filmcombatsyndicate.com

THE FURIOUS: ‘The Paper Tigers’ Actor Brian Le Joins Kenji Tanigaki’s Martial Arts Thriller

Actor and martial artist Brian Le will join the pan-Asian ensemble cast of The Furious. Japanese action stalwart Kenji Tanigaki (Enter The Fat Dragon) is directing the movie in Bangkok, Thailand with cameras now rolling. Le joins a bustling line-up headed by Chinese actor Xie Miao, Indonesia’s Joe Taslim and Yayan Ruhian, and Thai action star Jeeja Yanin. Miao plays Konggu, a simple tradesman whose daughter is snatched off the street. Teaming up with a tireless journalist named Navin (Taslim), the two tear through a complex web of criminals in a frantic attempt to win her back by any means necessary. Bill Kong (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) is financing and producing the film via Edko Films with XYZ Film’s Todd Brown (The Raid: Redemption, The Raid 2) producing and handling world sales at the Cannes market next month. Le, along with older brother Andy Le (Shang Chi and the Legend […]

LAST MILE Trailer: TBS Worlds Collide In The New Ticking Timebomb Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

TBS has world sales rights on Last Mile, an explosive new thriller slated for an August 23 release in Japan. The movie reteams director Ayuko Tsukahara and screener Akiko Nogi following their previous work on TBS shows, forensic drama “Unnatural,” and detective serial “MIU404”. On the day before the Black Friday sale, a box delivered by a global e-commerce company, explodes. The box was sent from one of the biggest warehouses, which has the three-quarter logistic shares around Tokyo. It leads a series of mysterious bombings that terrorize whole of Japan. Elena Funado, who was just appointed as a new director of the warehouse, is forced to control this unprecedented situation with a line manager, Ko Nashimoto. Who planted the bombs? For what purpose? How many bombs are left? – And where are they now? In this modern society, distribution service becomes critical need for our lives and that cannot […]

SHANGHAI BLUES: Tsui Hark’s Comedy Classic Sets Sail For Cannes With A 40th Anniversary 4K Screening

Lee B. Golden III

Tsui Hark’s 1984 comedy classic, Shanghai Blues, will screen the prestigious Cannes Classics section of the festival’s 77th edition to celebrate the film’s 40th anniversary. The film was Hark’s seventh production which also launched his Film Workshop label, teaming him up with longtime partner Nansun Shi. Starring are Kenny Bee, Sylvia Chang, and Sally Yeh, Shanghai Blues is set against the backdrop of wartime Shanghai in the 1940’s, weaving a poignant love story between a soldier, Tung Kwok-Man (Bee) and a young woman Shu-Shu (Chang). Though they vow to meet after the war ends, unfortunately, they walk away not able to recognize each other’s faces or remember their names. Through a series of misplaced opportunities, the two lovebirds keep missing their reunion, even though fate has a funny way of bringing them ever so closer to each other. Infused with a delightful blend of innocent romanticism, satirical wit, and whimsical […]

CITY HUNTER Review: A Fittingly Wild Ride With Ryohei Suzuki Front And Center

Lee B. Golden III

I spent a good deal of the last nine years doing a hefty catch-up job in anime. Serial work-ups of Tsukasa Hojo’s hit IP, City Hunter, is certainly on my to-do list, although with this week’s release of a new live-action treatment on Netflix, I grew compelled to dive in. As a newbie to the City Hunter fandom, I already had some idea on what to expect in the years since having already seen Jackie Chan take the mantle for his own 1993 film. Director Yuichi Sato’s treatment from Tatsuro Mishima’s script taps into the same silly and cartoonish goofball energy, albeit for most of the way laying up the narrative with a slick, edgy and refreshing approach that does City Hunter justice, without losing its attraction or appeal. Celebrated actor Ryohei Suzuki leads the way as Ryo Saeba, a “sweeper” in Shinjuku who regularly partners with ex-cop Hideyuki Makimura […]

THE FURIOUS: Edko/XYZ-Produced Actioner Sets Sail For Thailand, Xie Miao Leading Pan-Asian Cast

Lee B. Golden III

Production is currently underway for The Furious, a new Hong Kong-produced action thriller being shot in Thailand. Variety’s Patrick Frater cites producer Bill Kong’s (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Rise Of The Legend, Jet Li-starrer Fearless) attachment as financier and producer via Edko Films alongside XYZ Films. The cast includes China’s Xie Miao (Eye For An Eye 1 & 2, Jet Li’s The Enforcer), Joe Taslim (The Raid: Redemption, The Night Comes For Us), Thailand’s Jeeja Yanin (Chocolate, Triple Threat), Yang Enyu (Eye For An Eye 2) and Yayan Ruhian (The Raid franchise, Boy Kills World). International action and stunt stalwart Kenji Tanigaki (Dennis Law’s Fatal Contact, Keishi Otomo’s Rurouni Kenshin franchise, Donnie Yen’s Sakra, Soi Cheang’s Walled-In: Twilight Of The Warriors) directing. When his daughter is snatched off the street, simple tradesman Konggu (Xie) fights his way through a complex web of criminals in a frantic attempt to win her back […]

BABY ASSASSINS 3 Goes Surpisingly Dark In Its First Teaser Trailer!

