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:

Nightstream 2020 Review: HUNTED, An Unbound Thriller With Ferocity, And Some Frills

Filmmaker and comic book artist Vincent Paronnaud’s directorial debut is a mix of different things in its execution. In the case of Hunted, these kinds of films are generally entertaining and thrilling to watch; They still take a little more ingenuity each time, and so it depends on the director’s vision, and their handling thereof, and casting Lucie Debay proves an excellent choice for Paronnaud who co-wrote the pic with Léa Pernollet. Following an animated prologue featuring an evening moment of storytime in the woods with a survivalist and her son, Hunted introduces the story of Eve (Lucie Debay), an on-site contract supervisor stressed by her job by the demands of her foreman, and far from interested in answering her loved ones’ calls. Instead, she sets out to drink her night away at the local bar where after being accosted by a drunk patron, a man (Arieh Worthalter) emerges from […]

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Ranjeet S. Marwa’s EXILED: THE CHOSEN ONES Casts Hannah Al-Rashid (EXCLUSIVE)

Lee B. Golden III

English-born actress Hannah Al-Rashid has taken the female lead in Exiled: The Chosen Ones, the new independent action thriller from Ranjeet S. Marwa (The Boy Who Never Came Home). Talks have been underway as pre-production continued this past week with Singaporean actor Sunny Pang (Headshot, TV series Code Of Law) arriving in Birmingham, U.K. for Monday’s start of principal photography. Marwa is directing from his own script, reteaming Al-Rashid with her The Night Comes For Us co-star, Pang, and joining a primary cast that also lists Carl Wharton (The Tombs), and a reunion for Marwa with Faith Can Wait actors James Bryhan (Shadow And Bone) and Craig Edwards (Pumpkins), and actor and stunt performer Nick Khan (Tribal: Get Out Alive, The Asian Connection) who is also designing the gruesome action sequences. Production also marks the latest tenacious effort by Marwa who initially started the year out by promoting crowdfunding for […]

FIGHTING FOR FILM – Part II: A Word With Actor Alex Montagnani

Lee B. Golden III

Professional fighter-turned-actor Alex Montagnani has a few goals going forward into 2021, one of which stems from more than five years of team effort with friend and cohort, director Jesse Quiñones. Their newest MMA drama, Cagefighter: Worlds Collide, is now available in the U.S. from Screen Media Films, and so without further ado, Montagnani joins us to share his perspectives on the film, filmmaking, the current state of the industry, and his hopes for the future. Feel free to check out my interview with Quiñones as well by clicking here, and don’t forget to rent or purchase Cagefighter: Worlds Collide, wherever movies are sold (also click to check out previous interviews with Cagefighter co-star/stunt performer Jason Truong and stunt coordinator Daniel Ford Beavis). Click here to read my my review. Greetings Alex, and thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us. How have you and yours made […]

ALICE IN BORDERLAND: The Death Games Begin In The Official Series Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

If you take away nothing else from the work of Bleach helmer Shinsuke Sato, take the fact that he nearly never disappoints when it comes to storytelling. His latest work, Alice in Borderland, looks to continue that legacy heading toward its December 10 stream date at 3:00 a.m. EST on Netflix, and we finally have an official trailer to show for it. Arisu—a listless, jobless and video-game-obsessed young man—suddenly finds himself in a strange, emptied-out version of Tokyo in which he and his friends must compete in dangerous games in order to survive. In this strange world, Arisu meets Usagi, a young woman who’s navigating the games alone. Together, they set out to unravel one mystery after another as they risk their lives and confront what it means to live. Sato ran point for all eight episodes, based on Haro Aso’s Shogakukan man publication. The film marks a reunion for […]

THE DOOR INTO SUMMER: Kento Yamazaki Chooses The Future In The First Teaser

Lee B. Golden III

Taking his cues from Robert A. Heinlen’s 1957 novel of the same name, Fortuna’s Eye helmer Takahiro Miki’s got his sights set on some alluring cerebral sci-fi as teased in the latest footage for next year’s The Door Into Summer. Starring Kento Yamazaki from a script by Time Traveler: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time scribe Tomoe Kanno, Toho and Aniplex are teaming up for the film’s Japan release in February. The Door Into Summer is set in 1995, and centers on Soichiro Takakura (Yamazaki), a robotics specialist who is also on the verge of completing a plasma storage battery, thus fulfilling the dream of his late father’s deceased friend, Matsushita. Devastated and faced with an ultimate betrayal by his partners and loved ones, Takakura takes it upon himself to rest in cryostasis in hopes of awakening to a better future, which still remains to be seen when he finally […]

