Crossing the Streams is our look at all the offerings hitting the big streaming services each month, and this time we’re checking out what’s new on Hulu for May 2022 including A Taste of Hunger, new Hulu Originals, and more!
Hulu Pick of the Month for May 2022
Movies about chefs tend to explore either the beauty of the meals they create (Chef, 2014) or the high-pressure stakes at play in a professional kitchen (Burnt, 2015). Some, though, take on the unenviable task of delivering on both counts. A Taste of Hunger (2021, premieres May 26th) falls into that latter group, and it’s a success across the board. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Katrine Greis-Rosenthal star as a couple of restaurateurs — he’s the chef, she’s the manager — angling for a Michelin star, and the journey there is filled with intense drama and sumptuous meals. Food porn and giallo lighting help serve up a beautifully crafted reminder of our innate ability to fuck up a good thing. It’s a wonderfully acted, terrifically affecting film.
New Hulu Originals for May 2022
Axe murders tend to find a home more in the world of movies than in the real one, but that doesn’t mean they don’t happen. Lizzie Borden is probably the most famous, of course, but it’s hard to forget the case of Candy Montgomery who murdered her best friend by striking her with over forty whacks of an axe. Candy (premieres May 9th) stars Jessica Biel in the title role alongside the always brilliant Melanie Lynskey as her unfortunate friend. The mini-series explores the friendship, the mindset that led to the act of violence, and the ridiculous miscarriage of justice that unfolded in its wake.
Some actors are a ton of fun even if the film they’re in isn’t quite worth their time. I’m not saying that’s the case with The Valet (premieres May 20th) as I haven’t seen it yet, but whichever way it goes, I’m betting the delightful Samara Weaving will shine her way through it. She plays a movie star who tries to deflect the press from discovering her affair with a married man by pretending to date a valet (Eugenio Derbez). The core premise is obviously fairly familiar, and there’s no one else of note involved outside of Max Greenfield in a supporting role, but here’s hoping!
Marvel Cinematic Universe Directors Unite!
There’s a new Marvel movie in theaters, and that seems like a fine time to celebrate some of the movies MCU directors by way of their non-MCU films! Jon Favreau kicked off the MCU with Iron Man, but a few years earlier he blasted off into space with Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005). A family-friendly movie for all ages, the film sends two brothers on an adventure when their house leaves the atmosphere. It’s aimed at kids, but there’s just enough adventure and CG effects to keep older viewers engaged.
Sam Raimi’s the newest director to enter the MCU, but he’s been making movies since the early 80s. Drag Me to Hell (2009) was his last full-on horror movie — a dark comedy to be sure, but unlike the new Doctor Strange it’s able to fully embrace the man’s foulest and most frightening inclinations — and it’s ready to thrill you on Hulu. Alison Lohman (don’t google to find out where she’s been, she’s a right-wing nutbag now) stars as a young woman who crosses a gypsy, and all hell breaks loose.
The Captain America films remain my favorites in the MCU, and the very first one was directed by Joe Johnston. The year before, though, Johnston was trying to reinvigorate the Universal Monsters franchise with a big-budget take on The Wolfman (2010). Benicio Del Toro stars as a cursed man at its heart, and along with Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt he takes part in an attractive period adventure with some memorable visual effects.
Funny Funny Funny
It will never make the cut on a list of the best American comedies, but Rawson Marshall Thurber’s Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004) is a very funny movie all the same. A gang of goofballs takes part in a dodgeball tournament for adults, and chaos ensues. The premise is already ridiculous, but with a cast that includes Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Jason Bateman, Rip Torn, Christine Taylor, Justin Long, Stephen Root, Alan Tudyk, Missi Pyle, Gary Cole, Hank Azaria, William Shatner, and more you just know it’s going to be a fun time.
Ask someone what the best entry in Edgar Wright’s “Cornetto Trilogy” is, and they’ll probably say Shaun of the Dead. They’d also be wrong. It’s Hot Fuzz (2007), by a wide margin, as he absolutely nails everything he tries to do in the zombie romp. The action is fantastic, the laughs are big and frequent, the editing is wildly frenetic yet precise, and the character work by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost is spot-on perfect. Seriously, it’s still Wright’s best film (with The World’s End being a close follow-up) and holds up on every rewatch.
