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Jean-Claude Van Damme. The Muscles from Brussels. If you grew up in the early nineties, this handsome Belgian was everywhere. With his unique accent, good looks, and a butt he was all but too happy to show off at least once a film, he was the rare action star that was just as popular with the ladies as the dudes. Changing tastes in the mid-nineties meant that his career as a viable lead in theatrical films started to dry up, which wasn’t helped by some off-screen issues he had with drugs (a Hollywood tale as old as time). But, while his contemporary, Steven Seagal, became something of a parody of himself, Jcvd got clean and doubled down on his craft, emerging as a surprisingly potent actor in some Dtv movies that are way better than anyone gives them credit for.

While his days as an A-list lead might be behind him,...

What are the greatest action movies of all time? It’s a controversial question, isn’t it? Any time any publication or site puts out a new list of what they consider the best action movies of all time, it can’t help but generate a ton of controversy. Nevertheless, we here at JoBlo have decided to throw our hats into the ring with a list we really hope generates some nostalgia among our viewers but also encourages them to seek out the movies on this list that they may not have seen. But first, some may wonder where superhero movies are on this list. Given how broad that genre is, we decided to stick to old-school action, so we have left them off the list, as they deserve their own ranking. There are also a few absences from the list, notably some Jackie Chan Hong Kong films (like Police Story...

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If you're a film buff, you can almost certainly cite the first movie you saw in a theater. Mine was "Star Wars." I was three years old, and screamed in terror when the lights dimmed. I was enchanted for a whole ten minutes or so before conking out -- though I did rouse for the trench run. I finally watched "Star Wars" in its entirety during its 1978 rerelease, and that experience of, to my four-year-old mind, having watched a movie that was shot in space is an exhilaration I've been chasing for the last 47 years.

I was fortunate that my introduction to the transporting magic of the movies came via the most pivotal piece of cinema, commercially and artistically, since "Gone with the Wind." Meanwhile, there's some kid out there whose first trip to the theater was to see Tim Allen in "Jungle 2 Jungle.

Earlier this summer, the home video distributor Shout Factory was announced to be collaborating with Hong Kong Film Archives to bring you the 4K remastering of the most coveted of Chinese action film classics. The films will include works by Jet Li, Chow Yun-Fat, John Woo, Ringo Lam and Tsui Hark. The partnership is set to be a treasure trove for fans of classic action films from Hong Kong cinema. Now, Shout! TV is going further by unveiling a Hong Kong Fight Club Fast Channel. Fast channels are free ad-supported television channels on services like Roku, Plex or Freevee that stream content live like old-fashioned television. You can also watch it Right Here!

The channel showcases the absolute greatest in action cinema from Hong Kong’s cinematic golden age of the ’80s and ’90s. Restored from new 4K scans, the channel will showcase the classic films in the best quality...

Hong Kong has birthed some of the biggest names in action cinema, from John Woo and Johnny To to the now-international megastar Jackie Chan. Oozing with a clear love for the art of action, even if its script doesn’t allow it quite enough opportunity to show it, Stuntman is a crowd-pleasing action flick made by fans for fans.

Stuntman Review

Stuntman follows a once-successful action director who gets a chance at redemption when he is hired to be the action director of a giant new production, only to find that his old-school methods clash with the modern approach to safety. Serving as a send-up to Hong Kong’s bustling film industry, the Leungs come close to capturing what makes the country’s approach to action so special but don’t quite get there.

Fans of Hong Kong action cinema are likely looking forward to highly stylized, incredibly fun action...

Minority Report

Starring Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Max Von Sydow

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Now Showing At Veena (Patna)

At times, as we watch Steven Spielberg’s latest spin on futuristic trauma, we wonder if we’re watching a Hindi film. A slick, supple and slender film, but nonetheless inured to Hindi film conventions.

Now take this particular sequence from Spielberg’s sleek spinball: a woman who can see into the future accompanies fugitive Tom Cruise into a shopping mall. As the cops run helterskelter searching for our hero on the run she murmurs, “Just stand here.” At that very minute a man with a bunch of balloons passes in front of Cruise, blocking him from the surveillants’ view.

Now take this sequence: Cruise is chased into a futuristic car manufacturing plant where he gets squeezed into a moulding machine. We soon see him emerge in a sleek sports car and drive away.

Functioning as something between a modern action comedy and a homage to similar works of the past, “Guns Up” takes various elements from Bruce Willis’s movies, John Woo‘s stylistic trademarks, and the extreme, comic-like violence found in titles such as “A History of Violence.” The presence of Christina Ricci and Luis Guzmán adds to the retro tone, enhancing a style of storytelling that feels increasingly rare nowadays, and that’s meant in a good way.

