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After several years of stalled development and delays, Donnie Yen's film adaptation of the Sleeping Dogs video game is dead. The Sleeping Dogs film was originally announced back in 2017, with Original Film and DJ2 Entertainment set to produce the project. Unfortunately, there has hardly been any news following the initial announcement, making the movie feel less and less likely as the years went on. While there have been minor updates on the project, such as a potential director and Yen's statements in 2018 about trying to get the film moving forward, there largely been radio silence.

Now, in a new interview with Polygon, Donnie Yen has provided a sad update on the Sleeping Dogs adaptation. Given that Yen was set to star in the video game adaptation, the actor's latest comments are even sadder, as he describes the effort he put into making it happen and trying to find...

John Wick: Chapter 4 star and action movie icon Donnie Yen does what he does best, and does it better than ever, in new action thriller The Prosecutor. The martial arts actor delivers justice both in and out of the courtroom in the movie, which follows Yen as the titular prosecutor who, after having his faith in the system shaken, sets out on a brutal quest to save a wrongly accused defendant. The Prosecutor has now debuted with a hugely promising score of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. So, let’s see what the critics think...

Avi Offer of NYC Movie Guru declares the legal action outing a “taut, suspenseful and exhilarating crime thriller,” with Casey Chong of Casey's Movie Mania adding that “Donnie Yen blends an engrossing legal thriller with visceral action-movie tropes.” Daniel Eagan of Film Legacy, meanwhile, heaps praise on Yen, who has been a staple of Hong Kong...

Around this time, several productions emerged that seemed to mirror the success of “The Untouchables”. “First Shot” was to follow a few years after this, but in the same year came “The Big Heat” also produced by Tsui Hark and starring Waise Lee. All three are set in different periods, but feature a similar narrative around police corruption and a small team of straight cops that refused to succumb. The latter of the three is the finer piece of work but whilst this production is flawed it is not without merit. Kirk Wong is probably not talked about a lot in modern circles. Whilst he doesn’t have the visual flourish of a peak John Woo, or the intensity of a Ringo Lam, his work always has, for the most part, a polish that other contemporaries lack.

During the Chinese civil war, four friends escape from the...

So being the nerd I am I love seeing characters from some of my favorite storied being taken up by fans. No they may not have the budget of a summer blockbuster but something can be said for when you know the characters enough you produce a compelling story that truly captures these heroes and villains. Basically I love fan films. I've been very lucky to talk to lots of creators out there. Mark Cheng from Red Retrieval, Chelton Perry from Teen Titans Project and a few others. Well after watching Sweet Madness by Peter Dukes I've got another favorite added to my list.  

So Sweet Madness is a Harley Quinn short and while some would say the character is over exposed I can agree with them on the terms that Harley is a good guy. No I tend to lean towards the Harley that's a villain, sure she's likable...

Long-time screenwriter Lau Ho Leung (Painted Skin, Kung Fu Jungle) makes his directorial debut in this energetic action comedy following a gang of thieves who masquerade as cops to pull off a heist, only to encounter a rival posse with the exact same idea. Francis Ng and Simon Yam head up the cast, which sets its sights firmly on local audiences, delivering a winning combination of humour, action and camaraderie that transcends its budgetary limitations.After a 16-year stretch in a Malaysian prison, Big F (Francis Ng) returns to Hong Kong and tracks down his former partners in crime. Flamboyant hair stylist Johnnie T (Patrick Tam), short-sighted minibus driver East L (Mark Cheng) and washed-up bowling alley caretaker Crazy B (Simon Yam) are initially reluctant to...

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

Produced by Soi Cheang (Motorway, The Monkey King) and directed by Lau Ho Leung, writer of numerous Hong Kong movies including Painted Skin and The Great Magician, Two Thumbs Up is an action comedy starring Francis Ng and Simon Yam as members of a tight knit group of criminals who transform a public minibus into a Police van as part of a robbery.Currently in post-production, the film from Emperor Motion Pictures co-stars Leo Ku, Patrick Tam, Mark Cheng and Christie Chen and from this first teaser, looks very promising indeed. We can expect to see it arrive in Hong Kong at the end of the year.Official synopsis (possible spoilers):Lucifer and his gangsters dress their minibus to resemble a police vehicle, and pose as policemen for...

