Pan's Labryinth

Go see it! And if you haven't seen Children of Men yet, go see that one, too! But to lessen the emotional distress, either see them on the same weekend so you do all your crying at once or give yourself plenty of buffer time in between them (more than two weeks) to recover and not feel like you're reliving your grief from the first one all over again. Or, if you're unlike me and don't cry at movies, then don't worry about this crazy pre-planning.

I didn't know anything about Pan's Labyrinth before heading into it; a friend called us up last night and asked if we wanted to go, and we didn't have anything better planned. I actually hadn't even heard of the movie at all (entertainment news is the last thing on my radar these days, unfortunately), and just in case you haven't either, here's all you need to know: It's set in WWII Spain and is filmed in Spanish, so you have to read subtitles (although I was really proud to recognize the word "dolor" multiple times throughout the movie -- yay for my crappy Medical Spanish class!). It's a weird mix of reality and fantasy -- they intermix with each other, not like a fantasy movie set on a backdrop of reality, like Narnia, or a movie where fantasy IS reality, like Harry Potter. This is unlike anything else I've ever seen in my life. The movie has gotten all sorts of awards already, and deservedly so.

I can't keep watching these emotionally burdensome movies, though -- it's an exhausting experience! Plus, we just got all three of the LOTR movies, so we've been watching those again and again at home. Too many epics in too short a time. I might have to put on something light and Disneylike tonight to make up for it.