xu haofeng

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100 YARDS Reaches Home Next Month On Blu-Ray And DVD From Well Go USA!

The last time I was quoted in a press mailer for a Well Go USA Entertainment release was in 2021 for Japanese actioner, Hydra. You can imagine my jubilation on Monday when the PR launched for the company’s most recent offering, the Xu Haofeng and Xu Junfeng-directed 100 Yards, which is coming to Blu-Ray and DVD beginning February 18. This film is some of the most fun I’ve ever had watching and reviewing and I can’t wait for more people to see it if they haven’t. The film is actually already available on digital as we speak, but if you’re all about that physical media life, then Well Go USA has you covered. Hit the text and trailer below! In volatile 1920s Tianjin, a clandestine martial arts circle arose to maintain peace between rival martial arts schools in the ultra-stylish old-school kung fu martial arts epic 100 YARDS, debuting on […]

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100 YARDS Review: A Crackling Clash Of Martial Fists And Fervor From Xu Haofeng And Xu Junfeng

100 Yards was screened and reviewed for the 48th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, upon virtual invitation. Well Go USA is releasing the film in theaters and on Digital on Friday, November 8. It’s been wild having to wait this long before the film markets picked up on something (or anything) attached to the name of author and filmmaker Xu Haofeng. The man best known for whipping out some of the most artful and concentrated martial arts features to hit screens for well over a decade was all but a blip after landing back on radar with 2015’s The Final Master, when trailers arose for his 2017 actioner, The Hidden Sword, followed by stills and posters in 2019 for “Shi Yan Juan Tian Ya.” Both incumbent period flicks deserved better rollouts they were never given for reasons unbeknownst to this critic, and so it remains to be seen if either of those movies will ever […]

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100 YARDS: You Better Believe This Movie Finally Has A U.S. Trailer And Release Date!

Ladies and gets… you’re about to witness one of the sharpest, most diabolically entertaining and thrilling martial arts movie experiences of your life. It’s 100 Yards, the latest period action drama from co-directors Xu Haofeng and Xu Junfeng, and starring Jacky Heung and Andy On, and it finally has an official trailer with a theatrical U.S.release date set from Well Go USA. In volatile 1920s Tianjin, a mere decade after China’s last imperial dynasty was overthrown, a clandestine martial arts circle arose to deter crime and maintain peace between rival martial arts schools. But after a renowned master dies and names his apprentice—rather than his son—as his successor, he unwittingly kicks off a fierce power struggle that will bring the entire city to the brink of chaos. You’re welcome to read my review from its International Premiere at TIFF last year for obligatory feedback but I loved the shit out […]

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100 YARDS: Check Out The Official Festival Trailer For The New Martial Arts Drama Coming To Toronto

Martial arts period drama 100 Yards has been acquired by Well Go USA. The film will release in 2024 following its festival run, which includes an upcoming centerpiece premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this fall. 100 Yards previously screened in Shanghai back in June. Set in 1920s Tianjin, northern China, the film stars Jacky Heung and Andy On, and tells of the son of a martial arts master and his most talented apprentice, and their fight to take over a prominent martial arts academy. As the story goes, rather than obey the rule of settling disputes behind closed doors, they take their fight to the street. Also starring are Bea Hayden Kuo, Tang Shiyi and Li Yuan, and also marks a reunion with martial arts choreographer Duncan Leung and The Grandmaster co-writer Xu Haofeng, who co-directs the new period martial arts flick with Xu Junfeng. “100 Yards masterfully […]

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100 YARDS Reveals New Look At Jacky Heung In The Official Sales Art For Upcoming Martial Arts Drama

If it helps us stay sane for a little while longer, then yes, perhaps I’ll share the sales key art for 100 Yards, the latest martial arts drama from directing duo Xu Haofeng and Xu Junfeng which, until recently, only had a regional Mandarin-language title. Fortissimo Films shared the ink on its website as the latest piece of imagery following several stills that have made the rounds in the past year and spotlighting leading men Jacky Heung (Chasing Dream) and Andy On (Ride On). 1920s Tianjin, northern China. The son of a martial arts master and his most talented apprentice fight to take over a prominent martial arts academy. But rather than obey the rule of settling disputes behind closed doors, they take their fight to the street. The film is also produced by Heung and co-stars Taiwanese actor Bea Hayden Kuo (Kung Fu Monster), Tang Shiyi (The Day We […]

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100 YARDS: Fortissimo Signals World Sales For New Wuxia Action Drama Ahead Of Cannes Market

It’s only been a year since we last heard anything on Men Qian Bao Di, but if it feels longer, you’re not alone. Director Xu Haofeng has been an enigma for me as hampered as I am by the language barrier between me and spoken Chinese dialects, but I’m awful glad that other cogs in this vast machine of cinema marketeering are working hard to help proliferate things a bit. For this, we get 100 Yards, the latest from Xu and co-director Xu Junfeng with reports of its upcoming world sales launch at the upcoming Cannes market via Fortissimo Films, excluding North America and Southeast Asia. According to Michael Rosser at Screendaily, the film, which stars Jacky Heung (Chasing Dream) and Andy On (Ride On), has already scored presales with Splendid Film acquiring rights in Germany. As Rosser notes, 100 Yards takes place in “1920s Tianjin, northern China, and centres […]

