Coyote vs Acme (2026)

I don't know if you followed the battle behind the scenes on this one but basically, Warner Bros. intentionally shelved it for a tax write-off and only allowed distribution after a massive public outcry.  It's always worth it to stand up to giant corporations if only to remind them that they are outnumbered but also because this was a very good movie that deserved to be seen.

Wile E. Coyote is sick of being injured by faulty ACME products.  He hires a local lawyer, Kevin Avery (Will Forte) to sue.  Avery does a lot of low-level suits against ACME, usually settling for a couple hundred bucks each time.  It's routine paperwork that isn't glamorous but pays the bills.  Coyote isn't satisfied with that and includes every single product in the catalog.  This triggers a massive lawsuit that gets the attention of ACME's top lawyer, Buddy Crane (John Cena).  The more Avery digs into ACME, the shadier things get.

This film felt like a spiritual successor to Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  The mix of live-action and cartoon was really well integrated.  I also loved the use of archival Looney Tunes clips standing in for historical footage.  The human cast is very good.  I've not seen Will Forte in a lot of things because I don't particularly like SNL or it's various spin-off characters but I do like Lana Condor and John Cena.  Eric Bauza is also a new name to me and he does the lion's share of work in the film as the voice of nearly all the Looney Tunes characters.  Truly, a herculean effort to stand in Mel Blanc's shoes.

I know going to the theater is hard because of all the options streaming right to your couch, but if you can, stick it to Warner Bros. by seeing this as it was intended to be seen.

Eighth Grade (2018)

  Look, I'm sure this is relatable to somebody.  Just not me.

Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher) is desperate to end her eighth grade year successfully.  She vlogs about positivity and "fake it til you make it" self-esteem, while fighting her own anxiety and shyness.  An opportunity to shadow a high schooler (Emily Robinson) seems like a perfect chance to re-invent herself but there are traps to navigate that she could never anticipate.

If you like awkward comedy, this movie is a goldmine.  Personally, I do not.  I found myself sighing in aggravation more than once and actively fast-forwarding through the most annoying bits.  As always, your mileage may vary.  This was a huge hit with the critics, an indie darling, praised for its realism and Fisher's performance.  Sure.  I don't hang out near middle schoolers because that's gross, but it seems like an accurate portrayal.  It's streaming on Tubi.

Destroyer (2018)

  It is shocking how dull this film is, given how stacked a cast it has.

Erin Bell (Nicole Kidman) is a bad cop.  She has drifted into alcoholism and substance abuse after a disastrous undercover operation with a gang of bank robbers led to the death of her partner (Sebastian Stan).  But when it appears that the gang leader, Silas (Toby Kebbell) has resurfaced, Erin goes on a mission of revenge.

This should have been better.  It has a high-profile cast, which includes Tatiana Maslany, Bradley Whitford, and Scoot McNairy, and is directed by Karyn Kusama.  Kidman even donned horrible fake teeth and put on makeup to make her skin look bad.  And I think that's ultimately my problem.  It felt like a math problem, a calculated effort to win an award, instead of trying to tell a story well.  And that sucks.  Because it's a good story with an unlikable protagonist that unfolds like origami over the runtime, building an empathetic response.  It just doesn't work.

It is only streaming on Amazon Prime until the end of the month, after which it presumably returns to the dust heap of history.  It's a shame because Kidman is very good.  She just looks like she's trying too hard to be Charlize Theron.

Boyz N the Hood (1991)

  Content warning:  homophobic and racial slurs

Tired of her son, Tre, getting in fights at school, Reva (Angela Bassett) sends him to live with his father (Lawrence Fishbourne) in Crenshaw.  Seven years later, Tre (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) is set to graduate high school.  His best friends Doughboy (Ice Cube) and Ricky (Morris Chestnut) still live across the street, but are on vastly different paths in life.  Doughboy has an extensive criminal record and Ricky is hoping for a football scholarship.  The three teens try to navigate life, love, and the crushing oppression of poverty and discrimination.  

