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Troy
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Troy
Post Number: 1044
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 01:40 pm: | 
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Up until yesterday Talk to Me was my favorite movie of the year. This all changed after watching a screening of The Great Debaters at HBO here in NYC. I understand The Great Debaters is scheduled for national release this weekend (or very soon). Go see this movie. It is an excellent date flicks and good for the kids too.
I was a little surprised that I enjoyed this movie so much. I’d read Kam Williams review (2 stars out of 4 - http://aalbc.com/reviews/the_great_debators.htm). Kam felt that it was a good movie but suffered because of the historical inaccuracies. Kam mentions the the Willie Lynch scene. I thought it worked really well. I agree it would have the effect of perpetuating an urban legend; but I can’t not hold that against the movie. <b>The Great Debaters</B is not a documentary so I had no expectations of factual representations of historical events.
Kam ranked The Great Debaters #7 after all of Tyler Perry’s movies (http://aalbc.com/reviews/blacktrospective_2007.htm). I don’t plan to go see any of the new Tyler Perry movies. I did not care, very much, for any of the other Perry flicks (save the film of one of the early Madea stage plays). Partially because of Kam’s ranking, I had no great drive to see The Great Debaters . Where it not for the free screening I was content to wait for DVD. I see now that this was a mistake.
The Great Debaters is, in my opinion, the best movie of last year. My wife still liked Talk to Me more, but The Great Debaters had everything -- excellent acting, drama, comedy. It was just a well done tear jerking-inspirational-feel-good-at-the-end movie. Talk to Me is still a strong number #2 in my book (definitely ahead of the Oscar contender No Country for Old Men
In fact I’d rank Debaters ahead of any top feel good movies from 2006 including Dreamgirls, Akeelah and the Bee, or The Pursuit of Happyness
Now the African-American Film Critics Association’s Top Ten Films of 2007 lists The Great Debaters as the, unqualified, #1 film. Talk to Me is #3. No Country for Old Men (whose ending I hated) is #5 (http://aalbc.com/reviews/aafca_best_picture_2007.htm).
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 11145
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 03:08 pm: |
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The Great Debaters has been in national release for a couple of weeks now and has racked up $22, 013,765 at the box office. Another example of the poetic license taken by this inspirational movie is that, according to their archives, Harvard historians say that Harvard never debated this school. But why quibble about details, the moral of the story is in tact. |
Troy
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Troy
Post Number: 1048
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 10:48 pm: |
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I throught the woman who introduced the movie, at the screening, said is was going to be released nationally -- maybe she said it was already released...
Yeah Kam mentions, in his review, that the debate with Harvard never took place.
While I think the movie was excellent; I really don't understand the reason for using Harvard instead of the actual University that was debated (USC). I guess beating Harvard has a greater impact... Plus it make one of the arguements in the final debate work really nicely.
I was actually impressed by the Farmer Sr. charcter. I'm interested in learning more about the elder Farmer (...hummm, I wonder if Farmers character was a fabrication too -- maybe he only spoke 3 languanges and not 7).
I told my eldest daughter that Farmer Sr. reminded me of myself. Not entertaining the thought for a microsecond, she said, "Yeah, right Dad".
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Jmho
Veteran Poster
Username: Jmho
Post Number: 328
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 03:11 pm: |
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Troy wrote:
Kam ranked The Great Debaters #7 after all of Tyler Perry’s movies (http://aalbc.com/reviews/blacktrospective_2007.htm). I don’t plan to go see any of the new Tyler Perry movies. I did not care, very much, for any of the other Perry flicks (save the film of one of the early Madea stage plays). Partially because of Kam’s ranking, I had no great drive to see The Great Debaters . Where it not for the free screening I was content to wait for DVD. I see now that this was a mistake.
I saw Perry's Why Did I Get Married (I definitely should have waited for cable or the DVD), and I saw The Great Debaters. And, I would never put one of Perry's film on my best moive list, for any year. I agree with you, The Great Debaters was one of the best, if not the best, movies for 2007.
Troy wrote:
I throught the woman who introduced the movie, at the screening, said is was going to be released nationally -- maybe she said it was already released...
I think the national release date, for the movie, was last Christmas (Dec. 25, 2007). |
Carey
Veteran Poster
Username: Carey
Post Number: 625
Registered: 05-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 - 05:39 pm: |
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I couldn't hold my tongue on this topic. Who is this Can The Kam Williams and where did she get her...ahhh ....you know. Anyway, I am with Troy on this one. Debator was a great movie. I am going to think long and hard to find a fit for it in my all times list. Yep, it was a feel good movie and some don't take "feel good" movies seriously and I don't want to beat up the word "feel good" but Debator was much much more. The acting was great and there was some real strong messages in the movie. I had to watch the movie a few times because I was captured in emotional residue from several scenes. I don't give my stamp to many pictures but this did it for me. Lordy lordy, how could anyone say Tyler Perry and Denzel in the same sentence. I mean, just compare the acting and the directing alone and it's not even a race, it's a wipe out. You know how you meet a person and their breath stinks and everytime you see them and they start to talk and you can think of nothing but that foul mouth. Well...... Ms. Tyler Perry on top has some brushing up to do *smile*. |
Carey
Veteran Poster
Username: Carey
Post Number: 626
Registered: 05-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 - 05:48 pm: |
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Opps...I guess Kam is a "He". Well, "he" needs to give back his "rewards".
I too hated the ending to "Old Men". I wanted to cuss out somebody for that slap in the face. For that reason alone, that ending, I had to drop that off my list. It had everything going for it but it's not the man that leads the race it's the man that wins the race that gets the spoils.
"Entonement"...... anyone? |
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