Movie Review: The Great Debaters - Starring Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett & Denzel Whitaker
Released: December 25th, 2007
Runtime: 2 hr. 3 min.
Ticket Price: $5.00 Early Matinee
Refreshments: Gummy Bears
Starring: Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, Denzel Whitaker & Kimberly Elise
Director: Denzel Washington
Rating: Pay Full Price and See it Twice
Synopsis: Professor Melvin Tolson was a brilliant but volatile man that coached debating. He uses the power of words to turn an underdog group from a small African American college into an elite group of debaters. He was a very controversial person, in the way he taught and the political views that he held. In a groundbreaking event, his team was invited to debate the Harvard University’s championship team.
Review: The Great Debaters falls into the category of “saving the best for last,” as it is the last movie watched and reviewed by New Movie Friday this year, but turns out to be the best all around movie of the 55 movies screened in 2007.
While The Great Debaters may not be historically accurate, like facing Harvard in the climatic scene instead of USC, it does do a great job of putting you in the middle of what life was like back in the 1930s. This is a very inspirational film, but not in a rah-rah way. The theater wasn’t packed on the morning after Christmas, but those that were in attendance sat still and quiet, seemingly reflecting on what they had just watched, as the credits started to roll. No one immediately darted out of the theater, which is usually the case when most films end.
The Great Debaters takes the format of the underdog sports movie, except instead of high school basketball in a movie like Hoosiers
Denzel Washington’s (Antwone Fisher) second turn behind the camera is a rousing success, as is his time spent in front of it. The portrayal of small town 1935 Texas is something to watch. There is a scene about halfway into the movie that gives you the full brutality of the times in which his character, Melvin Tolson, lived.
Others provide great performances as well. Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) and Denzel Whitaker, while not related, are great as Dr. James Farmer, Sr. and son James Farmer, Jr. But, the performance of the movie should probably go to Jurnee Smollett (Gridiron Gang) as Samantha Booke. She was outstanding as the first woman to make the debate team at Wiley College and had the perfect southern accent only added to the role.
Overall, The Great Debaters is a movie worth seeing and more than once. The outcome may be predictable going in, but the journey to get you there, is well worth taking.
Let us know your thoughts on The Great Debaters in the comments.
What New Movies Open Christmas Day, December 25th, 2007?
On the week of Christmas, at a movie screen near you,
There were seven new movies being released to view,
Three of them were being released nationwide,
Another four were getting a limited ride,
What would you pick to see on the big holiday,
As aliens, water horses and debaters were on the way,
We hope you got a chance to take a peek,
As there were some interesting movie choices this week.
Opening Nationwide on Christmas Day, December 25th:
Movie: Alien vs. Predator: Requiem (R)
Starring: Reiko Aylesworth, Steven Pasquale, Shareeka Epps, John Ortiz & Johnny Lewis
Genre: Sci-Fi Action
Synopsis: Another battle between alien and predator erupts in a small Colorado town and the residents must work together to survive.
First Thoughts: Never saw the first one
Movie: The Great Debaters (PG-13) (Read Review)
Starring: Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, Denzel Whitaker & Kimberly Elise
Genre: Drama
Synopsis: Professor Melvin Tolson was a brilliant but volatile man that coached debating. He uses the power of words to turn an underdog group from a small African American college into an elite group of debaters. He was a very controversial person, in the way he taught and the political views that he held. In a groundbreaking event, his team was invited to debate the Harvard University’s championship team.
First Thoughts: This looks like the best choice of the week and possible one of the better movies of the year. This is the movie that I will most definitely be watching this week.
Movie: The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (PG)
Starring: Emily Watson, Alex Etel, David Morrissey & Ben Chaplin
Genre: Family Fantasy
Synopsis: A young Scottish boy finds what turns out to be an enchanted egg and brings it home. He soon finds it to be an amazing creature, a mythical water horse. The boy does whatever he can to protect his newfound animal friend that will become a legend.
First Thoughts: Definitely the best bet for families with young children.
Movie in Limited Release:
- Honeydripper – A musical drama starring Danny Glover as the owner of the Honeydripper lounge in the 1950s. He is trying to get out of debt and when his plans fail, he has to hope that someone he has done wrong by will end up being his savior. Opens Friday, December 28th.
