Lee B. Golden III

About Lee B. Golden III

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Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!

Posts by Lee Golden:

A Case For Better Action Movies: DEADPOOL (2016)

It’s been a while since I’ve written a film review attributed to my column, A Case For Better Action movies. That said, seeing as how Marvel property Deadpool is finally getting its just dues on the big screen, the case couldn’t be more relevant than it is now after twelve years of developing, pushing and pitching, scratching and clawing our way through PG-13 Hollywood red tape. Essentially, the film is a direct result of what happens when major studios get out of their own way; We’ve been living in an era where the supposed narrative is that toning down the violence in any major tentpole action film will still reap benefits through a PG-13 audience so parents wouldn’t necessarily have to help little kids petition to enjoy the same feats. That may have been true from time to time, but it’s not written in stone either seeing as how Deadpool […]

The First Superhero Showdown Of The Year Begins In The New S2 Trailer For DAREDEVIL!

Lee B. Golden III

Actor Charlie Cox’s journey into the dark world that is Marvel’s Netflix column of superhero has only just begun since the first season of Daredevil. With season two premiering on March 18, more characters will enter the fray and it’s up to our hero to take on them all, and decide what price he’ll pay in order to do so. This is the tone we are now given in the second full trailer this week, emerging now much more than ever with most of our season one cast joined by The Walking Dead co-star Jon Bernthal in his debut as The Punisher, and for reasons none other than fan fervor and the reactions he’s garnered from those in charge, the star of his own forthcoming spin-off series. We also get Elodie Yung stepping into the fray as fellow Marvel mainstay, Elektra, and just how she’s going to fit into this […]

Yue Song's THE BODYGUARD Hits Hard And Fast In The New International Sales Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Multi-faceted actor and filmmaker Yue Song earned some fair attention in 2012 with his freshman action feature, The King Of The Streets. Since then, the empassioned martial arts filmmaker, producer and rising star has been busy on a two-year production stint with his latest testimony in ground breaking, authentic and hard hitting action with his latest, The Bodyguard, and thankfully the film’s festival and market circulation late last year has earned it some much-deserved attention for Song in the process. SYNOPSIS: Wu-Lin is the successor of ancient clan “Iron Kick”. After the death of his master, Wu-Lin left the village and go to the city to look for his fellow apprentice JiangLi. He turn out become the bodyguard of Fei-Fei, the daughter of the wealthy Li. A group of mobster led by JiangLi attempts to kidnap Fei-Fei, Wu-Lin failied to stop them and brutally crushed, but managed to survive. Wu-Lin […]

Acclaimed Filmmaker Jia Zhangke To Make His Martial Arts Debut This Spring

Lee B. Golden III

Director Jia Zhangke’s resumé is one that’s not without its fair share of intrigue and controversy. Regarded highly as a “Sixth Generation” undergroud filmmaker, he’s been well awarded in festivals throughout the world for up to 15 years as one with an artful approach to cinema that touches grimly close to the turmoil and inflammatory issues embedded in China’s own history and evolution over the years. Such an approach hasn’t hugely sat well with China’s own governing bodies, especially with Zhangke’s 2013 drama, A Touch Of Sin, which was partly state-backed and subsequently denied a release that year apart from its screenings elsewhere. Still, as far as accomplishments go, Zhangke now finds himself embarking as a prospective director of his first martial arts action movie, announced this weekend by Hong Kong’s own Media Asia Films at the European Film Market in Berlin. Screendaily reports the late Qing Dynasty-set film will […]

Fox Ramps Up Pilot, A.P.B., Natalie Martinez To Star

Lee B. Golden III

It’s been a quite a minute since we’ve last heard anything on actress Natalie Martinez’s upcoming bid in the martial arts drama, Warrior. That’s something I’ve been looking forward to since they filmed a pilot and those hopes haven’t waned on me since, although nowadays fight fans will find her throwing down on the hit Audience Network MMA drama, Kingdom. As for all else this week, Deadline is now reporting that the actress will be wearing a badge in her forthcoming stint in Fox’s new cop drama pilot, A.P.B.. The show’s focus stems centrally from New York Times writer David Amsden’s July article, Who Runs the Streets of New Orleans, which covered the steps a rich entrepreneur took toward advancing privatized police in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. The premise of the show will follow Martinez in the role of Amelia Murphy, a NOLA detective with a penchant for sarcasm and […]

