Teasers

ONE PERCENTER Short Promo Teases Tak Sakaguchi’s Latest Gangbuster Action Thriller

I knew there had to be a reason why I woke up this morning. Enter Re:Born and Crazy Samurai Musashi star Tak Sakaguchi who, a decade after once announcing his retirement from film, has graciously found himself thriving on and off-screen, which also brings us to the first short teaser for One Percenter, pairing him with none other than Yudai Yamaguchi who has been in Sakaguchi’s corner in a career space they’ve shared since Ryuhei Kitamura’s 2000 cult hit, Versus. Action film actor Toshiro Takuma is a man with only one goal: the perfection of action film acting… But when his samurai-approach to the profession clashes with an industry addicted to wires, CGI and quick edits, Toshiro and his trusty apprentice Akira decide to make their dream film themselves. When actual violence finds its way onto their film set in the form of yakuza mobsters looking for a hidden cache […]

FULL RIVER RED Runs Into North American Theaters Next Week. Catch The Official Teaser Trailer!

Lee B. Golden III

Oscar-winning director Zhang Yimou’s Chinese New Year box office darling, Full River Red, is out and about these days hitting the markets for world sales agent Edko Films. Its next stop will eventually be this year’s HK FilMart, but not before getting word out to film fans to promote its upcoming North American rollout with exclusive word on Thursday at THR noting its March 17 release in 150 theaters across the U.S. and Canada from genre specialist Niu Vision Media. 12th century China, during the Song Dynasty, set against a brewing rebellion by the Jin people against the Imperial Court. Two hours before a crucial diplomatic meeting between the Song Prime Minister Qin Hui and a high level Jin delegation, the Jin Ambassador is murdered. An important letter destined for the Emperor is stolen from him. As the search for the letter unfolds, alliances are formed, secrets are revealed, and […]

THE WRATH OF BECKY Rages Online In The First Official Teaser

Lee B. Golden III

It’s only a matter of days now before SXSW attendees will get to venture into the continued onslaught of the titular anti-heroine now featured in The Wrath Of Becky, with Lulu Wilson reprising her role from the inaugural 2020 thriller. The film also stars Seann William Scott who now brings a first major look at our new villain from directors Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote in the first teaser now available below, courtesy of IGN. After living off the grid for two years, Becky finds herself going toe to toe against Darryl, the leader of a fascist organization, on the eve of an organized attack. Angel himself co-stars in the pic along with Courtney Gains, Aaron Dalla Villa, Michael Sirow, Denise Burse, Jill Larson and Kate Siegel. It’s likely that Quiver Distribution will pick this one up for the U.S. as they did with the first film so keep them […]

Michelle Yeoh Kicks Ass - Criterion Channel

Streaming Sleepers: Everything, Michelle Yeoh, All On Criterion

Lee B. Golden III

Hats off to Fred Topel’s Showbiz Cheat Sheet article for listing all the current films available now streaming on The Criterion Channel featuring leading lady of action, Michelle Yeoh. The ceremony has not waned since the release of Everything Everywhere All At Once, the Daniels-directed bouquet of kung fu, sci-fi, fantasy, and family comedy and drama attributed to a ubiquitous cinematic vision and incumbent messaging of love and acceptance, and generational healing, also being hailed as a banner moment for AAPI inclusion in entertainment. Indeed, while Yeoh’s nascency in film and television may not have been rooted in martial arts like most of her prominent colleagues in the Hong Kong industry, the Malaysia-born, decorated and now SAG award-winning screen star has more than earned her stripes with an amply and largely memorable resume of hits that have shaped her career thus and so. If you have Criterion, you’re welcome to […]

MARTIN Trailer Promises All The Bang, Boom And Brawn For Your Buck!

Lee B. Golden III

Indian cinema is great. How great? Welp, if you’re an action fan and have some knowledge of Indian film, you know that directors weighing in on the genre typically aim pretty damn high at times, and director A.P. Arjun is here to show he’s ready to aim even higher, going big with his fifth directorial gig, Martin, and with hulking heavyweight leading man Dhruva Sarja leading the charge for Kannada audiences. Rounding out the cast are Vaibhavi Shandilya, Anveshi Jain, Chikkanna, Malavika Avinash, Achyuth Kumar, Nikitin Dheer, Nawab Shah, and Rohit Pathak, and to be very clear, I don’t know what this movie is about. That’s not to say that this teaser trailer isn’t selling what it means to. At close to 60 million views since its release yesterday as of this post, it’s safe to say that it is!… Check it out!

