10 Great Movies to Watch With The Cast Of ‘From Scratch’

From Scratch, the latest Netflix drama limited series created by Attica Locke and Tembi Locke and inspired by Tembi Locke’s memoir of the same name. The show follows an American woman named Amy Wheeler (Zoe Saldana) who falls in love with a Sicilian chef named Lino (Eugenio Mastrandrea) while studying abroad and how their life and love story were affected after Lino was diagnosed with cancer.

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The show is now one of Netflix’s most popular shows and is an emotionally powerful miniseries that benefits from its beautiful Italian setting and Zoe Saldana as well as the cast’s strong theatrical skills.

Avatar (2009)

Before taking on the part of Amy Wheeler in From Scratch, Saldana earned recognition in Hollywood for playing the lead in the blockbuster film Avatar, directed by James Cameron. The film takes place in the middle of the 22nd century, when mankind is settling on Pandora, a lush inhabited moon of a gas giant in the Alpha Centauri star system, in order to harvest the precious mineral unobtanium.

Saldana portrayed Neytiri, who is the daughter of the Omaticaya chiefs, as drawn to Jake (Sam Worthington) because of his courage as well as his gullibility and foolishness. With a total of more than $3 billion, Avatar is the second-highest-grossing film of all time, following Gone with the Wind.

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Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

After Avatar‘s success, Saldana was chosen for the lead role in Guardian of the Galaxy, a superhero movie based on the same-named Marvel Comics superhero team. After stealing a mystical orb, the film follows Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) has become the main target of a manhunt headed by the antagonist Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace), and how he formed a group of space outcasts called Guardians of the Galaxy.

Gamora, played by Saldana, is an alien orphan who longs to atone for her transgressions and Quill’s love interest. The movie was a critical and financial triumph, garnered numerous accolades, and was nominated for two 87th Academy Awards.

Black Dispatch (2019)

Before playing Zora Wheeler, Amy’s older sister in From Scratch, Danielle Deadwyler played Sable in an award-winning short action-drama, Black Dispatch. The film centers on Sable, a Confederate engineer’s house slave who takes great risks by stealing military blueprints in order to give them to her evading husband and a loyal Union soldier, in the turmoil of The Civil War.

The filmmaker, Shea Sizemore, and her performers expertly conveyed the message and the gorgeous imagery in just 19 minutes of screen time. The film won two prizes, including the Reedy Reels Award for Best Short Film.

Station Eleven (2021 – 2022)

Based on Emily St. John Mandel‘s 2014 novel of the same name, Station Eleven is a post-apocalyptic dystopian fiction miniseries created by Patrick Somerville. The show follows a group of survivors who work as traveling entertainers who come into a violent cult led by a guy whose past is unwittingly connected to one of the group’s members. It takes place twenty years after a virus pandemic caused civilization to collapse.

Miranda Carroll, who only appears in 5 episodes, is Arthur’s (Gael García Bernal) first spouse and the creator of the graphic novel Station Eleven and was portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. The show is a slow-burning but lyrical, passionate, and character-driven post-apocalyptic pondering with a clear difference.

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Sweet, Sweet Country (2013)

Deadwyler is a well-known name in the world of short films with her appearance in Dehanza Rogers‘ 2013 short Sweet, Sweet Country. The film follows Ndizeye (Deadwyler), a 20-year-old refugee, who strives to provide for her family as well as herself in a camp for refugees in Kenya. Her struggle intensifies as her family suddenly arrives at her home.

Several prizes are given to the film, including the Audience Award for Best Short Film at the Atlanta Film Festival. Deadwyler is also praised for her beautiful, convincing, and moving performance.

Guess Who (2003)

Prior to portraying Amy’s stepmother Maxine in From Scratch, Judith Scott collaborated with Saldana on the film Guess Who in 2005. The film is a loose remake of the 1967 movie Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, which centers on the marriage of a black man and a white woman. Instead, the focus of the 2005 version is a black lady marrying a white man.

Although the mother-daughter relationship between Scott and Saldana isn’t the main emphasis of the movie, they nonetheless succeed in their role. Despite the conflicting reviews, the film does provide a few good laughs and will make people grin.

Z Nation (2014 – 2018)

Before appearing on From Scratch as Amy’s mother, Lynn Wheeler, Kellita Smith had already made a name for herself for her work in Z Nation, a horror TV show that aired on Syfy. The show takes place 3 years after the zombie plague has devastated the nation, and it follows a group of heroes who must transport a lone known plague survivor from New York to California where the final virus lab is waiting for his blood.

Smith portrayed Lt. Roberta Warren, a survivor of the zombie apocalypse and one of the show’s main characters. Despite receiving varied reviews throughout its five seasons, the program is still one of the most enjoyable zombie shows.

The Bernie Mac Show (2001 – 2006)

Prior to all of that, Smith was also a star of The Bernie Mac Show, starring as Bernie’s wife, Wanda McCullough, a very smart VP of AT&T. The series was based somewhat on Mac’s stand-up comedy performances. A large portion of the humor in the show came from Mac’s ongoing adjustment to and his original perspective on parenthood.

Over the course of its five seasons, the show garnered numerous other accolades in addition to one primetime Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. Moreover, one of the best aspects of the program is Smith and Mac’s incredible on-screen chemistry.

They Live (1988)

Keith David appeared on From Scratch as Amy’s overprotective father, Hershel Wheeler. They Live is a 1988 satirical science fiction action horror movie based on the 1963 short story of Ray Nelson, Eight O’Clock in the Morning. In the movie, a down-on-his-luck construction worker named Nada (Roddy Piper) finds a unique pair of sunglasses that he can see the world clearly when wearing them.

David played Frank Armitage, Nada’s co-worker. Even though the movie had a modest amount of popularity when it first came out, debuting at the top of the North American box office. Like Carpenter‘s earlier movies, They Live gradually developed a cult following and received more positive reviews.

Greenleaf (2016 – 2020)

Greenleaf chronicles the scandalous secrets and lies of the Greenleaf family, their opulent family estate, and their vast Memphis megachurch with a predominance of African-American members. David played Bishop James Greenleaf, the patriarch of the Greenleaf family and the brilliant and powerful head of Calvary Fellowship World Ministries.

Over the course of its five seasons, the program garnered numerous nominations and prizes. Critics have given Greenleaf good reviews, with the majority complimenting David and his co-stars’ work.

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