The Chaser

Maybe it’s because I’m racially biased, or because I’m a fatalistic mofo, but Korean cinema never ceases to impress me these days. Last year’s The Chaser (Chu-gyeog-ja) is the best crime thriller I've seen since Seven. But it’s not a who-dun-it, but a where-be-the-lotion-rubbing-fat-girl-in-the-pit. Good luck to Warner Bros (currently remaking it) finding folks who can match the performances in this original, particularly by Kim Yoon-suk (above, left). But the cellphone problem that the killer went to great lengths to create could easily be translated into U.S. vernacular by just giving all the victims AT&T powered iPhones.

It’s intensely brutal and emotionally exhausting, but there’s a commentary on women carried through the story that I found revitalizing. And this is Na Hong-jin’s directorial debut, so I also saw a bright future of more kick-ass movies.