BLACKOUT, And You’ll Miss All The Action In The First Teaser For The New Short!

Lee B. Golden III

An amnesiac black ops agent/black bag courier is in for the fight of his life as he struggles to survive waves of assassins bent on stopping him from removing an apocalypse-level chemical compound from his own blood. With time running out, can he make it across the border before it’s too late? If so can he retrace his steps and truly reclaim his own identity? Who do you trust when the enemy might be you? That’s the wind-up-and-the-pitch for the newest martial arts-loaded thriller short, Blackout from indie production duo Robert Samuels (H.K.S.A.) and Robert Jefferson who’ve been keeping the habit up nice and well since making the rounds with Shadow Fist 2: Axe Gang, and their previous collab on Nicholas Ortiz’s Mexico-bound Jugando Con Fuego. The new actioner returns our pair back to their old JCF stomping grounds once again to direct, shepherding a cast that lists Angel S. […]

KNIGHTS OF THE ZODIAC: Toei Animation Teases Pegasus’ Meteor Fist In New Teaser

Lee B. Golden III

It’s been a little over a few months since the first main teaser arrived for Tomasz Baginski’s live-action adaptation of “Saint Seiya” titled Knights Of The Zodiac outside Japan. The teaser boasts some impressive visuals with cool nods to the original manga/anime IP on which the film is based, although surprisingly it also drew some ire from a few more persnickety friends in my circle. Personally, I hope the full trailer and coming movie can change some minds and hearts this year, and until then, the campaign continues to help ramp up the excitement with Toei Animation heading up the film’s release in the far East this April hereby titled Knights Of The Zodiac: The Beginning. Tap here for the first teaser from Sony back in December, and check out the new teaser below signaling lead actor Mackenyu Arata (Netflix’s upcoming One Piece) in his first feature move outside Japan.

GAMERA -REBIRTH- Heading to Netflix for Six Episode Anime Series!

Edward Orndorff

The world of classic Kaiju films has more than one big G, and one of them is stomping in to streaming! Gamera -Rebirth – project, first announced in 2022, will be a six episode anime series, exclusive to Netflix worldwide. Five kaiju, plus Gamera, will appear and he’ll have his hands full with taking them down in this new series. Debuting in the ’65 film, Gamera, the Giant Monster, Gamera was created in the wake of the success of Gojira, intended as a competitor. The turtle kaiju would find moderate international success with his 12 films, and while not reaching the same heights as Godzilla, enjoys a sizable cult following to this day and is considered commercially successful in it’s native Japan. Only one film, the original Daikaiju Gamera has made it to stateside theatres, and only as a heavily edited version of the film. However, through DVD/BluRay sales, as well […]

THE SILENT SERVICE: Takao Osawa Takes To The High Seas In The Official Launch Teaser

Lee B. Golden III

Kaiji Kawaguchi’s late 80s manga is now a thing of big-screen aspirations with Toho and Amazon Japan partnering together for new political war thriller, The Silent Service. The first official teaser introduces leading man Takao Osawa who plays a Naval captain who declares his ship a sovereign state. Kohei Yoshino directs this, his third feature from a script by Hikaru Takai, and collaborated with the Japan Maritime Defende Forces to help bring the production to life. Osawa is also producing the film alongside Shinzô Matsuhashi, who is credited for such live-action adaptations as Gintama and Gintama 2, Rurouni Kenshin: Origins, and Shinsuke Sato’s first and second chapters of the Kingdom franchise which also co-stars Osawa. The Silent Service lands a day-and-date theatrical and streaming release in the region on September 29.

Ryoo Seung-Wan Invites You To The World Of SMUGGLING In The First Teaser

Lee B. Golden III

Director Ryoo Seung-wan is following up the ceremony of his most recent political survival thriller, Escape From Mogadishu with another period affair, and it comes by way of Contents Panda/NEW. For this, we turn to Smuggling, which has Kim Hye-soo (A Special Lady), Yum Jung-ah (Alienoid), Zo In-sung (Escape From Mogadishu), and Park Jeongmin (Decision To Leave). In 1970s, at Kunchon (a small village near sea), there were women divers, including two best friends Choonja and Jin-sook, Jin-sook’s brother and Hammer. They always collected seafood under water for living. But, as few factories started to be built near beach, women divers started to have trouble with what they were doing for living. Without any choice, the ship crews decided to join smuggling business in water to seek a way for their living. But smuggling business in their village got too big for Jin-sook’s family to handle and the peaceful village […]

