leebutler Action, Comedy, Review

Stop! That! Train! (2026) – Ai Ai Captain!

Released: 13th August
Seen: 22nd September

February 2nd, 2009. That was the date that the first episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race aired on TV. At the time, it was almost a non-entity; it was effectively shot in the spare room at World of Wonder with a cast of Drag Queens no one had heard of, with a grand prize of 20K and some makeup and it aired on LogoTV. If you told anyone that this show would go on for 18 seasons, have a yearly All Stars spinoff, be franchised around the world and create superstars who would end up making world tours, appearing on multiple major TV shows and headlining Broadway, you would be insane, but that’s what happened. Drag Race gradually became a phenomenon, growing in scale to an absolutely insane degree that a feature film of some kind that utilised this talent pool was inevitable. With hundreds of drag queens who have proven just how insanely talented they are at World of Wonder’s disposal, it would be absolutely insane if they didn’t, at some point, try to use that talent pool to make a feature film and with Stop! That! Train! it feels like they’ve managed to figure out exactly what to do with the talent they have available because they made something that’s honestly better than it has any right being.

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leebutler Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Review

Coyote VS ACME (2026) – Miraculous

Released: 17th September
Seen: 17th September

If everything had gone according to the plans of the cinematic terrorist known as David Zaslav, this piece of art would’ve been thrown into a fire, and he would’ve been able to write off about 30 million in taxes for the Warner Brothers company. That was the plan; that was what the finish line for this film was going to be. It must be pointed out that films die all the time; they get stuck in development hell, or some disaster happens so that the people who started the film can’t complete it, or they finish the film but the company that made it goes bankrupt so the film can’t legally be released. A film being made but not being released is not an uncommon event; what is uncommon is a company making a film, getting great test screenings, and then deciding not to release it for a tax write-off that wouldn’t even cover two months of the CEO’s total salary package. What’s even less common is a film that went through this process to then get bought up by a competitor who actually releases the film into cinemas. That alone should make everyone want to support Coyote VS ACME purely as a middle finger to the absolutely brainless moron who thinks his minuscule tax break is somehow more important than a work of art that people gave up time in their precious lives to create. It also helps that Coyote VS ACME is, and boy does it feel good to say this, one of the best goddamn films of the year.

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leebutler Comedy, Drama, Music, Musical, Review

Power Ballad (2026) – Charming

Released: 28th May
Seen: 8th September

It’s an undeniable truth that all music artists are influenced by other artists. All boy bands want to be The Beatles, all male artists are trying to steal some of Elvis’ swagger (and Elvis was just stealing from any black musician he knew of) and pretty much any modern female pop artist wants to be Madonna. It’s not hard to spot this, the entire music industry is built on people who are influenced by other artists and trying to express that influence in a way that doesn’t get them sued for copyright infringement. This is why you’ll see a lot of strange people getting writing credits on major songs, it’s weird that Right Said Fred are credited on a Taylor Swift song but she used the beat of their song I’m Too Sexy in her song Look What You Made Me Do so she has to give them credit… but what if she didn’t? What if a major artist just took a song from a struggling, lesser-known artist and just never gave them credit? Well, that would be the basic plot to the movie Power Ballad which has got its moments, but not as many as it should.

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leebutler Comedy, Drama, Review, Romance

One Night Only (2026) – Celibate

Released: 6th August
Seen: 13th August

The year is 2013, and James DeMonaco makes his feature-length directorial debut with a film called The Purge. This is a big deal for James, because up to this point in his career James has mostly been a scriptwriter who got his start writing the script for Jack (that Robin Williams film about the boy who ages weirdly) but wasn’t really known for anything that special. He worked, certainly, but didn’t really get to make his mark. The Purge movie was going to make his mark; he wrote and directed it, got Ethan Hawke to star in his little low-budget horror film about a world where all crime, including murder, was legal for one night only; things were going well. Hell, the film made money, nearly 90 million on a 3 million budget. Everything should be going great… Unfortunately, the film got slaughtered in reviews.

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leebutler Comedy, Drama, Review

The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026) – Prada Harder

Released: 30th April
Seen: 30th July

In 2003, Lauren Weisberger released her first novel, The Devil Wears Prada, about a young woman working in a fashion magazine under a tyrannical boss named Miranda Priestly. The book was a hit and, in 2006, it was turned into a movie of the same name. That movie became a cultural touchstone; it turned two of its leads into superstars, effectively revived Meryl Streep’s commercial career and reminded the world why she’s one of the best of all time, and is full of enough witty, biting dialogue to delight any fan of witty bitchy banter (The Cerulean monologue in particular has enjoyed quite a life as a drag queen staple). It honestly does feel shocking that it took twenty years to get a sequel for this incredible film, but at least we got one, and while it might not hit the dizzying heights of the original, it’s still a spectacular experience.

