I went to see Pan's Labyrinth tonight and I was blown away. The previews marketed it as some kind of fantastical voyage through a faerie-like world and, in some ways, it was. The actual movie was so much more and so much better than that. It was more about a girl, traveling with her mother who has recently married a captain in the Spanish army during the Spanish civil war. The girl, Ofelia, reads books about fantasy lands and creates a world like this for herself to cope with the awful reality of her new life. It may sound boring, but the movie is deeply moving, at times disturbing, and visually breathtaking. The dialog and text are in Spanish, but the movie is subtitled in English and, after the first few minutes, you forget that you are reading them. I loved the movie and I would recommend it to anyone who is marginally good at reading. The man beside me in the theater looked at me as the credits rolled and asked, "Did you know this movie was subtitled?"

"No," I replied, thinking What does it matter? The movie was awesome. I could barely make out his face in the darkness to gauge what his motive was in asking the question. Then, out of his massive frame, I heard a long huff and a sigh.

"I had no idea," he said, sounding angry. "They should warn people." Then he stood up and left. I sat there thinking about the wealth of emotions and thoughts that the movie had provoked in me and couldn't understand how this man had only come away pissed off at having to read a little bit. Welcome to the U.S. of A. Yee-haw!