Female Film Critics 24/375
Coyote vs. Acme is a delightful late summer surprise. This live-action/animated misadventure originated in Ian Frazier’s 1990 humorous anti-corporate New Yorker satire, a mock court case in which Looney Tunes’ resilient Wile E. Coyote sues the Acme Corporation for all the defective mail-order products (rocket-propelled roller skates, jet-boosted pogo stick) that have malfunctioned as he relentlessly chased the Road Runner
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Three years after being shelved for a tax write-off, Coyote vs. Acme screeches into theaters, as much a metaphor for perseverance as its wily protagonist. Boulder-size expectations aside, it’s delightful, a screwball, surprisingly poignant tribute to creativity, friendship, and that indefatigable super genius, Wile E. Coyote. Based on Ian Frazier’s dryly brilliant short story in The New Yorker, Coyote vs. Acme</em> blends live action with animation as the dogged desert dweller once again fails to trap his white whale, the Road Runner (scientific name: Fastas Hellus</em>), because of some flawed Acme product.
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Wile E. Coyote is tired. Tired of playing the game. Tired of being blown up by explosives. Tired of being hit in the head with anvils. Tired of being demolished by dynamite. Tired of being hurled off cliffs. He’s so tired. But not too tired to fight back. Teaming up with billboard accident lawyer Kevin Avery (Will Forte), the worn out wolf sues Acme for continual product failure and ends up going to battle with the profit-obsessed conglomerate’s bull dog attorney Buddy Crane, over acted by John Cena, uncovering a corporate cover-up in the process. Instead of just wanting to eat the Roadrunner, a whole other side of Mr. Coyote is revealed.
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Harper Steele was always Harper Steele but for most of her life she wore the persona of Andrew Steele, an Iowa born and raised comedian and writer who worked on Saturday Night Live for many years. That is where Andrew first met a fresh-faced Will Ferrell in 1995 and the two became close friends and collaborators. Andrew was in Will’s corner when other people thought he was a dud addition to the famous sketch show. Andrew and Will were part of a core group of comedians and writers who included Tina Fey, Will Forte, Tim Meadows, Seth Meyers, Kristen Wiig, and Molly Shannon (all of whom make appearances) and so many more. Josh Rosenbaum’s documentary Will & Harper begins with “Famous movie star, Will Ferrell” relating his thirty-year friendship with Andrew and the email he received which caught him unaware – Andrew had transitioned to her authentic self, Harper, and was now living as a woman. Harper hoped Will would still want her in his life.
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If you’re looking for a Netflix series to stream, I highly recommend Sweet Tooth. As you might guess from the improbable title, it’s an unusual, post-apocalyptic tale, one that tugs at your heart. As the narrator (James Brolin) explains, in the decade after the ‘Great Crumble,’ when much of humanity succumbed to the deadly H5G9 virus, human mothers began to give birth to half-animal infants.
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Sweet, clever and wryly funny, the Irish bogey tale Extra Ordinary. walks the fine between poking fun at genre tropes and mocking them. It’s more closely aligned with Beetlejuice than the crude Scary Movie franchise, and its carefully drawn characters—even the scene stealers—make for an experience that’s surprisingly emotionally satisfying.
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Opening August 14, the AWFJ Movie of the Week is She’s Funny That Way, the new film from actor/writer/director Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show). Described as a screwball comedy in the same vein as Bogdanovich’s 1972 classic What’s Up Doc?, it follows the interconnected lives of the cast and crew of a Broadway show. The all-star ensemble features Imogen Poots, Jennifer Aniston, Kathryn Hahn, Owen Wilson and Will Forte, among others. Read on…
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