It's All About Family... "Coco"

Coco (2017)

Rated PG

Starring Anthony Gonzalez, Gael Garcia Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach

Directed by Lee Unkrich & Adrian Molina

The Story:

Miguel (Gonzalez) was born with music in his heart, but unfortunately it is a passion not shared, in fact it's forbidden, by his family, and has been for generations. When he finds himself spirited away to the Land of the Dead during the Day of the Dead festival. Hoping to meet his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (Bratt). If he can return to the land of the living with an ancestral blessing, perhaps he can finally play his music?

Okay, before we get to yet another gushing of adulation for this film, let's all pause for a moment and reflect on 20th Century Fox's The Book of Life which hit theaters in 2014 and took us to the Land of the Dead already.

It's a great, visually stunning movie that was overlooked, likely because it doesn't have the same Disney/Pixar connection with audiences.

It had a great voice cast, gorgeous animation and a love story at the heart of their adventure.

You can argue which of these is better, and you're not wrong. Same yet different, both worthy of your time and attention.

Coco offers much the same, but their story goes down the family avenue instead.

The secondary, and perhaps more important story in the film is that of Hector (Bernal) who is trying desperately to cross back over one more time so that he will not be forgotten. He's hoping to use Miguel to get back and ensure his picture could be placed on the family mantle so that he will be remembered by future generations.

In other words:

bring tissues

This is Pixar firing on all cylinders again, and it's good to have them back at their A-game.

And for that, I reward them.

Final Grade:  A

You're Going To Need A Bigger Statham! "The Meg"

The Meg (2018)

Rated PG-13

Starring Jason Statham, Bingbing Li, Rainn Wilson, Cliff Curtis, Shuya Sophia Cai, Winston Chao, Page Kennedy,

Directed by John Turteltaub

The Story:

Diving in the depths of the Mariana Trench to test a hypothesis on the actual bottom of the ocean floor, the submarine becomes immobilized and requires a deep sea rescue. The only man for the job is now a drunk, who refuses to step foot back into the ocean because he lost his best friends years ago in a freak accident. When he learns that the cause of the destruction may be the long extinct Megalodon, he heads back into the sea to extract revenge and save the day.

Or...

Jason Statham versus a giant killer shark!

:)

If you've seen the trailer, you know exactly what to expect with this one.

It's a B horror movie that takes itself seriously enough, while having fun in the process.

Turteltaub also fills the movie with plenty of homages to Jaws in the process. Nothing dialogue wise, unless I missed it, but a lot of shots are cribbed beautifully from that movie and are a nice touch.

I'm happy to say that in the pantheon of shark movies, this one joins the list of my favorite killer shark movies of all time:

Jaws
The Meg
Deep Blue Sea
The Shallows
Jaws 2

And no, sorry, Sharknado is nowhere to be found on that list. :)

Whether you want to rush out and see it in theaters, or wait until the eventual Netflix release, that's up to you.

I went last night, took my favorite date, and we both enjoyed it.

I'll be adding it to my home library by Christmas I would imagine.

Final Grade: Solid B for a fun B-Movie!