Dixie Chicks - Shut Up & Sing - Remember when rugged individualism was the hallmark of the "American character"? Remember when that individualism was defined by a willingness to speak your mind? Remember when criticizing your governmental overlords was a patriotic duty? Yeah, me neither. But maybe country music trio The Dixie Chicks were trying to recall that mythologized frontier spirit when lead singer Nathalie Maines criticized President Bush for launching the Iraq War during a 2003 concert. This documentary follows the Chicks during the resulting turmoil in which they lost fans, incurred the wrath of right wing pundits and saw their music banned from several radio stations.

Dream Follies/Dreamland Capers - Something Weird brings us this double bill, the first of which features oddball burlesque acts interspersed with the comedy of a young Lenny Bruce before he became a trenchant social critic and when he was still throwing spaghetti in his mother's face.

For Your Consideration - Christopher Guest's latest mockumentary re-teams the usual suspects (Catherine O'Hara, Harry Shearer, Parker Posey, Fred Willard, Jane Lynch, Bob Balaban, Eugene Levy, Michael McKean, Jennifer Coolidge) in a comedy about a film crew who are all agog when Internet rumors start circulating that three of the film's stars may be up for Academy Awards. Throw in Ricky Gervais as a meddling exec and you have all the ingredients for another trademark Guest comedy that lovingly plumbs the highs and lows of human folly.

Flushed Away - Aardman Animations' first foray into the world of CG follows Roddy (Hugh Jackman), an upper-crust society mouse who finds himself living in the cold, mean sewers where he is befriended by Rita (Kate Winslet) and hunted by The Toad (Ian Mckellan). Yes, the anthropomorphized animals do lose some of their charm in the slick CG world, but even DreamWorks can’t suck the soul out of these lovable characters.

La Sierra - A documentary about life in the La Sierra barrio of Medellin, Colombia, the cocaine capital of the world under siege by the military, paramilitary gangs and leftist guerrillas. This doc follows three of the neighbohood's residents: Edison, a 22-year-old paramilitary leader, assassin and father of six; Jesus, a gang member raised amidst violence and ready to die; and Cielo, a 17-year-old mother struggling to raise her child while her boyfriend is in prison.

Lunacy - Hands down the best film I saw in 2006. Directed by Czech animator and filmmaker Jan Svankmajer, the film features only snippets of his trademark animatronics and puppetry, but it's still a beautiful, surreal, horrific journey. The film begins with an introduction by Svankmajer, who explains that there are two ways to run an institution: absolute freedom and absolute totalitarianism. But there is also a third option that combines both methods, he says, "And that is the mad house we are living in today." Set some time during the 1800s in rural France, the story begins when Pavel (Jean Berlot), a humble traveler, is picked up by the puckish Marquis (Jan Triska) and taken to the Marquis' castle. Glimpsing a blasphemous and sadomasochistic sex orgy, Pavel vows to rescue a comely young woman who claims she is being forced to participate against her will. But Pavel soon learns that the castle is an asylum where the inmates are in charge. And when he releases the asylum's director, who has been locked in a basement dungeon along with his staff, Pavel unleashes a baroque sadist whose absolute adherence to rules is far more brutal and perverse than the libertine ways of the Marquis. Though this movie functions as a philosophical argument about the polar extremes of societal structures, Lunacy is also just a straight-up mind-blowing horror film.

The Prestige - Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale star as rival magicians in turn-of-the-century London. Director Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins) orchestrates the visual theatrics in this crafty drama with a twist ending. There were two period dramas about magicians that came out last year. This was the good one.

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs - Made in 1960 this sensitive drama directed by Mikio Naruse (a contemporary of Yasujiro Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi) stars Hideko Takamine as Keiko, a middle-aged geisha pulled in different directions by the demands of her family, her customers and her heart. Naruse treats his protagonist with such sensitivity that it's hard not to be bowled over by Takamine's aura of fragility and resilience.

