Lee B. Golden III

About Lee B. Golden III

https://mediumblue-gerbil-491410.hostingersite.com

Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!

Posts by Lee Golden:

DRAGON INN (NYAFF 2021)

NEW YORK ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL XX: Office Ladies, The Fable 2, Junk Head, Dragon Inn And More Rev Up The 20th Installment!

Lee B. Golden III

I’ve collected some wicked memories in the last few years in covering the New York Asian Film Festival, both in-person and virtually. I don’t know what the outlook will be for me just yet this year, but what I do know is that the twentieth installment is setting in stone as we speak and with the first wave of titles now making the rounds, including Jero Yun’s Fighter, Lee Joon-ik’s black and white feature, The Book Of Fish, and Kazuaki Seki’s feature debut, Jigoku No Hanazono: Office Royale, which drew quite the stir among #ActionTwitter for those who took a liking to Exile Tribe’s six-year franchise outing with HiGH&LOW. One other title that’s piqued my interest is the The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn’t Kill, as it returns helmer Kan Eguchi to the chair for starring actor Junichi Okada based on the titular manga. I thought the first film was […]

Gerard Butler Action Thriller CHASE Launches At Cannes For Voltage And CAA

Lee B. Golden III

Principal photography has since wrapped in Savannah, Georgia on action thriller, Chase, as of May, and with word out of Cannes that Voltage Pictures is repping international rights and will introduce to buyers immediately, with first-look footage to follow shortly. Voltage will co-rep US rights with CAA. Chase comes from director Brian Goodman (Black Butterfly, What Doesn’t Kill You) from a script by Marc Frydman (Black Butterfly), and stars Gerard Butler (Greenland, Angel Has Fallen, 300) as Will Spann, who pairs with the in-laws to engage the local Sheriff’s department in a frantic effort to find his missing wife, Lisa, when she disappears at a gas station without a trace. As the clock ticks, suspicion falls on Spann who must take matters into his own hands, plunging into the town’s criminal underbelly while running from the authorities in a race against time to find Lisa. The film also stars Jaimie Alexander […]

Phat Samurai Guy's Kung Fu Extravaganza

Ric Meyers’ KUNG FU EXTRAVAGANZA XXIV Takes To The Movie Dojo This Summer!

Lee B. Golden III

While Comic Con has long been home to Ric Meyers’ Kung Fu Extravaganza, this week saw word that the convention was cancelling the event’s 24th annual run when the two-day festivities kick off in July. Gladly for those who’ve been keen on Meyers’ versatile experience in movies, books and journalism over the years, including the aforementioned panel, plans are officially underway for YouTube personality Preston Downey – a.k.a. “That Phat Samurai Guy” to take the reigns this year via his channel, The Movie Dojo. The panel will stream on the channel on Tuesday, July 22 at 6:00 pm Pacific Standard Time, 9:00pm EST. Downey, along with wife and film enthusiast Lauren who goes by the pseudonym, “Lady Phatblood”, began his pastime as a film critic in 2015 discussing a wide variety of Asian movies and action cinema, trailer reactions, collectibles and more. In the last several years, including in 2020 […]

Zack Snyder Lands On Kurosawa-Inspired Sci-Fi REBEL MOON For Netflix

Lee B. Golden III

Always the rabblerouser, filmmaker Zack Snyder lit up both ends of the candle this year with a four-hour rendition of his long-heralded self-titled Justice League on HBO Max, and action-packed dystopian zombie romp, Army Of The Dead, which has its own franchise currently brewing on Netflix. As of May, the latter claimed the badge of most-streamed title, beating out the recently-canceled Jupiter’s Legacy series, continual proof that the Sucker Punch helmer is what’s working for the streamer after his underappreciated run at HBO Max, and despite any and all fan fervor to get us all back to the DC Snyderverse. And so it is, for Snyder’s current trajectory being the only way forward, we now look to his newest endeavor, Rebel Moon, initially announced by The Hollywood Reporter’s Borys Kit and then by the streamer late Tuesday. When a peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy finds itself threatened by […]

NOTORIOUS NICK Trailer: Cody Christian Is A One-Armed Boxer Who Dares To Dream

Lee B. Golden III

In case you sat around one day and thought it was time for another inspirational based-on-a-true-story feature with a sports twist, pan over to the latest trailer for MMA action drama, Notorious Nick, from Mamaboy director Aaron Leong, and starring Cody Christian (Assassination Nation) as the title character. Even though he was born with a partial left arm, Nick Newell (Cody Christian) dreams of being a fighter. After wrestling in high school, Nick becomes a fierce competitor when his best friend, Abi, introduces him to mixed martial arts. Suddenly, a tragedy provides Nick with an unexpected opportunity, but to succeed he must commit to becoming the fighter he always hoped to be. Elisabeth Röhm (American Hustle) and Kevin Pollak (The Usual Suspects) also star in this thrilling underdog tale based on an inspiring true story. The film’s press push also hints at crediting Mark DiSalle (Bloodsport, Kickboxer, and Death Warrant) as […]

