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:

Here’s Where You Can Catch IP MAN 4: THE FINALE In Theaters

Depending on where you are in the world and when you catch this particular article, it’ll be a matter of days or hours before the epic and emotional Ip Man 4: The Finale, closes the Donnie Yen-led saga for good. Well Go USA is leading the charge for its select releases in the U.S. and the U.K., and the company is running the following one-sheets below with all the listings in store. The film has already become a massive success in China so much so that it’s beaten Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker at the box office. Completely understandable, methinks. In my view, compared to the Disney-owned franchise, Ip Man simply holds up more and better. Eleven years in the making, it’s one of the best franchises to date, and provided you’ve given the other three a shot, you’ll want to include this one in your schedule come Christmas. […]

ECHO 8 Scores A Trio Of Character Posters For Maria Tran’s Action Feature Debut

Lee B. Golden III

Three new visuals are online for the production of Maria Tran’s feature debut, Echo 8. Principal photography commences in January in Western Sydney, Australia with Tran directing her first feature, in addition to starring. From Tran’s Phoenix Eye independent company, Echo 8 centers on a highly trained assassin who finds herself in a strange house with no memories of how she got there, in the wake of a specialized mission gone awry; Think: Jaume Collet-Serra’s Unknown by way of Renny Harlin’s The Long Kiss Goodnight. “This will be my first directorial debut of an actioner and a shoe string budget production but with an amazing cast & crew.” said Tran in a Facebook post on Monday. “This production is fueled by the input of the independent artist community of Sydney and with the contributions of our international talents and it feels great to just make films because we can!” Elizabeth […]

2019, Thank You…

Lee B. Golden III

I have to say, trying to put thoughts together to best express myself in this piece has been pretty trying. There’ve been plenty of highs and an even greater deal of lows which I will discuss here, although I don’t wish to focus too much on the negatives. Indeed, I think I’ve been a just a little more lucky this year than originally felt – however, I’m mildly refraining from counting my eggs just yet. Going into my eighth year as the founder and editor of this site, the work I’ve enjoyed doing on here since February 2013 when I was an outstanding noob and learning the ropes about film reporting and engaging fandom therein, has produced an often fun, creative learning process. Things do take its toll, however, when you start beginning to invest in people, and I’ve had to thicken my skin just a little more over the […]

TWIN BLADES: Li Ma Mops The Floor With Villains In The First Teaser

Lee B. Golden III

I guess Lauren Shuler Donner had to keep the engine running in the last three years somehow as all developments on Gambit continued to lapse… Of course, that brings us to the latest teaser for female-fronted action comedy, Twin Blades, featuring Li Ma playing bodyguard to Beth Behrs’s powerful American entrepreneur, hand-in-hand as the two find themselves in a dangerous situation and must fight for survival while in China. Jin directs from a screenplay by Ingrid Eskeland-Adetuyi, and here to assert the film’s action comedy element is a day-dreamy Li Ma laying waste to the film’s bad guy population, but with a twist! Take a look above, along with a promo visual below!

HIT MAN: Kwon Sang-woo Comes Right Out Of A Comic Book In The First Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Here’s to breaking out the hilarity in 2020! Hit Man is the name of actor Kwon Sang-woo’s latest action comedy exploits since treading the dark, vengeful world of a Go player in Lee Khan’s The Divine Move 2: The Wrathful. The first official poster is up and running, as is a first look trailer to help whet the appetite. This one marks Choi Won-sub’s feature directing debut, casting Kwon as an ex-legendary agent for the N.I.S. who suits to pursue his true passion: Writing webcomics. After a creative stalemate, he decides to use his past life as source material, but soon finds himself in a great deal of trouble when his comics finally take off, revealing classified material. Hit Man also stars Jung Joon-ho, Hwang woo-seul-hye, Lee Yi-kyung, Lee Ji-won and many more for the film’s release in South Korea on January 22. Peep the goods above!

