james lew

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MADE IN CHINATOWN Review: Indie Mob Comedy High Jinks Bolster Ample Martial Arts Fan Service

Author Mark V. Wiley’s script serves as the basis for Made In Chinatown, signaling the feature directing debut of Sammo Hung protègè Robert Samuels, next to co-director, Hollywood stunt veteran and actor James Lew in his return to the seat since 2006’s 18 Fingers Of Death!. A light hearted and lean low budget production, Made In Chinatown dives right into its narrative, told in flashback fashion with a bruised Vinny Chow (Jay Kwon) donning a black eye, and desperate for answers from two homeless wise men named Wisdom (Shing Ka) and Knowledge (Geoff Lee). Cut to the seedy criminal underworld that is New York City’s illegal condiments trade, where bitter rivalries between bosses Al Capella (Tony Darrow), Amadore Condimento (Vincent Pastore) and Hung Phat (Lo Meng) threaten to collapse the already unsteady peace meant to keep the city’s police commisioner, Sean O’Greedy (Raymond J. Barry) in power. Seperate from their […]

MADE IN CHINATOWN: First Official Trailer And Set Photos For The New Martial Arts Action Comedy

Lee B. Golden III

The last several years have been provenly ripe with the rollout of forefront Asian feature film talents, and I’ve proudly hyped them all up on this platform. As of Wednesday, I couldn’t be any prouder to add the name Jay Kwon to the list now with the first promo trailer online for upcoming martial arts comedy, Made In Chinatown, a project long shepherded by author and screenwriter Mark V. Wiley, and directed by martial arts legends, co-stars James Lew (The Perfect Weapon, Rush Hour) and Robert Samuels (Red Wolf, Yes Auntie!) In the film, Kwon stars as Vinny, a disaffected Chinese New Yorker eyeing the girl of his dreams, while it just so happens that she only dates wiseguys. In an effort to win her over and with the help of a select few friends, he traverses the centuries-old illegal condiments trade in order to battle his way to the […]

THE HIT LIST – January 18, 2016

Lee B. Golden III

Believe it or not, I’m currently in the process of putting together two interviews. It’ll take me a little while longer to finish them both in between tasks with one already wrapped and waiting for editing, but I’ll do my best to try and balance out with the up-keep of content for articles… As such, the Hit List is still priority and the stunt reels and action shorts now circulating online are all the hype and then some. Stuntwoman Milly Nalin gets things started for this week’s new playlist of stunt demo reels along with Tom Cotton, Samantha MacDonald, James Mowat, Cody Mackie and Bayland Kippenkroger. The playlist finishes in stellar fashion with martial artist Shin Min Cheol, traceur Joel Eggiman, action actor Jerry Quill an action-packed work reel by Polish stunt troupe, Prime Fury, and an electric stage and stunt showreel by Réda Oumouzoune. Next up is a little […]

Shortfilm Review: BLACK SALT (2015)

Lee B. Golden III

The Fall season showed great prospects for comic book creator Owen Ratliff in the several years it took for his latest live-action endeavor to come to fruition. The new half-hour martial arts superhero short, Black Salt, took to the stage last month at the Urban Action Showcase & Expo winning the shortfilm competition and securing digital distribution among other potential things to come, and for good reason. Directed by Ben Ramsey from a script by Phillip Daay with successful online crowdfunding, Black Salt doesn’t hesitate to iterate its roots for fans of comic book lore. Right away, we briefly, but amply begin learning about our protagonist, Samuel Tharpe (Kinyumba Mutakabbir), an MI-6 agent who rose from adversity and tragedy to youthful greatness as a Shaolin prospect until his departure from the temple in China. Soon enough, we meet actress Sheena Chou who plays Li Jing, a mysterious woman and the […]

Come Learn How To Kick Ass And Get Paid With Stunt Coordinator JAMES LEW This Saturday!

Lee B. Golden III

Fresh off of making a splash at the Urban Action Showcase and Expo last weekend, actor, martial artist and stunt coordinator James Lew (Big Trouble In Little China, Best Of The Best, The Perfect Weapon, The Martial Arts Kid, Underdog Kids) will be hosting a seminar in Whitestone, New York’s Nubreed Martial Arts on Saturday, November 14. It’s his first ever stunt school seminar and in lieu of his forthcoming work on Marvel/Netflix series, Luke Cage, following his recent contribution to CBS series, Rush Hour, as well as Ben Ramsey’s UASE shortfilm premiere, Black Salt in which he plays a Shaolin abbot. So, consider this a good time to be in the neighborhood with a cinematic legend who clearly hasn’t stopped and probably won’t for a long, long time if ever. If you want to be in films and perform stunts and martial arts for the camera, this would be […]

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Help Kickstart Leonardo Corbucci's Martial Arts Drama, THE ART OF FIGHTING

Lee B. Golden III

Actor and martial artist Jin Kelley is currently in the midst of a month-long crowdfunding campaign to help raise money for the post-production of a new proof-of-concept shortfilm. The Art Of Fighting is the name of the project from director Leonardo Corbucci and is just about halfway toward its current goal in the hopes of guaranteeing a fully-fledged feature, and not for nothing either – especially with backing by BJJ Master Rigan Machado, Hollywood stuntman and actor Jon Komp Shin and action legend, actor James Lew also on board. The Art of Fighting is a story about a humble guy named Daniel. Daniel is in the beginning stages of a relationship with his girlfriend Rosie. Rosie wants Daniel to learn to fight until she realizes that not only does he know how to fight, but is an accomplished martial artist with a dark past. Through this journey Rosie learns from Daniel […]

Casper Van Dien Hates Bugs, So Help Him Kill Them In Mark Steven Grove's STAR RAIDERS: THE ADVENTURES OF SABER RAINE!