EFM 2016: Oscar-Winning Cinematographer To Adapt Crime Novel, THE POSTCARD KILLINGS

Lee B. Golden III

Sierra/Affinity is out and about in Berlin shopping the latest from London-based production company Good Films, The Postcard Killings. For this we get twice Oscar-winning cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (Lost Souls) who shares up to 14 credits lensing Steven Spielberg’s films, including the most recent pic, Bridge Of Spies. Variety exclusively reports he’s back in the director’s chair once more, adapting the story of a New York detective and a Swedish art critic in Europe and on the hunt for a serial killer who leaves clues of his next victim in postcards. Author James Patterson wrote the original 2010 novel, “The Postcard Killers”, with writer Liza Marklund who is also scripting the film with Tove Alsterdal. “We were looking for someone who would elevate the project without distancing it from the genre,” said Good Films founder Miriam Segal. Stay tuned.

BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL Now Filming, RPC Joins To Produce

Lee B. Golden III

Director Miike Takashi’s latest futuristic sci-fi manga adaptation, Terraformars is finally gearing up for an April 29 release. In the meantime, at least one other adaptation is already underway and it garnered a lot of hype last October from fans familiar with the title when the news broke. I speak of Samura Hiroaki’s Dark Horse print, Blade Of The Immortal, already underway with Miike at the helm according to Screendaily. Japanese pop band SMAP’s own Kimura Takuya (Howl’s Moving Castle, Space Battleship Yamado) leads the film with a story centered on a lone swordsman in feudal Japan whose only means of freedom from immortality and misery is through the spilled blood of one-thousand evil men whilst aiding a woman on her own quest of vengeance. The report highlights that Miike is reteaming with Jeremy Thomas’s Recorded Picture Company banner in their latest pairing since 13 Assassins in 2010 and Hara-Kiri: Death […]

TRANSFORMERS 5, 6 And 7 Get Dates

Lee B. Golden III

There’s no telling how Paramount’s forthcoming Transformers films will bridge together with Hasbro’s properties following their announcement last December. Rest assured however, more Transformers films are definitely on the way with Akiva Goldman’s writers’ room overseeing exactly how it will all play out with director and actor, Michael Bay and Mark Wahlberg returning for fifth installation. That film has finally set a course for June 23, 2017, while a reported Bumblebee spin-off has been dated for a June 8, 2018 release before a seventh installation on June 28, 2019. More to come. H/T: Deadline, CBR

EFM 2016: TERMINAL Moves In On Margot Robbie

Lee B. Golden III

Highland Film Group is now on hand at the European Film Market to shop their latest property, Terminal, and according to Variety actress Margot Robbie is set to star. Vaughn Stein is writing and directing the noir thriller which centers on two hitmen hired by a mysterious employer for a suicide job with Robbie in the role of a dynamic woman who is much more than she appears. Highland is financing the film with David Barron of Beagle Pug Films producing along with Molly Hassell, and LuckyChap Entertainment’s own Robbie, and producers Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamara and Sophia Kerr. Robbie’s next stint on the big screen can be seen this March in the Tina Fey-led war comedy, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, followed by Warner Bros.’s Suicide Squad and The Legend Of Tarzan this Summer.

