News

FANTASIA XXIV Goes Virtual This August

Last year was one of the best and finest years writing and film critiquing thanks to the 23rd Fantasia International Film Festival. My own coverage was local though as I didn’t manage to travel to Montreal, and thus, I fully understand the sadness of not getting to share the on-site experience with festival organizations forced to recalibrate their goings-on amidst the fallout of Covid-19. As such, Fantasia 2020 has since postponed its July start. The good news however, is that some festivals will be going virtual, and that especially goes for Fantasia’s 24th installment. The festival is partnering with Festival Scope and SHIFT72 to make it all happen, and so the first wave of titles is expected to arrive at the end of May, which I absolutely look forward to covering by then. Read the announcement below! Given the continuing uncertainty related to physical cinema spaces and large gatherings which […]

RAZE OF THE CYBORG: From Man To Machine, Slaying Human Traffickers In New Stills For Young Lee’s Sci-Fi Action Short

Lee B. Golden III

It’s been nearly a decade since actor and filmmaker Young A. Lee relocated from his bearings here in New York City to Taiwan. He’s done a few television shows since then, while also developing his own sci-fi property, Raze Of The Cyborg. Raze Of The Cyborg hails from Lee’s own independent production firm, Fluid Robot Studios, which is credited for the visual effects applied alongside Renavatio Studios for John Hsu’s multi-award winning 2019 survival horror, Detention, based on the 2017 RPG from Red Candle Games. Lee stars in Raze Of The Cyborg, playing an assassin who fuses his body with cybernetic implants to hunt down human traffickers and rescue his girlfriend. The project also features action sequences by award-winning action director Scott Hung (The Scoundrels, Who Killed Cock Robin, We Are Champions), and is being billed as a proof of concept shortfilm for a hopeful feature. Principal photography wrapped in […]

ALONG WITH THE GODS Gets New Life As Chinese Animation Project

Lee B. Golden III

Chinese media outlet MTime brings word of an animated transition of Joo Ho-min’s Korean hit webtoon, Along With The Gods, now in development at China’s Zhonghe Qiancheng Film and Television. The company acquired adaptation and filming rights and is presently in the pre-lim phase with script development. 200 Pounds Beauty and Mr. Go director Kim Yong-hwa sat at the helm writing, directing and producing two-live action films back-to-back ahead of releases in 2017 and 2018. The films center on the elusive, afterworld mystery, intrigue and danger surrounding a trio of guardian reapers who reluctantly aid in human affairs, while guiding and advising spirits of the dead who will face seven tumultuous trials to test their purity and worthiness of heaven. Cha Tae-Yun, Ha Jung-woo, Kim Hyang-Gi, Ju Ji-Hoon and recent Hollywood breakout Don Lee are among the roster between both films which scored massively at the box office whilst selling […]

Coming To Netflix: Korean Thriller TIME TO HUNT, Legendary’s ENOLA HOLMES

Lee B. Golden III

Netflix will be the recipient of at least two new titles going forward, first of which is Yoon Sung-hyun’s dystopian thriller, Time To Hunt. The film will stream Thursday, April 23, closing a bitter chapter that began with a spate of delays due to the Covid-19 outbreak, and a court-ordered injunction lifted in the wake of a dispute between sales agent Contents Panda, and producer Little Big Pictures. Lee Je-hoon stars as a dystopian city dweller whose best laid getaway plans go belly up when he and his three friends are chased by a mysterious figure. Also starring are Choi Woo-Sik, Ahn Jae-Hong, Park Jung-Min and Park Hae-Soo. Also making its way to Netflix is Emmy nominee and BAFTA award winning Fleabag and Killing Eve director Harry Bradbeer’s Enola Holmes, initially poised as a Warner Bros. theatrical release from Legendary Pictures. Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Wonder) […]

Maria Tran’s Hong Kong Lady Inspector Battles The Toilet Paper Bandit In TIGER COP: TOILET PAPER HERO

Lee B. Golden III

If you’ve followed the work of Adrian Castro and actress Maria Tran at all in the last ten years, then you’re probably familiar with their usual style and aesthetic as it instantly clicks for fans of throwback Hong Kong action cinema. Such is the continual jump off point for Tiger Cop, built from a spate of proof of concept trailers and even an ABC i-view series back in 2017. They’re back now Tiger Cop: Toilet Paper Hero, the latest installment of the independent IP from Castro’s Five Minute Cinema, showcasing local Australian action and martial arts talent, coupled with a fitting public service nod in the wake of news updates over hoarding as the Covid-19 pandemic swept the world. “When we saw the toilet paper crisis unfold in the media, and people literally fighting over toilet paper, this was seen as the perfect platform to make commentary on the current […]