- The Orphanage – Supernatural horror movie about a woman that buys the old orphanage that she grew up in and wants to restore it, but finds that something strange is taking place with her differently-abled child. Opens Friday, December 28th.
- Persepolis – A coming of age drama about a young Iranian girl and her journey to adulthood.
- There Will be Blood – The story of Daniel Plainview, who became a huge oil tycoon, but started out with very little. Opens Wednesday, December 26th.
Expanding to more theaters this week is The Bucket List starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson.
For New Movie Friday there are three new movies this week to choose from. They are Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, The Great Debaters, and The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep. What new movie will you be heading out to see this holiday week?
Movie Review: National Treasure: Book of Secrets - Starring Nicolas Cage
Movie: National Treasure: Book of Secrets (PG)
Released: December 21st, 2007
Runtime: 2 hr. 4 min.
Ticket Price: $5.00 Early Matinee
Refreshments: Gummy Bears
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Jon Voight, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Helen Mirren, Ed Harris, Harvey Keitel & Bruce Greenwood
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Rating: Worth a Full Price Ticket
Synopsis: A missing page from the diary of John Wilkes Booth is found and it looks like Benjamin Franklin Gates’ great-great grandfather may have been involved in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Ben is determined to un-tarnish his family lineage. This sends him on a journey to Paris, London and then America. His quest reveals some surprising results and could unlock many treasured secrets from the past.
Review: National Treasure: Book of Secrets is just flat out, a whole lot of fun. It does what a movie is supposed to do, entertain you. It is two hours of action packed cinema. If you liked National Treasure
For big budget action, you usually can’t do better than a Jerry Bruckheimer produced film. This is definitely one of those occasions. It looks like they have found themselves another blockbuster franchise. Except in this case, the second one may in fact be better than the first. That was not so much the story with the second and third movies in the Pirates of the Caribbean
The people behind this film and its predecessor have done a great job of blending fact and fiction. Weaving real historical events and people, urban legends, conspiracy theories and more into a globetrotting mystery adventure that will keep you glued to the screen.
Nicolas Cage (Con Air, The Rock) is well suited in the role of action hero. His action movies may not always be that good, but he is usually good in them. Unlike his previous two outings this year in Ghost Rider and Next, this one is actually worth seeing on the big screen.
Cage’s cast mates from the first film are all back with the editions of Helen Mirren (The Queen, TV’s Prime Suspect) as his character’s mother, Ed Harris (Gone Baby Gone, Apollo 13) in the adversary role and Bruce Greenwood (Déjà Vu, TV’s John From Cincinnati) as the President.
National Treasure: Book of Secrets is well worth a full price ticket. You won’t be disappointed, as many of the 200+ people in the packed theater I saw it in, broke into applause when the credits started to roll.
This is the 54th movie to be seen this year, 51 of them at the first or second showing on their opening day. Yet, this is only the third time that I recall being joined by so many fellow moviegoers, the last one being The Bourne Ultimatum. But, more than that, out of all the movies seen so far this year, this is one of the few that elicited a palpable positive reaction from the audience. You could just tell that most, if not all, had a great time.
What about another sequel? Well, the first one was never really meant to have one. They even changed the originally filmed ending after test audiences thought they were just trying to setup a sequel. But, in the case of Book of Secrets, they definitely left it open for a third film. I want to know what is on “Page 47,” don’t you?
Let us know your thoughts on National Treasure: Book of Secrets in the comments.
What New Movies Start on Friday, December 21st?
On the week before Christmas, at a movie screen near you,
There were nine new movies being released to view,
Five of them were being released nationwide,
Another four were getting a limited ride,
What would you pick to see before the big holiday,
As Dewey Cox, Sweeney Todd and Charlie Wilson were on the way,
National Treasure: Book of Secrets was coming too,
Oh, and don’t forget, so was P.S. I Love You,
Those were the five being release wide and far,
The others were Flakes, Steep and Taare Zameen Par,
The last one hitting theaters to give you the full gist,
Was Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson in The Bucket List,
We hope you enjoyed the movie choices this week,
As there was plenty for both casual fans and the movie geek.
