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NYAFF XVIII: Furie, The Fable, Yuen Woo-Ping, Veronica Ngo, And So, So, SO Much More!

Adding to the awesomeness of Yuen Woo-Ping receiving the Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s 18th New York Asian Film Festival, actress Veronica Ngo will also be on hand serving as competition juror on top of snagging her own award in the form of the Daniel A. Craft Award for Excellence in Action Cinema. These are only scratching the smallest surface area within the plans that lie ahead for some of the amazing titles that are finally heading to North America on the festival front. This includes Angga D. Sasongko’s graphic novel adaptation of 212 Warrior, the center piece of Kan Eguchi’s action comedy, The Fable, Bernard Rose’s Samurai Marathon, Jo Min-ho’s provocative period drama, A Resistance, and a raft of other amazing and worldly titles throughout Asia. This also includes Well Go USA’s recent hits like Yuen’s Master Z: Ip Man Legacy and the homeward-bound Furie, along […]

Devika Bhise in THE WARRIOR QUEEN OF JHANSI (Photo By Nick Wall)

THE WARRIOR QUEEN OF JHANSI Rides To U.S. Fall Release From Roadside Attractions

Lee B. Golden III

The wait has been an extensive one with post-production, a social media campaign and exclusive event screenings, but the word is now out for Cayenne Pepper Productions CEO, renowned choreographer and dancer Swati Bhise’s directorial debut, The Warrior Queen Of Jhansi. Roadside Attractions has snagged U.S. release rights to the film for a Fall release via Deadline, titularly starring Devika Bhise in this, the latest cinematic incarnation of 19th century warrior queen Lakshmibai. The director, who also executive produced Matthew Brown’s 2016 biopictoral novel adaptation, The Man Who New Infinity, also produced as well as co-wrote the film with her star, along with co-scribe Olivia Emden. Formerly titled Swords & Sceptres, Bhise’s The Warrior Queen Of Jhansi tells the true story of Lakshmibai, the historic Queen of Jhansi who fiercely led her army against the British East India Company in the infamous mutiny of 1857. Lakshmibai is known as one […]

BLOOD CHOKE RETRIBUTION Review: A Brutal Paint-By-Numbers Revenge Thriller Short With A Serious Death Grip

Lee B. Golden III

Actor and filmmaker Michael Hoad has been in my purview for as long as I’ve followed a number of UK stunt talents. His latest push in the past few years since doing it up in Cannes for Jean Paul-Ly’s The Division and his own forthcoming sci-fi action proof, Soner Metin’s Insurrection, currently brings us Blood Choke Retribution, a project that clearly speaks to the fanbase it aims for going forward. Save for the similar-seeming revenge tropes, Hoad, Blood Choke Retribution is a pretty simple short story to follow telling of Jack, a former special forces soldier on early leave whose hometown arrival and reunion with the wife are sourly interrupted by the emergence of a burgeoning gang looking to escalate. Jack is rendered half-blind and beaten, and his wife raped and murdered in retaliation for Jack’s meddling; Blood Choke Retribution begins in the wake of that tragedy just as Jack […]

JAPAN CUTS XIII: Dance With Me, Killing, Jesus, Night Cruising And More Outline Next Month’s Sprawling New York City Event

Lee B. Golden III

Following last week’s announcement of Japanese cinema auteur Shinya Tsukamoto’s centerpiece ceremony for this year’s Japan Cuts, the official line-up is now online from Japan Society along with a robust new trailer. The line-up is ripe with the usual assortment of features host to colorful cinematic stylings from a raft of directors on the feature-length and shortfilm front, as well as Q&A segments with directors. With any luck I’ll get some screening going on my end as there are several titles on this list I would love to check out, including documentary Night Cruising, Tsukamoto’s latest celebrated hit, Killing, and even Samurai Shifters among others. Tickets are available on the official website where you’ll find film trailers and details on next month’s event. Japan Society Announces Full Lineup for the 13th Annual JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film North America’s largest festival of contemporary Japanese cinema presents a […]

QUEEN SONO: Production Begins On The New South African Spy Thriller For Netflix

Lee B. Golden III

Screen Africa reports that production has officially begun on Queen Sono for Netflix. The streamer’s first original African series is billed as an action-packed spy thriller that stars Pearl Thusi (The Scorpion King: Book Of Souls) for its six episode premiere in 2020. Queen Sono is produced by Johannesburg-based Diprente (Catching Feelings), stars Thusi in the title role as an unconventional spy working for an undercover South African agency devoted to protecting the people of Africa. Also starring will be an all-local cast comprised of Five Fingers For Marseilles actor Vuyo Dabula in the role of Shandu, an ex-spy who has taken a different path. Actor Sechaba Morojele will play Dr Sid, director of the SOG, with actress Chi Mhende and actors Loyiso Madinga, and Rob Van Vuuren joining the cast as SOG agent team members. Actress Kate Liquorish plays Ekaterina, heiress of an oligarch family with ulterior motives, while […]