Ray Hayes, once a New Jersey cop, has spent the last five years working as an enforcer for a relatively “honorable” mob crew in order to help his wife, Alice, save for their shared dream of owning a diner. However, when his old boss Michael is gunned down by a new, ruthless mob leader named Lonny Castigan, who takes over her gang, everything changes. Castigan has no regard for Michael’s code and...

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John Travolta rose to fame when he first played Vinnie Barbarino in "Welcome Back, Kotter" in 1975. Before the show came to an end four years later, the actor's career exploded in a big way. He had an Academy Award nomination under his belt and starred in one of the top-five-grossing films of the decade. In the years since, Travolta has had distinct ebbs and flows in his career. In the 1990s, he was well-known for making comebacks, something we're jonesing to see again. 

Travolta has appeared in a wide range of films, from comedies and musicals to dramas and actioners. No matter the genre, there's something you can almost always count on from the star: dancing! You can see him bust a move in some unlikely projects, making it the physical equivalent of Arnold Schwarzenegger saying, "I'll be back." 

Due...

The Story: A college kid (Brandon Lee) witnesses a gangland hit. Betrayed by witness protection, he’s recruited by a task force headed by a no-nonsense cop (Powers Boothe) as a pawn, but little do they know he’s more than able to handle himself against any of his foes.

The Players: Starring: Brandon Lee, Powers Boothe, Tzi Ma & Nick Mancuso. Directed by Dwight H. Little.

The History: The early nineties were the heyday of the martial arts movie star. Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme were consistently churning out hits, so if they could become icons, why not a guy like Brandon Lee? He was movie star handsome, could move, was charismatic and could act. Oh yeah – he also happened to be the son of the greatest Kung-Fu movie star of all time, Bruce Lee.

“I wouldn’t want to refer to them as stepping stones. That seems to demean them.

The action genre is often perceived as a vehicle for pure entertainment rather than addressing serious and current themes. However, the category has shown it can strike a balance between both aspects, considering iconic directors such as John Woo have already demonstrated that high-octane stunts and shoot-outs may go hand in hand with topics such as marginalization and inequality. Given his experience in the genre, former martial arts choreographer Kensuke Sonomura’s new feature “Ghost Killer” tackles themes like female empowerment and domestic violence while also showcasing his trademark skills when it comes to fight scenes. At the same time, Sonomura aims to add comedic and horror elements to the story, thus creating a sometimes uneven, but undeniably stylish movie.

Fumika Matsuoka (Akari Takaishi) is a student dreaming of becoming a successful influencer one day. One day on her way home, she picks up a mysterious cartridge on the sidewalk,...

Streaming has not always made watching niche classics easy, but fans of Hong Kong cinema of decades past are in luck. The Wrap exclusively reports that Shout!TV will be host to Hong Kong Fight Club, which is a channel that is exactly as it sounds. Starting in August, the Fast channel will stream fan-favorite movies from famous stars like Jet Li, Chow Yun-Fat, and Jackie Chan. The channel has publicized that this new endeavor:

“Showcases the absolute greatest in action cinema from Hong Kong’s cinematic golden age of the ’80s and ’90s. Restored from new 4K scans, these fan favorites look better than ever. The channel will also sport interactive features, special events, and livestreams, as well as new original content produced for the channel featuring titans of the genre, including Jet Li, John Woo and more.”

John Woo may be familiar to Western audiences due to the...

Picture this. It’s Thanksgiving weekend, just five months from now, and American families are already flocking to see The Labubu Movie in theaters. Made using 100 percent artificial intelligence, this (totally hypothetical) film adaptation of the mega-popular monster keychain comes from the Beijing-based retailer Pop Mart. The blockbuster was born out of China’s cutting-edge film industry in record time — putting thousands of butts in seats and raking in millions at the box office before the craze could end.

Last month, back in the real world, CEO and founder of Pop Mart Wang Ning announced his company would start an in-house film unit, per Chinese news reports. The collectibles brand saw global demand for Labubus skyrocket after a viral endorsement from K-pop star Lisa in Vanity Fair last fall. Designed by artist Kasing Lung, the baby-faced “Labubu” was partly inspired by Nordic mythology and first introduced as part of a...

Ayo Edebiri’s Opus Gets A Second Wind, Lands In Top 3 On HBO Max ( Photo Credit – YouTube )

Opus did not make much noise when it first hit theaters. The A24 psychological drama, released in March, followed a writer played by Ayo Edebiri as she visited a mysterious pop icon, portrayed by John Malkovich.

The film came with a modest $10 million price tag but only managed to earn around $2.1 million at the global box office. It was not exactly a strong start, not by any standards and things got tougher for A24 when they followed it up with Death of a Unicorn, which also landed without much impact.

