some age and experience who generally dates younger women. His world is turned upside-down, however, when he has a heart attack while visiting the East Hampton beach home of the divorced playwright mother, Erica (Diane Keaton), of his latest trophy girlfriend, Marin (Amanda Peet). With his girlfriend having gone back to the city, Harry is left in the care of Erica and his doctor (Keanu Reeves), but the two men soon find themselves competing with each other, as they both fall in love with the same woman... the mom.

A social misfit, Willard (Crispin Glover) is constantly humiliated in front of his co-workers and squeezed out of the family business by his boss (R. Lee Ermey). His only friends are Cathryn (Laura Elena Haring), a new temp in the office, and a couple of rats he raises at home, Ben and Socrates (and their increasing number of friends). But when one of the rats is killed at work, Willard unleashes his rage - and his army of rats - on his tormentors.

A speculative account of the life of Griet, a 16-year-old girl who appears in Johannes Vermeer's painting of the same title. Set in 17th century Holland, Griet is employed by Vermeer as a housemaid to care for his six children, his jealous pregnant wife and his uncommunicative mother-in-law. Tensions arise when Vermeer's wife suspects intimacy between her husband and the girl--and then climax, when the wife discovers that Griet borrowed her precious pearl earrings to sit for the now famous portrait.

Formed in the 1960's, the Folksmen (Guest, McKean, Shearer) were a key group in the "Great Folk Music Scare", meeting as freshmen at Ohio Wesleyan College, and touring for 26 months as a folk trio, singing a unique type of "eclectified folk" music. It wasn't meant to last, however, and the three musicians went their separate ways. Now, thirty years later, they've reunited for a comeback tour of sorts, as long as the folk festivals they're playing at are within a day's travel of their homes, all of which leads up to a climactic memorial concert at Carnegie Hall following the death of a legendary folk music promoter, where they reunite with two other folk groups. In the tradition of This is Spinal Tap (an aging heavy metal band), Waiting for Guffman (a small town theater group), and Best in Show (the Westminster Dog Show), this is a mocking look at the world of folk music.

In this romantic comedy, British artist Colin Ware (Colin Firth) discovers that his fiance, Vera (Minnie Driver), the love of his life, is going to marry another man. Distraught and despondent, he gets on a plane for America and ends up in the tiny town of Hope in New England. At first, Colin is depressed, but he soon finds more than a shoulder to cry on when his innkeepers introduce him to Mandy (Heather Graham), a beautiful nurse. All's going well and Colin has almost forgotten his old flame until Vera suddenly shows up with a surprise of her own. "Hope Springs" is about finding happiness where you least expect it.

The fairytale rise to superstardom of America's favorite "Idols" continues as Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini make the leap to the big screen in this summer's biggest beach party.

"Divine Intervention" follows ES, a character played by and clearly based upon the filmmaker himself. ES is burdened with a sick father, a stalled screenplay and an unrequited love affair with a beautiful Palestinian woman (Manal Khader) living in Ramallah. An Israeli checkpoint on the Nazareth-Ramallah road forces the couple to rendezvous in an adjacent parking lot. Their relationship and the absurd situations around them serve as metaphors for the lunacy of larger cultural problems, and the result is palpable, bottled personal and political rage.

A slick Beverly Hills divorce lawyer (George Clooney) frames the wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) of a client to get him released from the marriage without a settlement. She vows to get revenge by marrying the attorney, aiming to take him to the cleaners in their own savage divorce, but what she doesn't expect is that she falls in love with him in the process...

This is the decades-long story of the relationship between a prominent high school football coach (Ed Harris) in a small South Carolina town and the illiterate, mentally-challenged man nicknamed Radio (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) whom he mentors, who before that had always been the target of jokes and teasing by the community. Although their friendship raises some eyebrows at first, Radio's growth under the coach's guidance ultimately inspires the local townsfolk, from 1964 when he first starts helping the Hanna Yellow Jackets football team, through a 38+ career with the school that continues today.

When protest breaks out over Dr. S's new CD, the owner of the rapper's record label, Ben Feld, is hospitalized by a heart attack. But his pampered daughter Marci, who's never set foot in the business world, steps in, stands up to Dr. S and tries to tone down his bad-boy edge.

When slick-talking New York City advertising executive Darrin Fox travels back to his small hometown in Georgia to claim the inheritance his aunt Sally left him, he finds he must fulfill her last wish before he can collect -- create a gospel choir and lead it to success. But with a town full of tin ears and a shortage of singers, Darrin is about ready to give up and head back to the city where he belongs…until he runs into Lilly. A beautiful nightclub singer with a voice that could rock the competition at the annual Gospel Explosion, Lilly is just the miracle Darrin is looking for... if he can persuade her to sing.