Twenty Twenty in Film

Hello all. Since I started tinkering away at this blog - back in 2017 - I've endeavored to end the year with a post cataloguing all the year's films that I'd seen, in a personalized order. Obviously, this isn't a new idea by any stretch, year-end lists are a dime a dozen, but the majority of the more well-known ones represent the compiled tastes of a group of people or some kind of Metacritic-like aggregate.

My year-ender is always based entirely on a very slippery personal metric that takes the overall quality of a film and marries it to my personal views on its rewatchability. In that regard, an absolutely flawless film could easily rank below a fun trashterpiece bit of popcorn entertainment. The question of Would I Recommend This to People? is also in there as well as my affinity for novelty, appreciation for originality, and of the creative voice... it's a complex system and the goalposts will absolutely change from year to year.

And there are a number of flicks that I could put asterisks next to for one reason or another. Some are short films - one of which I worked on -, one's a mini-series, some were actually made many years ago but were not previously widely available - or still aren't - in the US, so I'm counting them now as this was the year I saw them.

What can I say?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy it and I encourage you to make your own. Drop me a link in the comments and I'll surely read it.

"HUNTER HUNTER" (2020)

Hunter Hunter (2020)

Written and directed by Shawn Linden
Starring Camille Sullivan, Summer H. Howell, Devon Sawa and Nick Stahl
Running time: 1 hour and 33 minutes
Unrated: contains incidences of violence on the scale from implied to very explicit

by Hunter Bush


Hello there. My name is Hunter and I’m here to talk about the film Hunter Hunter, which I took because of both the repetitive use of my name and the presence of Devon Sawa in the cast. Which do you want me to talk about first?

Well, according to family legend, my mom was going to name me after an actor (or possibly the character) that her father quite liked: Gunnar - a strong, handsome name! -  and then her eye kind of drifted across the page of the baby name book and there was Hunter, just sitting there minding its own business and all of a sudden BOOM! That’s my name. I was made fun of a little bit for it, not as much as you’d think. Most of the mockery was aimed at my physical appearance or interests. What can I say? Children are monsters.

Devon Sawa is a Canadian-born actor who rose to fame doing commercials before breaking into film with roles in pictures Little Giants, Now and Then and, notably, Casper. He aged into some decently well-known teenage roles in films like SLC Punk, Idle Hands and Final Destination, and has been acting consistently, in films and on TV, all along. His most enduring contribution to pop culture will probably end up being his role as Stan in Eminem’s music video of the same name, which codified the name into a term meaning “someone who is an outspoken fan of a thing” which in recent years has become a verb. As in “In this house, we stan Devon Sawa.”

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN, Vol. 22 - December 2020

Everything OId Is New Again
Vol. 22 - December 2020

by Hunter Bush


Greetings, greetings! One and all! Welcome to another installment of EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN, the column where I scan the horizon for upcoming film & TV projects based in some way on previously existing concepts. If it’s inspired by a book, or a modern update of an earlier film, or one of those long gap sequels, then it’s definitely EOINA material! Since we’ve all been spending a lot more time indoors, I’ve also taken to listing the EONIA-friendly titles that will be arriving on certain streaming services. They might not be new releases but hey, in a pinch they’ll do just fine.

Before we move on, I’d just like to take a second to mourn the passing of my local multiplex, the Regal/United Artists Riverview Plaza, a.k.a. The Riverview. I had already seen so many movies there in my lifetime that it would be impossible to keep track and that was before I moved to a place about 15 minutes’ walk away. I attended special screenings, limited engagement showings and organized group outings of friends. I even saw Speed Racer there, high on acid with my best friend and though that may not be “the only way to see it”, it’s definitely recommended. Philadelphia has many theaters. So my options aren’t nearly what I’d call “limited” and there are tons of unsavory stories surrounding the Riverview, but it will nonetheless always have a special place in my heart.

R.I.P. Riverview, you’ll be missed.