‘Opus’ is now available to stream on HBO Max! pic.twitter.com/VvWLZ95S92

— Ayo Edebiri HQ (@edebiriupdates) July 11, 2025

Opus Becomes a Top Title on HBO Max in the US

However, things have started shifting for Opus after its move to streaming. Since...

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn in DC’s Suicide Squad debut. ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Margot Robbie didn’t read a word. Didn’t see a script. Had no co-stars to bounce off. Yet, she still said yes. That’s how the Aussie star landed herself in Suicide Squad, a chaotic, high-stakes DC gamble that ended up making over $749 million worldwide. Back in her early twenties, Robbie took the leap without any solid blueprint in hand. And it wasn’t the promise of playing Harley Quinn that pulled her in. It was all about the man calling the shots: David Ayer (via Qatar Tribune).

“I was like, ‘Okay, can I read the script?’ And they were like, ‘There’s no script.’ ‘Okay, is there anyone attached?’ ‘No one attached.’ ‘Is there a director?’ ‘Yeah, David Ayer.’ And I was like, ‘Well, I’m in!’ And that was kind of it!”

What...

I Know What You Did Last Summer ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

I Know What You Did Last Summer is back again, but this time with a reboot that drags the old story into fresh waters with new faces, old scars, and the same killer hook. A year after yet another accident, another group of friends ends up being hunted by the Fisherman, the figure that never seems to hang up his raincoat. The new film, directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, tries to blend nostalgia with modern frights, and while it lands a few punches, most critics are not biting.

I Know What You Did Last Summer Rotten Tomatoes Score

This time, Madelyn Cline, Jonah Hauer-King, Chase Sui Wonders, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, and Billy Campbell lead the cast. However, the return of Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr., stepping back in as Julie and Ray from the 1997 original, has been hyped the most.

Tom Holland has a hilarious dept that is unpaid ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Tom Holland may have played your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, but even superheroes forget to settle a tab. And this time, it’s come back to bite on daytime TV, no less.

During an episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, actor Leo Woodall casually dropped a hilarious little debt bomb. While chatting with Clarkson, the White Lotus and One Day star recalled a night back in 2021 when he was filming Cherry, the intense drama where Holland starred as a troubled war vet (per EW).

Tom Holland’s $7 Tab Sparks a Hilarious Callout from Kelly Clarkson

Turns out, there was a quiet bar hangout at the hotel where the cast was staying. “Bless him, he’d just hurt his ankle,” Woodall said, describing Holland walking into the bar “on crutches” just to hang with the crew. And though Holland reportedly only had one beer,...

Better Call Saul Star Bob Odenkirk Reveals On-Set Heart Attack That Almost Killed Him—“I Wasn’t Breathing!” ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Bob Odenkirk didn’t just collapse on the Better Call Saul set. He flatlined. In what could’ve been his final moment, the Emmy-nominated actor went down during a regular shoot day in New Mexico and by his own words, if not for his crew’s fast hands and clear heads, he’d be gone.

“I went down on one knee, and then I went all the way down. I guess I said, ‘I don’t feel very good,’” Odenkirk recalled in an interview with Radio Times (reported by The Guardian). What followed was chaos, CPR, and three defibrillator shocks. The show’s health officer had to run to her car to grab a defibrillator while the crew jumped in, performing CPR on him before the shocks brought him back.

Nicolas Cage Almost Skipped Face/Off—Until John Woo’s Bold Pitch Made It an Action Classic (Photo Credit – Prime Video)

Nicolas Cage didn’t exactly leap at Face/Off when it first crossed his table. In fact, he politely declined. However, leave it to director John Woo to flip the script. Woo cleverly pitched the film to Cage as a cerebral mind-bender, not the bullet-fueled, identity-swapping spectacle it truly was. And the result was that Cage signed on, and the rest is history. The 1997 cult hit went on to score 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, pulled in box office glory, and landed Cage and John Travolta in what many fans still call their best roles. But that road to casting was nothing sort of a wild ride!

This is How Nicolas Cage Tricked Into Iconic Role in Face/Off

Before it became a late-’90s action masterpiece, Face/Off was pitched with a totally different lineup in mind.

Exclusive: The 29th LA Shorts International Film Festival is about to get underway in downtown Los Angeles, an Oscar- and BAFTA-qualifying event that will showcase 470 films between July 16-28.

The festival opens at Regal LA Live with a selection of four shorts including Como si la tierra se las hubiera tragado, directed by Natalia León, an animated short that won the jury award at the Sundance Film Festival.

“In Olivia’s Mexican hometown, femicide and gender-based violence are increasing at an alarming rate,” notes a description of León’s film in the program guide for Hot Docs, where the film also played. “Upon her return after a long absence, she quickly notices the city walls are covered with posters of missing women. The mistreatment of women is pervasive, and the once-vibrant city is gradually losing its vitality.”