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Jacky Heung Steals The Lens In A New Still Promo For Xu Haofeng’s Latest Collaborative Martial Arts Period Drama

Several stills have already begun making the rounds for Men Qian Baodi (a.k.a. A Treasure In Front Of The Door), the latest from filmmaker Xu Haofeng and co-director Xu Junfeng. Some of these can be seen with additional stills from the film as well as a bit of dialog from actor Jacky Heung who stars among the line-up, all well-knit in a photo promo which you can view above. Production wrapped in the first week of March with a cast that also lists Andy On, Bea Hayden, Shiyi Tang and Zhao Zheng. The film itself takes place in 1920 and centers on the aftermath of the death of a Tianjin martial arts museum curator, whose eldest disciple steps up and takes his pre-ordained place. When his controversial practices compel the community to summon the late curator’s son to claim what is his, a new rivalry for a new era in […]

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THE HIDDEN SWORD: Xu Haofeng’s Long-Awaited Martial Arts Epic Stands The Test Of Time With An Official Trailer

It’s been the longest, most agonizing experience waiting for Xu Haofeng’s The Hidden Sword to finally see a release. The Final Master was a pure genre blast and I managed to acquaint myself with most of his work from years prior, and Xu also managed to direct a second film to our knowledge called The Weary Poet. I suspect 2019/2020 will be when we see a lot more Xu as a result, and news of a July 19 release for The Hidden Sword is a humbly welcome conversation piece going forward. The official trailer is finally online as of last week and looks just as explosive and promising as the intial teaser from a few years ago, and I sincerely hope a certain Plano, Texas film distribution firm is aware of this movie by now. In 1933, Chinese soldiers led by heroic officer Shen Feixue defeat a Japanese attack on […]

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Xu Haofeng’s MOONLIGHT BLADE Shimmers Online With New Prelim Poster Art

Activity on writer and director Xu Haofeng’s end has largely been quiet, save for some film festival profusion he earned with his latest period tale, The Hidden Sword. The film screened in Vancouver and Montreal while its local release is yet to be determined, and going forward, he still has his upcoming reimagining of Chor Yuen’s 1976 adaptation of the Ku Long novel, The Magic Blade. Yes, it’s been a few years since news broke and surely enough, a film like this seems like right up Xu’s alley. Ti Lung and Lo Lieh headlined as two swordsman vying for the legendary and peacock dart and are forced to pair up and fight together when it lands in the wrong hands. Nothing else beyond previous news is known but the fact that we have a new preliminary poster online signaling the film’s existence is certainly welcoming. Take a look at the […]

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THE FINAL MASTER Lands A February 19 UK Release On DVD, Blu-Ray And Digital

Cine Asia is riding high on its action titles this season especially with the proliferation of Wu Jing hit, Wolf Warrior 2. They’re stacking up once again this time for the upcoming home release of 2015 period martial arts drama, The Final Master, a film resonant with action and intrigue in its narrative with organic fervor from action director and filmmaker Xu Haofeng with a script based on his own literary work. In 1930’s China, Wing Chun master Chen She (Fan Liao, Assembly, Chinese Zodiac), arrives in Tianjin, a city famous for martial arts. With plans to open his own kung fu school, he must first train a student to defeat eight of the city’s masters, legitimising himself as a teacher. But when he is caught up in local politics and an underworld power struggle, Chen finds himself at odds with dangerous people and will fight to protect what he […]

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THE HIDDEN SWORD: Swords And Secrets Clash In The Stylish Trailer For Xu Haofeng’s New Martial Arts Epic

Filmmaker and novelist, The Final Master helmer Xu Haofeng’s body of work is a catalog of fantastic and comprehensive martial arts cinema. His latest, The Hidden Sword aims to add to the succession with the consistency of the acclaimed helmer’s own added touch having worn multiple hats on set for his own previous work. Legendary kung fu cinema star, actor Chen Kuan Tai (Iron Monkey, Dragon Tiger Gate), reunites with our director for another offering inspired by his own literary work, setting in 1930’s China where an elderly sword maker’s skillset continues to attract the embattled, war-ridden outside world that once forced him and his family into hiding. A date is still pending for the film following Screendaily’s report in May of its acquisition by Distribution Workshop. Chen is joined by Huang Jue and Geng Le, actressses Summer Xu Qing and Chen Xia, and in reunion with fellow Xu cohort, The […]

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THE FINAL MASTER: Win A Copy Of Well Go USA’s Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack Release