Opening Nationwide on Friday, December 21st:
Movie: Charlie Wilson’s War (R)
Starring: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams & Ned Beatty
Genre: Drama
Synopsis: Charlie Wilson was a Texas congressman and notorious womanizer and alcoholic. He got the CIA to begin training and arming Afghan resistance fighters to keep the Soviet Union from overtaking Afghanistan. With a rogue CIA agent helping, they were able to send money, military experts and weapons to turn the Afghan forces into a group that could keep the Red Army at bay.
First Thoughts: It looks like Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman will be throwing their hats in the ring for best actor, actress and supporting actor Oscar nominations.
Movie: National Treasure: Book of Secrets (PG) (Read Review)
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Jon Voight, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Helen Mirren, Ed Harris, Harvey Keitel & Bruce Greenwood
Genre: Action Adventure
Synopsis: A missing page from the diary of John Wilkes Booth is found and it looks like Benjamin Franklin Gates’ great-great grandfather may have been involved in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Ben is determined to un-tarnish his family lineage. This sends him on a journey to Paris, London and then America. His quest reveals some surprising results and could unlock many treasure secrets of the world.
First Thoughts: When I began my quest at the beginning of this year to see at least one new movie each week for the year, this was one that I was looking forward to seeing. Here’s hoping it is as fun as the first one
Movie: P.S. I Love You (PG-13)
Starring: Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Lisa Kudrow, Gina Gershon, James Marsters, Kathy Bates & Harry Connick, Jr.
Genre: Romantic Drama
Synopsis: A smart and beautiful woman has found the man of her dreams. He is a passionate and funny Irishman. She is devastated when his life is cut short by illness. It seems that the one person she needs to help her get her life back on track, it the one person who is no longer there. It turns out that he planned ahead for his eventual demise and wrote her a series of letters to guider her through her grief and rediscover the person he fell for. The first of these messages is delivered to her on her 30th birthday. It is an audio message he recorded to tell her of his plan and to get her back out there. New messages are delivered in unsuspecting ways in the weeks and months ahead. Each new one with a new adventure to take part in and they all sign off with the message: P.S. I Love You.
First Thoughts: This has a pretty good-looking cast, but the ads haven’t made it look all that great. The premise does sound interesting though.
Movie: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (R)
Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall & Sacha Baron Cohen
Genre: Musical Horror Comedy
Synopsis: A man is unjustly imprisoned and vows to take revenge for this and for what happened to his wife and daughter. Once released, he reopens his barber shop and becomes Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. His amorous accomplice bakes some diabolical meat pies.
First Thoughts: Based on the Broadway musical that tells the story of Benjamin Barker and how he becomes Sweeney Todd. Tim Burton has an eye for the truly bizarre and Johnny Depp is usually pretty good at bring it to the big screen.
Movie: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (R)
Starring: John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Kristen Wiig, Tim Meadows & Raymond J. Barry
Genre: Musical Spoof Comedy
Synopsis: This is the up-and-down-and-up-again story of an American musician that would change a nation with his songs. His journey consists of sleeping with 411 women, three marriages, 22 kids, 14 step kids, starring in his own TV show, befriending the likes of Elvis and the Beatles, owning a chimp, and becoming addicted to and then kicking just about every drug there is. Yet, he still becomes a national icon.
First Thoughts: This looks like it could be the next great over-the-top adult comedy.
Movie in Limited Release:
- The Bucket List – Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson star in this comedy drama about two terminally ill men that decide to take off and do the things they always wanted to do, but never did. Opens nationwide on Christmas Day.
- Flakes – Romantic comedy about and old hippie that runs a bistro that only sells cereal. Opens today, December 19th.
- Steep – Sports history flick about the people that wanted to ski where no one had ever thought to ski before back in the ‘70s and how now some of the greatest skiers in the world pursue the experience where one small mistake could cost you your life.
- Taare Zameen Par – Foreign drama about a boy that is filled with wonder of things that adults just don’t seem to appreciate anymore.
Expanding to more theaters this week are Atonement and Juno.
For New Movie Friday there are five new movies this week to choose from. They are Charlie Wilson’s War, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, P.S. I Love You, Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. What new movie will you be heading out to see this weekend?
-
Subscribe via RSS
