Go Memphis Stories: Movies

A lump of coal for Christmas

beifuss@commercialappeal.com (John Beifuss) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:41:00 -0000

The makers of "Four Christmases" should have gone ahead and dropped a couple of F-bombs into the film alongside the references to "street whores," nipples, senior sex and vomit, because -- contrary to the promise of a print ad campaign that depicts adorable Reese Witherspoon and sturdy Vince Vaughn festively wrapped in red ribbon -- this is no holiday gift for the family.

Film Review: Audience's destination is likely an exit at 'Transporter 3'

beifuss@commercialappeal.com (John Beifuss) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:05:00 -0000

According to the files of The Commercial Appeal, I reviewed "The Transporter" when it was released in 2002. I gave the movie two stars. I had to check the files because my recollections are fuzzy, at best. I can conjure images of a fight with an ax, but to pull anything else about the movie out of my memory bank, I'd probably have to undergo hypnosis. I didn't review "Transporter 2" in 2005, but I did see it at some point, probably on DVD.

News in the arts: It's a wrap: Celluloid gift bows benefit St. Jude kids

beifuss@commercialappeal.com (John Beifuss) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 23:15:00 -0000

Malco's annual "Wrapped with Love" sale of holiday gift bows to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital begins Thanksgiving Day. The handmade decorations are crafted from strips of celluloid cut from 35mm movie trailers and tied into bows by the children of St. Jude, their families and other volunteers. The bows will be on sale for $1 each through Christmas at all 33 Malco cinemas in Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri and Kentucky.

Film Review: Dangerous romance works in 'Twilight'

beifuss@commercialappeal.com (John Beifuss) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:58:00 -0000

Not being a teenage girl, I feel somewhat unqualified to review "Twilight," the breathlessly anticipated film version of the first in the series of romantic vampire novels by Stephenie Meyer that has become a sensation among the post-Miley Cyrus, presorority rush set. If I were a teenage girl, my review might consist of one emphatic word: SHRIEK. That was the favored response to the film at a Tuesday night preview screening at the Malco Paradiso.

Holiday season movies provide numerous escape routes

beifuss@commercialappeal.com (John Beifuss) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:05:00 -0000

In hard economic times, people seek escape at the movies. That was true during the Great Depression. Is it true now? One might think so, judging by the box-office success of "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa," which has earned close to $120 million in the past two weeks, and "Quantum of Solace," which earned its license to thrill by collecting $68 million when it opened last weekend.

Movies: Capsule descriptions

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:30:00 -0000

The Who at Kilburn: 1977 (Not rated, 120 min.) This North London concert -- the second-to-last live performance for drummer Keith Moon -- was shot with six cameras on 35-millimeter film by director Jeff Stein for his documentary about The Who, "The Kids Are Alright"; the full show -- including such songs as "Can't Explain" and "Baba O'Reilly" -- has never been released to the public until now.

News in the Arts: Silent, B&W horror film runs locally

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 23:50:00 -0000

The traditions of Lon Chaney and modern slasher movies merge Thursday night when Memphis writer-director Duane P. Craig unveils his new horror film, "Cruel," at 7:15 and 9:15 at Malco's Studio on the Square. Many horror movies are hard to tell apart, but "Cruel" is unusual: It's a black-and-white silent film, so it marks a return to a style that ws out of fashion even before Chaney, horror's first star, died in 1930.

Indie Memphis reveals festival films and roster of jurors

beifuss@commercialappeal.com (John Beifuss) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 23:56:00 -0000

The Indie Memphis Film Festival has unveiled its beautifully redesigned Web site (complete with mockingbird mascot) — and revealed most of its lineup of more than 40 narrative and documentary features and a score or more shorts. A mission statement/sales pitch adorns the top of the homepage: “Now in its 11th year, Indie Memphis utilizes Memphis’ rich cultural history to serve as a connecting point for regional filmmakers from all corners of the country — and provides a showcase for films celebrating Southern stories and storytelling.

Real trouper: Germantown youngster already a pro on stage and screen

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:07:00 -0000

Germantown's Cody Hanford has big acting talent -- a talent that in the past few years has put him in movies, taken him to Broadway and placed him alongside Radio City Music Hall's famous Rockettes. Memphians who have missed Cody's many local stage appearances can see him Friday, when "Hounddog" opens at Malco's Ridgeway Four.

He's seen the film from both sides now

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:18:00 -0000

It felt a little silly to wear two hats and a tux. But I had chosen to do double duty at Monday night's world premiere of "Nothing But the Truth," the made-in-Memphis film starring Kate Beckinsale, Vera Farmiga, Angela Bassett, Alan Alda -- and featuring a few local faces. One of my figurative hats was as reporter/paparazzi at the Toronto International Film Festival, covering NBTT and a handful of other films with Memphis connections. Some of that is already on John Beifuss' The Bloodshot Eye, where I've done some guest blogging.

