And Now, A Word From Master Ken…
On second thought, I’ll skip the formalities Just know that if you’re taking TaeKwonDo, somewhere in your hemisphere, Master Ken is watching and judging you…and that things could be… well… …well, just watch.
Lee B. Golden III
About Lee B. Golden III
Posts by Lee Golden:
Because Six Live-Action RESIDENT EVIL Movies Weren’t Enough, A Reboot Is In The Works!
I can’t be too bothered with Screen Gems’s Resident Evil movies of the last…what… the last seventeen years? Personally I’ve only seen maybe four of them and as forgettable and copycat they’ve been with some of the action set-pieces I sort of stopped caring, as much as I love Milla Jovovich too. That said, I’m sure the franchise has had plenty going for itself otherwise it wouldn’t have amassed more than $1.2 billion dollars at the global box office. Apparently however, that’s not enough for the studio who now tells Variety that a reboot with ANOTHER SIX MOVIES is in the works as confirmed by Germany-based Constantin Film chairman of the board Martin Moszkowicz while at Cannes. The film franchise takes its cues from the 1996 Capcom video game which currently has 27 installments. Constantin had a hand in producing each of the films featuring Jovovich as nomadic superhuman warrior, […]
‘John Wick’ Style Revenge Thriller, PEPPERMINT, Lands At Lionsgate
After snagging S. Craig Zahler’s Gibson/Vaughn headliner, Dragged Across Concrete, Lionsgate has reportedly snared itself the worldwide rights to Lakeshore Entertainment’s forthcoming revenge thriller, Peppermint. Pierre Morel is directing the film following his attachment to the project on May 3, and from a script by Chad St. John. When her husband and daughter are gunned down in a drive-by, the heroine wakes up from a coma and spends years learning to become a lethal killing machine. On the 10th anniversary of her family’s death, she targets everyone she holds responsible, the gang that committed the act, the lawyers that got them off, and the corrupt cops that enabled the murderous incidents. Production is being fast-tracked for the Fall riding a wave of buzz for the film’s liking to that of John Wick, something which is becoming more and more prolific these days for action titles. Time will tell if Morel’s […]
ASURA GIRL: BLOOD C: Don’t Miss The Teaser For The Upcoming Action Horror Manga Spin-Off Prequel
Production I.G.’s longstanding Blood saga has been a mainstay in manga and on film and TV, save for Chris Nahon’s own less-than-stellar effort nearly a decade ago. Since then, the animated franchise has seen its own evolution despite bearing some controversy which forbade it in both Japan and even China despite positive reviews. That legacy extends further to Blood-C: The Last Dark, as its 2015 live-action stageplay, Blood-C: The Last Mind from director Shutaro Oku who has since moved on to a live-action setting for the upcoming spin-off, Asura Girl: Blood-C from Production I.G. and all-female animation group, CLAMP. Fujisaki Junichi, whose shared credits with the entirety of the Blood franchise date back to the 2000 Playstation game, wrote the script which will expand on the principal villain, Fumito, from the 2011 Blood-C anime now in a prequel setting. The story takes place in prewar-period Japan under the military government. The […]
Siddharth Anand’s Indian RAMBO Brings Out The Big Guns In A New Preliminary Poster
Whatever likes and shares that followed online notwithstanding, some folks on the internet lost their minds when they learned an Indian action star was going to reprise the lead role in a Rambo remake. It’s not a bad move seeing as how actor and martial artist Tiger Shroff (Heropanti, Baaghi) has earned himself some notable starpower in the last few years. Alas, he’ll be the one playing the title role as inspired by Ted Kotchoff’s 1982 adaptation of David Morrell’s 1977 novel which helped catapult a younger Sylvester Stallone into Hollywood stardom. As for whether Shroff looks the part or not, he took some time over the weekend to share a preliminary poster for the film which, for what it’s worth, answers the question for folks who are curious. The Indian Rambo will follow the last surviving member of an elite covert unit of the Indian Armed Forces who returns home to […]