‘The Letter’ LA Shorts International Film Festival

Also screening tonight is The Letter,...

Hong Kong Fight Club, a new Fast channel featuring classics from John Woo, Chow Yun-Fat, Jet Li and Jackie Chan, will arrive on Shout! TV this August.

According to the official release, the channel, hailing from from Shout! Studios, a Radial Entertainment company, “showcases the absolute greatest in action cinema from Hong Kong’s cinematic golden age of the ’80s and ’90s. Restored from new 4K scans, these fan favorites look better than ever. The channel will also sport interactive features, special events, and livestreams, as well as new original content produced for the channel featuring titans of the genre, including Jet Li, John Woo and more.” We are so in.

Among the titles that will be hitting Hong Kong Fight Club are John Woo masterpieces “Hard Boiled,” “The Killer,” “Bullet in the Head” and “A Better Tomorrow,” Ringo Lam’s influential “City on Fire” and Jet Li classics “Fist of Legend...

There are far too many great movies of the '90s to limit to one list, from the debuts of directors like Spike Jonze to the start of iconic film franchises like "Toy Story." However, one year of the entire decade stands out as quite significant in the history of pop culture: 1997. Not only did this year see the debut of franchises like "Harry Potter," major historical events like the death of Princess Diana, and incidents like one where a "Pokémon" episode was banned outside of Japan, but it also saw the release of many memorable films. 

Especially in this day and age, it can seem nostalgic for a day when theaters reigned supreme, and great art pieces weren't subjugated to death-by-streaming-releases. In 1997, cinema was in its prime, with both indie films and major blockbusters seeing prosperous runs at the box office. In case you forgot just how idyllic 1997 was for the history of film,...

Tom Cruise’s Film That He Still Regrets ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

There’s one movie Tom Cruise wishes he could erase from his filmography—and it’s not the one you’re thinking. Long before Top Gun and Mission: Impossible, the Hollywood superstar found himself in a film so forgettable, even he openly regrets doing it. Losin’ It came early in Tom Cruise’s career. It was an adult comedy meant for teens that landed in 1982. The movie followed a group of boys chasing after the usual coming-of-age plot. The Mission: Impossible star did not like it back then, and the years have not changed his mind. The film did not offer much in the way of substance, and he later admitted it taught him something important: that he never wanted to do that kind of project again.

Tom Cruise and Shelley Long in Losin' It (1983) pic.twitter.com/shLZK...

Twenty-five years ago, the evolution of comic book movies leaped forward. On July 14, 2000, Marvel Comics' not-so-merry band of mutants, the X-Men, made their way from the comic pages to the big screen, changing the company's cinematic fortunes and making the box office safe for the team-based superhero movies that would follow years later.

It should be noted off the top that Blade ice-skated uphill so that X-Men could run downhill to franchise-launching success. Wesley Snipes' 1998 vampire movie brought the comic-book movie genre back from the brink of extinction courtesy of the mega-bomb that was 1997's Batman & Robin. Blade was also the first Marvel Comics-derived film that didn't fall into direct-to-video hell like failed versions of Captain America and The Punisher, and Roger Corman's never-released take on the Fantastic Four.

Still, X-Men's existence was far from guaranteed even after Blade pointed a way forward for Marvel.

There are certain joys in cinema that can’t be replaced or often times replicated. While showing someone you love one of your favorite movies can be a terrifying experience, especially if they don’t like it, or maybe they already knew too much about it and aren’t wowed, this experience builds even more if the movie has that One scene or that One twist that you know is coming but your viewing partner is blissfully unaware. For me, its showing The Usual Suspects to someone who somehow doesn’t know the secret of Keyser Söze or watching the tense body of a loved one jump out of their seat when R.J. MacReady tells us that Gary is going to be the Thing only for someone else’s blood to jump away from the hot needle. As fun as being the source of someone else’s thrill and living vicariously through them is,...

Movies set in unexpected locations typically make a point of labeling where they take place with prominent on-screen chyrons. “The Forbidden City” slyly withholds that information, treating the answer almost like a twist. The surprise stems from a prologue set in rural China, where a father teaches his two daughters kung fu before leaping forward to its first bone-shattering set-piece.

A decade or so later, Mei (Yaxi Liu) reappears in the basement of the Forbidden City, a multi-story Chinese restaurant-cum-brothel, fighting her way through a crowd of thugs and sex traffickers. When one assailant pulls a knife, she smashes a compact disc and fights back with the jagged shards of plastic. Mei kicks her way up the stairs, intending to save her older sister Yun, who’s nowhere to be found. Cornered in the kitchen, she improvises weapons from iron pans and a gnarly cheese grater, dousing the next round of henchmen in boiling grease.

