Nate Parker Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Ooh, here's one title that I fervently hope doesn't get changed for the big screen: Timothy B. Tyson's book Blood Done Sign My Name will be adapted into a film by Jeb Stuart, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The book tells the true story of a black Vietnam vet allegedly murdered by a white businessman, and also examines a young teacher's role in the civil unrest that followed. Rising young star Nate Parker (The Great Debaters, Pride) will star. THR says that the independently-financed production will be filmed in North Carolina in May and June.

As described by the book's publisher, the story is explosive. It starts in May 1970 with the public murder of Henry Marrow in Oxford, North Carolina. The killing sparked street protests in the small Southern town. "While lawyers battled in the courthouse," the synopsis reads, "the Klan raged in the shadows and black Vietnam veterans torched the town's tobacco warehouses."

Let me tell you why I do what I do: Not long ago, Cinematical gave away tickets to the New York City premiere of The Great Debaters. Afterward, two of the ticket winners emailed, thanking me profusely, saying that attending the premiere -- in the historic Ziegfeld Theater -- was one of the greatest moviegoing experiences of their lives. I may not make a million dollars a year, or know everything there is to know about film, but to help two people enjoy such a wonderful and memorable experience is more rewarding than any macho paycheck. So thanks for emailing.

And in the meantime, for those who haven't yet seen The Great Debaters, Cinematical has received this exclusive clip from the film (see above), in which Denzel Washington welcomes a bunch of young kids into a make-shift classroom in an attempt to teach them how to debate. The Great Debaters was just nominated for a Best Picture Golden Globe, and in his review our own Scott Weinberg noted the film is "easily worth seeing for the superlative performances, the still-important history lessons, and the really excellent mid-'30s production design ..." The Great Debaters is directed by Denzel Washington, and it stars Washington, Forest Whitaker, Nate Parker and Denzel Whitaker. You can read more about the film in our junket report; The Great Debaters is currently playing nationwide.

The Great Debaters is inspired by the true story of how professor Melvin B. Tolson (played by Denzel Washington) formed the first debate team at Wiley College -- a black liberal arts institution -- in the 1930's Jim Crow south. The film was just nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Picture of the Year, and it co-stars Forest Whitaker. Debaters is Washington's second film as a director (his first was Antwone Fisher). Cinematical attended a press junket earlier this month with Washington and the film's young debaters: Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, and Denzel Whitaker. Yes, the co-star of a movie with Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker is named Denzel Whitaker! To avoid confusion, we'll refer to them as they refer to themselves -- Big Denzel (Washington) and Little Denzel (Whitaker).

What did you guys do to prepare for this film?

BIG DENZEL: We set up a camp for the kids. I met Dr. Freeman, who is the debating coach at Texas Southern, which is one of the top debating schools in the country. I interviewed him and put him on film and asked if we could set up a little mini-camp for the young actors and he put them through their paces.

NP: We arrived and learned all about parliamentary and impromptu debate. Denzel was very adamant about us researching and knowing what we were talking about, and being well versed in the process of debate. So we got the Texas Southern University team, and they took us through it and gave us a class course. They told us we should be more persuasive, being that we're actors! So the first day we learned about debate, the second day we broke into teams and we debated. And the morning of, we were watching CNN and MSNBC and reading the Wall Street Journal. You should have seen us, we took it very serious, and we defeated their freshman and sophomore team.

When you think of the classic 'sports movie' formula, you probably run through your favorite baseball or football movies, but make no mistake: Denzel Washington's The Great Debaters is every bit the sports flick that Hoosiers, The Natural and Remember the Titans are. It's only the extra-curriculars that have changed. Whether or not that's a good thing is entirely up to you, but if you're a big fan of totally predictable yet effectively entertaining "competition" movies, then there's very little chance you won't dig what's offered here. And even if you find the screenplay to be the pinnacle of all things obvious, the performances are still pretty excellent.

Plus, hell, if cheerleading is a sport, then so is debate.

Denzel Washington (directing his second film after 2002's Antwone Fisher) does a reliably excellent job of elevating basic material -- when he's on the screen, anyway; his character here is Melvin B. Tolson, debating coach for a black Texas college. The year is 1935, the civil rights movement is just starting to gain (a little) traction, and Tolson (despite being an unquestionably dedicated educator) is in big trouble thanks to his "questionable" politics.

The latest debate team for Wiley College is a broadly interesting one: the soft-spoken girl, the passionate hunk, the youthful prodigy, and ... the chubby one. Again, it's a good thing this movie has such a strong cast. Each of the young actors do exceedingly fine work with some fairly one-note roles. As the angry yet powerfully articulate Henry Lowe, Nate Parker is particularly excellent, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot more movies from him in the future.

Just when you thought we were done giving away tickets today, we've only just begun! Cinematical is happy to announce that we have a whopping 15 pairs of tickets to give away for next Wednesday's (12/19) New York premiere of The Great Debaters! And in case you weren't following the news, The Great Debaters was just nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Motion Picture (Drama) category -- the most prestigious of them all -- and now you have a chance to see it, before anyone else does, at New York's historic Ziegfeld Theater. Oh, but that's not all: Your ticket also allows you to attend a private pre-show reception, with folks like Denzel Washington and other high-profile celebs in attendance. Yup, you've read all about those swanky New York movie premieres in the papers -- well now YOU get to go to one! And chill ... with Denzel!

Here's what you need to know: We'll be picking 15 random commenters to attend The Great Debaters star-studded New York premiere starting ... now. The private reception will be held prior to the screening in The Ziegfeld Theater Lobby beginning at 6:30pm on Wednesday, December 19th, with the screening to follow. (And on a personal note, if you've never been to a screening at the Ziegfeld -- then, seriously, you have no idea what you're missing.) Since cocktails will be served, you must be 21 or over in order to attend, and you must be in or around the New York City area on that day. Additionally, you'll need to travel to and from the theater on your own dime. Worth it to watch The Great Debaters with Denzel at The Ziegfeld? Um, yeah. You'll want to be there for this. Directed by Denzel Washington, and starring Washington, Forest Whitaker, Nate Parker and Denzel Whitaker, The Great Debaters arrives in theaters on Christmas Day.

Check out the trailer for The Great Debaters and the official rules for this contest after the jump.

I can't be the only one who saw this title of the film and thought of the old joke about "master debaters," but that is probably not the best association to make when you are talking about a family film. Variety reports that Kimberly Elise has signed on to the period flick The Great Debaters. The movie is the second directorial effort from Denzel Washington and centers on a small East Texas debate team that challenged Harvard's famed team to a debate. The film is set in the 30's, which will probably add an extra "feel-good" element to it, as its sure to be not only a story of triumph over adversity, but some deep-seated discrimination. The cast also includes Nate Parker (Pride), Forest Whitaker and Washington who will play the coach of the debate team. Elise is set to play Whitaker's wife and the mother to the team's star debater.

Elise must have had an inside track on the role since one of the film's producers is media queen Oprah Winfrey, who gave Elise one of her first big-screen roles in the adaptation of Toni Morrison's Beloved, and Elise has already worked with Washington on The Manchurian Candidate. After shooting has finished in Louisiana, Elise will return to work on the international drama Red Soil. The Great Debaters is set for release in 2008.