A review of Coco — **** out of five stars Currently in theaters

PLUS a gift review of Your Name. — **** out of five stars

Available on video

by Walter G. Tarrow

As Monty Python’s Flying Circus was wont to say: “…and now for something completely different.”

The two films I’m presenting to you are different from normal fare in that

1. They are both animated feature films
2. One is from Japan and the other, although manufactured in the United States (mostly), is located in Mexico with a story, dialogue, songs and characters that are Mexican
3. Both are enormous box office successes, with Your Name. being the most popular animated film, or anime, ever in Japan, and Coco the same in Mexico
4. The animation, a different form, as contrasted with live action, of film art and storytelling, in both cases, and for different reasons, is stunning. Coco, taking its palette from Mexican art and culture, is a neon explosion of color. Your Name. is water color subtle, sweet and beautifully breathtaking
5. Both films deal with big stuff and in, surprisingly for typical kiddie fare, deep and mature ways. Family, friends, love, destiny, memory, truth and reality are handled in complex and satisfying fashion
6. And both are not only fun but also have their fair share of funny

Coco from Disney/Pixar tells the story of little Miguel, from a family of shoemakers, who longs to be a musician, like his idol Ernesto, a famous guitarist, singer and movie star. But his great-great grandmother banned music from her family’s lives when her musician husband left them never to return.

On Día de Muertos, the day of celebration when the dead come to visit the living, their families, their loved ones, Miguel, against his grandmother’s wishes, wants to perform his music. A bizarre series of mishaps and he is among the dead in a Land of the Dead unlike anything George Romero ever envisioned. His quest to find his idol Ernesto, to get his ancestors to lift the ban on music, and to return to the land of the living before he becomes one of the Dead is amazing to behold for both parent and child alike. There are a few surprise guests (the famous artist Frida Kahlo one of them), surprise twists, plenty of action, gags, and enough colors to give Crayola apoplexy. Miguel discovers unforeseen truths and memories are revealed leading to the inevitable Pixar feel good conclusion.

The voice actors are exceptional with Anthony Gonzalez as Miguel a wonder. The music is sufficiently from south of the border but no songs really stand out. As already mentioned, the real stars are the settings (the Land of the Dead is awesome), the characters, especially Miguel’s guide to the underworld Hector (voiced by the always captivating Gael Garcia Bernal), and the color rich cinematography.

Your Name.just arrived on video from Japan and we’re all the better for it. A fantasy romance about two students, Taki, a young man from Tokyo, and Mitsuha, a girl from a small town (something like the City Mouse and the Country Mouse), inexplicably switch bodies while asleep, as if in a dream. Only the dream is real and while Taki sleeps he is in Mitsuha’s body in the town of Itomori with her grandmother and sister attending school and tending to the local shrine and religious services. And vice versa, Mitsuha inhabits Taki’s body while he also goes to school and works in a restaurant.

Much of the story deals with Taki and Mitsuha adjusting to the sometimes humorous, often confusing, switch and, very cleverly, designing ways to organize their lives and communicate with each other from afar. Coincidentally (or maybe not?) these switches occur during the time of a passing comet.

There are supernatural (surprise!) elements to the story, but the central romance that develops between these two drifting souls is poignant and bittersweet. Ultimately faced with the loss of what they’ve come to be, the story then develops a real sense of urgency. And, like dreams, their memories are fated to fade.

As with Coco, Your Name. is gorgeously drawn, colored and animated. The meteor shower that accompanies the comet’s passing is a display that rivals real life. Where Coco is a jacked up mariachi band, Your Name. is a lotus blossom slowly unfolding. And the simple piano-driven score sets a lovely tone to it all.

For the more adventurous film goer looking to expand horizons, cinematically and culturally, one can’t go wrong with either of these treasures.

Merry Christmas! See you next year for our first annual best list.