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Chubby Boy Films Presents: BALROG: BEHIND THE GLORY And MATADOR

You know you stink when you spend millions of bucks on a video game adaptation when smaller-scale, independent efforts tend to stand out, as has always been the case with the highly popular Street Fighter franchise from Capcom. Machinima’s launch of Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist back in May was only the latest attempt at an episodic series with feature-length quality following its 2010 concept short, Street Fighter Legacy.

Just a year after Legacy, however, things were brewing in another corner of the world where filmmaker Vahe Gabuchian began turning out a few of his own contributions to Capcom’s famed property, beginning with 2011’s Balrog: Behind The Glory, an origin short story focused on the titular character’s roots as an upcoming champion gone rogue and ultimately working for the international terrorist organization, Shadowloo.

At its core, Gabuchian‘s vision takes much more on the identity of a contemplative fight drama than anything else. On any given day, fans would probably complain, and maybe some have. Clearly however, none of that matters, since obviously a certain amount of approval would ultimately garner the need for a second offering from the likes of Gabuchian and his ilk over at Chubby Boy Films.

Evidently, fans did get a follow-up a few months ago in July when Twitch TV streamed Gabuchian’s new short, Matador, on the second day of EVO 2014. Here, the story focuses on a young boy’s loss of innocence in the years following the death of his mother, and the vengeful, anti-heroic assassin he became known as, Vega.

While there are some usual budgetary restrictions, Gabuchian and screenwriter Brett D. Bayonne still manage to turn out two awesomely good short stories. Sure, 1994 and 2009 weren’t exactly the best of times, but clearly, the internet is boundless with content creators and inspired artists to follow their passions. As such, both Street Fighter fan films achieve what they set out to, and very healthily I might add if you’re a Street Fighter fan, you might approve.

Hey Gabuchian, don’t ever change, if only for the greater good!

*Special thanks to actor Loren Avedon (King Of The Kickboxers, No Retreat No Surrender 3) for posting about this!

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Watch The Full Trailer For NIGHTWING: THE SERIES

“Nightwing: The Series” follows the story of Batman’s former sidekick, Dick Grayson aka Robin. After a falling out with his mentor, Dick abandons Gotham and everyone in it. Emerging in the City of Bludhaven years later, Dick takes on the guise of “Nightwing” easily defeating the petty criminals who infest it. But he soon realizes he may have bitten off more than he can chew when a mysterious and dangerous assassin only known as ‘Deathstroke, begins targeting Bludhaven citizens. Can he defend his new home and the lives of it’s inhabitants from the most dangerous foe he’s ever faced!? Only time will tell in this epic 5 part mini-series!

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Hollywood Ninja Presents: MANILA ASSASSIN'S CREED

Jearome Calica strikes a pose in ‘Manila Assassin’s Creed’

Independent filmmaker, action director and stuntman Jeff Centauri is currently in the middle of something truly awesome over in the Philippines. Having launched his career in the 1990’s after serving U.S. Air Force, Centauri has gone on to work on a great number of projects for TV and film, including the three-part compilation DVD series, Everyone Is Kung Fu Fighting, and even making his directorial debut in 1996 with the ultra low budget flick, The Zombie Ninja.

Since then, his experiences in film while living in the states have seen their fair share of challenges, but that has not stopped him from moving forward and stepping out on his own beyond borders. Currently based in the Philippines, you can now catch Centauri‘s online repertoire of indie action gems via his YouTube channel, with the latest being this week’s airing of the new short, Manila Assassin’s Creed with performances by Jearome Calica, Novie Banoy, Noe Evangelista and Diana Bertumen.

Centauri‘s work overseas is also part of a larger effort to help revive the action cinema industry at home with the current early stages of pre-production for the new feature film, Extra Heroes, a project that could do for the Philippines what films like The Raid and Ong Bak did for Indonesia and Thailand, respectively, if proven successful. “I believe that if an action movie is successful not only in the Philippines but internationally, then a lot of people will follow.” he says. “There are a lot of people just waiting. There are several groups of martial artists and parkour teams itching to be in movies. Some of them train regularly because they love to, and when the time comes, they will be ready.”

Check out Manila Assassin’s Creed in the exclusive video embed below, or feel free to CLICK HERE to watch it, as well as subscribe to Centauri’s channel where you can browse for other cool action shorts. Also, feel free to subscribe to his official Facebook page for EPIC Action Concepts to learn more about some of his work behind the lens.