This was an incredibly powerful film and I'm ashamed it took me this long to watch it.  John Singleton died several years ago at a relatively young age and watching this only reinforces what a talent was lost.  It launched the careers of Bassett, Gooding, Jr., Chestnut, Regina King, and Nia Long.  Ice Cube was already famous as a rapper and lyricist, but this showcases his dramatic talent that gets unfairly overlooked.  The pitfalls of an abundance of riches.

It is streaming on Tubi but only until the end of the month so if you've been waiting, you might want to jump in soon-ish.

Come From Away (2021)

  I add things to my To Be Watched list with reckless disregard.  So sometimes I get surprised.  Like with this musical about 9/11.

The town of Gander, Newfoundland, is home to around 7000 residents and, at one time, the largest airport in the world before transatlantic flight was achievable.  In September, 2001, it suddenly became the emergency stopping point for 38 passenger planes diverted from U.S. airspace after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  With only hours to prepare, and a gridlock with the school bus union, the townspeople scramble to find accomodations, food, toiletries, and all the other necessary things.  There are language barriers, dietary restrictions, fear, panic, grief, and suspicions to overcome.  All conveyed through 16 songs by a cast of 12.

This is a filmed production of the original Broadway cast.  I literally knew nothing walking in and I was blown away by how easy it was to keep track of all the characters being played.  The entire cast was incredible.  Every person played at least four roles as well as all the background work in the chorus.  

I had never heard this particular 9/11 story before and it was extremely wholesome and Canadian.  A++.  Still not going to Newfoundland.  It looks really cold.  But the musical is warm and cozy and streaming on AppleTV.

Cop Car (2015)

  Content warning:  blood, child endangerment

Travis (James Freedson-Jackson) and Harrison (Hays Wellford) are running away from home when they find a cop car in a field.  It's unlocked and the keys are inside.  Obviously, there's only one thing the boys can do.  Sheriff Kretzer (Kevin Bacon) returns from dumping a body in a convenient abandoned well to find his patrol car full of incriminating evidence gone.  Now it's a game of wits between a corrupt cop and two ten-year-olds.

First of all, THIS IS WHY GIRLS LIVE LONGER THAN BOYS.  The most harrowing moments in this film don't come from a desperate man threatening children, they come from the children themselves, blithely handling firearms, a portable defibrillator, and speeding down the center of a highway.  If you are a parent, this probably qualifies as a horror movie.  

However, I am just a cat lady so I thought this was hilarious.  It feels like a darker version of classic Disney children's adventure movies.  It makes great use of a very small cast, keeping the two boys centered in the action.  They seem absolutely real, from the dialogue to the general goofing around.  I don't know how director Jon Watts coached them, but he got the most natural performances I have seen in ages out of them.  

This was a Sundance darling but bombed at the box office.  It needs a second chance.  It's currently streaming on Amazon Prime, if you are in the mood for a tightly paced, black comedy that feels almost like nostalgia but isn't.

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

  Another classic comedy that had aged like milk.  Content warning:  spousal abuse

Socialite Tracy Lords (Katherine Hepburn) is getting married... again.  This time to coal mine owner George Kittredge (John Howard).  It's set to be the social event of the season and the press are not invited. Except that publisher Sidney Kidd (Henry Daniell) has information on a scandal involving Tracy's father (John Halliday) and sends his best reporter, Mike Connor (James Stewart), and photographer, Liz Imbrie (Ruth Hussey), down to blackmail their way in with the help of Tracy's first husband, C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant).  But motivations shift as easily as sand as people's true natures are revealed.

This is just Pride and Prejudice with a Trans-Atlantic accent.  A lot of the gender politics are severely outdated, and not in a fun Oh-that's-just-the-times kind of way.  Apparently, Hepburn loved the scene where Grant shoves her to the ground by her face so much that she had him run it multiple times, but it no longer reads as comedic.  

A lot of the inter-character dialogue is still very sharp, and funny, like every line Dinah (Virginia Weidler) has is a scene-stealer, but overall this movie was tedious and grating.  It's streaming for free on Tubi.   Skip it and watch literally anything else.