News

This piece was occasioned by Issue 7 of Notebook magazine as part of a broader exploration of the unfilmable. The magazine is available via direct subscription or in select stores around the world.Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends.Unlike the wuxia warrior who soars to rafters and treetops, the fighters in the Rurouni Kenshin films (2012–21) move low and fast. Rather than immaculate choreography immaculately framed—the meat and potatoes of golden-age Hong Kong martial arts cinema—their swordplay is less studied, a quicksilver flow of action and reactions. And unlike the conventional samurai standoff, in which opponents take their time sizing each other up from a distance, the action is pure, intimate bedlam. Blades clash everywhere, from tip to hilt, bringing combatants up close; when an attack is dodged, it misses by mere inches. Some of the most iconic moments involve the hero, Himura Kenshin (Takeru Satoh), weaving tightly through a throng of opponents,...

“Threshold of the Visible” is available via direct subscription or in select stores around the world.While cinema is a photographic art, many subjects and experiences fail to come across on film in the same way that we experience them in life, if they can be reproduced at all. Issue 7 is organized around this very theme of “the unfilmable,” which contributing editor Paolo Cherchi Usai explores in an introductory feature. UFOs, stuntwork, hypnosis, microscopic imaging, and speculative technologies of the future—all arise in these pages. A series of conceptual film scripts by Yoko Ono challenge the reader to make movies in their own imaginations; Guy Maddin shares stunning collages for a film of torrid psychosexual impossibility, and, in an era- and genre-spanning essay, Bilge Ebiri finds room to dream between film frames. Notions of “unfilmability” also prompt ethical questions: filmmaker Ing K recounts (and illustrates) her experiences facing censorship in Thailand.

The Toronto International Film Festival announced today the TIFF 2025 selections for the highly regarded Midnight Madness program, its signature slate of wicked wonders that are sure to delight and disturb the Festival’s devoted and raucous late-night crowd.

The 2025 edition features seven World Premieres and is bookended by two of the year’s most acclaimed midnight comedies. Midnight Madness opens with the Canadian Premiere of Matt Johnson’s Toronto-set Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, based on Johnson’s cult Viceland series and recipient of the Midnighter Audience Award at this year’s SXSW. Horror-comedy Dead Lover closes out the fest’s midnight section.

Also look for Bryan Fuller’s Dust Bunny, Ben Wheatley’s latest shoot-out feature Normal starring Bob Odenkirk, and a ton of bone-crunching and over-the-top genre benders to round out this year’s midnight slate.

Here’s the TIFF 2025 Midnight Madness lineup:

Dead Lover | Grace Glowicki...

The program for the Toronto International Film Festival continues as Variety has passed along their unveiling of screenings for their Midnight Madness slate. The Midnight Madness line-up is a late-night presentation of more irreverent films that is akin to a modern-day grindhouse. The press release dare you to “bear witness to the very best and most bizarre in contemporary genre and shock cinema. Its signature slate of wicked wonders that are sure to delight and disturb.” All of the films featured will be making their premieres in some way, whether it be a world premiere, a Canadian premiere or an international premiere. And one of the films featured is the Bob Odenkirk action film Normal.

The movie is written by John Wick and Nobody screenwriter Derek Kolstad, and Ben Wheatley takes up the directing duties with this one. The film finds Odenkirk playing Ulysses, a lawman “who is thrust into...

The Toronto Film Festival has selected the lineup for this year’s Midnight Madness sidebar that includes seven world premieres. The pics, whether they’re slashers, comedies or hard-r action titles, close out each of night of the festival with 11:59 p.m. screenings at the Royal Alexandra Theatre.

Of note is the world premiere of Ben Wheatley’s reunion of the Nobody franchise team of Bob Odenkirk, scribe Derek Kolstad and producer Marc Provissiero for Normal. Movie tells the story of Ulysses (Odenkirk), a substitute sheriff in a small, forgotten town who responds to a bank robbery, only to unknowingly uncover something far more explosive. Wheatley’s Brie Larson action movie Free Fire won the Midnight Madness People’s Choice Award in 2016.

Also world premiering is Dust Bunny, the feature directorial debut of TV showrunner Bryan Fuller. In the horror drama thriller, an 8-year-old girl asks...

Calling all nocturnal movie lovers: The Toronto Film Festival has unveiled its midnight madness slate, a lineup of often disturbing and always raucous works of cinema.

Director Matt Johnson’s gonzo time-travel caper “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie,” will open the Midnight Madness section while “Dead Lover,” a zany, macabre horror-comedy from Canadian director Grace Glowicki, will be the closing night film.