FATMAN: Mel Gibson’s Santa Has A Not-So-Special Present For His Enemies In The Official Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Santa Claus has had it with everyone’s shit this year, and he’s letting off some steam in Fatman, the new action comedy from Small Town Crime duo Ian and Eshom Nelms. To save his declining business, Chris Cringle (Mel Gibson), also known as Santa Claus, is forced into a partnership with the U.S. military. Making matters worse, Chris gets locked into a deadly battle of wits against a highly skilled assassin (Walton Goggins), hired by a precocious 12-year-old after receiving a lump of coal in his stocking. ‘Tis the season for Fatman to get even, in the action-comedy that keeps on giving. Saban Films is out and about with the official trailer making reindeer tracks with its YouTube views as we speak as the film heads to a select theatrical release on November 13 before hitting digital on November 17. Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Chance Hurstfield also star.

SKYFIRE: Simon West Disaster Thriller Picked Up By Screen Media For December

Lee B. Golden III

Simon West’s volcanic survival thriller, Skyfire, will get a theatrical and on-demand release this December in North America through Screen Media Films, as announced by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment Inc. on Thursday. The film released in the mainland last December to box office acclaim, billed as “China’s first large-scale disaster movie”, with a cast that lists Jason Isaacs (Hotel Mumbai), Hannah Quinlivan (Skyscraper), Xueqi Wang (Iron Man 3) and Shawn Dou (Wolf Totem). In Skyfire, chaos erupts when the once dormant volcano at the world’s only volcano theme park and resort starts to rumble. A young scientist (Quinlivan) must convince the resort owner (Isaacs) to evacuate the island before it is too late. West, best known as the blockbuster director behind Con Air, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, The Mechanic, and The Expendables 2, to name a few, directed from a script by Written by Will Wei Bu and […]

Toronto’s BLOOD IN THE SNOW VII: Reverse Exorcism, Bloodthirsty She-Wolves, and an Army of Deadites For The Virtual Seventh Film Festival

Lee B. Golden III

In the mood for horror and in need of some festival excitement? Blood In The Snow is currently readying its seventh year with a killer line-up to present for its virtual audience on Super Channel Fuse, and the official announcement rolled out several days ago, so this is me catching up. Steve Villeneuve’s Hail To The Deadites and the Carrer/Eveneshen-directed For The Sake Of Vicious are two solid recommendations from us here at FCSyndicate, so you’re more than welcome to start with those. Beyond that, check out the official Blood In The Snow and Super Channel websites for more details. Otherwise, the full announcement and schedule is just below! (October 5, 2020 – TORONTO) The BLOOD IN THE SNOW FILM FESTIVAL (BITS) unleashed its newest batch of Canadian terror, which takes over Halloween this October 28 to November 7 on Super Channel for 11 incredible nights. For the first time, […]

CHICK FIGHT: Malin Akerman Punches Her Way To Glory In The Official Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Just as before with the release of revenge thriller, Becky, Quiver Distribution and Redbox are pairing up once more to bring the fight to your homefront with a day-and-date release of Chick Fight, slated for November 13. ETonline debuted the official trailer on Tuesday, which is now making the online rounds and host to a cast that includes Malin Akerman, Bella Thorne, Alec Baldwin, Dulcé Sloan, Kevin Connolly, Kevin Nash and Fortune Feimster. When Anna Wyncomb is introduced to an underground, all-female fight club in order to turn the mess of her life around, she discovers she is much more personally connected to the history of the club than she could ever imagine.

GODZILLA: SINGULAR POINT: Netflix Targets 2021 For New Kaiju Animated Series

Lee B. Golden III

Netflix is returning to Kaiju territory next year with Godzilla: Singular Point, as announced by the streamer on Tuesday evening. bones and Orange, the animation studios behind My Hero Academia and Beastars, respectively, are collaborating on the project, combining hand-drawn and CG animation styles to feature brand new characters, with none other than director Atsushi Takahashi (Doraemon the Movie 2017: Great Adventure in the Antarctic Kachi Kochi) sitting at the helm. The new series comes in the wake of the streamer’s massive success of its current line-up of anime titles with the Toho favorite: Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017), Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle (2018) and Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2018). Japanese sci-fi novelist Toh Enjoe will make his TV screenwriting debut penning the series with Kan Sawada (Doraemon franchise, Yowamushi Pedal) on music, Kazue Kato (Blue Exorcist) on character design, and Studio Ghibli animation vet, Eiji Yamamori (Princess Mononoke, […]