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leebutler Adventure, Comedy, Review, Sci-Fi

Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie (2026) – The Review

Released: 20th February
Seen: 29th July

From 2007 to 2009, Nirvana The Band The Show was uploaded to the internet (No relation to the band that gave us Smells Like Teen Spirit; that’s kinda the joke). There were 11 episodes spanning between 10 and 20 minutes, and it must’ve been popular because a decade later Nirvanna The Band The Show (Spelled with two ‘n’s from here on out, another one of their more subtle jokes) would turn into a full-on sitcom lasting for 2 seasons. The whole thing is a bit of a cult hit and I will admit I’d never even heard of it before this film came into my life so if you’re looking for information on if this is a good adaptation of the TV series then you’re not going to get that information here. I can’t compare and can’t even find a legally available copy to watch (because copyright law is totally well thought out and shouldn’t be changed at all /s). Fortunately, I don’t think you really need to have watched the TV series to appreciate Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie because it’s good enough to stand on its own.

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leebutler Comedy, Review

Pizza Movie (2026) – Party

Released: 23rd March
Seen: 27th July

Stoner comedy might be one of the newer subgenres of film that exists. Sure, some people might say it dates back to the 30s with Reefer Madness, but that was mostly an accidental Stoner Comedy, failed propaganda that stoners would laugh at in midnight screenings because it failed its intended purpose. Realistically, the genre was started by Cheech and Chong in their run of movies from the late 70s through to the 80s. There’s been a fair few well-regarded stoner comedies since then; things like the Harold and Kumar series or most of Kevin Smith’s early output really helped explore what the genre could be. It’s been a little while since we’ve really had a good quality stoner comedy and now here comes Pizza Movie, and just like a real Pizza, even when it’s bad it’s still pretty good.

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leebutler Comedy, Family, Mystery, Review

The Sheep Detectives (2026) – Woolly Good

Released: 7th May
Seen: 25th July

In 2005, author Leonie Swann released her first book, Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story, to much acclaim, selling over 100,000 copies within six months, which is wildly impressive (certainly better than most books about sheep, I imagine). One of those copies would eventually land in the hands of screenwriter Craig Mazin, who recently showed off his dramatic writing chops with the incredible series Chernobyl and the incredibly popular The Last of Us. I suspect after writing a couple of shows like that (especially Chernobyl, one of the most intense TV series I’ve ever sat through), Craig needed something light and fluffy to clear his head, and so he adapted Leonie’s novel into The Sheep Detectives and, in doing so, made one of the most adorably charming and surprisingly intelligent movies of 2026.

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leebutler Comedy, Drama, Review, Romance

The Drama (2026) – DRAAAAMA

Released: 10th July
Seen: 21st July

It’s sadly an unavoidable reality that the mass shooting epidemic in America has exploded in recent years. Considering that the only year in recent history where there wasn’t a new mass shooting every other day was the lockdown year where it was literally impossible for such an event to happen, it’s the kind of thing that needs to be talked about and dealt with in some way. Since it’s clear that political figures won’t touch it, maybe some piece of art will crack through and make an impact (It’s unlikely, but it could happen) so for a film to use a mass shooting as an element of its plot isn’t automatically the worst thing in the world… However, if it uses something so heavy in a careless manner, that can create some serious issues with enjoying a film… so yeah, there’s some issues with The Drama.

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leebutler Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Review

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026) – Player 2

Released: 1st April
Seen: 20th July

In 2023, Mario and Luigi made their grand transition from the world of video games to the world of animated films. The Super Mario Bros. Movie came out to massive fanfare, becoming the second-highest-grossing film worldwide of 2023 (just behind Barbie) and it basically proved that you could take this 40-year-old game series and make a film out of it that wasn’t an instant joke. The delightful bright coloured world of the Mushroom Kingdom was so enjoyable and inviting that it really shouldn’t have shocked anyone that it would go on to make over a billion dollars and, once it made that billion, it shouldn’t have been a shock that a sequel would be announced. Now we have The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and while it might not be as delightful as the film that came before it, it’s still a lot of fun.

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