Kam’s Kapsules by Kam Williams

An American Carol (PG-13 for profanity, drug use, irreverent humor, and crude content). Michael Moore is lampooned in this variation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol revolving around an unpatriotic filmmaker (Kevin P. Farley) determined to abolish the Fourth of July until he’s visited by three ghosts who teach him the true meaning of America.

Appaloosa (R for violence and profanity). Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris co-star in this Western about a couple of gunslingers hired to rescue a lawless desert town being terrorized by a renegade rancher (Jeremy Irons).

Beverly Hills Chihuahua (PG for mature themes). Animated family comedy from Walt Disney about a pampered pet (Drew Barrymore) on vacation in Mexico City who finds herself separated from her owner and having to rely on the help of a street smart German Shepherd (Andy Garcia) and an amorous pup (George Lopez) to find her way back to California.

Blindness (R for sexuality, nudity, violence, profanity, and rape). Harrowing thriller about the efforts of a sighted woman (Julianne Moore) to help her husband (Mark Ruffalo) and six others survive in the wake of an epidemic of blindness which has suddenly plagued their city. With Danny Glover, Alice Braga, Don McKellar, Sandra Oh, and Gael Garcia Bernal. In English and Japanese with subtitles.

Body of Lies (R for pervasive profanity and graphic violence, including torture). Ridley Scott directs this international thriller about a CIA operative (Leonardo DiCaprio) who attempts to infiltrate a Middle East terrorist network with the help of a veteran agent (Russell Crowe) and Jordan’s chief of intelligence (Mark Strong). In English and Arabic with subtitles.

Burn after Reading (R for sexuality, violence, and profanity). Coen Brothers crime caper about a personal trainer (Brad Pitt) and a gym owner (Frances McDormand) who try to blackmail a CIA Agent (John Malkovich) whose computer disk they find. Cast includes George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, J.K. Simmons, Richard Jenkins, and Dermot Mulroney.

City of Ember (PG for mild peril and mature themes). Futuristic science fiction fantasy about a couple of enterprising teenagers (Harry Treadaway and Saoirse Ronan) who try to save the day when their underground metropolis is suddenly plagued by blackouts. Cast includes Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Martin Landau, and Mary Kay Place.

The Duchess (PG-13 for sexuality, nudity, and mature themes). Keira Knightley handles the title role in this costume drama chronicling the life and times of 18th Century British aristocrat, Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, whose unhappy marriage to a flagrant philanderer (Ralph Fiennes) became the subject of public scandal. Cast includes Charlotte Rampling, Dominic Cooper, and Hayley Atwell.

Eagle Eye (PG-13 for profanity, intense violence, and action sequences). Action thriller about a couple of strangers (Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monahan) who find themselves both fugitives on the FBI’s Most Wanted List after being manipulated into becoming members of a terrorist cell planning a political assassination. Cast includes Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie, and Rosario Dawson.

The Express (PG for violence, mature themes, ethnic slurs, and brief sensuality). Rob Brown handles the title role in this bittersweet biopic about college football great and first African-American Heisman trophy-winner Ernie Davis who succumbed to leukemia before having a chance to play in the N.F.L. Cast includes Dennis Quaid, Charles S. Dutton, and Omar Benson Miller.

Flash of Genius (PG-13 for brief profanity). Docudrama based on the real-life dilemma of engineering professor Robert Kearns (Greg Kinnear) who sued the auto industry in the sixties to obtain recognition of his invention of the intermittent windshield wiper. Cast includes Alan Alda and Lauren Graham.

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People (R for profanity, graphic nudity, and brief drug use). A comedy, based on Toby Young’s memoir of the same name, about an intellectual British journalist (Simon Pegg) who takes a job at a New York City tabloid magazine that caters to the superficial celebrities he absolutely despises. With Megan Fox, Kirsten Dunst, Gillian Anderson, and Jeff Bridges.

Lakeview Terrace (PG-13 for sexuality, profanity, mature themes, violence, and drug references). Psychological thriller with Samuel L. Jackson as a Los Angeles Police Department cop who harasses the newlyweds (Kerry Washington and Patrick Wilson) living next-door because he disapproves of their interracial marriage.

