40 UNDER THE RADAR MOVIES FROM 2019

Although 2019 has just come to an end, let's not be so quick to put the year completely behind us. There were plenty of films that were released that didn't get all the attention that may have deserved last year, usually due to a very brief time in theaters or lack of proper promotion.

The Los Angeles Times had eight of their film critics pick five intriguing films from 2019 they considered to fall "under the radar" and would highly recommend to be seen as well as trends in cinema they would like to see more and less of in 2020.

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40 Under-The-Radar Movies of 2019

UNDER THE RADAR IN 2018

With the U.S. box-office reaching an incredible number of 11.9 billion in ticket sales (and over 41 billion globally which is another record set) in 2018, it is quite clear that people still left their homes and went to the movies despite the rise of streaming networks. And with so many films released in theaters, there were bound to be some really great films, particularly indies, that might have been overlooked. The Los Angeles Times have eight of their film critics put a spotlight on five little-seen-yet-wonderful features or documentaries from last year that they highly recommended you might want to check out. Plus, they share their thoughts on what they would like to see more and what they would like to see far less of in cinema.

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Movies Under The Radar 2018

UNDER THE RADAR IN 2017

While we are a few days in to a new year, it's still not too late to look back on the year in cinema for 2017. While everyone has been presenting their best film lists of last year (with my own to be forthcoming), the Los Angeles Times has presented a couple of articles that highlights great movies and performances that many people may have missed. Tre'vell Anderson has put together seventeen film performances that were outstanding but will most likely be overlooked during award season. Some of these, which I agree wholeheartedly, include the amazing work of Salma Hayek ("Beatriz at Dinner"), Rebecca Hall ("Professor Marston and the Wonder Women"), Betty Gabriel (the maid in "Get Out"), John Cho and Haley Lu Richardson ("Columbus").

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17 Film Performances of 2017 That Deserve a Second Look

Meanwhile, the L.A. Times critics have done their annual compilation with each selecting five feature films or documentaries to put a well-deserved spotlight on what may not have been given their proper due last year. Some of the films picked that I had wanted to see but sadly missed (but plan to catch) include "Menashe", "My Friend Dahmer", "Ethel & Ernest" and the docs, "California Typewriter" "Obit" and "Ex Libris: The New York Public Library".

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Under The Radar: Overlooked Films of 2017

BURIED TREASURES

While many have been bemoaning this recent lousy summer in cinema with the year-to-year profits down, the attendance the worse it's been in twenty-five years and many lackluster would-be Hollywood blockbusters failed to get audiences in the theaters, there were actually a few intriguing films released over the last three months. Did anyone see "Maudie"? Or "Beatriz At Dinner"? Or perhaps "The Hero" or even "The Beguiled"? These were some wonderful independent films out this summer that didn't open wide, never came close to the box-office top-ten and certainly weren't seen by nearly enough people.

In response to this, Los Angeles Times lead film critics, Kenneth Turan and Justin Chang have selected thirty-five overlooked films or "buried treasures" released over the last twenty years that never received as much appreciation as they deserved. They have stressed that their selections are not necessarily what they consider "the best" but rather to bring awareness to inventive and challenging films that failed to generate wide audience attention or award recognition at the time of their release. Both critics are admitted world cinema lovers (as am I) so their picks have a large number of foreign-language films which sadly tend to be ignored by the average American film-goer. But if you are feeling adventurous and want to discover something new, please check out this list.

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Buried Treasures of the last 20 years in film

Here are a few trailers of some of my personal favorites of these buried treasures: