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Shadow

Well Go USA Casts Zhang Yimou’s SHADOW Into 2019

On the eve of it’s forthcoming premieres at TIFF and in Venice, Zhang Yimou’s wuxia action epic, Shadow has officially landed at Well Go USA. Andreas Wiseman exclusively confirmed the news at Deadline on Wednesday with territories to include North America, UK, and Australia/New Zealand for its 2019 release. Here’s the lowdown from the Toronto programme: Master filmmaker Zhang Yimou brings a completely original cinematic style to an epic battle story, contrasting visuals that draw on China’s centuries-old tradition of ink-wash painting against next-level fighting sequences to dazzling effect. Zhang Yimou has long been acclaimed as one of cinema’s great masters. His Raise the Red Lantern and Ju Dou brought the world’s attention to the majesty of Chinese filmmaking. He launched the careers of two of China’s major stars, Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi. From the big screen to the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, Zhang’s artistry is well known. But […]

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Well Go USA Picks Up BIG BROTHER For North American Theatrical Release

And like a phoenix, Well Go USA rises to save your summer’s nearing end with the official U.S. trailer for Donnie Yen‘s new August 31 release, Big Brother. He’s got a few more down the pipeline including his current role in Niki Caro’s Mulan adaptation while we all hope to hear more on his latest attachment to Sleeping Dogs and Enter The Fat Dragon among others. In the meantime, Big Brother seems like a feasible and worthwhile few hours at the movies, especially after finishing its world premiere run at Fantasia Festival, whose Chu King-Wei programmed it as so: The high school is in crisis, the students are underperforming and preoccupied with non- academic activities. Mr. Chen, aka Big Brother, a teacher with rather rusty writing skills but armed with the most knowledgeable fists and heart of steel, comes to enlighten and inspire the students with his unconventional teaching methods. […]

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Don’t Miss The Final Trailer For ALONG WITH THE GODS: THE LAST 49 DAYS

The reviews are already out for Kim Yong-Hwa’s upcoming afterlife fantasy webtoon adaptation, Along With The Gods: The Last 49 Days. You can read our here while just a few days out from its release in South Korea and North America, Well Go USA is out to remind the masses with an official trailer. The fantasy epic that smashed box office records in Korea reaches its thrilling climax in ALONG WITH THE GODS: THE LAST 49 DAYS. As the deceased soul Su-hong and his three afterlife guardians face the remaining trials to obtain their reincarnation, the guardians come face to face with the buried truth of their tragic time on earth a thousand years ago, culminating in a final battle with a rogue god. Actors Ha Jung-Woo, Ju Ji-Hoon and Don Lee star with actress Kim Hyang-Gi, and actors Kim Dong-Wook and Lee Jung-Jae for the film’s August 1 release!

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Review: ALONG WITH THE GODS: THE LAST 49 DAYS Maintains Epic Fantasy Deliberation With Unfolding Drama

Director Kim Yong-Hwa made a major hit for himself late last year adapting Korean fantasy webtoon, Along With The Gods: The Two Worlds. The film even took me by surprise thinking it would be one straightforward film at one point and not knowing right away there would be an almost immediate back-to-back sequel, and even learning recently that more developments for the big and small screen were in bound. Immersed in a Buddhist narrative, the first movie is one of nearly constant emotive stimulus, coupled with big scale battles with mystical weapons against varying creatures and entites, including a fast-growing demonic vengeful spirit proving pivotal in the movie’s progression. The drama is heavy-handed amidst a sprawling millieu spanning Earth and the Afterworld, and the action left an almost anime-inspired feel with our characters moving at lightning speed. All these and more now draw us into next chapter, Along With The […]

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BUYBUST Gets An Action-Packed Official U.S. Trailer

Alrighty, time to fulfill that trailer addiction for you cats, and for this, we now turn to the official trailer for Erik Matti’s new crime thriller, BuyBust. Having taken the summer film festival scene by storm, you needn’t look far to find some appealing reviews for the new movie which is clearly setting a new benchmark for Filipino action film productions – this one with action sequences courtesy of Sonny Sison who has been on a mission for several years to date to bring local talents front and center. After surviving the slaughter of her entire squad in a drug raid compromised by dirty cops, anti-narcotics special operative Nina Manigan (Anne Curtis), is eager to go head-to-head with the drug cartels that hold a bloody grip on Manila. But when her new mission in the city’s most dangerous slum goes south, the angry civilians turn on her squad. Trapped between […]

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Erik Matti’s NYAFF-Selected BUYBUST Opens In The U.S. And Canada On August 10

CORRECTED: Acclaimed filmmaker Erik Matti is positioning himself to direct a superhero film in the months ahead. Until then and with the current development of a sequel for his celebrated 2014 crime pic, On The Job, expect to hear more from Matti in the coming weeks while on the road promoting his hotly-anticipated action thriller, BuyBust, following its release date pushback from February in the Philippines. BuyBust will instead have a summer outing in festivals, as well as select theaters with Well Go USA informing us directly that the film will open in select U.S. and Canadian theaters on August 10 (a correction issued following a Facebook post from Matti suggesting initally the film would open on August 15). The August 10 release will succeed from its World Premiere during the 17th annual New York Asian Film Festival which lasts from June 29 through July 15 as one of two Matti pics getting […]

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FURIOUS: Win A Copy Of Well Go USA’s Upcoming Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack Release

It came to me as a bit of a surprise in recent months when I started noticing reviews were coming in stateside for Russian sword thriller, Furious. My own coverage in late 2016 came prior for its Russian release as it was titled The Legend Of Kolovrat prior to its acquisition by Well Go USA the following February so if there were any theatrical release made for this one, I certainly wasn’t aware of it. Alas, the North American distributor has a June 19 release in tow for the Ivan Shurkhovetskiy-directed period swordplay epic and this week is our giveaway launch for for the film’s Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack. Between now and the deadline on June 18, U.S. residents can e-mail us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com with your name and title of your own favorite swordplay movie (nothing with lightsabers, because now you’re just being lazy ?) and you’ll be randomly selected and […]

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Vincent Zhao’s THE UNITY OF HEROES Lands At Well Go USA

We’ve got a ways to go before we learn any more about what’s in store with actor Vincent Zhao on several titles, save for one, at least. The IQIYI release of his latest Wong Fei Hung revival, The Unity Of Heroes, has been hitting the sales floor at Cannes and just racked up a raft of sales as reported by Screen International on Monday. In the late Qing Dynasty, the East India Company produces a narcotic by conducting human testing in Guangdong. These secret tests begin to come to light when one of the test subjects crashes into Wong Fei Hung’s famed medicine clinic. The initial official trailer has been online for a while now, while fans of Zhao can also expect a U.S. trailer courtesy of Well Go USA in due time. Other territories include Clover Films for Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, China 3D for Hong Kong and Macau, […]

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Well Go USA Dates Crime Actioner BELIEVER And Arm-Wrestling Drama CHAMPION

Just shy of an actual release date, Well Go USA sparked the interest of their consumer base with a U.S. trailer for upcoming action crime thriller, Believer. Since then, the company’s official website has now bestowed a June 8 release to follow the film’s South Korean release on May 24. Believer stems from Johnnie To’s 2012 smash hit, Drug War, this time with Lee Hae-Young at the helm for the story of a low-level drug dealer forced to comply with a dangerously ambitious cop to take down a powerful kingpin. Ryu Jun-Yeol and Cho Jin-Woong star along with Kim Sung-Ryung and Park Hae-Joon, and a posthumous villain performance from actor Kim Joo-Hyuk. Seperately, Well Go USA has also listed a special May 14 screening and subsequent select May 18 release in New York City for Kim Yong-Wan’s directorial debut, Champion. Train To Busan and The Outlaws star Don Lee leads […]

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Look Out For Well Go USA Arrivals In Sports Drama, CHAMPION And Crime Thriller Redo, BELIEVER

