"Firestorm" Chinese Theatrical Poster

Despite hitting the ripe age of 51 years-old, Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau is showing no signs of slowing down. After headlining Tsui Hark’s Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame and making a cameo appearance in Cold War, Andy Lau is, once again, throwing himself back into the action. His next film is a high-octane action/thriller set in modern day Hong Kong. Titled Firestorm, the movie follows Lau as a senior police inspector out to bring a vicious gang of thieves to justice.

Firestorm arrives from screenwriter-turned-director Alan Yuen, whose previous script credits include such titles as New Police Story and Shaolin. Just in case you needed more incentive to see the film, the producers are promising “all out war” on the streets of Hong Kong. A trailer for Firestorm is online now for your viewing pleasure. | Expect to hear more about this promising movie as we near its December 2013 Chinese release. | Updated trailer. | New trailer.

Updates: The Andy Lau actioner Firestorm is receiving plenty of internet buzz ahead of its December 12th release in China. Says first-time director Alan Yuen: “Firestorm maintains the original flavor of the Hong Kong cop films that everybody used to love so much.” | Latest trailer. | Newest trailer.

BREAKING NEWS: DDDHouse.com now has Firestorm, available for March 5th pre-order on Blu-ray & DVD. Keep in mind that the DVD version is Region 3 coded, so you will need a multi-region DVD player to view the movie. Fortunately, the Blu-ray version is coded for region A, so it’s good to go on your current North American Blu-ray hardware.

"Dredd" Japanese Theatrical Poster

Despite Dredd’s dreadful box office reception, Blu-ray and DVD sales for violent comic book adaptation have been sky rocketing. So now, Lionsgate has been having conversations about a Dredd sequel with Karl Urban, screenwriter Alex Garland and director Peter Travis – who are all reprising their talents, if the sequel happens.

From Screen Rant: Urban said what we’ve been saying since the film first released: that the studio completely fumbled its marketing and theatrical arrival. Urban went on to say that despite an underwhelming box office take that had seemed to kill any chance of a sequel, the DVD sales have continued to impress – and Lionsgate has taken notice.

We’ll keep you updated. Until then, the first Dredd is a click away.

"Lady Vengeance" DVD Cover

If you’ve been a connoisseur of Asian cinema as far back as 2005, you’re likely to recall the glory days of Palisade Tartan’s ‘Asia Extreme’ label. The beloved DVD series helped introduce a number of now-classic Asian titles – including Oldboy and A Tale of Two Sisters – to the North American market.

Fans were understandably upset when Tartan closed their doors in the States back in 2008. Although the company has issued a few titles on Blu-ray in recent years, including Kim Ki-duk’s The Coast Guard, it’s been nothing like Tartan’s initial deluge, which also gave Shinya Tsukamoto’s 1989 cyber-punk classic Tetsuo: The Iron Man its first proper Stateside release.

Fortunately, it looks like Tartan’s ‘Asia Extreme’ label will be making something of a comeback.

Via Variety, distributor Kino Lorber announced they have acquired North American home entertainment rights to Tartan’s massive library of films, which includes the popular ‘Asia Extreme’ catalog. Lorber plans to exhibit select films theatrically, in addition to proper Blu-ray releases for most titles. Lorber’s deal also includes digital distribution rights, so we may see more ‘Asia Extreme’ titles popping up on Netflix or Amazon. Considering Kino Lorber’s long history of treating genre films with the respect they deserve, this acquisition can only be good news for us Asian film buffs.

Asian Retro Cinema now streaming on Amazon.com

Tired of the new and want the old? Currently on Amazon.com is a string of Hong Kong Retro Cinema flicks from Asian Crush – all remastered and subtitled. Titles include John Woo’s Last Hurrah for Chivalry, Lau Ching Wan’s Return to a Better Tomorrow, Stephen Chow’s Fight Back to School and many more!

Asian Crush also has a variety of newer films, including ones from Korea and Japan. Many of the movies are available FREE if you’re an Amazon Prime member (Free trial). To view the full list of films from Asian Crush, click here.

Love it or hate it, streaming movies are here to stay. Of course, there’s nothing like owning hardcopies of your favorite films, so make it a priority to purchase Blu-ray & DVDs every chance you get. End of commercial. =)

"Dark Vengeance" Movie Poster

Why go straight-to-DVD when you can go straight-to-Redbox? That’s right. Steven Seagal’s Dark Vengeance will be making its debut to Redbox on February 27th. And, not to mislead you, but Dark Vengeance isn’t exactly a new “movie” per se – it’s actually two episodes of Seagal’s TV series True Justice merged together to make a 90-minute (or so) presentation, hence the trailer.

