filmcombatsyndicate.com

FB_IMG_1683728380677

Fantasia XXVII: Don Lee, Tokyo Revengers, Werewolf Thrillers, Xavier Gens’ Latest And More In The First Wave!

Lee B. Golden III

You know it’s gonna be another good year for films and film festivals when Fantasia’s first wave looks like this. The 27th edition of Fantasia Festival is coming this July and the inaugural round of titles have been announced with more to come in the second wave early June. The best part about this is the announcement comes with the additions of Don Lee’s threequel starrer in The Roundup: No Way Out, among other headlining Korean selects, and Takuya Kitamura’s latest lead role in the two-part Tokyo Revengers finale, as well as the world premiere of Hitman and Gangs Of London vet Xavier Gens’ Mayhem! (or Farang as it’s regionally titled) to name a few. Other exciting titles I see include the latest from Jenn Wexler called The Sacrifice Game, Georgina Campbell starrer Lovely, Dark, And Deep, and Larry Fessenden’s Werewolf thriller, Blackout among others in the current line-up published Thursday. […]

MV5BZTVkYWZkMzUtNDM3OS00NWUyLTllNzQtNTdhYTMzODc0N2MwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTUzMTg2ODkz._V1_

AMERICAN BORN CHINESE Brings the Gods of Chinese Mythology to Disney+

This May 24th, Disney+ premieres this action comedy Based on 2006 Graphic novel of the same name by Gene Luen Yang, in an upcoming TV series, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and written by Charles Yu and Kevin Yu, that comprises 8 episodes on its first season, that brings the Gods of Chinese Mythology to an international audience, reuniting part of the cast of the recent multi-acclaimed winner of the Oscars, “Everything, Everywhere at all once”, with Michelle Yeoh portraying Guanyin, the Goddess of mercy or Daniel Wu as Sun Wukong, The Monkey King, including Ke huy Quan, Ben Wang, Yeo Yann Yann, Chin Han, Jim Lui, Sydney Taylor, or Stephanie Hsu as recurring character among many others. The story revolves around Jin wang, a young student who meets a new Taiwanese exchange student at school, that brings chaos to his life, involving him in a battle between Gods of […]

Screenshot_20230511_101556

THE EAGLE LANDS: A Word With KNIGHTS OF THE ZODIAC Co-Star, Stunt Performer And Actress Caitlin Hutson

Lee B. Golden III

Director Tomek Baginski’s new live action manga/anime adaptation, Knights Of The Zodiac, is currently enjoying a progressive global theatrical rollout that’s already earned the film a total of US $2.4 million following its releases in Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Kenya, Romania and Latin America as of this post. The film officially opens in theaters in the U.S. this weekend when Sony Pictures and Stage6 Films can finally begin tallying up the film’s reception, marking perhaps the next biggest trial ever to be faced by Masami Kurumada’s fan favorite IP given its history. That history is given a detailed and apt exploration in an online documentary hosted and narrated by Ray Mona, who dives well into the franchise’s reception and overall studio treatment of the epic animated saga on television and home media. Going into Baginski’s new movie, Mona’s Tales Of The Lost docuseries gave me a certain appreciation for Baginski’s efforts, […]

wp-1683804712900

BLACK LOTUS Trailer: Rico Verhoeven Actioner Lands On Digital In The UK In June

Lee B. Golden III

The Movie Partnership is revving up the campaign for Todor Chapkanov’s new action thriller, Black Lotus. The UK outlet has stamped a June 19 digital download release date for the pic which stars 11-time world kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven and The Purge franchise star Frank Grillo. An ex-special forces operative wages a one-man war through the streets of Amsterdam to rescue his friend’s daughter from the local crime syndicate. Chapkanov directed from a script written by Tad Daggerhart (The Expendables 4). Also starring are Marie Dompnier (Black Hearts), and Peter Franzén (The Wheel of Time). Black Lotus will be available on iTunes, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Virgin, Sky and Rakuten. Catch the full UK trailer below!

wp-1683744900148

SHIN ULTRAMAN Supersizes It In The Official U.S. Trailer Ahead Of VOD And Disc Release!