Speaking of the funniest modern comedies, Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) really doesn’t get enough love for being one of the all-time great romantic comedies. Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, and Mila Kunis star alongside Russell Brand, Bill Hader, Jack McBrayer, and more in the story of a broken-hearted man who flees to Hawaii only to find love again. Maybe. And it is hilarious even beyond Segel’s flapping penis bit.
The Complete Hulu List for May 2022
| Release Date | Title | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 5/1 | The Adjustment Bureau (2011) | |
| After Everything (2018) | ||
| The Angriest Man in Brooklyn (2014) | ||
| The A-Team (2010) | ||
| A Beautiful Mind (2001) | ||
| The Big Year (2010) | ||
| Billy Madison (1995) | ||
| The Bounty Hunter (2010) | ||
| The Breakfast Club (1985) | ||
| Busco Novio Para Mi Mujer (2016) | ||
| Cyrus (2010) | ||
| Dazed and Confused (1993) | ||
| Despicable Me (2010) | ||
| Despicable Me 2 (2013) | ||
| Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999) | ||
| Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004) | ||
| Drag Me to Hell (2009) | ||
| Dude, Where's My Car? (2000) | ||
| Easy A (2010) | ||
| Equity (2016) | ||
| Escape from Pretoria (2020) | ||
| Fever Pitch (2005) | ||
| Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) | ||
| Fun with Dick and Jane (2005) | ||
| Funny People (2009) | ||
| Gone (2012) | ||
| Grandma (2015) | ||
| Hot Fuzz (2007) | ||
| How I Live Now (2013) | ||
| The Karate Kid (2010) | ||
| The Legend of Zorro (2005) | ||
| Marie Antoinette (2006) | ||
| Me, Myself and Irene (2000) | ||
| Mo' Money (1992) | ||
| November Criminals (2017) | ||
| Nowhere to Run (1993) | ||
| Once Upon a Time in America (1984) | ||
| Ong Bak (2003) | ||
| Ong Bak 2 (2008) | ||
| Ong Bak (2010) | ||
| Open Season (2009) | ||
| Person to Person (2017) | ||
| Pleasantville (1998) | ||
| The Polar Express (2004) | ||
| Pretty Woman (1990) | ||
| The Program (1993) | ||
| A Raisin in the Sun (2008) | ||
| Resident Evil (2002) | ||
| Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) | ||
| Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) | ||
| Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) | ||
| Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) | ||
| Rock of Ages (2012) | ||
| Saving Face (2004) | ||
| Saving Private Perez (2011) | ||
| Seven Years in Tibet (1997) | ||
| Still Alice (2014) | ||
| Stuart Little (1999) | ||
| Stuart Little 2 (2002) | ||
| Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild (2006) | ||
| Superhero Movie (2008) | ||
| Take This Waltz (2011) | ||
| Taken (2009) | ||
| The Vow (2012) | ||
| We Own the Night (2007) | ||
| White Bird in a Blizzard (2014) | ||
| White Men Can't Jump (1992) | ||
| The Wolfman (2010) | ||
| The Young Victoria (2009) | ||
| Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005) | ||
| 5/2 | Daytime Divas - Complete Series | |
| 5/4 | Real Housewives of New York City - Complete Season 13 | |
| 5/5 | Dragons: The Nine Realms - Complete Season 2 | Hulu Original |
| Last Survivors (2022) | ||
| 5/9 | Candy | Hulu Original |
| 5/12 | Italian Studies (2021) | |
| 5/15 | The Brass Teapot (2012) | |
| Catfish - Complete Season 8E | ||
| Conversations with Friends | Hulu Original | |
| Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) | ||
| The Mountain Between Us (2017) | ||
| One Last Thing (2005) | ||
| 5/16 | Queen Sugar - Complete Season 6 | |
| 5/17 | Sundown (2021) | |
| 5/18 | Demons - Complete Series | |
| Helix - Complete Series | ||
| 5/20 | American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story (2021) | |
| The NYT Presents: Elon Musk's Crash Course | ||
| The Valet (2022) | Hulu Original | |
| 5/23 | 227 - Complete Series | |
| My Hero Academia - Complete Season 5 | ||
| 5/26 | Look at Me: Xxxtentacion (2022) | Hulu Original |
| A Taste of Hunger (2021) | ||
| 5/29 | Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba - Complete Season 1 | |
| Intrigo: Death of an Author (2018) | ||
| 5/31 | Gamestop: Rise of the Players (2022) | |
| Pistol - Complete Limited Series |