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on “Hydra of Our Times” A Look Back at Shiri – Korea’s International Breakthrough 26 Years OnI understood the historical aspect. I viewed the North Korean characters as t…
on ‘Die Hard’ meets ‘Stand and Deliver’? Now on Digital is ‘Hard Redemption’ starring Jino Kang and Lou FerrignoDavid is actually a preety nice and decent dude.And he is good in martial art…
on “Hydra of Our Times” A Look Back at Shiri – Korea’s International Breakthrough 26 Years OnThis movie is misunderstood by westerners, perhaps, mostly by Americans as be…
on No one man should have all that POWER! New Poster and Featurettes released for ‘Masters of the Universe’Spot on. lol
on No one man should have all that POWER! New Poster and Featurettes released for ‘Masters of the Universe’Faces of Skeletor.
on Marx for death? Martial arts powerhouse Bren Foster teams up with Mekhi Phifer for Louis Mandylor’s ‘Marx’don't you trust him to be able to wear a full beard? XD
on Has Brett Ratner’s ‘Rush Hour 4’ hit some speed bumps with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker holding things up?Good points! To be fair, if his legacy can survive Kung Fu Yoga, Vanguard, Bl…
on Has Brett Ratner’s ‘Rush Hour 4’ hit some speed bumps with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker holding things up?I get what you’re saying, but I think it’s a little too black and white. Sure…
on Has Brett Ratner’s ‘Rush Hour 4’ hit some speed bumps with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker holding things up?Jackie and Tucker need to stay away from VIP #1 (Brett Ratfuck) at Epsteins P…
on Has Brett Ratner’s ‘Rush Hour 4’ hit some speed bumps with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker holding things up?Comedy is also supposed to be funny, not just offensive. There's a difference…
on Has Brett Ratner’s ‘Rush Hour 4’ hit some speed bumps with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker holding things up?You do have to love how in every interview, even for the SHADOWS EDGE , Jacki…
on Has Brett Ratner’s ‘Rush Hour 4’ hit some speed bumps with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker holding things up?The Rush Hour series is hilarious. Even the third film is funnier than most c…
on Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao and more! Star-studded Hong Kong epic ‘1941’ in the works for a 2027 release?The fact he passed away in 2022 would also have had an impact on his involvem…
on Marx for death? Martial arts powerhouse Bren Foster teams up with Mekhi Phifer for Louis Mandylor’s ‘Marx’This Louis Mandylor is not good and he likes to star in many scott adkins fil…
on Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao and more! Star-studded Hong Kong epic ‘1941’ in the works for a 2027 release?Nah that’s definitely an error, Corey Yuen’s Chinese name is 元奎.
on Marx for death? Martial arts powerhouse Bren Foster teams up with Mekhi Phifer for Louis Mandylor’s ‘Marx’We have a new DTV trash star Bren Foster lol.
Category Archives: Reviews
Bad City (2022) Review
Director: Kensuke Sonomura Cast: Hitoshi Ozawa, Tak Sakaguchi, Masanori Mimoto, Rino Katase, Lily Franky, Katsuya, Akane Sakanoue, Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi, Yasukaze Motomiya Running Time: 118 min. By Paul Bramhall On paper Bad City is one of those movies that has all the right ingredients to cook up the perfect yakuza action flick. The sophomore feature from stuntman and action choreographer turned director Kensuke Sonomura following 2019’s Hydra, just like with his debut … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Hitoshi Ozawa, Kensuke Sonomura, Masanori Mimoto, Tak Sakaguchi
Hidden Strike (2023) Review
