modmove » P.J. Byrne

Coyote vs. Acme Movie Review

admin — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 16:41:53 +0000

Waking up on Saturday mornings to the plethora of cartoons emitted from the then-small television screen was something almost every young child looked forward to. Of all the shows, The Road Runner Show was a favourite because it was subversive (long before you knew what that word meant) and ultra-violent. You knew the poor coyote would never actually catch his prey, but you revelled in his failures, that and all the gadgets.

Those wild gadgets would alway carry the Acme label, and the brand suffered from extreme quality-control issues. They never worked as advertised, and those products inform the story here. The film starts with a bit of industrial maleficence and then jumps to some Road Runner versus Coyote action. It looks magnificent on the big screen and sets the visual tone for what follows.

The mix of live action and cartoon characters has been done before (think Who Framed Roger Rabbit) but never in quite this fashion. Even the real actors chosen for the main roles (Will Forte and John Cena) have more than a bit of cartoon ethos in them. Forte as the lawyer who takes on the case against the big conglomerate Acme on behalf of Wile E. Coyote hits the right marks to give the fight a proper David and Goliath feel.

Drawing a parallel with the overabundance of power modern corporations now wield, the court scenes are especially topical. The satisfaction of the little guy coming out ahead is especially apparent when Wile E. captures the baddies with a great Rube Goldberg contraption. This film is surprisingly accessible for audiences of all ages and, looking for context in relation to events of today, has an underlying sense of subversion. Now the only thing missing is a breakfast bowl of rainbow coloured sugar.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/PinnacleFilmsAU

Watch the new featurette for Babylon – in cinemas January 19!

admin — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 16:03:49 +0000

From Damien Chazelle, Babylon is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li and Jean Smart.

A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.

Babylon will be released in Australian cinemas January 19!
www.facebook.com/ParamountPicturesAU/

Check out the second trailer for ‘Rampage’ starring Dwayne Johnson!

admin — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 16:12:31 +0000

Primatologist Davis Okoye, a man who keeps people at a distance, shares an unshakable bond with George, the extraordinarily intelligent, silverback gorilla who has been in his care since birth.

But a rogue genetic experiment gone awry mutates this gentle ape into a raging creature of enormous size. To make matters worse, it’s soon discovered there are other similarly altered animals.

As these newly created alpha predators tear across North America, destroying everything in their path, Okoye teams with a discredited genetic engineer to secure an antidote, fighting his way through an ever-changing battlefield, not only to halt a global catastrophe but to save the fearsome creature that was once his friend.

RAMPAGE is directed by Brad Peyton and stars Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Akerman, Jake Lacy, Joe Manganiello, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, P.J. Byrne, Marley Shelton, Breanne Hill, Jack Quaid, Matt Gerald, Jason Liles, Demetrius Grosse, Will Yun Lee.

RAMPAGE releases in Australian cinemas on April 12, 2018.
www.facebook.com/RampageTheMovie

Watch Dwayne Johnson Battles Giant Monsters in the First Official ‘Rampage’ Trailer!

admin — Thu, 23 Nov 2017 16:56:05 +0000

Primatologist Davis Okoye, a man who keeps people at a distance, shares an unshakable bond with George, the extraordinarily intelligent, silverback gorilla who has been in his care since birth. But a rogue genetic experiment gone awry mutates this gentle ape into a raging creature of enormous size. To make matters worse, it’s soon discovered there are other similarly altered animals.

RAMPAGE releases in Australian cinemas on April 12, 2018.
www.facebook.com/RampageTheMovie