Midnight Madness concludes each night of TIFF with 11:59 p.m. screenings at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, where the bold and brave gather at very late hours to “bear witness to the very best and most bizarre in contemporary genre and shock cinema,” according to the festival’s official press release. “Its signature slate of wicked wonders that are sure to delight and disturb.”

This year’s Midnight Madness section will host seven world premieres and one international premiere. Among the world premieres is Ben Wheatley’s “Normal,...

The Toronto International Film Festival has set seven world premieres, one international premiere and two Canadian debuts to screen in its Midnight Madness section.

Among the world premieres are Normal, a crime thriller from UK director Ben Wheatley (winner of the Midnight Madness People’s Choice award in 2016 for Free Fire), with Bob Odenkirk starring, and Dust Bunny, a whimsical horror thriller that marks the feature directing debut of US television showrunner Bryan Fuller and reunites him with the star of his Hannibal series Mads Mikkelsen.

Also making their global debuts are Kenji Tanigaki’s Hong Kong martial arts thriller The Furious,...

Bob Odenkirk, Mads Mikkelsen and Sigourney Weaver are among the stars who will appear in the creepy and campy films of the Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness section, TIFF organizers announced on Thursday.

The section will consist of 10 films, seven of them world premieres, two Canadian premieres and one international premiere.

The seven world premiere films include Ben Wheatley’s “Normal,” starring Odenkick as a small-town sheriff; and Bryan Fuller’s “Dust Bunny,” with Mikkelsen and Weaver in the story of an 8-year-old girl hunting the monster she says is under her bed. The international premiere will be “Junk World,” an animated film from Japanese filmmaker Takahide Hori.

The section will open and close with the Canadian premieres of films from Canadian directors. Matt Johnson’s “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie,” which won the midnight madness award at this year’s SXSW Film Festival, will open the program,...

Midnight Madness, it’s almost your time. The Toronto International Film Festival has today announced the lineup of its “signature slate of wicked wonders that are sure to delight and disturb the festival’s devoted and raucous late-night crowd.” One of the most beloved aspects of the festival, the annual assortment of tricks and treats is a feast for the genre-devoted and generally curious alike.

Midnight Madness will open with the Canadian premiere of Matt Johnson’s Toronto-set “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie.” The film is based on Johnson’s cult “Viceland” series, and is billed as a “hysterical, death-defying time-travel caper.” The section will close with “Dead Lover,” a “zany, macabre horror-comedy from Canadian director Grace Glowicki.” The 2025 edition features seven world premieres and one international premiere.

The section closes out each night of the festival with 11:59 p.m. screenings at the (possibly) haunted Royal Alexandra Theatre,...

Producer and showrunner Bryan Fuller, known for creating Hannibal and American Gods, is bringing his directorial debut, Dust Bunny, to the Toronto Film Festival for a world premiere as part of the Midnight Madness section.

The horror thriller stars Mads Mikkelsen and Sigourney Weaver, and portrays a young girl asking her neighbor for help killing the monster under her bed that she thinks ate her family. Fuller is headed to Toronto amid the backdrop a 2023 lawsuit brought by fellow Queer for Fear producer Sam Wineman that alleged a hostile workplace environment on set. The next arbitration hearing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 2026.

The 2025 edition of the nocturnal Midnight Madness sidebar, with seven world premieres, will open with Matt Johnson’s Toronto-set Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, which bowed at SXSW, and will close with Grace Glowicki’s Dead Lover, a horror comedy about a lonely gravedigger...

Influential electronic musician, producer and filmmaker Flying Lotus has signed on to the soundtrack of Asian action showstopper film “The Furious.”

The film, from Japanese director Tanigaki Kenji, is written by Mak Tin Shu and follows a simple tradesman (portrayed by mainland Chinese star Xie Miao) who fights his way through a complex web of criminals and evil agents in a frantic attempt to win back his kidnapped daughter by any means necessary.

Produced by the region’s top producer Bill Kong (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Hero”), Frank Hui and Shan Tam, the film features a pan-Asian cast that also includes Indonesian’s Joe Taslim, Thai star Jeeja Yanin (“Chocolate”), Yang Enyu, Brian Le, Joey Iwanaga and Yayan Ruhian.

Michael J. Werner, former principal at Fortissimo Films, and Todd Brown and Aram Tertzakian of XYZ Films serve as executive producers. Kong’s Edko Films is financing the movie and will distribute in Hong Kong,...

Soi Cheang’s Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In swept the 43rd Hong Kong Film Awards (Hkfa) scoring nine wins including best film, best director and all the technical categories.

The big-budget action thriller, which recreated the now demolished Kowloon City in 1980s Hong Kong, scooped prizes for best cinematography, editing, art direction, costume and makeup design, action choreography, sound design and visual effects.

