Dear reader,
Jumping straight into the main affairs of the month— we have a new member who will be in charge of our social media accounts. Kindly give her a warm welcome. To make her happy and give her actual work to do, kindly follow us on twitter @WKM_Up, and on Instagram @wkmup. We hope our efforts on those platforms prove to you that we love movies. Cos, we actually do. Don’t you? The new teamer, Molayo, might ff back and she might not, I cannot promise, cos I am still getting to know her myself. But, you can surely hope and give it a try.
Secondly, did you all notice the new blog design? If you have faced any issues since the redesign, please let us know in the comments section or on our social media platforms, and we would provide solution(s) as soon as we can. Again, Molayo needs work to do, so you might just want to lodge the complaint on twitter.
Lastly, we started a Retro Review series, where we will review a classic movie and publish every last week of each month. We kicked off with Back to the Future.
April Film News Film News a.k.a ICYMI
On News That We Couldn’t Cover…
- Steven Yeun (Minari) cast in Jordan Peele’s untitled next movie.
- Bridgerton breakout Regé-Jean Page will not appear in season 2 and we know where you might find him next.
- Yvonne Orji autobiographical series for Disney+ and will focus on her life as the child of Nigerian immigrants.
- Zoe Saldana (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Keith David (Greenleaf) in a new Netflix series that tells the story of an African American woman falling for a Sicilian chef, bringing two opposite cultures together.
- American Psycho TV series is in development. The movie starred Christian Bale in 2000.
- Invincible has been renewed for two more seasons at Amazon.
- Netflix promised to spoil us this summer as the summer movie season officially opens this month. The streamer debuted a trailer filled with clips from their numerous upcoming movies with blink-and-you-might-miss-it appearances. The movies range from comedies, action, and promises “zombies and a whole lot of zombies” in particular, probably starting with Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead. Netflix’s slow start to the year might just have been leading to this gracious summer.
- And we lost Nollywood veteran, Bruno Iwuoha. May his soul rest in perfect peace.
Non-Review Essays in April
Episode Recap of Some TV series
- Ndani’s web series, Ratings
- Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
both of which ended in April.
We reviewed the following movies:
We think you should watch Amazon’s Them and HBO’s The Nevers, but do not expect too much going into the respective TV shows.
Highlight of New Films and TV Series in May
WRATH OF MAN: A mysterious and wild-eyed new cash truck security guard (Jason Statham) surprises his coworkers during a heist in which he unexpectedly unleashes precision skills. The crew is left wondering who he is and where he came from. Soon, the marksman’s ultimate motive becomes clear as he takes dramatic and irrevocable steps to settle a score. In theaters on MAY 7. 
“Star Wars: The Bad Batch” follows the elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch (first introduced in “The Clone Wars”) as they find their way in a rapidly changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone War. Members of Bad Batch—a unique squad of clones who vary genetically from their brothers in the Clone Army—each possess a singular exceptional skill that makes them extraordinarily effective soldiers and a formidable crew. Available on Disney+ from May 4. 
CASTLEVANIA SEASON 4 Dracula’s influence looms large as Belmont and Sypha investigate plans to resurrect the notorious vampire. Alucard struggles to embrace his humanity. Available on Netflix on May 13. 
LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS VOL.2: From wild adventures on far-flung planets to unsettling encounters close to home: The Emmy-winning anthology returns with a crop of provocative tales. The NSFW animated anthology returns with a vengeance. Naked giants, Christmas demons, and robots-gone-wild… We have been warned to consume irresponsibly. Volume 2 arrives on coming May 14. 
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: “Nothing was given, all was earned. Hold on to what belongs to you.” From Academy Award® winner Barry Jenkins and based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead comes the Amazon Original limited series “The Underground Railroad”. Premiering May 14 on Prime Video. 
THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD: Oscar-winner Jolie (“Girl, Interrupted,” the “Maleficent” films) stars as Hannah, a smoke jumper still reeling from the loss of three lives she failed to save from a fire when she comes across a traumatized 12-year-old boy with nowhere else to turn. In theatres on May 14. 
THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW: Anna Fox (Amy Adams) feels safest when she’s watching the world from behind her window. Until the Russell family moves in across the street, and she witnesses something unimaginable. The question is…what really happened? Confined to her home by agoraphobia, a psychologist becomes obsessed with her new neighbors — and solving a brutal crime she witnesses from her window. Arrives on Netflix on May 14. 
Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K: An egomaniacal super villain struggles to maintain control of his evil organization after it is bought by a multinational tech company, all while juggling the needs of his demanding family. Watch Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K May 21, only on Hulu. 
ARMY OF THE DEAD 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 (Dave Bautista), 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 (Hiroyuki Sanada), it’s with the ultimate proposition: break into the zombie-infested quarantine zone to retrieve $200 million sitting in a vault beneath the strip before the city is nuked by the government in 32 hours. With little left to lose, Ward takes on the challenge, assembling a ragtag team of experts for the heist. 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. On Netflix May 21. 
SPIRAL: FROM THE BOOK OF SAW-A criminal mastermind unleashes a twisted form of justice in Spiral, the terrifying new chapter from the book of Saw. Working in the shadow of his father, an esteemed police veteran (Samuel L. Jackson), brash Detective Ezekiel “Zeke” Banks (Chris Rock) and his rookie partner (Max Minghella) take charge of a grisly investigation into murders that are eerily reminiscent of the city’s gruesome past. Unwittingly entrapped in a deepening mystery, Zeke finds himself at the center of the killer’s morbid game. Available in theatres from May 21. 
Disney’s “Cruella,” is an all-new live-action feature film about the rebellious early days of one of cinemas most notorious – and notoriously fashionable – villains, the legendary Cruella de Vil. “Cruella,” which is set in 1970s London amidst the punk rock revolution, follows a young grifter named Estella, 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, a fashion legend who is devastatingly chic and terrifyingly haute, played by two-time Oscar® winner Emma Thompson (“Howards End,” “Sense & Sensibility”). 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. In theatres on May 28. 
Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family (Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe) must now face the terrors of the outside world as they continue their fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they quickly realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path. In theatres on May 28, 2021.
Special mentions: Jupiter’s Legacy (Netflix), Monster (All Rise), Oxygen (Netflix), Mamba’s Diamond (theatres), I am All Girls (Netflix), and One Lagos Night (Netflix).
The following TV shows premiere or return in May: POSE season 3 (May 2), Dynasty season 4 (May 7), Shrill season 3 (May 7), Special season 2 (May 20), The Chi season 4 (May 23), Master of None season 3 (May 23), Black Monday season 3 (May 23), In Treatment (May 24), Ragnarok season 2 (May 27), The Kominsky Method season 3 (May 28), and Lucifer season 5 (May 23).
You can read the reviews to a number of the mentioned films and TV series in May. Keep an eye out. You can subscribe to email notifications and follow us on our social media pages.
Which of the film(s) and TV show(s) are you looking forward to the most? Or did we forget a certain one? Let us know in the comments below.
Bis bald,
Ikeade Oriade
(Managing Editor)
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