list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around The Great Debaters on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/The_Great_Debaters/327229/default.aspx Title: The Great Debaters
Year: 2007
Director: Denzel Washington
Plot: Drawing inspiration from the true story of a temperamental debate coach who molded the students of a small East Texas college into a formidable team that gave Harvard's squad a run for their money in the 1930s, Denzel Washington's The Great Debaters features the director himself as the ambitious educator, and Forest Whitaker as the resentful father of a student whose loyalties now lie almost exclusively with his coach. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 4
Number of Lists: 5
Number of blog posts: 3
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:00:58 GMTThe Great Debaters2007Denzel WashingtonDrawing inspiration from the true story of a temperamental debate coach who molded the students of a small East Texas college into a formidable team that gave Harvard's squad a run for their money in the 1930s, <a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P____74843/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Denzel Washington</a>'s The Great Debaters features the director himself as the ambitious educator, and <a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P___116578/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Forest Whitaker</a> as the resentful father of a student whose loyalties now lie almost exclusively with his coach. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide4Slightly Tagged (1-5)533http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/s327229.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/The_Great_Debaters/327229/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/11/17/37380.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 11/17/2008 5:00:58 PM
Body: Oprah Winfrey can certainly create a best seller when it comes to books, and her pick of the presidential candidates is on his way to the White House. But can she get behind a movie and contribute to its success? 20th Century Fox seems to hope so, because the studio apparently allowed the talk show host to screen an unfinished cut of Australia in preparation for her November 10 show, which featured the film’s stars, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, as well as a live-via-Skype call-in from filmmaker Baz Luhrman. Fortunately for Fox, Oprah raved about the film, and now the media has latched on to the endorsement, creating some much-needed positive buzz for the Oscar-hopeful. Yet there’s a big problem with all the excitement: Oprah’s film recommendations have hardly been sure-fire champs in the past. Case in point: the first title I came upon while searching for Oprah-select cinema was something called Christmas in the Clouds, a 2005 indie that she chose as her “must see holiday movie,” in O magazine a few years back. The film barely grossed a quarter-million dollars in theaters, but even if her endorsement didn’t occur until its DVD release in November 2006, there’s still no proof of popularity from the rental charts of the time, and two years later fewer than 250 people have rated it on IMDb (not the best for determining how many people have seen it, sure, but such a small number of votes is still somewhat revealing). As for awards recognition, well, it received the Audience Award at the 2001 Austin Film Festival, and it was named the best Native American-themed film the same year at the Santa Fe Film Festival, but the majority of Academy voters probably never even heard of it. Okay, so that is an extreme example of a film that had not even one percent of the marketing budget of Australia. So, let’s take a look at some of the bigger releases that Oprah has recommended more recently. Well, there is Michael Moore’s Sicko, which she labeled “the one movie you must see this summer,” a few weeks prior to its barely wide release in June 2007. Considering its theater count and its genre, the documentary’s final domestic gross of $24.5 million was quite an achievement, especially since only two other docs have grossed more (including Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, which will stay on top for quite awhile with its $119.1 million). Oh, and yes, Sicko earned an Oscar nomination, too. But did Oprah’s statement really have that much impact on Sicko’s success? What about all the other titles with Oprah connections that haven’t performed so well? Films based on her book club selections, from her inaugural title, The Deep End of the Ocean, to the recent adaptation of Love in the Time of Cholera, have rarely been blockbusters, and the three Academy nominations for House of Sand and Fog are hardly thanks to her love for and endorsement of that novel. Of course, film adaptations are not necessarily ever pegged to the praises of their source material, which is why Oprah’s name has not been linked to the expected Oscar contenders The Reader and The Road. Then there are the films she’s been directly involved with. Beloved, which she produced and starred in, earned a middling gross of $22.9 million. Its sole Oscar nomination was for costume design. Her more recent production, The Great Debaters, did a little better money-wise with $30.2 million, but it failed to garner