The $40m feature received its international premiere at Cannes last year, was the second biggest film at the local box office in 2024 with takings of nearly $14m (Hk$108.44m) and was Hong Kong’s entry to the Oscars.

It is fair to say that Donnie Yen‘s last stint as a director, which came with 2023’s “Sakra”, was quite the misfire from the martial arts legend. Despite housing decent action set pieces, as can be expected from Yen, its narrative shortcomings were ultimately its downfall. This is also why there is both some apprehension and a lot of anticipation over his latest directorial, “The Prosecutor”, whose promotional material seems to have promised a return to form for Yen both as a director and actor. Let’s find out if it stays true to its promise.

The Prosecutor is released by WellGo USA

After a case he and his team had been working on goes against them in a court of law due to a technicality, officer Fok Chi-ho quits the force and decides to take up law instead. A few years down the line, he joins the prosecutor’s office and,...

Hong Kong action-thriller The Prosecutor, directed by and starring Donnie Yen, has been acquired for North America by Well Go USA from Mandarin Motion Pictures.

The upcoming feature will be released in theatres across North America on January 10, just two weeks after its scheduled debut in China and Hong Kong on December 27.

Inspired by a true case in Hong Kong, the story follows a man who falsely pleads guilty after being framed for drug trafficking, under pressure from both his defense attorney and a notorious crime syndicate. Yen plays the hard-nosed policeman-turned-prosecutor who risks both his career and his life to uncover the truth,...

"One wrongful judgment can destroy and entire family!" Mandarin Motion Pictures has revealed an official trailer for a Chinese legal thriller film called The Prosecutor, starring Donnie Yen in the lead role. This intense action thriller is set for a release in China and Hong Kong at the end of December this year. Though there's still no US release set yet - sometime early in 2025. A poor young man is wrongly charged with drug trafficking after being deceived. An ex-prosecutor investigates this case, uncovers a corrupt lawyer team's scheme, and restores justice despite obstruction from evil forces. Donnie Yen stars as the prosecutor Fok - who risks his life and career to uncover the truth and bring the real culprit to justice. The film also stars Francis Ng, Kent Cheng, Julian Cheung, and Adam Pak. Featuring action sequences by co-star Kang Yu, Donnie Yen, and action extraordinare Kenji Tanigaki. It's...

An upcoming action thriller could very well be what every action movie fan has been waiting for. Sounding like the perfect cross between Liam Neesons 2008 hit Taken and director Gareth Evans The Raid, the movie boasts an incredible cast of martial arts actors with enviable action movie pedigree, a filmmaker with a penchant for stunts, and an exquisitely no-nonsense plot that should allow for the punches, kicks, and everything else in between to fly hard and fast.

Titled The Furious (which should tell you everything you need to know about what were in for), the action outing is all set to be helmed by Tanigaki Kenji, who is best known for his stunt work in the likes of the Donnie Yen movie Raging Fire, G.I. Joe spin-off Snake Eyes, and this years martial arts hit Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In. Without further ado, you can check out the synopsis for The Furious below,...

Hong Kong martial arts legend Sammo Hung, prolific Japanese martial arts actor Yasuaki Kurata and action director Kenji Tanigaki discussed martial arts cinema and shared behind-the-scenes anecdotes together in Tokyo.

They appeared as part of a panel titled “Martial Arts on the Silver Screen: Past, Present, and Future” during Tiffcom, the market held alongside the Tokyo International Film Festival.

“I’ve done martial arts since I was young, learned from different masters and then worked very hard to return this blessing,” said Hung. “The essence of martial arts in Hong Kong is its spirit and our work ethic. We really invested ourselves fully in our film work and we want to convey this spirit to the next generation.”

Hung is a pivotal figure in Hong Kong cinema, appearing in more than 200 films and elevating the territory’s martial arts genre.

He recently starred in Soi Cheang’s Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In,...

Veteran action movie ace Sammo Hung, Japanese actor Kurata Yasuaki and action choreographer-turned director Tanigaki Kenji had a ball on Thursday in Tokyo as they took a light-hearted trip down memory lane to discuss the state of martial art action movies from Hong Kong.

In a panel discussion held in the confines of Tiffcom, the rights market aligned with the Tokyo International Film Festival, the three were seemingly selected to represent the past, present and future of the genre.

“Hong Kong’s place in the film world is well deserved. We worked so hard for it,” said Hung. “Nobody paid attention to us for ages, so we could do what we liked. Then, finally, our time came.”

Hung (real name Hung Kam-bo) has over 250 film credits according to the Internet Movie Database in roles ranging from actor and stuntman to producer and director. These include “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In,...

