Go Memphis

Dear John (PG-13, 108 min.) A soldier (Channing Tatum) falls for a college student (Amanda Seyfried) in this adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' best-seller: Forest Hill 8, Stage Cinema, Majestic, Collierville Towne 16, DeSoto Cinema 16, Studio on the Square, Cordova Cinema, Paradiso, Hollywood 20 Cinema, CinePlanet 16. Full story »

In the space of just a few weeks, we have movies starring Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson and John Travolta. It's like the early '90s all over again. Nostalgia is on Travolta's mind, too. In "From Paris with Love," he plays a violent but chatty CIA agent who, while bullets fly, likes to engage in dialogue that recalls "Pulp Fiction" as if written by action film hacks. It's a kind of return to Paris for Travolta, who memorably gave his travelogue of the French capital in "Pulp Fiction." Full story »

Capsule descriptions and starred mini-reviews by The Commercial Appeal movie writer John Beifuss. Full story »

Capsule descriptions and starred mini-reviews by The Commercial Appeal movie writer John Beifuss. Full story »

As in life, in a movie one little thing can have the power to send you into a bittersweet reverie of love lost, or fill your heart with enigmatic emotions. For me, it usually involves music. Last year, it occurred in Davis Guggenheim's documentary "It Might Get Loud," when Jimmy Page air-guitared to his own old 45 of Link Wray's "Rumble." This year (and it's early yet), it happened in "The Book of Eli" in which directors Albert and Allen Hughes make the inspired decision to meld Denzel Washington with Al Green. Full story »

Capsule descriptions and starred mini-reviews by The Commercial Appeal movie writer John Beifuss. Full story »

Blue is the new green, if the billion-or-more box-office predictions come true for James Cameron’s first feature since “Titanic” 12 years ago. So. How is it? Does it look like a billion? It does, yes. But folks, I haven’t experienced such a clear dividing line within a blockbuster in years. Last week the reviews started trickling, then gushing, over the dam of the embargo set up by 20th Century Fox. Full story »

Capsule descriptions and starred mini-reviews by The Commercial Appeal movie writer John Beifuss. Full story »

"Armored" director Nimrod Antal showed so much promise when he delivered that minimalist Hungarian subway thriller “Kontroll” that it’s a shock how pedestrian this potentially gritty story looks and plays. The camera is almost always locked-down when it should be, as in a few moments when we see action through a shaking rear-view mirror, jumpy and nervous. There’s one arresting shot — a chase, on foot, viewed through the tiny holes in a long row of stacked pipes. Full story »

In Jim Sheridan’s “Brothers,” it feels like the film’s three young stars are playing house. Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhaal have all previously played memorable teenage characters and each has maintained a youthfulness into their late 20s and 30s. Here, they star in a suburban, domestic drama that extends all the way to Afghanistan. Maguire is Capt. Sam Cahill, a decorated Marine and husband to his high school sweetheart, Grace (Portman). Full story »

If you thought “Wild Hogs” was a riot, you’ll probably be amused as well by the golf balls to the crotch, the karaoke jokes, the comical use of the “Chariots of Fire” theme, the bachelors-try-to-cook-food humor and the other comedy innovations found in “Old Dogs." Full story »

Three stars for the ultra-bloody “Ninja Assassin”? Logic has no more place in this exuberantly absurd ‘B’ movie, which never tries to be anything but a slick update of the cheap martial arts thrillers distributed by Cannon Films in the 1980s. To its credit, the movie dispenses almost entirely with romance and other story elements to focus on nonstop mayhem. Full story »

“Paris” offers itself as a source of comfort by suggesting there may be something mystical and meaningful to the coincidences that connect lives. (This movie is for people who shiver with amazement when they read a list of “Lincoln-Kennedy Similarities” on the Internet.) Full story »

Saturday night's Memphis Symphony Orchestra concert aimed to make an impression with variety, beauty and power. Full story »

The Box (PG-13, 116 min.) Director Richard Kelly follows the modern cult classic "Donnie Darko" with another implausible yet compelling science-fiction mystery about the hidden dark forces that control "reality." The first half is a brilliantly realized exercise in sustained tension, as mysterious stranger Frank Langella tells married couple Cameron Diaz and James Marsden they will earn $1 million if they only push a button and cause the death of a stranger. Full story »