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Tuesday’s Overlooked: Summer Preview Edition

Well the summer blockbuster season is officially upon us. Often this time of year ushers in the relentless array of big budget films released for the sole purpose of parting us with our hard earned money (yeah still bitter about the IMAX 3D experience that was Iron Man 3).

However, there also exists in this space a smaller set of films that offer a counter-balance to the larger more extravagant fare on offer. So for this week’s “Overlooked” series (courtesy of bloggin’ buddy Todd Mason) I have decided to look into my crystal ball (don’t actually have one) and see what films coming out this summer I feel will not get their just desserts by the mainstream audience.

Frances Ha (actually will be seeing it this week)

Frances (Greta Gerwig) lives in New York, but she doesn’t really have an apartment. Frances is an apprentice for a dance company, but she’s not really a dancer. Frances has a best friend named Sophie, but they aren’t really speaking anymore. Frances throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles. Frances wants so much more than she has, but lives her life with unaccountable joy and lightness. “Frances Ha” is a modern comic fable in which Noah Baumbach explores New York, friendship, class, ambition, failure, and redemption. Courtesy of IFC Films. Opens May 17th in NY & LA with a staggered released throughout the country.

frances ha

 

Before Midnight (see previous post). Opens May 24th

 

The East

An operative for an elite private intelligence firm finds her priorities irrevocably changed after she is tasked with infiltrating an anarchist group known for executing covert attacks upon major corporations. (Source: IMDB) Opens May 31

the east

 

Much Ado About Nothing

A modern retelling of Shakespeare’s classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words. (Source IMDB) Directed by Joss Whedon. Opens June 7

muchadowhedon

 

 

The World’s End

Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier unwittingly become humankind’s only hope for survival. (Source: IMDB) From the team that brought us Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Opens August 23

worldsend

 

What films are you looking forward to this summer that you feel have the potential to be overlooked by the mainstream audience? Hit me up in the Comments section below.

 

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Tuesday’s Overlooked Film: The Tall Target

This week’s ‘overlooked’ pick is the first (of certainly several) shout outs from the 2013 TCM Film Festival. The movie is 1951’s The Tall Target directed by Anthony Mann and starring Dick Powell.

Menjou, Adolphe (Tall Target, The)_NRFPT_01

Powell is a New York City-based a police officer, hell bent stop the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in Baltimore as he makes the train journey from Pennsylvania to his inauguration in Washington, DC.

Now I will readily admit (as I also discussed with another film-goer), that when I read the program description in the festival guide, I was not sure if this was some sort of contemporary, for the time hard-boiled crime thriller (Powell was in it after all) that happened to be anachronistic, given the “tall target” of the title. But soon in I realized that was not the case. Thanks in part to another WONDERFUL introduction by film historian Donald Bogle, we find out that this film is based in part on historical folklore that allegedly took place on the eve of Lincoln’s swearing-in.

There are quite a few twists and turns to this one so I will leave it up to you to enjoy for yourself.

Also starring in supporting roles are Adolphe Menjou and Ruby Dee, a young slave who has more moxie than one initially would think.

Check out Todd Mason’s site, Sweet Freedom for more overlooked, forgotten or otherwise under-appreciated cinematic gems.

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Tuesday’s Overlooked Film: Mother and Child (2009)

I am writing this on a Saturday because I want to make sure that I get everything down. Rarely, I mean RARELY do I venture to the land of Lifetime – Television for Women (I have my reasons). But very interesting sight of Samuel L. Jackson and Naomi Watts in bed TOGETHER made me stop in my tracks.

What I watched over the course of the next couple of hours was honest and well-performed (if not a bit melodramatic in some movements, but all is ultimately forgiven) – and also this week’s ‘overlooked’ film – 2009’s Mother and Child.

motherandchild

Written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia, it should surprise no one how the intersecting lives narrative works. Here, the central theme is (as indicated by the title) are the various women’s relationship to motherhood.

  • Karen (Naomi Watts) is an ambitious, determined woman who faces a daunting decision that causes her to face the demons of the past.
  • Elizabeth (Annette Bening) never quite got over the fact that subsequent to falling pregnant aged 14, there was something missing in her life. Now 38 years later, will she have a chance at redemption?
  • Lucy (Kerry Washington), is unable to have a child of her own but is willing to move heaven and earth to right this wrong.

From the main cast down to the supporting players (Shareeka Epps, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Cherry Jones, David Morse) this film is so well played that I stayed on Lifetime (even watching a preview of The Client List) until the film’s conclusion.

 

Be sure to check out other overlooked titles at Sweet Freedom!

 

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