A hero on the seven seas, ten sets of lovers, three tortured souls, and a lion of the fourth estate

PREVIEW: MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD (20th Century Fox) Directed by Peter Weir

Russell Crowe is back in period dress as Captain Jack Aubrey, a Napoleonic-era British naval commander whose ship engages a French frigate. Based on two books in author Patrick O'Brian's popular series, Commander is a hotly anticipated return to the swashbuckling adventures of days of yore. And as we learned with Gladiator (2000), Crowe sure knows how to revive a genre. Avast, ye landlubbers! Lewis Beale

PREVIEW: THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS (Warner Bros.) Directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski

The drama surrounding this final installment of the sci-fi fantasy action trilogy is obvious: Will the Wachowskis rekindle the brilliance of the first film and cement the pictures in the pantheon of classics? Or, as their fan base fears after the disappointing Reloaded, will the directors channel George Lucas and produce an effects-heavy, story-light picture that blights the franchise but earns them enough money not to care? Jarret McNeill

PREVIEW: LOVE ACTUALLY (Universal) Directed by Richard Curtis

The witty scribe behind Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and Notting Hill (1999) makes his directorial debut with ten filigreed vignettes about--what else?--love in contemporary London. With the who's who of young-ish British actors (Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, and Keira Knightley), expect another charming ride around the romantic comedy carousel. Quite. Richard Dorment

PREVIEW: GOTHIKA (Warner Bros.) Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz

A renowned psychiatrist (Halle Berry) awakens in an insane asylum, as a patient, and has no memory of checking in. A creepy head case (Penelope Cruz), a skeptical doctor (Robert Downey Jr.), and sporadic ghost sightings aren't helping things. Despite its top-notch cast, early buzz warns this Halloween thriller will be more trick than treat. RD

REVIEW: 21 GRAMS (Focus) Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Having assembled much of his Amores Perros (2000) team (including gifted screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga and cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto) behind the camera, and A-list headliners--Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, and Naomi Watts--in front, Inarritu delivers a haunting knockout. A violent car accident links Penn's terminally ill professor, Del Toro's born-again reprobate, and Watts's mother and wife; their pain, as honest as it is gruesome, is palpable. Grams should carry plenty of weight come Oscar season. Scott Lyle Cohen

REVIEW: IN THE CUT (Sony Screen Gems) Directed by Jane Campion

America's sweetheart Meg Ryan gets down with her bad self in Campion's erotic adaptation of Susanna Moore's thriller about a lonely teacher who falls for a detective (Mark Ruffalo) investigating a string of grisly murders. In a genuinely brave performance, Ryan drops not only her drawers, but also all semblance of her cutie-pie nose-scrunching persona. Turns out, the woman can really act. Who knew?. Elizabeth Weitzman

REVIEW: VERONICA GUERIN (Touchstone) Directed by Joel Schumacher

In Schumacher's stirring biopic, Cate Blanchett stars as Veronica Guerin, the Irish journalist murdered in 1996, after her investigations into Dublin's drug trade began outing the underworld's shadowy figures, Though moving, well acted, and smoothly directed, the film might find difficulty securing the audience it deserves. Guerin is a hero worthy of lionization, but where entertainment is concerned, moviegoers tend to find the sword mightier than the pen. SLC

REVIEW: PIECES OF APRIL (UA) Directed by Peter Hedges

Still more Joey Potter than Joey Ramone, Katie Holmes gamely dons a fake tattoo and a punky dye job to play April, a rebel reaching out to her critical mother (Patricia Clarkson) by planning the perfect family Thanksgiving. Alas, when her stove breaks down, she finds herself up a creek. Clarkson's acerbic turn balances out the self-conscious quirkiness, but at a scant 80 minutes, this film is way undercooked. EW

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