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'Great Debaters' Wins Top Image Award
15 February 2008 (StudioBriefing)
The Great Debaters, directed by and starring Denzel Washington, has received the NAACP's 2007 Image award as best film of 2007. Washington, along with costars Jurnee Smollett and Denzel Whitaker, also received acting awards for the film. In television categories, Grey's Anatomy won for best drama series, while Tyler Perry's House of Payne won for comedy series.

Washington's 'Great Debaters' Leads Image Awards
15 February 2008 (WENN)
Denzel Washington's 2007 movie The Great Debaters has taken the top prize at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Awards in Los Angeles. The movie - which Washington both directed and acted in - was named best film, with acting prizes also going to its stars Washington, Jurnee Smollett and teenager Denzel Whitaker. As he collected his award at Thursday's ceremony at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Washington was keen to point out that the NAACP Image Awards mean much more to him than the Oscars. He said, "I'll be at that other show (the Academy Awards) next week, but my heart is here. I'm just so happy to see these young people get recognized." Singer/actress Janet Jackson landed the award for best supporting actress in a motion picture for her turn as a psychiatrist in Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? Perry was also a big winner in the TV categories with his sitcom Tyler Perry's House of Payne taking the honor for best comedy series, and stars LaVan Davis and Lance Gross given nods in the acting categories. Medical drama Grey's Anatomy was honored with best drama series, while the show's star Chandra Wilson landed an acting prize and creator Shonda Rhimes was honored for writing. The best actor in a drama series trophy went to Hill Harper of CSI: NY and Ugly Betty's America Ferrera and Vanessa Williams also took home trophies - winning the awards for best actress and supporting actress in a comedy series. Stevie Wonder was inducted into the NAACP Hall of Fame and special honors were given to Aretha Franklin and Oscar-nominated actress Ruby Dee.

Washington's 'Great Debaters' Leads Image Awards Nominations
10 January 2008 (WENN)
Denzel Washington's new movie The Great Debaters is leading the nominations for the NAACP Image Awards after landing nods including Best Picture. The film, about a Texas professor who takes his African-American students to debate the great minds at Harvard University in the 1930s, is also up for Best Actor (Washington), Best Director (Washington), Best Actress (Jurnee Smollett) and Best Writing (Robert Eisele). Denzel Whitaker, Forest Whitaker and Nate Parker are all nominated for Best Supporting Actor for their roles in the movie. Elsewhere, in the Best Actor category Washington is up against Don Cheadle (Talk To Me), Terrence Howard (Pride), Will Smith (I Am Legend) and Columbus Short (Stomp The Yard). Best Actress is between Smollett, Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart), Halle Berry (Things We Lost In The Fire), Jill Scott (Why Did I Get Married?) and Taraji P. Henson (Talk To Me). Competing against The Great Debaters in the Best Picture field are American Gangster, I Am Legend, Why Did I Get Married? and Talk To Me. The National Association For The Advancement Of Colored People's 39th annual Image Awards takes place February 14 in Los Angeles.

Depp Top Draw in 2007
4 January 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Johnny Depp, who was once relegated to relatively low budget films because producers thought him too outré to attract sizable audiences, was named Top Money Making Star for the second year in a row in the 76th annual Quickley Publishing Co. poll. Depp starred in 2007 in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The poll. which surveys motion picture exhibitors, put Will Smith (I Am Legend) in second place. Other top finishers: 3: George Clooney (Ocean's Thirteen, Michael Clayton); 4. Matt Damon (Ocean's Thirteen, The Bourne Ultimatum); 5. Denzel Washington (American Gangster, The Great Debaters).

Box Office Full of 'Treasure'
27 December 2007 (StudioBriefing)
The five-day Christmas holiday brought joy to studio execs as ticket sales soared 34 percent higher than those for the comparable weekend a year ago. The leader of the pack was National Treasure: Book of Secrets, which finished with $65.4 million over the five-day period. In second place was Will Smith's I Am Legend, which collected $47.6 million. Alvin and the Chipmunks finished third with $38.6 million. Opening on Christmas Day Alien vs. Predator: Requiem took in $9.5 million and presumably drew moviegoers away from Treasure, which had the same young-male target audience. Also opening wide on Christmas were The Great Debaters, which took in $3.5 million, and The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, which brought in $2.4 million. In limited release, the award-winning animated film Persepolis took in $37,118 in seven theaters.

