Author Archives: JJ Bona

Seijun Suzuki: The Early Years. Vol. 1 | Blu-ray & DVD (Arrow Video)

RELEASE DATE: February 13, 2018 On February 13, 2018, Arrow Video is releasing the 4-disc Blu-ray + DVD set for Seijun Suzuki: The Early Years. Vol. 1 – Seijun Rising: The Youth Movies. Read the official details below: Making their home-video debuts outside Japan, this diverse selection of Nikkatsu youth movies (seishun eiga) charts the evolving style of the B-movie maverick best known for the cult classics Tokyo Drifter (1966) and … Continue reading

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

Find out what to expect from Neeson’s The Commuter

Liam Neeson’s latest movie, The Commuter, sees him pair up once more with Jaume Collet-Serra. Find out what you are going to get with this review. Continue reading

Posted in News |

Find out if McGregor delivered the goods with Notorious

Notorious is a documentary tracing Conor McGregor’s career, and it provides some insights into the superstar. Find out more with this review. Continue reading

Posted in News |

The Best Action Movies from the 1980s

The 1980s didn’t just give us mullets and shoulderpads. They also were the time in which some of the finest action films ever made were produced! Continue reading

Posted in News |

The best Asian movies of 2017 and what to look out for in 2018

The year 2017 was once again a very successful year for Asian cinema. While Hollywood may be ruling the world with their vast array of superhero movies and family dram, Asian cinema continues to flourish. The most successful Asian movie of 2017 was Wolf Warrior 2, which actually raked in more than Wonder Woman and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and just a fraction less than … Continue reading

Posted in News |

Reset | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)

RELEASE DATE: February 6, 2018 Director Yoon Hong-seung (The Target) joins forces with Jackie Chan (as producer) for the Korean/Chinese production titled Reset (read our review), which is heading to Blu-ray & DVD from Well Go USA on February 6, 2018. When her son is kidnapped, the inventor of a time machine (Yang Mi of The Bullet Vanishes) teams up with multiple versions of her future self to rescue him. Reset also stars Wallace Huo (The … Continue reading

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

‘Blade of the Immortal’ proves Asian-inspired cinema is still critically successful

If you look at this brutal dissection of the flop film Ghost in the Shell starring Scarlett Johansson, you can see that there were inherent problems with the thinking behind the movie. The movie managed to offend vast swathes of Asian cinema fans with its decision to whitewash the character list, and hinted, rather alarmingly, at the era of Asian-inspired films being popular coming to an end. Sure, the movie still made an … Continue reading

Posted in News |

Old Stone | Blu-ray (Kino Lorber)

RELEASE DATE: January 30, 2018 On January 30, 2018, Zeitgeist Films and Kino Lorber will be releasing the Blu-ray for Johnny Ma’s Old Stone, a critically acclaimed social-realist drama that slowly turns into blood-drenched noir. Old Stone follows the repercussions of a car accident in a society where life is cheap and compassion is ruinously expensive. When a drunken passenger causes Lao Shi (Chen Gang) to swerve and hit a motorcyclist, the driver stops … Continue reading

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

Well Go USA goes in for the kill with a ‘Memoir of a Murderer’

Well Go USA continues to kill the competition with their upcoming release of the highly-anticipated thriller, Memoir of a Murderer (not to be confused with Bong Jun-Ho’s similarly titled Memories of Murder) from director Won Shin-Yeon (The Suspect). Byeong-soo, a retired serial killer, lives a quiet life with his daughter Eun-hee, who has cared for him ever since his Alzheimer’s diagnosis. When Eun-hee brings home her new boyfriend Tae-joo, Byeong-soo realizes Tae-joo is also … Continue reading

Posted in News |

Kill Order | DVD (Image Entertainment)

RELEASE DATE: February 6, 2018 The perfect weapon. The ultimate target. That’s the tagline for Kill Order (aka Meza), an upcoming martial arts actioner that marks the directorial debut of veteran stunt coordinator James Mark (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World). The film hits DVD on February 6, 2018. In Kill Order (read our review), chaos erupts when a group of armed men break into a high school classroom. They target David (Chris Mark), a quiet kid … Continue reading

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

Won Jin orchestrates sibling rivalry with ‘Brothers in Heaven’

Won Jin, the legendary Sonny the Scorpion from the 1992 classic Operation Scorpio (read our interview here), has confirmed he’s recently completed action directing duties for the upcoming Korean crime thriller Brothers in Heaven. Jin has been applying his action directing skills in China as of late, so this marks the first time for him to return to his native Korea since choreographing the action in 2013’s The Suspect, in … Continue reading

Posted in News |

Deal on Fire! Rise of the Legend | Blu-ray | Only $9.90 – Expires soon!

Today’s Deal on Fire is  the Blu-ray for Rise of the Legend (read our review), a martial arts epic directed by Roy Chow (Nightfall). Rise of the Legend features an all-star cast that includes Sammo Hung (Seven Warriors), Eddie Peng (Unbeatable), Jing Boran (The Bullet Vanishes), Zhang Jin (Ip Man 3), Wong Cho-lam (Firestorm) and Angelababy (Mojin: The Lost Legend). The film also features fight choreography by the legendary Corey Yuen (Kiss of … Continue reading

Posted in Deals on Fire!, News |

Bruce Lee – The Greatest Icon of Martial Arts Cinema

“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” – (Bruce Lee, 1940 – 1973) Bruce Lee is one of those rare actors who transcended the movies he appeared in to become an almost mythical figure. He is the embodiment of the martial artist, an accomplished actor and a positive role-model for Asian Americans. Lee was single-handedly … Continue reading

Posted in News |

The Magic of Manga: How Developers Have Used Manga to Make their Products Shine

Manga has become iconic in Japan, but that’s not the only place its influence has been felt. Although early Manga illustrations were seen as popular works sold to the masses in the 17th century, according to japantimes.co.jp, the style took off in the 19th century. From here, illustrators found a home in comics and that gave rise to the Manga styling that we know and love today. While Manga comics … Continue reading

Posted in News |

Crime pays for Raquel Xu and Philip Ng in ‘Queen of Triads’

Ready for some female-centric organized crime? Get ready for Queen of Triads, an action-thriller written and produced by Wong Jing and directed by his protege Kam Kar-wai (who is currently shooting Big Brother with Donnie Yen). When an innocent girl is raped again and again and betrayed by her loved ones, she decides to take control of her life by becoming a gangster leader. The film stars Raquel Xu (Chasing the Dragon, Mission … Continue reading

Posted in News |