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Pan's Labyrinth; El Laberinto del Fauno
Topic Started: Jan 19 2007, 08:32 AM (292 Views)
Laughing Gravy
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Saw this with Kid Gravy last weekend, and will never forget it.

A very dark fairy tale set in fascist Spain, where the rebels have lost the civil war but won't admit it yet. At a remote forest outpost, a little girl named Ofelia arrives with her pregnant mother to join the girl's stepfather, a cruel army captain. In the forest, Ofelia encounters fairies, who take her to Fauno, a strange creature who tells her that she's a fairy princess who will assume her rightful form if she can perform three specific impossible tasks.

First of all, this is not for pre-teens. Captain Vidal's treatment of captured rebels (or suspected rebels) is violent and cruel beyond reason. The denizens of the forest are scary, and not little kid scary, but just plain scary: I never gave much thought to what the "boogeyman" looked like, but he's definitely in this movie, sitting at a table full of food.

So now you know what to expect, don't miss it. It's fascinating, tense, amazingly creative, and a fantasy that is both fantastic and yet realistic. Ivana Baquero is wonderful as Ofelia; Ariadna Gil is terrific as her mom. Sergi Lopez's insane captain is frankly one of the great movie villains you'll ever see. I have only seen two of director Guillermo del Toro's earlier films, Mimic and Hellboy, and was unimpressed with either of them. But he's made one of the best films of the year.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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The Batman
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LG, I finally had the chance to see this masterpiece on the weekend. PAN'S LABYRINTH is beautiful, haunting, scary and a must-see.

If you are looking for another classic from Guillermo del Toro, then please let me recommend THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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