2006 Least Anticipated Movies (Page #6)

"Art School Confidential" follows Jerome, an art student who dreams of becoming the greatest artist in the world. Arriving as a freshman at a prestigious East Coast art school, filled with every artsy "type" there is, Jerome quickly discovers his affected style and arrogance won't get him very far. When he sees that a clueless jock is attracting the glory rightfully due him, he hatches an all-or-nothing plan to hit it big in the art world and win the heart of the most beautiful girl in the school.

Based on the novel by Charles Bukowski, this drama follows the author's fictional alter-ego, Henry Chinaski, as he moves from town to town looking for work and women in the 1940s.

"CSA: The Confederate States of America", through the eyes of a faux documentary, takes a look at an America where the South won the Civil War. Supposedly produced by a British broadcasting company, the feature film is presented as a production being shown, controversially, for the first time on television in the States. Beginning with the British and French forces joining the battle with the Confederacy, thus assuring the defeat of the North at Gettysburg and ensuing battles, the South takes the battle northward and form one country out of the two. Lincoln attempts escape to Canada but is captured in blackface. This moment is captured in the clip of a silent film that might have been. Through the use of other fabricated movie segments, old government information films, television commercials, newsbreaks, along with actual stock footage from our own history, a provocative and humorous story is told of a country, which, in many ways, frighteningly follows a parallel with our own. After victory, President Davis brings slavery back to the northern states by offering a tax rebate to businesses and households who will buy and own them. Liberals move to Canada. The nation chooses an expansionist policy and conquers Mexico and South America. As world war looms, the CSA takes a non-aggressive stance toward the Third Reich and their move toward racial purity (although not condoning their wasting of possible slave stock by the Final Solution) and makes a preemptive strike on Japan on December 7, 1941. Kennedy is assassinated soon after being elected, as it appears he will not only emancipate but also give women the vote. A growing black terrorist base stems from Canada and a Cold War breaks out...complete with the Cotton Curtain being built between the two countries. Through it all, including a contemporary run for the presidency, we follow a political dynasty, the Fauntroy family, who lead the country through its triumphs and tragedies. We arrive to a today that, in many ways, we recognize. Although a nation that is content and prosperous, there is a tremendous divide within and suspicious eye without. Current politicians refer to us as two countries and perhaps, other than geographically, there is no difference between Red and Blue or North and South states. We have always struggled as to whether we are the United or Confederate States of America.

In a city ravaged by violent crime, the police department's anti-gang task force uses any means at its disposal to get the bad guys off the streets, with cops often acting as judge, jury and executioner. As the unit's self-justifying brutality and corruption spiral further out of control, gang member-turned-cop Armando Sancho (Clifton Collins Jr.) begins to question the life he and his partner Salim Adel (Cuba Gooding Jr.) have chosen. So when Internal Affairs agents investigating the division's abuses offer him a deal to come clean about the unit's misdeeds, Sancho must decide whether to heed his conscience or his loyalty to his fellow officers. On the hot, smoggy day Salim and Sancho are scheduled to testify to IA, the two rogue cops agree to run a lucrative, illegal operation for the station's top brass (Keith David and Cole Hauser). As their increasingly bloody mission takes them from one end to the other of the sprawling city they've sworn to protect and serve, Salim and Sancho learn that getting clean isn't nearly as easy as being "Dirty".

Deco and Naldinho have been buddies since childhood. Now they own a motorboat, which they use for their illicit dealings and their career as petty criminals. One day, they meet the stripper Karinna, and, of course, both fall in love with her.

Looking to avoid the feds, two white-collar criminals flee to the Cayman Islands, but fleeing results in a British citizen committing a crime that has a wide-ranging impact.

Based on the best-selling novel, this is an epic fantasy-adventure about a young farm boy named Eragon whose destiny is revealed with the help of a dragon. Eragon, now a Dragon Rider, is swept into a world of magic and power, discovering that he can save – or destroy – an Empire.

A reclusive novelist (Ed Harris) hasn't seen his daughter (Zooey Deschanel) in years. When she returns home after the long absence, she finds a house full of strangers, including a wandering loner (Will Ferrell) and one of her father's ex-students (Amelia Warner).