Oh my gods, I need The Furious injected into my eyeballs, right, freaking now! Already one of my most anticipated films of 2025 the Pan-Asian action film, directed by Kenji Tanigaki and produced by the legendary Bill Kong, recently wrapped up production in Thailand. Two first look photos went out today in the trades this morning and we can share them with you now.    (The Furious) follows a simple tradesman (portrayed by mainland Chinese star Xie Miao) who fights his way through a complex web of criminals and evil agents in a frantic attempt to win back his kidnapped daughter by any means necessary.   There were two seperate articles in Variety today, one a set visit, the other the official announcement. I love...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Japanese director Tanigaki Kenji has completed production in Bangkok, Thailand, on his upcoming film “The Furious,” intended as an elite-level Asian martial arts actioner.

Written by Mak Tin Shu, the film follows a simple tradesman (portrayed by mainland Chinese star Xie Miao) who fights his way through a complex web of criminals and evil agents in a frantic attempt to win back his kidnapped daughter by any means necessary.

(For full Bangkok set report see here.)

Produced by the region’s top producer Bill Kong, Frank Hui and Shan Tam, the film features a pan-Asian cast that also includes Indonesian’s Joe Taslim, Thai star Jeeja Yanin (“Chocolate”), Yang Enyu, Brian Le, Joey Iwanaga and Yayan Ruhian.

Michael J. Werner, former principal at Fortissimo Films, joins Todd Brown and Aram Tertzakian of XYZ Films as an executive producer.

Kong’s Edko Films is financing the movie and will distribute in Hong Kong,...

The “police station” built in a few days from an old retail unit in Surawong, central Bangkok, is so realistic from the outside that several pedestrians stop and stare, perhaps wondering if this is the place they should come to report some petty crime in the adjacent Patpong red light district.

Inside, the building’s temporary reality as a set for the martial arts action movie “The Furious” is quickly revealed. Among the scuffed and rusting gray metal desks, the ground floor has all the trappings of an active and dow- at-heel cop shop. There are notices on every wall: wanted posters, mission statements, job ads and regulations. But the giveaway — revealing that the film is set in an unnamed part of Southeast Asia, rather than any specific country — is that the background verbiage is largely in English. And that in between the police paraphernalia there are piles of lighting...

Given the success of shows like Netflix's One Piece, a live-action Dragon Ball Z movie might finally happen and Joe Taslim is the perfect choice to play Vegeta. Taslim's background in martial arts and previous performances in Mortal Kombat and Warrior make him an ideal candidate for the role. Following the disastrous Dragonball Evolution, it's crucial to get the casting right for a potential Dbz movie's success.

Although a proper live-action Dragon Ball Z movie has yet to happen, the success of Netflix's live-action One Piece may be the spark that's needed and, if it happens, one actor from HBO's Warrior is the only choice to play Vegeta. The prince of the fallen Saiyan race, Vegeta arrives on Earth early on in Dragon Ball Z as an antagonist. A ruthless and arrogant warrior, he's shocked when Earth's go-to protector, a fellow Saiyan named Goku, has a power that exceeds his expectations.

Well Go USA has shared the official trailer and poster for Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, which will open in North American theaters on August 9, 2024.

Many years after the bloody turf war that ushered in an uneasy era of peace in Hong Kong’s underworld, the notorious Kowloon Walled City serves as a fortified, lawless haven for gangs and refugees alike.

But when a skilled underground fighter runs afoul of the most feared Triad boss in Hong Kong, a bounty is placed on his head despite his connections to the leader of the infamous enclave.

As his pursuers violate the tenuous territorial truce to exact their vengeance, the fallout reignites old grudges, bringing decades of building tension to a brutal, bloody boiling point.

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In stars Louis Koo, Raymond Lam, Terrance Lau, Philip Ng, Tony Wu Tsz Tung, German Cheung, Richie Jen, Wong Tak Pun Kenny,...

Trinity CineAsia has acquired UK and Ireland rights to Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In, the Hong Kong period action drama that will screen at Cannes next month, in a deal with Media Asia.

Directed by Soi Cheang, the highly anticipated feature is set to be released in Hong Kong and China on May 1 before it plays in the Midnight Screenings section of Cannes. An opening date in the UK and Ireland has yet to be announced but Trinity CineAsia said it is “scheduled for release across cinemas nationwide soon after” the festival, which runs May 14-25.

Distribution deals were...

