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:

HAVOC: Forest Whitaker Joins Tom Hardy For Netflix Action Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Trades are reporting this week that Forest Whitaker (Marvel’s Black Panther), will join actor Tom Hardy in new Netflix thriller, Havoc, from celebrated director Gareth Evans. The film was announced with Hardy last month, a few years after Evans teased its development in an Instagram post. Whitaker’s addition to this film signals something pretty interesting that fans of Evans can take heed to, particularly for those familiar with the actor’s performances in films like Ghost Dog: Way Of The Samurai, and even Repo Men. His screenfighting caliber is a thing of beauty to witness, on top of his gravitas as a solid actor, all of which, depending on how his character is written, may make for something really special going forward. Evans, best known for leaving tower block hallways, staircases and Jakarta streets bloodied and mounted with perpetual bodycounts in the spectacle of back-to-back thrillers like Merantau, The Raid and […]

ONE AND THE SAME: Gravitas Ventures Debuts Freshman Dramatic Sci-Fi Thriller This Week

Lee B. Golden III

Gravitas Ventures is proudly presenting its trailer for the Felipe Cisneros’s feature debut, One And The Same, a sci-fi thriller making its way onto TVOD platforms this week from March 23. The film stars Glenn Plummer (South Central, Menace II Society, City of Lies), Makena Taylor (Skyfire, Some Kind of Beautiful, Adolescence), Acoryé White (Juanita, The Seventh Day, Under the Stadium Lights), and Ignacyo Matynia (Break Every Chain, Luke Cage). Set in Sacramento, ONE AND THE SAME weaves together a mysterious science-fiction tale of vengeance and reincarnation. When a young woman, Lola, is invited to a secret facility, she discovers an experiment beyond space and time. After uncovering her own past self, a teenage boy named Robbie, she embarks on a malevolent path for justice against the ex-con who killed him. Cisneros, a Sacramento native, is billed as a self-taught screenwriter and director, who honed his skills by creating a […]

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ENHANCED Review: James Mark’s Work-In-Progress Sci-Fi Sequel Thrills With Mystery And Tailor-Made Martial Arts Action

Lee B. Golden III

Nearly a decade since launching his feature debut efforts leading up to Kill Order (2017), James Mark has been gradually pursuing next phase of his career in entertainment, sharing in the decades-old legacy of stunt professionals staking their claim in the director’s chair. For this, the prospective lead debut performance of his younger brother, Chris Mark, in their freshman feature continued the trend in just a few years, albeit somewhat quietly with the arrival of a follow-up story that hereto invites actress Alanna Bale to join the elder Mark’s burgeoning indpendent action sci-fi universe with Enhanced. It’s important, though, to mind the events of the first film as its sequel introduces new characters into the mix – its milleu, set in a world where former and current “subjects” of a government experiment, including Anna (Bale), are living lives as normally as possible, some even off the grid in hopes of […]

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BLACK CRAB: Adam Berg’s Noomi Rapace Actioner Casts Up For 2022 Release

Lee B. Golden III

Production is under way for Adam Berg’s new Swedish action thriller, Black Crab with Noomi Rapace leading the cast. Indio’s Malin Idevall and Mattias Montero are producing the film from a script by Berg and by Pelle Rådström, based on the novel of the same name by Jerker Virdborg. Black Crab is a Scandinavian action thriller set in a post-apocalyptic world torn apart by climate change and war. During an endless winter, six soldiers are sent on a dangerous mission across the frozen sea to transport a package that could finally end the war. Equipped with weapons and ice skates, unaware of what they’re carrying, or who they can trust, the mission challenges their beliefs and forces them to ask: what are they willing to sacrifice for their own survival? Netflix, who are releasing the film in 2022, also unveiled a few cast photos which you can view in the […]

A Case For Better Action Movies: ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE Wins Its Director The War

Lee B. Golden III

(It’s been years since I used this headline. Bear with me while I flush these opinions out, and if I sound a little bitter, it’s because.. well, I am. Originally published March 19, 2021) If you were to ask me five years ago if I wanted to cover comic book movies, I would have said something along the lines of “…Well yeah, of course. Only I can’t do that a whole lot, and mainly because keeping up with all the trade news, rumors and soundbytes takes more of a marathon effort than I can apply right now.” That is still true for me, albeit stemmed from the conclusive fact that comic book movies nowadays thrive on hype to sell themselves, without much input from voices like my own. And really, the only other thing that can discourage me from truly diving into the genre is the kind of creative malfeasance […]

CARTER: ‘The Villainess’ Director Jung Byung-Gil’s New Action Series Finds Its Lead

