DVD of the Week: Pan's Labyrinth

Two of my favorite films from last year are new to DVD this week: Pan's Labyrinth and The Fountain. Labyrinth is an adult-size fairy tale from director Guillermo del Toro about a young girl's mystical journey at the time of the Spanish civil war. She meets a faun who tells her she is destined to be a princess and as the country falls to pieces around her, she sets out to escape the cruel world she lives in through magical means. It's a very eerie and haunting feature that earned major acclaim and 3 Academy Awards. The Fountain is a far less universally beloved film, but it has its fair share of loyal supporters. Darren Aronofsky's latest is a love story that defies logic and tocuhes on one of fiction's most explored themes: human mortality. It's a beautiful, enigmatic science fiction epic that runs through multiple centuries and never quites congeals into any sort of cohesive narrative. It's an art film, and an abstract art film to boot. Many people will be baffled and frustrated by it. I was actually both of those things at points during the film, but seeing it through to completion hits a very unexpected, inexplicable nerve. It's a love it or hate it experience, but it's something I very much loved. Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman star and give probably their best performances to date.