Yesterday Variety broke news that legendary Hong Kong producer Bill Kong has started production on a new action film called The Furious in Bangkok, Thailand, and he's enlisted the help of some of Asia's leading action talent. Like, the best of the best. The Furious will be directed by Japanese stunt director and action choreographer Tanigaki Kenji. His Pan-Asian cast includes former Chinese child actor and action star Xie Miao, Indonesia’s Joe Taslim (The Raid: Redemption), Thailand’s Jeeja Yanin (Chocolate), Yang Enyu and Indonesia’s Yayan Ruhian (The Raid: Redmeption). That's a lot of heavy hitters. Here's the scoop from Variety, of what to expect...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Bill Kong aims to bring the Hong Kong film industry back to the summit of the global action movie genre, starting with the upcoming martial arts film The Furious. The veteran Asian producer was behind motion pictures such as Jet Li's Fearless, Hope, and the Academy Award-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

The Furious, which has started production in Bangkok, is an English-language martial arts action thriller directed by Japanese stunt director and action choreographer Tanigaki Kenji (Monkey King). Producer Kong told Variety that he intended to make a film that would have a global impact. "Im going to do an action movie that rocks the world. And to prove that Hong Kong still has something to give the film industry," he said. "I want to show that Asian people can still make an action movie that is better than the rest of the world."

Related Bill Skarsgard's 'Animalistic'...

Bill Kong is cautious, vastly experienced and has an impeccable reputation as a key gateway between Hollywood and China to maintain. He is someone far more likely to deadpan than gush.

So, to hear him getting into high gear with a pitch for his bucket list martial arts movie project “The Furious” immediately invites comparison with previous Kong-produced action pictures including Oscar-winner “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Jet Li’s Fearless” or the Zhang Yimou-directed “Hero.”

“I’m going to do an action movie that rocks the world. And to prove that Hong Kong still has something to give the film industry. I want to show that Asian people can still make an action movie that is better than the rest of the world,” Kong tells Variety.

Significantly, “The Furious” is a project made by Hong Kong, rather than made in Hong Kong. Kong’s Edko Films is financing and producing.

Singer and actor Richie Ren is no stranger when it comes to Hong Kong cinema, as he is best known for his stand out performance in Johnnie To's “Breaking News” (2004) and later in “Trivisa” (2015). In “Fierce Cop”, a Mainland online film streaming on Youku video platform is his first venture into the martial arts genre.

Set in country M, somewhere in Southeast Asia, there lives Zhang Tu, a middle aged single parent with a young son, Xiao Jie, who is also a hard working detective. He always asks his boss for a promotion so he can be a better role model for his son who is everything to him. One day, his son comes back from school in pain and covered with bruises, obviously a victim of bullying at school. After finding out that a bunch of young adults are responsible, he sets out to teach them a lesson by beating them up.

Lawrence Kan’s newsroom drama In Broad Daylight leads the pack going into the 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards with 16 nominations.

The feature, which follows an undercover journalist who exposes the abuse of residents in a nursing home, secured nods in all but three of the 19 categories. It marks the second feature by Kan and proved the fourth highest grossing local film in 2023.

Scroll down for full list of nominations

Also gaining multiple nominations was Nick Cheuk’s emotive drama Time Still Turns The Pages and Felix Chong’s financial crime extravaganza The Goldfinger, which secured 12 nods apiece, while Jack Ng...

The Action Scene is a column that explores the construction of action set pieces in order to deepen appreciation for and spark discussion about action cinema.The following column examines my fifteen favorite action scenes of 2023. In their variety, virtuosity, and visceral power, they embody the vibrancy of contemporary action cinema. Like last year’s roundup, the focus is on action scenes—relatively sustained, heightened, self-contained expressions of action filmmaking craft—so some otherwise strong action films didn’t make the cut, and not all of the films featured here are necessarily compelling beyond their set pieces. All included films made their official, non-festival, US theatrical and/or streaming debut in 2023. For the sake of variety, I’ve limited myself to one scene per film.And now, on to the action. As with previous years, these scenes have been grouped by theme to foreground patterns and enhance ease of perusal.

Action icon Donnie Yen returns to the director’s chair for the first time in nearly two decades, while also playing the lead role, in the martial arts wuxia adventure Sakra. Based on the classic wuxia novel Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils by Louis Cha (known worldwide by his pen name Jin Yong), the film stars Yen as Qiao Feng, respected leader of a roving band of martial artists called the Beggars’ Sect. After he’s wrongfully accused of murder and subsequently exiled, Qiao Feng goes on the run in search of answers about his own mysterious origin story—and the unknown enemies working to destroy him from the shadows. With action direction by Kenji Tanigaki, Sakra also stars Yuqi Chen, Eddie Cheung, and Yase Liu.

Sakra is available on Blu-ray and DVD on June 13.

Enter for your chance to win a Blu-ray of Sakra, courtesy of Well Go USA. Five (5) winners will be selected at random.