THE HIT LIST: June 10, 2019

Lee B. Golden III

The Hit List has taken a pretty interesting turn of late now that I actually get to host some video files on behalf of creators. It’s a blessing and I’m real thankful to those of you investing in my own YouTube channel to share your craft. You’ll see a bit of that later, while we begin with the usual raft of demo reels from some of today’s top and emerging talent in stunts and action performance. Up first is someone who rightly deserves the proliferation he’s gotten since throwing down in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Mission: Impossible – Fallout. His name is Liang Yang and his reel is up first followed by reels featuring Aaron D. Alexander, Jennifer Mitchell, Diego Ramiro, Eric C. Sun, Taylor Krasne, Danny Rivera, A.J. Gagliardi, Lauren Nguyen, Ben Tardif, Patrick Dunham, Bronte Coluccio, Jon Beal, Daniel Pera, Michelle Fisichella, Phillip Wainwright, Oliver Gough, […]

GLOW: Season Three Adds Geena Davis

Lee B. Golden III

Netflix’s nostalgic hit wrestling dramedy, Glow, is readying a late summer premiere and actress Geena Davis is being formally announced to join the show’s upcoming third season. The Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning actress will play “Sandy Devereaux St. Clair,” the former showgirl turned entertainment director of the Fan-Tan Hotel and Casino. Netflix is running a first look teaser, as well as a pic of the actress in character as of Monday, joining her with recurring leads Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin and Marc Maron. Check it out in the gallery above, and peep season three deets below: Season 3 follows the ladies of GLOW as they take the Vegas strip by storm. Now headliners at the Fan-Tan Hotel and Casino, the women quickly realize Sin City is much more grind than glitter. Ever the team cheerleader, Ruth’s passion for the show begins to take a backseat to her growingly complicated […]

THE DIVISION: Leitch To Direct Upcoming Ubisoft Film Adaptation For Netflix

Lee B. Golden III

Active developments toward a live-action adaptation of the hit Ubisoft game, The Division, have been stirring moreso since 2016 with the casting of actor Jake Gyllenhaal and with stunt action feature hitmaker David Leitch tapped to direct just last Spring. Going forward, the word is out with Netflix announcing its acquisition of the feature film that now sets screenwriter Rafe Judkins to put pen-to-paper on the project. Joining Gyllenhaal to star and produce will be actress Jessica Chastain who will partake in the same capacity. In the near future, a pandemic virus is spread via paper money on Black Friday, decimating the city of New York and killing millions. By Christmas, what’s left of society has descended into chaos. A group of civilians, trained to operate in catastrophic times, are activated in an attempt to save who and what remains. Leitch’s 87North banner will produce alongside Gyllenhaal’s Nine Stories, Chastain’s […]

Movie And Musical Majesty In NYAFF’S KOKDU: A STORY OF GUARDIAN ANGELS Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Tickets are on sale for the North American premiere for The New York Asian Film Festival’s upcoming premiere presentation of Kokdu: A Story of Guardian Angels. The live action cinematic presentation enjoins the filmic feats of directors Kim Tae-yong (Memento Mori, critically acclaimed Late Autumn) and music director Bang Jun-Seok (The Throne, Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds, Along With The Gods: The Last 49 Days), along with a 20-piece ensemble from the National Gugak Center. Kokdu: A Story Of Guardian Angels signals the latest partnership between the Korean Cultural Center New York (KCCNY), Film at Lincoln Center, and the New York Asian Film Foundation. As for what this all entails, there’s a trailer out and about as of last week to help sample the goods to come and you can view that above. The show has already been touring in select parts of the world now, including Germany […]

NYAFF XVIII: Yuen Woo-Ping To Receive Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award On July 1

Lee B. Golden III

Summer is here and for cinephilic types, that means more festive film events forthcoming. Our own New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) kicks off on June 28 with a pending line-up that will also bear host to a celebration of venerable martial arts cinema auteur, Master Yuen Woo-Ping. The legendary action director, best known by the global kung fu cinema cult fandom at large and mainstream audiences for his work on The Matrix trilogy, both Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon films and the dual Kill Bill revenge saga, will be on hand to receive the Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award on July 1. The celebration will also include a 35mm presentation of seminal Donnie Yen headliner Iron Monkey (1993), Well Go USA’s presentation of Yuen’s sequel-bound Master Z: Ip Man Legacy returning actor Max Zhang to his role in the preceding Ip Man 3, and Yuen’s 1982 classic, The Miracle Fighters. […]