Lee B. Golden III

Director Mark Steven Grove‘s love for independent, low-budget filmlore and all things action and sci-fi has since led him to his latest labor, Star Raiders: The Adventures Of Saber Raine. It boasts a main cast consisting of actor Casper Van Dien and action legends Cynthia Rothrock and James Lew, with actress Sara Salazar also serving as unit production manager and Adam Lispus producing and many of the people on set wore multiple hats throughout its principal photography prior to its completion. That said, Grove‘s new film needs your help now that it’s in post production and a Kickstarter campaign is already underway to help accomplish just that. SYNOPSIS: Rocket ships, Rayguns, and Robots abound in this heart-pounding tale where the stellar adventurer Saber Raine is hired to guide three elite soldiers on a rescue mission to recover a prince and princess who have been abducted from their home world. […]

Phillip Rhee's Martial Arts Family Drama, UNDERDOG KIDS, Gets A New Trailer!

Lee B. Golden III

Actor and martial artist Phillip Rhee is finally returning to the screen this summer for the release of his long-awaited martial arts family drama, Underdog Kids. It will be seventeen years since Rhee‘s previous movie career left off with the popular Best Of The Best franchise in the 1990’s, and for many fans it will be a celebration to see him back in his cinematic element with a young and vibrant cast amomg several of whom are talented martial artists, a crew accompanied by brother, Master Simon Rhee, and James Lew and Marc Canonizado designing the action, and a handful of legendary faces to appear as well, no less. For these and all other matters of releavance, we now have a proper trailer going viral since the film’s acquisition by Anchor Bay and STARZ Media last month. The film may also be getting a limited theatrical release by then as […]

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Justin Hires Joins RUSH HOUR TV Series, Stuntman James Lew Coordinating Action

Lee B. Golden III

In the wake of all the news surrounding the hopeful likelihood of a forth installment of the Rush Hour film series starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, announcements have been building up through the new year with CBS moving forward on bringing the film’s concept to television. With this in mind, a new report from Variety now states that actor and comedian Justin Hires has been attached to star in the series, inheriting the role played by Tucker. Also within social media, it’s been revealed that James Lew, whose expansive resumé in stuntwork and action includes having performed stunts in all three Rush Hour movies, will be serving as stunt coordinator. The series reunites Lew with Foo following their previous work together on director Tony Giglio’s 2013 Crackle exclusive feature, Extraction. The Pink script! New pages New shooting schedule…and the fun part of doing a stunt budget revision! #lovepaperwork #rushhourTVseries […]

Get Ready For Two Days Of DRAGONFEST Next Summer!

Lee B. Golden III

If you were one of the fortunate ones to attend this year’s revival of Dragonfest back in May and wanted more, then you’re in luck! Martial Arts History Museum’s own founder and curator Michael Matsuda is already kicking things off ahead of next year’s events – the second following its 2014 revival since its intial host and creator, actor Gerald Okamura back in May. Plans are now in motion to host Dragonfest 2015 in July as the Museum’s biggest convention, host to a wide array of appearances from actors, authors, martial artists and filmmakers, and a display of cool merchandise for your own enjoyment. These and other things have all been a major part of shedding light on the history and legacy that martial arts has in entertainment and other aspects of everyday culture and life, as per the motive of the museum’s existence. There’s something special happening here, and […]

UNDERDOG KIDS Take A Stance In Three New Posters

Lee B. Golden III

Actor Philip Rhee (pictured left) took to social media this week to unveil three working posters for the upcoming release of his latest labor of love, a martial arts family drama titled Underdog Kids. The film is Rhee‘s return to the set of a martial arts movie nearly fifteen years after leaving his mark with all four movies of the Best Of The Best franchise. The film was also written and produced by Rhee, with a rough summary that centers around the character, Jimmy “The Lightining Bolt” Lee (Rhee), a former MMA fighter who loses everything after getting hit by a semi-truck while rescuing a 5 year old boy. In the wake of hardship, Jimmy finds his calling with martial arts as a vessel to mentor troubled young kids while preparing them for a major championship tournament in Beverly Hills. Most of the updates have been scant since the film was […]

A New Breed Of Superhero Awaits His Calling In The Inspired Short film Project, BLACK SALT!

Lee B. Golden III

In an age where superhero movies have become highly popular, at least one major issue continues to pop up often regarding the lack of minority leading roles in such films. There are several that have been making headway for some time now, including R.L. Scott‘s upcoming sci-fi action thriller, The Almighty Street Team and Scott F. Evans‘ inspired superhero web series, C.V. Nation. Of course, you have the previous successes of actress Halle Berry as Catwoman and recurring X-Men film franchise character, Storm, and actors Wesley Snipes’ and Michael Jai White as Blade and Spawn, respectively, in addition to Marvel’s development of Black Panther and actor Leehom Wang‘s upcoming role as Annihilator, as well as actor Shemar Moore’s own hopes to take on a live action rendition of DC property, Cyborg. Still, some people passionately feel that there is major momentum to change the way superheroes are commonly perceived in […]