PAYING MR. McGETTY Cashes In Its First Teaser

Lee B. Golden III

Last year’s momentous run of director Michael Baumgarten’s anti-bullying drama, The Martial Arts Kid, is now paving the way for Traditionz Films’s newest contribution to the film front with the new action comedy, Paying Mr. McGetty. Don “The Dragon” Wilson will be returning to the fray along with actor and stuntman R. Marcos Taylor now debuting in a lead role after briefly going toe-to-toe in Baumgarten’s previous film. Those of you none too familiar with Taylor can currently spot him in F. Gary Gray’s Straight Outta Compton in a winning performance as Suge Knight. Here, from a script by Baumgarten and co-scribe Adam Marsh, Taylor stars as Tyrell, a floundering music producer who wakes up one morning next to a mysterious woman and no recollection of the evening prior, along with a phone call from his girlfriend over an eviction notice, and mobsters looking for him at the behest of […]

IMAX, TWC Scale Back IMAX Plans For CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON: SWORD OF DESTINY

Lee B. Golden III

It’s understandable by now that folks using Netflix won’t really have much of a need to go to a theater to see a film. This is essentially what discouraged America’s biggest IMAX theater chains from investing hugely with The Weinstein Company into the day-and-date IMAX and Netflix release of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny seventeen months ago prior to its initially planned release last August. The date has since been set in the U.S. for February 26, and it appears nothing has changed during that time. Alas, word from The Wrap now writes that The Weinstein Company and IMAX are pulling back on the IMAX release of the film, essentially scaling down to 12 locations, compared to Tim Miller’s newly released superhero smash, Deadpool, which will still play on 330. Hong Kong and China will see their own releases one week earlier from that of the U.S.. Yuen […]

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Daniel Zirilli's CROSSING POINT Gets New Artwork

Lee B. Golden III

Director Daniel Zirilli has a few films on par for this year that may garner the interest of action fans. One such film is the latest Luke Goss headliner, Crossing Point, which was acquired by XLrator Media last October. As of this week, the film now boasts new artwork which you can view below courtesy of Twitchfilm. SYNOPSIS: Michael and Olivia are Americans vacationing in Baja, Mexico when the trip takes a frightening turn. Olivia is kidnapped by a drug lord, who demands that Michael smuggle a bag full of cocaine–stolen from a rival cartel–over the border into the U.S. within 12 hours…or else Olivia will be killed. Suspecting something is awry, a driven Tijuana cop is on the trail of the missing drugs as well, sending them all on a collision course toward a breathtaking finale. The film has a May 3 digital and VOD date stamped before a […]

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Donnie Yen To Replace Jet Li In xXx: THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE

Lee B. Golden III

I suppose if it were going to ever be that the likes of action stars Donnie Yen and Tony Jaa would be in a movie together after all these years, that time would ultimately be now. Leave it to actor Vin Diesel who manages the updates on his own Facebook page when it comes to productions he’s involved in, including the latest installment, xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage, in which he is both starring as well as producing with I Am Number Four‘s D.J. Caruso directing The actor posted the above photo on his Facebook fan page featuring himself along with the Ip Man trilogy star in the wake of Jet Li’s departure, reasons pending. The news comes less than a day following the announcement of Paramount Pictures’s addition to the film in its worldwide distribution with Diesel’s One Race Films along with Roth Kirschenbaum Films and Revolution Studios […]

THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER'S WAR Gets A Second Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

I think it’s become quite remarkable that folk tales have become such a staple for bold storytelling. Director Cedric Nicolas Troyan’s The Huntsman: Winter’s War certainly gives us plenty of that with its edgier approach following up on its Snow White roots and reintroducing us to actor Chris Hemsworth in an origin tale of how he became the titular character before then. Add Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt and Jessica Chastain into the mix and what we get is a fantastic and edgy action adventure that bends the rules on childrens’ folklore for epic storytelling. It ain’t exactly R-rated, but Hemsworth fans and those fond of his Mjolnir-wielding ways as Thor will find themselves in good company when the film releases this April. You can now sample it all once more in this week’s second trailer. SYNOPSIS: Discover the story that came before Snow White in The Huntsman: Winter’s War. Chris […]

Watch An Ultimate Comic Book Movie Trailer For DEADPOOL!

Lee B. Golden III

Director Tim Miller’s Deadpool is on track for a fantastic weekend at the box office which all the more lends hope to its current plans now brewing for a sequel as of yesterday. But, enough of that as if we needed more reasons to go see the film now with Movieclips dishing out an Ultimate Comic Book Movie Trailer for the film. Cue the footage, and the music!