The last wuxia film Yen starred in was “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny” (2016), since, although he was in “New Kung Fu Cult Master Part One” (2022) it was only a cameo. Now he is back as the leading man, producer and director in “Sakra”, a wuxia epic which is adapted from Jin Yong's (Louis Cha) novel “Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils” which deals with the Eight Races of Buddhist deities of the Buddhist cosmology. The Chinese title is loosely translated as “The Eight Books of the Heavenly Dragon: Qiao Feng Legacy.”

“Sakra” will debut on Blu-ray and DVD starting June 13 from Well Go USA.

Set during the time in which the Han Chinese dominated and the Song Dynasty is at war with the Liao Empire led by the Khitan race, Jin Yong's complex and long story involves three main protagonists plus a huge collection of flamboyant characters and their explorations...

Every great hero needs great villains, so Director Chad Stahelski stacked the deck with the world’s leading action stars when it came time to check back in to action cinema’s Continental. John Wick (Keanu Reeves) demands opponents that can match the badassery of his franchise; and real life martial artists that can act. No other director today has such a keen eye for stunts and fight choreography as Stahelski. Assembling a cast of the heaviest hitters in Hollywood is the only way John Wick: Chapter 4 could level up. For any fan of the action genre, the names of Donnie Yen, Scott Adkins, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Marko Zaror instill massive respect. They all have extensive filmographies packed with thrilling action.

The John Wick tetralogy is also Stahelski’s first directorial effort and it’s designed for action. Creating roles that spotlights the superhuman talents of his cast was a collaborative effort,...

The last wuxia film Yen starred in was “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny” (2016), since, although he was in “New Kung Fu Cult Master Part One” (2022) it was only a cameo. Now he is back as the leading man, producer and director in “Sakra”, a wuxia epic which is adapted from Jin Yong’s (Louis Cha) novel “Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils” which deals with the Eight Races of Buddhist deities of the Buddhist cosmology. The Chinese title is loosely translated as “The Eight Books of the Heavenly Dragon: Qiao Feng Legacy.”

Set during the time in which the Han Chinese dominated and the Song Dynasty is at war with the Liao Empire led by the Khitan race, Jin Yong’s complex and long story involves three main protagonists plus a huge collection of flamboyant characters and their explorations in the wulin (martial arts community), but Qiao Feng is the only one Yen concentrates on.

Period action adventure led by ‘Ip Man’ star Donnie Yen.

Well Go USA Entertainment has acquired North America distribution rights to Sakra, the latest wuxia action feature led by martial arts star Donnie Yen.

Well Go, which has previously distributed Yen’s hit Ip Man films, plans to release Sakra in select theatres this spring. The deal was struck with Mandarin Motion Pictures on behalf of the filmmakers.

Based on the classic wuxia novel Demi-Gods And Semi-Devils by Louis Cha (known worldwide by his pen name Jin Yong), it marks the first time Yen has stepped back into a directorial role in nearly two decades.

“Anita,” the biopic of the late Canto-pop queen Anita Mui, led the race of the 40th Hong Kong Film Awards on Sunday night with five awards, including recognitions for the film’s actors and technical achievements. But the best film and best director awards went to action thriller “Raging Fire” directed by the late Benny Chan.

Sunday’s event, which was postponed from its original schedule in April, was the first in-person edition of the awards ceremony after two years of Covid hiatus — the 2020 edition was held online and 2021 was suspended.

The number of films released in Hong Kong has dramatically dropped over the past years as cinemas were forced to close doors for prolonged periods under the government’s Covid measures. As a result, this year’s event was a double edition taking in films released in both 2020 and 2021.

As the first Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony held in...

Other big winners were biopic ’Anita’ and noir thriller ’Limbo’.

Action thriller Raging Fire has won best film and best director for the late Benny Chan at the 40th Hong Kong Film Awards (Hkfa). Other big winners were biopic Anita and noir thriller Limbo.

The event took place last night (July 17) as the Hkfa’s first in-person ceremony since 2019 and was well attended by stars and leading film industry figures.

Scroll down for full list of winners

Raging Fire, in which Donnie Yen plays a cop who clashes with a former protege, marked the final film of veteran director Chan,...

Raging Fire, starring and produced by Donnie Yen, was awarded best film and best director for late action maestro Benny Chan at the Hong Kong Film Awards (Hkfa) on Sunday night. The ceremony took place at Kowloon Bay International Trade & Exhibition Centre, the first time it had been held as a fully-fledged, in-person event since 2019.

Produced by Emperor Motion Pictures, Raging Fire was a rare pandemic-era hit in Hong Kong and China last year, and lauded as a welcome throwback to old school Hong Kong-style action movies. The film took four awards in total, also including best editing (Curran Pang) and best action choreography.

Benny Chan, one of Hong Kong’s most acclaimed action directors, was diagnosed with cancer while making the film, leading to Yen taking over during post-production. In a moving moment during the Hkfa ceremony, Hong Kong...

