"Seize your moment!"
...That is, unless you're a heartless, murdering bastard with a butt-chin.
Hello friends!
It is I, back from another hiatus, with a movie that came out I think about a year ago?
Since it's on Netflix now, I had the pleasure of watching Disney's Coco, and I was absolutely blown away. The movie is beautiful, complex, and has a lot of very poignant, serious moments. It's a kids movie that doesn't condescend to its audience, which is a big fucking win.
In short, the premise of Coco is that a young boy in Mexico named Miguel has a passion for music that his family doesn't support because of a male family member that abandoned his wife and child to pursue a career as a singer. At the beginning of the movie, Miguel's family is in the midst of preparing to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos, a traditional celebration in which families honor deceased loved ones by leaving out offerings for the spirits (among other traditions).
In Miguel's city/village (not sure), there is a talent competition that is a part of the Dia de Los Muertos festivities. However, when Miguel tells his family that he wants to perform, his family destroys his guitar. Unwilling to give up, Miguel breaks into the mausoleum of the famous singer Ernesto de la Cruz, whom Miguel believes is his great-great grandfather, to steal Cruz's guitar.
However, when Miguel strums this guitar, he is transported to the spirit world...and hi-jinx ensue (I don't want to spoil the whole movie).
I have absolutely nothing to criticize about this movie...except for the fact that it is highly unlikely that Miguel could construct his own guitar out of scraps, but whatever (I'm also not going to split hairs about how the guitar playing animation doesn't always match the guitar playing in the music).
The script for this film is fantastic, and full of little twists that caught me completely by surprise, which I like. I feel like the journey into the world of the dead is something that has been done many times before, but Coco delivers its own reiteration of this trope with style and originality.
The animation in Coco is also TO DIE FOR. The colors are VIBRANT. They put so much life and personality into WALKING SKELETONS. The "real world" or human world in this movie is colorful in it's depiction, but when Miguel enters the world of the dead, DUDE. For a world of the dead, it's so full of LIFE! This is one of those films that gives you a magical feeling as you watch it. You just get engulfed in the sights and the sounds and can completely escape your reality. I love it.
Finally, BIG FUCKIN POINTS TO DISNEY FOR MAKING A MOVIE WITH AN ALL LATINO PRINCIPAL CAST!!! (Apparently, Coco is the first feature film with a nine-figure budget to do so and I am SO happy).
AAAND finally finally, Coco does an excellent job of not only tackling the subject of death and remembrance in a way that's approachable for all ages, but it offers a nice little peek at Mexican culture and the tradition of Dia de Los Muertos, which is awesome.
In summary: all you gotta know about Coco is that it's a beautifully animated film that touches difficult subjects and a different culture in a way that kids can understand (without being condescending) and people of all ages can enjoy. If you haven't seen it, give it a watch ASAP!
Rating: A+
...That is, unless you're a heartless, murdering bastard with a butt-chin.
Hello friends!
It is I, back from another hiatus, with a movie that came out I think about a year ago?
Since it's on Netflix now, I had the pleasure of watching Disney's Coco, and I was absolutely blown away. The movie is beautiful, complex, and has a lot of very poignant, serious moments. It's a kids movie that doesn't condescend to its audience, which is a big fucking win.
In short, the premise of Coco is that a young boy in Mexico named Miguel has a passion for music that his family doesn't support because of a male family member that abandoned his wife and child to pursue a career as a singer. At the beginning of the movie, Miguel's family is in the midst of preparing to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos, a traditional celebration in which families honor deceased loved ones by leaving out offerings for the spirits (among other traditions).
In Miguel's city/village (not sure), there is a talent competition that is a part of the Dia de Los Muertos festivities. However, when Miguel tells his family that he wants to perform, his family destroys his guitar. Unwilling to give up, Miguel breaks into the mausoleum of the famous singer Ernesto de la Cruz, whom Miguel believes is his great-great grandfather, to steal Cruz's guitar.
However, when Miguel strums this guitar, he is transported to the spirit world...and hi-jinx ensue (I don't want to spoil the whole movie).
I have absolutely nothing to criticize about this movie...except for the fact that it is highly unlikely that Miguel could construct his own guitar out of scraps, but whatever (I'm also not going to split hairs about how the guitar playing animation doesn't always match the guitar playing in the music).
The script for this film is fantastic, and full of little twists that caught me completely by surprise, which I like. I feel like the journey into the world of the dead is something that has been done many times before, but Coco delivers its own reiteration of this trope with style and originality.
The animation in Coco is also TO DIE FOR. The colors are VIBRANT. They put so much life and personality into WALKING SKELETONS. The "real world" or human world in this movie is colorful in it's depiction, but when Miguel enters the world of the dead, DUDE. For a world of the dead, it's so full of LIFE! This is one of those films that gives you a magical feeling as you watch it. You just get engulfed in the sights and the sounds and can completely escape your reality. I love it.
Finally, BIG FUCKIN POINTS TO DISNEY FOR MAKING A MOVIE WITH AN ALL LATINO PRINCIPAL CAST!!! (Apparently, Coco is the first feature film with a nine-figure budget to do so and I am SO happy).
AAAND finally finally, Coco does an excellent job of not only tackling the subject of death and remembrance in a way that's approachable for all ages, but it offers a nice little peek at Mexican culture and the tradition of Dia de Los Muertos, which is awesome.
In summary: all you gotta know about Coco is that it's a beautifully animated film that touches difficult subjects and a different culture in a way that kids can understand (without being condescending) and people of all ages can enjoy. If you haven't seen it, give it a watch ASAP!
Rating: A+
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