The top ten films over the five-day holiday weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Disney, $65,444,195, (New); 2. I Am Legend, Warner Bros., $47,685,378, 2 Wks. ($150,950,671); 3. Alvin and the Chipmunks, Fox, $38,609,310, 2 Wks., ($94,476,107); 4. Charlie Wilson's War, Universal, $15,952,430, (New); 5. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, DreamWorks/Paramount, $13,635,390, (New); 6. P.S. I Love You, Warner Bros., $10,048,349, (New); 7. Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, Fox, $9,515,615, (New); 8. The Golden Compass, New Line, $6,931,000, 3 Wks, ($51,379,000); 9. Juno, Fox Searchlight, $6,817,494, 3 Wks., ($9,802,170); 10. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Sony/Columbia, $6,257,174, (New).

Movie Reviews: 'The Great Debaters'
26 December 2007 (StudioBriefing)
The Great Debaters, directed by Denzel Washington is receiving mostly respectful reviews. Stephen Holden in the New York Times observes that it "may not aspire to be more than inspirational pop entertainment in the Oprah Winfrey mode (Ms. Winfrey is one of its producers), but unlike so many films of its ilk, it doesn't insult your intelligence. And it reminds you that social history airbrushed for the screen by Hollywood is preferable to none at all." Likewise, Bob Straus in the Los Angeles Daily News observes that "formulaic and manipulative as Debaters is, it's also smarter, wider-ranging and way, way better-acted than the average inspiring instructional." And Gene Seymour in Newsday suggests that the film's primary is fault is that it fails to be sufficiently challenging. "You admire the film for trying to get moviegoers worked up over protagonists who use rhetoric and reason as weapons instead of guns and fists. You lament that it doesn't trust its material enough to do much more than flatter its audience's good intentions," he writes.

'Atonement' Takes the Lead
13 December 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Atonement, the British period romance which received strong reviews and has attracted solid box-office business in limited release, received seven Golden Globes nominations today -- more than any other film. Joining it among best drama nominees were American Gangster, Eastern Promises, The Great Debaters, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, and There Will Be Blood.It was the first time that seven films had ever been included in a Golden Globes category. (The usual number is five.) The Globes, which divides the best film award into drama and comedy/musical categories, nominated in the latter category: Across the Universe, Charlie Wilson's War, Hairspray, Juno, and Sweeney Todd. While the dramatic category reflected the fare being considered by many other awards groups, the comedy/musical group surprisingly omitted the two Judd Apatow features, Knocked Up and Superbad, easily the two best reviewed and best-attended comedy films of the year. Two other surprise omissions were I'm Not There and Into the Wild in any of the drama categories. It was a particularly good day for Philip Seymour Hoffman and Cate Blanchett, each of whom received two acting nominations, Hoffman for The Savages and Charlie Wilson's War and Blanchett for Elizabeth: The Golden Age and I'm Not There. Winners are scheduled to be announced during an NBC telecast on Sunday, Jan. 13.

Atonement Leads Golden Globe Nominations
13 December 2007 (IMDb News Flash)
Atonement was the dominant movie at this morning's announcement of the Golden Globe nominations with seven nods, including Best Picture (Drama) and three acting nominations. The adaptation of Ian McEwan's acclaimed bestseller also received nominations for directing, screenplay, and score as well as for its two leads, James McAvoy and Keira Knightley, and a supporting actress mention for young Saoirse Ronan. Critical favorite No Country for Old Men received four nominations, including picture, supporting actor (Javier Bardem), and directing and screenplay nominations for Joel Coen and Ethan Coen; legal thriller Michael Clayton also received four nods, including picture and three acting nominations for George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton. Rounding out the dramatic Best Picture nominees -- there were an unprecedented seven in all -- were American Gangster, Eastern Promises, The Great Debaters, and There Will Be Blood.

Over on the Comedy/Musical side, Charlie Wilson's War led the pack with five nods, including Best Picture (Comedy/Musical), three acting nominations for stars Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and a screenplay nomination for Aaron Sorkin. Tim Burton's blood-filled adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd received four nominations in the Comedy/Musical categories for picutre, Best Actor (Johnny Depp), Best Actress (Helena Bonham Carter), and a directing nod for Burton. Indie hit Juno also scored well, with mentions for star Ellen Page and screenwriter Diablo Cody as well as a best picture nod, and summer musical Hairspray bounced back to life with nominations for picture, lead actress (Nikki Blonsky) and supporting actor (John Travolta). The other nominee for Best Picture (Comedy/Musical) was the Beatles musical Across the Universe.

In the television categories, FX newcomer Damages was the leading series contender with four nominations, while the HBO movie Longford also received four nods. Freshman hit Pushing Daisies, returning comedies Entourage and 30 Rock, and miniseries Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee received three nominations each.


Get all of the Golden Globe Nominations in our Road to the Oscars section