leebutler - Movie Meister Reviews

October 10, 2021 leebutler Documentary, Review

Kid 90 (2021) – What’s The Matter With Kids Today?

Released: 12th March
Seen: 27th September

Throughout the history of Hollywood, often those who have had it roughest going through the industry has been children and teenagers. There’s not just a long and disturbing history of abuse, but there’s also just kids who never got to see the money they earned or kids who had to grow up in front of a camera and lost their entire childhoods.

Some of these kids didn’t get to grow up fairly and ended up having serious problems that followed them throughout their lives, and some have made it out the other side with some horrifying and fascinating stories to tell. Kid 90 is the story of one of those kids, even though it promises to be about several of them.

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October 9, 2021October 9, 2021 leebutler Musical, Netflix, Review

Diana: A True Musical Story (2021) – A Royal Mess

Released: 1st October
Seen: 7th October

Princess Diana, also known as the people’s princess, died in August of 1997 after a group of paparazzi chased her through a tunnel. The crash also took the lives of Diana’s partner Dodi Fayed and the driver of the car, Henri Paul. This was in 1997 and the obsession with Princess Diana has not abated for even a moment since that day, I would dare to say that there isn’t a week that goes by when she isn’t on the cover of a magazine that probably paid the very paparazzi that contributed to the events that led to her death. Her life was fascinating and full of truly great highs and lows… and is the subject of possibly the worst musical I’ve seen in my life and keep in mind that the Cats movie still exists so that’s a low bar.

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October 8, 2021October 8, 2021 leebutler Documentary, Review

Mental As Everything (2021) – Musical Health

Mental As Everything was seen as part of the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival

The subject of mental health has never been easy to talk about, no matter how serious it might end up being to those who suffer from it. This is kind of strange when you realise how many people have some form of mental health issue, I’m going to wager that everyone reading this either has some form of mental health issue or knows someone who does. Hell, the person writing this knows several people with serious mental health issues. The reason it’s not talked about as much as it probably should be is because of social stigma… something that the brilliant minds behind Mental As Everything are trying to help with.

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October 7, 2021 leebutler Documentary, Netflix, Review

Hating Peter Tatchell (2021) – Love Peter Tatchell

Released: 11th August
Seen: 28th September

Throughout queer history, there is a long list of people who, in some form, have pushed forward the cause of queer acceptance. From major events like Marsha P Johnson throwing the first brick at Stonewall, to the founding of Act Up by Larry Kramer, to Harvey Milk becoming one of the first openly gay people elected to public office, there are many figures who in some way or another have done something to push the cause of LGBT people forward.

One name that should be up near the top of that list is Peter Tatchell, a proud polemic figure who has put his body and life on the line to fight for gay liberation and Hating Peter Tatchell is absolutely essential viewing for anyone even slightly interested in the power and the cost of protest.

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October 6, 2021 leebutler Documentary, Review

FoodxFilm Festival Review: Wild Relatives (2018)

Over on Soda & Telepaths, another one of the FoodxFilm festival reviews is up (yes the festival ended 2 days ago, the reviews still good). This one’s for the film Wild Relatives which is about seeds because this festival had a very pointed theme.

Also guess whose internet is borked so can’t watch any new films? That’s why I haven’t started on the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival stuff, though I have got access to that and will get onto it the moment my internet is unborked.

October 5, 2021 leebutler Documentary, Review

FoodxFilm Festival Review: The Ants And The Grasshopper (2021)

Over on good old Soda & Telepaths, more FoodxFilm Festival stuff. This time learning about Anita Chitaya, a woman more people should know about thanks to her work fighting for climate change. Learn all about her while watching The Ants And The Grasshopper, you know you want to

October 4, 2021 leebutler Review, Documentary

FoodxFilm Festival Review: When Tomatoes Met Wagner (2019)

Over on Soda & Telepaths, as part of the FoodxFilm Festival coverage, I watched When Tomatoes Met Wagner, a film about people playing classical music at tomatoes and then putting the tomatoes in jars to sell… it was actually fascinating

October 3, 2021 leebutler Documentary, Review

FoodxFilm Festival Review: You Think The Earth Is A Dead Thing (2019)

Over on the old Soda & Telepaths, I continue my coverage of the FoodxFilm Festival with a documentary called You Think The Earth Is A Dead Thing…. and yes, saying that title does make me want to sing Colors Of The Wind because I am a very predictable person

October 2, 2021October 2, 2021 leebutler Editorial

5 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival Films I’m Excited To See

Film Festivals have had a hard go the last few years, having to adapt to the pandemic meant that a lot of them have had to move online. Over the last month I reviewed films for one of those festivals, the Sydney Underground Film Festival, but coming up throughout the month of October is the 6th Annual Melbourne Documentary Film Festival.

Between the 1st and the 31st of October, the MDFF will be showing over 20 feature-length documentaries and dozens upon dozens of shorts. There’s so much on offer that it’s going to be a challenge to pick what to view… luckily for you, I’ve skimmed through the list and picked 5 documentaries that I’m most looking forward to in order to influence your decisions of where you put your money because that’s the kind of thing I do.

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October 1, 2021 leebutler Comedy, Action, Adventure, Review

Free Guy (2021) – GOTY Material

Released: 12th August
Seen: 29th September

The video game movie is obscenely hard to get right, some might suggest that it’s impossible because once you remove the players’ ability to influence the action then you fundamentally change the story to the point where any adaptation just won’t work… I’d suggest it’s just because the people making movies don’t know anything about video games other than they make money, so why not make a movie about them.

Things can go horribly wrong, from the story not suiting the game (Hi Sonic) to the actors being horribly cast (Super Mario Brothers… both live action and the upcoming animated versions honestly. Seriously, Chris Pratt is Mario, that’s a thing that’s happening), it’s so easy to screw up. Then along comes Free Guy to do a video game movie absolutely perfectly.

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