Author Archives: JJ Bona

Here’s what’s streaming on Hi-YAH! for the month of December

Hi-YAH!, Well Go USA’s very own Asian/martial arts streaming channel has just announced their New Release line up for the month of December, which includes a New film added to Hi-YAH! every Friday! Some of the highlights includes two HK crime classics, Johnnie To’s PTU and Ringo Lam’s Full Alert – and a whole lot of Donnie Yen! Continue reading for the full list

Posted in News |

Oscar Isaac to star in Sony’s Live-action adaptation of ‘Metal Gear Solid’ for ‘Kong: Skull Island’ director Jordan Vogt-Roberts

"Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain" Poster

Sony Entertainment has reportedly enlisted Oscar Isaac (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, A Most Violent Year) to star in Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ (Kong: Skull Island) live-action adaptation of Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid. In the film, Isaac will take on the role of the iconic video game character Solid Snake, a highly skilled special operations soldier whose speciality is destroying models of the bipedal nuclear weapon-armed mecha known as Metal Gear. The script … Continue reading

Posted in News |

Fasten your seatbelt for Dante Lam and Eddie Peng’s big budget, CGI-induced thriller ‘The Rescue’

On December 18, 2020, CMC Pictures is finally releasing The Rescue (aka Emergency Rescue) to U.S. theaters. This big budget thriller is directed by noted Hong Kong action director Dante Lam (Operation Red Sea). In the film, a rescue unit within the Chinese Coast Guard are forced to overcome their personal differences to resolve a crisis. The Rescue (read our review) reunites Lam with his To the Fore, Unbeatable and Operation Mekong star, Eddie Peng (Call of … Continue reading

Posted in News |

Deng Chao and Wu Jing to face off in ‘Ping-pong of China’?

"Ping-pong of China" Teaser Poster

Actor/filmmaker Deng Chao – who is perhaps best known for his roles in Shadow, The Mermaid and Assembly – will direct and star in Ping-Pong of China, an upcoming sports drama that will also star Wu Jing (Wolf Warrior 2, SPL II: A Time for Consequences). According to AFS, the movie will center on the Chinese national ping-pong team’s victory in 1995. Here’s hoping Ping-Pong of China will be as fun … Continue reading

Posted in News |

Versus + Ultimate Versus: 2-Disc Special Edition | Blu-ray (Arrow Video)

RELEASE DATE: December 8, 2020 On December 8, 2020, Arrow Video is releasing a 2-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray for Ryuhei Kitamura’s Versus, which will include the original 2000 and expanded 2004 Ultimate Versus iterations, in a brand new, director-approved restoration. Read the official details below: A relentless one-of-a-kind sensory assault chock full of hyper-kinetic fight scenes, gangster shootouts, sword-slashing violence and gory zombie horror, Versus was a key title amongst the … Continue reading

Posted in Asian Titles, DVD/Blu-ray New Releases, Martial Arts Titles, News |

Netflix to release Takeshi Kitano biopic ‘Asakusa Kid’ in 2021

Director/actor/comedian Gekidan Hitori (A Bolt from the Blue) is set to direct and write Asakusa Kid, an upcoming biopic that follows the early years of the legendary, multi-talented Japanese celebrity Takeshi Kitano (Outrage Coda, Battle Royale, Hana-Bi). Asakusa Kid will star Yagira Yuya (Gintama) as Kitano. Also starring is Oizumi Yo (I Am a Hero), who will play Fukami Senzaburo, a comedian who is also known as Kitano’s mentor. The film will … Continue reading

Posted in News |

Max Cloud | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)

RELEASE DATE: January 19, 2021 Martial arts star Scott Adkins (Ip Man 4, Seized, The Debt Collector, Incoming) is taking a second trip to space in Well Go USA’s Max Cloud (aka The Intergalactic Adventures of Max Cloud) a sci-fi actioner that hits VOD on December 18, 2020, then arrives on Blu-ray and DVD on January 19, 2021. Directed by Martin Owens (Let’s Be Evil) and written by Sally Collet (Twist), Max Cloud centers on Sarah, … Continue reading

Posted in DVD/Blu-ray New Releases, Martial Arts Titles, News |

Wu Jing may yet again go balls deep into sci-fi territory with ‘Ball Lightning’ from ‘The Wandering Earth’ author

