Army of the Dead
Army of the Dead is Netflix’s original zombie heist action film directed and co-written by Zack Snyder (300, Dawn of the Dead, Man of Steel, Zack Snyder’s Justice League), and co-written by Shay Hatten and Joby Harold, based on a story by Snyder. Netflix is already making this a franchise with a prequel film and an anime-style series in the works.
The film stars Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy, Stuber, My Spy), Ella Purnell (Sweetbitter, Maleficent, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children), Omari Hardwick (Kick-Ass), Ana de la Reguera (Ana, Narcos), Theo Rossi (Luke Cage), Matthias Schweighöfer (You Are Wanted), Nora Arnezeder (Maniac), Hiroyuki Sanada (Mortal Kombat), Tig Notaro (Star Trek: Discovery, One Mississippi), Raúl Castillo (Little Fish), Samantha Win (Wonder Woman), Huma Qureshi (Kaala, Gangs of Wasseypur), Richard Cetrone (Man of Steel), Michael Cassidy (Batman v Superman), Sarah Minnich (Sicario), and Garret Dillahunt (Fear the Walking Dead).
The film takes place following a zombie outbreak that has left Las Vegas in ruins and walled off from the rest of the world. When Scott Ward (Bautista), a displaced Vegas local, a former zombie war hero who’s now flipping burgers on the outskirts of the town he now calls home, is approached by casino boss Bly Tanaka (Sanada), it’s with the ultimate proposition: Break into the zombie-infested quarantined zone to retrieve $200 million sitting in a vault beneath the strip before the city is nuked by the government in 32 hours.
Driven by the hope that the payoff could help pave the way to a reconciliation with his estranged daughter Kate (Purnell), Ward takes on the challenge, assembling a ragtag team of experts for the heist.
They include Maria Cruz (Reguera), an ace mechanic and Ward’s old friend; Vanderohe (Hardwick), a zombie killing machine; Marianne Peters (Notaro), a cynical helicopter pilot; Mikey Guzman (Castillo), a go-for-broke influencer and Chambers (Win), his ride-or-die; Martin (Dillahunt), the casino’s head of security; a badass warrior known as the Coyote (Arnezeder) who recruits Burt Cummings (Rossi), a slimy security guard; and a brilliant German safecracker named Dieter (Schweighöfer). Scott finds an unexpected emotional hurdle when Kate joins the expedition to search for Geeta (Qureshi), a mother who’s gone missing inside the city.
With a ticking clock, a notoriously impenetrable vault, and a smarter, faster horde of Alpha zombies closing in, only one thing’s for certain in the greatest heist ever attempted: survivors take all.
Army of the Dead is scheduled to be released first in select theaters on May 14 and next with a streaming release on Netflix. A heist film within a zombie world is a fresh concept in the post-apocalyptic genre and on top of that, the zombies are intelligent and organized. This R-rated action flick is a must-watch for the fans of Zombie films and Snyder fans and everyone in general who wants fun crazy popcorn-flick entertainment.
Army of the Dead Netflix release date: May 21, 2021
Four Good Days
Four Good Days is Vertical Entertainment’s drama directed and produced by Rodrigo GarcÃa (The Affair, Blue), from a screenplay by GarcÃa and Eli Saslow. It’s based on Saslow’s 2016 Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post article, “How’s Amanda? A Story of Truth, Lies and an American Addiction”. It’s a story of a poignant and unpredictable chronicle of a mother and daughter who are fighting to regain the love and trust that once held them together.
It stars Mila Kunis (Black Swan, Bad Moms, Friends with Benefits), Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy, Fatal Attraction, 101 Dalmatians), Joshua Leonard (Togetherness), Rebecca Field (A Star Is Born), Chad Lindberg (Supernatural), Violet Brinson (Sharp Objects), and Stephen Root (Barry, Perry Mason).
In an emotional journey based on a true story, a 31-year-old long-time heroin addict Molly (Kunis) decides to pursue sobriety. To be eligible for the injections, which would prevent her from being able to get high, she must be clean for at least four more days so she begs her estranged mother Deb (Close) for help fighting a fierce battle against the demons that have derailed her life. Despite all, she has learned over a decade of disappointment, grief, and rage, Deb throws herself into one last attempt to save her beloved daughter from the deadly and merciless grip of addiction.
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2020. It was released in a limited release on April 30, 2021, and now it will be released through video on demand. The R-rated film so far holds a 53% RT score based on 51 reviews which suggest that even though this is a familiar addiction drama, the performance of the lead stars is worth witnessing.
Four Good Days VOD release date: May 21, 2021
The Dry
The Dry is an Australian mystery drama thriller film directed by Robert Connolly (Balibo, Paper Planes), from a screenplay by Connolly and Harry Cripps, and starring Eric Bana (Dirty John, Troy), Genevieve O’Reilly (Rogue One), Keir O’Donnell (Wedding Crashers), and John Polson (Mission: Impossible II).