It’s always a good day when Well Go USA delivers, and the Texas-based niche distributor has apparently snatched up two titles for U.S. release. The first hails from sales agent, Finecut which reportedly sold Kim Yong-Wan’s Sylvester Stallone-inspired freshman debut, Champion, has also found a home with multiple territories, U.S. included. As Lee Hyo-Won writes at The Hollywood Reporter, the film made number two at the local box office this week on Tuesday after its May 1 open. Don Lee (Train To Busan, The Outlaws) stars as an L.A. nightclub bouncer whose redemptive underdog rise in arm-wrestling with the help of a schemer serves as a means to reunite with his long lost family in South Korea. Champion, the latest production from Warner Bros. Pictures Korea, reportedly also sold to Hong Kong and Macau (Edko Films), Malaysia and Brunei (Clover Films), Philippines (Rafaella Films International), Taiwan (Sky Films Entertainment) and Vietnam […]

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Review: THE SWINDLERS Baits You With A Brilliant Crime Caper

It’s often interesting in wondering how a director can conjure a mystery tale that keeps audiences guessing. Jang Chang-Won’s new film, The Swindlers, certainly lives up to the task with as much intricacy and detail as possible in its two hour duration. Written by Jang for his own debut, the film sets its course with tragedy in its wake when a church learns it was swindled out of billions by Doo-Chil (Heo Sung-Tae), a schemer who fakes his own death while escaping from Korea. Eight years later, we meet Ji-Sung (Hyun Bin), a vengeful con-artist hunting Doo-Chil and eager to hatch a plan of his own until he’s forced to pair up with Hee-Soo (Yoo Ji-Tae), an ambitious prosecutor to help culminate more than enough evidence to catch the big fish. The devil, of course, is in the details with a story that offers numerous moving pieces in its narrative. […]

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EFM 2018: Well Go USA Nabs BUYBUST For A 2018 Theatrical Release

Well Go USA continues to prove itself to be a Mecca for genre speciality in Asian cinema for North America. The latest in point hails from breaking news from The Hollywood Reporter with word on the distributor’s acquisition of Erik Matti’s BuyBust, which opens theatrically in the Philippines pending a new release date to be announced. The On The Job and Honor Thy Father helmer directs from his own story scripted by Anton Santamaria in which Australian actress Anne Curtis plays the rookie member of an elite anti-drug narc squad forced to fight its way out of Manila’s most dangerous slum following a poorly-planned buy-bust. The film also stars MMA champion Brandon Vera, with Joross Gamboa, Mara Lopez, Nonie Buencamino, AJ Muhlach and Victor Neri rounding out the cast with stuntman and fight choreographer Sonny Sison (Broken Path, Nilalang) designating the brutal fight scenery, partly sampled in a proof-of-concept action sequence featuring Curtis last […]

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Review: DETECTIVE K: SECRET OF THE LIVING DEAD Honors The Living With Love And Laughter

One can certainly comprehend sticking with what works as a creative. With director Kim Sok-Yun’s commitment to mining the work of author Kim Tak-Hwan undoubtedly comes a delightful trio of entries with the Detective K franchise that began in 2011 and clearly it’s done the filmmaker some justice after working in television in the early two thousandsies. Both the first and second films remain wishlist items for me while Well Go USA has since taken it upon themselves to harbor the release of the latest installment, Detective K: Secret Of The Living Dead. Watching this, it became even more intriguing wondering how the first two would play out on a narrative level prior to constructing a threequel considering what unfolds. Lee Nam-Kyu, who had a hand in adapting the screenplay with other writers for the first two films, lends us a solo act this time around with a screenplay that […]

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OPERATION RED SEA: Chinese Navy Commandos Fire Away In The Official Trailer

