Pan’s Labyrinth
We had Martin Luther King, Jr. day off today, and this afternoon I went to see Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth•. Wow! Go see this movie. You may recall del Toro as the director of the Hellboy film; Hellboy was nice, but Pan’s Labyrinth is just amazing, a no-holds-barred fairy tale from the old school. Beautifully filmed, well acted, and wonderfully told. It reminds me of Peter Pan combined with Mirrormask combined with Hamlet. Just wonderful. Go see it.
- Pan’s Labyrinth•
- “Pan’s Labyrinth is the story of a young girl who travels with her pregnant mother to live with her mother’s new husband in a rural area up North in Spain, 1944, after Franco’s victory. The girl lives in an imaginary world of her own creation and faces the real world with much chagrin. Post-war Fascist repression is at its height in rural Spain and the girl must come to terms with that through a fable of her own.”
More fantasy
- The Hobbit
- This enchanting version of Tolkien’s Hobbit is a fine movie, but a horrible DVD. Sound effects and dialogue have been removed for no apparent reason. I can’t see any reason to buy this unless you’d be just as happy watching it with the sound off.
- A Princess of Mars
- When mysterious adventurer John Carter finds himself transported to the strange and alien tribes of Mars, he changes the history of that wild and decadent land forever.
- A Fish Dinner in Memison
- This third and final book in Eddison’s trilogy continues the transition from adventure to philosophy. There is only one act of sword-play in the entire book, and perhaps only two actual fights; one of which is related in retrospect.
- Mistress of Mistresses
- I have just finished reading “Mistress of Mistresses”, technically the second volume in E.R. Eddison’s Ouroboros trilogy. This is an incredible work. The further along I read, the more I needed to finish it. Eddison’s fantasy sweeps from strange to romantic, war to love, in a high-fantasy style that is both wordy and readable.
- The Worm Ouroboros
- This book does everything wrong; under no circumstances would it be published today, except perhaps as a self-published venture, and then it would be used as an example of why self-publishing is wrong. And yet, it’s a wonderful novel.
- Four more pages with the topic fantasy, and other related pages