Action/Thriller
Bloody Ties
Crooked
Crossover
The Eden Formula - Who knows what the film is about, but it had the awesome working title Tyrannosaurus Wrecks.
Fall Guy
Flight of Fury
Open Water 2
Persons Unknown
Walking Tall - The Payback
White Air - Tom Sizemore and Dominique Swain in what looks like a stunt-filled, straight-to-DVD release set in the world of extreme snowboarding.

Animation
Curious George - Zoo Night & Other Animal Stories
Holly Hobbie: Secret Adventures
Miss Spider: A Froggy Day in Sunny Patch
Robin Hood - Quest for the King
What's New, Scooby-Doo? - The Complete First Season

Animé
Basilisk, Vol. 5: Shades of Night
Fate/Stay Night. Vol. 2: War of the Magi
Elemental Gelade, Vol. 5: Decisions
Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children (Limited Edition Collector's Set)
Gunbuster
Le Chevalier d'Eon - Psalm of Vengence (Vol. 1)
Moon Phase - Phase 4
Negima, Vol. 6: Magic 601 - Magic and the Dark Arts
Nerima Daikon Brothers - Show Me Your Daikon (Vol. 2) Origin - Spirits of the Past: The Movie

Biopic
A Man for All Seasons - Special Edition
Mark Twain: A Musical Biography
Puccini

Blaxploitation
The Final Comedown

Box Sets
The Alice Faye Collection (That Night in Rio / Lillian Russell / On the Avenue / The Gang's All Here)
The Cuban Masterworks Collection (The Twelve Chairs / The Adventures of Juan Quin Quin / A Successful Man / Celia / Amada)
Dark Castle Horror Collection (House of Wax 2005 / Gothika / Ghost Ship / Thirteen Ghosts / House on Haunted Hill 1999)
Kadokawa Horror Collection
Lethal Chiba

Comedy
Bros
Fifty Pills
Godfather of Green Bay
Going Shopping
Keeping Mum
Man of the Year
Speaking of Sex
The Three Stooges - Hapless Half-Wits

Documentary
Disinfo.Con
The Journalist and the Jihadi - The Murder of Daniel Pearl
National Geographic - At Close Range
National Geographic - Eye of the Leopard
The Second City - First Family of Comedy
Yves Saint Laurent - His Life and Times/5 Avenue Marceau 75116 Paris

Drama
C.R.A.Z.Y.
Babel

Family
Body Mechanics: Superheroes of the Human Body
The Impossible Elephant

Foreign Drama
1888 el Extraordinario Viaje de La Santa Isabel
El Agujero (The Hole)

Horror
Apartment Zero
Dead Mary
Video X: The Dwayne and Darla-Jean Story
Wilderness

Horror/Comedy
Night of the Living Dorks

Martial Arts
Rarescope - Elimination Pursuit
Rarescope - Duel at the Supreme Gate
The Wandering Swordsman

Music
Ethnic Heritage Ensemble Live at the Ascension Loft
Guillaera News: Season One
Jazz Shots from the West Coast, Vol. 2
Jazz Shots from the West Coast, Vol. 3
Keeper of the Seven Keys: Legacy World Tour - Helloween
Live at Coventry Cathedral 1975 - Tangerine Dream
Martha Reeves
Tokyo 1961 & London 1965

Music Documentary
American Hardcore
Barry White Story: Let the Music Play
Down South Players
Neil Young: Under Review 1966-1975
U2: Achtung Baby Classic Album Under Review

Serial Killers
Hard
The Mailman

Teen Sex Romp
Da Block Party 2
Hollywood High 2
Zerophilia

TV
Alias Smith & Jones - Season One
Family Ties - The Complete First Season
The Johnny Carson Show
Twitch City - The Complete Series
Voyage to the Bottom of Sea - Season 2, Volume 2

British TV
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, Set 1

TV Movie
Jane Eyre (Masterpiece Theatre)

Vintage
49th Parallel
The Well