Coyote v. Acme (1990)

(newyorker.com)

93 points | by ChrisArchitect 3 days ago

6 comments

  • ggambetta 3 hours ago
    Can't wait for the movie. I grew up on Roadrunner cartoons (among others, most notably Top Cat and Scooby Doo), and some of my earliest childhood drawings are elaborate diagrams of traps to catch the Roadrunner, with detailed if implausible Rube Goldberg mechanics. The Coyote might have nudged me towards engineering, not even joking.
    • qingcharles 3 minutes ago
      I really enjoyed the movie. Had some really, really funny moments. I was hoping for more of the legal aspects to be explored, but that doesn't happen :)
    • mholt 1 hour ago
      Reading these replies and you'd think HN'ers have no fun (or feelings) at all. The movie is funny, clever, clean (good for families/kids), emotional, and has important lessons and metacommentary that adults will enjoy. Not to mention the irony of the plot with what happened to the movie in real life. Go see the movie.
    • bthallplz 55 minutes ago
      Watching it in the theater was a fun experience. It seemed like most of the audience were containing their laughter, but me and one other guy were just belting out laughing. It'd be fun to go see again simply to get a sense for how many people will be less reserved with their laughter.
    • BloondAndDoom 26 minutes ago
      I went for the kids but enjoyed way more than I thought I would. So many references to childhood memories.
    • glimshe 3 hours ago
      It's a bit disappointing, I'm sorry to say. It's just not as funny as it looks. I went to the movie with the whole family and, despite loving Road Runner, it felt repetitive and stale.

      Not too bad, but not great either. If you lower your expectations you may enjoy it more than we did.

      • negzero7 3 hours ago
        It was a good popcorn movie. My family and I loved it and thought it was funny. The story line itself was predictable and repetitive as you said but the throwbacks, cameos, and nostalgia was very fun.
      • jolt42 16 minutes ago
        I didn't find the original R.R. particularly funny like the other Looney characters, I was more drawn in by the cleverness or "what is going to happen next?".
      • pizza234 3 hours ago
        I personally liked it a lot (although I don't think it's "great" either), because I find it very funny to see cartoon characters in roles that are far from their canon. I've even found moving the scene where Wiley shows the value of persistence.
        • jolt42 38 minutes ago
          The Looney Toons Show from 2011 - I thought the same about role changes, but the show is an absolute gem, at least the second season when they got the characters to gel.
      • dragonfax 2 hours ago
        Loved it myself. Brought a friend that grew up on Looney Tunes and he had a blast. Couldn't stop laughing the whole time.

        It's pretty much constant jokes except for a few emotional bits that actually work, surprisingly.

      • steve_gh 3 hours ago
        Went to see it with family last night. We loved it.
        • laddershoe 2 hours ago
          I'd love to take my kids (ages 7-11) but they didn't grow up with the cartoons. Will they still find it entertaining?
          • xrd 23 minutes ago
            My kids (9 yr old girl, 11 y/o girl, 13 y/o boy) said it was the best movie they have ever seen. They are not super familiar with Looney Tunes. It isn't uncommon that they would see something and immediately it becomes their favorite movie, but the discussions afterward were different.

            I loved it (52 y/o dad). I've been fascinated by it since hearing a few years ago about the tax write off situation.

            A bit of extra context: since seeing MacGruber, I want to see anything with Will Forte (I know that's misguided, but I can't help it).

          • Doctor_Fegg 17 minutes ago
            My 10-year old loved it. I'd shown him a few Road Runner cartoons on YouTube beforehand.
          • hundt 1 hour ago
            I took my 7- and 10-year old and they enjoyed it, especially the 10yo. We watched a couple hours of Looney Tunes compilations on YouTube the day before to introduce them to the characters.
          • close04 2 hours ago
            > Will they still find it entertaining?

            Only one way to find out.

      • fortyseven 3 hours ago
        It's just might be the first negative word I've heard about it. I saw it opening weekend and it was a blast. Not groundbreaking, Roger Rabbit style, but a strangely wholesome, funny flick.
      • troupo 3 hours ago
        I feel like all Looney Tunes movies are that: not too funny and drawn out.