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

Hong Kong-based Emperor Motion Pictures (Emp) is launching sales on Soi Cheang-produced comedy drama Two Thumbs Up at Filmart

Currently in post-production, the film tells the story of a band of aspiring gangsters who impersonate policemen in order to commit a robbery, but end up working with the police to catch a gang of more dangerous criminals.

The film’s ensemble cast includes Francis Ng, Simon Yam, Leo Ku, Patrick Tam, Mark Cheng and Christie Chen.

It marks the directorial debut of scriptwriter Lau Ho Leung, whose credits include Emp’s The Great Magician and Triple Tap. He was also a co-writer on Painted Skin and Emp’s upcoming Kung-fu Jungle, starring Donnie Yen.

Soi Cheang recently directed Chinese New Year smash hit The Monkey King.

Emp has also added two romantic dramas – Chen Sicheng’s Beijing Love Story and Snow Zou’s With Or Without – to its Filmart slate.

Starring [link=nm...

1. Facebook: To celebrate its double-digit birthday, Facebook released a tool called A Look Back that creates a slideshow (set to music) out of users' pictures to post on their Facebook wall (of course!). "The first ten years were about bootstrapping this network. Now we have the resources to help people across the world solve even bigger and more important problems," wrote Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, on -- where else? -- his public Facebook page. 2. Kickstarting Sci-Fi: Indie director Mark Cheng contacted his comic book idol Larry Hama on Facebook to share his G.I. Joe fan film. Hama loved the film and the two of them are now teaming up on a sci-fi film which they're funding via Kickstarter. Read more about the project here. 3. Apple's New Ad: 30 years after his father Ridley Scott directed one of Apple's first commercials (for the original Macintosh computer), Jake Scott...

Welcome back to our weekly look at the new podcasts available at our “partners in podcast crime” the GeekCast Radio Network. As usual here’s our weekly look at the podcasts from Gcrn, This Week in Geek and the latest toy review videos from Baltmatrix, with descriptions and links to each and every podcast for your audio/visual pleasure!

Gcr – Special Episode – Con Girl Goes To BotCon 2012

Botcon 2012 was this past weekend! Cally and Mirai both were in attendance, and they both had a different experience. Tune in to hear all about that, and Derrick J. Wyatt is also on the podcast, to talk about being a convention guest. Transform and rollout!

Gcr – Special Episode – Music Spotlight – Artist Spotlight – Live

Live, the band! We are continuing the artist spotlight for the 2000s with Ed Kowalczyk, Chad Taylor, Chad Gracey, and Patrick Dahlheimer. Jt From Saskatoon and TFG1Mike explore this...

Welcome back to our weekly look at the new podcasts available at our “partners in podcast crime” the GeekCast Radio Network. As usual here’s our weekly look at the podcasts from Gcrn, This Week in Geek and the latest toy review videos from Baltmatrix, with descriptions and links to each and every podcast.

Mwire – Special Christmas Episode – Home Alone Franchise

Ahhh That’s right Steve and Mike are back for a Christmas episode. This time around talking about the Home Alone Franchise. Merry Christmas you filthy animal!

ToonCast Beyond – Episode 05 – Wonder Woman (2009)

Continuing the crossover between the GeekCast Radio Network’s ToonCast Beyond with The Animation Aficionados. In Episode 05 of ToonCast Beyond we continue the DC Universe Animated Original Movies spotlight with Wonder Woman! Toon In Beyonders!

ToyCast – PuggleCast – Christmas 2011

It’s that time again. Christmas tie, and to talk about puggles! It has become a ToyCast tradition to...

Looking for a nice take on the G.I. Joe franchise? Try checking out the following amazing G.I. Joe fan film created by Mark Cheng. Operation: Red Retrieval combines several great action scenes along with solid actor performances and clocks in at a healthy 20 minutes in length. The film was created over a period of 18 months while having only 5 days of actual shooting at a cost of $2500.

The [other] thing I wanted to capture is that feeling from when I was 8 years old lying the floor with my action figures. I’d line up my GI Joe figures next to my Star Wars figures next to my He-Man figures and next to my Autobot Transformers. It didn’t matter that the toys were of a different scale, possessed inexplicable powers, came from different brands, or lived in different universes.

via [YouTube]...

Here's a pretty awesome fan made G.I. Joe film that is worth watching if you have the time. The 20-minute short film is called Operation: Red Retrieval, and it was directed by Mark Cheng. It was filmed over a period of 18-months with a canon 7D and produced for $2500. It contains over 150 visual effects and is a tribute director Mark Cheng's childhood love of action figures. This film has got some pretty impressive and surprising moments.

