What can we expect in cinemas and on streaming services in early June?

Covid-19 first closed our movie theatres and then postponed big premieres and announced blockbusters. As life goes on and as cinemas are getting partially open we must accept the new reality and turn to what we have. Judging by the first half of June this year, things are starting to look better. Of course for true cinephiles from all around the world, currently, there is We Are One Film Festival on Youtube. For us, a bit more "pop cinema" oriented here comes the list of 5 films that should not be missed in the first half of June!

Artemis Fowl

The big Walt Disney Pictures project was set to premiere in May this year. But as COVID-19 disrupted everyone’s plans, most movie theatres were closed due to the pandemic. Disney + unexpectedly got a mega-hit with this. On June 12, 2020, the big Disney hit premieres directly on the streaming service. Why is this premiere so eagerly awaited, other than that it’s rare for a film with such a budget ($ 125 million) to go directly to video-on-demand streaming? After Harry Potter, this is the first little hero in such a high-budget project. A great fantasy hit by writer Aeon Colfer, loved by all fans of the little wizard. Switch the world of boys, fairies, dwarves to SF - you got Artemis Fowl II - starring Ferdia Shaw. Artemis is only 12 years old, but he is also a criminal mastermind with almost incredible intelligence. Well, that is at least what we can expect after we first get the adventures of his father the most famous burglar ever in Artemis Fowl I - starring Collin Farell. The film is directed by Keneth Branagh, and in addition to a bunch of goblins and trolls, Judy Dench appears in the film, which is a slight link to the 007 series. A potential mega-popular franchise on a rise? Probably!

Da 5 Bloods

It’s no coincidence Netflix decided to push its heavy weapon into battle. Spike Lee’s new film Da 5 Bloods, opens the same day June 12 as Artemis Fowl on Disney +. Netflix is ​​counting on a slightly different, but just as large audience as the Disney hit. It's no small thing when Spike Lee's film debuts on streaming service. This time, the celebrated director caught up with the war in Vietnam. Like all of his films, this one questions the role of black people, in a world determined by the will of the white majority in the USA. In the movie Da 5 Bloods, four elderly war veterans come to Vietnam, looking for the remains of their leader and a friend from the Vietnam War. In addition to that noble purpose, another, less noble target is a truck with gold hidden during the fighting in Vietnam. Judging by the trailer, the film is distinctly political, with numerous flashes and old footage. There’s also Nixon, the protests, all the way to the original footage of the fight from the most unpopular war in American history. But it is also worth mentioning the excellent soundtrack, signed by American jazz musician Terence Blanchard. The film lasts as long as 154 minutes, which means a little longer enjoyment than what we are used to in cinemas.

Shirley

On June 5, on the Hulu streaming service, you can watch the Sundance award-winning film Shirley from 2020, directed by Josephine Decker. She won a U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Auteur Filmmaking January 15, 2020. The film was produced by Neon and its main asset is Elizabeth Moss. An established and award-winning actress (Emmy for the role of Offred / June in Handmaid’s Tale, 2017), she plays Shirley Jackson as a writer who has an unusual relationship with her husband Stanley Hyman. In addition to being a professor at Bennington College, Stanley cheats on his wife. Things get even more complicated when the young couple Rose and Fred Nemser come to live with them.

Judy & Punch

Another film from this year's Sundance Festival premiered on January 27, 2020, and opens in theatres on June 5, 2020. The film is advertised as a black comedy with elements of drama, although judging by the trailer and short content, it is more drama than comedy. Judy is a woman who has been suffering from domestic violence for years. She and her husband Punch are travelling puppeteers, who hold performances in Seaside. Judy is a talent from the background, while her husband Punch, mostly picks up all the fame. Prone to alcohol and drunken outbursts of rage, Punch once exaggerates and does something that can't be fixed anymore. Judy prepares revenge, risking that in a typically male world, injustice goes unpunished. The acclaimed direction Mirrah Foulkes and the medieval ambience make this film attractive to fantasy fans as well. The story from the drama turns into a twisted dark fantasy, and so skillfully bypasses the clichés. And feminism, and drama that falls into traps where everything is black and white. The main roles in this Australian film are taken by Mia Wasikowska, and Damon Herriman (Charles Manson in Mindhunter, and with Tarantino in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood).

The Woods

Truth to be told, The Woods is a mini-series, that by its vibe in trailers and synopsis's promises a lot. It premieres on Netflix on June 12, 2020. What makes the series and unusual, it is not that it is an adaptation of Harlan Coben. He’s been a frequently screened (Safe, The Stranger) crime writer lately. This is a special screenplay because it is a Polish version. The plot of the six-part mini-series takes place during 2019 and deals with an event from 1994. A prosecutor from Warsaw, Pavel Kopinski, in 1994 was left without a sister who was camping in the woods with friends. Of the four, none returned. Two bodies were found the next day, while Pavel's sister's body was never found. A terrible secret from the past can finally be solved in the present, 2019. A serial killer who was never caught made a mistake. Two timelines, a serial killer, a mystery from the past. The classic Harlan Coben. Some things you have to take for granted because almost always Coben gets a little lost in a bunch of characters and poorly connected comparative stories. But overall, the light thriller in six episodes is not to be missed. Especially in these post-COVID-19 times, when movie theatres are still struggling with the repertoire.

Here, the first half of June has begun. This five-title mini-list isn’t the only thing you can find for yourself in June, mostly on stream services. Something will probably arrive on movie screens (Judy & Punch), or some buy-service. The hardest part has passed, the pandemic is subsiding, at least in Europe. If you crave a movie theatre, you still have to be patient. Stream services have never done better. Come on in, take a look and enjoy yourself!