Pardon the hijack, but what was that about? Not only was it a needless remake, but
1- they made Lucas Black speak with a “genteel” southern accent that almost no real southerner actually has instead of his actual Alabama accent
2- they completely lost the glory of the “wah-wah” scene
3- they decided to politically correct the father-son relationship (which in the original and in real life remained strained)
Stick to selling Pepsi, kid.
How about JFK; it has history, politics and public speaking. It is about 3 hours long though.
Also, Malcom X and Remember The Titans both have Denzel in public speaking mode.
No offense but JFK has the Oliver Stone/tinfoil hat version of history. I still like the movie to a point but I wouldn’t call it historically accurate.
Besides the students might riot if they have to sit through that " Back, and to the left…back, and to the left…back, and to the left…(repeat ad nauseam)" courtroom scene.
What subjects do you teach?
I remember watching “The Scarlet Pimpernel” in European history. Fun stuff, plus purty costumes. “Lion in Winter” might be good for the same reasons. “Anne of a Thousand Days” is a cool film about the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn.
“The Atomic Cafe,” a documentary about the A-bomb in popular culture would be a great one to show an American history class.
If you teach English, Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet” is a possibility. “Fahrenheit 451” would also be a good choice.
We did 12 Angry Men in a college speech class, it is very good for discussion arguementation, logic, emotion, etc.
I’d like to second 1776. Set mostly in the Second Continental Congress, lots of speech, rhetoric, and emotional debate, plus William Daniels at his crusty best. Also kind of cool to see the founding fathers break into song…
…well, I think so, anyway…