FROM MTV.COM: With an impressive box-office opening this past weekend, "Precious" proved to be worth all the critical acclaim and excitement brewing around it. The film features standout performances by pop star Mariah Carey, comedian Mo'nique and newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, who plays the title role. Sidibe credits director Lee Daniels for allowing the women to explore their characters.

"It was really, really cool. A lot of things that we said wasn't in the script, and so, like, we had free range," Sidibe said during her appearance on CBS' "Early Show" on Monday. "Mr. Daniels made sure we knew what the scene was about and that we can do whatever we felt like, and so it was really cool. And [Carey] was on her toes and I was on my toes, and it was almost like a fight, like a battle, because we are not friends really in this film at all. It was really cool."

Continue reading 'Precious' Star Gabourey Sidibe Describes 'Battle' With Mariah Carey

This weekend, audiences will get their first shot at checking out shoe-in Oscar contender "Precious," director Lee Daniels' adaptation of the book "Push: A Novel," by Sapphire. I checked it out at Sundance in January. To say that I "loved it" isn't quite accurate; it's a challenging film, with lots of craft behind a wholly depressing and frequently horrifying story. It deserves the accolades it's getting, but it's not the kind of movie you really fall in love with.

That said, there are some stellar performances. I thought the real standout was Mo'Nique, who plays the abusive mother of the protagonist, teenage pregnant girl Precious (Gabourey Sidibe). Sidibe has also been getting plenty of praise (the word "Oscar" keeps popping up in reference to her), as has pop icon Mariah Carey, who plays a small but vital role as a social worker. MTV reporter Akshay Bhansali recently caught up with Sapphire and Paula Patton (she plays a teacher at a progressive school in the film), and they were more than happy to talk about Carey's and Sidibe's contributions. Read more...

When newlyweds Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon finally tied the knot, the attention quickly turned to, what else, baby talk! Catching up with them at Sundance, where the happy couple each have a film premiering, we managed to ask them for the latest word. Check out the results in the video below, and then click here to watch all of our Sundance interviews, updated throughout the week.

Mariah Carey gets a lot of grief over being a bad actress -- "Glitter," anyone? -- but she was believable enough to fool her "husband."

Lance Reddick -- who's known for his work on "The Wire" and "Lost" and will be a FBI agent on J.J. Abrams' upcoming television show "Fringe"-- was cast late in the game for the upcoming movie "Tennessee" ("Honestly, they were going to go with a bigger name," Reddick said, "but they lost that someone"). So by the time he was signed up as Carey's character's husband Frank, "I had less than a week before we started shooting," Reddick said. Read more...