FAST 9: John Cena Confirmed To Star

Lee B. Golden III

It’s hard following movie news given the constant regurgitations of controversy and clickbait. Universal’s Fast saga is ripe with those sorts of things what with talk of Michelle Rodriguez wanting a more equal turn of treatment for women for the longstanding franchise, as well as Neal Moritz reportedly being fired from the franchise following a lawsuit he filed with the studio over alleged breach of oral contract and allegations of promissory fraud. This all comes six years following the death of franchise lead Paul Walker and the hard work of coping with his loss both before and after a pretty boisterous feud between three other of the franchise’s line-up during and after production of The Fate Of The Furious. The franchise is still due for a spin-off this August now with Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham leading Fast And Furious Presents: Hobbs And Shaw while the studio works to develop […]

NO MAN’S LAND Adds Frank Grillo To Immigrant Survival Western Drama

Lee B. Golden III

Justin Kroll at Variety is adding to the mix some casting hype for Conor Allyn’s new modern western drama, No Man’s Land. Therein lies the intrigue and relevant nature of the film’s story scripted and screenwritten with Allyn and co-scribe David Barraza Ibañez as it’s apparently inspired by the real-life “no man’s land” between the U.S.- Mexico border on the Rio Grande and the U.S. “hard border” fences to the north. No Man’s Land will see actor Jake Allyn in the role of Jackson Greer, one-half of a father/son vigilante patrol paired with his father, played by Frank Grillo. Jackson must ride south of the border when he accidentally kills an immigrant son and his father tries to take the blame. With Texas Rangers and Mexican federales in hot pursuit, Jackson, now a “gringo” on the run, finds himself on a pilgrimage that puts him at peace with the land […]

ROBERT THE BRUCE: Angus MacFadyen’s Fight For Freedom Continues After ‘Braveheart’ In The Official Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Sugar Mountain helmer Richard Gray is poised to share his latest cut of his new sword epic, Robert The Bruce, for its premiere at Edinburgh when the 73rd edition of the festival kicks off from June 19 through 30. Best of all thusfar in the wake of Outlaw King is the return of actor Angus MacFadyen whose return to the role 25 years after portraying the character in Mel Gibson headliner, Braveheart, shows his touch hasn’t lost its edge. Scotland 1306, Robert the Bruce (Angus Macfadyen: Braveheart) crowns himself King and takes the ambition of Scotland’s freedom as his own. But he cannot overcome England’s power: defeated again and again, his army is scattered and Scotland’s nobility abandons him. Hunted, with a price on his head, he finds himself alone and wounded. The cause of freedom seems lost once more. Hidden secretly in a secluded croft of a clan pledged […]

OUTSIDE THE WIRE: Anthony Mackie Lines Up Action Sci-Fi For Netflix With ‘Escape Plan’ Director

Lee B. Golden III

Escape Plan helmer Mikael Håfström will be back in the chair for Marvel MCU franchise actor Anthony Mackie’s latest Netflix venture with sci-fi actioner, Outside The Wire. As Deadline reports, Mackie will star as a futurisitic drone pilot sent into a deadly militarized zone where he finds himself working for an android officer tasked to locate a doomsday device before it falls into the hands of insurgents. Håfström will direct from a script by Rob Yescombe and Rowan Athale. Mackie will produce at Automatik with Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, and with Ben Pugh and Erica Steinberg producing for 42, and Inspire Entertainment’s Jason Spire; Josh Horsfield and Fred Berger will exec produce for Automatik with Rory Aiken for 42 whose Charlie Morrison wiol co-produce. Among Mackie’s raft of titles will be a Disney+ series following up his Marvel role as Falcon with Sebastian Stan as the Winter Soldier, as well as his […]

JIU-JITSU: Grillo, Chan, Jaa And More Join Moussi/Cage Martial Arts Sci-Fi Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Following events at FilMart upon announcing intergalatic martial arts adventure, Jiu-Jitsu, trade news at Screendaily is confirming a quintet of casting additions. Actor Frank Grillo, and acting and martial arts star talents Tony Jaa and JuJu Chan will appear in the film with cameras set to role on June 24. Joining the trio are Rick Yune and Marie Avgeropoulos with Alain Moussi and Nicolas Cage leading. Moussi will star as Jake Barnes, a war hero championing Earth’s liberation in an epic BJJ match that happens every six years against waves of alien invaders. Cage will play the role of Wylie, the leader of a team of jiu-jitsu fighters who take in Jake must and help him recover his memory and strength following his foreboding defeat at the hands of Brax, the indomitable alien leader. Dimitri Logothetis will produce with Martin Barab, and will direct from a script he wrote with […]

