screener reviews

Review: GOLDBUSTER Scares Up A Fine Comedic Spectacle

Blindly going into the new movie, Gold Buster, serves as an interesting crapshoot from the start, which is exactly what it was for me after hitting the Start button. In parallel though, celebrated actress Sandra Ng’s directorial debut is one loaded with the sorts of gags and hijinks that you’d expect in an Asian comedy, and certainly one that pays off greatly in feel-good fashion. Set within the confines of a rundown housing complex in Paradise Garden, a ragtag group of residents find themselves cordoned off from returning into their homes following a spate of seemingly supernatural events. Desperate to solve the problem, they turn to a flamboyant exorcist to ward off the recurring spirits running rampant. What ensues is more anarchy as revelations are made involving a greedy land developer and his son, and an air of duplicity that forces our false prophet to see the truth of her […]

Review: OPTION ZERO Spotlights The Moral Quandry Of Heroism With Pulsating Action And Drama

Lee B. Golden III

We last learned that director R.L. Scott has been in the making for his most recent efforts on superhero thriller, Lazarus, which is one of at least two titles made known to us. He hasn’t been on social media since last summer and we haven’t heard much thereafter so it’s safe to say he might have a lot on his plate for his independent endeavors. Going forward however, we can at least share some progress being made on at least one other project we reported on back in 2014 which was initially designated as the pilot of a hopeful series. Per the nature of most non-mainstream projects left shelved or incomplete or falling by the wayside, Option Zero was in danger of almost never seeing the light of day until co-star and creator, executive producer Eliver Ling took the post-production reigns in late 2017. Hence, while the wait continues for […]

Review: Asun Mawardi’s Hitman Thriller, #66, Hits Hard And Jagged, Maintains A Bloody Bodycount

Lee B. Golden III

Following Asian cinema, one thing you will realize with certain titles is that they never see the light of day beyond their own respective nations’ and territories. Places like Indonesia and Malaysia are a good example of this misfortune where some otherwise appealing films get stuck despite presenting viral and pretty appealing trailers, many of which I know action fans would enjoy to some extent or another if given the chance. It’s certainly a palpable topic for director and actor Asun Mawardi whose 2011 film, Pirate Brothers, didn’t see a U.S. release on VoD and DVD until several years later with the new title, Mortal Enemies, and much to our delight as a film that consumers like myself don’t have to torrent with a company like Lionsgate stepping up to stake its claim. For this, I hope that directors like Anggy Umbara, Awi Suryadi and others will be able to […]

Screener Review: RISE OF THE LEGEND (2016)

Lee B. Golden III

I’m pretty new to Eddie Peng, having only seen him in Stephen Fung’s Tai Chi Zero and Tai Chi Hero at the time of the release. However, in the few years since then, he’s appeared to be just the kind versatile actor a director looks for, and maybe even one bold enough to take the lead in the revival of a classic martial arts film mainstay. Leave that effort to director Roy Chow Hin-Yeung whose career compass following Murderer (2009) and Nightfall (2012) now bring him to the forefront of his latest 2014 kung fu epic, Rise Of The Legend, reviving the folklore of martial arts hero Wong Fei Hung with an origin tale that does the work that none of its previous films did, lending plenty of opportunity for something truly fresh to bloom. The film opens with Peng front and center in a big-scale alleyway fight sequence, a […]

Screener Review: THEY CALL ME SUPERSEVEN (2016)

Lee B. Golden III

Admittedly, my own experience in classic spy films and TV shows is pretty limited. I was born an 80’s kid and wasn’t exposed to a lot of it, with exception to several classic Bond films and a handful of other titles from the 50’s and 60’s. That said, having come across former stuntman-turned-stunt coordinator and filmmaker Scott Rhodes’s award-winning webseries, The Adventures Of Superseven, the aesthetics being tapped into here are fully understandable and so it’s not hugely challenging to embrace and absorb. Rather, quite the opposite. The series has since been woven with select episodes and footage from the first of all five seasons to offer up for the feature film now titled, They Call Me Superseven. Actor Jerry Kokich stars in the title role for a story that pits our red-costumed international man of mystery, working under the guidance of clandestined govermment agency, T.H.E.M., against Big O and […]

Screener Review: MEMORIES OF THE SWORD (2015)

I’ve always loved Asian period pieces and Korean ones are always a treat. Memories Of The Sword is no exception; a Korean period drama with all the helpings: political corruption, betrayal, lost loves, revenge, and redemption. Also lining with a power cast of Lee Byung-Hun and Jeon Do-Yeon, and even 2PM‘s Lee Jun-Ho clearly the filmmakers and crew here were really aiming to make a blockbuster hit. Director Park Heung-Sik doesn’t give you room to settle by introducing you his vision for this movie in the first 5 minutes; Large, sweeping shots of a field full of sunflowers while the protagonist is enveloped in golden streaks of sunlight as she rushes through town and ends up watching a fast paced, dramatically cut fight scene. Though despite the visual onslaught of slow motion action, this movie is still a drama. Veteran actors of Lee and Jeon give great performances of their fallen hero characters, […]

A Case For Better Action Movies: DIE FIGHTING (2014)

Lee B. Golden III

Die Fighting – Trailer from Z Team Films on Vimeo. SYNOPSIS: The Z-Team, four Shaolin-forged martial artists has just won the top award at a Film Festival. FABIEN, LOHAN, DIDIER, and JESS immediately set their sights for Hollywood, but from within the shadows emerges a new challenge: the four find themselves in front of the seemingly inescapable eye of a mysterious DIRECTOR who forces them to “act” in his own brutal reality film, with the lives of their loved ones at stake. Their every move watched through hidden cameras like mice in a maze, the Z-Team are forced to run a gamut through the seedy underbelly of LA – from robbing an armored truck, encountering a Drug Lord, breaking an entire dojo of BLACKBELTS, evading a SWAT team, surviving a blazing gunfight…and it’s all a part of the Director’s script. A dark filmmaker’s game culminating into a shocking ending which […]

Screener Review: SONS OF LIBERTY (2013)

Lee B. Golden III

SYNOPSIS: Special Agent Tom Hardy must assemble an elite team of scientists and soldiers to prevent the construction of a weapon so deadly a quarter of the US would have to be abandoned for decades. As the team members of the top secret unit, know as the SOL, struggle to find the balance between duty and their personal lives, an outside threat emerges. A serial killer is torturing women, leaving their bodies a mangled mess of scars and symbols. Special Agents Tom Hardy and Dr. Jan Baker are drawn into the game of cat and mouse as the remaining scientists and soldiers race to develop a solution to locate incoming stolen nuclear materials without alerting their enemies. Little do they know that their opposition is comprised of a deadly cadre of mercenaries, an arms dealer, a rouge IRA soldier, an assassin, and a mastermind whose motivations blur the line between […]