Gordon Gekko has (mostly) left the building. Michael Douglas made headlines over the weekend when he announced the he would be stepping back from acting during an appearance at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic.

"I have not worked since 2022 purposefully because I realized I had to stop," said the veteran actor and producer, who last appeared onscreen in 2023's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. "I had been working pretty hard for almost 60 years, and I did not want to be one of those people who dropped dead on the set. I have no real intentions of going back."

At the same time, Douglas acknowledged that — just like Sean Connery — he's going to be careful about never saying never again. "I say I’m not retired because if something special came up, I’d go back, but otherwise, no."

Douglas attended Karlovy Vary to screen a restored...

“The Killer” demonstrates John Woo’s ability to craft a compelling story with the same intricacy as his elaborate gun fu. The production was infamously plagued by challenges due to clashing over creative differences with producer Tsui Hark, a working relationship that was already tumultuous from previous troubles with “A Better Tomorrow II.” This culminated with the director being able to retain his artistic vision but needing additional financial backing from the financing companies of lead actors Chow Yun-Fat and Danny Lee. Although initially not a success upon its release in Hong Kong, the film later received international acclaim and is now regarded as a classic. The movie was remade in 2024 as an English-language feature, also directed by Woo, although it received less favorable reviews than the original.

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Operating under the Triads, Ah Jong is a revered assassin who maintains unwavering...

Welcome to The B-Side! Here we sometimes talk about movie stars! We sometimes talk about movie directors! Today, we talk about both! Specifically, the B-Sides of the Mission: Impossible franchise.

It’s just Conor and I today folks, waxing poetic on Tom Cruise’s legendary franchise and the B-Sides that we were inspired to discuss. We’ve chosen one for each of the Mission movies. It’s also July 3rd on the day this episode is published, so happy 63rd birthday Tom Cruise!

For the first Mission: Impossible, we speak on The Avengers from 1998. An adaptation of the popular British television series from the ‘60s, director Jeremiah S. Chechik’s film was dismantled in post-production, slashed to ribbons following bad test screenings. The final product runs well under ninety minutes and is hard to understand. It sits on the other end of blockbusters in the ‘90s adapted from hit televisions from yesteryear.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, begins today, July 1. Netflix is bringing the first five Mission: Impossible movies to the platform, giving longtime fans and new recruits a chance to binge the evolution of Tom Cruise’s legendary Imf agent, Ethan Hunt. From wire-hanging espionage to death-defying stunts atop skyscrapers and airplanes, this drop is the perfect lead-up to the recently released (and possibly final) installment: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. The lineup includes:

Mission: Impossible (1996) – Brian De Palma’s slick and twisty original where Ethan Hunt is framed and betrayed in classic '90s spy fashion. Mission: Impossible II (2000) – John Woo dials everything up with slow-motion gunplay, leather jackets, and a motorcycle joust. Mission: Impossible III (2006) – J.J. Abrams introduces emotional stakes and one of the series’ most menacing villains, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) – The Burj Khalifa sequence redefined Cruise’s stunt game and relaunched the franchise.

It was recently reported that the home video distributor Shout Factory is collaborating with Hong Kong Film Archives to bring you the 4K remastering of the most coveted of Chinese action film classics. The films will include works by Jet Li, Chow Yun-Fat, John Woo, Ringo Lam and Tsui Hark. One of the titles included was Peking Opera Blues from 1986 and Blu-ray.com reports on the new details. Tsui Hark directs with a cast that includes Brigitte Lin, Sally Yeh, Cherie Chung, Kenneth Tsang and Mark Cheng. The new remastered release is due to hit retailers on September 23.

Description: Shout Factory’s Hong Kong Cinema Classics continues to offer movie enthusiasts a treasure trove of must-see film classics from a remarkable era in cinematic history. The goal is to preserve and present these iconic movies in their finest form for fans, both old and new, at home.

Official selection of...

Hong Kong cinema operator Golden Harvest has exited the local theatrical market, ending its long legacy as its few remaining outlets were shut down over the weekend. A yet-to-be-named new operator will enter the market to take over a trio of their outlets.

Golden Harvest was established as a production company in 1970 by co-founder Raymond Chow, who would become a legendary film producer and introduce Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and many more Hong Kong stars and directors such as Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, John Woo and Tsui Hark to the international markets.

The company opened its first cinema in...

Hong Kong cinema operator Golden Harvest has exited the local theatrical market, ending its long legacy as its few remaining outlets were shut down over the weekend. A yet-to-be-named new operator will enter the market to take over a trio of their outlets.

Golden Harvest was established as a production company in 1970 by co-founders Raymond Chow, who would become a legendary film producer and introduce Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and many more Hong Kong stars and directors such as Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, John Woo and Tsui Hark to the international markets.

The company opened its first cinema in...