        A complete aside: nothing wrong with that. A forgettable afternoon entertainment is also fine. And it ahouldn't be delegated to Illumination near-monopoly on it.

      • EGreg 2 hours ago
        Saw it the other evening and I have to agree. The plot is — lame and inconsistent? I would recommend “who framed Roger Rabbit” over this.
      • AnimalMuppet 2 hours ago
        I thought it was reasonably good. A few moments were laugh-out-loud, a few were touching, a few surprise reveals, a few plot holes. Worth watching once, but not spectacular.

        But not worth watching in a theater. The big turn-off to me wasn't the movie itself. (Yeah, this is going a bit off topic.) I got in the theater ten minutes early. Eight minutes before the start time, they started showing ads for popcorn and soda. Ad after ad after ad after ad. Those ads continued until twenty five minutes after the scheduled start time. Total ads: thirty three minutes. Attached to a movie that I paid for. If theaters wonder why people don't go to movies any more, that's why. Or at least, it's a big part.

        • mattmcal 1 hour ago
          If you buy tickets online from AMC, they now show a disclaimer that tells you the movie starts around 25 minutes after the listed show time, though usually it starts 30+ minutes after.
        • PaulHoule 1 hour ago
          I can't complain. I live near a small city that was showing this film at a small and intimate cinema downtown and and at a multiplex at the mall. So there's competition and at the downtown cinema I showed up at the start time saw a few trailers and enjoyed the feature.
        • tetris11 1 hour ago
          Yep, reasonable film to stream. Wouldn't pay theatre money to go see it
        • cultofmetatron 2 hours ago
          the price for movie tickets in america are insane too. I went to see the odyssey in malaysia. It was less than half the price for an equivalent experience.
        • ViktorRay 1 hour ago
          For me I actually like seeing trailers before the movies. Personally I feel like the trailers are part of the experience and I can’t help but feel some disappointment when a movie starts with no trailers in front of it.
          • qingcharles 0 minutes ago
            It's not the trailers most people are mad about, but ads for products that they stick before the trailers even.
  • ChrisArchitect 3 days ago
    https://archive.ph/KgB6h

    New Yorker magazine article the 2026 film Coyote vs. Acme is based on. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote_vs._Acme)

  • flint 2 hours ago
    How big a miss in not turning production and direction over to Bob Odenkirk?
    • imglorp 2 hours ago
      Bob is a genius, sure, and has a little voice acting, and yes dark comedy, but why would he have been especially fitting for Looney Tunes style silliness?
      • Rooster61 1 hour ago
        His voice acting in Tim & Eric regarding the Cinco line of products seems to go right along with the humor of the iconic Acme brand. I think he'd be great at this.
  • piekvorst 24 minutes ago
    Nice text editor
  • ubermonkey 2 hours ago
    Ha! I remember reading this in print.

    In other news, I am old.

  • ingen0s 2 hours ago
    Cant we all agree that posting paywalled content is a little bit misaligned with the virtue of HN? Even if someone opens it up in the comments later.
    • mcmcmc 2 hours ago
      The virtue of HN is depriving journalists of income? Or paying for everything with data and attention?
    • doodpants 7 minutes ago
      Is it paywalled? Not sure why I can access the article, then. (Firefox, Windows, uBlock Origin)
    • hombre_fatal 1 hour ago
      No, I don’t only want personal blogs and content that’s supported by ads. And you should know how to bypass paywalls by now.
    • lstodd 2 hours ago
      Doesn't matter. They're instututionally incapable to rising back to the art of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", so it's all water under the bridge.
    • Jtariiiii 1 hour ago
      I'm not sure how people asking to be paid for their labour is against the virtue of a board run by a venture capitalist entity.
    • bryanrasmussen 1 hour ago
      it sounds like we can't all agree, but frankly I also think the writing on the wall is that there won't be much out there that isn't paywalled, and much of that will have a bunch of ads.