Drama – Page 14 – Movie Meister Reviews

February 20, 2022July 22, 2022 leebutler Uncategorized

The Tragedy Of Macbeth (2022) – The Scottish Film

Released: 14th January
Seen: 19th February

If one were to take a wild guess at who was the most frequently performed and adapted writer in history, chances are good your first guess would be Shakespeare and you would more than likely be right. His work is incredibly malleable and easy to adapt into anything you want. His works can be turned into cartoons about a pride of lions (Lion King = Hamlet), it can be a fun 90s romcom (10 Things I Hate About You = Taming Of The Shrew) or it can be a classic Hollywood musical (West Side Story = Romeo & Juliet).

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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 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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February 13, 2022July 22, 2022 leebutler Review

Belfast (2022) – Bel-slow

Released: 3rd February
Seen: 11th February

In August of 1969, there was a series of riots in Belfast that started a 30 year conflict colloquially known as “The Troubles” or the Northern Ireland Conflict. Without going into detail (cos I suck at history), the short version is that it was effectively a civil war between Catholics and Protestants that made life hard for those caught in the middle… one of those people was a young Kenneth Branagh who was only 9 when his family left Ireland and moved to England in order to escape from The Troubles.

When you live through something like that and grow up to be an influential filmmaker like Kenneth did, it feels inevitable that you might turn that period of your life into a film at some point and with Belfast, Kenneth did exactly that… so god it’s going to be awkward to say I’m on the fence on this one.

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February 8, 2022February 8, 2022 leebutler Uncategorized

Minor Premise (2020) – Extremely Slow in the Payoff

NOTE: Here is my review from Soda & Telepaths that was posted back on December 10th, 2020

I’m sure we’ve all seen a few science fiction films before that have used the same old trope. A scientist has a great invention, they can’t get anyone else to be the test subject so they test it out on themselves and the ensuing chaos is caused by the experiment going horribly horribly wrong. It’s a trope for a reason, it works and it often leads to an interesting character in the form of the scientist and can also lead to a devastatingly emotional ending (think of The Fly remake for a prime example of this). I love a good story of a scientist being put through the wringer because of their own hubris and Minor Premise presents an interesting version of this story, albeit one that’s a little more heady than most.

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February 6, 2022July 22, 2022 leebutler Review

The Tender Bar (2022) – Cheers!

Released: 7th January
Seen: 31st January

In 2005, reporter John Joseph ‘”JR” Moehringer released his memoir The Tender Bar to much critical acclaim. The book detailed his life from childhood through college and into his mid-30s, largely surrounding the people who he happened to meet at a bar called Dickens. The book was a success and like a lot of successful books, it eventually got turned into a movie because apparently, we’ve hit the point where writers’ memoirs get to turn into movies… maybe we’ll be lucky and JR won’t turn out to be a piece of shit like the guy who wrote Hillbilly Elegy. He already has a leg up by having the better movie, though it’s not a great one.

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February 4, 2022 leebutler Review

An Unquiet Grave (2020) – Silent Burial

NOTE: Here is my review from Soda & Telepaths that was posted back on October 13th, 2020

An Unquiet Grave is a 2020 Horror film that feels more like a drama at times, playing with the idea of grief and coming to terms with it. The film takes place a year after a car crash has taken the life of Jamie’s (Jacob A. Ware) wife and he still hasn’t come to terms with it, but he has found a ritual that he can use to bring her back. He brings his wife’s sister Ava (Christine Nyland) with him to help perform this ritual but Ava soon discovers that she might not actually survive this ritual, and now Jamie will have to deal with the guilt of exchanging Ava’s life for that of his wife.

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