The Fantasy of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - Kubla Khan [story time]

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.

Captain Vidal stars as the Wicked Witch [review by starlight]

Pan’s Labyrinth is an incredibly brutal film that will make you feel the harshness of the world, particularly because of the contrast with a beautiful fantasy. There is a realist story intertwined with a fantastic one, where the world of the adults is dark, cruel and without any justice, and Ofelia, as a child, is able to access a just and beautiful world if she overcomes dangerous obstacles. Her part of the story is the Fairy Tale. Captain Vidal is the bad guy for both the realist of the Spanish Civil War and the fairy tale of Ofelia’s quest. His character really gets the idea across that there is no cosmic justice. Vidal represents the cold, irrational brutality of the world.

Tears and Goose-bumps! [nostalgia time]

That is how I always react to a Harry Potter trailer, but this time I don't think I'm going to be let down! I just have a feeling. The Harry Potter films can be hit or miss. They are chalk-full of emotional moments, particularly for a fantasy series (where there is more focus on sweeping, world-changing events than on character depth), so whether or not they are good quality films, I have ended up crying in each and every one.

Amusing article: How to pronounce Ghoti [musing time]

http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/ling006.html

Ok, yeah, this is an essay for a class I'm taking... On J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the RINGS! [review time]

The Fellowship of the Ring, and the Lord of the Rings as a whole, develops the theme of loss and mortality through the decline of magic in a fantastical world. There is a sense of inevitability throughout the text as the reader is constantly reminded that Middle Earth will never be the same. The time of Man is coming, the elves are leaving, magic is fading and the hobbits are in hiding. This is a major theme of the text, but the central plot and quest have nothing to do with it, thus emphasizing the inevitability of this loss. Sauron is considered nearly invincible and the quest seems impossible, but that does not stop Gandalf and Frodo from facing dangers and dark forces when they have no other choice. They do not, however, go on a grand quest to save the magic of Middle Earth and make the elves stay. Tolkien seems to be suggesting that while it is possible to conquer evil, it is not possible to stop the wheels of time from turning – mortality cannot be stopped. Although magic is fading, the world will go on without it, and there is no solution.