This July, Tom Cruise fans are getting an Independence Day blow—but not the Will Smith kind. On July 1, Prime Video is pulling the plug on not one, not two, but six of Cruise’s most iconic titles—including the one that landed him his first Oscar nomination, the one that gave us shirtless volleyball and high-altitude melodrama, and the first four chapters of a franchise that turned him into an unstoppable stunt machine. If you were planning to celebrate America’s birthday by watching Born on the Fourth of July, Top Gun, or revisiting Ethan Hunt’s first impossible missions, you’ve got about 48 hours to hit play before they vanish from Prime’s library.

Long before Cruise was sprinting across rooftops or clinging to the side of a plane, he was earning critical respect as Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic in Born on the Fourth of July. Directed by...

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Easter eggs in movies are an interesting thing. Sometimes, they are there only for the most hardcore of fans to spot. Rather famously, a "Guardians of the Galaxy" Easter egg has still never been spotted, at least not that director James Gunn has admitted to. At times, modern blockbusters can feel more like Easter egg hunts than anything else. Sometimes, though, an Easter egg is so subtle, yet so compelling, that it warrants a great deal of discussion. Such is the case with one from John Woo's 1997 action classic "Face/Off." And buckle up, because things are going to get weird.

Though this particular Easter egg has been pointed out in the past, it began making the rounds online again recently. We'll dig into it more in a moment but, in essence, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot from "Face/Off" suggests that the...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (Peter Browngardt)

Directed by Peter Browngardt, this is a charming affair. Modeled after sci-fi B-movies of the 1950s and starring Looney Tunes legends Porky Pig and Daffy Duck (both voiced by Eric Bauza), The Day the Earth Blew Up starts with a UFO landing. The spacecraft takes off on the roof of Porky and Daffy’s broken-down house (bequeathed to them by surrogate father Farmer Jim) just before crashing. It goes on to infect a local scientist (Fred Tatasciore) with a zombifying goo not long after. Soon enough, the goo is in the mix at the gum factory, where Porky and Daffy have taken jobs in a last-ditch effort to save their beloved home from being demolished.

The beloved action cinema hailing from Hong Kong in the 1980s and ’90s is now being honored by distributor Shout! Studios.

IndieWire exclusively announces that the films of John Woo, Ringo Lam, Tsui Hark, and Tony Ching will screen as part of the “Hong Kong Cinema Classics” series, taking place at Los Angeles’ American Cinematheque and New York City’s IFC Center in August 2025. The retrospective will then tour select markets across the U.S. throughout the fall, with Shout! Studios releasing physical and digital versions, courtesy of the Golden Princess library.

Woo will also be in attendance at select American Cinematheque screenings. The auteur recently made his return to Hollywood filmmaking with 2023’s “Silent Night” and his 2024 remake of “The Killer” Woo’s “Hard Boiled,” “Bullet in the Head,” “A Better Tomorrow,” and its sequel, “A Better Tomorrow II,” are all among the “Hong Kong Cinema Classics” program. “A Better Tomorrow III,...

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Anime is filled with action series. That action is mostly "Dragon Ball"-flavored, though: superhuman martial arts, characters blasting energy or magical powers at each other, etc. However, if there's one anime that captures the kinetic, hot-lead-pumping feeling of a grown-up action film, it's "Black Lagoon." (No relation to the Creature from.)

In "Black Lagoon," the characters fight with guns, not any sort of Super Saiyan powers. The unrelenting pace and intensity of the series' shoot-outs is right out of John Woo's Hong Kong action films.

"Black Lagoon" lead Rokuro "Rock" Okajima is an overworked and middling office drone living in Japan in the 1990s. He's then sent on a business trip in the South China Sea, only to be taken hostage by a group of pirates from the Lagoon Trading Company: Dutch, their coolheaded leader, a supposed Vietnam...

Nobody does it like John Woo. Calling Woo a pioneering force that helped shape Hollywood action movies would be an understatement, as his influence runs deeper than one might imagine. It wouldn't be farfetched to call Woo's brand of cinematic violence poetic, where he revitalizes the mundane with slick gusto — whether it's when a hail of bullets pierces through shattered glass, or time slows down to highlight something impossibly cool.

Ever since Woo found mainstream success with 1986's "A Better Tomorrow," he has been experimenting with the action genre and how it expresses stylized violence in passionate bursts. That film brought together American gangster cinema and Hong Kong martial arts flicks in ways never done before, and once Woo cemented his status as one of the masters of the genre, countless action flicks (including "The Matrix") mimicked Woo's aesthetic time and again. More recent genre entries, like Chad Stahelski's...