EL TESTIGO Review: A Regional Action Star’s Potential Is Ripe For The Taking

Lee B. Golden III

Since the transfer of my original blogspot to a more optimal wordpress platform on July 8, 2018, I’ve taken an interest in re-editing and republishing some select interviews and articles for better, cleaner presentation. The following piece was previously published on March 4, 2015. It’s not everyday you get to see a Puerto Rican-produced martial arts film…well, at least it felt that way until about 2011 with the rollout of director Andres Ramírez‘s action adventure, El Testigo (The Witness). Featuring the stylings of lead actor, writer and stunt coordinator Jose Manuel, the film was ultimately the first of its kind in Puerto Rico to reportedly cater to the martial arts movie niche. It’s earned its share of awards and nominations for a reason, and while the genre is still slow to take in Puerto Rico among other parts of the world, one can only hope that the slow nature of […]

F9: Han’s Death, His Return, And What It Means For A Franchise That Now Tinkers With Its Own Meta-Silliness

Lee B. Golden III

For years we’ve grown accustomed to the rank silliness and sheer bluster and spectacle of the Fast And Furious movies. All twenty years of them. The latest installment of the saga, F9 is no different, though with several exceptions that pertain to any reverence, sympathy or engagement into the drama and the characters, story and twists that occur. Skipping the plot details and just short of devoting my time to a full review, and while there is a LOT to pick apart from the new film, my biggest gripe has plenty to do with its identity as a franchise, especially with the year-old spoilery reveal of Sung Kang’s character, Han, whose hinted survival in last year’s trailer now precludes a twist in the newly-released film that shows how his death was staged as a precursor to the larger role he plays in the events that unfold. The problem here is […]

USOGUI Plays Its Hand With A First Poster For The Upcoming Warner Bros. Japan Live-Action Manga Adaptation

Lee B. Golden III

It’s been five years since a live-action adaptation was announced bringing Toshio Sako’s longstanding manga, Usogui, to the big screen. For those otherwise keeping score, fans looking forward to the pic hailing from Warner Bros. Japan got their first glimpse of what it will look like with actor Ryusei Yokohama (Your Eyes Tell) front and center of some serious John Wick: Chapter Two vibes. So what’s the big deal here for the latest from director Hideo Nakata (Ring franchise, Sadako)? Well, the story follows Yokohama in the role of Baku Madarame – a.k.a. The Lie Eater – a mysterious gambler dispensing his own brand of justice against dishonest players, who takes his trade to the underworld’s top illegal gambling den, Club Kakerou, and you can definitely guess there’s more to the story if the poster below any clue. I’m looking forward to a teaser very soon for this one!

DAIKAIJYU NO ATOSHIMATSU Teases Suspenseful Monster Thrills For 2022!

Lee B. Golden III

Instant Swamp and It’s Me, It’s Me director Satoshi Miki’s got a hell of a tease for you all out there lovin’ your monster moviefare and whatnot. There’s yet to be an English title but feel free to bookmark Daikaijyu no Atoshimatsu going forward as it stays the course for a 2022 release starring Ryosuke Yamada (Fullmetal Alchemist) and Tao Tsuchiya (Rurouni Kenshin saga). A co-prod between Shochiku and Toei, both actors play ex-fiancees to one-another – specialists in their field who are assigned to the charge of a monster that attacks Japan and suddenly dies, only to ensue the looming threat of the country’s collapse stemming from a potential gas explosion from where the monster’s carcass lays. The teaser above doesn’t reveal the full monster but there’s enough shots to get a few glimpses along with the poster below which reveals a little more about the stakes at hand. […]

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BANSHEE Series Review: Blood, Bullets And Brooding With A Big Payoff

Lee B. Golden III

I seldom caught anything on television many years ago seeing as I had very little time for it. This didn’t stop me from trying when I could, and with shows like action crime drama, Banshee, running on Cinemax as part of its network line-up, I watched what I could and when. Sadly, I could never keep up with the series and not ever knowing the full breadth of the story, the big season three cliffhanger was all I knew of the show…at least until recent weeks. In the months thereafter leading up to the announcement of Warrior, the period Chinatown crime saga shepherded by producer Jonathan Tropper (True Blood) in its rebirth next to Justin Lin under the auspices of Shannon Lee, the connection was already quite clear in seeing the kind of show that Tropper, joined by co-creator David Schickler, was able to realize. Apart from the fanfare, I […]

