leebutler Comedy, Drama, Review, Thriller

How To Make A Killing (2026) – Lethal

Released: 26th February
Seen: 20th June

Every few years we get a celebrity who is clearly being pitched as a leading man to the masses but, for some reason, just doesn’t seem to click. One of the more recent ones who has been undergoing this process is Glen Powell, it seemed to start around his appearance in Top Gun: Maverick and kept going with works like Hit Man, Anyone But You, Twisters (the image of him walking in the rain was almost scientifically designed to make audiences feral) and The Running Man. Each film basically just tried to give him star power, turn him into the affable, attractive leading man that anyone could root for. It’s clear that the industry wants him to be the next Tom Cruise-type but somehow they have yet to get him into a vehicle that puts him on that level. How To Make A Killing definitely wanted to be the thing that cemented him as that leading man but it flopped hard enough that it won’t be doing that, which is a shame because if it had hit it would’ve undoubtedly been the thing that made Glen into a generational star, even if the film itself isn’t great.

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leebutler Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family, Review, Sci-Fi

Hoppers (2026) – Golden Beaver

Released: 26th March
Seen: 20th June

One of the big problems that people have with the modern film landscape is that it feels like most movies that make it to cinemas have to either be based on a pre-existing IP (book, TV show, Reddit story that inexplicably gets popular) or a sequel to a film that was a previous hit. This seems to be reflected in the box office, if you look at this year’s top 10 highest grossing films you’ll see sequels, movies based on books and even a film that heavily utilises the IP of one of the biggest popstars of all time. There are only 2 films in the top 10 highest-grossing films of 2026 (at the time of writing this review) that are not based on some already existing property. The first is the megahit Obsession which exploded due to great word of mouth and the other is the subject of this review, Pixar’s first big film of this year, Hoppers.

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leebutler Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy

Toy Story 5 (2026) – Technically Brilliant

Released: 18th June
Seen: 19th June

The Toy Story franchise feels like a miracle at this point, it’s certainly a franchise that goes past any reasonable explanation in terms of quality. The first film was basically a test to see if you could even make a full-length feature film using CGI characters and make it interesting, it went on to be the second-highest-grossing film of 1995 (I know, I feel old too just realising it’s been 31 years) and effectively killed the hand-drawn animation genre. Toy Story 2 was almost deleted by accident and intended to go straight to DVD, it ended up as the third highest-grossing film of 1999 and is widely considered as good as, or better than the original. Toy Story 3 came out nearly a decade later in 2010, had a six-year production period and seemingly closed the story out. It would go on to make a billion dollars, be the highest-grossing film of that year and finally win this franchise the Best Animated Feature Oscar. Then in 2019 came Toy Story 4, a film that many people doubted because the story was finished pretty perfectly in part three but it proved us wrong, creating another nearly perfect movie that again made a billion dollars and won this franchise its second Best Animated Feature Oscar. It’s kind of wild just realizing that this franchise has somehow produced four absolute classics of the genre and keeps finding new ways to delight young audiences with its story about a bunch of toys that come to life whenever you aren’t looking… Well, looks like we’re gonna have to make that five absolute classics because the bastards did it again.

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leebutler Action, Comedy, Horror, Review, Thriller

They Will Kill You (2026) – Killer

Released: 12th March
Seen: 13th June

In 2019, a fun little horror film called Ready or Not came out and became a major hit, at least among Horror fans. The film itself revolved around a bride being introduced to her new family, who turn out to be Satan worshippers, who need to hunt her down and kill her by sunrise to give their dark lord a tribute to maintain their family’s wealth. It was a truly insane, blood-soaked ride full of dark comedy and some of the most insane action scenes. It was a film that was almost destined to have imitators, and now here comes They Will Kill You that gives a crash course in how to copy from other better films and still make something awesome.

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leebutler Comedy, Horror, Review

Scary Movie (2026) – Laughable

Released: 4th June
Seen: 9th June

In the year 2000, the Wayans Brothers decided it was time to spoof the horror genre that was just entering a boom period (thanks to the movie Scream), so they released Scary Movie. The film was a broad, offensive and ultimately hilarious piss-take of not just Scream but the entire horror genre as it was then. Now, at the time I was too young to watch that movie in cinemas, but once it hit video store shelves, I rented that film at the local Blockbuster so many times that I almost wore the tape out. It was hilarious, one of the funniest films I’d seen at that point. Sure, I can look back and see the parts of it that don’t age particularly well (no comedy ages well, it’s just a matter of time before a joke will die of old age and offensive humour is particularly susceptible to that) but it was still a formative experience so naturally when news of the Wayans Brothers returning to the franchise came out I was excited, surely a new Scary Movie would be just as hilarious and biting as ever… surely.

