Movie Time - Kevin and I went to see two movies this weekend, Insomnia and About A Boy. I would recommend both of them, certainly worth the price of a matinee.

Insomnia takes place in Alaska, during the period of summer where the sun never sets, yet much of the film is shot in rich, shadowy darkness and eveloping fog. This use of lighting, in addition to tightly controlled acting contributed to the isolation and weariness experienced by Al Pacino's chaacter. I was surprised to learn that Insomnia is a remake of a 1997 Norwegian movie of the same name starring Stellan Skarsgård, that Kevin, Weena and I once rented and could barely stay awake through (must have been the subtitles that did us in). Even former Beverly Hills 90210 alum Hillary Swank does a good job, proving that maybe it was The Gift that was a fluke and not Boys Don't Cry. The always-enjoyable Maura Tierney had a small role, reaffirming for me that her talents were truly wasted on ER this season (no wonder Abby was driven to drink again!).

The greatest strength of About A Boy was its ability to deliver a believable transformation of Hugh Grant's character over time. The brothers behind American Pie did a fantastic job taking manufactured situations and cliched relationships and turning them into a tale about friendship and connectedness that the audience feels good about buying into. By the way, Toni Collette really has the market on "crazy, poor, single mom" roles down. Makes me want to revisit Murial's Wedding and see Collette and Rachel Griffith (Brenda on Six Feet Under) before they hit it big in the U.S.