Heart of the Matter

Works by Roy Tamboli and Bobby Spillman.

• by Carol Knowles

Craig Brewer to Direct "Gang Leader for a Day"

Add another project to Memphis filmmaker Craig Brewer's bulging "to do" list.

Film industry trade publication Variety reported earlier this week that Paramount Vantage, the studio that produced Brewer's last film, Black Snake Moan, has optioned the rights to Columbia University professor Sudhir Venkatesh's book Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets, with Brewer attached to direct ...

• by Chris Herrington

Fly on the Wall

• by Chris Davis

Two Down, Final Four to Go

The Memphis Tigers enter the NCAA tournament's second week with eyes on a bigger prize.

• by Frank Murtaugh
• Tags: Cover Feature, Memphis Tigers, Final Four

Ethanol's Growth Slow in Memphis

When it comes to trends, Memphis isn't known for leading the way. In fact, the city has a reputation for being a little, well, fashionably late.

That's been the case with the availability of ethanol, a renewable fuel made from corn. Ethanol blends have been sold at fueling stations in Middle and East Tennessee for more than a year, but the biofuel has only recently become available in Memphis ...

Read the rest of Bianca Phillips' story on Ethanol in Memphis.

• by John Branston

Steven Seagal Joins MPD ... Sort Of

Professional tough guy Steven Seagal has played police officers in Hollywood films, but his next role with law enforcement might not make it into Variety.

In a meeting of the City Council's public safety committee, police director Larry Godwin said he has met twice with Seagal about doing advertising for the department. "He's committed to doing our commercials," Godwin said.

• by Mary Cashiola

Late to the Party

Ethanol blends finally catch on at Memphis gas stations.

• by Bianca Phillips

A Weekend in Little Rock

• by Greg Akers
• Tags: Cover Feature, Memphis Tigers

What They Said

Comments from memphisflyer.com

• by Flyer Readers

"Unnatural Causes" Debuts Thursday on WKNO

Memphis is often listed as one of America's unhealthiest cities. And maybe, according to one new documentary, that has as much to do with socioeconomic inequality as it does with germs or biology.

Unnatural Causes, a seven-part documentary series, asks the question: "Is inequality making us sick? ..."

• by John Branston

Martin Luther King Events in Memphis This Week

Forty years ago the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to an end in Memphis. This week, veterans of the Civil Rights movement, men and women who marched beside King, and those who followed in his footsteps as fighters for social change converge on the city to remember the man and carry his dream forward. Here's a roundup of local events commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. ...

• by Preston Lauterbach

An Efficient Exit

• by Mary Cashiola

Dig the Scene

Playhouse on the Square breaks new ground.

• by Chris Davis

Poll: Should Memphis Hire Cops Who Live Out of Town?

"Everybody is talking about the Tigers. If Coach Cal could only recruit in Memphis ... I don't think we'd be in the Final Four right now."

-- City Councilman Shea Flinn.

On Tuesday, members of the City Council's public safety committee discussed recruiting additional Memphis Police Department officers. In addition to offering signing bonuses and a better pension plan, the council is considering relaxing the residency requirement for officers ...

• by John Branston

"Topdog/Underdog" Closes at the Hattiloo This Weekend

"Now I'm completely connected to the Hattiloo," says Ekundayo Bandele, founder and executive producer of the Edge district's ambitious Afro-centric playhouse.

Bandele has served as producer, director, dreamer, playwright, carpenter, custodian, and bartender. Now he can add actor to his resume. He's taken on the role of Booth in Suzan-Lori Parks' Pulitzer Prize-winning play Topdog/Underdog....

Show Off

Developers combat housing-market fears with the Downtown Home Show at South End.

• by Greg Akers

Local hip-hop collective regroups for a second effort.

• by Chris Herrington

Local Record Reviews

• by Chris Herrington

Commission Names Karen Camper to Vacant District 87 House Seat

The newest member of the Shelby County delegation to the Tennessee General Assembly is Karen Camper, an entertainment executive and entrepreneur and a veteran of 21 years’ Army service as an intelligence officer. Camper won nine first-ballot votes from members of the Shelby County Commission on Monday and eventually won acclamation as successor to the late Gary Rowe in House District 87.

• by Jackson Baker

Mattila vs. Who in Special Election for Trustee?

Shelby County's Democrats made it official Saturday, as the party's executive committee nominated current interim Trustee Paul Mattila as the official Democratic candidate for the position left vacant by the death in January of longtime Trustee Bob Patterson. The Shelby County Republicans will follow suit early this week when they choose their nominee from among several candidates ...

