Go Memphis

"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" expands into Memphis and other cities Friday after breaking per-theater box-office records the past two weeks in limited release. What "Precious" does well is to create sympathy and understanding for its unique title character. The movie functions almost as a public service announcement for the need for social service agencies, bootstrap initiatives and public education programs. Full story »

Sarah Palin isn't the only gun-toting, conservative Christian sports mom back in the news. This week also gives us Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy, the no-nonsense, git-'r-done, steel magnolia Memphis mother whose rescue of inner-city gentle giant Michael Oher provides the real-life inspiration for "The Blind Side". The movie is peppered with calculatedly memorable exchanges, which emphasize that this is more Leigh Anne's than Michael's story. Full story »

Two of the more eagerly awaited movies of the year open today: "The Blind Side," inspired by the real-life story of Memphis couple Sean and Leigh Anne Touhy and their adopted son, current NFL right tackle Michael Oher; and "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," which has generated a lot of local interest (judging from my phone calls and e-mail messages), thanks in part to the endorsements of Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry. Full story »

"Planet 51" is a trite compendium of everything that's wrong with non-Pixar computer-animated feature films. The voice actors (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Jessica Biel) mostly were chosen for their name recognition, not their mellifluousness. The soundtrack is burdened with inferior covers of familiar rock and pop tunes. (Because the title planet is presented as an alien version of America in the 1950s, these songs include "Be-Bop-A-Lula" and "Long Tall Sally.") Full story »

This is stay-in-school week at the movies: "The Blind Side," "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" and "An Education" all counsel young people to hit the books, not the streets or the sheets. In the first two movies, school offers the hope of not just salvation but survival. The stakes aren't as high in "An Education," but this impeccably mounted and acted BBC Films production is more successful at achieving its less-ambitious aim. Full story »

When Kathy Bates returns this week to her hometown, the Memphis-born Oscar winner will be applauded not just for her status as one of Hollywood's most sought-after performers but for what might be the most challenging and inspirational role of her career: cancer survivor. Bates will talk about her battle as the keynote speaker Friday at the 8th annual Methodist Healthcare Foundation Cancer Center Luncheon at The Peabody. Full story »

The bad news: The world as we know it has come to an end. The good news: Mommy's new boyfriend was squashed in the gears of a giant high-tech ark, so Daddy's back in the picture! In typical disaster-movie fashion, "2012" presents these events as being of more or less equal significance. Such Hollywood accounting may offend the literal-minded, but others will accept the equation as part of the preposterous fun of this campy if overlong exercise in gleeful world-smashing spectacle. Full story »

As a film inspired by British football, "The Damned United" may hold limited appeal for Memphis moviegoers. But it's also a film about a form of unrequited or spurned love, which means it's a story about love and hate, which means it's a movie that everybody can relate to. And yet, it's a movie entirely without romantic love -- in fact, it's been a long time since I've seen a film in which women were so nearly absent. Full story »

"I've been waiting for this film since the early days of the war," writes Roger Ebert about "Brothers at War," which he calls an "honest, on-the-ground documentary" about American soldiers fighting in Iraq. The Samuel Goldwyn Films release screens at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Malco's Stage Cinema, 7930 U.S. 64. Admission is $7, or $5 with military ID. Full story »

A golden statuette is nice, but sometimes green stuff is even nicer. The Indie Memphis Film Festival has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Oscars organization, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The amount was the maximum available to Indie Memphis under Academy guidelines, based on the festival’s annual operating budget of just under $180,000. The grant was the first the Oscars organization had awarded to Memphis. Full story »

Memphis, as any concert promoter will tell you, is a walk-up town. So while screenings of "Michael Jackson's This Is It" -- a concert documentary about a concert that never was -- have sold out in advance at a record pace from Hollywood to Bangkok, Memphians will have no trouble finding tickets to the movie, which opened today at a dozen area theaters. Even so, any true Michael Jackson fan should run not moonwalk to the nearest theater. Full story »

Unlike most documentaries with a message, "Good Hair" —Chris Rock's amusing examination of African-American hair culture — invites moviegoers to a conversation, not a lecture. "Good Hair" warns against the perils of chemical relaxer ("the creamy crack," the film calls it); chides working women for spending thousands of dollars on weaves; and charges that "hands off the hair" mandates have decreased intimacy between black men and black women. Full story »

"The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry," which opened Sept. 25 on two Mid-South screens, is itself something of a secret to most moviegoers. Even so, on Friday the faith-based movie began its fourth week at the Wolfchase Galleria Cinema 8 and the Collierville Towne 16, thanks to steady viewership and the support of its local "sponsors," Bellevue Baptist Church and the Memphis Metro chapter of the Child Evangelism Fellowship. Full story »

“Paranormal Activity” proves there is a sucker born every minute, and I mean that in the happiest way possible, because I admire this spooky, creepy, genuinely dread-inducing film. And I am in awe of the marketing geniuses at Paramount, who have transformed a $15,000, shot-in-one-week wonder into an Internet and box-office phenomenon, and the most fan-hyped horror hit since the similarly camcorded and micro-budgeted “The Blair Witch Project.” (Expect a similar backlash, too.) Full story »

"The Grace Card," a faith-based film with Oscar-winner Louis Gossett Jr. that begins production in the Memphis area next week, is seeking African-American extras for a pair of big church scenes to be shot Oct. 17 and 24. Interested parties should e-mail their contact information to thegracecard@ memphiscalvary.org or call 386-8988. Full story »