Lee B. Golden III

Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno did the fans some major justice with last year’s kaiju hit, Shin Ultraman. Japan loved it. Festival goers the world over loved it. I loved. Edward loved it. As of this July, though, it’ll be your turn to share the love as well, and Cleopatra Entertainment is here to remind us all exactly that with an official trailer to stir things up again. As Shin Ultraman begins, we learn the appearance of giant unidentified life forms known as “S-Class Species (Kaiju)” has become commonplace in Japan. The Japanese Government formed a Kaiju defense taskforce known as the SSSP, led by Kimio Tamura (played by Drive My Car’s Hidetoshi Nishijima). After a particularly challenging encounter, a silver giant descends from the sky to rescue the country. Dubbed Ultraman, this giant’s identity and purpose are a mystery. Shin Ultraman is a delightful reimagining of one of Japan’s […]

wp-1682023987328

GOD IS A BULLET: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Is A Marked Man On The Hunt In The Official Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

IGN exclusively premiered the official trailer on Wednesday for God Is A Bullet, the new crime thriller from director Nick Cassavetes. XYZ Films, Patriot Pictures and Wayward Entertainment are partnering up for the film’s theatrical release on June 23! The film follows detective Bob Hightower (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), who finds his ex-wife murdered and his daughter kidnapped by an insidious cult. Bob takes matters into his own hands and infiltrates the secretive cult to try to save his daughter. With the help of the cult’s only female victim escapee, Case Hardin (Maika Monroe), Bob and Case go down the rabbit hole with The Ferryman (Jamie Foxx) to save his daughter and find closure for Case from the cult – and its maniacal leader (Karl Glusman) – that took so much away from her.

wp-1683728803491

FANTASIA XXVII: The Nine-Tailed Fox Takes Center Stage In The Official Poster For The 2023 Edition!

Lee B. Golden III

Here’s your annual pictoral reminder that a new edition of Fantasia Festival is on the way and I cannot wait to dive into the incoming line-up announcements. It’s one of my favorite festivals to date, and this latest poster design comes by way of Montreal visual artist Donald Caron whose inspiration for the nine-tailed fox design stems from East Asian and Korean folklore. There’s more info on the festival at its official website. Until then, take a gander at the goods below, and then get excited. Not necessarily in that order though… you do you.

AF5A2053

Crime Thriller PURSUIT Gives Chase In The UK In June!

Lee B. Golden III

The Movie Partnership is proudly announcing the UK release of crime thriller, Pursuit. The film is directed by Brian Skiba and will arrive on Digital Download from June 12. Undercover Detective Mike Breslin is embedded deep within a ruthless drugs cartel, hunting for his wife’s killer. But as his deadly pursuit forces him ever higher through the gang’s ranks, he must forge an uneasy alliance with a reckless hacker to reach the top, and get his man. Pursuit stars Jake Manley (Infamous), Elizabeth Faith Ludlow (Peacemaker), William Katt (Carrie), Emile Hirsch and John Cusack. The film will be available on iTunes, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Virgin, Sky and Rakuten.

wp-1683726484843

TIL DEATH DO US PART: Cinedigm Picks Up All North American Rights For Revenge Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

As reported by Deadline this week, Weaponized and The Outsider helmer Timothy Woodward Jr.’s new revenge thriller, Til Death Do Us Part, has been acquired by Cinedigm for acquired all North American rights ahead of its summer release. The film is written by Chad Law (Black Water) and Shane Dax Taylor (Isolation), and centers on a bride-to-be who, after running away on her wedding day, must fight for survival against her ex-fiancé’s seven deadly groomsmen. In the ultimate horror showdown, the groomsmen soon discover that she has no intention of going back to the life she left behind. Cam Gigandet (Twilight, Never Backdown), and Jason Patric (The Lost Boys, Speed 2: Cruise Control), star along with Natalie Burn (Black Adam, The Enforcer) and Orlando Jones (The Time Machine, Drumline), and co-stars Ser’Darius Blain (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle), D.Y. Sao (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Neb Chupin (Mindcage, Acceleration) and […]

wp-1683710460082

BARASHI FIGHT: Lights, Camera, Calamity In The Official Trailer!

Lee B. Golden III

Nary in the spotlight do we get to see actor Shane Kosugi, best known for sharing the screen with brother Kane Kosugi for action star dad Sho Kosugi’s early days ninja thrillers from directors like Sam Firstenberg and Gordon Hessler. He’s still very much active in the film arena and for this, there’s the official trailer for an action comedy called Barashi Fight which will make its way to select cinemas in Japan this July. Kosugi produces, and is joined by Yutaka Kainuma who directed the pic. There’s no logline apart from what I can ascertain from a Google Translation which still doesn’t make sense, but from the looks of things, shenanigans ensue behind the scenes of a theater setting. Actor and EXILE Tribe member Yuta Ozawa of High & Low franchise fame stars along with Raiga Terasaka, Saki Hamao, Natsumi Ishizaki, Kansuke Asano, Erika Tonooka and many for the […]

wp-1683715750528

THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT International Official Trailer Launches