Writer and director Dante Lam is no Michael Bay. Gladly he doesn’t need to be with his 2016 box office hit, Operation Mekong lending all the viewable proof you could want despite not being a perfect film. Thus, he’s since stuck to what works and with Operation Red Sea being central to those efforts as we mark another notch on the belt for Chinese military action cinema. Famed action director Dante Lam returns with this explosive follow-up to his 2016 box office smash OPERATION MEKONG. When a terrorist plot to obtain nuclear materials is hidden under the cover of a violent coup, only the Chinese Navy’s elite Jiaolong Assault Team have the deadly skill and precision needed to take on the situation. Gearing up for a February 23 release in select theaters, Well Go USA is pushing forward once more in its representation and with an official trailer to make […]

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GINTAMA Unleashes Demonic Weapons And Old Rivals In The Official U.S. Trailer

Well Go USA has unveiled the full trailer for their latest limited theatrical release, Gintama. Azoland Pictures is hosting its U.S. and Canadian rollout which commences this Friday based on Sorachi Hideaki’s highly successful gag manga and its equally fantastic animated series which is currently running. Oguri Shun, Hashimoto Kanna and Masaki Suda star in the film here taking cues from the Benizakura Arc. I won’t get too much into the narrative here as I’ve promoted this movie a billion times and I still have yet to see it, and the trailer is subbed anyway; As it stands the current showtimes in my area aren’t conducive for me so expect me to have an opinion on it a few months from now when it opens on VoD and DVD/Blu-Ray. At any rate, check the trailer below. It’s nothing different from the Japanese trailer last summer but it’s something. However, note […]

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GINTAMA: Catch The Official U.S. Trailer For Fukuda Yuichi’s Live-Action Manga Adaptation

Azoland Pictures is bringing Fukuda Yuichi’s live-action manga adaptation, Gintama, to the big screen in the U.S. and Canada beginning this Friday. It’s a film that I’ve especially waited for and have cheered on if only for the fact that the animated series, currently on its final arc from TV Tokyo, is my most favorite of all the shows I myself have seen, even as some who’ve seen cuts of the film since its rollout starting last summer in Japan have fallen short of some expectations despite becoming a regional box office hit. Oguri Shun, best known for roles in other adaptations like Miike Takashi’s first and second Crows Zero films leads the narrative based on Sorachi Hideaki’s long running gag manga set in an alternative universe where aliens have conquered Japan. The story, previously summed up in an animated feature edit in 2010, takes its cues from the Benizakura […]

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THE MONKEY KING 3: Aaron Kwok Defends A Kingdom Of Damsels In The Official U.S. Trailer

It’s high time for the rollout of promos to present Soi Cheang’s The Monkey King 3. With the 2014 installment becoming a hit and launching a franchise with a much more solid framework in its sequel, phase three now moves us forward once more with Aaron Kwok shepherding the narrative once more as we journey into an all-female kingdom with our heroes now faced with even greater foes and diar circumstances. The third installment of the blockbuster fantasy series sees the return of the Monkey King (Aaron Kwok) in his most action-packed adventure yet! While continuing their epic journey to the West, the Monkey King and his companions are taken captive by the Queen of an all-female land, who believes them to be part of an ancient prophecy heralding the fall of her kingdom. With a lot of sorcery and a little bit of charm, the travelers devise a plan […]

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GINTAMA: Azoland Pictures Acquires Fukuda Yuichi’s Live-Action Adaptation For Select Theatrical U.S. Release

Late last year a good friend of mine sent me the most adorable Kagura keychain in the world. I sent her a video of a partially-teared thank you because as it stands, Kagura is the most loveable and adorable character in the TV Tokyo anime series, Gintama, which is on track to debut its final story arc on January 8. The show took off from the genius mind of manga creator Sorachi Hideaki and in the most admirably meta of ways, became a sprawling hit. It was an easy sell for me from late 2016 and onward as I binged heavily and caught up long before Fukuda Yuichi’s live-action adaptation starring Oguri Shun, Suda Masaki and actress Hashimoto Kanna who plays the aforementioned Kagura-chan who plays central to the Battle On Rakuyo story arc. Needless to say, I’ve been waiting for the film’s transition to the states since its release […]

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