Author Archives: JJ Bona

‘A Hard Day’ and ‘Tunnel’ director to deliver zombies to Netflix

Kim Seong-Hun, the filmmaker behind A Hard Day and Tunnel, is making an eight-episode Korean zombie series for Netflix from a script by Kim Eun-hee (Signal). According to Deadline, Kingdom is set in Korea’s medieval Joseon period where a crown prince is sent on a suicide mission to investigate a mysterious outbreak that leads him to a brutal truth that threatens the kingdom. “I wanted to write a story that reflects the fears and anxiety … Continue reading

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Deal on Fire! Firestorm | Blu-ray | Only $8.99 – Expires soon!

Today’s Deal on Fire is the Blu-ray for Firestorm, starring Andy Lau (Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame), Yao Chen (Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe) and Gordon Lam (Trivisa). Firestorm is a high-octane action/thriller set in modern day Hong Kong. It follows Lau as a senior police inspector out to bring a vicious gang of thieves to justice. Firestorm (read our review) arrives from screenwriter-turned-director Alan Yuen, whose previous script credits … Continue reading

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Prequel to Donnie Yen’s ‘Painted Skin’ coming in 2019

Back in 2008, director Gordon Chan (Armageddon) helmed an action-romance titled Painted Skin, starring Chen Kun (Zhong Kui), Zhou Xun (The Banquet), Zhao Wei (14 Blades) and Donnie Yen (xXx: Return of Xander Cage). The film was loosely based on a classic short story by Pu Songling, a writer of supernatural tales during the Qing Dynasty. The same story also served as the inspiration for a 1992 Painted Skin starring … Continue reading

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Akira Kurosawa’s ‘The Mask of the Black Death’ in the works

Chinese entertainment company Huayi Brothers (Mojin: The Lost Legend, Dragon Blade) have announced The Mask of the Black Death, an upcoming film based on a script by one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai, Ran). The Mask of the Black Death (based on on Edgar Allen Poe’s short story The Masque of the Red Death) was written by Kurosawa following his 1975 film Dersu Uzala and was … Continue reading

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The Handmaiden | Blu-ray (Sony)

RELEASE DATE: March 28, 2017 From visionary director Park Chan-wook (Old Boy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance) comes The Handmaiden (read our review), a film adaptation of Sarah Waters’ 2002 novel, Fingersmith. The Handmaiden will be getting a Blu-ray release from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on March 28, 2017 (DVD version was released in January). The Handmaiden is a gripping and sensual tale of two women – a young Japanese Lady living on a secluded estate, and … Continue reading

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Pulse | Blu-ray & DVD (Arrow Video)

RELEASE DATE: July 11, 2017 Arrow Video presents the Blu-ray & DVD for Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse (aka Kairo, read our review). Award-winning filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa (not related to Akira) delivered one of the finest entries in the “J-Horror” cycle of films with this moody and spiritually terrifying film that delivers existential dread along with its frights. Setting his story in the burgeoning internet and social media scene in Japan, Kurosawa’s dark and … Continue reading

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Michelle Yeoh takes on a Malaysian Bigfoot in ‘Mawas’

Brace yourself for Jeffrey Chiang’s Mawas, an upcoming thriller that’s being dubbed as “Malaysia’s first monster movie.” Headlining the film is Hong Kong action star Michelle Yeoh (Reign of Assassins). But don’t expect something in the lines of King Kong, Godzilla or any other kaiju film, because Mawas is more in tune with folklore favorite, Bigfoot. According to CO: Mawas is a Malaysia’s hominid cryptid similar to America’s Bigfoot which was reportedly sighted in Johor, Malaysia. There have been … Continue reading

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A ‘Traitor’ to helm Jackie Chan’s ‘Five Against a Bullet’