Lee B. Golden III

Heretofore billed as a film weeks earlier, The Villainess director Jung Byung-gil’s Carter has been confirmed instead for a more serial format with the Korean stunt stalwart at the helm, and with actor Joo Won (Alice, Yong-Pal) starring in the title role. News comes following Netflix’s major announcements in the last several weeks touting the streamer’s ongoing $500 million dollar investment into its own self-funded programing. In Carter, Won will play a top agent who awakens one day with a complete loss of memory, but is then thrust into an inner struggle with his own uncertainties while undergoing the mission of a lifetime. Won’s casting comes with notice of his recent work on SBS TV series, Alice, garnering praise for the actor’s skill in performing action, with Netflix promising that “Carter will challenge [Won] with even more extreme and exciting action.”

UNWELCOME: Samantha Win And Dawn Marie Are More Than Meets The Eye For Two Not-So-Lucky Fellas In The Upcoming Shortfilm Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

I’m reminded of a crafty little shortfilm thriller I recently saw called Snake Dick. If you’re reading this and our minds are alike then you’re welcome a lesser-phallic, albiet equally gruesome concept in Unwelcome, billed as a ******** thriller with a feminist twist. (I did that on purpose, and for good reason. Stay with me.) Filmmaker Patrik Gardino shares the helm here with industry stunt professional, actor and director and site favorite, Shahaub Roudbari (Birds Of Prey, WandaVision), who I’ve been following for several years now, and who’s grown immensely as a capable storyteller from what I’ve noticed. With a multi-angular keeness on action and drama that draws him onto the table with a lasting versatility, he now adds Unwelcome to his list of notable work alongside actress and fellow stunt and screen talent, Samantha Win (Man Of Steel, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, upcoming Army Of The Dead) through their […]

GOD OF WAR II Heads To Well Go USA For North America

Lee B. Golden III

In the midst of closing deals for this year’s virtual events at FilMart, Media Asia has sold North American rights to director Cai Cong’s God Of War 2, according to Variety on Thursday. The film is an indirect sequel to Gordon Chan’s 2017 period action thriller, God Of War, which starred Vincent Zhao as a general enlisted to help defeat the onslaught of Japanese pirates. The film also starred Sammo Hung and Yasuaki Kurata. Cong’s succsssor bills a cast headed by David Wu, Charles Lin and Liu Yuxi and centers on Lu Bu, a warlord who lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty and, as reported by Screendaily last year during AFM, “whose life was dramatised in classic Chinese novel Romance Of The Three Kingdoms”. In times of war, the traitor Dou Zhun was in power and used poisonous poison to domesticate the medicine people. Yao Ren 19 escaped after a […]

SLATE Cuts In A New Trailer And Poster For Its April Korean Release

Lee B. Golden III

Not much is yet known about where Jo Bareun’s latest meta action comedy, Slate, will be headed. What we do know is that South Korean theaters will have dibs this April, and on hand, we have an official new trailer ahead of its release. Since she was a child, Yeon-hee dreamt of becoming an action star. Even though she has an amazing swordsmanship, the reality of reaching her goal is just too hard for her to handle. One day, she is hired as a stand-in for an action film and goes onto the set, only to be transported to a lawless parallel world where people carry swords and kill each other without any retribution. Almost immediately, she is welcomed to the village as their protector and is respected by the villagers. And to save the villagers as a heroine, she begins to fight the villains back. Slate had its World […]

AMERICAN BOOGEYWOMAN: Voltage Picks Up ‘Monster’ Prequel Starring ‘Cobra Kai’ Actress Peyton List

Lee B. Golden III

Actress Peyton List will lead the cast for American Boogeywoman, the new biographical crime thriller from director and celebrated horror guru Daniel Farrands (The Haunting of Sharon Tate, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers). Currently in post-production, the film is billed as a prequel to Patty Jenkins’s chilling 2003 drama, Monster, which won multiple Best Actress nominations and wins for Charlize Theron’s portrayal of late serial killer Aileen Wuornos. The logline reads: Based on Aileen Wuornos’s early life in 1976, the film follows America’s most notorious female serial killer in Florida when she marries a older wealthy Yacht Club president only to inflict mayhem within her new family and Florida’s high society. Rounding out the cast are veteran horror/thriller actor Tobin Bell (“Jigsaw” from the Saw franchise, Manson Family Vacation), Lydia Hearst (The Haunting of Sharon Tate), Nick Vallelonga (Universal’s Green Book), Swen Temmel (Twentieth Century Fox’s In Time, Lionsgate’s […]

