SYNOPSIS: In “Coyote vs. ACME,” a new hybrid live-action/animated comedy now playing in theatres, Will Forte plays a down-and-out attorney who becomes Wile E. Coyote’s lawyer. “Have you ever set a big stack of TNT on the road hoping to blow up your nemesis, but the detonator itself explodes? Have you ever pulled the rip cord of your parachute and only a bunch of silverware comes out? It’s not your fault! ACME is evil!”
CAST: Will Forte, Lana Condor, Tone Bell, Luis Guzmán, Martha Kelly, P.J. Byrne, John Cena. Eric Bauza, Kenneth Choi, Candi Milo, Jim Cummings. Directed by Dave Green.
REVIEW: Shot years ago and shelved as a tax write off by Warner Bros. Discovery in 2023, “Coyote vs. ACME” is finally getting its richly deserved chance at a big screen release courtesy of Ketchup Entertainment.
Anyone familiar with Wile E. Coyote’s endless pursuit of the Road Runner, will also know of his unsuccessful use of rocket-powered roller skates, anvils, dehydrated boulders and many other tools of destruction manufactured by ACME.
After years of unsuccessfully using their products Wile E. Coyote has had enough. Holding a placard reading “ACME SUCKS,” he hires down-on-his-luck attorney Kevin Avery (Will Forte) to sue ACME Corporation for selling defective gadgets. “ACME has knowingly been making dangerous products for decades!”
As ACME’s lawyer, the ruthless Buddy Crane (John Cena), prepares to go scorched earth on Avery—“I don’t just want him scared, I want him ruined!”—the case reveals ACME as a profit-obsessed conglomerate with no regard for the safety of its customers. “Wile E. Coyote,” says Crane, “is reckless and all his injuries are self-inflicted.”
A mix of live action and animation, à la “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “Coyote vs. ACME” blends a high-level comedic cast, led by Will Forte, and classic cartoon characters in a rambunctious comedy that captures the anarchic spirit of Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies films.
It’s a love letter to the cartoons that inspired it, but it’s not simply a rehash of decades old animated movies. Instead, it takes well-known characters, like Wile E. Coyote, the Roadrunner, Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck and many others (mostly voiced by Canadian actor Eric Bauza), and creates a new world for them to inhabit without losing what made them fun in the first place.
Wile, for instance, is taking on ACME, an even bigger foe than The Roadrunner, but just like in the old shorts, he refuses to give up no matter what. His perseverance against Sisyphean odds is the thing that makes him lovable, and when echoed in Avery’s rediscovery of what the law can do for his client, brings a nice symmetry to the storytelling. “He’s one of the most hard-working people I’ve ever met,” Avery says of Wile. “He would never think of quitting. And I think everyone should be inspired by that.”
Fans will uncover Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies tributes throughout. “That’s all folks,” written in dust on the back of Avery’s car, is a throwback reframed as a veiled threat from opposing council. The non-consensualist Pepé Le Pew is blasted with anti-predator spray, and Foghorn Leghorn as ACME CEO.
Hard core fans will note that Forte’s character, Kevin Avery shares a last name with Tex Avery , director and co-creator of the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies style.
“Coyote vs. ACME” is a lot of fun, creating something new from the nostalgia fans feel for these characters and their trademarked brand of comedic chaos. It hits the anvil on the head (or should that be the other way around?) with impossible cartoon physics, humor—Forte and Cena are live action but have a fun cartoon vibe—heart and even some unexpected anti-corporate messaging.
SYNOPSIS: In “Buddy,” a comedy slasher film now playing in theatres, the host of a children’s television show has some dark secrets.
CAST: Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Patton Oswalt, Michael Shannon, Topher Grace, Keegan-Michael Key. Directed by Casper Kelly.
REVIEW: There’s no Tickle Trunk in “It’s Buddy,” the kid’s show within the movie. If there was, it would be used to store the bodies of Buddy’s victims.
A nightmarish version of “Barney & Friends” with a side of “Pee Wee’s Playhouse” thrown in for good measure, the show is a brightly colored kid’s show, hosted by a giant unicorn who should rightly be called Bloody instead of Buddy, where children are taught basic skills, manners and how to run for their lives.
This strange blast of 90s nostalgia begins with increasingly demented episodes of the TV show. The kids dance and sing simple songs—”I love Buddy yes I do, I’m so glad he loves me too.”—while Buddy (Keegan-Michael Key) becomes increasingly erratic when one youngster (Tory Jacqui Malone) refuses to play along.
Soon, the kid disappears and an argument with the show’s nurse turns violent.
“Everything’s fine,” says Strappy, the chipper backpack (Patton Oswalt), “look at how tightly he’s hugging her neck!” The remaining children flee, disappearing into the make-believe world of Diamond City with Buddy in pursuit. “I hate Buddy yes I do, I hate, I hate, I hate you,” they sing. “Stab your heart and kick your knee, Buddy you’re my enemy!”
