I still haven’t seen Precious — I’m worried it might hit a little too close to home for me, because back in high school, I had AIDs and two babies and couldn’t read — but reportedly, Mo’Nique gives a powerful performance informed by some of her difficult real-life experiences.  Today, her brother came forward to apologize for molesting her when they were kids. He apologized on Oprah, probably to keep from having to buy one of those “I’m sorry I molested you” Hallmark cards with the sad puppy on the outside.

Gerald Imes told Oprah Winfrey in an appearance on her TV talk show that the abuse began when Mo’Nique was about 7 years old and he was 13, but that he had denied it for decades.

“I’m here today to first acknowledge what I’ve been in denial for 37 years, and that is I did assault and inappropriately touch my sister in manners that were uncomfortable for her,” Imes said. “And for that, I apologize and I’m humbly sorry that those actions had taken place.”

Imes said the fact that he was fuel for Mo’Nique’s performance makes him feel like “a piece of crap.”
He said he has an especially hard time watching the last scene in the movie, in which Mary explains that the reason she hates her daughter is that Precious’ father chose her over Mary.

“That scene was Mo’Nique going to my mother saying, ‘My brother did this to me,’ and my mother asking me, did I do this, and I said no. I saw her pain and my pain right then and there,” Imes said.

Mo’Nique, who has not seen her brother for more than 10 years, declined to appear on the show.  [Yahoo]

Imes’ revelations became all the more shocking when he revealed that he wasn’t even a Catholic priest.  ZING!  …What?  Oh right, I’m not supposed to joke about child molestation and all that.  Jeez, who knew a heart-to-heart interview with a child molester was going to make things all awkward in here.

(This week’s Box-Office Wipe Up brought to you by Roland Emmerich’s evil twin, Rolando Emmerich.)

2012 made $65 million over the weekend, which isn’t surprising considering everyone knew about it.  Though it should be noted that Roland Emmerich’s last movie, The Day After Tomorrow, actually opened bigger at $68.7 million, and I don’t know think I know anyone who saw that movie. Also… aren’t they the same movie?  What’s going on here?

A Christmas Carol dropped only 25% since it’s opening last weekend, leading many to believe it will continue to play into actual Christmas and leaving little hope that Robert Zemeckis will ever abandon this ridiculous motion-capture experiment.  We get it, dude, you like computers.

Precious is tearing it up, thanks to Oprah’s Midas ham hands.  Either that or it’s doing well because the main character is so hot.  Seriously, do any of you have her number?  I want to get all up in her Shar Pei folds.  Just like I did with my Shar Pei.

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When I heard that Chris Rock and Oprah would be working together, my first thought was that Oprah should give him a third of her food, and then maybe they’d both look normal.  No word on that, but their movie will be called Will You be My Black Friend?

The project stems from a November GQ magazine article written by senior correspondent Devin Friedman, who began a self-conscious search for black friends on Craigslist. The white, married Manhattan journalist then pursued his quixotic quest to expand his social circle, with unexpected results. Lionsgate and Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films are partnering to develop the comedy with Chris Rock starring. [THR]

Wait, so trying to have black friends is “quixotic”?  Do they mean because it’s some old-timey thing that doesn’t happen anymore?  Like, where’s your black friend?  Oh, he’s hanging out in my garage next to the horse carriage and Nash Rambler.   Or maybe they mean because black people are tall and like to swing their arms around like a windmill?  I guess I could see that.  Either way, I think The Hollywood Reporter should change their name to The Hollywood Racist.

When I see “presented by Oprah and Tyler Perry” at the beginning of a trailer, like this one for Precious, I expect the movie to cure AIDs in Africa and teach an orphan the meaning of love.  And if you read the reviews, that’s basically what it does.  FilmSchoolReject‘s take is fairly representative: “The film is a wonder — a truly moving film that is as engaging and shockingly tragic, but so full of life as any film you will see this year.”

Based on the novel Push by Sapphire (yep, just Sapphire), Precious follows 16-year-old junior-high schooler Clareece Jones through her horribly depressing life, which includes getting beaten by her mother and being pregnant for the second time by her father. Far be it from me to ridicule such life-affirming fare, but I think that necklace was a mistake.  It makes her appear heavy.

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Actor Christopher Lloyd, most (only?) famous for the role of Doc Brown in Back to the Future, had his house in Montecito, California destroyed by the recent Southern California wildfire.

The house, Lloyd’s principal residence, was listed for sale in the spring of 2007 at $11.3 million but recently was withdrawn from the market while he made upgrades. He owns a second, smaller, home in Montecito that is still on the market for $3.6 million and was not affected by the blaze.
Lloyd’s fire-damaged property  is one of Montecito’s more unusual homes. The 5,500-square-foot main house has one bedroom, and there is a separate guesthouse. The house was built in 1972 from adobe bricks made on-site. And the living room and bedroom share an outdoor area with a large patio and stone-lined reflecting pool. [LA Times]

The “Tea Fire” which started at the privately owned Tea Garden Estate, about a mile north of Santa Barbara’s Westmont College, ripped through an area that Oprah Winfrey, Michael Douglas, Rob Lowe and other celebrities call home. [CNN]

I’m not going to make a Back to the Future joke here, because it would be way too obvious and everyone’s probably already beaten me to it.  And that’s messed up, the guy’s house burned down.  But I think I speak for everyone when I say: It should’ve been you, Oprah.