• by Jackson Baker

Bredesen Wants 'Superdelegate Primary' to End Obama-Clinton Impasse

As Democrats nationally try to puzzle out how to resolve the seemingly nonstop struggle between presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Tennessee governor Phil Bredesen has come forth with the latest would-be solution. Bredesen appeared on Fox News Sunday to plug a plan for a "superdelegate primary" in early June.

• by Jackson Baker

GOP Names Butler as Trustee Candidate

Ray Butler, a veteran CPA and a longtime friend and confidante of the late Trustee Bob Patterson, was nominated as the Republican Party's candidate for Trustee Tuesday night. Butler, who usually served as Patterson's treasurer during his various campaigns, won a first-ballot victory over four other contenders at a GOP ad hoc convention at Clark Tower.

• by Jackson Baker

Crash Landing

How Superintendent Willie Herenton lost control of his classroom.

• by Jackson Baker

After a Runaway Win Over Michigan State, Here Are Four Angles for Memphis in The Elite Eight:

Those pundits waiting for the Tigers (now 36-1) to crumble under the pressure of a prime-time nail-biter will have to wait another two days, and hope the Big 12 sends stronger, better shooting, and more competitive men into the Tigers' den.

• by Frank Murtaugh

FROM MY SEAT (Special CRG Edition): A Game for All

Back for a second year, the Civil Rights Game at AutoZone Park on Saturday is beginning to feel like a national Opening Game, even if but an exhibition. Here are ten things to love about it....

• by Frank Murtaugh

Grizzlies in Flux; Is Iavaroni in Trouble?

Chris Herrington tackles the latest developments with the ever-troubled Memphis Grizzlies at Beyond the Arc, the Flyer's GrizBlog.

• by John Branston

Final Four! We're There, Tiger Fans! UM 85 -Texas 67

Redemption has arrived. In beating Texas (in Houston!) Sunday afternoon, the Memphis Tigers are on their way to San Antonio to face UCLA (with demons of 1973 and 2006 screeching away) for a chance to face North Carolina or Kansas with a national championship at stake.

• by Frank Murtaugh

The Memphis vs. Memphis NCAA Showdown That Nobody Noticed

So who knew? There was a good reason that health-care exec and state Election Commissioner Greg Duckett, one of the impresarios of this year's Gridiron Show, didn't materialize to see his handiwork on stage at the Shrine building on Shelby Oaks Saturday night. He was in Phoenix to see his son Stephen's Xavier quintet in Elite Eight action....

• by John Branston

Ah, To See the Tigers As Others See Them...

"It didn't take a scoreboard to tell the teams apart. Memphis wore tiger stripes on their backs. Texas wore tire tracks.

"The Longhorns had said they wanted to run with the big dogs and instead were run over in the fast lane by a tractor-trailer carrying a full load.

"Long before the 85-67 collision with top-seeded Memphis left nothing but skid marks Sunday afternoon ...

• by John Branston

David Lynch's "Inland Empire" at Indie Memphis Sunday Night

David Lynch's Inland Empire is a declaration of war on commercial American filmmaking. Working almost entirely outside the studio system that had long frustrated him, Lynch wrote, directed, and edited this three-hour digital video epic and distributed it himself during its initial theatrical run last year. It acts like a summative meditation on Lynch's filmmaking career so far, which may or may not be of interest to viewers who have spent time in Lynchland before.

Read the rest of Addison Engelking's review of Lynch's latest. And you can see it tonight at Indie Memphis.

• by John Branston

The Empire Strikes Back

David Lynch's epic closes the Memphis International Film Festival.

• by Addison Engelking

Music docs among the highlights at film fest.

• by Chris Herrington

Welcome News

• by Flyer Staff

We're No Angels

The history of America is filled with violence.

• by Charley Reese

Bianca Knows Best

Dear Bianca,

I'm a female and I have a tendency to fall in love with my female friends. In the past, my friends were all heterosexual and any romantic overtures that I perceived them to make were my misinterpretations.

But lately, I've been receiving a series of clearer signs of romantic interest from some new female friends ...

Dear Learning ...

• by Bianca Phillips

New Book, "Cheer!" Follows Trek of Memphis Cheerleaders

George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Gloria Steinem, Meryl Streep, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Madonna, Samuel L. Jackson, Reba McEntire, and Ronald Reagan: What do they have in common? What could they have in common with Kristen Murdock, Casi Davis, Courtney Powell, Ashley Chambers, Monica Moody, Kristen Kern, and Callee Jackson ...

• by John Branston

A Season on the Brink

Here's to the "neglected sisters" of the U of M's spirit squads.

• by Leonard Gill