Shaun Williams

If you’re an action cinema fan and you haven’t been living under a rock for the last few years, you’ve probably heard of the Baby Assassins films. Currently one of Japan’s finest exports, the series has balanced quirky comedy with slick fight choreography (courtesy of one of the best in the industry right now, Kensuke Sonomura), which is why action junkies were shocked when the teaser for BABY ASSASSINS 3 dropped. There looks to be a distinct lack of their trademark comedy this time around. It feels much darker in tone and dare I say that the film might have more action? Check out the teaser and the first poster below. Yugo Sakamoto returns to the director’s chair and, of course, Saori Izawa and Akari Takaishi return as the titular assassins. Baby Assassins 2 is currently out on Blu-Ray in the US courtest of WellGo USA and hits their HI-YAH! […]

KILL ME: XYZ Films Takes World Sales For Murder Myster Romp Filming Later This Year

Lee B. Golden III

Murder mystery Kill Me will be up for grabs at the Cannes market in May with financier XYZ Films on hand repping world sales. Peter Warren will write and direct the pic starring Allison Williams (M3gan, Fellow Travelers) and Charlie Day (Pacific Rim, Hotel Artemis) with plans to shoot later this year. Kill Me sees Day in the role of Jimmy, who wakes up in a bathtub after having tried to kill himself. Or, at least, that’s what it looks like to his friends and family. Jimmy is pretty sure he didn’t do it…Maybe. Williams plays Margot, the 911 operator with whom Jimmy teams up after she takes his call, in an effort to solve a vitally important whodunit: did someone try to kill him, or are they chasing the specter of depression? Day and Warren are producing along with XYZ Films, Mike Richardson and Keith Goldberg for Dark Horse […]

HAZARD Trailer: Hit Belgian Action Comedy Revs Up A May Release

Lee B. Golden III

Stylized as H4Z4RD at the time of its Belgian release and international festival circulation, Jonas Govaerts’s high energy Dutch action comedy now arrives stateside as Hazard from Samuel Goldwyn Films. The official trailer arrived this week with a theatrical and VOD rollout set for May 10. Noah really loves his girlfriend, his daughter, and his car, but he gets involved in a deadly driving job that will result in either losing his life, his family or his beloved car. Govaerts directs from a script by Trent Haaga, and a cast led by Dimitri ‘Vegas’ Thivaios of Belgian-Greek DJ duo Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike in his acting debut. Also starring are Jeroen Perceval, Jennifer Heylen, Mila Rooms, Frank Lammers, Monic Hendrickx, Tom Vermeir, Emilie De Roo, and Gene Bervoets. Check out the trailer below, and if you’re keen, pan over to my review from its premiere at the 16th Toronto […]

PROJECT LEGION In The Works From ‘Boy Kills World’ Studio

Lee B. Golden III

Adventure thriller tentatively titled Project Legion is next in line from Nthibah Pictures, the U.S./South Africa-based independent film studio behind Moritz Mohr’s Boy Kills World. The film marks the first fully-funded and produced feature in a new deal announced on Tuesday by Nthibah Chairman Wayne Fitzjohn, whose Talent10 Holdings affirmed a $50 million investment to expand Nthibah’s content slate. Billed as the first in a franchise, Project Legion is a modern-day adventure centering on the unlikely rise of Zach, a dreamer turned prize-fighter forced to navigate his realities in more realms than he ever imagined. Fitzjohn, who is also founder and CEO of Talent10, is penning the script alongside award-winning South African filmmaker Jozua Malherbe (BBC Studio’s “Devil’s Peak”) who will also direct. The project also reunites the pair with Simon Swart (I Can Only Imagine, Boy Kills World) following director Donovan Marsh’s 2021 Netflix mystery thriller, I Am All […]

GAME OF DEATH: THE SIX DOORS TO HELL: A Look At Timo Rose’s Psychedelic New Fantasy Martial Arts Indie Thriller [EXCLUSIVE]

Lee B. Golden III

German filmmaker and musician Timo “Norris” Rose’s resumé might stand familiar for anyone in the niche who regularly consumes indie horror. He’s got thirty years in the field and his latest now comes primed with martial arts fan fare in English-language indie fantasy actioner, Game Of Death: The Six Doors To Hell. Rose is directing the film from a script he wrote with Asian film expert Nando Rohner, who birthed the idea. It features actor and martial arts master David Ruessel (The Last Kumite), Deena Unverzagt (SOKO Hamburg), Carlos Nikolai (Gunpowder Milkshake), Maya Trojanowski (Death Wish Zero), Annelie Harner, and Li Yan-Long of 1984’s South Shaolin Master fame. Touting a blend of elements from “Dante’s Inferno” and Bruce Lee’s seminal final film, Game Of Death, Rose’s film is billed as a love letter to Hong Kong cinema and manga/anime nods like Story Of Ricky and Fist Of The North Star. […]

