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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.

American Wedding (R for sex, profanity and crude humor). American Pie 3. Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) are ready to marry, but not before a hedonistic bachelor party thrown by pal Stifler (Seann William Scott) and another awkward father-son moment with his sermonizing dad (Eugene Levy).

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (PG-13 for crude and sex-related humor, profanity and drug references) Comic adventure with hip quipster David Spade starring as a washed-up, TV child star, now trying to revitalize his career, who hires a family to provide him with the normal home-life he has never known. Featuring cameos by such ex-kiddie celebs as Alyssa Milano (Who's the Boss?), Danny Bonaduce (The Partridge Family), Corey Feldman (Stand By Me), Leif Garrett (teen pop singing sensation), Emmanuel Lewis (Webster), Dustin Diamond (Saved By the Bell), Willie Aames (Eight Is Enough), and Maureen McCormick and Barry Williams (both of The Brady Bunch).

Dirty Pretty Things (R for sex, profanity and disturbing images) Brit whodunit, set in London, about an illegal immigrant from Africa who, after stumbling upon a grisly crime scene, teams up with a Turkish maid and a Chinese call girl to solve the murder.

Le Divorce (PG-13 for mature themes and sex content) Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts star as step-sisters in this Merchant-Ivory adaptation of the Diane Johnson novel of the same name about the amorous misadventures of a couple of California girls in Paris. In French and English with subtitles.

Freaky Friday (PG for adult themes and mild epithets). Disney remake of 1977 Jodie Foster film about a tomboy and her widowed mom who end up in each others' bodies after getting a couple of cursed fortune cookies from a meddling waitress at a Chinese restaurant. Decent double-duty by both Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, the latter having also handled dual roles as the twins at the center of Parent Trap.

Freddy vs Jason (R for pervasive gore, gruesome images, sex, drug use and profanity) Either A Nightmare on Elm Street No. 8 or the 11th in the Friday the 13th series. Or both. High body-count horror flick pits franchised slashers Jason Vorhees and Freddy Krueger against each other with woe to any pretty coeds who venture between them.

Jeepers Creepers 2 (R for profanity and gratuitous gore). Sequel to messy teen screamer heralds the return of the voracious, flesh-eating, flying monster for another round of chomping on a busload of cheerleaders and basketball players.

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.

The Medallion (PG-13 for slapstick violence and off-color double entendres). Trademark Jackie Chan action vehicle has the rubber-faced, stunt comic playing a Hong Kong detective who dies in the line of duty only to come back as an immortal superhero.

My Boss's Daughter (PG-13 for crude humor, drug references and profanity). Romantic comedy with Demi Moore boy-toy Ashton Kutcher as a schemer who agrees to house-sit for his abusive employer (Terence Stamp) because of the crush he has on the man's daughter (Tara Reid). Sitcom plot has ensemble cast running interference, including characters played by Carmen Electra, Molly Shannon, Jeffrey Tambor and Andy Richter.

Open Range (R for violence) Grazes with cows. Kevin Costner directs and stars in this adaptation of The Open Range Men, the Lauran Paine novel about a quartet of cattle-herding cowboys in the waning days of the Wild Wild West. With Robert Duvall and Annette Bening.

The Order (R for violent omages, sexuality and profanity) Christian-oriented thriller with Heath Ledger as a priest summoned to Rome to assist a detective (Shannyn Sossamon) in the investigation of some mysterious deaths which might have been at the hands of the Sin Eaters, an ancient order of monks who cleanse souls as they kill.

The Other Side of the Bed (R for sexuality, nudity and profanity). Erotic comedy, set in Madrid, about two curious guys who decide to swap partners. In Spanish with subtitles.

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.

Seabiscuit (PG-13 for sexual situations and sports-related violence). Jeff Bridges, Tobey Maguire and Chris Cooper star in an adaptation of the best seller of the same name by Laura Hillenbrand. True tale of the jockey, trainer and owner of the legendary thoroughbred that won Horse of the Year honors in 1938.

Spy Kids 3: Game Over (PG for perilous action sequences). 3-D glasses will enhance your enjoyment of this final installment in the tiny spy franchise. Here, our diminutive heroes find themselves pitted against Sly Stallone as the villain and trapped inside a virtual reality game they must play to escape.

S.W.A.T. (PG-13 for profanity, violence and sexual references). Samuel L. Jackson, in the wake of his success as Shaft, revives another 1970s cop, bringing the short-lived LAPD series to the big screen as an action-oriented crime thriller. Premise situates Sam as veteran police officer assigned to thwart any attempts to take up drug kingpin on his offer of $100 million to anyone who can spring him from prison.

Swimming Pool (R for nudity, profanity, violence, and heavy sex content). Erotic thriller with Charlotte Rampling as a British novelist with writer's block who escapes to her publisher's sumptuous summer home in France to find some inspiration for her next murder mystery. She finds more than she bargained for when his reckless daughter arrives.

Uptown Girls (PG-13 for sex content and profanity). Morality comedy with Brittany Murphy as a broke, recently-swindled, N.Y.C. socialite who learns a humbling lesson in life when she takes a job as a nanny for just the sort of spoiled brat she has been.

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.