Lee B. Golden III

ABO is going hard this month as the release date approaches for Lee Sang-yong’s Don Lee threequel, The Roundup: No Way Out. The film comes out in South Korea late May with other territories pending from this summer, including ours, and I reckon it’ll be just in time for some of this year’s festivals to add it to their slates, hopefully. What I love most is that Jun Kunimura gets a few visuals here along with the film’s Korean and Japanese cast which really antes things up some since the franchise took off in 2017. This time, our main star is part of a regional investigation unit tackling a new enemy in actor Lee Jun-Hyuk, and the Yakuza are involved as well. Hence Kunimura and sword-wielding Munetaka Aoki. The trailer below also arrived hours earlier with Korean subtitles with ABO debuting in English as of Wednesday. Check it out!

wp-1683665558296

CONSUMED: XYZ Films Goes Wild For Butcher Brothers’ Next At Cannes

Lee B. Golden III

Film duo Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores, better known as The Butcher Brothers have directed their newest horror thriller to date with Consumed, with Devon Sawa (“Chucky” the Syfy/USA Network series, Final Destination) headlining. The film is directed by Altieri from a script by David Calbert, with Courtney Halverson (Unfriended, “True Detective”) and Mark Fariglietti (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, How to Get Away with Murder, “Madmen”) also starring. Consumed follows a married couple, Jay (Famiglietti) and Beth (Halverson), as they embark on a celebratory camping trip one year after Beth’s cancer remission, but things go horribly wrong when the couple find themselves trapped between a wild madman (Sawa) and a skin stealing monster. Flores and Texas Chainsaw Massacre vet Jeffrey Allard are producing the new thriller, with XYZ Films exec producing and launching sales at the upcoming Marché du Film in Cannes with a promo for buyers. Consumed […]

wp-1683666295906

DAY ZERO: The Undead Mayhem Begins On Digital This Month From Well Go USA!

Lee B. Golden III

Former MMA star Brandon Vera’s turn toward the film front has since made headway in the West with Day Zero, the newest Filipino zombie action feature from director Joey De Guzman. The official U.S. trailer is out marking a reunion for Vera and the Planos and Taiwan-based firm since rolling out the welcome for his co-starring role in Erik Matti’s Anne Curtis starrer, BuyBust. A former elite soldier is released from jail only to discover that the outside world has been taken over by a dangerous virus. Chased by hordes of the undead, he fights tooth and nail in a desperate attempt to reach his estranged family. Also starring are Pepe Herrera, MJ Lastimosa, Joey Marquez, and Ricci Rivero. The film will arrive on Digital platforms beginning May 23 and you can read my review from last year’s TADFF screening by clicking here.

nassimlyes_1683663014192394

FARANG: Nassim Lyes Is On The Run In New Stills For The Latest Xavier Gens Actioner Coming In June!

Lee B. Golden III

If you’re curious any as to what Xavier Gens has been up to since Gangs Of London and Netflix series Mortel, of course there’s The Guns Of Christmas Past which is inbound with Liev Schreiber up to star. In the meantime, you have Farang, which imaginably slipped past the radar of anyone (and I mean yours truly) who isn’t regularly exposed to French media. Welp, glad I caught it this time, and with a few stills and a little something extra to boot. These were actually made public a few weeks ago too, and present a look at actor Nassim Lyes who stars in the role of a boxer and father on the run from his troubled past, and for a role of this kind, his background in MMA aptly suits him. Check out the images in the gallery below! Sam is a professional boxer about to be released from […]

wp-1683661652196

CLASSIFIED: Aaron Eckhart Takes Aim In First Look At Roel Reine’s Latest From Film Bridge Int’l At Cannes

Lee B. Golden III

Deadline is doling out the first visuals of Classified, the newest action thriller from Fistful Of Vengeance helmer Roel Reine. Film Bridge International will launch sales at the Cannes market. Operating alone in the field for more than 20 years, a CIA hitman uses the “Help Wanted” section of the newspapers to get his orders from the Agency. His long lost daughter (now a UK MI6 analyst) tracks him down to deliver shocking news: his CIA boss has been dead for years and the division long since shut down. Together, they set out to discover who’s orders he’s been executing. Classified also stars Abigail Breslin and Tim Roth, with a script by Bob DeRosa. Ellen Wander and Jordan Dykstra produced the pic for Film Bridge International. “It was an honor to work with this cast of talented actors. Aaron brought an engaging, emotional depth to his portrayal of an assassin […]

THE RIDGE: Billy Magnussen Debut Directs Survival Thriller Later This Year, Highland Launching Sales At Cannes