Monster House is an exciting and hilarious thrill-ride tale about three kids (Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner and Spencer Locke) who must do battle with a mysterious home that is determined to eat every trick or treater in sight on Halloween.

"Find Me Guilty" is based on the true story of Giacomo "Jackie Dee" DiNorscio (Vin Diesel). After years of federal investigation, 20 members of the New Jersey Lucchese crime family are brought to court on 76 charges of various crimes. Already in the midst of serving a 30-year sentence, Jackie is offered an opportunity to shorten his time by testifying against many of his closest friends. But Jackie refuses to betray his "family," and goes so far as to defend himself in what will ultimately become the longest criminal trial of its time.

At first daunted by the complicated politics of the courtroom, Jackie comfortably takes over the spotlight, insisting "I'm no gangster... I'm a gagster." With his sheer determination and unconditional loyalty, Jackie never fails to surprise even those most skeptical of his intentions.

After 21 months, the Lucchese trial became the longest in U.S. criminal history, and has continued to stand out over the years as a unique moment in courtroom history, featuring 20 defendants, 20 defense attorneys, and unusually extensive summations; one defense lawyer's closing statement ran for 5 days alone. At times hilarious and at times deeply serious, the trial and Jackie's subsequent experiences at this crucial moment in the history of criminal prosecution culminated in one of the most shocking and remarkable verdicts in American judicial history.

"Romance and Cigarettes" is a down-and-dirty musical love story set in the world of the working class. Nick (James Gandolfini) is an ironworker who builds and repairs bridges. He's married to Kitty (Susan Sarandon), a dressmaker, a strong and gentle woman with whom he has three daughters. He is carrying on a torrid affair with a redheaded woman named Tula (Kate Winslet). Nick is basically a good, hardworking man driven forward by will and blinded by his urges. Like Oedipus at Colonus, he is sent into exile and searches to find his way back through the damage he has done. In an imaginative, humorous, and touching way, "Romance and Cigarettes" explores the cost and value of a relationship through life and death. When the characters can no longer express themselves with language, they break into song, lip-synching the tunes lodged in their —to dream, to remember, and to connect to another human being.

In this outrageous and very adult comedy, a small-time career criminal (Dax Shepard) has spent most of his life in prison, sentenced each time by the same hard-ass judge. Suddenly free, he sets out to take revenge on the judge, only to learn that the old man has died. Unwilling to forgive and forget, he sets his sights on the judge's son (Will Arnett), manipulating events so that the innocent man is sent to prison. The two become cellmates, and the ultimate game of comeuppance - big house-style - begins.

Set in New York City, our story finds two disillusioned couples facing the collapse of their relationships. Things seem to go from bad to worse as they encounter and explore adultery, separation, the single's scene and even stalking.

In Venice Beach, naive Midwesterner JB (Black) bonds with local slacker KG (Glass) and they form the rock band Tenacious D. Setting out to become the world's greatest band is no easy feat, so they set out to steal what could be the answer to their prayers -- a magical guitar pick housed in a rock-and-roll museum some 300 miles away.

A man goes to sleep only to wake up 1,000 years in the future due to a top-secret hibernation program he was selected for. Living in the future, he realizes that civilization is so dumbed-down that he is the most intelligent person alive.

Written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell, "Shortbus" explores the lives of several characters living in present-day New York as they navigate the comic and tragic intersections between love. Male and female, straight and gay, the characters find one and other -- and eventually find themselves -- when they all converge at a weekly underground salon called "Shortbus," a mad nexus of art, music, politics, and more.

Hailed as "powerful" and "quietly unflinching," Patricia Foulkrod's searing documentary feature includes exclusive footage that will stir audiences. The filmmaker's subjects are patriotic young Americans – ordinary men and women who heeded the call for military service in Iraq – as they experience recruitment and training, combat, homecoming, and the struggle to reintegrate with families and communities. The terrible conflict in Iraq, depicted with ferocious honesty in the film, is a prelude for the even more challenging battles fought by the soldiers returning home – with personal demons, an uncomprehending public, and an indifferent government. As these battles take shape, each soldier becomes a new kind of hero, bearing witness and giving support to other veterans, and learning to fearlessly wield the most powerful weapon of all – the truth.

The project centers on the dark mystery surrounding a young woman's death, which is gradually revealed when the lives of seemingly uninvolved people intersect.