Author Archives: JJ Bona

Are Tiger Chen, Max Zhang, Iko Uwais and Tony Jaa ‘APES’?

There’s another Expendables-ish Asian action film in the works – not to be confused with Jesse V. Johnson’s upoming actioner Triple Threat (aka The Makeshift Squad) – titled Asia Pacific Elimination Service (or A.P.E.S.). Earlier this year at Filmart (via THR), the $12 million project had Tony Jaa (Tom Yum Goong 2), Tiger Chen (Monk Comes Down the Mountain) and David Wu attached, but upon further research, Max Zhang (SPL 2 aka Kill Zone 2) … Continue reading

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New Trailer for Ryoo Seung-wan’s ‘Battleship Island’

After his smash hit Veteran, Ryoo Seung-wan is now preparing to release Battleship Island (read our review), a big budget action thriller. The upcoming film, set on Hashima Island in Japan, will revolve around the story of Korean laborers force to work by the Japanese military during World War II, who plan to escape to the island. Veteran star Hwang Jeong-min leads a cast that includes So Ji-Sub (Company Man), Song Joong-Ki (Five Senses of … Continue reading

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Takashi Miike and Sammo Hung to team up for action?

Acclaimed director Takashi Miike (Dead or Alive, Ley Lines), one of the hardest-working filmmakers from Japan – and the legendary Sammo Hung (The Bodyguard), one of the hardest-working figures in Hong Kong cinema – are joining forces for an action comedy in 2018. According to AFS, the upcoming Chinese-made presentation will be directed by Miike and action will be choreographed by Hung, with Shun Oguri (Lupin the Third) and Takuya Kimura (2046) starring alongside a to-be-announced Chinese cast. At this time, there’s no … Continue reading

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Trailer for Netflix’s ‘Death Note’ has death written all over it

A Hollywood adaptation of Tsugumi Ohba’s Death Note – a hit manga, anime and Japanese live-action horror film series – is coming to your Netflix queue. The upcoming film, directed by Adam Wingard (The Guest), stars Nat Wolff (The Fault in Our Stars) and Margaret Qualley (The Nice Guys). Death Note (read our review) centers around an intelligent high school student goes on a secret crusade to eliminate criminals from the world after discovering … Continue reading

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Herman Yau delivers more blood with ‘Always Be with You’

Considering that he’s gone all respectable with historical action pictures like The Legend is Born: Ip Man and The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake – not to mention edge-of-your-seat blockbusters like Shock Wave – it’s easy to forget that director Herman Yau (Taxi Hunter) got his start in the grimy, nasty world of Category III. Movies like The Untold Story and Ebola Syndrome made Yau famous and now the filmmaker is once … Continue reading

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Ann Hui’s war epic ‘Our Time Will Come’ gets a July release

China Lion is releasing Our Time Will Come on July 7th in 16 cities in North America. Based on a true story, this action-filled wartime epic is directed by award-winning filmmaker Ann Hui (A Simple Life) and stars Zhou Xun (The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate), Eddie Peng (Operation Mekong) and Wallace Huo (Fatal Countdown: Reset). Our Time Will Come portrays a chapter in the history of Hong Kong’s wartime era … Continue reading

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Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So | Blu-ray & DVD (Warner)

RELEASE DATE: August 8, 2017 Warner Brothers presents the Blu-ray & DVD for Guo Jian-Yong’s Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So (read our coverage about the film), starring Zhi Hui Chen, Jun Cao and Mei Ying Wang. The film is part of the HBO Asia Original Film series (other being Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying), produced by Corey Yuen (Righting Wrongs). Due to a conspiracy, the wealthy So Chan loses … Continue reading

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

Deal on Fire! Ran | Blu-ray | Only $9.59 – Expires soon!

Today’s Deal on Fire is the Blu-ray for Akira Kurosawa’s Ran (read our reviews), a 1985 “interpretation” of Shakespeare’s King Lear. In Medieval Japan, an elderly warlord retires, handing over his empire to his three sons. However, he vastly underestimates how the new-found power will corrupt them and cause them to turn on each other… and him. Ran stars Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryu, Masayuki Yui, Kazuo Kato, Peter, … Continue reading

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Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying | Blu-ray & DVD (Warner)

RELEASE DATE: August 8, 2017 Warner Brothers presents the Blu-ray & DVD for Guo Jian-Yong’s Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying (read our coverage about the film), starring Mou Li, Zhi Hui Chen and Hao Ran Sun. The film is part of the HBO Asia Original Film series (other being Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So), produced by Corey Yuen (Righting Wrongs). Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying tells a tale … Continue reading

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

Seijun Suzuki’s Taisho Trilogy | Blu-ray & DVD (Arrow)

RELEASE DATE: August 8, 2017 On August 8, 2017, Arrow Academy will be releasing Seijun Suzuki’s The Taisho Trilogy, which will include the following three films: Zigeunerweisen, Kageroza and Yumeji. Read the full details below. After over a decade in the wilderness following his firing from Nikkatsu for Branded to Kill (1967), maverick director Seijun Suzuki (Voice Without a Shadow) returned with a vengeance with his critically-praised tryptic of cryptic supernatural dramas set during the … Continue reading

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

Racial tensions reach a boiling point in Justin Chon’s ‘Gook’

Justin Chon (Revenge of the Green Dragons) writes, directs and stars in Gook, an upcoming thriller that examines the relationships between Korean and African American communities set around the 1992 L.A. Riots. Eli (Chon) and Daniel (David So) are two Korean American brothers that run their late father’s shoe store in a predominantly African American community of Los Angeles. These two brothers strike up an unlikely friendship with an 11-year-old African American … Continue reading

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Catch Scott Adkins in ‘American Assassin’ if you can…

On September 15th, Lionsgate will be releasing American Assassin into the theaters. This upcoming action thriller is directed by Michael Cuesta (Kill the Messenger) and based on a series of novels by the late Vince Flynn. The film stars Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner) as a special agent who carries out covert counter-terrorist operations. Co-starring is Michael Keaton (Jackie Brown), who plays Stan Hurley, Rapp’s instructor/mentor. According to Deadline, the pair are enlisted by CIA Deputy Director (Sanaa Lathan) to investigate a … Continue reading

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City on Fire will be returning shortly…

We here at City on Fire enjoy passing along the latest news, features, interviews, and reviews for our readers. But we need a break. Not a long one! We promise. We’ll be back in a couple weeks, probably less – just enough time to relax and recharge. Watch some good movies while we’re gone and be sure to tell us about ’em when we get back. This will also be a good … Continue reading

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‘Cannonball Run’ gets help from ‘Central Intelligence’?

Despite the departure of director Etan Cohen (Get Hard), a remake of Cannonball Run is still in gear. According to Deadline, Warner is now negotiating with Night At The Museum’s Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant to write and Central Intelligence’s Rawson Thurber to direct the film. The remake is being spearheaded by producer Andre Morgan (Man from Hong Kong), who has been making movies at Warner Bros and Golden Harvest since Enter the Dragon in … Continue reading

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S.W A T.: Under Siege | Blu-ray & DVD (Sony)

RELEASE DATE: August 1, 2017 Sony Entertainment presents the Blu-ray & DVD for S.W A T.: Under Siege, an upcoming actioner directed by Tony Giglio (Chaos). When a D.E.A. and S.W.A.T. cartel takedown ends in a shootout, S.W.A.T. Agent Travis Hall (Sam Jaeger) seizes a mysterious prisoner and takes him into custody. Before long, the S.W.A.T. compound is under siege by wave after wave of assault teams attempting to recover the prisoner … Continue reading

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