News

WIRA: Hairul Azreen Brings The War Home In The Final Trailer For Adrian Teh’s MMA-Loaded Action Franchise Launchpad

“Your brother never told you never to threaten a man’s family?” As cheesy as the Fast franchise is to critics aplenty, that line is easily one of my favorites from Justin Lin’s Furious 6. Catching the newest trailer for director Adrian Teh’s new film, Wira, I was instantly drawn to that sentiment as it now pertains to the central story that unfolds in the new Malaysian action and martial arts thriller which opens locally on November 21. Hassan leaves home from a young age as he can no longer stand seeing his family and the people around him being pushed around by a man named Raja. He enlists in the military but after leaving it, he returns home to help his family and community. In order to settle the debt his younger brother Zain has incurred after losing an MMA fight organised by Raja, the two brothers team up for […]

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CABAL: Catch The Latest Trailer For Rene Perez’s New Action Horror

Lee B. Golden III

Death Kiss director Rene Perez quietly followed up last year’s The Dragon Unleashed with another titled Cabal. I havent seen the former, although I do know it’s now available on Digital HD these days while Cabal aims to serve up another in seemingly obscure, low-budget action, cheese and genre fun for the fanboys. A high level military assassin is hired to hunt down and eliminate a serial killer who is committing murders in a secluded forest. When the Assassin arrives to begin his hunt, he finds there is something even more sinister at work. The film stars John Ozuna and Death Kiss actress Eva Hamilton. Also making an appearance is Argentinian actor and martial artist Juan Manuel Olmedo who we’ll be learning more about going into 2020 as long as recent prospects hold up.

HENRY’S COURAGE: Choice Skinner To Charge Into Battle With Proof-Of-Concept Harlem Hellfighters Shortfilm Next Year [EXCLUSIVE]

Lee B. Golden III

Independent filmmaker Choice Skinner is ramping up efforts to direct upcoming short film, Henry’s Courage, which he intends to shoot as a potential feature film pitch. Aiming to crowdfund a February 2020 shoot, Henry’s Courage takes its cues from the historic, heroic tale of the Harlem Hellfighters, prolifically known as the first African American unit of the U.S. Army to engage in combat during World War I. Actor Akono Dixon will tackle the key role of Henry Johnson, a black U.S. soldier who fought off a German raid in hand-to-hand combat while suffering numerous wounds. Johnson was recognized and awarded with a Croix De Guerre with star and bronze palm by the French and was the first U.S. soldier in World War I to receive that honor. Dixon will be joined by actor Dalon J. Holland who will portray fellow U.S. soldier, Needham Roberts. Henry’s Courage marks Skinner’s return to […]

PANAMA Reteams Grillo And Freeman For November Production

Lee B. Golden III

News out of Toronto brings word that Frank Grillo and Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman will star in the based-on-true-events action thriller, Panama. Filming begins in November after Grillo wraps recent photography on John Swab’s ensemble crime thriller, Body Brokers, which began this month. In Panama, James Becker (Grillo), a rugged, decorated ex-marine is assigned by Starks (Freeman), his former commander to execute a high-value deal with shady adversaries. The two will work together as Becker takes on assassins, courts femme fatales and negotiates with the enemy in order to complete his mission and come home. Daniel Adams (The Golden Boys, An L.A. Minute) will direct from a script he wrote with co-scribe, exec producer William R. Barber. Michelle Chydzik Sowa and Michelle Reihel are producing. Highland Film Group is boarding world sales at TIFF next week. Grillo and Freeman will also be seen next year in action comedy sequel, The […]

SINKHOLE: Kim Ji-Hoon Readies Disaster Action Comedy With Cha Seung-Won

Lee B. Golden III

Following in the footsteps of Lee Sang-Geun’s hit summer disaster romp, Exit, Sinkhole is next on deck for Kim Ji-Hoon (The Tower) according to Pierce Conran over at KoBiz. Cha Seung-won (Believer) is set to star in the new disaster action comedy which sees a man whose new home lands in a Sinkhole once he’s finally purchased it after 11 years of saving up. Kim Sung-kyun (Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time) and Lee Kwang-soo (Tazza: One Eyed Jack) will also star. Production hails from The Tower Pictures with Showbox financing the film and handling distribution. (KOBIZ)

Official still from Dry Land Swim (Envizion Films)

UASE 2019 Spotlight: DEAD END II, SANTOS Returns, Rising Tiger Brings SILVERBACK, And More!

