"The Illusionist" & "Darkness"

The Illusionist. I thought it was well made, well acted, and had a fun twist. But, it didn't leave me with any lasting impressions. It disappeared, if you will, quite quickly from my brain. I was surprised to see Jessica Biel holding her own in a costume period piece. Extra kudos to her. Overall, I think "meh" explains my reaction the best. The other half adored it. Just another clue in that our time together will be completed soon. We just don't have things in common anymore. :( Not really, all is well in halfway house. I don't know what that means.

Darkness was a bit of a shock. It didn't do well @ the box office (I now know why; Americans can't handle a downbeat ending), and I don't recall it getting very good reviews (either the critics or friends). Well, we dug it out and I found it quite entertaining and pretty frightening. The eclipse-sunglass-wearing hags were not something I would want to run into outside my bedroom door in the middle of the night as I made my way to the powder room for a much needed leak. Damn that bladder! Anyway, I found Anna Paquin a bit grating at times, but overall, she carried the movie well. The whole Rosemary's Baby/Satan gobbledy-gook was par for the course, so that also grated a bit. I was actually most pleased by the ending. Not a nice Hollywood-esque wrap-up. Kudos for that. Overall, worth a look...and some of those looks may be through your fingers...mine were.