The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Fame (MGM)
Ensemble drama with music follows a class of gifted students (most prominently Kay Panabaker, Asher Book, Naturi Naughton and Collins Pennie) and their dedicated teachers (among them Kelsey Grammer, Charles S. Dutton and Bebe Neuwirth) through four years at a New York City high school for the performing arts. Director Kevin Tancharoen's remake of Alan Parker's 1980 celebration of creative exuberance jettisons most of the original's objectionable elements but, some enjoyable musical numbers aside, the results are mostly tepid. A scene involving suicide, a sexual situation, underage drinking, at least one use of profanity, and a half-dozen crude and a few crass (A-III, PG)

Surrogates (Touchstone)
Generally intriguing futuristic thriller, set in an America where people live their lives through ideal-looking robotic surrogates that they remote-control by their thoughts, follows an FBI agent (Bruce Willis) and his partner's (Radha Mitchell) investigation of a high-profile murder as well as his struggle to reconnect with his wife (Rosamund Pike) who refuses to interact with him except via her mechanical alter ego. Director Jonathan Mostow's adaptation of Robert Venditti's graphic novel is a cautionary tale about the perils of technology, especially its potential to cut us off from human contact and the world of nature, and an exploration of the values undergirding a successful marriage. Considerable action violence, drug use, brief sexual situations, a couple of uses of profanity and a few crude and crass terms. (A-III, PG-13)

Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself (Lionsgate)
A selfish club singer (Taraji P. Henson) learns the redemptive power of unselfish love when she finds herself caring for her dead sister's three children (Hope Olaide Wilson, Kwesi Boakye and Frederick Siglar). Writer-director Tyler Perry's adaptation of his own stage drama is a hard-driving, if entirely predictable, morality play with music in which his trademark comic character, "Madea" Simmons, has only a brief supporting role. Implied adultery, a brief scene of sexual menace, a fleeting glimpse of a male backside and a bit of crass language. (A-II, PG-13)

Whip It (Fox Searchlight)
Rough-and-tumble coming-of-age tale about a small-town Texas high school student (Ellen Page) who, with the help of her best friend (Alia Shawkat), defies her socially ambitious mother (Marcia Gay Harden) by secretly joining a hard-edged roller derby team (led by Kristen Wiig), eventually falling for a local rock singer (Landon Pigg) she meets at one of their matches. First-time director Drew Barrymore's adaptation of Shauna Cross' novel is buoyed by heartfelt performances from the principals, but the skimpy outfits and bruising smackdowns of the showcased competition come across as more exploitative than empowering, while Cross' script at least partially glamorizes irresponsible sexuality. Nongraphic nonmarital underage sexual activity, brief partial nudity, underage drinking, occasional irreverence, a few uses of profanity, some sexual humor and references, about a dozen crude terms and much crass language. (L, PG-13)

USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classifications: A-I ---- general patronage; A-II ---- adults and adolescents; A-III ---- adults; L ---- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling; O ---- morally offensive.