leebutler Review

King Richard (2022) – Serves A Good Time

Released: 13th January
Seen: 15th March

King Richard Info

If you were to ask who is the greatest athlete alive today, you could absolutely say Venus or Serena Williams and get absolutely no arguments from anyone with half a brain. Since their debut match, the Williams sisters have been widely considered to be two of the greatest tennis players to ever hit the court and with good reason. Their rise to fame is nothing short of meteoric and undeniably due to their talent. Venus Williams currently has won Wimbledon 5 times and Serena has won 23 Grand Slam championships, both of them would tell you that a large part of their success is due to their coaching at the hands of their father Richard Williams, AKA King Richard.

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leebutler Review

West Side Story (2021) – Two Sides

Released: 26th December 2021
Seen: 15th March 2022

West Side Story Info

Boxing Day in Australia was when the remake of the musical West Side Story came out to rave reviews but a box office that was somehow a surprising disappointment to people who decided to release the remake of a classic musical a week after one of the most anticipated films of 2021 (that’d be Spider-Man: No Way Home, for those playing the home game).

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leebutler Review

Turning Red (2022) – It’s Pan-tastic

Released: 11th March
Seen: 13th March

turning red info

Writing about a Pixar film feels a little bit like writing about a Marvel film at this point, the odds are good that it’s going to be somewhere around the great range and the compliments that you can throw its way all feel very similar because they’ve managed to hone in on a formula that works so well that it’s hard to pick holes in it. Turning Red is one of those films that really shows Pixar at its best in terms of how it tells these stories and while a lot of it would fit into what a regular high-quality Pixar film normally shows, there are a few elements to this that elevate it into something genuinely special… plus, it has a lot of adorable giant red pandas which means it’s the best movie to come out in a long time because how can you deny the cuteness of giant red pandas? 

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leebutler Review

CODA (2021) – Hilariously Touching

Released: 13th August 2021
Seen: 12th March 2022

CODA Info

When it comes to the history of film, one of the groups that has been heavily underrepresented is the deaf community. When stories about them have been told, often the deaf character is played by a non-deaf actor who isn’t even part of the community but recently we’ve seen that change and be openly praised. Films like A Quiet Place featured Millicent Simmonds who is a young deaf actress and Sound of Metal had Paul Raci, the hearing child of deaf adults.

Now, speaking of Children of Deaf Adults, we have CODA which is a heartwarming dramedy about a deaf family with a hearing daughter who can also sing and it’s up for 3 Oscars this year… which is the only reason I would dare use Apple Plus to see it because damn that site will always annoy me.

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leebutler Review

Attica (2022) – Powerful

Released: 27th January
Seen: 11th March

Attica Info

Attica, the documentary, details the story of the Attica Prison Riot, or as it’s alternatively known “The Attica Prison Massacre”. On September 9, 1971, the Attica prison riot began. Tension had been building in the New York prison for quite some time, due to the overcrowding and violence from the guards who regularly engaged in what can best be described as “Casual racism combined with the torture of the inmates they were charged to protect”.

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leebutler Review

The Batman (2022) – It’s A Riddle

Released: 3rd March
Seen: 10th March

The Batman Info

When it comes to DC, they really seem to have a problem when it comes to this whole cinematic universe thing. Actors don’t want to stick around (in some cases, understandably considering how they’re treated), stories don’t line up and their big attempt to do “Marvel, but edgy” blew up so badly that it’s going to necessitate The Flash movie to effectively wipe the slate clean so they can try again.

Of course, that movie’s been delayed several times but they have decided to make a thing out of letting auteur directors do darker one-off stories with some of their characters. They did this previously with Joker, now they’re doing it with The Batman and of the two I have to say, this Batman does a lot better than his clown prince counterpart did.

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leebutler Review

Cyrano (2022) – Cyra-Yes

Released: 24th February
Seen: 6th March

Cyrano Info

In 1897, playwright Edmond Rostand wrote Cyrano de Bergerac which would supposedly tell the life story of the real Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac. This play has been adapted several times since its creation, not only straight forward adaptations but even inspiring films such as The Ugly Truth or Sierra Burgess Is A Loser. Throughout the years there have also been several attempts to adapt this play into a stage musical, including one in 2019 that starred Peter Dinklage in the title role. It’s that adaptation that was turned into Cyrano, a film that was stunningly only nominated for one Oscar this year (but we’ll get to why that’s stunning in a little bit).

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leebutler Review

The Retreat (2022) – Bloody Interesting

Seen as part of the Mardi Gras Film Festival

The Retreat Info

When it comes to queer horror stories, it’s sad to say there aren’t as many as there probably should be. What ones there are either have queer subtext without actual gay characters (Hi Nightmare on Elm Street 2), are problematic as hell (Hi Sleepaway Camp) or actually feature gay characters in a gay storyline (Hi Hellbent). That last one is a lot rarer but can be interesting if done right. Enter The Retreat, a film that uses the horrors of homophobia to tell a story that works on occasion, but also really fumbles the great idea it has.

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