the Academy’s attention. Ignoring the animated films she’s lent her voice to, you have to go back 23 years, long before she had the powers of influence she’s currently known for, to find something as big as Fox would like Australia to be. It was then that The Color Purple earned nearly $100 million and 11 Oscar nominations (none of which it won). As for films that Oprah simply promotes and recommends on her show, there is no clear certainty that she can influence either box office or the Oscars. She’s featured the casts from Crash and Brokeback Mountain, yet she’s also given time to publicize films like Alexander and Things We Lost in the Fire. Last week, after calling Australia “the film we needed to see,” she also helped to sell Marley & Me, a movie that might benefit slightly in increased ticket sales thanks to the appearances by Jennifer Aniston, yet there are no news reports mentioning anything but Aniston’s comments about her ex-husband. There’s likewise little media attention given to the fact that Oprah also apparently saw Seven Pounds, the Will Smith movie that, like Australia, has so far received no reviews. Was there no soundbite from Smith’s appearance earlier this month? Seven Pounds is also a mysterious Oscar contender with some needed positive buzz, though maybe Sony Pictures didn’t think to feed the press anything regarding Oprah’s connection to that film the way Fox has pushed them on the Australia endorsement. And what of Oprah’s praise anyway? She said, “I have not been this excited about a movie since I don’t know when.” How excited? And be more specific. Since forty years ago? Since Titanic? Since Christmas in the Clouds? Is this really the best movie of the year? Other than turning the expectations up a little higher following the recent negativity surrounding Australia, Oprah hasn’t really offered us anything except hope. So, a word to Fox: it’s about time you let the real critics see this alleged masterpiece so we can actually find out if this film has some real chances at an Oscar. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:00:58 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com11/17/2008 5:00:58 PMOprah Winfrey can certainly create a best seller when it comes to books, and her pick of the presidential candidates is on his way to the White House. But can she get behind a movie and contribute to its success? 20th Century Fox seems to hope so, because the studio apparently allowed the talk show host to screen an unfinished cut of Australia in preparation for her November 10 show, which featured the film’s stars, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, as well as a live-via-Skype call-in from filmmaker Baz Luhrman. Fortunately for Fox, Oprah raved about the film, and now the media has latched on to the endorsement, creating some much-needed positive buzz for the Oscar-hopeful. Yet there’s a big problem with all the excitement: Oprah’s film recommendations have hardly been sure-fire champs in the past. Case in point: the first title I came upon while searching for Oprah-select cinema was something called Christmas in the Clouds, a 2005 indie that she chose as her “must see holiday movie,” in O magazine a few years back. The film barely grossed a quarter-million dollars in theaters, but even if her endorsement didn’t occur until its DVD release in November 2006, there’s still no proof of popularity from the rental charts of the time, and two years later fewer than 250 people have rated it on IMDb (not the best for determining how many people have seen it, sure, but such a small number of votes is still somewhat revealing). As for awards recognition, well, it received the Audience Award at the 2001 Austin Film Festival, and it was named the best Native American-themed film the same year at the Santa Fe Film Festival, but the majority of Academy voters probably never even heard of it. Okay, so that is an extreme example of a film that had not even one percent of the marketing budget of Australia. So, let’s take a look at some of the bigger releases that Oprah has recommended more recently. Well, there is Michael Moore’s Sicko, which she labeled “the one movie you must see this summer,” a few weeks prior to its barely wide release in June 2007. Considering its theater count and its genre, the documentary’s final domestic gross of $24.5 million was quite an achievement, especially since only two other docs have grossed more (including Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, which will stay on top for quite awhile with its $119.1 million). Oh, and yes, Sicko earned an Oscar nomination, too. But did Oprah’s statement really have that much impact on Sicko’s success? What about all the other titles with Oprah connections that haven’t performed so well? Films based on her book club selections, from her inaugural title, The Deep End of the Ocean, to the recent adaptation of Love in the Time of Cholera, have rarely been blockbusters, and the three Academy nominations for House of Sand and Fog are hardly thanks to her love for and endorsement of that novel. Of course, film adaptations are not necessarily ever pegged to the praises of their source material, which is why Oprah’s name has not been linked to the expected Oscar contenders The Reader and The Road. Then there are the films she’s been directly involved