THE RITUAL: XYZ Films Takes Worldwide Rights To Horror Thriller Starring Al Pacino And Dan Stevens

Lee B. Golden III

Al Pacino (The Godfather trilogy) and Dan Stevens (Godzilla X Kong) will star in exorcism horror, The Ritual. David Midell reteams with fellow creative partner on The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, Enrico Natale, and directs from a script they wrote. Based on a true story, The Ritual follows two priests – one questioning his faith (Stevens) and one reckoning with a troubled past (Pacino) – who must put aside their differences to save a possessed young woman through a difficult and dangerous series of exorcisms. The film is an authentic portrayal of Emma Schmidt, an American woman whose demonic possession culminated in harrowing exorcisms. Her case remains the most thoroughly documented exorcism in American history. The Ritual also stars Ashley Greene and Abigail Cowen. Natale is also producer alongside Andrew Stevens and Mitchell Welch. XYZ Films acquired worldwide rights to the pic. The label will take the title to the […]

GAROUDEN: THE WAY OF THE LONE WOLF Trailer Brings Fightin’ Men Back To The Anime Front!

Lee B. Golden III

I’m currently in the midst of a serious anime catch-up on Netflix nowadays. Martial arts and fighting shows are par for the course here in my consumption, and come May 23, the syllabus will include Atsushi Ikariya’s new series, Garouden: The Way Of The Lone Wolf. On the run from his troubled past, Juzo is forced into competing in a deadly underground fighting tournament. Skilled in the respected martial art Takemiya-ryu, Juzo must navigate a path filled with formidable foes and his personal demons — all while dealing with a bounty of three million yen on his head and a detective on his trail. The show is based on Baku Yumemakura’s serial novel, and in its framework, enhances its fight action through capturing the movements of real martial artists via varying styles. Ryota Takeuchi heads up the V.O. cast which also lists Tetsu Inada, Shunsuke Takeuchi, Rintaro Nishi, Tessho Genda, […]

LAST SAMURAI STANDING Reteams ‘Hard Days’ Star And Director For New Netflix Japan Samurai Drama

Lee B. Golden III

Production is underway on new Netflix series Last Samurai Standing. The film reteams actor Junichi Okada and director Michihito Fujii for their latest pairing since Hard Days, last year’s Japan revamp of hit Korean crime thriller, A Hard Day. Last Samurai Standing is adapted from Naoki Prize-winning author Shogo Imamura’s ongoing manga, “Ikusagami.” Set in the late 19th century during the Meiji period, the series centers on Shujiro Saga (Okada), who sets out to save his ailing wife and child as one of 292 skilled warriors gathered at Tenryuji Temple to compete in a deadly game to win a grand prize of 100 billion yen. Okada, whose select credits include films like manga adaptations The Fable and The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn’t Kill, as well as Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai, Sekigahara and Hell Dogs, will also serve as producer on Last Samurai Standing, as well as action choreographer. “When Netflix […]

Rita Ora, Marshawn Lynch, Jack O'Connell

HE BLED NEON: Joe Cole Action Thriller Adds Three

Lee B. Golden III

Rita Ora, Marshawn Lynch and Jack O’Connell are set to join Joe Cole in the action thriller, He Bled Neon. Award-winning music video director Drew Kirsch, who came to prominence co-helming videos “You Need to Calm Down” and “Lover” with Taylor Swift, will make his feature directing debut. Written by Tim Cairo and Jake Gibson (Lowlife, Night Patrol), and storied by Nate Bolotin, Cole stars as Ethan, who journeys to Las Vegas for the funeral of his estranged brother (O’Connell). Soon, he unravels a dark web of crime, forcing him to confront his past as he delves into the city’s gritty underworld to uncover the truth, risking everything he holds dear in the process. XYZ Films (BlackBerry, Skywalkers: A Love Story, The Raid, Mandy) will produce alongside Two & Two Pictures (Under the Shadow, I Came By). He Bled Neon is the latest project from both companies who are also […]

DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE Trailer: Ryan Reynolds Brings Hugh Jackman Jack Into The Fray For The Next MCU Chapter

