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.

Continue reading “Toy Story 5 (2026) – Technically Brilliant” →
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.

Continue reading “They Will Kill You (2026) – Killer” →
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.

Continue reading “Scary Movie (2026) – Laughable” →
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.

Continue reading “Ladies First (2026) – Dull” →
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.

Continue reading “Pillion (2026) – BD-YES-M” →
leebutler Comedy, Review

Fackham Hall (2026) – Hilarious

Released: 19th February
Seen: 30th March

From 2010 until 2015, Downton Abbey was a mainstay of the television landscape. It was a cultural phenomenon that absolutely drowned in awards from all directions and is one of the rare TV series that would get to continue after its cancellation in the world of Feature Films. It could be suggested that without Downton Abbey being such a massive hit, we might not have series like Bridgerton or The Crown. It effectively started a wave of historical British dramas focused largely on the upper class that could live in lavish houses and only see a poor person whenever a servant was needed to clear out a chamber pot. Basically it’s the kind of genre that has been almost begging to have the almighty piss taken out of it for quite some time and with Fackham Hall, someone finally came along to do exactly that.

Continue reading “Fackham Hall (2026) – Hilarious” →
leebutler Comedy, Drama, Review, Thriller

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (2025) – Rosy

Released: 7th August 2025
Seen: 27th February 2026

We all know the famous phrase “Life’s a bitch, and then you die”. That phrase feels more relevant today than ever, where everything just feels constantly overwhelming. Burnout is real and is not only happening in people’s professional lives but in their personal ones. Day-to-day events just pile up in a way that feels insurmountable and unfixable because the people who could fix them are unavailable. That’s a feeling that we’ve all had before and it’s the kind of emotional destruction that could make for a fascinating film, or at least a fascinating performance, and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is fortunately both of those things.

Continue reading “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (2025) – Rosy” →
leebutler Comedy, Crime, Review, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Bugonia (2025) – Bee-Gone-Ia

Released: 30th October 2025
Seen: 22nd February 2026

On December 4th, 2016, a fucking moron – who I won’t bother naming here – went to the Comet Ping Pong pizza shop in DC and fired multiple shots. Thankfully, he didn’t end up hurting anyone. Still, his plan was to go in to investigate the pizza place because he believed, thanks to other fucking idiots, that there was a child trafficking ring being operated out of the basement. One small problem, Comet Ping Pong didn’t have a basement nor was it in any way related to a child trafficking ring, it just happened to be a place where the Clinton campaign would occasionally buy food and a bunch of idiots reading emails decided that the phrases “pizza” or “Hot dogs” was some kind of elaborate code suggesting that they were buying children. This is probably the turning point where conspiracy theories went from curious things that went around the internet into actual real-world problems that caused the stupidest among us to threaten the lives of others, try to overthrow duly elected governments and believe that drinking raw milk is actually good for you. It’s the kind of insane shit that’s ripe for someone to use as the basis for a thriller, and Bugonia takes that mantle and runs with it.

Continue reading “Bugonia (2025) – Bee-Gone-Ia” →
leebutler Comedy, Drama, Review, Sport

Marty Supreme (2026) – Ping Pong Boy

Released: 22nd January
Seen: 7th February

In the history of cinema, the genre of the sports movie has presented us with some truly great films that stand the test of time. From A League Of Their Own to Air Bud, all genres and levels of prestige have been the subject of a good sports movie. Almost every sport you can think of has had a film focused on it, including table tennis. Of course, up till now, most table tennis films haven’t exactly been the most well-known; perhaps the biggest one would be Forrest Gump, but that’s not so much a table tennis film as it is a film where someone played table tennis at some point. Honestly, the sport of table tennis hasn’t had its big, sweeping, dramatic epic until now, and Marty Supreme is undeniably the ultimate in table tennis cinema.

Continue reading “Marty Supreme (2026) – Ping Pong Boy” →
leebutler Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy

How To Train Your Dragon (2025) – Reproduction

Released: 12th June
Seen: 16th December

In 1998, Gus Van Sant remade Psycho. He had just come off the monster hit that was Good Will Hunting and used the reputation he had built to get Universal to foot the bill. The remake is infamous, a largely shot-for-shot remake that puts the film in colour and uses modern actors while replicating the original visual style as much as possible. The idea was to basically make fun of remakes, to show how it’s truly impossible to copy a film exactly as it originally was and have the same impact. That film definitely proved Gus Van Sant’s point because his remake of Psycho was a box office bomb and a critical punching bag. One would hope that maybe Gus’ experiment would’ve stopped others from trying to do the same thing again but no, we’ve lately been inundated with remakes of classic Disney films and now How To Train Your Dragon gets the same treatment and while it might be better than Psycho (1998), that doesn’t mean it deserves to exist.

Continue reading “How To Train Your Dragon (2025) – Reproduction” →