Man on Wire (PG-13 for sexuality, nudity, and drug references). Don’t look down documentary revisits Frenchman Philippe Petit’s daring, death-defying and illegal high-wire walk at 1368 feet in the air between the roofs of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers back in 1974. (In English and French with subtitles)

Max Payne (PG-13 for profanity, sexuality, intense violence, and drug use). Mark Wahlberg stars in the title role of this revenge thriller about a DEA agent and an assassin (Mila Kunis) who join forces to find the killers responsible for the murder of his family and her sister. Cast includes Ludacris, Beau Bridges, Nelly Furtado, Chris O’Donnell, Donal Logue and Kate Burton (Richard’s daughter).

Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist (PG-13 for mature themes, sexuality, teen drinking, profanity, and crude behavior). Romantic comedy about a high school senior (Michael Cera) who asks a college bound coed (Kat Jennings) to be his girlfriend for five minutes in order to make his ex (Alexis Dziena) jealous. Cast includes Jay Baruchel, Frankie Faison, Kevin Corrigan, Aaron Yoo, Rafi Gavron, and John “Harold” Cho.

Nights in Rodanthe (PG-13 for sensuality). Richard Gere and Diane Lane co-star in this romance drama about an unhappily married woman and a physician dealing with an emotional crisis who make the most of a weekend when they meet at a seaside retreat located in a tiny coastal town on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

Quarantine (R for profanity, terror, gory violence, and disturbing images). High-attrition horror flick about an L.A. apartment building sealed shut by the Center for Disease Control after blood-curdling start to emanate from inside. When the quarantine is lifted, the only evidence of what transpired is contained on a videotape shot by a TV reporter (Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman (Steve Harris).

Religulous (R for profanity and sexuality). Anti-dogma documentary starring agnostic Bill Maher who indicts faith in organized religions as beliefs in fairy tales which are to blame for many of the world’s woes. With commentary by Steve Burg, Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda, and Andrew Newberg.

RocknRolla (R for violence, drug use, brief sexuality, and profanity). Campy crime caper, directed by Guy Ritchie, about a shady Russian billionaire (Tom Wilkinson) whose attempt to corner the London real estate market leads to lots of other mobsters muscling in on the get rich quick scam. Ensemble cast includes Thandie Newton, Jeremy Piven, Ludacris, Idris Elba, and Gerard Butler.

The Secret Life of Bees (PG-13 for violence and mature themes). Dakota Fanning stars in this Southern saga, set in the Sixties at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, about a motherless teen who runs away with her surrogate mom (Jennifer Hudson) from her abusive father (Paul Bettany) to a tiny South Carolina town where they are taken in by an eccentric trio of beekeeping sisters (Queen Latifah, Sophie Okonedo and Alicia Keys).

Sex Drive (R for crude humor, sexuality, nudity, and drug and alcohol use, all involving teens). Raunchy road comedy about an 18 year-old virgin (Josh Zuckerman) who steals his big brother’s (James Marsden) classic Pontiac GTO in order to drive with a couple of friends (Amanda Crew and Clark Duke) from Chicago to Knoxville where he expects to rendezvous with a temptress (Katrina Bowden) he met over the internet.

Tell No One (Unrated). Crime thriller about a still-grieving pediatrician (Francois Cluzet) who suddenly finds himself a suspect in his wife’s (Marie-Josee Croze) murder when the police decide to reopen the case at the same time that he receives an anonymous email warning him to “tell no one” that she’s still alive. (In French with subtitles).

Transsiberian (R for violence, torture, and profanity). Crime thriller about an American couple (Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer) traveling by train from China to Moscow who unwittingly become involved with Russian cops and mobsters after being befriended by another couple (Eduardo Noriega and Kate Mara) en route. Cast includes Ben Kingsley and Thomas Kretschmann.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (PG-13 for sexuality, smoking, and mature themes). Woody Allen directs this romantic comedy about two girlfriends (Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson) spending the summer in Spain, who fall in love with the same artist (Javier Bardem), unaware that his unstable ex-wife (Penelope Cruz) is about to reenter the picture. In Catalan, English, and Spanish with subtitles.

W. (PG-13 for profanity, sexual references, smoking, alcohol abuse, and disturbing war images). Josh Brolin plays the President in this bio-pic directed by Oliver Stone recounting the checkered career of George W. Bush. With Elizabeth Banks as his wife, Laura, Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice, Jeffrey Wright as Colin Powell, Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney and Toby Jones as Karl Rove.

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