Lee B. Golden III

The seventh annual Urban Action Showcase kicks off its two-day event on November 8, host to a raft of spectacular film celebrations including The Warriors, Tim Burton’s Batman and blockbuster sci-fi, The Matrix among a plethora of others. The festival will also have its share of celebrity appearances by martial arts stars to further magnify the annual event. Of course, one other major end of the showcase will include a slew of projects from independent filmmakers from around the world. In addition to the previously reported Final Contact: Episode III and El Hombre De Tijuana, actor Bryan Larkin will enter the fray with his new shortfilm continuation, Dead End II: A Justified Kill. It’s in this chapter where our two contract killers in pursuit of a gangster cross paths with a young girl whose eyes are fixed on a bag of cash as a way out for a better life. […]

Rachel Taylor, Ryan Kwanten (Wiki Commons)

DEVIL INSIDE: WaZabi Takes Sales Rights To Aussie Zombie Horror Shooting In 2020

Lee B. Golden III

As Venice kicks off with Toronto still on deck, the sales scene can now add WaZabi Films into the field of play with co-founders Anick Poirier and Lorne Price snagging sales rights to zombie thriller, Devil Inside. Aussies Rachel Taylor (Jessica Jones) and Ryan Kwanten (Kidnapping Mr. Heineken) will star in the film for its Spring 2020 shoot in Tasmania from director Jonathan auf der Heide. Taylor will star in the role of Eva, a vet who journeys to the rainforest with her partner Alex after suffering a miscarriage. Alex suddenly contracts Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease from a stray dog bite, turning him and other males into raging psychopaths targeting females. Eva is soon forced to choose between saving him and saving mankind. Devil Inside was developed by Screen Australia and Screen Tasmania according to Screendaily. David Ngo (Rabbit) is producing, with Bryce Menzies (Hotel Mumbai) and Clement Dunn […]

INFINITE: Dylan O’Brien Joins Mark Wahlberg-Led Action Sci-Fi

Lee B. Golden III

The Maze Runner trilogy and American Assassin star, actor Dylan O’Brien has reportedly joined the cast of Infinite, according to Justin Kroll at Variety. Kingsman franchise actress Sophie Cookson will also star in the Mark Wahlberg-led sci-fi action thriller which commences shooting this Fall for its August 7, 2020 release. The Equalizer helmer Antoine Fuqua is directing Infinite, telling of a troubled young man haunted by memories of two past lives. He decides to join the ranks of a centuries-old secret society of people who posses total recall of their past lives called the Cognomina. Infinite is written by Ian Shorr whose script takes from D. Eric Maikranz’s 2009 novel, “The Reincarnationist Papers”. The film hails from Paramount with John Zaozirny, and Di Bonaventura Pictures’ Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian producing. Rafi Crohn is exec producing.

SEMPER FI: A Test Of Loyalty Unfolds In The Official Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Joey Nolfi broke the exclusive at Entertainment Weekly on Tuesday premiering the official trailer for Henry Alex Rubin’s new crime drama, Semper Fi. Lionsgate officially rolled the trailer wide on Wednesday which you can now view above if you’re just now catching on. Cal (Jai Courtney) is a by-the-book police officer who, along with his close-knit group of childhood friends, makes ends meet as a Marine Corps reservist. When Cal’s reckless younger half-brother, Oyster, is arrested after a bar fight and given an unfair prison sentence, Cal – driven by his loyalty to family and fierce code of honor – fights for Oyster (Nat Wolff) in this gripping tale of brotherhood and sacrifice. Rubin talked a lot about the film and at one point deterred from this being just an action thriller of sorts in the EW piece: Rubin admits that “From the outside, the film may seem like an […]

TRANSIT 17: Guy Bleyart’s Long-Awaited Sci-Fi Thriller Delivers Firstly With A New Poster

Lee B. Golden III

Nearly five years to the day since this post, The Last Inquisitors helmer Guy Bleyart’s sophmore outing finally hit the straightaway for its last lap with the pending release of dystopian sci-fi actioner, Transit 17. Five years… yep. That’s what going independent is for a feature – the kind that takes years on mininal budget to complete. And not for nothing either with Bleyaert’s efforts now signaling consumers with an official poster hailing from Vision Films. Transit 17 tells of a team of resistance soldiers on a mission to save a young girl who may turn out to be their last hope for a cure to a viral outbreak that’s torn its way throughout Europe. Bleyaert is joined by Zara Phythian (Doctor Strange), Lee Charles (Final Score), Silvio Simac (Transporter 3) and Themo Melikidze (Patriots Day). Peep the poster below and stick around for an official trailer!

