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:

WELCOME TO SUDDEN DEATH: Michael Jai White Looks To Score In New Action Thriller Coming September 29

Lee B. Golden III

While action star Michael Jai White’s camraderie with fellow Universal Soldier: The Return star Jean-Claude Van Damme is no secret, what remains to be seen is if White’s latest venture can hold a candle to its predecessor from director Peter Hyams. Enter Dallas Jackson with Welcome To Sudden Death, the latest revisal of a Die Hard-plot that brings White together with actor and comedian Gary Owen with a DVD and Digital release coming September 29. Jesse Freeman (Michael Jai White, Black Dynamite) is a former special forces officer and explosives expert now working a regular job as a security guard in a state-of-the-art basketball arena. Trouble erupts when a tech-savvy cadre of terrorists kidnap the team’s owner and Jesse’s daughter during opening night. Facing a ticking clock and impossible odds, it’s up to Jesse to not only save them, but also a full house of fans in this high-charged action […]

Lauren Russo and Xenia Leblanc in GRITTY & PRETTY

GRITTY & PRETTY Comedy Series Gloves Up For Dances With Films This Weekend!

Lee B. Golden III

This weekend will be the latest milestone for actress, comedian and filmmaker Xenia Leblanc, best known for her role as Young Red in the Netflix series Orange Is The New Black. She’s now taking to her newest endeavor with comedy series Gritty & Pretty, premiering the pilot episode for a virtual audience at LA-based online venue Dances With Films. Leblanc directs the current five-part series from her own script, in addition to starring opposite rising star Kelly Russo. The series centers on former high school besties Kira (Leblanc), a boxer fighting to save her gym from bankruptcy, and Lauren (Russo), who is stuck hosting an absurd Instagram TV talk show. Fifteen years since graduation, they are now struggling to find their true paths and make a living when they are abruptly reunited in the parking lot of the same building where they’ve both ended up working in. Also starring are […]

NEMESIS: ‘Project Power’ Directors Slated To Helm Warner Bros. Action Sci-Fi

Lee B. Golden III

Jeff Sneider at Collider is reporting another movie in the works from Project Power directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. With production and casting details pending, the duo will direct sci-fi action thriller Nemesis for Warner Bros. Pictures. As reported by Sneider, “the story is said to follow a genius engineer who witnesses the President of the United States commit a deadly crime and teams up with a vigilante to take down the President and his corrupt government.” Kroll & Co.’s Sue Kroll and Jules Daly are producing from a script newly revised by Promising Young Woman writer Emerald Fennell. Joost and Schulman are coming off of their latest unique new superhero sci-fi, Project Power. Featuring Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Dominique Fishback, the film centers on a ragtag trio – a vigilante, a cop and a wayward school student – on a mission to foil a nefarious plot to […]

NYAFF XIX Review: GERAN Punches Down With Spiritual Vigor On Gangster Drama And Silat Action Thrills

Lee B. Golden III

After spending a great deal behind the camera for a number of projects in the past decade, action movie audiences might have another prospect on their hands with Areel Abu Bakar, having since emerged last October in Malaysia and Brunei directing his feature debut, Geran. Close to a year later thanks to the efforts of Samuel Jamier and his team, the film now gets its day in the West for its premiere at the 19th virtual New York Asian Film Festival this weekend. Pak Nayon (Namron) is the patriarch of his devout family of silat Gayong practitioners who live a spiritual lifestyle in their rural home. Sadly, the family bond that once kept it all together has long dissolved for at least one sibling, Mat Arip (Fad Anuar), a gambling-addicted illegal street racer whose surmounting debts have cornered him into stealing his family’s land inheritance, and turning it over to, […]

The Paper Tigers

Fantasia XXIV Review: In Bao Tran’s THE PAPER TIGERS, Quinquagenarians Tackle Old Age, Counter Culture And Personal Dilemma In An Upbeat Whodunit Kung Fu Murder Mystery

Lee B. Golden III

If you’re a fan of martial arts cinema and have kept up with the burgeoning waves of online talent since 2000, you’ve likely had your eye on filmmaker Bao Tran given his output through his POV-films banner. By 2008, the move to etch his place in independent film history a time or two, including with the wunderkinds of Zero Gravity for noir-tinged action drama short, Bookie, would only be the fortuitous start of Tran’s journey of resolute creativity through community. For this, it’s been nine years since Tran began development, and six since setting it all in motion with his 2015 proof-of-concept, The Challenger, eventually taking his hustle to the Frontières pitch floor with a rich concept and a bold statement to the industry and the world that now culminates his ambitious feature film debut, The Paper Tigers. Directing from his own script and adherent to a bona fide cast […]