THE UNKNOWN MAN: Cameras Set For Crime Thriller Shoot In South Australia

Lee B. Golden III

Thomas M. Wright (Acute Misfortune) is prepping crime thriller shoot, The Unknown Man, with Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby, Boy Erased) and Sean Harris (The King, Mission Impossible: Fallout, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation) set to star. South Australian Premiere Steven Marshall’s office made the announcement on Monday with confirmation of the film’s location shoot in the region following production wrap on Warner Bros. Mortal Kombat from director Simon McQuoid. Introduced to this year’s EFM in Berlin, The Unknown Man centers on “two strangers who meet and strike up a friendship. But what one does not know is that the other man is a veteran undercover police officer working to secure a conviction for an unsolved murder committed years earlier.” The film has major backing by Screen Australia with support from the South Australian Film Corporation, with principal photography dates to be announced in due time as industries around the world […]

FIGHTING FOR FILM: An Interview With ‘Cagefighter: Worlds Collide’ Director Jesse Quiñones

Lee B. Golden III

It’s not often that the release of any film is as expedient as it is for director Jesse Quiñones‘s newest feature, Cagefighter: Worlds Collide. Indeed, the project had a much longer journey to tread up to this point, and so an online streaming premiere less than a month away feels certainly well earned here. Quiñones is taking his story to Film Combat Syndicate this week as Cagefighter: Worlds Collide, revs up for its exclusive online streaming premiere event and Q&A and fan chat only on FITE.tv on May 16. He talks the respective challenges of all phases on the project, along with the extenuating circumstances of post-production as Covid-19 leaves the global economy at a standstill. Jesse, it’s great to share a Q&A with you this month in lieu of your new achievements currently in bound. You have a new film on the way called Cagefighter: Worlds Collide, and before […]

CRY HAVOC Wreaks Terror This May From Midnight Releasing

Lee B. Golden III

Following his 2017 overture with Playing With Dolls: Havoc, director Rene Perez returns in-line with another for horror sequel, Cry Havoc. He’s joined by action star facsimile Robert Bronzi (Death Kiss, Once Upon a Time in Deadwood), Richard Tyson (Kindergarten Cop), Emily Sweet, and JD Angstadt, for the film’s May 5 on-demand release from Midnight Releasing. An ambitious young reporter is granted an interview with one of the FBI’s most wanted. While entering his compound she finds one of his prized possessions, a serial killer who murders at call, called HAVOC. Her only hope is a rogue police man searching for his daughter.

DEBT COLLECTORS: Violence Is The Inevitable Answer In The Official Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Debt Collectors. Plural. Seems there is life after death after all for Scott Adkins and Louis Mandylor, reprising their roles once more from their brutal and witful 2018 venture in sequel reunion with director Jesse V. Johnson helming the storied gangland calamity. Eagle-eyed fans caught on early to the news of a May 15 release which has otherwise now been rerouted instead, to a May 29 releade on VOD, Digital and DVD from Samuel Goldwyn Films. This week, the company rolled out the official trailer to get the chatter going. Debt collectors French and Sue get to work doing what they do best – cracking skulls and breaking bones – as they chase down the various lowlifes who owe money to their boss, Tommy. They’re summoned to Las Vegas to collect from a dirty casino owner, who happens to be a vicious ex-lover of Sue’s. Meanwhile, a notorious drug kingpin […]

THE SILENCING: Saban Takes New Thriller Starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Lee B. Golden III

Shot Caller star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau will soon get his day in North America with Saban Films snagging Robin Pront’s latest, The Silencing. The actor is joined by Annabelle Wallis (The Mummy, Peaky Blinders) and Hero Fiennes Tiffin (After, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), with Pront directing from a script by Micah Ranum. The Silencing follows a reformed hunter living in isolation on a wildlife sanctuary who becomes involved in a deadly game of cat and mouse when he and the local Sheriff set out to track a vicious killer who may have kidnapped his daughter years ago. The film would have had its Midnighters debut at SXSW were it not for the Covid-19 epidemic. Anova Pictures’ Cybill Lui Eppich (Pay the Ghost, After the Dark) is producing, with XYZ Films’ Aram Tertzakian and Maxime Cottray exec producing with Saban; Both firms partnered on the project during the scripting stage. […]