The AMERICAN HORROR STORY: 1984 Trailer Is Here!

Christina Ortega

It is nearly fall, which means that soon we will begin yet another season of American Horror Story. Since the anthology series began in 2011, each season usually gives audiences a new storyline full of interesting characters and lots of creepiness. This season is titled American Horror Story: 1984 and it promises to be a love song dedicated to 80’s slasher films. The trailer dropped this week and if you haven’t seen it already, here it is: A group of teenagers decides to work as camp counselors during the summer, they seem to hit someone on their way there, and an inmate of an asylum has broken loose? I can’t wait to feather my hair and put on my parachute pants and “Members Only” jacket while I watch this season! Up until last season, AHS was known as an anthology series, with each season being a stand alone. One could […]

JOKER Laughs Its Way Online With An Official Trailer That Is Definitely No Joke!

Lee B. Golden III

For all the flack that Hollywood gets for rehashing material, you have to give it to its elements when they’re combined accordingly, and in a way that resoundingly fits. The new Joker movie looks like everything you could possibly want from a film about the infamous DC Comics-based clown prince of crime. This is especially from a production that firstly set out to make a film with no direct connections to its preceding Justice League canon. Director Todd Phillips “Joker” centers around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone fictional story not seen before on the big screen. Phillips’ exploration of Arthur Fleck, who is indelibly portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix, is of a man struggling to find his way in Gotham’s fractured society. A clown-for-hire by day, he aspires to be a stand-up comic at night…but finds the joke always seems to be on him. Caught in a […]

NE ZHA: CMC, Trinity Cine Asia Land IMAX 3D, UK/Ireland Release Dates

Lee B. Golden III

Parallel to Well Go USA’s domain in North America, moviegoers in the U.K. can also rest safely in the comfort of a IMAX and theatrical releases for debut this year’s hit animated blockbuster, Ne Zha. Directed by Jiao Zi, CMC Pictures is proudly rolling the film out in association with Trinity Cine Asia for an IMAX 3D release on August 30, followed by a wide UK/Ireland release beginning September 6. Inspired by mythology and loosely adapted from a Chinese novel, heaven and earth has given birth to a powerful pearl possessing great energy. Yuanshi Tianzun (the Primeval Lord of Heaven) concocts two pills from the pearl – a spiritual pill (Ling Zhu) and a sorcery pill (Mo Wan) – and seals both of them in a sacred lotus. The spiritual pill will reincarnate as a man, who is destined to assist in the creation of the new Zhou dynasty; while […]

HOT BLOOD: Post-Production Underway For New Korean Noir Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Some new details are floating about online for Hot Blood (a.k.a. The Boiling Blood), a new noir thriller that just wrapped a four-month shoot in July for an early 2020 release. Based on a novel by Kim Un-su, Jung Woo (The Himayalas) plays a port city mid-level gangster with his own outfit while moonlighting as a hotel manager in Busan. His dreams of settling down with girlfriend In-Sook are dashed when he gets swept into a gang war. Novelist and screenwriter Cheon Myoung-Kwan makes his long-awaited feature debut at the film, effectively returning to film following a screenwriting career in the 1990s. In-Sook is played by award-winning actress Yoon Ji-Hye (Asura: City Of Madness), with actors Kim Kap-soo (Steel Rain) and Choi Moo-sung (Long Live The King) also starring. (KOBIZ)

A Good Woman Is Hard To Find (Signature)

A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND Lands An October UK Release

Lee B. Golden III

Road Games helmer Abner Pastoll will get his day this October when UK-based Signature rolls out his latest offering, A Good Woman Is Hard To Find. Fantasia Fest rolled out the red carpet for this particular find in July featuring Mayans M.C. actress Sarah Bolger as a single mother whose home is invaded by a drug pusher peddling a bag of stolen coke. The film just had its FrightFest premiere a few days ago and still awaits a U.S. release. Peep the trailer above and if you’re interested, my review is also up for grabs.