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Cameras Roll On SATRIA DEWA: GATOTKACA, Cecep Arif Rahman And Yayan Ruhian Join Indonesian Superhero Franchise Installer

Lee B. Golden III

It’s been a long-time coming for the Satria Dewa franchise’s transition to the big screen, and now Variety’s Vivienne Chow has the latest on production for the first installment, Gatotkaca, which will open in 2021. Cameras are now rolling as of August 6, after a two-month delay with strigent Covid-19 safety protocols currently put in place for cast and crew. Hanung Bramantyo is directing the project from a script by Night Bus scribe Rahabi Mandra and featuring Rizky Nazar in the title role of Yuda, “a young man with superpowers”. The film also stars John Wick 3 actors Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman, the latter who’s been involved with the project since etching out last year’s proof-of-concept short from Juara director Charles Gozali who is no longer attached to the project. The Satria Dewa universe series draws on Indonesian folklore ideas that can be traced back more than 700 […]

YANKEE: Debut Actress Devon Slack Fights For Emancipation In The First Official Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

In no uncertain terms, it’s still very much registering in my head and my heart right now that I’m quoted on the latest artwork for Stéphan Beaudoin’s new gritty action drama, Yankee. This comes in the wake of its latest run this month for the online installment of the 24th Fantasia International Film Festival, and if you’d like to know more, you’re invited to check out my review. In the meantime, the official trailer is now online following a teaser that aptly whet my appetite prior to publishing my Fantasia curtain-raiser. And considering that my site’s coverage extends to independent cinema and burgeoning talent from the stunt community around the world, Yankee is a film that falls directly in my purview. A Quebec drug dealer leads his American cousin into the world of illegal street fights. A dramatic and violent descent into a ruthless universe. Storied by Beaudoin and screenwriter […]

RIP Chadwick Boseman (1976-2020): Five Titles To Enjoy In Remembrance Of The Late ‘Black Panther’ Star

Lee B. Golden III

Late Friday evening, fans were devastated to hear the news of actor Chadwick Boseman‘s death at the age of 43. The star of the hit Marvel movie, Black Panther, stood among a pantheon of other characters for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s ten-year history, four of which he spent quietly battling colon cancer. The actor was set to return for a sequel, in addition to the production of Black Samurai film, Yasuke, and it’s not yet known whether or not Marvel will pass the torch to a new actor for the role of King T’Challa – my guess is the studio may wait sometime before an official announcement is made, with that film’s 2022 release date also being a factor. In the meantime, we can still honor Boseman’s memory through celebrating his performances. Here’s a top-five list of films you’re more than welcome to check out, regardless of whether or not […]

YAKUZA AND THE FAMILY Gets A Teaser For The New Crime Drama Starring Go Ayano

Lee B. Golden III

Actor Go Ayano is proudly making the festival rounds at the moment with his latest role opposite Ryuhei Matsuda in Keishi Otomo’s newest drama, Beneath The Shadow. In the meantime, the actor can be seen playing gangster for a beat in Yakuza And The Family, the latest arriving from Day And Night director Michijito Fuji. Ayano is joined by The Great War of Archimedes actor Hiroshi Tachi for a story set in the span of twenty years – about a man named Kenji, and his transformative journey in life as a Yakuza when his father dies, and gang boss Shibasaki takes him in. The first teaser is already online while we await more details, and you can check it out above.

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THE DOORMAN: Ruby Rose Checks You In For Ryuhei Kitamura’s New Action Thriller This October

Lee B. Golden III

After shelling out gory chills and suspenseful thrills for his Western transition in The Midnight Meattrain, No One Lives, Downrange and in a segment in Nightmare Cinema, it’s refreshing to see Japanese cult favorite Ryuhei Kitamura return to a lively action setup. This time, he’s got Lionsgate now readying to release The Doorman, starring Ruby Rose and Jean Reno, and apart from throwing down in both John Wick and xXx franchises, the action here ought to be a treat for fans who’ve recently checked Rose out in the CW’s Batwoman before she left the series back in May. In this punishing action-thriller starring Ruby Rose (JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2), a former Marine turned doorman at a luxury New York City high-rise must outsmart and battle a group of art thieves and their ruthless leader (Jean Reno, LÉON: THE PROFESSIONAL) — while struggling to protect her sister’s family. As the thieves […]

ALONE

Fantasia XXIV Review: ALONE, Jules Willcox Defies The Odds In A Roaring Return For John Hyams