EXILED: THE CHOSEN ONES Reveals A Behind-The-Scenes Glimpse Of Pre-Production On The Covid-Safe Survival Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Tune in to director Ranjeet S. Marwa’s Instagram for the next several days and you’ll likely spot him on the Birmingham set for his new independent survival actioner, now titled Exiled: The Chosen Ones. The filmmaker is currently teasing several photos from the set, three in which are enclosed in a collage he’s sent to our inbox which you can tap to view above, with Marwa joined by lead actor Sunny Pang (The Night Comes For Us) and co-star/stunt performer Nick Khan (Tribal: Get Out Alive) who also serves as fight choreographer. Pang stars from a script by Marwa, playing Hiro, a cold and calculating Yakuza hitman forced to compete for his life among a row of society’s worst criminals, in a deadly game devised by a corporate cabal overseeing a nefarious population control scheme, while the rich place their bets. Other cast members will be officially announced in the […]

ARCHENEMY Trailer And Poster: Whatever You Do, Don’t Say The Word ‘Super’ Around Joe Manganiello

Lee B. Golden III

Currently set to screen for this year’s Fuck Covid Edition of Beyond Fest, the Adam Egypt Mortimer-directed Joe Manganiello starrer, Archenemy, is slated for an on-demand, digital and select-theatrical release on December 11. Thus, RLJE Films has dropped the official trailer which you can now view above, as well as the official poster, designed by Christian Ward. In ARCHENEMY, Max Fist (Manganiello) claims to be a hero from another dimension who fell through time and space to Earth, where he has no powers. No one believes his stories except for a local teen named Hamster. Together, they take to the streets to wipe out the local drug syndicate and its vicious crime boss known as The Manager. Also starring are Skylan Brooks (“Empire”), Zolee Griggs (“W-Tang: An American Saga”), Amy Seimetz (Pet Semetary) and Glenn Howerton (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”).

SKYLIN3S: Tickets On Sale For The World Premiere Sci-Fi Thriller Closing FrightFest 2020

Lee B. Golden III

Consider this a humble reminder that tickets are currently on sale to screen the world premiere of Liam O’Donnell’s latest, Skylin3s, on October 25, the closing date for the FrightFest Halloween Digital Edition. Culminating the trilogy that began with Skyline (2010), the new film continues the alien invasion saga following the parallel travails of newly-introduced heroes who fought back in O’Donnell’s follow-up, Beyond Skyline (2017). The official notes on the upcoming threequel read as follows: Several years have now passed since other-worldly blue lights first descended from the skies as the alien invasion of Earth began.The once-killer extraterrestrials known as ‘Pilots’ have had their biology altered so they can now peacefully coexist with humans on a ravaged future-Earth. When a lethal new alien virus emerges, military commander General Radford (Alexander Siddig) warns that without action the Pilots will revert to their unstoppable, human-hunting form. To save the Earth, super-powered human-alien […]

MY SON: STXFilms’ Remake Of French Pic Enlists McAvoy And Foy For November Shoot

Lee B. Golden III

Filmmaker Christian Carion will remake his 2017 French-language hit missing-persons thriller, My Son, as announced by ErosSTX, as announced on Monday. STXfilms has closed the rights for the pic and have cast James McAvoy and Claire Foy. Carion, who will also produce the experimental new thriller, will shoot the film in November in Scotland with McAvoy starring in a story about a man who travels to the town of his ex-wife (Foy), in a desperate search for answers when only son goes missing. The plan is to shoot in the same style as Carion did for his 2017 film of the same name: McAvoy will have no script or dialogue, and instead, will improvise his way forward using only basic aspects of the story, to constitute a character whose life is clouded by mystery. The rest of the cast and crew will be aware of the scenes. Also producing are […]

HAVOC: ‘The Villainess’ Director To Tackle DMZ Thriller With Monarch Media

Lee B. Golden III

Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro is reporting that filmmaker Jung Byung-gil will step to the helm for DMZ military thriller, Havoc. Production is slated for the Spring with a script inspired by actual events, penned by Eric Tipton and based on an original idea by Steve Barnett and Daniel Myrick. As D’Alessandro notes, Havoc “tells the story of a U.S. helicopter crashing on the North Korean side of the DMZ. With tensions between the North and South already on the verge of war, the surviving U.S. Army Reservists must work together to protect a civilian tech-specialist and find their way across the DMZ, without the possibility of U.S. military support. Both Jung and [Monarch Media’s Lewis] Kim served in the South Korean military, performing several missions with U.S. soldiers, and plan to bring their experiences to Havoc.” Bernie Goldmann is producing alongside Monarch Media’s Barnett and Alan Powell, and Kim, with Monarch’s […]