Director: Scott Waugh Cast: Jackie Chan, John Cena, Amadeus Serafini, Pilou Asbæk, Jiang Wenli, Rachael Holoway, Amadeus Serafini, Rima Zeidan, Max Huang, Tim Man, Tazito Garcia Running Time: 102 min. By Paul Bramhall It may be difficult to believe that a movie which started filming in 2018 featuring Jackie Chan as its star, was funded almost entirely by Chinese backers, and paired the action movie legend with WWE wrestler turned actor … Continue reading
Posted in All, Asian Related, News, Other Movies, Reviews
Tagged Jackie Chan, John Cena, Scott Waugh, Tim Man
Big Boss: Mandarin Cut, The (1971) Review
Director: Lo Wei Producer: Raymond Chow Cast: Bruce Lee, Maria Yi, James Tien Chun, Han Ying Chieh, Nora Miao, Lee Kwan, Anthony Lau, Lam Ching Ying, Billy Chan Wui Ngai, Peter Yang Kwan Running Time: 115 min. By Ian Whittle The Big Boss remains a rather intriguing oddity. Golden Harvest’s first contemporary martial arts movie, it was released the same month as Shaw’s also Thailand filmed Duel of Fists. But … Continue reading
Posted in All, Chinese, Golden Harvest, News, Reviews
Tagged Billy Chan Wui Ngai, Bruce Lee, Han Ying Chieh, James Tien, Lam Ching-ying, Lee Kwan, Lo Wei, Maria Yi, Nora Miao, Peter Chan Lung, Tony Liu (Anthony Lau Wing)
Hidden Blade (2023) Review
Director: Cheng Er Cast: Tony Leung, Wang Yibo, Chengpeng Dong, Zhou Xun, Eric Wang, Huang Lei, Hiroyuki Mori Running Time: 130 min. By Paul Bramhall Spy thrillers set in the 30’s and 40’s have become something of a genre unto themselves in the Chinese film industry during the last decade or so, with titles likes Alan Mak and Felix Chong’s The Silent War, Ann Hui’s Our Time Will Come, and Chen … Continue reading
Night of the Assassin | aka The Assassin (2023) Review
Director: Kwak Jeong-deok Cast: Shin Hyun-joon, Kim Min-kyung, Lee Ro-woon, Lee Moon-sik, Hong Eunki, Kim Byung-chun Running Time: 100 min. By Paul Bramhall I remember back in 2003, the UK DVD label Hong Kong Legends created a sister label called Premier Asia, of which the intent was to highlight productions from other parts of Asia beyond Hong Kong shores. One of the first titles (possibly even the first?) was the 2000 Korean … Continue reading
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) Review
Director: Christopher McQuarrie Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Henry Czerny, Esai Morales, Shea Whigham, Rob Delaney Running Time: 163 min. By Paul Bramhall In the closing line for my review of 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout, I’d expressed a hope that if Tom Cruise was to return, then all he’d need was for “someone to hook him up with Gareth Evans for Mission: … Continue reading
Posted in All, Other Movies, Reviews
Tagged Christopher McQuarrie, Esai Morales, Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames
Fox with Nine Tails, The (1994) Review
Director: Park Heonsu Cast: Ko So-young, Jung Woo-sung, Dok-go Young-jae, Bang Eun-hee, Lee Ki-young Running Time: 115 min. By Paul Bramhall Korean cinema was in a transitionary period during the 1990’s, a decade which would culminate in its film industry achieving an international breakthrough thanks to Kang Je-gyu’s bombastic action movie Shiri. The start of the decade was a very different story, with Korea opening up to import foreign cinema, … Continue reading
Unleashed (2020) Review
Director: Ambrose Kwok Co-director: Ka Hei Kwok Cast: Sun Zhen-Feng, Ken Lo, Zheng Zi-Ping, Venus Wong, Sam Lee, Raymond Chiu Running Time: 84 min. By Henry McKeand There’s something quaint about Unleashed, the 2020 kickboxing film from Kwok Ka-Hei and Ambrose Kwok Yat-Choi. Then again, in a modern action climate dominated by assassins and digital blood spray, maybe there’s something quaint about all movies concerned mainly with competitions and training … Continue reading
One Ranger (2023) Review