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leebutler Action, Horror, Review, Thriller

Pretty Lethal (2026) – Pretty Fun

Released: 25th March
Seen: 8th June

In 2024, a little film called Abigail came out and showed people that the combination of ballerinas and bloodshed could end up making a genuinely fun film if done well. Something about the combination of this glamorous artform that’s largely considered the realm of young women and girls blended with about 50 gallons of the red stuff is a recipe for a good time that the whole family can enjoy (provided your family is suitably fucked up). While Abigail was a ton of fun, it didn’t do quite as wel at the box office as it probably should have, thanks to an ad campaign that gave away the film’s big twist… but hey, at least it got a cinematic release unlike the delightfully fun Pretty Lethal which had to take its blood-soaked ballerinas to enjoy them on streaming instead.

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leebutler Comedy, Netflix, Review

Ladies First (2026) – Dull

Released: 22nd May
Seen: 26th May

“Man learns what it’s like to be a woman” is a classic story that film has used countless times to explore the complex issues between the sexes. This was perhaps done most bluntly in the film What Women Want, a cheesy film from the year 2000 that featured Mel Gibson as a sexist advertising executive who ends up getting the strange power to hear women’s thoughts, which he ends up using to further his career while learning about how hard it is for the opposite gender and improving as a man. Well, now we get Ladies First, which is kind of like What Women Want if it wasn’t that funny and didn’t have the nerve to actually really discuss the issues it brings up, but it can make a lot of unfunny jokes about balls… so that’s something.

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leebutler Horror, Review, Thriller

Obsession (2026) – Obsessed

Released: 12th March
Seen: 19th May

Go see Obsession. Go. Now. Stop reading this review, go to your vehicle, drive to your local cinema, purchase a ticket for the movie Obsession and then come back. I could pussyfoot around and deliver an opening paragraph about how “Friends to lovers plots are a dime a dozen” and then transition into how unique this version is or talk about the rise in YouTubers making horror movies that’re better than anything else coming out from the major studios or just come up with some elaborate explanation of the concept of obsession, all were options I went with for this opening paragraph that’s designed to be something above the read more line but instead I’m going with GO AND SEE THIS FUCKING MOVIE RIGHT FUCKING NOW!… Thank you, now we can continue.

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leebutler Adventure, Horror, Review, Thriller

Send Help (2026) – Outwits, Outlasts, Outplays

Released: 29th January
Seen: 13th May

In the year 2000, the world was introduced to a reality show that would go on to effectively change history. Survivor, now in its 50th season, took a bunch of random people and dumped them on an island with nothing but their wits and tasked them with surviving for 39 days to try and win a million-dollar prize. It was a monster hit, revolutionised TV as we know it, effectively turned reality TV into the genre we know today and made producer Mark Burnett into such a massive figure that he was able to get another show off the ground, The Apprentice. Speaking of things that start with getting trapped on a desert island and end in unnecessary death, carnage and projectile vomiting, Send Help is a pretty great movie.

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leebutler Comedy, Drama, Review, Romance

Pillion (2026) – BD-YES-M

Released: 19th February
Seen: 13th May

In November of last year, a phenomenon was released. Heated Rivalry was one of those things that probably shouldn’t have been a hit, an explicit gay romance story about two hockey players is the kind of thing that would normally end up being a big deal in the LGBTQIA+ community but wouldn’t really be a huge thing outside it so for this little show to become one of the biggest pop culture moments ever is stunning. The last time something this pointedly sexual got to be so mainstream was when 50 Shades Of Grey introduced suburban housewives to the world of BDSM (albeit doing it badly, according to people in the BDSM community). Of course, there are still works being made that play in the BDSM and queer worlds that don’t get mainstream coverage, such as the film Pillion which is probably a little too much for the mainstream, but it’s still quite spectacular in itself.

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