Film Combat Syndicate, John Balazs Partner For First-Annual International Action Film Awards Launching In 2020

Lee B. Golden III

Film Combat Syndicate is partnering exclusively with Melbourne-based filmmaking production duo John Balazs and Marlane Ghmed for the first annual International Action Film Awards set to kick off next year. On Thursday evening, Balazs took to social media to make the announcement with the graphic shown below and via Instagram along with detailed instructions about the festival, how to enter, rules and regulations and respective fees listed at this Film Freeway link. Submissions will begin June 15 with an event slated to inaugurate the festival for its first year on August 2020, whereupon a raft of film industry experts to be announced at a later date will serve as judges. “We are very excited about this partnership as it provides an extra value to filmmakers who want to get their work out there to a wider audience.” says Balazs. “FCS has been a champion for giving filmmakers a platform to […]

LUCIFER: Netflix Greenlights Fifth And Final Season, And I’ve Only Just Started!

Lee B. Golden III

I still crave the usual anime stretch, but 2019 has been more of a TV drama thing after Netflix’s Punisher and both seasons of Korean crime procedural, Bad Guys. As of late you’ll find me on the streamer catching up on all four seasons of hit supernatural fantasy crime drama, Lucifer, based on a DC character no less and starring Tom Ellis, Lauren German, Leslie-Ann Brandt, D.B. Woodside and Kevin Alejandro. A fifth season was just greenlit according to TVLine‘s Matt Webb Mitovich who provides the following statements from showrunner: “We are so incredibly thankful to Netflix for resurrecting our show last season, and now letting us finish the story of Lucifer on our terms,” reads a statement from co-showrunners Joe Henderson and Ildy Modrovich. “Most importantly, we want to thank the fans for their incredible passion and support. The best is yet to come!” “The fan support is super-important, […]

ROBOCOP RETURNS, THOMAS CROWN Remake And More Make Up BRON/MGM Multi-Million Dollar Co-Fi Deal

Lee B. Golden III

BRON Creative, the joint venture between BRON Studios, led by Aaron L. Gilbert, and Creative Wealth Media, led by Jason Cloth, and Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) have reportedly entered into a multi-picture $100 million plus co-financing deal according to the latest press announcement from MGM. Neil Blomkamp’s Robocop Returns is just one of the key titles listed in the agreement on which Gilbert and Cloth will also serve as exec producers in this, the first deal between MGM and Bron. The pending release of The Addams Family, an upcoming remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, the new Candyman remake which has actor Tony Todd returning, and other recent Orion titles like Child’s Play and Gretel And Hansel are also listed. “We are excited to partner with MGM on this highly anticipated slate of films, all driven by talented filmmakers. This is another important step forward in BRON’s growth model,” said […]

JESSICA JONES: SEASON 3 Trailer: Morr Internal Conflict And Psychological Warfare In The Wake Of A New Foe

Lee B. Golden III

I’ve actually been busy catching up on other content and will be doing so for a good amount of time on top of other responsibilities I have at the moment. That’s not hindering me at all however from helping present the official trailer for season three of Marvel’s Jessica Jones which airs June 14. When Jessica (Krysten Ritter) crosses paths with a highly intelligent psychopath, she and Trish (Rachael Taylor) must repair their fractured relationship and team up to take him down. But a devastating loss reveals their conflicting ideas of heroism and sets them on a collision course that will forever change them both.

FIRST LOVE: Takashi Miike’s Cannes Hit Action Thriller Picked Up By Well Go USA For Late 2019

Lee B. Golden III

Takashi Miike’s newest Cannes darling, First Love, is coming to North America, and Well Go USA is all but on-top of things with its acquisition reported on Wednesday from THR. The film had its Directors’ Fortnight run in France and stars Masataka Kubota (Tokyo Ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul: S), and actress Sakurako Konishi with Nao Omori (Ichi The Killer), Shota Sometani (Legend Of The Demon Cat), actress and singer Becky (Eight Ranger, Eight Ranger 2), and actors Jun Murakami (Aircraft Carrier Ibuki), Sansei Shiomi (Beyond Outrage, Outrage Coda) and Seiyo Uchino (13 Assassins). First Love marks the fourth collaboration between Academy Award® winning producer Jeremy Thomas (THE LAST EMPEROR) and Takashi Miike (BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL, HARA-KIRI and 13 ASSASSINS). Set over one night in Tokyo, we follow Leo (Kubota), a young boxer down on his luck as he meets his ‘first love’ Monica (Konishi), a call girl and an addict […]