Hard Hit: Car Bomb

There's something so satisfying about a thriller with a simple plot-device. In Hard Hit, a father (Jo Woo-jin) — shuttling his daughter (Lee Jae-in) and son to school — discovers a bomb has been planted under the driver's seat. If he gets out of his car... BOOM! It's the same gimmick as Speed — more or less — except smaller vehicle, less passengers, and higher stakes. So what's the mystery caller want? Money was my first guess since daddy's in banking. And considering a co-worker's car blows up pretty quickly, you know that the man on the phone means business.

So what does one do in such a heinous situation, except drive on? In this case, our man-behind-the-wheel attempts to negotiate. He stalls for time. He calms his children. He suggests a more reasonable amount of cash. But we all know how this works! That caller insists on getting every damned penny. And you better not call the cops or the bomb squad (Jin Kyung). No time for excuses; you best be wheelin' and dealin' fast. Which is a skill our panicking hero possesses. As the extortionist says, "You certainly lie well." Which of course makes us wonder what his relationship is like with his wife (Kim Ji-ho). But we can explore those questions much later... depending on who survives!

Remake(s): Writer-director Kim Chang-ju's Hard Hit (2021) is inspired by Alberto Morini's screenplay for Retribution (2015) which was also remade as the German film Don't. Get. Out. (2018).

Killer Toon: Not Comic, Not Animated, Not Bad

A bestselling graphic novelist's sophomore manuscript unknowingly predicts a handful of murders. Who's to blame? Surely not the artist herself (Lee Si-young)! But in Kim Yong-gyun's Killer Toon, an intuitive cop (Uhm Ki-joon) is going to have to dig deep into her artwork if he's going to stop any future homicides from happening. Sixth sense or not, he's already too late for the self-mutilating publisher (Kim Do-young) and the suicidal mortician (Kwon Hae-yo). Will he figure out the source of the evil magic before his partner (Hyun Woo) is among the dead too? And what's the worst crime here: matricide? uxoricide? hit-and-run? or plagiarism? Because all are going to come into play!

As you — and the police chief (Oh Kwang-rok) — debate the pros and cons of each long-buried crime, you're also going to have to acknowledge that more than one teen's sadistic psychic powers must lie behind each of the messy massacres. There's revenge. There's arsonry. There's careerism taken a step too far. Plus, you should never underestimate the power of karma. Or the legacy of child abuse. Or the ease of car theft. Or, most importantly, the eye-catching appeals of a story presented in a visually layered manner. Especially when the primary color ends up being a blood red that won't wash away with the rain.

What Happens in an Alley: Children of a Debtor's God

The story of a financially-burdened business executive (Kim Seung-ho) with nine children, a seamstress wife, and a dependent mother, What Happens in an Alley intermittently registers as topical dramedy, its soundtrack buoyed by lighthearted vibraphone. Eventually, however, matters take the inescapable dark turn. What were you expecting? The title alone conjures up images of dirty needles, makedo toilets, illegal abortions, and sordid sexual escapades. Plus the company boss has a Hitlerian mustache and a Maoish uniform. Who couldn't foresee that director Park Jong-ho's slice-of-life flick would switch into social-realist mode?

Until it does, though, coming home drunk will be a chance for slapstick; marital arguments will culiminate in one-liners with dark undercurrents. As for this movie's recurring obsession with baby-making, that plot-point leads to weird scenes like one with an unhelpful obstretrician (Kim Hee-kab) and another with an unmarried woman (Kim Ji-mee) being groomed to carry the seed of an heirless married man. What these characters fail to realize is that there are worse things in life than childlessness. Like appendicitis, bribery, robbery, domestic violence, sexual assault, and living paycheck-to-paycheck. And What Happens in an Alley has those tragedies, too. Which makes it a pretty good movie. Or should I say melodrama?