Back in 2012, it was reported that Bruce Willis was set to star in Five Against a Bullet, a film about a Mexican politician who hires five of the best bodyguards (Willis, being one of them) after his father is killed by a drug cartel. For die hard Asian cinema fans, the basic premise of Five Against a Bullet sounded a lot like Johnnie To’s 1999 film The Mission, which centered on a Triad boss who, after … Continue reading

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New Japanese Poster for shoot ’em up flick ‘Free Fire’

Part John Woo violence, part Guy Ritchie comedy and part 70s exploitation… get ready for Free Fire, an upcoming shoot ’em flick produced by Martin Scorsese. Official: Acclaimed filmmaker Ben Wheatley (High Rise) propels the audience into quite possibly the most epic shootout ever seen on film as he crafts a spectacular parody of the insanity of gun violence. Everyone’s got a gun, and absolutely no one is in control. Set … Continue reading

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Tunnel | DVD (Well Go USA)

RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2017 On May 2, 2017, Well Go USA Entertainment will be releasing the DVD for Kim Seong-hun’s Tunnel (read our review), a South Korean thriller starring Ha Jung-Woo (Assassination), Doona Bae (A Girl at My Door, The Host) and Oh Dal-su (Veteran). Jung-soo, an ordinary car salesman finds himself in a most extraordinary event when the tunnel he’s driving through collapses, trapping him. Nothing is around him … Continue reading

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Deal on Fire! Heroes Two | Blu-ray | Only $5.50 – Expires soon!

Today’s Deal on Fire is the Blu-ray for Heroes Two, a Shaw Brothers classic directed by the legendary Chang Cheh (Five Element Ninjas, Slaughter in Xian) with action scenes choreographed by the great Lau Kar-leung (Shaolin Mantis, Drunken Master II). This impressive production, also known as Bloody Fists or Kung Fu Invaders, is a true landmark in kung fu film history. The first of Chang Cheh’s Taiwan-produced, mid-1970s Shaolin cycle, … Continue reading

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Cops vs Thugs | Blu-ray & DVD (Arrow Video)

RELEASE DATE: May 23, 2017 Arrow Video’s ever growing catalogue of Asian masterpieces continues with the Blu-ray & DVD for 1975’s Cops vs Thugs, a crime classic directed by Kinji Fukasaku (Battles Without Honor and Humanity). Considered by many to be director Fukasaku’s greatest single-film achievement in the yakuza genre, Cops vs Thugs was made at the height of popularity of Toei Studios’ jitsuroku boom: realistic, modern crime movies based on … Continue reading

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New Trailer for the 80s-inspired martial arts flick ‘Plan B’

Grab your red “Thriller” jacket and get ready for Plan B, an upcoming martial arts flick fused with comedy and nostalgic pop culture. The film’s cast and crew consists of stuntmen and martial artists from the German film crew, Reel Deal Action. In Plan B, three martial arts experts (Can Aydin, Cha-Lee Yoon and Phong Giang) embark upon a search for a treasure that will allow them to save a friend from the clutches of a scrupulous … Continue reading

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Steven Seagal is back with a 3-word titled film ‘Paid on Death’

A fresh Steven Seagal (Above the Law, Contract to Kill) project, titled Paid on Death, has popped up on the radar. This upcoming actioner will team Seagal with director Shawn Sourgose (Blood of Redemption) and producer Kevin Carraway (Chain of Command). Here’s what you can expect from the plot (via TE): A man known by his alias, ‘Assassin,’ (we’re guessing Seagal) works as a hired killer for the U.S. government, terminating individuals deemed too dangerous for society. When … Continue reading

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Warner Bros. wants Mel Gibson to direct ‘Suicide Squad 2’

Here’s one nobody saw coming. Mel Gibson is in talks with Warner Bros. to direct a sequel to David Ayer’s Suicide Squad. According to THR, Gibson is familiarizing himself with the material. But the studio is not being passive and is also looking at other directors, Daniel Espinosa (Safe House) among them. Ironically, Gibson has been vocally against doing these types of films. While promoting Hacksaw Ridge, Gibson spoke to The Washington Post … Continue reading

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