More Folks Love Pan’s Labyrinth and The Host

Yes, I realized I’ve raved plenty already for Pan’s Labyrinth and The Host, but don’t take my word for it. GreenCine Daily has been covering the New York Film Festival, where even the most professionally jaded of critics have been going ga-ga over the latest from Guillermo del Toro and Bong Joon-Ho (respectively). Here are a few choice snippets.

• Salon on Pan’s Labyrinth: Fairy tales have their roots in very old, very deep human fears, fears that Guillermo del Toro teases out mercilessly in his ambitious, glorious and harrowing adult fairy tale Pan’s Labyrinth.
• Aaron Dobbs on Pan’s Labyrinth: The one thing you can be sure of is [the film’s] ending would never have come from a $100 million studio film, and that’s part of why it is so affecting. Pan’s Labyrinth is, quite simply, one of the best films you’ll see this year and a perfect example of everything a movie should be.
• Kaiju Shakedown on The Host: …yes, it’s everything you’ve heard. It’s really that good. Not the movie I expected, but much better than I would have ever thought possible.
• Nick Schager on The Host: …in Bong’s compassionate hands, The Host’s wider geopolitical warnings mainly serve as counterpoints to his more intimate (and touching) concerns: the virtue of hard work, the nobility of selflessness, and the unrivaled heroism of being a dutiful, devoted, and loving father.

You can find links to plenty more reviews here and here.