THE HIT LIST: October 8, 2018
This weekend saw some much needed decompression while digesting all of the NYCC 2018 news that came. Of course, Sunday gave me an opportune day to prep this week’s installment of The Hit List…
envizion films
SWEETER THAN BITTERSWEET: Friday Night Dining With Some Of The UASE’s Best
It’s not easy as I’m writing this on a crisp, chilly Saturday morning while at work again. Granted, it’s neither the cold nor is it the usual next-day recovery period from loss of sleep. Rather, it’s more perfunctory in that I’m lucky if I get to be in a room at least once or twice a year with as many like-minded people as I got to last night at the Times Square Diner And Grill in wake of all happening at this year’s fifth annual Urban Action Showcase & Expo. Indeed, it took a little help whilst planning a gathering of what I expected initially to be a handful of maybe ten people plus a few local friends, and with the help of D.L. MacDonald, a stuntman freshly in from Canada wearing, of all things, a few layered shirts and a pair of shorts, smack-dab in our below-zero windchill of the evening temperature. Some were impressed by way of his acclimation to the cold while a few others like myself were a little more surprised. I was even late in realizing it too.
THE HIT LIST – July 4, 2016
All I’ll say is to click here to get a glimpse of how a part of my weekend went. Needless to say, it was fantastic and I’m glad to share it with you all, and I certainly hope to have more moments like it with even more people within my purview.
For now, It’s Monday, and that means it’s time for The Hit List, and kicking things off is, by far, one of the best and most impressive tricking reels you’ll see, here and now from Westminister-based martial artist and stuntman, Martial Club member Brian Le who has been very busy in the past few years building his prolife as a bodybuilder. And so, while not all trickers can perform these feats with the same hefty frame, it’s thrilling to know there are a few who have the caliber to do so, and Le’s reel is a proven hit among viewers alike. Following that is a new reel from actress Jennifer Linch who has also catapulted into her year for the development of several films, a few of which includes Flowers Of The Night, and Violet, the latter which has since launched a Facebook fan page you can subscribe to here.
Rounding out the playlist are stunt, parkour and action reels by Sydney Olson, Brandon Shaw, Tony Vo, Mark Chin, Jesse Turner, Aaron Jones Beck, Michael Matthews, Sam Durani, and actor, stuntman, choreographer and co-star of director Frank Figueroa’s Room 237, Anthony Giovanni Elias.
Moving on a bit, we now have a few promotional gems to share and first up comes courtesy of Vimeo a la Indiegogo where film festival programmer and filmmaker Shelagh Rowan-Legg is currently working toward her second short film, now in the form of action comedy, Flow. Inspired by the directorial visions of folks like Gareth Evans, Lexi Alexander and Joss Whedon, the project centers on a group of women soldiers amid a war already in progress while they ultimately end up fighting each other over bodily functions that are pretty hard to avoid (and we can rule out farting since Swiss Army Man already covered that).
Check out the Indiegogo campaign page with a month left to get your dollars in and help see this interesting little concept bloom into something we can escape into and enjoy! (H/T: ScreenAnarchy)
The YouTube playlist just beneath contains two trailers for upcoming projects, including Envizion Films’s first of two vigilante action horror concepts, Santos, and the new trailer for Victory Magic Films’s latest long-awaited shortfilm festival favorite, Warriors, which you can read more about in Joey Min’s latest review ahead of its July 10 release.
Now it’s off to the action and here we start things up a bit for the Marvel fans, specifically with those who share an affinity for X-Men character Psylocke in the wake of Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Apocalypse. Actress and martial artist Janice Hung has her own take this week which you can check out below with director Louise Viola at the helm.
Rounding out the playlist is another entry from the gang at Orlando-based Distinctive Light Entertainment for their dramatic Self-Defense series – an ample title to give room for some great cinematic fight material, an exhilarating practice piece by lensman and action choreographer Tanay Genco Ulgen with Nilo Ghajar-Williams and Iesha Auyeung with a special appearance by Ulgen’s fellow Reel Deal Action-man, Cha-Lee Yoon, and Jeff Centauri‘s new fan-inspired action short with villain, Crossbones.
And last and far from least is another hit action short I’m ressurecting. It’s a bit recent and it probably won’t be the last time I’m sharing it as it mostly pertains to my awesome Saturday evening this past weekend with some friends, along with actor David Sakurai. He stars in Shaky Gonzalez’s 2015 hit revenge action short, Echoes Of A Ronin, a story told through the perspective of a young girl whose father sets out to redeem his father’s legacy and avenge his wife at the hands of his greedy brother.
The project is currently in good hands as it awaits further development on possible future prospects and with any luck, we’ll be seeing more of Sakurai wielding some badass sword action in the months and years ahead. If this is your first time viewing it and if you love thrilling martial arts action, Echoes Of A Ronin will suit you nicely.
Check out last week’s entries and support all the channels, and if you’ve got something for us that you think deserves a place in our weekly Hit List, hit us up at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com!
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