with. Beloved, which she produced and starred in, earned a middling gross of $22.9 million. Its sole Oscar nomination was for costume design. Her more recent production, The Great Debaters, did a little better money-wise with $30.2 million, but it failed to garner the Academy’s attention. Ignoring the animated films she’s lent her voice to, you have to go back 23 years, long before she had the powers of influence she’s currently known for, to find something as big as Fox would like Australia to be. It was then that The Color Purple earned nearly $100 million and 11 Oscar nominations (none of which it won). As for films that Oprah simply promotes and recommends on her show, there is no clear certainty that she can influence either box office or the Oscars. She’s featured the casts from Crash and Brokeback Mountain, yet she’s also given time to publicize films like Alexander and Things We Lost in the Fire. Last week, after calling Australia “the film we needed to see,” she also helped to sell Marley & Me, a movie that might benefit slightly in increased ticket sales thanks to the appearances by Jennifer Aniston, yet there are no news reports mentioning anything but Aniston’s comments about her ex-husband. There’s likewise little media attention given to the fact that Oprah also apparently saw Seven Pounds, the Will Smith movie that, like Australia, has so far received no reviews. Was there no soundbite from Smith’s appearance earlier this month? Seven Pounds is also a mysterious Oscar contender with some needed positive buzz, though maybe Sony Pictures didn’t think to feed the press anything regarding Oprah’s connection to that film the way Fox has pushed them on the Australia endorsement. And what of Oprah’s praise anyway? She said, “I have not been this excited about a movie since I don’t know when.” How excited? And be more specific. Since forty years ago? Since Titanic? Since Christmas in the Clouds? Is this really the best movie of the year? Other than turning the expectations up a little higher following the recent negativity surrounding Australia, Oprah hasn’t really offered us anything except hope. So, a word to Fox: it’s about time you let the real critics see this alleged masterpiece so we can actually find out if this film has some real chances at an Oscar. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/cinemarian/archive/2008/5/12/28510.aspx Post By: CinemaRian
Post To: CinemaRian Blog
Post Date: 5/12/2008 10:10:20 AM
Body: Resolved: This movie belongs on television as a Movie of the Week. The critics who call this a great movie are either on drugs or are having fond memories of being on their high school debate team. I don't know what exactly is so exceptional, other than the fact that the picture has two critically lauded actors, one of which for whom the praise is justified (Forest Whitaker). This may be controversial, but I have been thinking for a while that Denzel Washington is overrated. He is a very good actor, yes, but a great one? He certainly gave at least one great performance, as Malcolm X, but Washington takes too many easy roles in similar films. He needs to stay away from thrillers and never play a cop, soldier or FBI agent again. To his credit, his character does not hold any of those occupations in this movie. He plays a college professor named Melvin Tolson who is also the coach of his schools debate team. Tolson is mysterious, holding leftist views (some call him a Communist, but this is never substantiated), he is hated by the white establishment in his Texas town, while attempting to bring blacks and whites together to form a labor union. His training methods are unorthodox (we get the obligatory Dead Poet Society moment when he gets his students to do something seemingly pointless that raises character), but his team becomes undefeated and is eventually challenged by a white college, whom they beat. This is gives them a historical opportunity to play Harvard (in real life, the team played Oxford in England). Do you think these underdogs could possibly the greatest debate team on the planet. For most of the way, this movie is Rocky with debating instead of boxing. The only times the movie comes alive is when it shows us the paranoid environment that blacks had deal with in Southern society everyday. The movie's best scene revolves around the college's President (Whitaker) having to humiliate himself in front of his family in order to avoid being killed. This is what the movie should be about- how people like Tolson were able to endure such oppression and find the bravery to fight back against it, not whether someone wins a debate trophy. This movie is forgettable. I barely even remember it. I have no idea why critics are calling this a magical, Capra-esq experience. It gets three stars because I can't say it's a bad film, as it does what it sets out to do without being boring, but a lot more was promised than I received. The Great Debaters (2008)
