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Kam's Kapsules by Kam Williams

American Splendor (R for expletives) Revealing docudrama, starring Paul Giamatti, about the life of Cleveland cartoonist Harvey Pekar, an eccentric oddball who worked at a Veterans' Hospital while trying to peddle comic books about his personal life.

Casa de Los Babys (R for expletives and drug usage). John Sayles directs this drama about a half dozen women who venture from the U.S. to Latin America to adopt babies only to learn after their arrival that they cannot live according to local law. In English and Spanish with subtitles.

Cold Creek Manor (R for violence, expletives and sex). Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone share top billing in this thriller about a family that moves to the country only to discover that their dream house is haunted by horrifying secrets hidden by the recently-paroled previous owner.

Duplex (PG-13 for sex, violence and profanity). A Danny DeVito directed crime comedy about a couple (Drew Barrymore and Ben Stiller) who move into the perfect N.Y.C. apartment and are told they can buy it once the little old-lady (Eileen Essell) living upstairs moves out. The overly eager pair decide to eliminate the wait by simply killing the geriatric nuisance.

The Fighting Temptations (PG-13 for several sexual references). Musical comedy with Cuba Gooding Jr. as a just fired, N.Y.C. advertising executive who returns to his hometown in Georgia where he stands to inherit the substantial estate of his dearly departed, Holy Roller aunt, provided he assembles an award-winning gospel choir in accordance with the provisions of her will. Beyoncé co-stars as the old flame with whom he rekindles a little romance.

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.

House of the Dead (R for nudity, profanity and pervasive gore). Halloween season horror flick based on the Sega video game features typical teen scream scenario. Coeds, who are drawn to an island off Florida for a techno rave party, find themselves in a high attrition situation when attacked by an army of ancient zombies who had failed to find the fabled fountain of youth there hundreds of years before.

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.

The Magdalene Sisters (R for cruelty, violence, nudity, sex and expletives) True tale, set in Ireland in 1964, about four wayward young women committed to a convent of sadistic nuns who strip them of their individuality by forcing them to work for free in a laundry, seven days a week.

Mambo Italiano (R for cursing and sexual situations). Ripoff comedy about a homosexual travel agent trying to hide his closeted affair with a cop from Old World parents who would rather see him dating a nice Italian girl.

Matchstick Men (PG-13 for violence, adult themes, sex content and curses). Ridley Scott adaptation of the Eric Garcia novel of the same name serves as an unlikely buddy vehicle for Nicholas Cage as an agoraphobic, chain-smoking con man suddenly saddled with the 14-year-old daughter (Alison Lohman) he never knew he had.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico (R for expletives and gratuitous violence). Final chapter in the Robert Rodriguez trilogy which began with El Mariachi, followed by Desperado. In this installment, El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) is recruited by the CIA to help bring down a conspiracy between a crooked general and a drug kingpin. Boasts big-name cast with Oscar-nominees Salma Hayek and Willem Dafoe, Johnny Depp, Ruben Blades, Enrique Iglesias, Cheech Marin, and Mickey Rourke.

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.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (PG-13 for action/adventure violence). Disney kiddie fright flick based on its amusement park ride of the same name. Seventeenth Century adventure stars Johnny Depp as a dapper outlaw who teams up with the young daughter of a governor to thwart the plan by a band of zombie buccaneers to undo the curse that has left them lingering in the limbo of the undead.

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).

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.

Secondhand Lions (PG for adult themes, mild epithets and violence). Heartwarming tale, set in the 60s, with Haley Joel Osment as a timid teen, forced to spend the summer in Texas with his rich, reluctant Uncles Hub and Garth (Robert Duvall and Michael Caine, respectively), who learns a lot more about their mysterious past and a big lesson in life in the process.

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.

Underworld (R for gory violence and cursing). Shakespeare inspired horror flick about an ill-fated, cross-species romance between a human, (Scott Speedman) with a rare blood type, and the female vampire (Kate Beckinsale) trying to save him from a rabid race of werewolves who need his plasma to save them from extinction.

Whale Rider (PG-13 for profanity and a drug reference). Maori fable, set in New Zealand, based on the Witi Ihimaera novel of the same name about a 12 year-old orphan who wants to be the first female chief of a patrilineal tribe. Spunky, women's libber proves her worth by harnessing a humpback for a heck of a Nantucket sleigh ride.