The film is based on the 2016 book of the same name by Jane Harper. The story follows Federal Agent Aaron Falk (Bana) as he returns to his drought-stricken hometown, Kiewarra, to attend a tragic funeral. But his return opens a decades-old wound – the unsolved death of a teenage girl.
Roadshow Films released the film in Australia and New Zealand in January 2021 and received critical acclaim. IFC Films will be releasing the film in the US in limited theaters and on-demand on the same day. The R-rated film so far holds a 100% RT score based on 18 reviews.
The Dry VOD release date: May 21, 2021
Cruella
Cruella is Walt Disney Pictures’ crime comedy-drama film based on the character Cruella de Vil, introduced in Dodie Smith’s 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians and Walt Disney’s 1961 animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Cruella is an all-new live-action feature film about the rebellious early days of one of the most notorious – and notoriously fashionable – legendary villains. The film is directed by Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, The Finest Hours) with a screenplay by Dana Fox and Tony McNamara, from a story by Aline Brosh McKenna, Kelly Marcel, and Steve Zissis.
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Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man, La La Land, Zombieland) stars as the title character, with Emma Thompson (Howard’s End, Harry Potter, Sense & Sensibility), Joel Fry (Yesterday, Game of Thrones), Paul Walter Hauser (Da 5 Bloods, I, Tonya), Emily Beecham (Daphne, Outside the Wire), Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Barry), Jamie Demetriou (The Great), and Mark Strong (Kingsman, Shazam!) in supporting roles. Stone also serves as an executive producer on the film alongside Glenn Close, who previously portrayed Cruella in the previous live-action adaptations, 101 Dalmatians and 102 Dalmatians.
The film is set in 1970s London amidst the punk rock revolution and follows a young grifter named Estella (Stone), a clever and creative girl determined to make a name for herself with her designs. She befriends a pair of young thieves who appreciate her appetite for mischief, and together they are able to build a life for themselves on the London streets. One day, Estella’s flair for fashion catches the eye of the Baroness von Hellman (Thompson), a fashion legend who is devastatingly chic and terrifyingly Haute. But their relationship sets in motion a course of events and revelations that will cause Estella to embrace her wicked side and become the raucous, fashionable, and revenge-bent Cruella.
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Cruella is scheduled to be released theatrically and also simultaneously available on Disney+ with Premier Access in the US. The movie will be unlocked with a $29.99 price point and will remain available to renters for as long as they stay subscribed to Disney+. You have your choice of going to theaters or you can watch it at your home.
The interesting element compared to other Disney live-action remakes is just like 2014’s Maleficent, this film spins a different version of the classic tale and focuses on the anti-hero. The trailers have been really promising. This is a must-watch for all audiences of all ages.
Cruella (Disney+ premiere access & theatrical) release date: May 28, 2021
A Quiet Place Part II
A Quiet Place Part II is Paramount Pictures’ horror thriller drama and the sequel to John Krasinski’s 2018 successful horror blockbuster, A Quiet Place, both of which follow a family that is forced to navigate and survive in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by blind monsters with an acute sense of hearing. The sequel is also written and directed by Krasinski (Jack Ryan, 13 Hours, The Office).
It stars Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow, Mary Poppins Returns, Sicario, The Adjustment Bureau), Millicent Simmonds (This Close, Wonderstruck), and Noah Jupe (Ford v Ferrari, Honey Boy, Wonder), reprising their roles from the first film. Cillian Murphy (Inception, Peaky Blinders, Batman Begins) and Djimon Hounsou (Guardians of the Galaxy, Blood Diamond) are the new additions to the cast. Krasinski also reprises his role from the first film in newly filmed flashback sequences.
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Synopsis: Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family led by mother Evelyn (Blunt) must now face the terrors of the outside world as they fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.
Generally, a sequel to a standalone movie would deal with the continuation of the previous film or it will be a prequel or a story about new characters set in the same world as the first film, but John Krasinski managed to fit them all inside one movie. As we see in the trailers and basic synopsis the story deals with the beginning, day 1 when the first incident with the monsters happened where we find Evelyn with her two sons at one place and Lee Abbott with his daughter at another place. Then we continue the story immediately right after where the first one ended.
We also deal with Emmet, Cillian Murphy’s character, and his story, and a little bit of his survival during the first outbreak. The first movie is well crafted and brilliantly made which bought huge numbers in Box office and a lot of praise to John Krasinski as a filmmaker. This film had its world premiere on March 8, 2020, and it was one of the highly anticipated movies of last year that got delayed multiple times due to the pandemic.
Now the thriller film is finally set to be released in theaters this month. The studio will also release the film on their new streaming service Paramount+ 45 days after its theatrical release. This is a must-watch for the fans of the horror genre and the fans of the first film and everyone in general who wants to watch a thrilling film with an edge-of-your-seat experience.
A Quiet Place Part IIÂ release date: May 28, 2021
Which May movies are you most excited about? Which movies will you be seeing during the month of May? Let us know in the comments below or on our social media and be sure to come back to The Illuminerdi for more movie news!
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