Craig Fairbass’s VILLAIN Unleashed In The Official U.S. Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Phillip Barantini’s directorial debut, Villain, was acquired by Saban Films for its U.S. release at some point and now we have an official trailer, and a date now set for digital and VOD beginning May 22. After being released from prison, ex-con Eddie Franks (Craig Fairbrass) wants nothing more than to start a new life. However, his dreams of normalcy are tested when he learns of his brother’s dangerous debt to a menacing drug lord. To protect his family, Eddie is forced to go back to his former life of crime and learns that stepping back into this world can have devastating consequences in this action-packed thriller. Rounding out the cast are George Russo, Izuka Hoyle, Mark Monero, Tomi May, Eloise Lovell Anderson, Taz Skylar, Nicholas Aaron, Michael John Treanor, Marcus Onilude, Robert Glenister.

SHIELD AND TEN Teasers: Love And Espionage Give Chase In New Spy Action Romp Pitching In 2020

Lee B. Golden III

Nearly a year since launching their indie romantic spy comedy, Shield And Ten, film duo Dazelle Yvette and writer/director Andre LaVelle have completed most of their burgeoning proof-of-concept to help launch an even bigger agenda going forward. Sadly, the Covid-19 pandemic became an imminent factor in its slow growth as with most film productions these days. Nonetheless, the goal is very much set for Yvette and LaVelle to reach the finish line, seek partners and help make the most out of their latest and hard-earned investment. The skinny? Both LaVelle star Yvette star in the respective titular roles of “Shield” and “Ten”, two retired spies for the underground sector of justice who ultimately find themselves pulled back into the fray for one last assignment. LaVelle also makes his directing debut on Shield And Ten as well as produces from his own script, alongside Yvette – serving as executive producer – […]

Martial Club Confirms Team’s Feature Film Plans Are In Active Development

Lee B. Golden III

Martial Club is still proliferating their brand in the fields of martial arts, health and wellness, stunts and action cinema. To date, they’re still committed to their YouTube audience while working on their own endeavors, which no less includes their very own feature film. Team member Andy Le announced the project in November 2018, as a declaration to unilaterally grow and evolve toward making their own opportunities happen. “Martial arts action cinema was the platform that inspired me to do martial arts. And so we wanna create the same.” said Le at the time. Le says he is currently writing the project in the channel’s newest video. The team has been assembling their own content for their YouTube channel – including a Fist Of Fury-inspired short which he says is about a year or so overdue – while working on what Le says in the video were “opportunities that we […]

SEEING ‘RED’: A Word With Actor And Filmmaker Beau Fowler

Lee B. Golden III

This month we were able to discuss the latest reveal for Red, a new concept from actor Beau Fowler and director David Newton. For this, the Coronavirus pandemic that’s currently gripped the world and put the film industry at large at a standstill is just one of the segues Fowler and I observe in our latest Q&A. Click here for the earlier coverage on Red, and enjoy the read below! Beau, it’s great to get in touch with you now about your work. How are you coping with things since the lockdown in your country? I can especially imagine it’s had an impact on the film industry next to just normal everyday life. Yeah, it’s pretty crazy. Tough not being able to go out and do the simple things. Though to be honest I’m still self-taping for projects, and I’m quite used to spending days in development wondering when my […]

AMERICAN RONIN Revealed In New Stills For James M. Black’s Proof-Of-Concept

Lee B. Golden III

Actor, writer and filmmaker James M. Black is slowly rolling out some more images revealing his own forthcoming proof-of-concept, American Ronin. Below you’ll see a select set of stills, including a few of which I’m happily debuting on this platform as Black continues to grow his latest idea into hopeful fruition. All things relevant to plot and character details are under wraps but the project is best described as “a contemporary martial arts piece cosigning his love for classic jidaigeki cinema and anime”. The plan is still to use the proof of concept to gain investor confidence hopefully in the coming months as the industry waits out the current Covid-19 pandemic. Black is an accomplished martial artist since the age of eleven, trained in Tang Soo Do and Muay Thai before winning in competitions, and eventually picking up Iaido and Kenjutsu under acting coach, actor, martial artist and filmmaker and […]

New To Tubi? Love Martial Arts And Action? Here’s What’s Available!

