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Love Actually

Kam's Kapsules by Kam Williams

Beyond Borders (R for profanity and graphic war scenes). Globetrotting generation spanning drama about the on-again, off-again romance between a peripatetic philanthropist (Angelina Jolie) and the international relief worker (Clive Owen) she repeatedly meets with at disaster sites.

Brother Bear (G). Old-fashioned animated feature from Disney, set in the West before the arrival of the white man, tells the tale of the unlikely friendship forged between a young, Native American brave (Joaquin Phoenix) and an anthropomorphic grizzly bear cub (Jeremy Suarez). Additional voicework supplied by Michael Clarke Duncan and Rick Moranis.

Elf (PG for crude humor and mild epithets). Roots comedy about the search for his biological father by a man (Will Ferrell) raised as an Elf by Santa Claus (Ed Asner) at the North Pole.

Good Boy! (PG for crude humor). A sci-fi kiddie comedy starring Saturday Night Live alums Mollie Shannon and Kevin Nealon as the parents of the little boy who unknowingly adopts a dog from a planet called Sirius sent to hatch a canine plot to take over the Earth.

The Human Stain (R for nudity, sex and expletives). Anthony Hopkins is a distinguished professor posing as a Jew who has hidden his African-American roots for years. Disgraced for making a racial slur, the Viagra-popping poser takes refuge in a steamy affair with a janitor (Nicole Kidman) who has a very jealous husband.

In the Cut (R for nudity, explicit sexuality, expletives and graphic violence). Erotic thriller based on the Susanna Moore novel of the same name. Director Jane Campion casts Meg Ryan as a frump having a passionate affair with a cop investigating the messy murder of a neighbor of hers.

Intolerable Cruelty (PG-13 for slight sex content, profanity and brief violence). Zany revenge comedy, courtesy of the Coen Brothers, about a ruthless divorce lawyer (George Clooney) who finds himself seduced by a satisfied client's (Edward Herrmann) vengeful ex-wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones). Big name cast includes Cedric the Entertainer, Billy Bob Thornton and Geoffrey Rush.

Kill Bill: Volume 1 (NR). Uma Thurman stars in this Quentin Tarantino crime thriller about a woman almost murdered at her own wedding who comes out of a coma after five years to embark on a bloody rampage against her would be assassins. Live action/animation mix with David Carradine, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, Samuel L. Jackson, and Lucy Liu.

Lost in Translation (R for sex content). Drama about an over-the-hill movie star (Bill Murray), in Tokyo to tape a TV commercial, who befriends a bored housewife (Scarlett Johansson) neglected by her workaholic husband.

Love Actually (R for sex, nudity and profanity). Irreverent British holiday comedy about 8 London couples in crisis whose lives become hopelessly intertwined by Christmas Eve.

The Matrix: Revolutions (R for sex and expletives). Cinematic closure arrives with this final installment in the mind-bending, sci-fi trilogy as war erupts on the scorched Earth as the machines invade Zion. With the identical cast as the simultaneously shot Matrix 2, except for Gloria Foster, who died during the filming.

Mystic River (R for profanity and violence). Clint Eastwood directed this labyrinthine whodunit starring Sean Penn as a man whose daughter has been murdered. Kevin Bacon and Laurence Fishburne co-star as the detectives handling the investigation, and Tim Robbins surfaces as the prime suspect.

Out of Time (PG-13 for sex, expletives and brief profanity). Denzel Washington as a compromised cop with his reputation on the line after he steals some evidence money to pay for his married girlfriend's operation only to get implicated in her arson-related murder.

Pieces of April (PG-13 for sensuality, expletives, drug content, and nudity). Katie Holmes stars in the title role of this comedy of errors as a Greenwich Village bohemian from a staid, suburban family who invites her folks to her tiny, dilapidated apartment for a holiday feast with her black boyfriend (Derek Luke).

Radio (PG for mild epithets and adult themes). Inspirational biopic about the enduring friendship forged between a South Carolina high school football coach (Ed Harris) and the mentally retarded black man (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) he has mentored for almost 40 years.

Runaway Jury (PG-13 for violence, language and adult themes). Adaptation of the John Grisham page-turner starring John Cusack as a mysterious man who manipulates his way onto a jury as foreman. Rachel Weisz co-stars as the girlfriend go-between willing to deliver the verdict in the multi-million dollar case to the higher bidder. With Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman and Jennifer Beals.

The Rundown (PG-13 for violence and crude dialogue). The Rock stars in this action adventure as a brash bounty hunter venturing into the jungles of the Amazon to bring back an escaped con (Seann William Scott).

Scary Movie 3 (PG-13 for crude and off-color humor, drug references, profanity and cartoonish violence). Third installment in series spoofs Signs, 8 Mile, Harry Potter and a slew of other recent movies. No Wayans Brothers, but Anna Faris returns. Cameo heavy cast includes Anthony and Pamela Anderson, Charlie Sheen, Eddie Griffin, Queen Latifah, Simon Cowell, Leslie Nielsen, Macy Gray, George Carlin, Method Man, and many others.

The School of Rock (PG-13 for crude humor and drug references). Dark comedy with Jack Black as a down-and-out rock musician who starts substitute teaching at a posh prep school where he inspires his students to find their inner Hendrix.

The Singing Detective (R for violence, expletives and intense sexual content). Adaptation of the BBC-TV series of the same name stars Robert Downey, Jr. as a bed-ridden psycho working on his first novel.

The Station Agent (R for profanity and drug use). Jersey-based drama about a reclusive dwarf living in an abandoned train depot whose oasis is invaded by an artist mourning the loss of her son and a motor mouthed hot dog vendor.

Sylvia (R for sex, expletives and nudity). Gwyneth Paltrow handles the title role in this biography of Sylvia Plath, the celebrated suicidal poet who lost it after being abandoned for another by her husband Ted Hughes.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (R for gratuitous gore, profanity and drug use). Remake of the 1974 slasher flick based on the true tale of cannibal Ed Gein, the Wisconsin serial killer whose sick exploits also inspired Psycho and Silence of the Lambs. In this version, five joyriding kids, including Jessica Biel (of TV's 7th Heaven), have the misfortune of crossing the path of the gas-powered madman.

Under the Tuscan Sun (PG-13 for sex and expletives). Romantic comedy, loosely based on Frances Mayes' 1966 memoir, stars Diane Lane as a 35-year-old American lawyer who escapes her cheating husband by vacationing in Italy where she impulsively buys a fixer-upper and gets involved with a tall, dark and handsome stranger.