indonesia
Bruce Lee Gimmicks, Fighting Femmes And Action Gems In New BTS COMIC 8: CASINO KINGS Featurette
Director Anggy Umbara‘s larger scale ensemble sequel, Comic 8: Casino Kings is just one of a few guarantees that the pulse of the action genre will keep beating in the region. The presences of legendary thesps like Barry Prima and Willy Dozan are likely reassuring along with action star Yayan Ruhian who has been making a killing of his own at Cannes over the summer with Miike Takashi’s Yakuza Apocalypse. Hopefully that still means an awesome film will be the result, and depending on your tastes in action and comedy, this one could be a treat.
The basic plot surrounds the returning eight principles from last year’s heist pic, Comic 8, now on an undercover mission to infiltrate a casino. Somewhere along the line it leads to an epic badass chickfight, jungle commandos, scenes parodying The Raid 2, and a huge alligator for some reason. Whatever it is, it appears to be arriving in two parts with the first to arrive to Indonesian cinemas on July 15, and we now have a behind the scenes look to take a gander at. Very little of it is in English though, soyou understand the language then I guess that just makes you a little smarter than the rest of us. Enjoy!
Shoosh! And Watch The New Trailer For Indonesian Action Flick, GANGSTER
It’s safe to say that post-Raid fandom has dimmed with the state of Indonesian action cinema remaining more on-going with its more local productions. It’s with that in mind that we turn to director Fajar Nugro‘s latest regional entry, Gangster, and Indo-Aussie actor Hamish Daud leading the cast in a story centered on a man pursuing a life with the woman he loves in Jakarta until he ends up crossing paths with a criminal gang.
Raid franchise co-star Yayan Ruhian also lends his flair of screen charm as usual, and surely while the comedy here is more local than anything as is the rest of the film, it’s a mild reminder of why the fans at large love Ruhian as he steps out on his own. Alas, as you would imagine, there’s drama, definitely some fighting, and a good share of brutality to boot. And on that note, I invite you to hold onto your balls when you watch this trailer below. Because Ow.
Pre-Production Commences On Gareth Huw Evans's BLISTER
Much of the fandom for director Gareth Huw Evans‘s currently brewing Raid trilogy has settled since the second installment released last year to much excitement and acclaim. So, it may be an uneasy thing for some to possibly have to wait an extra three years before the saga finishes, although it is rewarding to know that Evans‘s storytelling vernacular goes beyond one franchise.
As such, Evans is now moving on to other properties, with at least two films now in-development, including the new movie, Blister. Not much is known about the plot of the film as of yet, although the director did offer a small blurb last year while on the road promoting The Raid 2, describing the film as his own take on “the contemporary American gangster story with echoes of The Wild Bunch”. Evans has since reunited with his fellow film folk in Indonesia, including Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian fresh from the set of their roles in director Liam O’Donnell’s upcoming sci-fi sequel, Beyond Skyline.
Correction: Day 1 of causing mischief with @iko_uwais @YayanRuhian @mpe_very and @gaya_yandi #Blister pic.twitter.com/yDJ7CyyWgi
— Gareth Evans (@ghuwevans) February 3, 2015
Currently, any and all development on a third installment of the Raid trilogy is on hold with Evans now underway with Blister in addition to other projects. Stay tuned and follow Evans on Twitter!
Yayan Ruhian Sports A Ghastly Image On The Set Of COMIC 8: CASINO KINGS
Indonesia’s current film climate is a lagging a bit nowadays, and there have been casualties as a result-namely whatever the heck stonewalled production for Timo Tjahjanto’s The Night Comes For Us back in September. Thankfully some projects haven’t faltered, including Anggy Umbara‘s upcoming heist sequel, Comic 8: Casino Kings.
The film is arriving in 2015 with a larger cast and even greater scope to accomodate its larger budget following the success of its first installment in early 2014. Several cast and set pictures have appeared online, and if you’ve been enthusiastically following the career of fellow Indonesian action star Yayan Ruhian can expect to see him in the upcoming heist action adventure as well, that is if this picture has anything to say for it.
Ruhian contributed to the pre-production phase of The Night Comes For Us with action star Iko Uwais solely choreographing the fights, and Merantau and The Raid franchise auteur Gareth Huw Evans directing the action. Those efforts eventually got canned while Ruhian has clearly moved on Comic 8: Casino Kings, and training actor Frank Grillo earlier on with Iko Uwais for upcoming sci-fi sequel, Beyond Skyline.
Hopefully some more cohesive news will come our way soon, but in the meantime, it should be cool to see Ruhian on set with a number of seasoned Indonesian action favorites, even if he is ectoplasmic among them, figuratively speaking that is. Besides, One Good Thing and Yakuza Apocalypse should be on the way as well last I checked, and if it is at all in the cards, a hopeful reprisal as a new character in The Raid 3. These all remain to be seen, of course, but they are reasonable hopes to hold onto at least.
[UPDATED] THE NIGHT COMES FOR US Is On Hold, Production Uncertain
UPDATE (12/24/14): Based on a Tweet response four days ago, it appears that Tjahjanto is taking his vision for the former production of The Night Comes For Us and putting it into graphic novel form with Glitch Network. Production on the film itself suddenly halted back in September for reasons unknown. (Special thanks to commentor, Fatso, for the heads’ up!)
BEYOND SKYLINE: Tweet Roundup!
2/9/15: There’s not much to go on here with director Liam O’Donnell‘s sci-fi follow-up, Beyond Skyline just about finished with filming over in Indonesia with a good amount of post-production work now left to complete. However, with action star and choreographer Iko Uwais now focused on his efforts with filmmaker Gareth Evans for the current development of Blister and actor Frank Grillo at home in New York City after a month in and out Indonesia filming, it doesn’t mean the hype is over, and for Grillo, it’s barely just started. Uwais‘s work on the 2011 thriller, The Raid has left quite an impression on Grillo upon deciding not to work on an upcoming remake of the same film just recently, so it’s easy to see how the actor’s first-hand experience with the crew overseas could gin up some expectations, as indicated by Grillo‘s notable hashtag, #RaidMeetsSkyline which he’s been using for a while now.
The New Promo Teaser For GARUDA 7 Shimmers With Action Gold
Prima and Dozan are joined by actors George Rudy, Dede Yusuf, Avent Christie and Fendy Pradhana, in addition to Volland Humonggio, Verdy Bawantha, Adhi Sastro, Adie Prasetya, Mario Christie and many more. Check out the teaser below, and CLICK HERE to check out the two preliminary teasers from earlier this month!
Generations Of Indonesian Action Collide In Two New Teasers For GARUDA 7!
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Catch 30-Seconds Of NSFW Mayhem For The Home Release Of THE RAID 2!
As if you needed any more motivation to purchase your copy of DVD or Blu-Ray for a homebound release of writer and director Gareth Huw Evans‘s newest film, The Raid 2, just make you’re in a room with no one looking. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has unleashed a 30-second not-safe-for-work montage of bloody hammers, broken legs and fisticuffs in between quick cuts for its Ultimate Action Mashup this week, and you can check it all out just below.
Click here for all the available disc details and specs, and buy your copy wherever films are sold. And yes, do stay tuned for updates on the forthcoming third installment, and the current development of the reboot with newly cast member, Frank Grillo.
THE RAID 2 Gets A New Home Release Trailer
The film is written and directed by Gareth Huw Evans and produced by Nate Bolotin, Ario Sagantoro and Aram Tertzakian. Executive producers include Rangga Maya Barack-Evans, Todd Brown, Irwan D. Mussry and Nick Spicer.