Maybe not the best choice.

Um. So. Pan's Labyrinth.

A wanted to give it a C. I definitely liked it better than him, but I did spend a good 15 minutes total out of the film hiding behind my fingers because dear sweet God, the gore! The gore! At one point, I even had to plug my ears because the sound is just so... visceral. For those who don't know the plot, in a nutshell: it's the end days of World War II, we're in Spain where Franco's fascist army is defeating the Communist Resistance, and in a wooded outpost, a small girl deals with the violence around her by retreating to a fantasy world where she may or may not be the reincarnation of the long-lost princess. Fauns, fairies, magical trials, and scary beasties (including, but not limited to, a barfing toad and the ever-present Dude With Eyeballs In His Palms) abound. The special effects were really cool, and I really liked the imaginary-land part, but it's crossed with bone-smashing, skin-searing violence, both physical and emotional, that was really hard to take. Which, I suppose, is the whole point.

I think, however, the movie is best summed up (at least for us) as we walked out the doors to the parking lot.

"For the next few months, hon..." I said, as A held the door open for me, "how bout we don't go see any movies ever that involve a hugely pregnant woman's grisly and bloody death during childbirth?"