Film Review: A grandiose trek through the Outback

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 06:00:00 -0000

Overlong and self-indulgent, Baz Luhrmann's "Australia," a homage to epic adventure films, feels like a slog through the Outback itself. Still, the stunning beauty of the pre-World War II romance will take your breath away, even if the narrator's broken English is annoying and the script repetitive and predictable.

Movies: In theaters now

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:01:00 -0000

OPENING TODAY: Bolt (PG, 96 min.) Forest Hill 8, Stage Cinema, Majestic, Collierville Towne 16, DeSoto Cinema 16 (in 3-D), Raleigh Springs Cinema, Cordova Cinema, Paradiso (in 3-D), Palace Cinema, Hollywood 20 Cinema, CinePlanet 16 (in 3-D), Southaven Cinema, Summer Quartet Drive-In.

Film review: Opposites attract in sex comedy

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:00:00 -0000

The extreme opposites within Kevin Smith's filmmaking personality coexist in "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," to hit-and-miss effect. Yes, there is a ton of sex as the title would suggest, including one scene that is so incredibly wrong, words don't even begin to describe it.

Film review: Mayhem marks 'RocknRolla'

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:00:00 -0000

Just as Steven Soderbergh's "Ocean's Eleven" and its sequels seem distinctly American, reflecting the glitz and ersatz class of Las Vegas, so Guy Ritchie's crime capers feel distinctly British. His latest, "RocknRolla," set in the greasy streets and smoky pubs of London, lacks the glamour of George Clooney and Brad Pitt, but it compensates with plenty of rough humor, bruising action and a wicked dark streak.

Film review: 'Changeling' is true tale of a son lost

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:00:00 -0000

Angelina Jolie, who won her Oscar by playing a mentally ill character in "Girl Interrupted," returns to the psych ward for Clint Eastwood's "Changeling," a movie he might have titled "Motherhood Interrupted." It's a period piece, a true-crime mystery and a slice of history, vintage Eastwood in many ways. If the film is too long and a little unwieldy in its late acts, the consummate craftsman in Eastwood glosses over that with detail and righteous rage.

If you find gore a chore, check out classic horror DVDs

beifuss@commercialappeal.com (John Beifuss) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:02:00 -0000

For movie theater patrons, Halloween in the 21st century typically means another “Saw” sequel, filled with images of gore, torture and sadism. Or, as Julius Caesar said last week, after the premiere of “Saw V”: Veni, vidi, vomit. Home viewers have many more options when it comes to fright. Those who prefer “classic” horror may be glad to know that Bela Lugosi, Vincent Price and “Dorian Gray” are on new DVDs, released to coincide with All Hallow’s Eve.

The Bloodshot Eye: Countdown to Halloween

beifuss@commercialappeal.com (John Beifuss) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:49:00 -0000

You’ve heard of the Twelve Days of Christmas? Now, for the third straight year, The Bloodshot Eye counts down the Thirteen Days of Halloween with reviews of recently released All Hallow’s Eve-appropriate DVDs, each day through Oct. 31. In the 1977 “Omen”-inspired horror movie “Rain of Fire,” former Young Churchill Simon Ward plays a 32-year-old Antichrist named Angel Caine.

The (mostly) Southern cinema of David Gordon Green

beifuss@commercialappeal.com (John Beifuss) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:01:00 -0000

Born in Little Rock, raised in Texas, film-schooled in North Carolina and now based in New Orleans, David Gordon Green proved he could be more than a critic’s darling, an authentic voice of the South and an heir to the poetic/mystic naturalism of Terrence Malick with his fifth feature film as a director, the Judd Apatow-produced, California-set hit stoner comedy “Pineapple Express.” The movie has collected more than $86 million at the U.S. box office since its Aug. 6 release.

Every day is Hammer time for actor Fred Williamson

beifuss@commercialappeal.com (John Beifuss) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:52:00 -0000

When you call Fred “The Hammer” Williamson on his cell phone, if you’re lucky, he won’t answer. Because if he doesn’t answer, you’ll get to hear a phone message that is (a) kind of awe-inspiring, and (b) a reality check that reminds you of your status as a person who has not and never will be able to refer to himself, without irony, as “The Hammer.” “Yo, this is The Hammer,” Williamson growls, with an über-cool seismic bass rumble that is part B-movie intimidation, part Barry White seduction.

New "Mummy" opens Friday, but no wrap yet on old "Mummy"

beifuss@commercialappeal.com (John Beifuss) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:26:00 -0000

From a whisper to a scream: The most famous sequence in the 1932 version of “The Mummy” — resurrected in a two-disc “Special Edition” DVD this month, to coincide with Friday’s release of the big-budget adventure epic “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” — begins with almost inaudible mumbling and ends with a shriek of terror. Barely moving his lips, a young archeologist (Bramwell Fletcher) in a camp in the Egyptian desert reads the words on the Scroll of Thoth that bring life to the 3,700-year-old thing in the sarcophagus behind him.