Here's a note from the director:

This is Not the GI Joe movie you've all been dying to see.

This is Not the GI Joe movie you're dying to unsee.

This is the GI Joe movie I saw in my head more than 25 years ago. I watched the cartoons, read the comics, and collected the toys when I was a kid. Eventually I moved on from GI Joe but from that franchise...

I love coming across awesome fan films, but rarely do I see one revolving around G.I. Joe that I actually liked. We were recently sent this video for a G.I. Joe fan film call Operation: Red Retrieval and it's a pretty freakin' awesome vision. The fan trailer was directed by Mark Cheng, and it turned out to be a way better vision than that crappy G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra film that Stephen Sommers directed.

The film was made on a budget of $2000 and shot on a Canon 7D, over a period of six days. Check out the fan made film trailer below and tell us what you think!

Source: YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji0NeIJ3Gsw&feature=player_embedded)...

HONG KONG -- For anyone who saw Election, Johnnie To's masterful, modern reworking of the Hong Kong Triad drama and its mythology, Election 2 isn't so much a sequel as a logical extension of the story.

It's hard to say why To hasn't transcended cult/art house status outside of Asia and specialty festivals, but in the wake of the moderate success of Infernal Affairs, the present mood might be right for To.

Less cryptic than The Longest Nite, which he produced, and less minimalist than The Mission -- two of To's best -- Election 2 is a more traditional narrative that audiences can easily follow. It focuses on fewer characters, giving audiences a chance to keep track of the major players. It's a natural for Asian and genre festivals following its international debut Out of Competition at this month's Festival de Cannes, where To has a stellar reputation.

When the first film stopped -- because it didn't end by a long shot -- Lok (Simon Yam) had won the chairmanship election and feloniously consolidated his power. The saga picks up with Lok angling to extend his term for another two years, which goes against all tradition, and lining up his allies and targeting his foes.

The less aggressive, more entrepreneurial Jimmy (Louis Koo) is his biggest rival: He's popular with the uncles because he is a good businessman, and he knows the future is in mainland China. Bloody circumstances unfold that force Jimmy to make a string of violent decisions that do, in fact, lead to the chairman's throne as well as a suitably ambiguous ending.

An ambiguous ending doesn't mean that To isn't completely in control of his material. In what could be either a Hong Kong answer to Kill Bill (one long film in two parts) or The Godfather, To seems to be exploring areas of the story that he didn't in Election. Perhaps the first film's production inspired other avenues To wanted to explore. Whatever the case, where To and writers Yau Nai-hoi and Yip Tin-shing stripped the Triad of its underworld tone in the first film and painted it as the modern quasicorporation it is today, in Election 2 the trio strips what remains of the Triad mythos -- its image as a heroic, loyalty-based brotherhood. Jimmy turns out to be every bit as ruthless and brutal as Lok or the deceased Big D, and this discovery is where much of Election 2's drama lies. This sequel is considerably darker, literally and figuratively, than its predecessor, and the prevailing sense of dread and simmering danger is palpable.

Credit should go to shooter Cheng Siu-keung and score composer Robert Ellis-Geiger. The film is every bit as vivid in its portrayal of the brotherhood as To's A Hero Never Dies; it's just that the pendulum has swung the other way. That film was glamorous. This one is not.

But it's not all violence and brutality. To allows his morbid sense of humor to shine through. There are moments of absurd hilarity that don't necessarily lighten the mood so much as bring it down to earth. The performances are strong all around, especially from Koo, an actor known less for his thespian exploits than for his tan. Mark Cheng as hired enforcer Xi provides the lightest moments as he goes about adjusting his rates from situation to situation. To fans are going to be delighted, and it's a good start for viewers unfamiliar with his work.

ELECTION 2

Milkyway Image Limited

Credits:

Director: Johnnie To

Screenwriters: Yau Nai-hoi, Yip Tin-shing

Producer: Dennis Law, Johnnie To

Director of photography: Cheng Siu-keung

Production designer: Tony Yu

Music: Robert Ellis-Geiger

Editors: Law Wing-cheong, Jeff Cheong

Cast:

Jimmy: Louis Koo

Lok: Simon Yam

Kun: Lam Ka-tung

Uncle Teng: Wong Tin-lam

Jet: Nick Cheung

Xi: Mark Cheng

Big Head: Lam Suet

No MPAA rating

Running time -- 97 minutes...