Scott Adkins Joins The Fourth Installment Of The JOHN WICK Saga

Lee B. Golden III

Filming on the fourth installment of the John Wick saga has already begun and with a cast that already bodes with promise. Late Tuesday, that roster got a little bigger with word actor and martial arts film star Scott Adkins is in talks a role in the hitman franchise, joining him with Keanu Reeves, Rina Sawayama, and Shamier Anderson, and screen action legends Hiroyuki Sanada and Donnie Yen. The move notably also marks a reunion between Yen and Adkins who fought each other to the brutal finish in the fourth and final chapter of the Yen-led Ip Man saga, Ip Man 4: The Finale, which released in the U.S. via Well Go USA. Beyond that, Adkins has long been a favorite since his heyday as an up-and-coming TV actor and stunt performer; his credits partly include having worked on Jackie Chan’s The Accidental Spy and The Medallion, Louis Leterrier’s Unleashed […]

Mark Strange

RUPTURE: UK Actor And Martial Artist Mark Strange Set To Star In Ranjeet S. Marwa’s New Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Pre-production has started for independent action thriller, Rupture, which has actor and martial artist Mark Strange (Ip Man 4: The Finale, Redcon-1) set to star. Cameras will roll in July in Birmingham, U.K. with Ranjeet S. Marwa (upcoming Exiled: The Chosen Ones) directing from a script and story treatment from Daniel White. Raven, a recently freed man from prison must confront the people who put him inside. However, revenge is not always the answer, redemption is. The project was moved up in light of Marwa having to push back a seperate project titled Berzerker, which would have had Malaysian actor and action star Hairul Azreen (Paskal, Wira) on set in the U.K. by now. I’m told that scheduling was the reason for the delay in addition to mitigating factors pertaining to the pandemic. The decision has also allowed Marwa to develop the project a little more in time for Azreen’s […]

Strap In Butt Naked For THE MOLE SONG: FINAL First Trailer!

Lee B. Golden III

The bumbling cop-turned-gangster shenanigans are back for one last hoorah with word that celebrated auteur Takashi Miike, currently on the road with trailers for his upcoming fantasy sequel The Great Yokai War: Guardians, just wrapped his curtain closure for the screen-adapted The Mole Song trilogy with The Mole Song: Final. Actor Toma Ikuta reprises his lead role based on Noboru Takahashi’s onward 2005 manga series, with a screenplay by celebrated scribe Kankuro Kudo. As reported by Variety‘s Mark Schilling, the new film sees our haphazard hero, Reiji (Ikuta Toma) sent on an infiltration mission via luxury cruise ship to stop a billion dollar drug shipment, a mission that ultimately pits him against his strongest enemy yet. The first short teaser is online which you can view above as the campaign begins ahead of the film’s release in Japan on November 19 from Toho.

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Dwayne Johnson Holiday Actioner RED ONE Set Up At Amazon Studios

Lee B. Golden III

Slated to shoot next year is Red One, an original project from Seven Bucks Production’s own Hiram Garcia and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, the latter who will topline for Amazon Studios, according to multiple trade sources. Both will be joined by Seven Bucks founding partner Dany Garcia in producing. Chris Morgan (Universal’s The Fast Saga) is tapped to pen the film described as a “globe-trotting, four-quadrant action-adventure comedy” which imagines “a whole new universe to explore within the holiday genre.” according to Variety‘s Brent Lang. The film is expected to release in time for the 2023 Holiday season. “Seven Bucks Productions is a leader in creating unique and compelling entertainment for the entire family, and we know Red One will continue that tradition,” said Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios. “Hiram’s concept and the world he’s envisioned are uniquely original and we are so excited to team with Seven Bucks Productions and […]

BARBARIAN INVASION: Don’t Miss The Official Trailer For Tan Chui Mui’s Jury Grand Prix Winner Out Of Shanghai

Lee B. Golden III

Within the first few seconds of the official trailer for Tan Chui Mui’s new drama, Barbarian Invasion, you might bid that what happens to the two police officers approaching our unsuspecting protagonist sleeping on a park bench doesn’t end well if Doug Liman’s 2002 remake of classic spy thriller The Bourne Identity is anything to by. Alas, that’s part of the aesthetic we’re handed here, with Tan wearing multiple hats for her third outing as director, in addition to writing the script and starring as the lead for her first feature in over ten years. The film also just won the Jury Grand Prix from the 24th Shanghai International Film Festival’s Golden Goblet Awards, beating out 12 competitors at that, so that’s something! Moon Lee, a celebrated award-winning actress, has become a full-time mom and divorcée since retiring. Desperate to regain her sense of self, she jumps at the chance […]

