There are tons of things to watch this weekend, whether you’re looking for some heart-pounding intensity, mind-bending sci-fi, or something to tug at your heartstrings. Aside from the return of fan favorites like The Chi and Black Monday at Showtime, music fans are in for a treat with The Billboard Music Awards on Sunday night.
HBO Max is serving up some major laughs with the premiere of Sam Jay’s new late-night series Pause with Sam Jay premiering May 21. While these titles are certainly worth your time, we’ve still got five more to put on your watch list.
Army of the Dead (Netflix)
From filmmaker Zack Snyder (300, Zack Snyder’s Justice League), 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 (Dave Bautista), a displaced Vegas local, 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 government nukes the city in 32 hours. Driven by the hope that the payoff could help pave the way to a reconciliation with his estranged daughter Kate (Ella Purnell), Ward takes on the challenge, assembling a ragtag team of experts for the heist.
They include Maria Cruz (Ana de la Reguera), an ace mechanic and Ward’s old friend; Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick), a zombie killing machine; Marianne Peters (Tig Notaro), a cynical helicopter pilot; Mikey Guzman (Raúl Castillo), a go-for-broke influencer and Chambers (Samantha Win), his ride-or-die; Martin (Garret Dillahunt), the casino’s head of security; a badass warrior known as the Coyote (Nora Arnezeder) who recruits Burt Cummings (Theo Rossi), a slimy security guard; and a brilliant German safe cracker named Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer). Scott finds an unexpected emotional hurdle when Kate joins the expedition to search for Geeta (Huma S. 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.
The Me You Can’t See (Apple+)
Oprah Winfrey teams up with Prince Harry in this new series that focuses on mental health. Both of them open up about how, despite different upbringings, they were bound together by “being able to express your own personal truth.”
The series features in-depth interviews with stars like Lady Gaga and DeMar DeRozan as well as everyday people who have struggled to cope with mental illness. Directed and executive produced by the incomparable documentarian, Dawn Porter, this important series sheds light on issues we all must contend with.
Solos (Amazon Prime Video)
David Weil created the seven-part anthology series that explores the strange, beautiful, heartbreaking, hilarious, wondrous truths of what it means to be human. Performed by eight of the finest actors of our time, including Nicole Beharie, Morgan Freeman, Uzo Aduba, and Anthony Mackie, this anthology series spans our present and future and grapples with time travel, A.I. bots, solo trips to the farthest reaches of the universe, scheming smart homes, a mysterious waiting room, near-future fertility treatments and illegal memory transplants, all to illuminate the deeper meaning of human connection.
These character-driven stories contend that even during our most seemingly isolated moments, in the most disparate of circumstances, we are all connected through the human experience.
Flatbush Misdemeanors (Showtime)
Created and written by Kevin Iso (High Fidelity) and Dan Perlman (That’s My Bus!), who both star, is a raw comedy of city life following Dan and Kevin, who play characters struggling to thrive in their new surroundings in Flatbush, Brooklyn. The show explores two long-time friends seeking to climb out of their heads and connect with others.
Many of the roles are cast with actors from Brooklyn or the Flatbush neighborhood, including Kristin Dodson (The Shivering Truth), in the role of Zayna, one of Dan’s outspoken high school students, Hassan Johnson (The Wire) as Drew, a bold and direct man whose demands come into conflict with the livelihoods of both Kevin and Dan and Kareem Green as Kareem, Dan’s new stepdad and self-appointed, unwanted guide to Flatbush.
Master of None (Netflix)
The new season of the Emmy-award-winning series is nothing like fans are used to, but it’s still a worthwhile watch. This season is all about Denise (Lena Waithe) and her relationship with Alicia (Naomi Ackie). Directed by the show’s co-creator, Aziz Ansari, and written by Ansari and Waithe, the 5-episode season is a modern love story that intimately illustrates the ups and downs of marriage, struggles with fertility, and personal growth both together and apart. Fleeting romantic highs meet crushing personal losses while existential questions of love and living are raised. It’s also the first time we have ever seen Black love between lesbians examined this way, something that is long overdue.
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