kane kosugi
BANG Review: Shy Of A Whimper, Wych Kaosayananda’s Stoic Hitman Thriller Nails It
Someone must have been keeping a close eye on actor Jack Kesy, a relatively new face in film that’s been emerging for more than a decade with several career moves in between. With sizeable credits like FX series “The Strain,” and feature titles such as The Outpost, 12 Strong, Baywatch, and David Leitch’s Deadpool 2 among those in the portfolio, that Kesy since became the new face of superhero staple Hellboy is a welcome move that ought to shine a much-deserved light on some of his other endeavors to come, namely Bang, the newest action thriller from Saban Films and Thai director Wych “Kaos” Kaosayananda. Indeed, some of Kaosayananda’s other titles of late have been hit-or-miss depending on your tastes; Dystopian thriller The Driver and revenge noir One Night In Bangkok, both Mark Dacascos-led vehicles, were palatable in their own way, although I can agree the latter fell a little more […]
BANG: Jack Kesy Takes Aim In The Official Trailer For The New Action Thriller
BANG releases on July 11 from Saban!
TACFEST III Review: Shane Kosugi’s SEEK Brings The Ninja Fever Back In a Notable Directorial Debut
Having inherited a name as Kosugi, always associated to Ninja badassery, thanks to the immortality of celluloid. It was inevitable that the sons of one of the big responsables of the Ninja fever that infected the world during the 80’s, were going to follow his steps and try to keep the ninja legacy still alive. We all know that Ninjas make everything cooler. “Seek” marks the directorial debut of Shane Kosugi, after a whole life in front of the camera on film and television, to bring us a story with old-fashioned flavor, that follows a Ninja agent from a ninja secret organization called Seek, who’s requested by his superior to save a fellow agent that’s been kidnapped by a rival organization and in the meantime, recover a new highly explosive liquid called “RDX@” to stop a ruthless Yakuza leader. But things won’t go as planned. Shane shakes a good cocktail […]
The Movies That Moved Me: Ten Shimoyama’s BLOOD HEAT (a.k.a. MUSCLE HEAT)
Today I look back at the first film that got me started as a physical media collector: BLOOD HEAT (2003)
SEEK: A New Breed Of Ninja Fights For Japan In The First Trailer For Shane Kosugi’s Directorial Debut
The film stars Kansuke Asano, Kane Kosugi, Mikako Yoshida, Masaki Miura, and Nahara, and screens for the upcoming third IMPFF next month!
DOA: DEAD OR ALIVE: Revisiting A Corey Yuen Action Adventure That Is Better Than You Remember
If there’s one thing you can count on in the world of video games it’s that if something is successful, there will be copies. With the massive success of Street Fighter II, it was no surprise the market was flooded with fighting games, each with their own unique additions to help differentiate them from their competitors. For Mortal Kombat it was the gore and fatalities, Virtua Fighter took fighting games into 3D, and for DOA: Dead Or Alive, it was a blisteringly fast fighting engine and boobs. So many boobs. Movies are not exempt from this follow-the-leader mindset. In the years since the Paul W.S. Anderson succeeded the guilty pleasure early 90s camp that was Steven E. de Souza’s Street Fighter with New Line Cinema’s Mortal Kombat in 1995, we’ve had several more films based on fighting games; John Leonetti delivered a Mortal Kombat sequel a few years later, while […]
ALL-IN: Catching Up With Filmmaker Wych Kaosayananda
It’s been seventeen years since director Wych Kaosayananda’s Ballistic: Ecks Vs. Sever put him on the radar for many a filmgoer for several reasons. For someone pennamed Kaos for the film’s marketing, I totally expected Wych to stick around and blow minds. Of course, that was how my fanboy brain worked at the time. Wych and I spoke of this and more back in 2014 for our first interview, and he certainly gave an in-depth perspective about his career to keep in mind. Around this time, he had just finished a seething murder mystery thriller called Angels along with serving as director of photography for a few projects from directors like Daniel Zirilli and actor Dustin Nguyen. I don’t plan on re-editing it like recent reprints given the time-sensitivity, but I welcome anyone willing to check it out if it provides any current and needed context. For this, the director […]
Mankind Fights Back In The New Trailer For TERRAFORMARS
There was once a time when fans thought that a live-action adaptation of the hit manga, TerraFormars, was a pretty bad idea, and even the depictions of the aliens in the manga seemed a bit disagreeable in the eyes of the manga fan public. Now we’re nearing the April 29 release of the film and we’ve seen several trailers and clips going viral and there’s no question that fans are still paying some attention to this one, headed by filmmaker Miike Takashi who has a knack for fleshing out the best and bizzare out of almost any genre as this week’s new trailer showcases. SYNOPSIS: Due to depleting natural resources and overpopulation, humans look to Mars as their next habitat. Terraforming is the project to change Mars’ environment to accommodate humans. For this project, cockroaches are sent to Mars and mutated to walk. Then a mysterious virus hits Earth, which […]
The Body Count Rises In The New UK Trailer For ZERO TOLERANCE
It’s been a little over half a year since director Wych Kaosayanada‘s long-awaited 2012 bilingual crime thriller, Angels, took new life as Zero Tolerance, starring Dustin Nguyen, Sahajak Boonthanikit and Gary Daniels. A few casting changes and reshoots this this time around helped gear the film toward a more action-oriented fanbase with the addition of martial arts action stars Kane Kosugi and Scott Adkins who were finally seen in the film’s first trailer back in May. This week, a new version of that same trailer is now online with some added subtitles in a few spots; It’s the same trailer, really. But the curiosity still stands as it’s been about two years since anyone outside of Thailand saw any version of this film, and Asian cinema fans are sure to appreciate the work here even moreso with the added action muscle in any capacity. SYNOPSIS: Zero Tolerance is a high-octane […]