UPDATE: This contest has expired. Perhaps one of the best martial arts moviegoing experiences ever brought overseas has to be Xu Haofeng’s newest home release, The Final Master. An adaptation of one of his written anthological works, the film shimmers with action and drama with pure wit and charm from its main cast led by actor Liao Fan and acclaimed choreography by Haofeng himself. Its central highlight of Wing Chun (for a release as timely as this one as it came out in theaters just months after Well Go USA released Ip Man 3) is certainly one that I had never seen before in any particular film of this genre centered on its style and it’s hosted with such intensity and focus – Being my first foray into Haofeng’s work, I get him. I understand him. I’m proud to say how much I love this movie and I couldn’t be […]

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Distribution Workshop Nabs International Sales For Martial Arts Drama, THE HIDDEN BLADE

Hong Kong outlet Distribution Workshop is on hand for buyers at Cannes with its own package as events kick off this week. Their slate currently includes a few martial arts titles one of which hails the return of acclaimed novelist and filmmaker Xu Haofeng with the new movie, The Hidden Blade. Legendary kung fu cinema star, actor Chen Kuan Tai (Iron Monkey, Dragon Tiger Gate), reunites with our director for another offering inspired by Xu’s own literary work, sets in 1930’s China where an elderly sword maker’s skillset continues to attract the embattled, war-ridden outside world that once forced him and his family into hiding. The actor is joined by actress Jessie Li, and in reunion with fellow Xu cohort, actor Zhang Aoyue following the 2015 martial arts period drama, The Final Master, which won Best Action Choreography at the Golden Horse Awards that year. The other title housed currently […]

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Hey Los Angeles! The China OnScreen Biennial At REDCAT Is Hosting A Screening Of Xu Haofeng's THE FINAL MASTER This November

Did you miss this year’s North American limited release of Xu Haofeng’s The Final Master from United Entertainment Partners? Fear not, and peer over to the official website for Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT) for this year’s China OnScreen Biennial on November 7. Co-presented with the China Onscreen Biennial, The Final Master – the third film by Xu Haofeng, famous as the novelist who co-wrote Wong Kar-Wai’s The Grandmaster – relocates its titular martial arts master from Southern China to 1932 colonial Tianjin. Xu’s sarcastic and elegant approach to cinema has been described as what martial arts movies would look like if directed by Straub-Huillet —or David Mamet. Echoing the film’s cultural hybridity is a rare Chantal Akerman short that captures the changing light as dusk creeps over Shanghai, its immemorial waters rippling under neon and gaudy ads, to a cover of “Nights in White Satin.” Events for the […]

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Xu Reverts Back To His Source Material As Production Commences On Martial Arts Epic, THE HIDDEN BLADE

Following the work of acclaimed author and filmmaker Xu Haofeng pretty much grants you an audience to a body of work often observed as a harkening back to a bygone era of kung fu cinema. His recent acclaim with the Chinese supersharp martial arts drama, The Master (a.k.a. The Final Master) is proof of that, following titles like The Sword Identity and this year’s long awaited release, Arrow Arbitration (titled Judge Archer in the U.S. and elsewhere). Thus, we are now presented with news of the advancement of his fourth stint at the helm, The Hidden Blade, another based on one of Xu’s own novels. Actress Summer Xu Qing who stars next to T.O.P. in the upcoming action thriller, Out Of Control, leads the cast for a story (logline courtesy of Cesar Alejandro Jr. at FilmSmash via MTime) centered in the 1930s with war-weathered Chinese swordsmen guarding the Great Wall. […]

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JUDGE ARCHER Rules With A New Trailer From Lionsgate Unlocked

Director and acclaimed novelist Xu Haofeng’s 2012 theatrical foray, Judge Archer, has been a long-awaited one. The film, following up from its short story roots in Xu’s “Hiding Behind The Blade” anthology, marks a second effort in the chair for Xu who has since already made a small-yet-steadily growing name for himself since his 2011 debut, The Sword Identity. Even moreso and on top of his screenwriting accomplishments, his latest, The Final Master, went on to win a few accolades and nods before opening in select theaters back in June. It’s the sort of thing that makes you wish you could have seen these films in their succession though almost any rollout of Chinese productions to other territories is at a snail’s pace at best, so, imaginably, it’s not entirely your fault. At any rate, it appears now is as good a time as it can get for Xu’s sophomore […]

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Review: THE FINAL MASTER (2016) – A Thrilling Wing Chun Refresher

To date, I had never seen a Xu Haofeng-directed film. Thus, the weekend was glowing with opportunity for me in this instance – that is, getting to experience a genuine kung fu movie at AMC Empire 25 in the heart of Times Square, New York City, and you’re literally swimming in sound as you enter one of the zig-zagging corridors of the room, which really did this film justice for its theatrical entertainment value. Incidentally, this was also my second stab at a Liao Fan film since catching him in Jackie Chan’s CZ12 just last year on VoD – Frankly, I’ve forgotten that film, as forgettable as it is (save for its obvious star power), but its in films like Xu’s The Final Master that you’re not completely left wondering what happened in the breadth of an hour and forty minutes. Point in fact, it’s hard to forget and you’re […]

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