P.S. ~ To the two lovely ladies, Novie and Diana, thanks for the shout out! ♡♡

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PREDATOR: DARK AGES Kicks Off Crowdfunding On Kickstarter

Hollywood director Shane Black may be on the way with a feature-length Predator sequel, but that isn’t stopping a small group over in the U.K. from pushing forward with an independent take of their own with the new shortfilm project, Predator: Dark Ages. The official Facebook page for the project has since long been launched to help gather as much of a readership as possible, with concept art and posters, and a teaser unveiled not too long ago.

That teaser is now accompanied by the brand new crowdfunding video which you can now view at the official Kickstarter page which just launched today.

SYNOPSIS:

Our Predator fan film is set in the Dark Ages, it is a period in history where mankind was plagued by disease and famine, as well as having to live and die by the sword. 

Our film follows a group of war-torn Templar knights who have returned from the Eastern lands, back to England, only to find that the enemy is now a lot closer and a lot more deadly than before.  

Throughout time the Predator has always looked for the greatest warriors to fight in battle, and with this short film we will see him put to the test against the some of the best history has ever seen, the Templar Knights. 

Their battle with the Predator is the thing Myths and Legends are made of.

The Predator stories have always been told in a variety of ways dating back to the John McTiernan-directed classic, even so far the two crossover films that mingled the supernatural hunter with the Alien universe within the last decade. So to see a director use the title character as the driving force for a period short featuring templar knights is not at all odd, but quite the opposite. And with the goal of keeping true to the source material, Predator: Dark Ages appears to be something that guarantees promise.

If you’ve missed out on the teaser then check it out and then head over to the official Kickstarter page to learn more about the intended cast and crew, as well as how to donate, and the perks you will earn on top of getting to see another potentially amazing piece of indie film!

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Katniss Responds To President Snow For The New Fan Short, MOCKINGJAY: BURN

Fans and followers of “The Hunger Games” books by author Suzanne Collins, as well as Lionsgate’s two-part finale theatrically releasing between this November and next year have likely caught on to the first official teaser for Mockingjay: Part 1. If you missed it, you can check it out here and watch President Snow setting the grim tone in his newest PSA to the people of Panem, and it is exactly the kind of build up that gets fans intrigued to find out just what our lead heroine, actress Katniss Everdeen will say or do in response.

Well, while Lionsgate’s own efforts to illustrate that will soon fall into place, the fans over on the set of their new independent, non-profit fan film project, Mockingjay: Burn have a message from the Girl On Fire herself:

Mockingjay: Burn is still in production with an expected duration of ten minutes. Independent director favorite Leo Kei Angelos is helming the project with actress Kristen Brancaccio leading the cast. You can currently check out a handful of recent set pics with the cast and crew, including The Bailey Review contributor, actor Darren Bailey in costume by heading over to the official Kickstarter project blog!

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EMC Monkeys Presents: LUCKY STRIKE

Imagine, if you will, if you took all or as many ingredients of the average Quentin Tarantino film, and crammed it as much of it as possible into a nifty little online action shortfilm. Ask yourself, how much do you think you could replicate some of that visual filmic magic? Some might imagine it as pretty challenging, but not indie filmmaker and action actor Robert Dill. He’s taking on that formula and applying it to his craft with his fellow members of the EMC Monkeys for their latest love letter to the Kill Bill and Resevoir Dogs helmer in the new shortfilm, Lucky Strike.

Dill, an up-and-coming film professional since around 1999, eventually found himself adding stuntwork to his repetoire, performing for various award shows and dinners with EMC by 2008, all in the course of pursuing a career in film and television. After spending a little more time behind the camera for the past few years, for Dill, a comeback was necessary, which begs the question: Why Tarantino?

“In all his films, Tarantino always has the quirky, sort of silly sense of humor about everything,” he says. “It’s like he and his films never take themselves very seriously at all. Almost to say ‘Yeah, we all know this is bullshit, so lets just make sure we’re both clear on the subject’ [laughs]. I thought that would be really fun to emulate that a bit, by having a serious situation feel almost ridiculous even though it’s clearly very serious, and somehow beautiful at the same time, with music and cinematography and other things.”.