Following the success of the original, Sion Sono also headed the sequel, once more basing his film on Ken Wakui’s manga. Although the flamboyance and intense action is still here, there is a change towards the most dramatic this time, something that definitely benefits the movie.

on Amazon

The story begins one year after the death of Hideyoshi, with Burst having to deal with intense financial problems, since they have already recruited almost every girl they could in Shinjuku. To avoid downsizing in scouter personnel, they instead decide to expand to Yokohama, where the All Japan Liquor Merchants Association announces plans to open a new gentleman’s club. To start the expansion, boss Yamashiro picks Seki and Tatsuhiko. The former however, is actually a Yokohama native who once took the fall for a murder rap for his friend Taki and has avoided Yokohama for 12 years for this purpose.

Another year, another bountiful crop of action filmmaking. The following article covers some of the best. Like with last year’s installment, the focus will be on action scenes—compact, heightened expressions of action filmmaking craft—rather than films as a whole, which means that some otherwise strong, action-adjacent pictures may be missing and a couple included films look fairly lackluster beyond their set pieces. For the sake of variety, I have limited myself to one scene per film, and all featured films made their official, non-festival, U.S. theatrical and/or streaming debut in 2021. The criterion of “official” excludes the Chinese direct-to-YouTube actioner One More Shot, which was removed after just a few days online. Whenever the film receives a more “legitimate” stateside debut, it will almost certainly be included in that year’s roundup. And now, to the action. The scenes have been organized into loose thematic...

Probably one of the best years for action/martial arts cinema lately, 2021 saw a number of truly impressive titles coming out, as China’s blockbusters seem to be getting better, followed by the Korean ones, Japanese manga adaptations continue to be on a very high-level, at least production level-wise and Asean countries keep on producing some of the most interesting in the category through the combination of social commentary and exploitation elements. Furthermore, a number of movies that do not fall in any of the aforementioned groups but are of equal quality, rounded up a truly great year for Asian genre.

Without further ado, here are the best Asian martial arts/action films of 2021, in reverse order. Some films may have premiered in 2019, but since they mostly circulated in 2021, we decided to include them.

15. Rurouni Kenshin: The Final (Keishi Ohtomo)

On the other hand, the action element is top notch,...

The New York Asian Film Foundation and Film at Lincoln Center have announced two final titles, completing the lineup for the upcoming 20th edition of the New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff). The festival will be screening over 70 films, both virtually and in person, to audiences in New York and across the country from August 6 – 22, 2021. Tickets are already on sale.

Nyaff is thrilled to present as its festival Centerpiece the international premiere of Nyaff favorite director Benny Chan’s final work, Raging Fire. Completed shortly before his untimely death in August 2020, the Hong Kong-Chinese action film stars the inimitable Donnie Yen as Shan, a by-the-book cop whose past returns to haunt him. After a sting operation goes disastrously awry, Shan finds himself pitted against Ngo (Nicholas Tse), a former protégé who has turned criminal mastermind and is out for revenge. Nothing, it seems, can stop him, including his former mentor.

The Donnie Yen-starring action thriller “Raging Fire” will open in North American theaters on Aug. 13, its distributor Well Go USA Entertainment announced Friday.

The film is the final project of the late iconic Hong Kong film director Benny Chan, who passed away last summer. Chan was beloved for action films like “The White Storm” and Jackie Chan pictures like “New Police Story.”

“Raging Fire” will screen ahead of its broader theatrical outing on Aug. 9 as the Centerpiece film selection of the New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff). Later this year, it will land on the martial arts streaming channel Hi-yah!, prior to its physical and digital release.

“We have been long-time champions of both the late director Benny Chan’s work and Donnie Yen,” said Nyaff executive director Samuel Jamier. “The Centerpiece presentation is the keystone event of Nyaff, representing the tone and unique spirit of our festival, which...

Distributor Well Go USA Entertainment has acquired the North American rights to “Raging Fire,” the latest action thriller featuring martial arts superstar Donnie Yen.

The pic is set to hit U.S. theaters later this year before landing on martial arts streaming channel Hi-yah!.

“Raging Fire” is the final title from the late Hong Kong helmer Benny Chan, who passed away last August. He was best known for action and martial arts works, including crime thriller “The White Storm,” 2011’s “Shaolin, and Jackie Chan pictures “New Police Story” and “Robin B-Hood.”

It was produced by Emperor Film Production, Tencent Pictures and Super Bullet Pictures.

Yen, known for his roles in Disney’s live-action “Mulan” and the “Ip Man” franchises, appears alongside actors Patrick Tan, Nicholas Tse, Jeana Ho, and Ray Liu (“Flash Point”).