Here’s the plot according to Expendables Premiere: Seattle’s darkest criminals force Elijah Kane (Steven Seagal) and his hard knuckled team work around the clock to track down a meticulous “Black Magic”-practicing killer in the vagrant strip club underworld.

Dark Vengeance also stars Tzi Ma (Rapid Fire, Rush Hour), who will be appearing in Seagal’s next movie, A Good Man.

"In the Blood" Theatrical Poster

THE MOVIE: When her husband goes missing during their Caribbean vacation, a woman (Gina Carano) sets off on her own to take down the men she thinks are responsible. In the Blood is directed by John Stockwell (Into the Blue) and stars Gina Carano, Stephen Lang, Luis Guzman, Amaury Nolasco, Cam Gigandet, Danny Trejo, Treat Williams, Ismael Cruz Cordova and Yvette Yates.

Updates: “This role will showcase not only Gina’s fighting skills, but also her acting abilities as her character struggles to reign in her violent past,” Stockwell tells THR. | According to THR, Anchor Bay has North American rights. The film will have a limited theatrical/VOD release on April 4th 2014, followed by a June 3rd Blu-ray/DVD release.

If you’re a Gina Carano fan, be sure to read about her other in-development films, which include an untitled “female Expendables” movie, as well as an appearance in The Silent Flute, which was written by Bruce Lee.

BREAKING NEWS: Watch the film’s first trailer!

Universal's 2nd Wave of Limited Edition Steel Book Titles

For DVD and Blu-ray companies, times are getting a little rough. With streaming, cloud storage and digital downloading becoming more and more popular, studios are thinking of ways to give the consumer “extra added value” when it comes to their physical movie catalog. Whether it’s packing a double, triple or quadruple feature onto a single disc or offering extras exclusively on Blu-ray or DVD, it’s apparent they’re doing everything they can to compete with virtual media.

One company is putting a creative spin by offering something that will look just as good on your shelf as it does on your big screen TV.

Back in June 25th 2013, Universal released a series of Limited Edition titles in newly packaged in a Steel Book casing with impressive comic book-like illustrations. Although this wasn’t exactly a new idea, this was the first time it was done to 16 titles on a single release date.

Now, Universal has just announced their 2nd wave of Limited Edition ‘Illustrated’ Steel Book movies on Blu-ray. Click here for the pre-order list.

Some will say this is a greedy move (“double dipping”) by Universal; others – say, die hard movie collectors – won’t think twice about spending money on a movie they may already own. And for those who are buying the movie for the first time, more power to you. Whatever the case, you can’t deny that the artwork is impressive.

"Yurusarezaru Mono" Japanese Theatrical Poster

Ready for a remake of Clint Eastwood’s 1992 western The Unforgiven? The upcoming remake will star The Last Samurai’s Ken Watanabe, and will be directed by Lee Sang-il, a Korean filmmaker who gained critical acclaim for 2010’s Villain (aka Akunin), which swept the actor awards at the 2011 Japan Academy Prize ceremony.

The remake, which will also star Akira Emoto and Koichi Sato, is to be titled Yurusarezaru Mono (Japanese for “unforgiven”).

1992’s The Unforgiven revolves around a retired outlaw (Eastwood) who takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner and a young man.

Media: 1st trailer. | 2nd teaser. | English-subtitled trailer.

Updates: A new UK trailer has been released.

"Hellbinders" Movie Poster

A new trailer for the upcoming action film Love Like Bullets, has just been released. The much anticipated film stars martial artist Johnny Yong Bosch (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Death Grip), who also provided the film’s original soundtrack, with his band Eyeshine. Love Like Bullets is directed by David Wald (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Hellbinders), who also happens to be a distinguished action coordinator and stunt man.

Here’s the official description: Love Like Bullets is a stylish and pulse-pounding shoot’em-up in the vein of True Romance meets The Professional. Set in the Los Angeles underworld, a hired assassin risks his life to protect a beautiful young prostitute who has captured his heart.

Thanks to Film Combat Syndicate for breaking the news. We’ll keep you updated as we hear more. Until then, be sure to check out the trailer.