SKIPTRACE Lands U.S. Distribution

Lee B. Golden III

At least four Jackie Chan films await big screen traction as of this year so far. Renny Harlin’s globetrotting action comedy Skiptrace has been the most lingering since its postponed China/HK release late last year and a date is still pending. For now, Chan fans in the U.S. can rest their woes with word among the trades that Saban Films will be releasing the film in theaters sometime in late summer or the proceeding Fall season. Jay Longino and Ben David Grabinski wrote the script which sees Chan playing a Hong Kong detective and an American gambler whose paths cross in the wake of a ten year investigation into a notorious crimeboss. Johnny Knoxville, Fan BingBing, Eric Tsang and Eva Torres also star. Check out the most recent full trailer here and await further news on Saban’s release! H/T: Deadline

Plot Details Emerge Amid Paramount Deal To Release xXx: THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE

Lee B. Golden III

It only took about eleven years but a third installment to the xXx franchise is now underway with plans to film scenes in Toronto, Canada and in the Dominican Republic. xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage is the official title amid news that following earlier speculation, Paramount Pictures is now boarding the film to distribute with Revolution Studios, Roth Kirschenbaum Films and Diesel’s One Race Films producing. D.J. Caruso is directing the script from scribe Chad St. John with revisions by F. Scott Frazier which THR says will reboot the franchise. As such, the trades are reporting new plot details with one version featuring specifics on Diesel and Thai action star Tony Jaa, reading as follows (UPDATE: Diesel posted a new casting photo on his Facebook page hours after this report, essentially correcting THR’s initial write-up which reads as follows): The film will see operative Xander Cage coming out of self-imposed exile […]

Ariel Vromen's CRIMINAL Finally Debuts A Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Director Ariel Vromen’s new espionage thriller, Criminal, finally gets some footage this week with none other than actor Kevin Costner who has stirred a few times in recent with his share of action roles. Here he’s joined by Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman, Ryan Reynolds and actress Gal Gadot and with a release date set for April following pushback from its previous August slate last year, moviegoers now have another to add to their busy Spring schedule. SYNOPSIS: The story of the right man in the wrong body. In a last-ditch effort to stop a diabolical plot, a dead CIA operative’s memories, secrets, and skills are implanted into an unpredictable and dangerous death-row inmate in hopes the he will complete the operative’s mission. Summit Entertainment and Millennium Films present a Benderspink production and Millennium Films production and a Campbell Grobman Films production, a film by Ariel Vromen. Watch the trailer […]

New BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE IMAX Poster And Final Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Warner Bros. To each his and her own on the opinions regarding the full trailers for Zack Snyder’s upcoming Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice. I wasn’t hugely impressed despite my own anticipation of the film as I felt they were more eager to showoff the DC Trinity more than anything, and frankly, I think WB should slow down before revealing too much. Why? Well, honestly I’m driven solely by the hype that even though we’re hinting at Wonder Woman from time to time, all of the much smaller promos have been focused primarily on the general basis of the film from its title encircling actors Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill. The tone and overall delivery is quite exciting and with more than a month away from the film’s premieres in late March, it’s taken nothing away from me in just seeing the footage of Batman and Superman boil little […]

Blood Money Runs Red In The New Trailer For Susanna White's OUR KIND OF TRAITOR

Lee B. Golden III

Studiocanal Director Susanna White’s latest induction into book adaptations invites a story seething with danger and intrigue in Our Kind Of Traitor. The film is poised to release in the U.K. on May 6 with other release dates forthcoming and for this, we get a trailer that shows us the goods. SYNOPSIS: While on holiday in Marrakech, an ordinary English couple, Perry (Ewan McGregor – THE IMPOSSIBLE, THE GHOST) and Gail (Naomie Harris – SPECTRE, SOUTHPAW), befriend a flamboyant and charismatic Russian, Dima (Stellan Skarsgård – AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO), who unbeknownst to them is a kingpin money launderer for the Russian mafia. When Dima asks for their help to deliver classified information to the British Secret Services, Perry and Gail get caught in a dangerous world of international espionage and dirty politics. The couple is propelled on a perilous journey through Paris and […]