Coco

Dias de los Muertos translated is Day of the Dead, a time when we honor our ancestors who passed into the great beyond (and no, you don’t have to be Latino).  “Coco” is the story of one boy, Miguel, who, through a family misunderstanding several generations ago, is not allowed to play or sing any sort of music.  That, in itself, would make me not want to hang around on this side of the living realm.  It’s a magical, heart-rending story that makes you want to tell certain characters in the boy’s family to “get a life”.  Dias de los Muertos is not a sad celebration, and there’s the key; it’s a celebration.  There are songs that make you want to sing along Mariachi style, can I get an “ahhhhhhhhhh ha”, and others that are heart-breakingly sweet.  It’s amazing how an animated story can make you feel like it’s something that really happened.  It’s a mystery and when you figure it out, you want to hug this kid and tell him everything is going to work out fine, just don’t give up your faith, your dreams, and practice, practice, practice.  You never know, you could become famous.  I am totally in love with this film.  I’m rating this a field of marigolds, a sugar skull, a huge plate of tamales, and a one hairless slobbery dog (that’s a good thing, a very good thing) or in other words, quatro estrella.