Lee B. Golden III

If you’re not yet keen on Tubi, it’s a free ad-supported streaming service that contains a plethora of films and TV shows. It’s of a certain variety and the titles rotate but the line-up is always great depending on your tastes, and it never runs out of martial arts content. That’s where I’m coming in as of this week and it just so happens there’s a few new titles now streaming which I’d like to list, along with some recommendations, the first being Yes, Auntie! (otherwise known as My Asian Auntie). It’s the remixed feature film cut of the season webseries from Art School Dropouts that was directed by Joey Min who stars in the title role, and is joined by Stephanie Pham, Robert Samuels, Leroy Nguyen, Robert Jefferson, Sharif Anael-Bey and Angela Jordan. You also have Kazuhiro Yokoyama’s 2014 action comedy, High Kick Angels which pits an empassioned, amateur […]

Art School Dropouts Presents THE IN-HOUSE GRINDHOUSE This Saturday

Lee B. Golden III

Art School Dropouts will take to their platforms this weekend to host The In-House Grindhouse, an interactive livestream to showcase a trio of short-duration film blocks host to independent filmmakers around the web, spanning different genres. The New Jersey-based film troupe made the announcement just over a few weeks ago for a call to entries stamped for an April 5 deadline. Seeing how the production industry is taking a big hit during this outbreak, we wanted see if we could help promote other content creators during quarantine. We hope that we can connect new viewers to great talent around the world and hope this helps our film community thrive and survive this pandemic. Fans will also get to chat with the filmmakers during the experience. There are thirty-eight in total, many of which are favorites of our biweekly column, The Hit List, namely Bryan Sloyer’s Heart System, Nicholas Ortiz’s Black […]

Terror Films, Watch Movies To Release Four Free Films Starting Friday

Lee B. Golden III

Genre Distributor Terror Films has teamed with the AVOD YouTube Channel, Watch Movies Now to kick off a slate of releases beginning Friday, April 10. The Bone Box (4/10) will arrive first, followed by Dead Body (4/17), After Dark (4/24) and The Chair (4/29), in a weekly pace on the Watch Movies Now channel and in most cases, the films will be available worldwide. “This marks yet another strategic, AVOD partnership for our company and one more step toward our continued global expansion. It’s also very important we make our films available for FREE to as many people as possible during this difficult time. Watch Movies Now is a perfect partner to achieve this goal,” stated Terror Films president, Joe Dain. Watch Movies Now is a global movie channel. This channel has over 142,000 subscribers (and growing), with more than 12 Million views per month. Watch Movies Now is the […]

(UPDATED) BLOOD RUSH: ‘Bad Boys For Life’ Actor In Talks; ‘Wira’ Star Confirmed [EXCLUSIVE]

Lee B. Golden III

Updated as of Thursday, April 9, 2020. Italian-American actor Massi Furlan is in talks to join Ranjeet S. Marwa’s Blood Rush, which remains in active development under Marwa’s independent Rocket Sky High film label. Marwa also confirmed with FCSyndicate on Wednesday that Malaysian stunt performer, actor Hairul Azreen is officially joining the feature thriller; Balinese actor Oka Antara (Foxtrot Six, The Raid 2) was previously attached following reported talks last week but has since departed the project due to scheduling concerns. Details on the roles for both Furlan and Azreen remain under wraps. Zack Lee (The Night Comes For Us, Headshot) makes his lead debut on Blood Rush from a script by Marwa, with an ensemble cast bustling with fervor listing the likes of Sunny Pang (The Night Comes For Us), Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman (John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum), Nathan Jones (Tom Yum Goong, Jet Li’s Fearless) […]

SPUTNIK: Get Possessed By Slimey Space Creatures In The Official Trailer For Egor Abramenko’s Dark Supernatural Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Egor Abramenko’s feature directorial debut, Sputnik, will get its day in North America on August 14 in select theaters, on digital and cable VOD. IFC Midnight is handling its U.S. distribution with its acquisition from North American sales agents at XYZ Films. The move comes following what would have been its April 16 Russia release ahead of its Midnight section premiere at the 19th Tribeca Film Festival, which is reportedly looking into other avenues for this year’s festivities as the U.S. battles the Covid-19 pandemic. Festival programmer Matt Barone describes the film as follows: Due to her controversial methods, young doctor Tatiana Yurievna (Oksana Akinshina) is on the precipice of losing her medical license. Her career may not be over, though. After she’s recruited by the military, Tatiana is brought to a secure science research facility to assess a very special case, that of Konstantin Sergeyevich (Pyotr Fyodorov), a cosmonaut […]