Lee B. Golden III

Actor Billy Magnussen (Game Night, Aladdin, No Time to Die, Bridge of Spies) will star in The Ridge, a new survival thriller rolling cameras in the U.S. later this year. Highland Film Group will launch international sales at the Marché du Film, with CAA representing domestic. Magnussen will also debut direct the pic from a script he storied with screenwriters Mike Anderson and John Clavier, who penned the pic with Will Lowell. He will play Grady, billed as a “true outdoorsman” and brother to the fiancé of sensitive city dweller, Dez, played by Lamorne Morris (FX’s “Fargo,” Hulu’s “Woke”). When Dez flies out to Wyoming along with his friends to meet the family, Dez is put to the test by Grady, setting the two men at odds with one another, and they engage in an explosive feud that causes their truck to crash and tumble from a ridge. Leaving the […]

wp-1682364767125

THE NIGHT OF THE 12TH: Dominik Moll’s Hit Crime Drama Sets Course For NYC Next Week

Lee B. Golden III

News From Planet Mars and Only The Animals helmer Dominik Moll’s latest crime thriller will get its day on May 19 at NYC’s Quad Cinema for The Night Of The 12th. Film Movement will also roll the film out in additional markets to follow. In nearly every police precinct, detectives are inevitably confronted with a case that goes unsolved. The more heinous the crime, the more it haunts those whose duty it is solve it. Such is the dilemma for Yohan Vivès—a young, recently promoted police Captain—when he begins investigating the gruesome murder of a young women named Clara in the town of Grenoble. It’s clear that the attack was pre-meditated, and the violent nature of the crime suggests revenge. Vivés’ team methodically digs through the details of Clara’s life, uncovering her secrets in hopes of weeding out the killer. Certain their suspect is a scorned ex-lover, Vivés is confronted […]

wp-1683577660183

Streaming Sleepers: Lee Jung-Jae’s HUNT Delivers A Pulsating Spy Thriller Debut

Lee B. Golden III

One of the most exciting political thrillers of the past year is currently available on Hulu as of this write-up with actor Lee Jung-jae’s feature directorial debut, Hunt. The film joins the Squid Game star with actor Jung Woo-sung for the first time since Kim Sung-su’s City Of The Rising Sun, and centers on the heads of two agents thrust into espionage and danger when the existence of a mole in their operations threatens to upend the South Korean government. I love that this film is more than one thing which rights highlights Lee in his brilliant debut at the helm. The film will almost certainly keep you guessing from start to finish while daring you to keep going even as the emotional gut punches are dealt without fail, and with performances that are nothing short of solid. Our own Harris Dang had plenty to say in his review of […]

Screenshot_20230508_180826

THE MEG 2: THE TRENCH: The Apex Predator Is Back And More Terrible Than Ever!

Lee B. Golden III

The excitement of fans watching Jason Statham ideally chin-check a shark hasn’t waned since Jon Turteltaub 2018’s summer spectacle, The Meg. The sequel, directed by Ben Wheatley and nodding to Steve Alten’s 1999 novel, is now in toe and with an August 4 release from Warner Bros. Pictures announced following an electric day of social media hype, the official trailer has finally arrived for The Meg 2: The Trench, and it is out to show us its teeth! Dive into uncharted waters with Jason Statham and global action icon Wu Jing as they lead a daring research team on an exploratory dive into the deepest depths of the ocean. Their voyage spirals into chaos when a malevolent mining operation threatens their mission and forces them into a high-stakes battle for survival. Pitted against colossal Megs and relentless environmental plunderers, our heroes must outrun, outsmart, and outswim their merciless predators in […]

3D-O-Card-BoneCold-front

BONE COLD: Catch The Chilling Official Trailer For Billy Hanson’s Sniper Horror Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Firstly debuting over at Flickering Myth, the official trailer for debut writer/director Billy Hanson’s new sniper horror thriller, Bone Cold, is now online. The film stars Jonathan Stoddard (Falling for a Killer), Matt Munroe (Independence Day: Resurgence), Trinity Bliss (Avatar: The Way of Water), Jennifer Khoe (Fear Frequency, Overrun), Shaan Sharma (“The Chosen”), Elise Greene (Torn: A Wicked Trilogy), and newcomer Danielle Poblarp. After bad intel from headquarters results in a tragic civilian death, an elite sniper duo attempts to flee the area but can’t seem to shake a mysterious, inhuman creature stalking them from the shadows. Bone Cold will release on Digital, Blu-ray and DVD June 13 from Well Go USA Entertainment. Bonus content includes a Making-of featurette and blooper reel.