China Movie Channel, HBO Announce Partnership For Two More Standalone Martial Arts Movies
The Chinese film industry has some pretty big goals in mind, some of which are the subejct of discussion held at the annual China Night Party in France where buyers are looking up titles to suit their brands. The business end of things here also extends to HBO Asia and China Movie Channel who are, according to an exclusive report over at The Hollywood Reporter, are pairing once again for two more martial arts titles following Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So and Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying. “We were very pleased with how our first collaboration turned out, so we are very happy to be partnering with HBO on two more high-quality TV movies that celebrate Chinese culture and history,” Zhang Ling, vice president of China Movie Channel, told THR at the Cannes film festival. Zhang declined to share further details about the new projects. But, like their predecessors, each […]
Well Go USA Picks Up THE VILLAINESS
The exciting news out of Cannes continues with our eye now on the latest report circling Confession Of Murder helmer Jung Byung-Gil’s latest, The Villainess. The film itself hasn’t yet opened in South Korea and only has a teaser to show for its otherwise impressive efforts featuring actress and martial artist Kim Ok-Bin in the title role. Variety‘s report on Saturday has otherwise confirmed a North American distribution of the film as negotiated by Doris Pfardrescher of Well Go USA and Danny Lee of Contents Panda. The film marks the award-winning filmmaker’s fourth outing, here with Kim leading the film as a young girl brought into Korea’s National Intelligence service where she is trained, assigned as a sleeper agent and given a new identity now forced to deal with two men from her past following her wedding. “‘The Villainess’ features peerless action sequences, created by Byung-Gil Jung and his stunt […]
Film Producer Avi Lerner Talks Stallone, EXPENDABLES 4, EXPENDABELLES, HELLBOY And More
The past three years saw plenty of fluctuating news and updates surrounding The Expendables, The ExpendaBelles and as recently as this month, a forthcoming reboot of Hellboy. All three are housed at Millenium Films for which its founder recently sold 51% of his stake in the company for $100 million dollars, and this week, Avi Lerner sat down with THR to discuss the nature of his sale with respect to his career and the current film climate and landscape in which a company like Netflix has dominated in snatching up independent titles at the film markets, among other things. Going forward in the interview, Lerner also revived talk of the aforementioned titles; A fourth film in the Expendables franchise had been long in the works following the intial trilogy which gave moviegoers The Expendables 3 in 2014. In March, Stallone left the franchise altogether as he did with Rambo last […]
Arclight Takes Ensemble Martial Arts Thriller, TRIPLE THREAT To Cannes
Director Jesse V. Johnson’s latest effort, Triple Threat, has entered the last stages of filming in time for its Cannes World Market Premiere this week from Arclight Films. The film certainly took sometime to evolve since late 2016 and evidently came together in the past several months in the course of building its remarkable cast and potential. TRIPLE THREAT is an adrenaline-fueled action film that brings together the three biggest new action Asian stars in one thrilling movie. The film is based on a hit contract taken out on a billionaire’s daughter intent on bringing down a major crime syndicate. A down and out team of mercenaries must take on a group of professional assassins and stop them before they kill their target. Hailing an ensemble English-language action thriller from a script by Joey O’Bryan and Paul Staheli is an Asian trio of leading stars Tony Jaa (Ong Bak Trilogy, […]
VENOM Casts Tom Hardy, Reuben Fleischer To Direct For Sony
