Snubbed by the Oscars

The Oscars are nearly here (February 26, to be precise), and maybe you’re excited about seeing all the nominated films, or maybe you’re tired of the hubbub and craving something less hyped. Several such excellent-but-underrated movies are now streaming this week.

There’s also a cadre of movies that feature action and violence and even zombies that would never be nominated. And there’s a documentary filled with controversy, and a movie that received several nominations at its time but failed to nab the big prize (to the chagrin of many).

Enjoy the Oscars, or don’t, but enjoy these movies and others regardless!

Imperial Dreams (Netflix)

Courtesy of Netflix

★★★★☆

Though it features Star Wars: The Force Awakens star John Boyega, Imperial Dreams (2014) is not a prequel about his character Finn joining the ranks of the imperial stormtroopers. Rather, this movie was the talk of the Sundance Film Festival in 2014, yet was sadly left behind as distributors stumbled over how to market it. Thankfully Netflix stepped up and has given it a 2017 streaming release, and it’s very much worth seeing. Like the recent Moonlight, Malik Vitthal’s Imperial Dreams is a heartbreaking, sympathetic urban drama, filled with passages of beautiful sadness. Boyega stars as Bambi, who has just been released from prison and returns to his tough Watts neighborhood. He has published a short story in McSweeney’s magazine, dreams of being a writer, and hopes to get his young son Day (played by twins Justin and Ethan Coach) out of the ‘hood.

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