If The New Trailer For TEKKEN 2: KAZUYA'S REVENGE Satisfies You, Good Luck With That
Last year I ranted about the first ever live-action rendition of the hit fighting game, Tekken directed by Rapid Fire helmer Dwight Little. The film did an adequate job as serving a nice little tournament action film but it was far from satisfying for the purists who hated the film, even so far as basing their disproval of the film on the very first U.K. trailer back in 2010 (and you crazy asshole YouTubers know what I mean). But moreover, it nearly undercut almost any hope of a potential, proper live-action rendition in the same notable fashion that Street Fighter got this year by way of Assasin’s Fist (I can only hope I’m wrong in that regard). Now, halfway through 2014 with a film made in just three weeks or so and bipolar title treatment of the film anywhere between Tekken: Rise Of The Tournament and Tekken: A Man Called […]
BALLISTIC CINEMATHEQUE: A Word With Wych Kaosayananda
Filmmaker Wych Kaosayananda is a clear case study in resilience. His big break into Hollywood with the 2002 action thriller, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, didn’t pan out the way he hoped for a number of reasons. And before most of us knew it, despite the many studio offers he received, Kaosayananda diverged away from Hollywood for a really long time, which is probably why you might be wondering just what happened after all this time. Well, nowadays, Kaosayananda is looking to leave an impression once again on an international scale. His most recent murder mystery crime thriller, Truy Sát (also known as Angels) starring Dustin Nguyen, underwent some reshoots in Thailand earlier this year and is now poised for a release in the U.K. under the new title, Zero Tolerance, this October with other releases pending. And with any luck, filmgoers will get to share their appreciation for the director’s […]
Dustin Nguyen And Scott Adkins Brand The New Poster For The Upcoming Revenge Thriller, ZERO TOLERANCE
Director Wych Kaosayanada has been pretty busy for the past couple of years, working on a number of projects, including gigs as cinematographer on the upcoming action thriller, Tekken: Kazuya’s Revenge, as well as on actor Dustin Nguyen‘s 2013 directorial debut, Once Upon A Time In Vietnam. Currently, details regarding those other projects are being kept tight under wraps, but at least one gig has been re-emerging as of late, with the long-awaited release of his latest feature crime thriller, Zero Tolerance, as indicated by the new poster: Initially starring Nguyen with actors Sahajak Boonthanakit and Gary Daniels, the film saw its early days under the title, Angels back in 2012. This year, following a small series of reshoots and added scenes with the addition of Ninja: Shadow Of A Tear lead action duo Scott Adkins and Kane Kosugi, the official poster and trailer have now arrived for the new […]
Kane Kosugi Is Filming AGENT X, NOT A 'Tekken' Movie
It was made public last week that Crystal Sky and Lionsgate began working on a prequel to the 2010 film, Tekken, based on Namco’s live-action tournament fighting game franchise. Announced at the time via martial arts action star Kane Kosugi‘s official blog, the new film was announced as Tekken: A Man Called X, which was previously reported with director Prachya Pinkaew attached. An update at Kosugi‘s blog, followed by a heartfelt apology for the “clumsiness” on the administrator’s part, has now issued a much-needed correction stating that the film is, in fact NOT the Tekken prequel that was announced back in 2012 by Crystal Sky, but another film titled Agent X with Kosugi leading the film. Of course, Brahim Achabbakhe, who doubled for actor Scott Adkins and stunt coordinated under action director Tim Man for Kosugi‘s most recently-released film, Ninja: Shadow Of A Tear is choreographing the action sequences for the […]
Kane Kosugi Highlights A New Photo With The Stunt Crew Of TEKKEN: A MAN CALLED X
Stunt coordinator and fight choreographer Brahim Achabbakhe (center) took to Facebook this weekend to share a group photo with his choreography team a day ahead of the forthcoming production for the new film Tekken: A Man Called X from Crystal Sky and Lionsgate. The photo comes just after action star Kane Kosugi (second from right) announced on his official blog that he would be playing the titular role. The film is set as a prequel to the 2010 reinterpretation of the NAMCO property directed by Dwight Little and starring Jon Foo, Ian Anthony Dale and Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa. Not much else is known about the film as of yet with principal phototography scheduled for the next three weeks, in addition to previous reports that Ong Bak director Prachya Pinkaew was attached as the director. To name a few, Achabbakhe‘s most recent credits in stunts and choreography include Street Fighter: The Legend […]
TEKKEN: A MAN CALLED X Nabs Kane Kosugi For The Lead
It was not too long ago that I ranted in an editorial I crossposted over at The Action Elite about the need for a redux of the latest attempt at live-action for Tekken. At the time, my article didn’t meet much ire from a lot of readers (although I wouldn’t be surprised if certain folks disapproved), but many of the reactions I received were pretty upbeat and understanding. Although as badly as I would have wanted to see Tekken remade properly, after the last couple of years, I never would have guessed what would happened next…which now leads me to actor and martial arts action star Kane Kosugi. Kosugi seen some great fortune throughout his career from childhood to adulthood, nowadays even moreso from the widespread approval of his most recent role in Isaac Florentine’s newest martial arts action thriller, Ninja: Shadow Of A Tear. Now the word, forwarded from […]
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