i luv cinema

Home Archives for overlooked film

By 1 Comment

Tuesday’s Overlooked: Love & Basketball (2000)

This week’s selection has been mentioned previously on my blog but never at great length. It is the 2000 Sundance fan-favorite Love & Basketball, directed by Gina Bryce-Bythewood (P.S. We need to see much more of her)! This film has everything I need as both self-confessed tomboy who loves sports and as one who appreciates a great love story. Add to that a jamming soundtrack and this is a movie I will not soon ever forget – even to this day.
love-and-basketball-1-1024

The film covers the 20-year relationship between Monica (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy (Omar Epps), who share a love and passionate rivalry for basketball and find their lives inexorably linked as a result.

Check out the trailer here:

For MORE overlooked gems, check out Todd Mason’s blog, Sweet Freedom.

By 4 Comments

Tuesday’s Overlooked: The Josephine Baker Story (1991)

This week’s entry is another post in honor of Josephine Baker, who was born this week in 1906.

I previously mentioned a BBC documentary that will let you find out more about the legendary performer, but for me, as a youth, my first exposure to the impact of her life and world (including that beyond the world of entertainment) was captured in the 1991 biopic made for HBO. Lynne Whitfield stars as the icon who escaped abject poverty in the racially-charged South to become the toast of Paris.

Here are the opening credits for the film:

Granted I have not seen it in a while, so I am not sure how well it plays in a contemporary context. But I think this is a good entree into learning more about Ms. Baker.

Be sure to check out other films selected as overlooked on Todd Mason’s blog, Sweet Freedom.
josephine baker story

By 1 Comment

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.

 

totalfilm600movieblogs