Coming soon to America

If Hollywood isn’t remaking 80s TV shows or bringing comic books to life, it seems like they’re remaking films from abroad.  I recently got an idea of what’s to come after checking out the Swedish mystery The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the South Korean thriller The Chaser.  The Girl remake will be directed by David Fincher and will star Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara and Stellan Skarsgard.  It is slated for a late 2011 U.S. release.  The Chaser’s remake rights were picked up by the producers of The Departed, which happened to be a remake of the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs.  No word yet about a potential release.

If you’re into books, you’ve probably heard about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by now.  It’s part one of the late Stieg Larsson’s Millenium Trilogy, and centers around a journalist investigating a decades-old mystery and the titular character who helps him with Google.  The plot is interesting enough and certainly not unlike what you’d see in a Hollywood movie, but the scenes of sexual violence will certainly grab your attention.  I’m not sure if the remake will approach the scenes more or less graphically, but it’s certain to get a reaction either way.  I’ve never read the book(s) and this was my first exposure to the Millenium Trilogy I’ve been hearing a lot about.  Ultimately it’s a nice diversion for a couple hours that doesn’t stick with me after the end credits start rolling, much like other Hollywood mystery-thrillers.  And while we only get glimpses of the main character’s past here, I’m not all that eager to explore it further.

The Chaser is a good case of a lame name for an awesome movie.  It’s about a cop-turned-pimp who’s investigating the disappearance of several of his girls.  He tracks down the culprit, who he believes to be selling his girls, but then finds himself in a much graver situation than he expected.  Given the plot’s premise and an unflinching depiction of violence, the film is tense start to finish.  With numerous twists and turns, the questionable morality of the lead character and the vague creepiness of the antagonist, I was hooked.  The Chaser was a great watch and affirmed my belief that South Korea is currently producing Asia’s best movies, much like Hong Kong did in the 90s.