Nate Parker

In Hollywood, a film that is considered overtly political is about the same as considering it a match in a room full of money. For Nate Parker, who portrays real-life civil rights activist Benjamin Chavis in "Blood Done Sign My Name," that's a torch he's proud to bear. "There's no progress without struggle," Parker says. "Which means we won't get anywhere unless we're willing to sacrifice." The fiery fellow isn't just speaking of political action generally; he's talking about a particular scene in the film, set in 1970, in the still-segregated North Carolina town of Oxford.

In Hollywood, a film that is considered overtly political is about the same as considering it a match in a room full of money. For Nate Parker, who portrays real-life civil rights activist Benjamin Chavis in "Blood Done Sign My Name," that's a torch he's proud to bear. "There's no progress without struggle," Parker says. "Which means we won't get anywhere unless we're willing to sacrifice." The fiery fellow isn't just speaking of political action generally; he's talking about a particular scene in the film, set in 1970, in the still-segregated North Carolina town of Oxford.

Nate Parker was an All-American wrestler at the University of Oklahoma pursuing a career in computer programming several years ago when a friend, who was trying to launch a modeling career, asked Parker to accompany her to Dallas. The trip would change Parker's life in ways he never imagined. While he was waiting for his friend, "this guy came in and asked me, 'Are you an actor?' " Parker recalled, referring to talent scout Jon Simmons, who would later become his manager. "I said, 'No.'

Nate Parker was an All-American wrestler at the University of Oklahoma pursuing a career in computer programming several years ago when a friend, who was trying to launch a modeling career, asked Parker to accompany her to Dallas. The trip would change Parker's life in ways he never imagined. While he was waiting for his friend, "this guy came in and asked me, 'Are you an actor?' " Parker recalled, referring to talent scout Jon Simmons, who would later become his manager. "I said, 'No.'

"Red Tails" squanders a great subject, reducing the real-life struggles and fierce heroics of the Tuskegee Airmen to rickety cliché. Some of the action's fun. But if something about that statement doesn't sound right, well, there's your chief problem with "Red Tails. " It sets out to ingratiate without provocation or complexity. This much can be said of producer George Lucas' long-gestating project: It avoids the aggravating Hollywood strategy of telling an African American story by way of a mass-marketable white protagonist, a la the Civil War drama "Glory.

Where you've seen him Nate Parker is best known as talented firebrand Henry Lowe in Denzel Washington's "The Great Debaters." He also appeared opposite Terrence Howard in "Pride" (2007), as Alicia Keys' love interest in "The Secret Life of Bees" (2008) and as a star-crossed lover in the hip-hop-infused Shakespeare update "Rome & Jewel" (2008). Next, he'll take off as a Tuskegee airman in "Red Tails," from a story by George Lucas. -- Michael Ordoña

1 Tom Hanks, star of "Charlie Wilson's War," arrives at the film's world premiere at Universal CityWalk. Though the picture is about political intrigue in Washington, D.C., and covert operations in Afghanistan, it must have some funny business: The Golden Globes pegged it as a comedy. 2 Cleanshaven "Into the Wild" star Emile Hirsch, left, and Jonah Hill at the 7th Annual Hollywood Life Breakthrough of the Year Awards at Hollywood's Music Box @ Fonda.

Denzel Washington was a force to be reckoned with at the 39th annual NAACP Image Awards nominations announced Tuesday. His civil rights drama "The Great Debaters" scored eight nominations, including best film, director and actor for Washington. The film was also nominated for actress for Jurnee Smollett, supporting actor for Denzel Whitaker, Forest Whitaker and Nate Parker, and writing for Robert Eisele.

It's slightly depressing that some of the most riveting recent disaster films are dramas driven by precisely the sort of deceit that helped derail Wall Street. Last year there was the extraordinarily callous desperation of "Margin Call's" moneymen. Now comes "Arbitrage," taking a sophisticated swing at a hedge-fund magnate who is bankrolled by, and bets with, other people's money. Writer-director Nicholas Jarecki squarely lands that punch, creating a tense and chilling horror story for financially fraught times.

"Zero Dark Thirty," Kathryn Bigelow's chronicle of the search for terrorist Osama bin-Laden, continued its winning ways Sunday evening when it was named best film of 2012 by the African-American Film Critics Association. The film, which opens Wednesday, has already won best film honors from the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Board of Review, and it received best film nominations last week for the Critics' Choice Movie Awards and the Golden Globes. But it was Ava DuVernay's drama about how a marriage is affected when the husband goes to prison, "Middle of Nowhere," that was the big winner Sunday, receiving four awards: actress for Emayatzy Corinealdi, screenplay for DuVernay, independent film and music for Kathryn Bostic & Morgan Rhodes.

Actors, filmmakers and other invited guests converged on the Culver Plaza Theatre in Culver City on Wednesday for the opening of the Pan African Film Festival, which this year features 121 films from 31 nations. Nate Parker ("The Great Debaters") hosted the first screening, "35 and Ticking," a film by radio personality Russ Parr. Before joining the crowd, Parker said he credited his recent discovery of his Cameroon ancestry as one reason he wished to participate in the festival. "This event celebrates African Americans and African connections," he said.

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