Pan’s Labyrinth is another fantastic movie for this time of year – it’s dark and whimsical and beautiful and surprisingly violent.

I saw it around the time it came out, and remembered liking it but not a lot of the details; I watched it again last weekend, and was not prepared for how much more it would affect me this time. I saw so much of my daughter in the main character, Ofelia (I read Guillermo del Toro’s wife cried when they screened the actress) – the way she’s lost in her fantasy world, how her eyes light up when she sees the fairy, how she fiercely protects her baby brother, how she doesn’t care if her dress gets dirty.

Sigh. I love it. Anyway, food stuff. One of the most memorable scenes is when Ofelia is sent to retrieve a dagger, and sees an opulent feast spread before the creepy Pale Man. These sugared grapes seem like they could have been sparkling there on the table.

Ofelia is warned not to eat a bite. But Ofelia (like my Zoeya) does what she wants.