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HAVOC: Timothy Olyphant, UFC Fighter Michelle Waterson, Action Star Sunny Pang And More Added To The Cast

Lee B. Golden III

Director Gareth Evans (Apostle) shot his shot earlier this year with Netflix, scoring a major deal to produce several projects in a creative partnership with the streamer. The first to come will be Havoc, as announced back in February with Tom Hardy and Forest Whitaker set to star. As of Monday, more names are being added to the roster including Timothy Olyphant (FX’s Justified, Disney+’s The Mandalorian), Justin Cornwell (CBS’s Training Day, Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy), Jessie Mei Li (Netflix’s Shadow And Bone, upcoming Last Night in Soho), Malaysia’s Yeo Yann Yann (Wet Season, Lee Chong Wei). In addition, actor Luis Guzmán will also star in a supporting line-up next to Quelin Sepulveda, UFC mixed martial artist Michelle Waterson, and The Night Comes For Us star Sunny Pang. After a drug deal gone wrong, a bruised detective must fight his way through a criminal underworld to rescue a politician’s estranged […]

THE CURSED: DEAD MAN’S PREY Wreaks Undead Vengeance In The International Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Kim Yong Wan‘s 2020 tvN supernatural drama, The Cursed, now comes full circle with a feature length continuation set to release on July 28 with CJ Entertainment’s The Cursed: Dead Man’s Prey. Read that title again, and then take into account that this film is also written by Yeon Sang-ho, the man who brought zombie film fandom to fruition with a trilogy of zombie thrillers, notably 2016’s Train To Busan and its sequel, Peninsula. If the undead are what you crave for your horror needs, it looks like The Cursed: Dead Man’s Prey is right up your alley. A mysterious serial murder cases take area through jaechaui (lifeless our bodies that have risen from the dead and in a position to speak). These bodies are manipulated by a person. The Cursed: Dead Man’s Prey stars Uhm Ji-won (The Odd Family: Zombie On Sale), Jeong Ji-so (Parasite) and Kim In-kwon (Battle […]

New SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS Trailer Has Me Pining For More To Jump On The Momentum Here

New SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS Trailer Has Me Pining For More To Jump On The Momentum Here

Lee B. Golden III

Marvel Studios released the newest official trailer for Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings on Thursday evening. The film brings Simu Liu, Awkwafina, and screen legends Tony Leung Ka-Fai and Michelle Yeoh to the table for one of the latest chapters in the nascent fourth phase of Marvel’s filmic exploits. Shang-Chi must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization. Agreeably, not everyone I’ve spoken to is approving of how it looks so far – I’m saving my own judgment until I read reviews or actually get to see it myself. At any rate, it’s a chance to see if Liu has what it takes to lead a comic book IP on the big screen, as well as a martial arts vehicle being that he’s also experienced in stunts. Time will tell otherwise, but you […]

THE GOOD NEIGHBOR

THE GOOD NEIGHBOR Reveals Jonathan Rhys Meyers In A First Look From Stephan Rick’s Remake

Lee B. Golden III

Currently underway is principal photography for The Good Neigbor, director Stephan Rick’s English-language reincarnation of his own German 2011 thriller which has a new first look photo above. Highland Film Group is selling the film internationally with actors Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Luke Kleintank starring from a script Rick wrote with Ross Patridge. When the dead girl’s sister shows up to investigate, David, overcome with guilt, wonders if he can find redemption while Robert is determined to bury the past and keep his new friend for himself, no matter the cost. The Good Neighbor is being produced by Dean Altit (Misfits) and Yulia Zayceva (WarHunt). CAA is repping the film domestically.

RAGING FIRE Heats Up A North American Release With The Official U.S. Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

One thing is certain when it comes to late director Benny Chan in the wake of a phenomenal 35-year career in film and TV: He’s gone out on what looks to be an explosive, thrilling high note with his final film, Raging Fire. The film has since been acquired by Well Go USA to release theatrically in the U.S. before landing on the company’s niche streamer, Hi-YAH! later this year, according to a new report at Variety‘s Rebecca Davis who also shared the first official U.S. trailer which you can view above. Shan (Donnie Yen) is a highly respected hardline cop with a long history of success on dangerous cases. However, his past unexpectedly comes back to haunt him when a sting operation is attacked by a mysterious group of criminals led by Ngo (Nicholas Tse), his former protégé, a talented former officer who had once respected and admired Shan. […]