Sony Pictures took to social media on Friday to announce its choice in actor Tom Hardy for the title role of the upcoming franchise reboot, Venom. Reuben Fleischer will direct the film from a script by Scott Rosenberg and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 scribe Jeff Pinkner and with Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are producing along with Amy Pascal. The news comes following the film’s announcement back in March in wake of plans to reboot Marvel property Spider-Man now in affect with Jon Watts’s forthcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming starring Tom Holland, and adaptations of Black Cat and Silver Sable also in the works. Fleischer’s addition replaces The Mummy helmer Alex Kurtzman who was originally tapped to helm. Venom was created by Randy Schueller, David Michelinie, Mike Zeck and Todd McFarlane in 1984 and would gain further prominence as a villain several years later. The crux of the character centers on him as an […]
The First Official Teaser For Korean Action Noir, REAL, Is Jam-Packed With Coolness
There’s a certain air of signature style of film that I’m not going to wear out in mention here, but here’s to hoping all goes to plan then for director Lee Jung-Sub’s debut outing, Real. Should it pass muster then it would be an absolutely fine return to cinema for Secretly Greatly star Kim Soo-Hyun after four years away from the screen. Exact plot details are nil for the film which otherwise has Lee’s script telling of a big secret rooted from a major casino and its ambitious owner who also happens to be the criminal underworld’s number-one trouble shooter. He then meets an ex-investigative journalist who signals a change in his life, and while we continue to ponder over whatever that means, it does eventually leave some sweet kick-ass fight action in between, stylish, and plush with color and edginess fitting for a Korean noir of this caliber so… […]
THE MERCILESS: Don’t Miss The International Trailer For Byun Sung-Hyun’s Cannes Entry
Byun Sung-Hyun’s latest turn at the helm, The Merciless, was released this week on the eve of its Out-Of-Competition premiere at Cannes. Release details remain forthcoming but we finally get an international trailer to share as the film seeks buyers. Jae-ho, who aims to become the number one in a crime organization, gets to build up trust with Hyun-su, an ambitious newbie in the prison. While they try to take over the organization after the prison release, their ulterior motives starts to emerge. Sul Kyung-Gu and Yim Si-Wan star. Watch the trailer below!
ALIEN B Is What Happens When The Wrong Dreams Come True
German martial arts action and film production troupe, Reel Deal Action, will make its feature debut in the new action comedy, Plan B: Scheiss Auf Plan A in less than three weeks. For this, stars Can Aydin, Cha-Lee Yoon, Phong Giang and Eugene Boateng have been pounding the pavement since debuting the first trailer back in February, and with a variety of comedy shorts featuring our core cast in character. Their latest now has the four in a theatrical setting in what ensues into an all-out parking lot brawl with facehuggers – an apt use of 20th Century Fox’s ownership of the Alien rights one might add. Michael Popescu directs the short as well as so for the upcoming movie with co-helmer Ufuk Genc with a story centered on a quartet of audition-hungry action star wannabes who stumble into the wrong place and time and are forced to fight their […]
BITCOIN HEIST: Meet Ham Tran’s Ragtag Anti-Heroes In The Official U.S. Trailer
Following its 2016 outing, Ham Tran’s Vietnamese action comedy, Bitcoin Heist debuted an official trailer this week ahead of its June 6 Digital HD release. DVD and Blu-Ray release details remain pending for the film which has Kate Nhung, Thanh Pham, Petey Majik Nguyen, Suboi, Jayvee Mai The Hiep, Lam Thanh My, Veronica Ngo and Teo Yoo. Hackers have become the bank robbers in the new world of crypto-currency. In order to catch the most wanted hacker, “The Ghost”, an Interpol special agent assembles a team of thieves to plan the ultimate heist. But as any good criminal knows, there is no honor among thieves. Check out the trailer below!