Among the notable crime films in Hong Kong cinema, “Infernal Affairs,” stands as one of the most influential, even inspiring an Academy Award-winning American remake by Martin Scorsese, “The Departed.” Yet, while the remake has its merits, the original remains a masterpiece in its own right. Whereas many of its contemporaries leaned heavily into stylized action, Lau and Mak opted for a more grounded picture that functions as a character-driven drama, building suspense through deliberate pacing. These qualities, along with its star-studded cast, earned the movie critical acclaim upon its 2002 release and spawned two sequels.

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As an ongoing rivalry lingers between law enforcement and the criminal underworld, two men with opposing professions take on secret roles. Lau Kin-ming poses as a police officer to spy on the Hong Kong Police Force as a mole for Triad boss Hon Sam. On the other side,...

After years of changes and delays, Masters of the Universe has finally finished filming. The movie, which is based on the classic Mattel toys, is now one step closer to making its way to theaters. Nicholas Galitzine, who plays Prince Adam, and Camila Mendes, who plays Teela, were seen on set as production officially came to an end.

The film is scheduled to come out on June 5, 2026. Amazon MGM Studios will handle the release.

Nicholas Galitzine and Camila Mendes on the set of #MastersOfTheUniverse.

Production wrapped earlier this week. pic.twitter.com/JRIcl5EH2s

— Rotten Tomatoes (@RottenTomatoes) June 21, 2025

The story follows Adam Glenn, a boy who lands on Earth after a crash and loses the Sword of Grayskull. Years later, as an adult, he finds the sword again and returns to his home planet, Eternia. There, he becomes He-Man and leads the fight against the evil Skeletor.

Camila Mendes plays Teela,...

Masters of the Universe has officially wrapped filming, and fans are one step closer to seeing the iconic world of Eternia brought to life on the big screen. Nicholas Galitzine, who stars as Prince Adam, and Camila Mendes, who plays Teela, were recently spotted on set, marking the end of production.

The movie is set to hit theaters on June 5, 2026, and will be released by Amazon MGM Studios.

Nicholas Galitzine and Camila Mendes on the set of #MastersOfTheUniverse.

Production wrapped earlier this week. pic.twitter.com/JRIcl5EH2s

— Rotten Tomatoes (@RottenTomatoes) June 21, 2025

This live-action movie is based on Mattel’s classic franchise and has had a long and bumpy road to get here. The project changed studios, writers, and directors multiple times over the years. After many delays, the film finally got the green light with Travis Knight directing and Chris Butler writing the latest version of the script.

The debate concerning the use of artificial intelligence in the movie industry has taken a surprising turn with nearly 100 martial arts classics, including those from Jackie Chan andBruce Lee, now destined to receive AI makeovers. A major sticking point for the 2023 Hollywood strike action initiated by the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America, the place of AI in the film industry is still a hotly contested issue. With studios increasingly looking to lower production costs and maximize revenue, the role of generative AI in everything from special effects, background performances, and voice-overs is currently being placed under increasing scrutiny.

At this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival (via The Hollywood Reporter), a collection of Chinese studios announced their intentions to use AI technology to reimagine nearly 100 classic martial arts movies. Dubbed the Kung Fu Movie Heritage Project 100 Classics AI Revitalization Project, the studios plan to focus on films...

“The Kung Fu Movie Heritage Project: 100 Classics AI Revitalisation Project” is a Chinese government-supported ‘AI’ cinema initiative to digitally restore and ‘enhance’ iconic China-produced martial arts movies including those starring Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li:

“…high-definition upgrades will include ‘Fist of Fury’, ‘Drunken Master’ and ‘Once Upon a Time in China’.

“Taking innovation further, the initiative will also pioneer AI-generated remakes, including John Woo’s ‘A Better Tomorrow’….

“… reimagined as ‘A Better Tomorrow: Cyber Frontier’, a cyberpunk-themed animated feature created entirely through AI…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

China’s film industry is taking a bold step into the future with a new initiative unveiled at the 27th Shanghai International Film Festival.

The project, named the “Kung Fu Movie Heritage Project 100 Classics AI Revitalization Project,” aims to use artificial intelligence to modernize around 100 classic martial arts films, giving them a fresh look for today’s audiences.

The effort, supported by the Chinese government, will focus on iconic movies like Bruce Lee’s 1972 hit Fist of Fury, Jackie Chan’s 1978 classic Drunken Master, and Jet Li’s 1991 film Once Upon a Time in China.

Another highlight is a reimagined version of John Woo’s 1986 action film A Better Tomorrow, which will become a futuristic animated movie featuring Chow Yun-fat’s character as a cyberpunk hero. This animated remake is being touted as the first feature-length film fully produced using AI technology.

Leading the charge, Zhang Pimin, chairman of the China Film Foundation,...

The Kung Fu Movie Heritage Project: 100 Classics AI Revitalisation Project was recently unveiled at the Shanghai International Film Festival, promising to digitally restore and enhance iconic martial arts movies featuring legends like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and more.

