Review: The Hunt (2020)

by Tony Ruggio

Blumhouse’s much-ballyhooed American political satire has finally seen the light of day after postponement due to a mass shooting last August, only to meet an unprecedented global pandemic this spring. With multiplexes closed nationwide, it’s one of a few major motion pictures to release early on VOD. Eschewing anything resembling subtlety or a desire to make a cogent point, The Hunt is a glib quasi-horror romp designed to prod and provoke, but dips into irrelevance by trying too hard for that sweet spot of zeitgeist...

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Would you rather?

Lee Pace is not one of your choices today because who would want to be so blue (figurative) while getting blue (literal) for Captain Marvel duties. Nevertheless we wanted to share his Instagram pic. (This is how you promote your latest movie? Cheer up, Lee!) Okay, that said, it's time for our weekly hanging out with celebrities fantasy poll.

Would you rather

... eat some bbq ribs with Charlize Theron?
... have dinner in London with Vin Diesel and Sir Michael Caine?
... nap-dream with Liev Schreiber and pup?
... stop and smell the flowers with Richard E Grant? 
... foster puppies with Hilary Swank? 
... do a bachelorette weekend with Dakota Fanning? 
... wound a stuntman with Salma Hayek? 

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide...

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Months of Meryl: The Homesman (2014)

John and Matthew are watching every single live-action film starring Meryl Streep. 

#46 —Altha Carter, a minister’s wife who gives comfort to three disturbed women. 

JOHN: The Homesman is one of the best films Meryl Streep has ever had the good fortune to be in, and yet, she’s on screen for no more than five minutes. Set circa 1850 in the Nebraska territory, Tommy Lee Jones’ adaptation of Glendon Swarthout’s novel is a gorgeous and unsettling theatrical follow-up to his 2005 stunner The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.

Hilary Swank stars as Mary Bee Cuddy, a self-sufficient spinster who volunteers to transport three insane women from their town to a church in Hebron, Iowa that cares for mentally ill patients...

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Podcast: Beautiful Boy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Nathaniel R and Murtada Elfadl talk new films in theaters.

Index (52½ minutes)
00:01 NYC plays itself in Can You Ever Forgive Me?
02:30 Melissa McCarthy's best performance ever
16:10 Jonah Hill's Mid 90s
19:02 Denmark's Submission The Guilty
22:00 Hilary Swank and Robert Forster in What They Had?
29:00 Split opinions on Timothée Chalamet & Steve Carell in Beautiful Boy
40:30 Green Book Sneak Peak
47:15 Best Actress discussion and Glenn Close on stage in NYC currently
52:00 Wrap up

Referenced
• Murtada's Beautiful Boy Tweet
• Chris's Can You Ever Forgive Me? Review
• Denmark & Oscar
• Best Supporting Actor

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

Can You Ever Forgive Beautiful Boys?

Linking With Yourself

Vulture A fine appreciation of Jonathan Demme's stellar crime comedy Married to the Mob
Deadline Hilary Swank to play a "seductive female police detective" in a new film called Fatale.  Hmmm, not sure this is in her range. Remember Black Dahlia?
Slate What's fact and what's fiction in BlacKkKlansman?
AV Club Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth are playing hardball with Paramount over their Star Trek paychecks

Awards Daily Sasha has quite a different take on the Oscar's new decision to include some kind of "popular achievement" award. (One thing I think we can all agree on: since we actually know nothing about the Academy's plans with their extremely vague announcement, it's really hard to say anything about what it might be or look like or mean.
Salon Casey Affleck breaks his silence on his behavior on the set of I'm Still Here
Boy Culture Cher's ABBA album now available for pre-orders
/Film Japanese film Mirai getting a US release from GKids in the fall. Oscar possibility?
Gothamist oh dear. Sean Young is in trouble again. The Blade Runner actress is wanted for questioning about a burglarly in Queens.
Coming Soon Paul Rudd to co-star with himself in philosophical Netflix comedy Living With Yourself
Coming Soon Ava DuVernay has cast her Central Park Five. It's mostly unknowns but Jharrel Jerome (Moonlight) and Jovan Adepo (Fences) are in there, too.