Lee B. Golden III

To all the fans of films like Jean-Claude Van Damme/Cung Le starrer Dragon Eyes, and even the celebrated genre thrills of the Universal Soldier reboot sequels in 2009 and 2012: Filmmaker John Hyams may have been busy with his upkeep in the TV arena for the better half of the last eight years, and yet still after all this time, he knows how to deliver the filmgoing goods. Reimagined from Swedish 2011 thriller, Forsvunnen, Hyams helms the pic from a script by Mattias Olsson who directed the original with Henrik JP Åkesson; It was just a few years after the original’s release when Hyams reportedly took to Olsson’s chiseled new script, and by all accounts according to his director’s statement, hit all the right notes in outlining what he elucidates as “a suspense thriller crystalized to its essence”. Alone starts off as a pensive, quiet, slow-mover that introduces Jessica (Jules […]

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MAX CLOUD: Scott Adkins Sci-Fi Action Comedy Journeys To North America For Well Go USA This December

Lee B. Golden III

Killers Anonymous and Twist helmer Martin Owen’s action-packed sci-fi comedy, Max Cloud, has been acquired by Well Go USA for North American distribution this December on digital and on-demand. Owen directs from a script he co-wrote with Sally Collett, for a cast led by actress Isabelle Allen (Les Misérables, Killers Anonymous), and starring actor and martial artist Scott Adkins (Ip Man 4) in the title role. The story is described as one that “transports viewers back to the era of classic video games, when crimped hair was as hip as velour tracksuits and Animal Crossing and Fortnite were perhaps closer to alien technology than to reality.” Allen plays teen gamer Sarah who accidentally opens a secret portal hidden in her favorite side-scroller, where she finds herself trapped in an intergalactic prison home to the galaxy’s most dangerous villains. To escape the terrifying planet, she must team up with space hero […]

IDA RED: Josh Harnett, Frank Grillo Star In Melissa Leo Action Thriller Shot During Quarantine

Lee B. Golden III

Deadline’s Andreas Wiseman has updates this week on Ida Red, a new action thriller shot during the pandemic with Covid-19 safety protocols in place. The film is currently nearing wrap of principal photography in Oklahoma from writer/director John Swab (Body Brokers). Actor Josh Hartnett stars as the heir to the family business of his incarcerated mother, career criminal Ida ‘Red’ Walker (played by Melissa Leo). When a job goes awry, his local detective brother-in-law steps in along with an FBI agent to investigate. Also starring are Frank Grillo (Captain America 2 & 3), Melissa Leo (The Fighter), and William Forsythe (The Rock), along with Sofia Hublitz (Ozark), Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood), Mark Boone Junior (Sons of Anarchy), Beau Knapp (The Nice Guys), Slaine (The Town) and Nicholas Cirillo (Outer Banks). “Undeterred by the pandemic, this is our third consecutive summer shoot here in Tulsa. We could not make these […]

NAIL IN THE COFFIN: THE FALL & RISE OF VAMPIRO Rises To The Occasion On VOD/Digital On September 8

Lee B. Golden III

Life in the ring is as real as it gets outside the arena, especially for pro-wrestler Ian Hodgkinson (a.k.a Vampiro). He’s joined by daughter Dasha Hodgkinson for their latest documentary, Nail In The Coffin: The Fall & Rise Of Vampiro, which had its day at Fantasic Fest last year and now gets a VOD/Digital release beginning, Tuesday, September 8. Semi-retired professional wrestler Ian Hodgkinson reveals the harsh realities behind the glamour of being in the world of wrestling as the infamous ‘Vampiro’. A Lucha Libre legend, Hodgkinson tells the astonishing story about his meteoric rise to fame in the 90’s and how it almost killed him. Yet none of that was as back-breaking as his current life – working behind-the-scenes as the Director of Talent for Lucha Libre AAA in Mexico City and Lucha Underground in Los Angeles, while simultaneously raising his teenage daughter Dasha in remote Northern Canada as […]

THE SWORDSMAN Unsheathes Its First Teaser With Jang Hyuk And Joe Taslim

THE SWORDSMAN Unsheathes Its First Teaser With Jang Hyuk And Joe Taslim

Lee B. Golden III

It’s been three years since production launched for Choi Jae-hoon’s feature directing debut, The Swordsman. The film is finally set to release in Korea on September 17 and judging by the first official teaser trailer, the film looks like it’ll be worth the wait! The Swordsman takes place after the dethronement of Gwanghaegun, leaving Joseon in chaos amid the conflict between the Ming and Qing Dynasty. When his daughter, Tae Ok (Kim Hyun-Soo) is kidnapped by the subordinates of the imperial Qing family’s best warrior, Gurutai (Joe Taslim), vanished, half-blind swordsman Tae-yeul (Jang Hyuk) re-emerges and picks up the sword once more to confront the army, led by a man who vows to become the best even in the Joseon Dynasty. The film also stars Jeong Man-Sik, Lee Na-Kyung, Lee Min-Hyuk, Jang Hyun-Sung, Kim Yun-Tae and Choi Jin-Ho.