According to presenters, this cutting-edge initiative aims to breathe new life into China’s storied kung fu cinema using advanced AI technology.

Chinese film studios are planning to remake and remaster martial arts classics using AI

• 100 films — including ones starring Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and Jet Li — will be remastered

• John Woo's 'Better Tomorrow' is being turned into 'the world's first AI-produced animated… pic.twitter.com/3tmYQLZUgt

— Culture Crave...

Hollywood studios and craftspeople may be busy agonizing over the proper role of AI’s potential within the film industry, but Chinese studios aren’t slowing down.

Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li and a legion of the all-time greats of martial cinema are about to get an AI makeover. In a sign-of-the-times announcement at the Shanghai International Film Festival on Thursday, a collection of Chinese studios revealed that they are turning to AI to re-imagine around 100 classics of the genre.

Lee’s classic Fist of Fury (1972), Chan’s breakthrough Drunken Master (1978) and the Tsui Hark-directed epic Once Upon a Time in China (1991), which turned Li into a bone fide movie star, are among the features poised for the treatment, as part of the “Kung Fu Movie Heritage Project 100 Classics AI Revitalization Project.”

There will also be a digital reworking of the John Woo classic A Better Tomorrow (1986) that,...

Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee and Jet Li may soon return to global screens in digitally resurrected form.

At the 27th Shanghai International Film Festival, the China Film Foundation and partners launched two major AI-driven initiatives under the Kung Fu Film Heritage Project: a large-scale effort to restore 100 classic martial arts films using artificial intelligence, and the unveiling of a brand-new animated feature, “A Better Tomorrow: Cyber Border,” billed as the world’s first fully AI-produced animated feature film.

The restoration project aims to digitally remaster 100 landmark kung fu films, using AI to enhance image, sound, and overall production quality while preserving the storytelling and aesthetic of the originals. Organizers described it as a long-term commitment to reviving the cultural and cinematic legacy of Chinese martial arts cinema.

“From Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan, from ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ to ‘Wolf Warrior,’ these films have shown the world the vitality and spirit of the Chinese people,...

Shout! Studios’ Hong Kong Cinema Classics collection is getting bigger and more badass than ever with the addition of four films featuring martial arts filmmaking masters John Woo and Tsui Hark! Upcoming additions to the platform include A Better Tomorrow, A Better Tomorrow II, A Better Tomorrow III, The Killer (1989), and Hark’s Hong Kong action-comedy classic Peking Opera Blues. All films will be available On Demand and digitally starting in July on Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Microsoft, and other digital platforms.

The following hails from Shout! Studios’ press release about the upcoming releases:

This summer, prepare for even more high-octane action and thrills when Shout! Studios and Hong Kong Cinema Classics invite movie enthusiasts and loyal fans to binge-watch some of the acclaimed early works by legendary filmmakers John Woo and Tsui Hark, and internationally celebrated actors Chow Yun-Fat, Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung Ka-Fai,...

The Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest) proudly announces the official programme lineup for its highly anticipated 8th edition, set to take place from 19 to 27 July 2025. Staying true to its mission as a cultural bridge between Malaysian and global cinema, this year’s MIFFest places a spotlight on bold, diverse, and impactful storytelling from around the world. In its ongoing celebration of cinematic legends, the 8 th MIFFest is proud to pay tribute to the iconic Ti Lung with the Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the Extended Special Programme under the Master At Work series.

This year’s Malaysia Golden Global Awards (Mgga) sets the stage for an electrifying competition, with several standout titles leading the nominations. These critically acclaimed films reflect the depth and diversity of global storytelling celebrated at MIFFest. The Malaysia Golden Global Awards (Mgga) takes place on 26 July 2025 at Zepp Kuala Lumpur. The event will be streamed...

The 8th Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest) will open July 19 with “Ninavau,” a Malaysian feature exploring cultural identity and emotional heritage by director Bebbra Mailin, and close July 27 with “Transamazonia,” an environmental epic spanning France, Brazil, Germany, Switzerland and Taiwan from director Pia Marais.

The bookend titles underscore MIFFest’s dual mission of championing homegrown storytelling while embracing international co-productions, as the Kuala Lumpur-based festival positions itself as a key player in the Southeast Asian circuit with a robust 62-film lineup spanning 48 countries.

The fest will honor Hong Kong action icon Ti Lung with a lifetime achievement award. The 78-year-old star, whose career spans the golden age of martial arts cinema, will receive the honor at the Malaysia Golden Global Awards ceremony July 26 at Zepp Kl.

The tribute includes screenings of John Woo’s “A Better Tomorrow” and Jess Teong’s “The Kid from The Big Apple,” with Ti Lung...