Don’t Miss Toei’s BAKUMATSU WITHOUT HONOR AND HUMANITY Mini-Teaser

Lee B. Golden III

Signal: The Movie helmer Hajime Hashimoto will have plenty to present for his latest goings-on since then now that the first mini-promo is here for gangster/jidaigeki spoof, Bakamatsu Without Honor And Humanity. It’s only fitting that a title like this comes out of Toei seeing as the title takes its cues from the classic crime saga of yesterday shepherded largely by the late, legendary Kinji Fukasaku for the studio – here now broached once more with a comedic, fantastical twist with Hashimoto directing from a script by Kamen Rider vet, Nobuhiro Mori. Ryo Matsuda, also of Kamen Rider franchise fame, stars alongside Touken Ranbu (2019) actor Takuma Wada for the story Kyoji, a yakuza leader rising in the ranks who finds himself jettisoned back to Edo period with pugnacious right-hand man, Ippei. As it stands, after crossing paths with a legendary warrior who shares his likeness, Kyoji is forced to […]

RED LINE: A Street Racer Dares To Redeem Himself In The First Teaser For Taiwanese Speed Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Warner Bros. Taiwan is out with a first-look teaser for Red Line, a new film from director Ke Youqian. The film marks the feature screen debut for hip-hop recording artist Eddie Chen (professionally known as E•SO). “Have you ever wondered what is faster than the speed of light?” Step on the accelerator and let the blood boil even more. “Speed can kill or save.” In the underground racing world, Xiao Le gave up on himself due to his brother’s accident, until he met a female doctor Huihui and changed his mind to become an ambulance driver, vowing to “save people with speed”. That’s about all I can gather at the moment in terms of what the official story details are via Google Translate. A local release date has not been announced yet save for a 2023 rollout with international dates TBA, of course. Take a look below!

CLAWS Teaser: Dare To Run And Hide From Them In ‘Clash’ Director’s Horror Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

The first look teaser is now making the rounds for Claws (or Móng Vuốt), the latest dive into the horror arena from director Thanh Son Le who burst onto the scene just a little over a decade ago with martial arts crime thriller, Clash. There’s nothing available in English but a brief translation for Claws suggests the grim result of what happens when a group of boisterous teens set up a picnic in the woods only to end up battling against an evil beast. Claws hails from CJ HK Entertainment and HKFilm, and marks Le’s reunion with actress Kaity Nguyen who starred in his 2017 romcom, Jailbait, as well as that film’s screenwriter, Tran Khanh Hoang. The film also stars Tuan Tran, Rocker Nguyen, Naomi, Quoc Khanh and Gi A Nguyen. Peep the first look teaser and poster just beneath.

New MAD CATS Official Promo Teaser Lunges At You Ahead Of Next Weekend’s Slamdance Premiere!

Lee B. Golden III

“I had wondered why Japanese movies are so sad, serious, and depressing most of the time. I came to think that it’s the budget. Budgets for indie movies in Japan are actually much smaller than ones in overseas. It is very difficult to make something exciting and flashy because they simply cost a lot. I wanted to change that…” It matters that Crying Bitch shortfilm helmer Reiki Tsuno feels this way as we head into a new year with his independent feature debut, Mad Cats. Fairing all the same is that Japanese cinematic action has become a little more commercially prolific in the past year – enough for the likes of Tsuno to get to ride the momentum with the good folks at this year’s upcoming Slamdance Film Festival also taking notice. Indeed, Tsuno’s humbly-produced and driven crowdfunded effort is now looking to gain traction with an official teaser to […]

Shin Hyun-Joon Kills It As THE ASSASSIN In The First Teaser!

Lee B. Golden III

Part of my hope nowadays as we get a look at this newest South Korean sword slasher, The Assassin, is that it’ll help spotlight another film featuring the same star at the time. Indeed it was Kim Young-jun’s Bichunmoo: Warrior Of Virtue that put actor Shin Hyun-joon on my radar a little over fifteen years ago, and with a film wholly indicative of the types of wuxia and kung fu productions the likes of fans of Wong Jing and Tsui Hark could take a liking to, and frankly it deserves a place somewhere on one of today’s current streaming mediums if not a renewed physical release at some point. At any rate, we now leave it to the efforts of director Kwak Jeong-deok in what seems like his debut feature film after years of hacking away at the keyboard as screenwriter for titles like 2019 disaster thriller, Ashfall, and Kim […]

