The Great Debaters

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to the titles below you can now rent the Diane Lane thriller Untraceable, Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth, and Mad Money.

The Great Debaters
The Great Debaters stars Denzel Washington (who also directs), Forest Whitaker and newcomer Nate Parker in a movie that is maybe formulaic but also poignant and powerfully acted. As I pointed out in my review, the film borrows the the same elements of storytelling you find in underdog sports movies and inspirational teacher movies. However the film, based on a true story, is no less inspiring thanks to some moving performances.

The movie takes place in Texas circa 1935 when schools were segregated and economic times were hard all around. A group of young black college students work to become a debate team worthy of challenging Harvard. Washington plays the hard-driving debate team coach who encourages his students to succeed. You've definitely seen this all before in one form or another, but it's a great family rental with an inspirational message. The movie was honored earlier this year with an NAACP Award to boot.

Special features include deleted scenes and featurettes titled, "The Great Debaters: An Historical Perspective," and "Learning the Art: Our Young Actors Go to Debate Camp."

One more release to go so read more

The Golden Globe-nominated drama The Great Debaters won big Thursday night at the 39th NAACP Image Awards. The NAACP, which uses the annual Image Awards to honor outstanding achievements and performances by people of color and individuals and groups who work to promote social justice, recognized the film with four awards, including Best Motion Picture, Best Actor for Denzel Washington, and Best Actress for Jurnee Smollett.

Talk To Me also nabbed a couple of awards, including one for director Kasi Lemmons. On the television side, Grey's Anatomy won for Best Drama, while Tyler Perry's House of Payne won three awards, including Best Comedy. Alicia Keys won four awards in the music categories, and American Idol alum Jordin Sparks took home the award for Best New Artist.

To see a complete list of winners from Thursday's awards, just read more

• Big win for Barack Obama last night at the Iowa caucus. He won with 38 percent followed by John Edwards and Hilary Clinton. On the Republican side Mike Huckabee beat Mitt Romney, despite the former Massachusetts governor out spending the Arkansas one by millions of dollars. Britney may have stole their thunder, but we bet both campaigns are still celebrating right now as they head to New Hampshire. — CNN
• Pamela Anderson will be proceeding with her divorce from Rick Salomon after all, as she served him with divorce papers on Dec. 28. Not too shocking considering her solo NYE in that too-revealing dress. — Us Weekly




• Natalie Imbruglia and husband Daniel Johns, of the band Silverchair, are separating after four years of marriage because they "have simply grown apart." So sad to hear this couple is "torn" apart! — Reuters
• It looks like those twins J Lo is expecting might be a girl and a boy, as her friends are shopping for baby items in both blue and pink. Somehow we have a feeling that the wardrobe of J Lo's children will go beyond just blue and pink. — Page Six
• Jay Leno was scolded by the Writers' Guild yesterday after the monologue he used on Wednesday's show violated their rules. He (a union member) admitted that he wrote it beforehand and did the same thing again last night. Sounds like he may not have much respect for the strike after all. — People
• Some details in The Great Debaters, which claims to be based on a true story, were changed in order to make the film more compelling. For example, in the film Denzel's debaters face off against a team from Harvard, but they were actually from USC. Hardly seems like a scandalous lie considering other things Hollywood has fabricated in the past.— Page Six

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Even in a movie as formulaic as The Great Debaters, Denzel Washington manages to create a character who keeps us guessing. The truth-based tale of a debate team at a small Southern black college in 1935 borrows familiar elements from both underdog sports movies and inspirational teacher movies, but Washington's portrayal of the complicated debate coach is anything but clichéd. His performance, combined with equally subtle character renderings from Forest Whitaker and newcomer Nate Parker, makes this predictable movie worth watching. read more

Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker showed off The Great Debaters in NYC last night. Newlyweds Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman were also in the house but there was no sign of Oprah this time around. In the movie, Denzel plays a professor who helps get a debate team started at all-black Wiley College in Texas in 1935 and apparently he was still feeling his character's spirit this week. On Tuesday it was announced that he had donated $1 million to re-establish the debate team at Wiley. Sounds like Denzel's new movie can still teach us a lesson, even many decades later.

More pics including Candice Bergen, Jill Stuart and Cady Huffman so just read more

Right as everyone's buzzing about Denzel Washington's award-worthy turn in American Gangster, we get a trailer for The Great Debaters, another movie that has Washington's magical charm all over it. Add to that an inspirational historical plot fraught with race tensions, and a tight-looking cast — which includes another Oscar favorite, Forest Whitaker — and you've got the makings for a huge Hollywood success.

Washington plays Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at the all-black Wiley College in Texas in 1935. He helps form the school's first debate team which goes on to challenge Harvard's team in the national championship.

Weird sidenote: One of the young actors in this movie is actually named — and I'm not kidding — Denzel Whitaker. He's not a relative of either Denzel Washington or Forest Whitaker, though he was named after Denzel. Weird, right?

To watch the heartwarming trailer for The Great Debaters which opens December 25, read more