Coco (2017)

I liked Coco when I first saw it, but the second viewing is where it clicked. Once you notice how Lee Unkrich plants every detail early on, the whole film transforms. Layers everywhere.

Whatever you think of the story, Coco is one of the most visually extraordinary films ever shot. There are frames here that belong in a gallery. Worth seeing on the biggest screen possible.

We watched Coco together and spent an hour talking about family and memory afterward. That kind of conversation doesn't happen often. The film gives you something real to think about together.

Some elements of Coco show their age, but the core of it — family and memory, Michael Giacchino's score — hasn't diminished at all. Films this good age better than almost anything else.

Every choice in Coco feels deliberate. The framing, the pacing, Remember Me to Mama Coco — Lee Unkrich is operating at a level most filmmakers never reach. It's the kind of film you study rather than just watch.