THE FOGGY MOUNTAIN: Peter Pham’s Newest Martial Arts Thriller Takes To HKFilmart This Week

Lee B. Golden III

Originally set to launch per its usual annual March date, the since-postponed Hong Kong Filmart is kicking off its two-day event on August 27 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). Arriving just in time this week will be Arclight Films who is officially boarding international distribution rights (excluding Vietnam) for Phan Anh’s new martial arts thriller, The Foggy Mountain, starring Vietnamese-American actor and martial artist Peter Pham in his feature film lead debut. The film is directed by Anh in co-operation with scriptwriter Ken Dinh, and centers on Phi (Peter Pham) who makes a living as a fighter and lives a simple and happy life with his beautiful wife named Lanh. However, after causing a big conflict with ruthless syndicate boss Ba Rau in a recent match, Phi sets out on a warpath quest for revenge of a wrongful death by venturing into the deep jungles of […]

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CONCRETE UTOPIA: Lee Byung-Hun Leads Trio For Earthquake Survival Thriller Shooting In Spring 2021

Lee B. Golden III

Um Tae-hwa (Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned) will sit at the helm in March 2021 for tentatively titled disaster thriller, Concrete Utopia, for Lotte Entertainment. A new report at KOFIC notes the casting additions of actress Park Bo-young (The Silenced), and actors Lee Byung-hun (Ashfall) and Park Seo-jun (The Divine Fury). The film reportedly centers on the events in a teetering apartment block in a city left devastated by a major earthquake. Lee is currently shooting The King director Han Jae-rim’s airplane disaster thriller, Emergency Declaration with Song Kang-ho. More at KOFIC.

THE KAIJU SCORE November Comic Book Series Lands At Sony For Feature Film Development

Lee B. Golden III

The word from Mike Fleming Jr. at Deadline is that Sony Pictures has acquired rights to AfterShock Comics’s forthcoming comic book series, The Kaiju Score, publishing November 25. The series hails from writer James Patrick and creator/illustrator Rem Broo and centers on a group of four individuals – each with personal stories of their own – who must find a way out of the worst situation possible: carrying out a meticulous heist in the midst of a devastating kaiju attack. AfterShock blogger Afteradminez elucidates in statements from Patrick that describe the upcoming comic series as “…a Quentin Tarantino film taking place in some corner of a Godzilla movie,” He adds: “It started with Donald Westlake books like the Parker series. I wanted to do something contemporary like those, “But when Rem [Broo, co-creator and artist] came aboard, I knew it felt more Oceans 11 and I adjusted.” As Fleming Jr. […]

TROLL: ‘Tomb Raider’ Director Tackles Netflix Action Adventure For 2022

Lee B. Golden III

Internationally acclaimed director Roar Uthaug is set to direct action adventure, Troll, with a 2022 premiere date to be set on Netflix. Scandinavian company Motion Blur’s Espen Horn and Kristian Strand Sinkerud will produce. Deep inside the mountain of Dovre, something gigantic awakens after being trapped for a thousand years. Destroying everything in its path, the creature is fast approaching the capital of Norway. But how do you stop something you thought only existed in Norwegian folklore? Uthaug is prolifically known for his 2015 survival epic, The Wave, as well as helming 2018 video game adaptation, Tomb Raider for Warner Bros. Pictures, which starred Alicia Vikander and earned more than $274 million dollars worldwide; Free Fire director Ben Wheatley is attached to the forthcoming sequel as of last Fall. Motion Blur launched as a production company for commercials in 2002, prior to expanding into film and TV production a decade […]

#ALIVE: Il Cho’s Quarantine Zombie Outbreak Thriller Streams On Netflix In September

Lee B. Golden III

Netflix is taking the mantle to present director Il Cho’s latest zombie thriller, #Alive, on September 8, following its Korean theatrical release in June. The film stars Yoo Ah-in and Park Shin-hye in the respective roles of Jun-u and Yu-bin, trapped in their neighboring apartments amidst a survivors of a mysterious zombie outbreak in Seoul, with no means of internet or cellular data, the two can only rely on what they see on television as well as outside their windows, while utilizing their own skillsets to help each other survive. Yoo is known for portraying diverse roles in movies and dramas including Veteran, Chicago Typewriter, Six Flying Dragons, and more. Popular actress Park is known for her roles in You Are Beautiful, Pinocchio, and Memories of the Alhambra. #Alive is based on an original script of screenwriter Matt Naylor, and produced is by Zip Cinema and Perspective Pictures.