TILL DEATH DO US PART: Philippe Vonlanthen’s Action Comedy Feature Debut Casts Up

Lee B. Golden III

R. Marcos Taylor (Baby Driver, Straight Outta Compton), Mary Christina Brown (Vigilante Diares, AWOL 72) and stunt multihyphenate Simon Rhee (Best Of The Best, Lethal Weapon 4, Unlucky Stars) are just three of the latest additions to Philippe Vonlanthen‘s sizeable roster of screen talent for independent action comedy pic, Till Death Do Us Part currently in pre-production. Vonlanthen, a seasoned stunt performer-turned-filmmaker who got his theatrical start years ago on Chris Rock’s espionage thriller, Bad Company, will direct from a script he wrote. He describes the film as “a love story of inclusion in a climate of global warming conspiracy, combined with high-octane stunts, fights, and of course – Bollywood dance numbers.” Taylor, Brown and Rhee, all three of whom share an extensive martial arts background, join a cast first reported on December 1 for the new film, among whom share space with others Vonlanthen has announced via social media, […]

FENGSHEN TRILOGY Returns The Legend In The First Teaser

Lee B. Golden III

The past decade has definitely seen its share of stalled franchises and even a few releaeses, and for varying reasons. China is no stranger to these occurences with seeming overproduction and heavy-handed censorship that has so often stifled these releases, and even in a few cases where confidence all but dissipates. The most definitive example of this that I can recall was the kibosh put almost instantaneously on Peng Zhang’s 2018 feature debut, Asura, which, if the rumors are correct, could finally make way to a streaming release in the mainland. We’ll see if that sticks, while it’s also worth noting the industry there, as fickle as it is, is not without a sense of occasional tenacity. Enter director Wuershan‘s latest feat now sampling with a teaser for the inaugural 2020 installment of Fengshen, a new trilogy boasting a three-billion yuan budget, and a sizeable load of intricate craftsmanship and […]

TENET First Official Trailer: Christopher Nolan Toys With Time To The Backdrop Of Espionage

Lee B. Golden III

I’m still trying to process what is currently being sampled in the official trailer for writer/director Christopher Nolan’s new film, Tenet. No plot details have yet been revealed but as always, Nolan sticks to some really great caveats and tropes when it comes to his craft, and it always results in some intriguing, deep-in-scope narrative epic. His latest seems to be no different as it deals with the element of time as part of its story and seeming action sequences. John David Washington and Robert Pattinson star in the new action espionage epic filmed between IMAX and 70mm film. A July 17 release is now in order and with Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Clémence Poésy, Michael Caine and Kenneth Branagh rounding out the cast.

VFW Official Poster Reveals A Squad Of Soldiers Back In Old Habits

Lee B. Golden III

As Joe Begos’ immersive, hypnotic horror, Bliss, finds its way to home viewers around the world, he now follows up with contained thriller, VFW, which will arrive in theaters, VOD and Digital HD beginning February 14 from RLJE Films and Fangoria. Begos directs from a script by Max Brallier and Matthew McArdle, and centers on a group of septuagenarian war veterans forced to square off with a gang of punk mutants hunting a young woman. The ensemble cast is headed by Stephen Lang, William Sadler, Martin Kove, David Patrick Kelly, Sierra McCormick, Tom Williamson, Travis Hammer and Dora Madison, with George Wendt and Fred Williamson rounding out the cast. RLJE Films and Fangoria are proudly presenting the official poster – a poster quite fitting given the casting and veneer of the story. It’s telling of what looks like a promisingly violent thriller wholly welcome to a big screen release soon. […]

BARAGAKI: UNBROKEN SAMURAI Trailer Teases A Dauntless Sword Epic

Lee B. Golden III

There’s loads of love and fondness from fans keen on actor Junichi Okada, even some who share a preference to see him in serious action roles. His most recent festival delight, manga adaptation The Fable, was a grand feast of action and comedy during 2019 hitherto its release in Japan, and you’re welcome to read my thoughts about it here, at my NYAFF review for the film. For now, we have Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai to continue onward with as we approach the new year. Masato Harada, best known for playing the loathesome villain role in films such as The Last Samurai and Jet Li’s Fearless, adds to his prominent, decades-long career at the helm, reuniting with Okada since wrapping 17th century war epic, Sekigahara, which scored 2.4 billion yen at the box office. Opening on May 22, Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai takes its cues from Shiba Ryotaro’s 1964 Shukan Bunshun publication, […]