Lee B. Golden III

I feel like the early photo leaks ruined things a bit for Shawn Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine. This is especially given the excitement surrounding actor Hugh Jackman’s long-awaited debut of franchise “Wolverine” donning the iconic yellow and blue hero outfit. Nonetheless, it was only a matter of time before the studio decided to reveal an official look at both Jackman and franchise main Hugh Jackman in costume, and I’d like to think the film has plenty more to offer beyond the previous photos and its first teaser from a few months ago. The official trailer now running online seems to hint at this aplenty, exploring Jackman’s return to the character long after the fatal recapituation seen in Logan. I suspect some handy surprises are abound. July 26 is the date from 20th Century Studios, so enjoy the NSFW trailer footage below ripe with nostalgic flashbacks, R-rated jabs and claws to […]

THE GOLDFINGER Review: Tony Leung And Andy Lau Push Law And Order To Its Limits In Felix Chong’s Latest Epic Crime Drama

Lee B. Golden III

The Goldfinger opens on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital in the UK from Trinity CineAsia on May 20. Fictionalized or otherwise inspired retellings of the travails of Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) continue to reap creative fruit for filmmakers. Several years ago saw Felix Chong take the leap for his own focused tale dating as far back as the beginnings of the ICAC in the 1970s, and therein, the tale of an engineer-turned-billionaire fraudster in the new crime drama, The Goldfinger. Reteaming with one of the key shepherds of the Infernal Affairs trilogy, actors Tony Leung and Andy Lau take center stage from a script by Chong which sees Leung take on the role of Henry Ching (Tony Leung), struggling to find decent work until he links up with real estate developer K.K. Tsang. As the film tells it, their friendship marks the early embers that ignite the spark […]

BLACK MASK Eureka Blu-Ray Review: Two Discs. One Movie. No Mercy!

Lee B. Golden III

This review was previously published for my supporters exclusively at Buy Me A Coffee. Consider being a contributor and/or sharing my page with friends to help support my work. Eureka Entertainment is the latest banner to carry the mantle for director Daniel Lee’s 1996 action sci-fi, Black Mask. The release marks the latest since the film’s transition to overseas markets, with U.S. labels Artisan Entertainment and Distant Horizon nabbing the title for its own remixed version a few years later. Based on a 1991 manhua by Pang Chi-Ming and Li Chi-Tat, the Jet Li starrer centers on the former member of a clandestine unit, once subject to a government experiment to create supersoldiers. Tsui-chik (Jet Li), formerly of Squad 701, maintains a low profile as a librarian who spends his time buried in books. He gets along with his co-workers, and his best friend is Shek (Lau Ching-wan), a Hong […]

THE PLOT Teaser Reveals Gang Dong-Won At The Center Of Some Not-So-Accidental Truths

Lee B. Golden III

Writer/director Lee Yo-sup’s new thriller has taken a long road until now. As of early Monday, The Plot unravels for the new flick starring Gang Dong-won in the first teaser ahead of the film’s May 29 release in Korea. Gang plays a hitman named Brain who has to get to the bottom of his latest and deadly riddle when a hitjob goes awry. Lee’s The Plot takes its inspiration from the Soi Cheang-directed 2009 flick, Accident. The Plot also stars Lee Mu-saeng, Lee Mi-sook, Lee Hyun-wook, Tang Jun-sang and Kim Hong-pa. Check out the teaser and a pair of posters below!

LIFE AFTER FIGHTING: Bren Foster Mean-Mugs New Key Art For Summer Martial Arts Action Thriller Debut

Lee B. Golden III

It’s been close to a year since the campaign began for actor and martial artist Bren Foster’s directorial debut, Life After Fighting. Foster directs from his script the story of Alex, a martial arts teacher whose life takes a dark turn as he finds himself treading into the human trafficking underworld in hopes of rescuing his two kidnapped students. Life After Fighting also stars Cassie Howarth, Annabelle Stephenson, and Luke Ford. Details are scarce at the moment but the plan is for an early June theatrical window coupled with digital and on-demand rollouts in North America and the UK. The film will definitely see a theatrical release in its home region in Australia. Posters are now making the rounds as well, and special thanks to Foster for sending these to us. Check out the ink below, and follow the movie on Instagram.

ENTER THE CLONES OF BRUCE Review: An Integral Vertebra In The Backbone Of Kung Fu Cinema

Shaun Williams

It is my firm belief that every martial arts cinema fan eventually comes to a certain fork in the road. It’s at this fork that they must take one of two paths: the path to Bruceploitation or the path of Bruceploitation ignorance. Many will take the path of ignorance. I did. All those years ago when I picked up a copy of Fist of Fury 2 thinking I was going to watch Bruce Lee once again display his magnificent physical prowess. Instead, I got Bruce Li. I was incredulous. It was there I faced my fork and I rapidly headed down the path that was as far away from Bruceploitation as one can be. I lived peacefully with this decision for around twenty-five years. Until someone in the online kung fu cinema community convinced me to watch Bruce Li’s magnum opus, Dynamo. I was awakened. Enlightened, even. Fast forward to […]