THE HUNT: SAVAGE WITHIN Squads Up In New Stills From The Upcoming Sci-Fi Thriller [EXCLUSIVE]

Lee B. Golden III

Film Combat Syndicate can share a duo of exclusive images to accompany the latest post update from the official Instagram account for The Hunt: Savage Within. Principal photography on the upcoming proof-of-concept wrapped in January from director Fabien Garcia, who began campaigning the project last year. The Hunt: Savage Within marks the latest effort for Garcia and his team at Z Team Films, having amassed numerous short collaborations along with the action-packed splendor of 2014 martial arts fight thriller, Die Fighting. In The Hunt: Savage Within, American-born Filipina actress plays Sarah, a meek forest ranger who finds herself at the center of an epic battle between elite spec-ops soldiers, and a supreme alien killer known only as “The Trickster”. Also starring are Brett Tutor (Monsters Of Men), Lou Wegner (Last Call In The Dog House), Carla Seneca (Sons Of Thunder), Xango Henry (Call Me King), Davis Chong (Die Fighting) and […]

DEMON SLAYER -KIMETSU NO YAIBA- THE MOVIE: MUGEN TRAIN Slays On April 23 In North America

Lee B. Golden III

I only recently began catching up with Ufotable’s animated series hit, Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba-, so if anyone can’t reach me lately in between my other tasks, at least in part you know now why. Beyond that, fans of the series which launched in 2019 have a feature film coming to the west now that Haruo Sotozaki’s Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train is officially dated for an April 23 theatrical release from Funimation and Aniplex of America. The film has already become a record-breaking hit since opening in Japan last October, and has since garnered praise from audiences in Australia and New Zealand via Madman. Set after the events of the television anime series, Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train has Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu, and Inosuke embark on a new mission. Together with one of the most powerful swordsmen of the Demon […]

THE POINT MEN: Hwang Jung-Min And Hyun Bin Team Up For Action-Packed Hostage Thriller Based On A True Story

Lee B. Golden III

Little Forest director Yim Soon-rye’s new ripped-from-the-headlines hostage thriller, The Point Men, is making waves in the markets lately with investor/distributor Megabox Plus M repping international sales. The film, starring Hwang Jung-min and Hyun Bin, has since sold to 14 terriories in Asia and the Southeast for banners Edko Films, Encore Films, Sahamongkol Film, Viva Networks and The Filmbridge, as reported via Screendaily at EFM. A group of Korean tourists is taken hostage by an extremist Taliban group in Afghanistan. The Korean government dispatches Jae-ho (HWANG Jung-min), known as one of Korea’s most skilled diplomats, in order to handle the situation. Once he arrives, he asks for the Afghan government’s cooperation and uses every means possible to free the hostages. However, his efforts go in vain. Due to his failure, he’s forced to work with Dae-sik (HYUN Bin), a special agent who is an expert on the Middle East. As […]

BACK TO THE PAST: Shots Fired In The First Teaser For Louis Koo’s Time Travel Feature Film Successor

Lee B. Golden III

The first teaser is out for Back To The Past, a feature film continuation of the 2001 TVB sci-fi serial novel adaptation, A Step Into The Past which starred Louis Koo as a VIP protection officer who finds himself trapped in the past after a time travel stint gone awry. Koo is joined by Jessica Hsuan, Raymond Lam, Sonija Kwok, Joyce Tang and Michelle Saram all from the original series. Three years ago, Randy Lee, the only son of the richest man in Hong Kong, took part in a time traveling experiment back to the Qin Dynasty, to study the First Emperor’s elixir of life. But he was never heard from again. Today, his father Lee Ka-chun uncovered 2 mummies near an unexcavated area of the First Emperor’s mausoleum, with one of them holding a smart phone. When it was confirmed that the phone belonged to Randy and contained pictures […]

MORTAL KOMBAT Gets New Poster Art Via WB Thailand

Lee B. Golden III

Just short of turning this whole website into a Mortal Kombat stan page, I felt like sharing the latest bit of international key art from Warner Bros. Thailand for Mortal Kombat. Starring actor Lewis Tan posted an Instagram version of the poster below on his profile and it’s one of multiple posters now making the rounds online actually. Most of the characters on here are shown in different angles and stances compared to previous artwork, including Tan’s “armored”, more fleshed-out look as a kombatant. I’m pretty much sold on this movie as it is. Now all I need is for it to be April! Peep the poster below, and click here for previous Kombat koverage.