RUROUNI KENSHIN: THE FINAL/THE BEGINNING Slays This July And August

Lee B. Golden III

It only took me one whole summer to binge one of several animated shows back three years ago. One of them was the celebrared Rurouni Kenshin series, sans any OVA content, and as much as I enjoyed the arcs all around, I still haven’t gotten around to seeing the live-action films just yet. It’s definitely on my to-do list, make no mistake. Of course, far from discounting the fans who took to the festivals and the cinemas to catch the Keishi Otomo-directed trilogy between 2012 and 2014, the saga accrued about 12.5 billion yen. Needless to say or think much on, Warner Bros. Japan is far from finished with its franchise success here. A new official poster is now online foretelling the release dates of the now upcoming back-to-back continuation, Rurouni Kenshin: The Final/The Beginning, next summer on July 3 and August 7. As Crunchyroll reported in April, the films […]

IP MAN 4 Review: Wing Chun, Ip Man…One Last Time

Lee B. Golden III

Call it providence. Call it luck. Call it what you will. At the height of their careers, a film like Ip Man 4: The Finale, couldn’t have come at a better time for actors Donnie Yen and Scott Adkins, both who’ve successfully garnered the acclaim and passable demand that their fanbases have been hoping for. They are two of the most highly-regarded martial arts stars of today’s moviegoing generation, who share their own space on the Disney spectrum with the former playing blind spiritual warrior Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and the latter getting some screentime as a heavy-hitting zealot in Marvel’s Doctor Strange. Together, their credits bring a combined total of sixty-six years of experience; Between Yen’s Hollywood breakout near the turn of the century and Adkins’ own proliferation stemming from his successes beginining in Hong Kong cinema, it boggles the mind as to what […]

DISTURBING THE PEACE: Guy Pearce Takes Devon Sawa To Task In The Official Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

You a Guy Pearce fan? There’ll be several options going into next year for moviegoing if you enjoy the actor on screen, as Momentum Pictures recently snagged the rights to his new action crime thriller, Disturbing The Peace. The official trailer has arrived to start things off along with a theatrical, digital and VOD release set for January 17. A small-town marshal who hasn’t carried a gun since he left the Texas Rangers after a tragic shooting must pick up his gun again. This time to do battle with a gang of outlaw bikers that has invaded the town to pull off a brazen and violent heist. Shackleton directs from a script by Chuck Hustmyer, and with Devon Sawa, Kelly Greyson, Michael Sirow, Barbie Blank, Jacob Grodnik, Michael Bellisario, Dwayne Cameron, Elle E. Wallace, Jay Willick, Veralyn Venezio and John Lewis.

BATLLE OF JANGSARI Lands On U.S. Blu-Ray Combo Pack And DVD In January

Lee B. Golden III

Following up John H. Lee’s taut espionage overture with Operation Chromite, Kwak Kyung-taek (Friend) and Kim Tae-hun (Iris 2) arrived this year set upon 2019 to release Battle Of Jangsari, continuing the epic, chapterized saga chronicling the Korean War during the 1950s. Well Go USA released the feature film in theaters back in October featuring headliners like Kim Myung-min (Detective K), Choi Min-ho of K-pop boy band SHINee, and Megan Fox (Transformers). My review is available by clicking here, while the distro outlet is now setting a digital, Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD release for January 28. At a critical point in the Korean War, a small, inexperienced battalion of student soldiers are tasked with liberating the strategic location of Incheon. With little ammunition, low food supplies and second-hand weapons, the soldiers head for the frontlines of Jangsari beach. Based on the true story of forgotten heroes of the Korean […]

GANG: The Fight To The Top Begins In The Official Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Director Jo Baerun is making his feature debut sporting a tale set in the spritely atmosphere of a high school front for an underground fight club in the new movie, Gang. Starring Cha Ji-hyeok and Cho Seon-gi, the film centers on a student who, after being shipped off to Daehun High School, Korea’s worst institution, pledges to be the ‘Jjang’, or the top gangster. Obviously, he’s going to have to face down the competition fist-and-foot if he’s going to climb the hierarchy. The film’s official synopsis at HanCinema partly quotes Jung Han-seok’s programming notes from its Busan premiere back in October. It doesn’t hold back much on comparisons to other niche Asian coming-of-age and off-beat oddities like David Fincher’s Fight Club and hits like Volcano High, Friend and Die Bad among others. It’s a boldly contextual move, in my opinion, while I certainly think the film can stand on its […]

THE LEGEND OF BARON TO’A Passes The Torch In The Newest Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

