Coyote vs. Acme (2026)

For three generations, my family has enjoyed Road Runner and Coyote shorts more than most Looney Tunes outings. It didn't take much to convince my mom, sister, and nephew to come to a theater with me. I was a little worried that a live-action setting would spell less family-friendliness, but hey, I'd seen Who Framed Roger Rabbit many times by my nephew's age.

Wile E. Coyote, mute as usual, finally decides to hire toon-focused Albuquerque human attorney Kevin Avery (Will Forte) to sue Acme for all the dangerously defective products he's used to try to catch the Road Runner (Eric Bauza, who voices most of the male toons). Kevin balks at the idea of covering lots of products in a single lawsuit, but avid intern Paige (Lana Condor) thinks it's just what the struggling firm of Avery, Jones, and Maltese (no doubt named for Tex, Chuck, and Michael) needs. Of course, a megacorporation has a tough lawyer, namely Kevin's ex-classmate Buddy Crane (John Cena). And it's not brutal only in the courtroom.

Get the Gringo (2012)

I think this is the first movie I've seen with Mel Gibson in an acting role to have come out after 2000. Certainly the first after his two notorious scandals of the 2000s. I'm not sure what prompted me to save it to my YouTube watch list, but I know the main reason I chose it: a short runtime.

A robber (Gibson) tries to escape the police by crossing the border, only to get caught by corrupt Mexican cops. Keeping his loot for themselves, they send him to an unorthodox prison that's basically a walled-off, crime-ridden village, complete with families and a rich-poor gap. Not an easy place for an American to survive, but as a former U.S. Army sniper, he has skills to draw the attention of the de facto leaders....