WELCOME TO THE STING: Watch Christopher Sheffield’s New Action Thriller Short Now Online

Lee B. Golden III

Everyone’s got their dealbreakers when it comes to gauging a director’s work. Either way though, the final product speaks for itself, in all instances, and for me, that’s usually the case for how fun it’s been to keep an eye on director Christopher Sheffield. A few years since he landed on my radar with contract killer thriller, Split Lip, the LA-based independent filmmaker has amassed a worthwhile stack of feature and short duration credits behind the lens, including his latest ten-minute boiler room actioner, Welcome To The Sting, which took center stage in our recent behind-the-scenes coverage of the project. Dev (James M. Black), a fresh-faced detective, takes his first undercover step into the deadly world of the ‘Price Crime Syndicate’, but he learns the hard way that even Harper (Billy R. Smith), a fellow undercover officer who’s been below the surface for too long, can’t keep him safe. It’s […]

News Briefs: HOLLOW POINT Trailer; #MI7MI8 Casts Up; WRATH OF MAN Sets Date; DAKOTA Shoots This Month; Westbrook Nabs CANTO Rights; Baiz’s THE PANOPTICON; Final ‘LEAGUE’ Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

● Vertical Entertainment is proudly releasing Daniel Zirilli’s action thriller, Hollow Point, in select theaters where open, and on VOD from April 9. The film stars Dilan Jay as a grieving widower who “finds himself caught up in a war between a group of charismatic vigilantes and the crime that infests their city”. Also starring are Luke Goss, JuJu Chan, Jay Mohr, Michael Paré and Bill Duke. (Screen Anarchy) ● The cast of the seventh Mission Impossible movie just got bigger with Christopher McQuarrie announcing the additions Rob Delaney (Deadpool 2), Charles Parnell (Transformers: Age of Extinction), Indira Varma (Game of Thrones), Mark Gatiss (The Father), and Cary Elwes (Saw), and many more. They join the likes of headliner Tom Cruise, actors Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby and Angela Bassett with the studio releasing both MI:7 and MI:8 on November 19, 2021 and November 4, 2022, respectively (Variety). ● […]

THE PAPER TIGERS Lunge Into U.S. Theaters And On VOD This May From Well Go USA

Lee B. Golden III

Collider‘s Haleigh Foutch presented the exclusive trailer and poster for Well Go USA’s upcoming martial arts comedy, The Paper Tigers. The film marks a feature debut for writer/director Bao Tran, following its nine-year journey of development which included a blistering shortfilm pitch to present to marketeers. This, followed by preliminary footage to showcase for Frontières, in addition to crowdsourcing and campaigning in alignment with a heavy-handed movement for inclusion in today’s film industry amidst its festival run, and you can surmise exactly the kind of effort that makes a film like The Paper Tigers worth appreciating, rounds of positive reviews and sequel hopes notwithstanding. As teenagers, kung fu aficionados Danny (Uy), Hing (Yuan), and Jim (Jenkins) were inseparable, but drifted apart after graduation due to a mysterious fallout at an overseas tournament. Fast forward 25 years, and each has grown into a washed-up middle-aged man seemingly one kick away from […]

MORTAL KOMBAT: New Footage In A Bevy Of Quick Promos For The Live-Action Martial Arts Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Feast your eyes above on a slew of short promos for Simon McQuoid’s Mortal Kombat, from Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema. The promos are host to tons of new footage, some of which lend a greater reveal of the characters and the action, including the armored look teased in the latest banner art donned by lead star Lewis Tan, and speedy hooksword killer Kabal, played by Daniel Nelson. The promos also remain adherent to the key narrative culminating the eternal rivalry between warring ninjas Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada) and Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim), with other permeating characters like Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), Jax (Mehcad Brooks) Mileena (Sisi Stringer), Kano (Josh Lawson), Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), Kung Lao (Max Huang), Shang Tsung (Chin Han) and Raiden (Tadanobu Asano), and, if you watch carefully, brief glimpses of Nathan Jones as brutal kombatant, Reiko, and Tan lunging a feral attack at the mighty […]

MAKING MONSTERS Scares You On Digital And VOD March 26

Lee B. Golden III

Samuel Goldwyn Films is proudly releasing Making Monsters, the new horror thriller by directing duo Rob Brunner and screenwriter Justin Harding. Following festival apprearances at Shriekfest, the Portland Horror Film Festival, the Hexploitation Film Festival (Winner, “Scariest Film”) amongst several others, Making Monsters will bow on March 26 across the U.S. on VOD and Digital. A social media prankster and his fiancee find their idyllic country weekend turn into the ultimate video prank, where the stakes are life and death. The film stars Alana Elmer, Tim Loden, Jonathan Craig, Jarrett Siddall and King Chiu.