Letters from Pan's Labyrinth

Over the last few years, I have developed the tradition of spending President's Day in the cinema.

I try to squeeze in as many Oscar contenders as possible during the week before the Oscars. It can make for quite a long day of 'important' films, but I'm better for it. I think.

Two years ago I managed to see SIDEWAYS, MILLION DOLLAR BABY and THE AVIATOR in one long, butt-numbing day. By seeing all three of these films back to back to back, I discovered they all shared one plot element in common - someone broke a nose in each film. Had I seen these films months apart, I might never have made the connection to what makes a film 'important.'

This year the local pickings were a bit slimmer. I was only able to see PAN' LABYRINTH (Best Foreign Film Nominee) and LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA (Best Picture Nominee).

Apparently, this year's measure of importance comes in subtitles.

Yep, I read two movies Monday. One in Spanish, one in Japanese. OK - that's facetious, I really have no complaints about subtitles. loved CROUCHING TIGER, love Hiro's scenes on HEROES, as well as Sun and Jin's scenes on LOST - and LOVE anything by Kurosawa.

As for this year's films, the real link was the amount of gruesome violence depicted. While I knew what I was getting in IWO JIMA, the level of sheer meanness displayed in LABYRINTH was hard to digest - and that's what makes the film brilliant.

LABYRINTH is almost a kid's flick. A little girl who lives in a harsh world finds a magical world to which she can escape. It is the harshness of her world that was surprising. Not going to give anything away, but it's very easy to understand why this Dorothy would want to escape to Oz.

As for IWO JIMA, war is hell. And the Japanese soldiers who are forced into sacrificing their lives for their 'beloved' Emperor go through enough levels of Hell to write their own epic poem. Clint Eastwood does a masterful job of directing this film. The muted colors (except for the brilliant scarlet reds) echo the dispair of the young men sentenced to die for a cause they don't really believe in.

The echoes of FLAG OF OUR FATHERS are brilliant.

All in all, my day was well spent. I saw two brilliantly photographed films. Both told a story of young people who are no longer in control of their future or their destiny, surrounded by untold violence.

Good stuff.