FIVE A DAY: And Here Are The Final Five!

And we’re off! Happy New Year’s day to anyone and everyone. 2016 is here, and so is Friday and that means it’s time for the final five. Don’t get me wrong – there’s a TON of movies that I could have listed but I’ve decided to list a few that deserve a bit of mentioning for the coming year. Stay aboard, readers because it’s about to get fantastic!… And crowded.

We begin with at least one other title waiting in the wings for further updates now in the form of the new West-Meets-East martial arts revenge flick, The Stop Hit. There currently isn’t much to go on with exception to some cast and crew info and plot details that do fare interestingly among any martial arts fan, specifically for fans of martial artist and actor Eric Jacobus (Mortal Kombat Legacy: S2, Rope-A-Dope 1 & 2) who plays an American cop on the hunt for his partner’s murders through Hong Kong.

Dr. Z is a bit of an obscure director having locally premiered three of his works in the San Francisco area a few months ago. With The Stop Hit however, this one is sure to garner the right attetion, particularly with the involvement of martial arts stalwarts Carter Wong and John Cheung contributing to the action alongside Jacobus and the talented cast. I spoke to co-star, hip-hop artist and actor Cryptik Soul last year to learn more about it, so feel free to read for yourself and stay tuned after.

As far as obscure movie titles go, the truth couldn’t be more prevalent than for Airborn Entertainment’s own Terry Cheung whose zero-budgeted indie martial arts thriller, Shinobi Code continues to reside in our collective brains like an impossible itch to scratch. In lamens’ terms, info is currently nil, but thankfully that won’t be all for its lead actor, world-champion freerunner Ryan Doyle who is the focal center for Andrew Goth’s upcoming sci-fi fantasy, DxM.

The film premieres sometime this year with a story that centers on a group of quantum-theory students who find themselves embroiled in a world of danger when evil forces threaten to use experimental technology to heal an injured freerunner for their own nefarious means. A teaser released online last year unveils a dazzling look into the millieu the film conveys along with Doyle in a role that exhume something spectacular for audiences. Not to mention the film uses 360° camera technology for some of its key scenes, so this will be another intriguing title to keep in mind while we wait for Shinobi Code to unshroud itself from darkness.

Action star Marko Zaror is no different from any of the action stars we ought to keep an eye on for the new year. While we await to see what comes of his newest superhero take for Riccardo Gabrielli R.’s new Zambo Dende short, the star of The and last year’s Redeemer dares to destroy the world as the key villain in Michael D. Olmos’s latest, The Green Ghost. The film is inspired by real-life car salesman Charlie Clark’s earlier webseries work, here and now and back in costume opposite Zaror and a number of other characters in a story of said car salesman who must uses his newfound powers – endowed from Aztec crystals, to defeat an evil warlord and his minions bent on bringing back Montezuma’s reign. We’re light on footage as it is in the most recent teaser, but it does the trick so far in teasing some amazing action for a family-friendly audience of all ethnicities – as per Clark’s M.O. for the original webseries. Click here to take a look

You have to give it to Russian action star and film producer Alexander Nevsky whose fervor and love for the genre remain boundless. Forging friendships with folks like the cast of his latest international thriller, Showdown In Manila is exemplary of this fact with this as the first of at least two titles coming down the pipeline with action star Mark Dacascos starring as well as making his directorial debut.

The two are joined by a powerhouse cast that also hosts Casper Van Dien, Cynthia Rothrock, Olivier Gruner and more in a plot that sees a P.I. and his partner recruit some of the best of the best to take down a heavy-hitting terrorist organization. Sifi Al Dacascos debuts as fight coordinator alongside assistant stunt director Sonny Sison who shared some of his own insight with me in an interview last year about the film’s production.

Russia is getting a CIS release in Feburary while distribution in other terriroties remain pending.

Lastly of this list and far from the least, while I could have included any number of Marvel or DC titles in this list, I think the most central one so far has to be Suicide Squad from director David Ayer. It definitely bares some significance with respect to what Warner Bros. has in store for its forthcoming Justice League films in lieu of Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice, and I’m keen on seeing where it all goes. Besides, comic-con trailer was absolutely fantastic among a few reasons why it out-performed Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice during this past summer in San Diego.

A new trailer is on the horizon with a television special on the CW network scheduled for January 19, so stick around!

This wasn’t an easy list by far, but I hope this kept everyone warmed up. Of course, you’re all entitled to your own lists, so what say you in the comments below? Do you have a top five/ten/twenty or so movie checklist for the new year? Share it with us!

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