A. Appleton Reviews

Insomnia (2002)

In defense of a terrific film.

[24 January 2003]

Insomnia was an EXCELLENT film. Other people have called it "boring", but the slow pace and monochromatic setting just supported the not quite awake/not quite asleep feeling of the whole movie. Not quite dreaming and not quite aware. Not quite a "good cop" and not quite a "bad" one. Not quite guilty and not quite innocent. Compromises that you can live with and compromises that you can't.

A previous commenter said that the short clips were a poor excuse to make it look "edgy". In actuality it gives the viewer the feeling that he has not slept for days, either--when you are extremely tired you see things in snippets between yanking our eyelids open.

The Big Hit (1998)

Silly and fun!

[21 December 1999]

This film was thoroughly enjoyable! Yes, it was unbelievable and the characterization was not so great, but who cares? The movie's humor comes from the very fact that it is completely absurd and way over the top. It was fun to watch, good for a laugh, had a lot of action, and the nice guy wins out in the end. What more do you want? Besides, Mark Wahlburg and China Chow are about the two best-looking people on the planet, so even if you don't like to movie you can still enjoy it.