heychast

After seeing "Memento" for the first time I discovered that this film was out there somewhere. It is definitely an obvious precursor to the short term memory thriller. Do not let the lack of major players scare you off. In my humble opinion, the lack of big names actors make the film all that more likable. Is it just me or does the lead look an awful lot like Eric Clapton?

I've recently seen An zhan. Not because it was a Hong Kong film, but because I was looking for a change from the films being produced here in the US. In my humble opinion, I believe the film could easily compete against the action thrillers being produced here, except for the traditional idiocyncracies of Hong Kong film. The one that still bothers me was the chief inspector character. I still don't understand why there has to be a complete-idiot-comic-relief-type character even in the serious films that come out of Hong Kong, but I can live with it when the movie is this good. The characters are believable even if the situations they are in are not. The story is fast paced and really sucks you in to it. The real cincher scenes for me were the two bus rides that the thief character takes. Overall, a really solid film.