Apparently just quickly reading via Google all PS3's are region free as shipped, but and there always is a but
You need a HDTV as all games are designed to play in 720p, so a normal TV won't sync to a US game on a PAL console
If you want to play movies, they are region coded ..... So a US film will not play on anything but a US PS3. It called squeezing the public for as much cash as we can by selling the same film and making bigger profits by forcing people to watch it only the countries we want it to play
If the software producers have made it region coded, then thats the only region it will play on ..... They have decided to fleece the customers just as much as the film producers, citing region difference on rules and regulations. If a game is banned in one country, if it was region free just buy it froma country it isn't banned and play it in your country. Like ManHunt 2 is banned from sale in UK but not in the USA, so if you have a region free console you can play it in UK
Basically you can't play those US films on your PAL PS3, unless you rip them and convert them to a movie format the PS3 can play and watch them that way, which can be done. Or have a region free Blu-Ray standalone player