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ANONYMOUS Pops Off With Tony Leung And Wang Yibo In The Newest Teaser [UPDATED]

Lee B. Golden III

The past year has been a little bit interesting with a few teasers making the rounds for director Cheng Er’s new World War II spy thriller, Anonymous. Not much happens in either of those teasers, save for offering little pieces here and there of characterization to go by, along with the casting of celebrated actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai to boost the film’s wider marketability. That all changes just a little more for the better now with a brand new teaser making the rounds, and footage suited to entice fans of espionage and spy warfare. That means quite a bit of hallway footage, dudes in suits, lots of walking, and more walking, all peppered in the latter half with some gunplay to whet the appetite. Fun! The logline via Letterboxd: On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. The following day, the Wang False Government followed Japan’s declaration of war against […]

CLUTCH: Check Out The Teaser For D.A. Jackson’s New Indie Action Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

It’s been a while since I was last aware of what writer/director D.A. Jackson has been up to since his “Storms Of Carnage” Marvel fan shorts. The Prodigal and Eternal Gangstas helmer has since made headway in recent memory with the Tubi release of his most recent horror, GoodBi, and is now on track for a return to the action genre with Clutch. Plot details are nil for the moment so the teaser is all we have to go on for the moment, which Jackson co-signs as a “90-style” revenge action film. The cast is led by actor and EMC Monkeys laureate Robert Dill (The Mercenary, Close Range), along with Ian Laur, Jan Kubenka, Alex Zuko, Alfredo Araujo, William McNamara, Jeff Moise, Phia Kallas, and Angelina Sizer. Jackson also produced the pic via his Workhorse Productions banner along with Lex Shelton, Jan Kubenka, and J. Stacey Adams. View the teaser!

Shinsuke Sato’s KINGDOM 3 Rings In The New Year With The First Official Teaser!

Lee B. Golden III

Bringing the trilogy full circle this year is director Shinsuke Sato with a third installment of the Kingdom saga based on the work of mangaka Yasuhisa Hara. Following the film’s announcement a few weeks ago in Toho’s 2023 line-up, we now have the film’s first official teaser to kick off the new year which you can view below. The film reunites Sato with actor Kento Yamazaki following their latest banner success with season two of Alice In Borderland on Netflix. Sato and Yamazaki paired up for the inaugural hit film in 2019 which is set against the backdrop of the Warring States period, and tells of a young slave who finds himself protecting a king in exile against his usurped stepbrother. The film also starred Ryo Yoshizawa and Kanna Hashimoto who returned for the 2022 summer sequel, Kingdom 2: To The Land Of Faraway, with both films becoming top box […]

FULL RIVER RED Blends Sweeping Wuxia Veneer With Moody Mystery Noir In The First Teaser Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Hat tip to @fuforthought on the ole’ Insta for reminding all of us that a new Zhang Yimou period thriller is upon us in the new year with Full River Red. The film is the latest from Zhang who previously helmed hit espionage thriller, Cliff Walkers, which is also on deck for a sequel. Full River Red was directed from a script Zhang wrote with co-scribe Chen Yu, which takes place surrounding a mysterious incident at the home of a corrupt and powerful official, which serves to shroud behind-the-scenes efforts to assassinate him. The film’s title reportedly takes its cues from an ancient poem written by Yue Fei, a general betrayed and executed by the said official. The cast lists Jackson Yee, Shen Teng, Zhang Yi, Lei Jiayin and Yue Yunpeng for the film’s TBA release in 2023. Special thanks to @yliu99 for the poster assist.

BLACK LOTUS Launches First Explosive Teaser Trailer

Mike Garcia

World kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven (Kickboxer Retaliation) kicks his way to the big screen, sharing it with a veteran as Frank Grillo (Warrior, Boss Level) leading the cast of this upcoming action feature that promises an explosive spectacle of deadly one liners, and tons of action where Verhoeven gets into the skin of a special forces officer, who´ll start a war on the streets of Amsterdam in order to rescue his best friend´s daughter from the hands of a local mobster. Directed by Todor Chapkanov (Unidsputed IV), this action thriller with international flavor produced by Capstone Film Group and Black Lotus europe, will set a big test for Rico Verhoeven to find out if his dominance on the kickboxing ring can be transfered into the movie screen. Only time will tell if this could be the first step to pave a new career. The film still in post-production, is slated […]