Meanwhile, in present day, suburban mother Grace (Cristin Milioti) with the help of a parapsychologist is sucked into the television and the deadly world of “It’s Buddy.”
Definitely not kid friendly, “Buddy” is a tribute to an unlikely combo of 90s kids shows and the era’s slasher movies. The mix and match is a one joke premise, but it’s a pretty good joke that sustains the film’s brisk ninety-minute running time.
From the songs like, “You Gotta Be Scared to be Brave,” which sound like echoes from an alternate “Barney” universe, and Keegan-Michael Key’s twisted Pee Wee Herman vocal tribute (“Now it’s time for your hug,” he says before dispatching a victim.), to period perfect set design and Clint Howard’s nutty performance as a former kid show host, “Buddy” is a keenly observed, if somewhat absurd take on its inspirations.
“Buddy” is a cult movie in the making, a bizzarro blast of retro fun.
I appear on “CTV News at 11:30” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the weekend’s best movies and shows including Matthew McConaughey in the character study “The Rivals of Amziah King,” the Disney+ documentary “Travis Barker Louder Than Fear” and the Bigfoot movie “Sawtooth Mountain” on Tubi.
I appear on “CTV News at 6” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the family fantasy fiulm “The Magic Faraway Tree,” the Crave DC drama “Lanterns” with Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre and the witty and wistful “Late Fame” starring Willem Dafoe and Greta Lee.
I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Zuraidah Alman to talk about the fantasy of “The Magic Faraway Tree,” the horrors of “Insidious: Out of the Further,” the character study of “The Rivals of Amziah King” and the drama of “Late Fame.”
I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Zuraidah Alman to talk about the fantasy of “The Magic Faraway Tree,” the horrors of “Insidious: Out of the Further,” the character study of “The Rivals of Amziah King” and the drama of “Late Fame.”
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Akshay Tandon to talk about the fantasy of “The Magic Faraway Tree,” the horrors of “Insidious: Out of the Further,” the character study of “The Rivals of Amziah King” and the drama of “Late Fame.”
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make a sandwich. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the fantasy of “The Magic Faraway Tree,” the character study of “The Rivals of Amziah King” and the drama of “Late Fame.”
SYNOPSIS: In “Insidious: Out of the Further,” the sixth installment in the supernatural “Insidious” franchise now playing in theatres, a young mother’s explorations into The Further, the world of lost souls, causes her to be haunted by malevolent forces.
CAST: Amelia Eve, Brandon Perea, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Lin Shaye. Directed by Jacob Chase.
REVIEW: More of the same from the “Insidious” series after a few wobbly years, “Insidious: Out of the Further” plays on nostalgia with the return of franchise favorite Lin Shaye but freshens things up with a revolving door between the worlds of the dead and the living, and the introduction of a charismatic and chatty villain who resembles a cross between Ozzy Osbourne and an extra from a Marilyn Manson video.
A sequel to 2023s “Insidious: The Red Door,” the new film centers on Gemma (Amelia Eve), a young mom living in her childhood home with daughter Maya (Island Austin). Plagued dark and intense dreams that make her lose track of time, she is slowly losing her grip on reality.
At least she thinks they’re dreams. “Ever since she was born, it’s been just the two of us,” she says. “We were really happy … until I started having these dreams.”
Turns out, she is astrally projecting into The Further, a purgatory of lost souls. “You have a rare gift,” says psychic medium and paranormal investigator Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye), “the ability to travel into the realm between this world and the next one.”
Gemma’s “rare gift” comes fraught with real danger. “You can do something I didn’t know was possible,” says Elise. “You can bring demons back to the human world permanently.”
When The Further’s malevolent inhabitants see a pathway through Gemma to the real world, the boundary between their dominion and ours is breached. “When the dead rise,” says Elise, “it’ll be the end of the living.”
A 2020 “Science of Scare” study declared “Insidious,” the 2010 movie that kicked off the franchise, contained the most frightening jump scare ever. The intensity director James Wan captured in that sequence, unfortunately, has been diluted in the five subsequent films.
“Insidious: Out of the Further” does have its moments. Gemma’s journey through her daughter’s labyrinthine coach cushion fort is an effective exercise in claustrophobic horror, there are some mild jump scares, general uneasiness and icky tooth terror that may put you off scheduling a dentist appointment any time soon. It’s a bonus points that the creepy stuff is created using practical effects and that it maintains a connection to the franchise lore while being a standalone film. But there is nothing that comes close to matching Wan’s terrifying image of the Lipstick-Face Demon appearing behind new father Josh Lambert in the first film. Perhaps familiarity with the franchise tropes has created, if not contempt, then a mild disinterest for the secrets of The Further.
“Insidious: Out of the Further” rides the line between freshening things up and fan service, but, despite the introduction of new characters, it feels like it is out of new ideas.