BLACK FIVE: Michael Bay Lines Up New Ensemble Action Drama For Sony

Lee B. Golden III

The trades ran pretty light with this one, but once he wraps Six Underground for Netflix, Michael Bay will segue into an early 2020 start for ensemble action drama, Black Five. Details are unknown about the production which is housed at Sony Pictures. Bay is reportedly partnering once more with fellow 13 Hours producer Erwin Stoff to produce the new film. Ehren Kruger, who penned the second, third and fourth Transformer films of the five-part film saga, is penning the script. Bay’s history of making iconic, bustling, fast-talking, set-destroying action cheese and spectacle precedes him further with the likes of Bad Boys 1 & 2, Armageddon and The Island. All guilty pleasure in my book with highs and lows. Indeed, there are legit reasons to critique him but I won’t pretent Black Five doesn’t excite me. That Bay is still directing is pretty good news itself, so now all we […]

MORTAL KOMBAT: Chin Han To Steal Your Souls As Shang Tsung, Hiroyuki Sanada To Breathe Fire As Scorpion

Lee B. Golden III

Lots of hopes may have been dashed for fans of Mortal Kombat who’ve waited for Kevin Tancharoen to steer forward on his own adaptation, but it’s not like New Line isn’t making up for lost time either. News of the past month has awoken the fanbase with a heavy-handed roster of casting news for the new film now slated to begin shooting in less than a few weeks in Australia. The casting totaled to eight by Monday’s reporting this week until Tuesday’s news broken by Variety for the addition of actor Chin Han for the role of evil, manipulative sorceror, Shang Tsung, along with Hiroyuki Sanada for that of undead ninja warrior, Scorpion. The soul-stealing, shape-shifting cohort to Nether Realm’s armies along with the Emperor, Shao Khan, Tsung has popped in and out of the game franchise as a consistent antagonist against Earth Realm’s heroes. Game lore saw Tsung and […]

IRON DRAGON TV Is Now Readily Available To Download For iOS Users

Lee B. Golden III

Among the dozens of apps and channels you’ll find out there, there’s a ample handful to tend to. Iron Dragon TV is one entity pushed by founder Janell Smith and with app itself now readily available in the Apple store as of this week. It’s the latest move for Iron Dragon Productions CEO own Janell Smith, a proficent martial artist herself, who founded the film streaming service back in 2014 in partnership with Nanotech Entertainment to distribute hard hitting and edgy martial arts and Asian action titles to today’s audiences. The app is also available on Amazon, Roku, and on Google Play. Iron Dragon TV is also home to the annual summer events culminating the Iron Dragon TV Action Fest. Its three year history welcomes a worldly roster of shorts and feature film entries, and has seen celebrity attendances like actor T.J. Storm (Revenger, Kickboxer: Vengeance), and Tak Sakaguchi (Versus, […]

Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson and Lewis Tan

MORTAL KOMBAT Finds Sonya Blade And Kano In Jessica McNamee And Josh Lawson, Lewis Tan Also Cast With Mystery Role

Lee B. Golden III

Actress Jessica McNamee, and actors Josh Lawson and Lewis Tan will be joining the opposing forces of Earthrealm and Netherrealm in Simon McQuoid’s Mortal Kombat, due out in theaters March 5, 2021. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, McNamee and Lawson will tackle the roles of warring archrivals, Sonya Blade and Kano, while details on Tan’s role currently remain locked behind the Outworld portal away from prying eyes. Sonya Blade and Kano came into the original game franchise as archenemies with Blade seeking vengeance for the vicious murder of her partner at the hands of the latter, an elusive crimeboss and megainfluencer of the criminal underworld. During her trials with her Earthrealm allies in the games against the forces of Shang Tsung, the Emperor himself, Shao Khan’s and the manipulative gods overseeing the titular tournament, Blade would eventually ascend to the rank of General. Sal DiVita attributed his iconic playable incarnation […]

ART OF DECEPTION: Breaking Glass Signals New Heist Thriller This Fall

Lee B. Golden III

Richard Ryan’s latest film has since found a new home at Breaking Glass Pictures with Art Of Deception arriving on DVD and VOD on October 8. After uncovering the CIA’s ruthless master plan for world domination by gaining complete mind control over the entire population, top scientist Joseph Markham is ultimately left with a choice: save the lives of billions…or the life of his wife, who has been kidnapped, interrogated, and brutally tortured as she viciously fights for her life. As a nationwide manhunt ensues, deadly assassins pursue, and one man’s decision will determine the fate of the world, Art of Deception is about a fight for life, love and world dominance. The film held its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Awards, followed by screenings in Miami and overseas in Milan, with awards reception from International Independent Film Awards and the Depth of Field International Film Festival Competition, […]