]]>Mon, 12 May 2008 14:10:20 GMTCinemaRianCinemaRian Blog5/12/2008 10:10:20 AMResolved: This movie belongs on television as a Movie of the Week. The critics who call this a great movie are either on drugs or are having fond memories of being on their high school debate team. I don't know what exactly is so exceptional, other than the fact that the picture has two critically lauded actors, one of which for whom the praise is justified (Forest Whitaker). This may be controversial, but I have been thinking for a while that Denzel Washington is overrated. He is a very good actor, yes, but a great one? He certainly gave at least one great performance, as Malcolm X, but Washington takes too many easy roles in similar films. He needs to stay away from thrillers and never play a cop, soldier or FBI agent again. To his credit, his character does not hold any of those occupations in this movie. He plays a college professor named Melvin Tolson who is also the coach of his schools debate team. Tolson is mysterious, holding leftist views (some call him a Communist, but this is never substantiated), he is hated by the white establishment in his Texas town, while attempting to bring blacks and whites together to form a labor union. His training methods are unorthodox (we get the obligatory Dead Poet Society moment when he gets his students to do something seemingly pointless that raises character), but his team becomes undefeated and is eventually challenged by a white college, whom they beat. This is gives them a historical opportunity to play Harvard (in real life, the team played Oxford in England). Do you think these underdogs could possibly the greatest debate team on the planet. For most of the way, this movie is Rocky with debating instead of boxing. The only times the movie comes alive is when it shows us the paranoid environment that blacks had deal with in Southern society everyday. The movie's best scene revolves around the college's President (Whitaker) having to humiliate himself in front of his family in order to avoid being killed. This is what the movie should be about- how people like Tolson were able to endure such oppression and find the bravery to fight back against it, not whether someone wins a debate trophy. This movie is forgettable. I barely even remember it. I have no idea why critics are calling this a magical, Capra-esq experience. It gets three stars because I can't say it's a bad film, as it does what it sets out to do without being boring, but a lot more was promised than I received. The Great Debaters (2008) http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2007/10/18/20925.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 10/18/2007 3:37:26 PM
Body: In the latest “What’s wrong with The Weinstein Company?” piece from the New York Times (Michael Cieply penned the previous installment of the saga, six months back), David Carr begins with the thesis, “For the second year in a row, Harvey and Bob have had some significant misses at the box office and probably won’t be major players at the Oscars.” He then offers a pack of typically hyperbolic denials from Harvey Weinstein. Among them is Harvey contention that his studio does, in fact, have a hand to play at the Oscars–behind Denzel Washington’s latest directorial effort, The Great Debaters, and the John Cusack war widower drama Grace is Gone. But nowhere in the story does Weinstein mention I’m Not There, the film featuring the performance which prompted Weinstein to bellow just two months ago, “If Cate Blanchett doesn’t get nominated, I’ll shoot myself.” Sure, it’s possible that Weinstein *did* flog Todd Haynes divisive Dylan film in his interview with the Times‘ David Carr, and the quote just didn’t make it into the final draft. It’s also possible that Carr, satisfied with the mogul’s name-checking of two barely-buzzing star vehicles, neglected to push the issue. But it could also be a sign that, despite his earlier bravado, Harvey’s been burned too much, too often of late to really stand behind a semi-difficult sell. (more…) Originally posted on:SpoutBlog's blog
]]>Thu, 18 Oct 2007 19:37:26 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com10/18/2007 3:37:26 PMIn the latest “What’s wrong with The Weinstein Company?” piece from the New York Times (Michael Cieply penned the previous installment of the saga, six months back), David Carr begins with the thesis, “For the second year in a row, Harvey and Bob have had some significant misses at the box office and probably won’t be major players at the Oscars.” He then offers a pack of typically hyperbolic denials from Harvey Weinstein. Among them is Harvey contention that his studio does, in fact, have a hand to play at the Oscars–behind Denzel Washington’s latest directorial effort, The Great Debaters, and the John Cusack war widower drama Grace is Gone. But nowhere in the story does Weinstein mention I’m Not There, the film featuring the performance which prompted Weinstein to bellow just two months ago, “If Cate Blanchett doesn’t get nominated, I’ll shoot myself.” Sure, it’s possible that Weinstein *did* flog Todd Haynes divisive Dylan film in his interview with the Times‘ David Carr, and the quote just didn’t make it into the final draft. It’s also possible that Carr, satisfied with the mogul’s name-checking of two barely-buzzing star vehicles, neglected to push the issue. But it could also be a sign that, despite his earlier bravado, Harvey’s been burned too much, too often of late to really stand behind a semi-difficult sell. (more…) Originally posted on:SpoutBlog's blog http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/racism/MemberTagFilms.aspxracism
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