"The Wandering Earth" Teaser Poster

Another live-action adaptation of Liu Cixin’s (writer of The Wandering Earth) sci-fi novel, titled Ball Lightning, is currently in-the-works from actor/writer/director Chen Sicheng, who is perhaps best known for the Detective Chinatown franchise. The novel follows the experiences of a first-person protagonist, Chen, whose family was killed by a ball lightning while he was in high school. Both traumatized and inspired by that experience, he makes the investigation of ball lightning his … Continue reading

Posted in News |

The ‘Storm’ stops for director David Lam with ‘The Tipping Point’

"The Tipping Point" Teaser Poster

Veteran Hong Kong filmmaker David Lam (Street Angels) is finally putting a cork on his ever-growing crime franchise (2014’s Z-Storm, 2016’s S-Storm, 2018’s L-Storm, 2019’s P-Storm and this year’s G-Storm – all of which were produced consecutively) with The Tipping Point. As you probably would have guessed, its plot bracket is within the crime/thriller territory. The upcoming film will star Qin Hailu (Tale of Three Cities), Julian Cheung (Extreme Crisis), Eric Tsang (Golden Job), Ray … Continue reading

Posted in News |

The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone | Blu-ray (Paramount)

RELEASE DATE: December 8, 2020 On December 8, 2020, Paramount Home Media will release the Blu-ray for Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. The film is described as a re-working of The Godfather III, that has been re-edited with new scenes and re-arranged music cues. Read the official details below: Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone is an acknowledgement of Mario’s and my … Continue reading

Posted in DVD/Blu-ray New Releases, News, Other Notable Titles |

Tony Leung Chiu-wai and former James Bond girl Olga Kurylenko go on a ‘Fox Hunt’ in this New Trailer

Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai (Bullet in the Head, Europe Raiders) and French actress/model Olga Kurylenko (former Bond girl from Quantum of Solace) are teaming up for Fox Hunt (aka The Hunting), an upcoming spy-thriller from director Leo Zhang, who is perhaps best-known for helming the 2017 Jackie Chan flick, Bleeding Steel. Fox Hunt takes place in Paris and follows a pair of cops going up against an international money trafficking … Continue reading

Posted in News |

Can this be South Korea’s answer to Tak Sakaguchi’s Re:Born? Watch the Trailer for ‘Special Agent’ and find out…

"Special Agent" Theatrical Poster

Stuntman-turned-director Shin Jae-myung (who worked on the action for Gangnam 1970) is getting ready to unleash his first film, Special Agent. The trailer for this upcoming actioner has just been released and begs the question: Has South Korea found its take on Tak Sakaguchi’s Re:Born? Special Agent tells the story of Won-cheol (Lee Jae-yoon), an agent of the National Intelligence Service of the Republic of Korea, who is in charge of removing VIPs who … Continue reading

Posted in News |

Chris Pratt and Wu Jing team up for ‘Saigon Bodyguards’ remake

An English-language remake of Ken Ochiai’s Vietnamese-made, 2016 action-comedy film, Saigon Bodyguards, is brewing at Universal Pictures with Hollywood A-lister Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy, Jurassic World) and martial arts star Wu Jing (Wolf Warrior 2, SPL II: A Time for Consequences) leading the cast. Saigon Bodyguards focuses on two pals, one a straight arrow and the other a doof, who try to find a corporate heir who got kidnapped right … Continue reading

Posted in News |

There’s some infernal affairs-type action going on in the Trailer for ‘The Infernal Walker’ starring Michael Tse and Ray Lui

"The Infernal Walker" Theatrical Poster

If you’re into crime films like Infernal Affairs and The Line Walker, then chances are, you’ll want to check out The Infernal Walker (sorry, we couldn’t resist!), an upcoming crime-thriller directed by Wong Ka Fai (The Redeemers) and produced by Billy Chung (From Vegas to Macau). It’s a story of triad vs. anti-triad where real identities are not what they seem – and – undercover agents are not as “good” as … Continue reading

Posted in News |

Zoom Up: Murder Site | Blu-ray & DVD (Impulse)

Zoom Up: Murder Site | Blu-ray & DVD (Impulse)

RELEASE DATE: February 9, 2021 On February 9, 2021, Impulse Pictures is releasing the Blu-ray & DVD for 1979’s Zoom Up: Murder Site. The film is the first entry in Nikkatsu’s famous Zoom Up adult series, Zoom Up: Murder Site is a dark, violent film that’s described as …a collection of staggeringly repulsive murders, perhaps the most sadistic ever generated on film…The words misogynist and mean-spirited can barely describe the atrocities on … Continue reading

Posted in Asian Titles, DVD/Blu-ray New Releases, News |