China – Stream On Demand

Shu Qi in Hou Hsiou-Hsien's rapturous wuxia 'The Assassin'

Hou Hsiou-Hsien’s ‘The Assassin’ on MUBI and free on Kanopy and Hoopla

!Featured, Action, Blu-ray, Cannes winner, DVD, Free, historical, Hoopla, International Cinema, Kanopy, martial arts, MUBI, SVOD 11/05/2022 Sean Axmaker 1 Comment

This gracerful martial drama as cinematic poem stars Shu Qi as professional assasin ordered to murder her cousin.

‘Black Coal, Thin Ice’ – Chinese noir on MUBI

!Featured, Blu-ray, Crime, DVD, International Cinema, MUBI, neo-noir, VOD 07/31/2022 Sean Axmaker

Diao Yinan’s dark crime drama, set in China’s northern coal country in the depths of winter, takes an atmospheric approach to the shadowy murder mystery.

Sun Honglei and Louis Koo headline 'Drug War' from Hong Kong action maestro Johnnie To

Johnnie To’s ‘Drug War’ on Prime Video, MUBI, and free on Kanopy

!Featured, Action, Amazon Prime Video, Blu-ray, Crime, DVD, Free, Have You Seen...?, International Cinema, Kanopy, MUBI, SVOD, thriller 07/25/2022 Sean Axmaker

Hong Kong crime master Johnnie To takes his brand of sleek, stark action cinema to the Chinese mainland for a story of driven cops and brutal drug smugglers.

‘The Wild Goose Lake’ – Chinese noir on MUBI and free on Kanopy and Hoopla

!Featured, Blu-ray, Crime, DVD, Free, Hoopla, International Cinema, Kanopy, MUBI, neo-noir, SVOD, thriller 07/05/2022 Sean Axmaker

This slow burn crime thriller favors mood and atmosphere over plot and momentum, creating a sense of desperation over a humid, overheated summer night.

Donnie Yen is legendary martial artist ‘Ip Man’ on Netflix and Peacock and free on Kanopy

!Featured, Action, based on a true story, biographical, Blu-ray, Cult Movies, drama, DVD, Free, historical, International Cinema, Kanopy, Netflix, Peacock, SVOD 05/15/2022 Sean Axmaker 2 Comments

Hong Kong martial arts star Donnie Yen landed the role of his career as the legendary teacher and grandmaster of Wing Chun in this rousing biographical drama.

Wong Kar-Wai’s ‘The Grandmaster’ on Starz

!Featured, Academy Award nominee, Action, biographical, Blu-ray, DVD, International Cinema, martial arts, Starz, SVOD 09/20/2021 Sean Axmaker

Tony Leung stars as martial arts master Ip Man in this lush, romantic take on the martial arts action genre.

Jackie Chan stars in the World War II action comedy from China

Jackie Chan leads the ‘Railroad Tigers’ on Peacock

!Featured, Action, Blu-ray, DVD, International Cinema, martial arts, Peacock, SVOD, war 08/07/2021 Sean Axmaker

Jackie Chan stars in Railroad Tigers (China, 2016) as the leader of a scruffy band of rural railroad porters who stage raids on Japanese trains running through occupied China in World War II. They drop into moving trains, steal food for the villagers, and leave their mark by drawing flying tigers on the bodies of […]

‘Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy’ on Netflix

!Featured, Action, Blu-ray, DVD, historical, International Cinema, martial arts, Netflix, SVOD 01/05/2021 Sean Axmaker

A spin-off of the popular series of Ip Man martial arts dramas, Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy (China, 2019) follows the path of Cheung Tin-chi (Jin “Max” Zhang), the self-described master of Wing Chun who was defeated by Ip Man in Ip Man 3. As Master Z opens, he has turned his back on […]

Jackie Chan in the Hong Kong action film from Leo Zhang

‘Bleeding Steel’ – Jackie Chan is still in action on Amazon Prime Video

!Featured, Action, Amazon Prime Video, Blu-ray, DVD, International Cinema, martial arts, Science Fiction, Streaming Movies, SVOD, thriller 10/24/2018 Sean Axmaker

Now well over 60 years old, Jackie Chan remains a charismatic actor with some impressive moves that he puts on display in Bleeding Steel (China, 2017), a colorful but awfully silly science fiction action thriller from writer/director Leo Zhang. Jackie plays a Special Forces officer whose duty takes him from his dying young daughter to […]

Donnie Yen and Andy Lau in the Hong Kong crime drama from Wong Jing

Donny Yen and Andy Lau are ‘Chasing the Dragon’ on Netflix

!Featured, Action, based on a true story, Blu-ray, DVD, gangsters, International Cinema, Netflix 04/19/2018 Sean Axmaker 2 Comments

Directed by the insanely prolific Hong Kong action veteran Wong Jing, Chasing the Dragon (China, 2017) is the filmmaker’s crime epic, a historical drama that charts the rise and fall of two notorious gangsters who thrived in the rampant corruption enabled by Britain’s colonial rule of Hong Kong in the 1960s. The title is slang […]