ARCHENEMY: Official Trailer World Premiere This Tuesday

Lee B. Golden III

Though his DC movieverse prospects may have taken a backseat, actor Joe Manganiello will still get his superhero thrills on in one form or another in the gritty new fantasy crime thriller, Archenemy. Currently set to screen for this year’s Fuck Covid Edition of Beyond Fest, the Adam Egypt Mortimer-directed pic is slated for an on-demand, digital and select-theatrical release on December 11. Thus, RLJE Films has dropped a trailer tease to put the word out ahead of the world premiere for the official trailer on Tuesday, October 6. Mortimer directs from his own script, starring Manganiello as Max Fist, who claims to be a hero from another dimension, having fallen through time and space only to land on Earth, where he has no powers. No one believes his stories except for a local teen named Hamster. Together, they take to the streets to wipe out the local drug syndicate […]

LONDON KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL 2020: PAWN, ASHFALL, LUCKY CHAN-SIL, ME & ME, And More For This Year’s Festivities!

Lee B. Golden III

Indeed, it’s about that time again for the return of the annual London Korean Film Festival, now going virtual for its fifteenth year. This one’s getting some new features added along with this year’s line-up of movies and shorts, panels and special sections. The festival will also extend to select theatrical cinemas wherever moviegoers may safely attend provided Covid-19 safety measures are in place – namely Picturehouse Central, Genesis Cinema and Rio Cinema. At any rate, read on, and definitely defer to the official website for more information on what’s in store for this year’s exciting line-up! The London Korean Film Festival (LKFF) is proud to be returning in 2020 for its milestone 15th edition. Taking place from 29 October – 12 November the festival will be going digital for the first time, with 30+ films available online to audiences across the UK, prerecorded interviews, live Q&As and other virtual […]

CAGEFIGHTER: WORLDS COLLIDE Review: Against All Odds, Hearty MMA Drama That Keeps Fan Service On Its Toes

Lee B. Golden III

As a few of my contributors might or might not posit in any conversation about MMA in cinema, the start of the new millennium into the early 2010s was an interesting point in time for the genre. Actors and professional athletes were courted to spotlight a number of directors and producers for their endeavors, and while some have fallen into direct-to-video obscurity, others have certainly paid off in their own way. From this critic’s perspective, it all boils down to how you tell a story, and there are a number of examples that exhibit exactly how some filmmakers can absolutely fail at this, which is almost mind-boggling considering they may still end up directing again. With director and screenwriter Jesse Quiñones, that conversation goes welcomingly different in the wake of his latest film effort, Cagefighter: Worlds Collide, that conversation will go invariably different when it comes to writer and director […]

FREE GUY: Ryan Reynolds Gets The Girl, A New Lease On Life, And A Trailer!

Lee B. Golden III

Provided there’s still a movie theater left to safely attend by then, Ryan Reynolds’s new fantasy sci-fi, Free Guy, may finally hit the big screen on December 11 after shelving its summer release. The film is directed by Shawn Levy from a script by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn. In Twentieth Century Studios’ epic adventure-comedy “Free Guy,” a bank teller who discovers he is actually a background player in an open-world video game, decides to become the hero of his own story…one he rewrites himself. Now in a world where there are no limits, he is determined to be the guy who saves his world his way…before it is too late. Also starring are Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar and Taika Waititi.

THE COMPLEX: LOCKDOWN Review: Passable Sci-Fi Mystery Entertainment Fills The Void

Lee B. Golden III

Game fans akin to Wales Interactive’s The Complex may take a liking to Paul Raschid’s interactive feature sci-fi thriller of the same name, albeit titled The Complex: Lockdown. Films with a contained millieu definitely tend to fall victim to a more slower-burn pacing, though thanks in large part to screenwriter Lynn Renee Maxcy, there are plenty of suspenseful moments to this film’s benefit, and with a story that nonetheless saves the big pitch for last. Pushing off of an intro set five years prior, the main story introduces Dr. Amy Tennant (Michelle Mylett), a former warzone medical expert following her recent travails as a warzone medical technician. Currently seeking major backers for her nanotech push, an incident in a London tube sends Amy off to a bittersweet reunion with former partner Rees Wakefield (Al Weaver) at The Complex, a state of the art medical facility overseen by Nathalie Kensington (Kate […]