The Peace of Winter

Once again, I missed Winter War. Really, the big gaming draw for me was Jeff’s Encounter Critical game – but that filled up on Friday. The other big draw was dealers and the auction, but I wasn’t feeling like being around a crowd… and I really don’t need an excuse to drop a ton of money on gaming stuff.

It is probably for the best that I missed it. I’ve been sick, and I needed the rest. I got some sleep. I painted a bit. I spent some quality-time with small, gray fur-covered things. I saw Pan’s Labyrinth. I ate Pad Thai. There are worse ways to spend a weekend.

Pan’s Labyrinth was good, but it is definitely not a feel-good fairy tale movie. Instead, it is a dark, creepy, brutal fairy tale movie. A friend described it as the Narnia Chainsaw Massacre or something… but, while I can see where she was going with that, it isn’t quite right. It wasn’t chainsaw massacre gory. Instead it had more of a deliberate brutality to it (in the non fairy-tale bits); a sort of prison camp brutality.

The fairy tale bits were creepy in their own way. The creature designs were incredible. The faun was macabre and completely inhuman… but still recognizable as a faun. It presented a wonderful mix of promise and menace. Just the right tone for a creepy fairy encounter.