Review – Page 47 – Movie Meister Reviews

February 25, 2022 leebutler Review

No Time to Die (2021) – Timeless

Released: 11th November 2021
Seen: 24th February 2022

Since his first appearance in film in 1962, James Bond has been a staple of cinema. Over 25 outings he has been the first image we think of when we think of spies, with his gadgets and his Bond Girls and his dry martini that’s shaken but not stirred. He’s an icon who has been so powerful that he has somehow survived through a half-dozen different actors playing him over his long film career. The most recent actor to drive the legendary Aston Martin, Daniel Craig, decided that the latest film No Time To Die would be his final time playing the legend with the license to kill and god damn is he going down swinging.

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February 23, 2022February 23, 2022 leebutler Review

Slaxx (2021) – Fashionably Fun Horror

NOTE: Here is my review from Soda & Telepaths that was posted back on March 17, 2021

It’s the night before a trendy fashion outlet launches its new line and everyone is required to be on hand to help restock the store with the brand new product. What’s the product? Why it’s a pair of jeans that forms perfectly to your body type giving you the best possible shape that anyone could ever hope to have. They’re stylish, slimming, sexy and sentient. That’s right, due to the power of “Do you care why?” the jeans are alive and hungry for blood and they’re going to start with the fashion store workers and the high paid influencers, as all jeans-based murder sprees should!

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February 22, 2022 leebutler Review

Boulevard! A Hollywood Story (2022) – Ready For My Close Up!

Seen as part of the Mardi Gras Film Festival

In 1950, the glorious film noir, Sunset Boulevard was released. A film about an aging starlet who sees one final chance to regain her stardom, the film briefly revitalised the career of the legendary silent film actress Gloria Swanson. To this day Sunset Boulevard is revered as a classic of cinema and was the inspiration for the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical of the same name (that will apparently be turned into a movie for Glenn Close to star in and hopefully win the damn Oscar she’s long overdue). However, before Andrew Lloyd Webber even had the idea of putting the story of Sunset Boulevard to music, Gloria Swanson herself tried to pull it off and the story behind what happened to that show feels all too familiar.

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February 21, 2022July 22, 2022 leebutler Review

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) – This Blade Is Dull

Released: 18th February
Seen: 20th February

There has been a trend in horror films lately where a classic slasher franchise will do a sequel starring the original cast set about 40 years after the original film that ignores every other sequel that came before it. This trend has given us absolutely brilliant films like the 2018 Halloween and it’s given us reasons to despise the very concept of cinema with things like I Spit On Your Grave: Deja Vu. It’s a high risk-high reward concept because it will pull in fans who want a heavy hit of pure nostalgia but you then have to give them a film that somehow honours the original while also being something new and fun. Texas Chainsaw Massacre does none of that, it just exists in a boring way that makes me wonder why this franchise keeps on going.

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February 19, 2022July 22, 2022 leebutler Review

Lava (2021) – It’s De-Lava-Ly

NOTE: Here is my review from Soda & Telepaths that was posted back on March 17th, 2021

The story of Lava starts like a lot of weird stories begin, with a trip to the tattoo artist. In this case, the tattoo artist is Deborah (Janeane Garofalo) who is trying to live a normal life like any other person of this generation. She goes to work, tattoos people, then comes home to hang out with some friends and watch a pirated copy of the latest episode of Game of Clones (which is apparently just like Game of Thrones but with sentient vegetables, if the Veggetales people could get on making that a reality I would be very happy).

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February 18, 2022 leebutler Review

The Stylist (2020) – This Style Is In This Season

NOTE: Here is my review from Soda & Telepaths that was posted back on March 2, 2021

Claire (Najarra Townsend) is a shy young hairstylist who spends her days giving other people a chance to feel good about themselves, something that Claire has seemingly never had about herself. She will often find herself imagining what life must be like as some of her clients who appear to lead such perfect lives… and when imagining doesn’t do the job, she’ll drug them, scalp them, wear the scalp in place of a wig and use that to help her pretend that her life is as glamorous as those she helps.

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February 17, 2022February 17, 2022 leebutler Review

Lucky (2021) – Luck Repeats Itself

NOTE: Here is my review from Soda & Telepaths that was posted back on March 2, 2021

Lucky starts with a premise that’s slowly growing more familiar with every passing usage of it. May (Brea Grant) is a self-help author living with her partner, Ted (Dhruv Uday Singh), and having what could be considered a relatively comfortable life when suddenly a man breaks into their home.

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February 16, 2022July 22, 2022 leebutler Review

Spencer (2022) – Better Than The Musical

Released: 20th January
Seen: 14th February

Telling the story of the life of Princess Diana is never going to be easy, in part because she was one of the most well documented human beings in history thanks to the paparazzi who were ultimately implicated in her death but also because her story is ultimately one of utter tragedy, she’s a Disney Princess who was overwhelmed by the harsh reality and eventually torn down by the very glamorous lifestyle that nobility promised.

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February 15, 2022 leebutler Review

Shook (2021) – Much More Interesting Than Its Title

NOTE: Here is my review from Soda & Telepaths that was posted back on February 16, 2021

The world of social media fame is… weird, to say the least. Some people require years of training in a specific skill in order to get fame, other’s can just look pretty and do a good smokey eye and get a million Instagram fans. That second one would describe Mia (Daisye Tutor), a social media ‘celebrity’ with a huge number of followers and a very specific brand that she puts forward to those followers.

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February 14, 2022July 22, 2022 leebutler Review

The Lost Daughter (2021) – Found It

Released: 31st December 2021
Seen: 13th February 2022

In 2006, the Italian novel La figlia oscura by Elena Ferrante was released. Eventually translated in 2008, the book got the English title of The Lost Daughter. This year at the Oscars the film adaptation of this would only receive three nominations, two for acting and one for the screenplay which honestly feels like a lot less than it deserves but considering the material, they’re definitely the best categories for a film like this.

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