Director: Jesse V. Johnson Cast: Thomas Jane, Dean Jagger, Dominique Tipper, Jess Liaudin, Rachel Wilde, Nick Moran, Patrick Bergin, John Malkovich, Alena Gerber, David Sakurai Running Time: 95 min. By Henry McKeand Once upon a time, One Ranger, the latest from DTV titan Jesse V. Johnson, would have been a reliable box office draw based solely on the strength of its logline: A crusty Texas Ranger named (Thomas Jane) is … Continue reading
Posted in All, News, Other Movies, Reviews
Tagged Jesse V. Johnson, John Malkovich, Thomas Jane
Childe, The (2023) Review
Director: Park Hoon-Jung Cast: Kim Sun-Ho, Kang Tae-Ju, Kim Kang-Woo, Go Ara, Justin John Harvey, Caroline Magbojos Running Time: 118 min. By Paul Bramhall As a director and scriptwriter Park Hoon-jung has become one of the most consistent commercial filmmakers in Korea since his debut with The Showdown in 2010, going on to helm a further 7 productions over the next 13 years. His latest arrives in the form of … Continue reading
Cobweb (2023) Review
Director: Kim Jee-Woon Cast: Song Kang-Ho, Lim Soo-jung, Oh Jung-Se, Jeon Yeo-Bin, Krystal Jung, Jung Woo-sung Running Time: 135 min. By Paul Bramhall Back in the 2000’s the Korean film industry was going through a creative renaissance, so much so that its popularity overseas coined the term the ‘Korean Wave’, referencing that particular period of the countries cinematic output. Back then there were a trio of directors at the forefront … Continue reading
Posted in All, Korean, News, Reviews
Tagged Im Su-Jeong, Jung Woo-sung, Kim Jee-Woon (Kim Ji-woon), Song Kang-Ho
Extraction 2 (2023) Review
Director: Sam Hargrave Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Golshifteh Farahani, Adam Bessa, Olga Kurylenko, Daniel Bernhardt, Tinatin Dalakishvili, Idris Elba, Andro Japaridze, Levan Saginashvili Running Time: 122 min. By Paul Bramhall In the closing scene of 2020’s Extraction, we saw Chris Hemsworth riddled with bullets and left for dead in Bangladesh, falling from a bridge into the river below to sail away into the great beyond. Except, Extraction is an action movie, and if there’s one thing … Continue reading
Posted in All, Asian Related, News, Other Movies, Reviews
Tagged Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Bernhardt, Idris Elba, Olga Kurylenko, Sam Hargrave
Born Invincible (1978) Review
Director: Joseph Kuo Cast: Mark Long, Jack Long, Carter Wong, Lo Lieh, Nancy Yen, Corey Yuen, Yuen Shun Yee, Lung Fei, Alan Chui, Yuen Sam, Chen Chiu, Chu Siu Wa, Yuen Woo Ping Running Time: 83 min. By Ian Whittle My immediate reaction to Born Invincible is that someone must have put all the actor’s names in a hat before assigning roles… we’ve got regular villain Lung Fei playing the master … Continue reading
Posted in All, Chinese, News, Reviews
Tagged Carter Wong, Corey Yuen, Jack Long, Joseph Kuo, Lung Fei, Mark Long, Nancy Yen Nan Hsi, Yuen Shun Yee, Yuen Woo-ping
The Roundup: No Way Out (2023) Review
Director: Lee Sang-Yong Cast: Ma Dong-Seok, Lee Joon-Hyuk, Munetaka Aoki, Jun Kunimura, Lee Beom-Soo, Kim Min-jae, Jun Suk-ho, Ko Kyu-phil, Bae Noo-ri, Lee Ji-hoon Running Time: 105 min. By Paul Bramhall The expression “it’s the role he was born to play” may be a cliched one, but its hard to think of a more fitting one when it comes to Ma Dong-seok playing the witty, hammer fisted detective Ma Seok-do. Introduced in 2017’s … Continue reading
Sound of Summer, The (2022) Review
Director: Guy Cast: Kaori Hoshino, Shinya Hankawa, Keita Kusaka, Kiyomi Kametani, Kuromi Kirishima Running Time: 75 min. By Henry McKeand The Sound of Summer, the first full length effort from the Japan-based, British-born director known as “Guy,” opens with a transformation. A cicada sheds its skin in unsettling close-up; it’s akin to seeing an alien parasite burst forth from a suffering host. Against a black background, it looks uncanny, almost … Continue reading
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