“We are thrilled to team up with Emperor, Tencent and Super Bullet Pictures to bring ‘Raging Fire’ to North American audiences,...

One of the most anticipated movies of the last few years, particularly for fans of the “Rurouni Kenshin”-franchise, was the movie based on the final chapter of both the manga and the anime, which, in the original, concludes the story, in the most dramatic, but also the most magnificent way. Unfortunately, once more, a Netflix production went for impression rather than substance. Let us take things from the beginning though.

Wu Heishin, a man supposedly from Shanghai, arrives in Tokyo, only to be revealed a bit later, that his sole purpose is to exact revenge from Himura Kenshin, due to some events that took place between Battousai and his sister, Tomoe, in the past. Hajime Saito arrests the newcomer after a violent incident in the train that brought him, but a commercial agreement between Japan and China forces him to let him go. As Wu Heishin’s gang begins...

The martial arts genre has been in a significant decline for many years now, with just a few entries here and there over the years, reminding us of its existence essentially, although gems like The Raid, Jailbreak etc occasionally come to the fore. A number of Asian martial arts superstars have already moved to Hollywood or other countries in the west, with the same applying to the action stars, at least those who have not moved to China. The Chinese industry releases action blockbusters quite frequently, most of which, however, are of doubtful quality, to say the least, with the combination of the aforementioned, making the current list one of the most difficult to compile. Nevertheless, 10 films were found in the end, although a number of them are mostly here for the impressiveness of the action scenes and not their quality overall.

Without further ado, here are the best Asian...

While the plan remains, for theaters to open their doors again by the end of the month, as we've seen this year, things can change. At the very least, movie lovers have a couple of weeks before they can truly think about heading to a theater. But fear not, as there are plenty of new releases making their way to streaming this week to soak in.

This week sees several radically different war movies to choose from, as well as a new thriller from Netflix. We also have a new installment of Hulu's Into the Dark, a horror flick from Shudder and a bizarre martial arts remake starring Donnie Yen, among others. Here are this week's streaming selections.

Fatal Affair - Netflix

if Ie 9>endif-->if Ie 9>endif-->Fatal Affair"/>

Netflix has done their damndest to step up to give movie lovers stuck at home something to watch, and...

The eyes of the world were pointed at Donnie Yen after the end of the spectacular “Ip Man” saga. His choice of an action comedy as a follow-up might be seen as a bit of a surprise, but “Enter the Fat Dragon” blends the well-known elements, like the breath-taking, laws-of-physics-defying action, humor, references and a bit of covert social commentary into an efficient time-killer about the good cops, bad cops and even worse gangsters in Hong Kong and Tokyo. It premiered in the Chinese New Year slot earlier this year, but its theatrical run was impaired by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, this type of film is equally suitable for video formats, where we also caught it.

The title is taken from the cult Sammo Hung’s 1978 action-comedy about an overweight Bruce Lee fan getting involved in a fight with a gang of thugs that threaten his family,...

International martial arts icon Donnie Yen [“Ip Man,” “Mulan (2020)”, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”] is back in the action-comedy Enter The Fat Dragon, “a hilarious, hyper-paced, rock-em sock-em blast of a movie!” (Ultimate Action Movies) debuting on Digital, Blu-ray and DVD July 14 from Well Go USA Entertainment. The film chronicles the events that transformed super-fit super-cop Fallon Zhu (Yen) into a records clerk with a major snack cake habit—and one shot to regain his job and his fiancée.

A hilarious parody of Bruce Lee’s 1972 film “Way of the Dragon” and a reimagining of the popular comedy martial arts film starring Sammo Hung, Enter The Fat Dragon was directed by Kenji Tanigaki (“Legend of Seven Monks”) and costars Teresa Mo (“Hard Boiled”), Niki Chow (“Heavenly Mission”) and Wong Jing (“Kung Fu Mahjong”).

Synopsis:

Enter The Fat Dragon is a hilarious chronicle of the events that transformed super-fit...

A new trailer for Enter the Fat Dragon has been released by Well Go USA. This movie stars martial arts icon Donnie Yen and serves as a remake of a 1978 movie of the same name. A lot has changed in the ensuing decades since the original was released, and Yen didn't undergo a real, dramatic body transformation for the leading role, the way Christian Bale has several times for roles in the past. Instead, he is using makeup, prosthetics and a body-transforming suit to pull off the look, which is certainly a unique choice, to put it lightly.

The trailer showcases Donnie Yen as a cop who is sent on a mission that requires taking out copious amounts of bad guys in various locations. Yen is displaying his usual amount of impressive skill. There is a ton of action, attempted bits of comedy and lots of crazy set-pieces. Overall, it looks like a well-made movie,...