COPS VS. THUGS: Arrow Video’s Retro Yakuza Blu-Ray Release Gets A New Promo
Cops vs Thugs (2-Disc Special Edition) [Blu-ray + DVD] May 23 is actually when Arrow Video will be releasing not one but two rare titles out of classic Japanese cinema. For this, we get celebrated auteur Fukasaku Kinji’s award-winning 1975 yakuza crime pics, Cops vs Thugs, and Arrow Video unveiled their own promo video this week. Check it out at above and pre-order your U.S. copy today! Considered by many to be director Kinji Fukasaku’s greatest single-film achievement in the yakuza genre, Cops vs Thugs was made at the height of popularity of Toei Studios’ jitsuroku boom: realistic, modern crime movies based on true stories taken from contemporary headlines. Returning to the screen after completing their Battles Without Honor and Humanity series together, Fukasaku joined forces once again with screenwriter Kazuo Kasahara, composer Toshiaki Tsushima and star Bunta Sugawara to create one of the crowning achievements of his career, and […]
Tom Paton’s Supernatural Thriller, BLACK SITE Begins Filming
A press announcement this week unveiled the production of the new supernational action horror, Black Site. Pandorica helmer Tom Paton makes his third outing here and reunites with Simon Pegg sib, Redwood co-star, actor Mike Beckingham. Hailing from AirPick Pictures and Tom Paton Film, Black Site is being described as a mix of elements from The Raid and the vision of author H.P. Lovecraft, centered on Ren Reid, a member of an organization known as Artemis which detains and deports rogue members of a species known as Elder Gods. Twenty years after the murder of her parents, Artemis finally captures the Elder God responsible only to face a new threat when worshippers attempt to free their deity from captivity. With the facility on lockdown, Ren finds an unlikely ally on her quest with just hours left to avenge her parents. The film is currently being hoisted as a potential franchise starter […]
Watch The Official Trailer For Well Go USA’s Home Release Of Xu Haofeng’s THE FINAL MASTER
Details and visual content remain pending for acclaimed martial arts action auteur Xu Haofeng’s upcoming adaptation, The Hidden Blade now circulating at Cannes. In the meantime, it’s been about a year and a half the director’s most recent celebrated release, The Final Master (as it was titled for the U.S.) hit limited screens from United Entertainment Partners and in the wake of much acclaim earned for its overall fight choreography. That said, I can honestly attest to my own experience of the film was pretty fantastic given its theater setting. The sound made it much more engaging to watch the fights whilst engaging the overall mood and dramatic tension with actor Liao Fan starring in the title role of a martial arts instructor who finds himself caught up in a deadly whirlwind of upheaval and miltary proliferation in the early 20th century. In 1930s China, unrest rules the nation. Chen, […]
RAMBO Is Getting A Bollywood Remake Starring Actor, Martial Artist Tiger Shroff
Welp, it was to be expected. And it could be a good thing too with the current development of an Indian remake of muscle-bound action movie classic, Rambo, with Bollywood action star, actor and martial artist Tiger Shroff starring. Bang Bang! helmer Siddharth Anand will direct the film with the involvement of M! Capital Ventures, Original Entertainment, Impact Films and Siddharth Anand Pictures. via THR: The Indian Rambo will follow the last surviving member of an elite covert unit of the Indian Armed Forces who returns home to discover a war waging in his own land. Forced into the dangerous jungles and frozen mountains of the Himalayas, he unleashes mayhem and destruction, becoming the unstoppable machine he was trained to be. The original film takes its cues from David Morrell’s 1977 novel, “First Blood”, lending a young Sylvester Stallone what would become one of the actor’s most memorable, and […]
Action Thriller PROJECT GUTENBERG Launches With Aaron Kwok And Chow Yun-Fat Starring
Overheard trilogy co-helmer Felix Chong is currently in production with new big budget action thriller, Project Gutenberg. International sales agent Distribution Workshop are shopping the film at Cannes whilst having nabbed a raft of release deals throughout Asia. Chong wrote the script which sees Aaron Kwok as a member of a notorious money counterfeiting gang extradited from Thailand by Hong Kong police who are looking to bring down the gang whose leader will be played by Kwok’s fellow Cold War 2 cohort, actor Chow Yun-Fat. Rounding out the cast are Dick Liu Kai Chi, Zhang Jingchu and Catherine Chau who plays the lead detective with locations slated for Hong Kong, China, Canada and Thailand. Project Gutenberg, previously titled Unparalleled, is a Hong Kong/China co-prod. between Pop Movies and Bona Film Group. Kwok’s next outing will be in Soi Cheang’s The Monkey King 3 in time for the Chinese New Year. […]