One of the more notable highlights to make note of going into 2020, director Kiel McNaughton’s upbeat Pasifika/Maori action drama, The Legend Of Baron To’a has already left a striking impression with its teaser in October. The official trailer is now online and bodes with even more heavy-hitting action, comedy and pure promise. Tongan actor Uli Latukefu currently has credits in Netflix series, Marco Polo, as well as Alien: Covenant, and a co-starring role as a Bombardier in Kriv Stenders’ latest dramatic war thriller, Danger Close, which I enjoyed. Latukefu plays an entrepreneur forced to embrace this family’s celebrated wrestling legacy and reclaim his late legendary father’s valued pro wrestling belt when it falls in the hands of gangsters led by brooding ‘man-mountain’, Tahu The Legend Of Baron To’a is dated for February 20, and also stars Nathaniel Lees, Jay Laga’aia, John Tui, Shavaughn Ruakere and Fasitua Amosa, along with […]

TOP GUN: MAVERICK Hails The Return Of A Legend In The Official Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

A sequel to 1986’s Top Gun was likely the most imminent direction for Hollywood at some point in the last thirty-three years despite how long its taken. To that effect, Tron: Legacy and Oblivion director Joseph Kosinski’s approach looks like it’ll fare pretty well come its June 26 release, and with none other than his Oblivion star Tom Cruise back in the starring, high-flying saddle once more in Top Gun: Maverick. After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son of […]

BEASTS CLAWING AT STRAWS Trailer Teases An Overture Of Greed And Violence

Lee B. Golden III

Kim Yong-hoon’s feature directorial debut has begun campaigning with Beasts Clawing At Straws. M-Line Distribution acquired international rights in February with Megabox Plus M will is opening the film in February. Based on Keisuke Sone’s 2011 Kodansha novel publication, the film is described as a multi-strand, dog-eat-dog tale of greed, gluttony, lust and murder that culminates around the money bag: A failed restauranteur-turned-bathhouse worker caring for his Alzheimers-ridden mother until he discovers a cash sack in a locker; a customs officer deep in debt to a loanshark when his girlfriend steals the money and disappears; a bar hostess who offers her young lover a large sum of cash to kill her abusive husband. The film is headline by Cannes darling, acclaimed actress Jeon Do-yeon, and Korean A-lister Jung Woo-sung, and also features actors Bae Sung-woo and Jung Ga-ram, and actresses Youn Yuh-jung and Shin Hyun-bin.

POWER RANGERS Reboot Lands At Paramount, Allspark

Lee B. Golden III

I didn’t have huge expectations for Dave Green’s 2017 take on Power Rangers from Lionsgate, but I did have hopes. I reckon others did too, and mainly since took a liking to the edgier teenage appeal to the classic Ameritoku series in its return to the big screen. It did take me a bit to get used to Alpha 5’s new look, though as far as creative liberties go in Hollywood, it could’ve been way worse. The end definitely had me gripped a bit as well, hoping for a sequel that would’ve potentially introduced the Green Ranger in some form or another. Flash forward two years later and obviously that never came to pass. The cast moved onto other projects and despite falling short of any hopeful box office success, Hasbro still found potential in the property enough to acquire Saban’s Power Rangers last May, among other properties under Saban […]

ONMYOJI: Supernatural Period Thriller Adaptation In Development From ‘Tiny Times’ And ‘L.O.R.D.’ Director

Lee B. Golden III

Author and novelist Guo Jingming (Tiny Times franchise), may have fallen short with his currently-stalled 2019 release of his two-part big screen epic, L.O.R.D.: Legend Of Ravaging Dynasties, but that’s not hindering him from moving forward with other projects. Chinese film magazine MTime has the latest bits of reporting on new developments for his own take on Onmyoji (a.k.a. The Yin Yang Master). Guo will develop the project at Hehe Pictures Corporation, ZUI Corporate and Thinkingdom Pictures. The story takes after period tales of Japanese legend as inspired by the work of author Baku Yumemakura, which focus on the the intrigue and danger that culminate with key focus on the spiritual advisors working in service of the Emperor to battle demons and negative energy. Yōjirō Takita directed two live action features based on the novels which starred Mansai Nomura and Hideaki Ito, and fellow Asian cinema favorite, Hiroyuki Sanada. The […]