Watching this, I could only imagine how A Band Apart would have interpreted this exact kind of scenario with the same performers. It’s experimental at best, but you can definitely hear that playful seriousness in the overall tone, creativity, and timing of the dialogue, as well as the action and editing in between.

You can catch all eight minutes of this lovely little gem in the embed below, right down to the mid-credit blooper clip. And yes, you want to see the blooper clip.

Well played, Malay…well played.

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A Brand New Clip From MMPR Features Two Soldiers At A Crossroads

Hopefully you haven’t fallen too out of the loop since the official trailer for the forthcoming first installment of the MMPR series of fan films aired late last year. With another episode well on its way to filming with another cast member, director Dominick Sivili and his team haven’t forgotten about the fans who’ve supported their cause in the past two years since the conception of this ambitious new project, and to show for their efforts, actress Dina Cataldi and producer Mack Khur have released a new special announcement video thanking their fans, accompanied by a brand new preview clip from the upcoming first fan film, featuring Cataldi as the Blue Ranger.

Later MMPR fan films will star actors Don Money and Ricky Barksdale, and actresses Kimberly and Ashley Carvalho as the Red, Black, and Yellow Ranger, respectively. They are joined by actors John Damroth and Matt Meinsen, along with actors Robert Axelrod and Jerry Murdock as the voice and body of a Lord Zedd, and original American series actor David Fielding returning to the role of Zordon.

DESCRIPTION:

As the world celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Power Rangers, a controlling paramilitary group known as The Silver Guardians has taken over the duty of protecting the citizens of Angel Grove. Claire Ashmore (Dina Cataldi) is a former top soldier of the Silver Guardians, until she unearths the plans made by the head of the organization, General E.A. Collins (John Damroth). For the first time on the other side of a conflict, Claire must stop the Silver Guardians before it is too late. She will stumble upon the help of the ancient mythological being known as Zordon, the former mentor of the Power Rangers, as she unravels the mystery and attempts to steal the Power Morphers from the Silver Guardians.  

A new war has begun between the Power Rangers, The Silver Guardians and the returning Lord Zedd!

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EMC Channels Gareth Evans For The New Fan Fight Short, THE RAID: EMC RENDITION

In the final hours on the eve of the official limited premiere of acclaimed producing/writing/directing powerhouse Gareth Evans’s new film, The Raid 2, the team over at EMC Monkeys have put out something very special to mark the occasion in the form of their own special independent fan contribution simply titled The Raid: EMC Rendition. Shot in the course of three days, the new short is just one of several, highly popular contributions to Evans’ vision within the last few years, most recently preceded by the stellar efforts of independent filmmaker Vlad Rimburg for his inspired short, Hammer Girl.

This time, we are re-introduced to the screenfighting presence of fellow stuntman and action actor, Bryan Sloyer, who has been making some exceptional headway in the world of indie action this year. Sloyer joins longtime EMC member, Tony Sre who choreographed and directed the piece. And what we get is not only a fight sequence that bares some very memorable attributes to the signature movements seen in the original film’s principal martial arts system of Silat, but also manages to capture the spirit of the action with some of its camera work in accordance with some of the choreography.

In essence, this is another exceptional, spiritual tribute to both The Raid, and its new sequel, especially since none of the filmmakers involved here have seen the film yet. Moreover, this latest gem is also proof that the EMC Monkeys is one team of professionals that knows what it is doing and knows just how to do it. And in my humble opinion, if angel investor were to come by and give these guys a pat ok the back with one hand and an some substantially extra pocket change to work with in the other, I wouldn’t protest. And I’m hard-ressed to believe most action fans would.

So do take a look in the embed below where you can also subscribe to the channel.

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Mickey Facchinello Harnesses Her Inner-Yen In SPECIAL ID – EPISODE 1: THE MUTE

It’s been a lucrative year for independent action extraordinare, director and choreographer Vlad Rimburg. If you’ve been following Rimburg long enough, then you’re likely familiar with the copious amounts of work he has distributed in garnering the credibility he now has as one of the foremost independent action designers of our time. Well on Friday, nothing changed, with newly releasing his Donnie Yen-inspired action short film, Special ID – Episode 1: The Mute, based on one of the most recently unveiled teaser clips prior to the release of Donnie Yen’s latest action thriller from director Clarence Fok.

Filmed as the hopeful start of a new webseries, the new short was shot last weekend on Sunday afternoon at 3pm PST through 4am the following morning, with actress, action performer and Hollywood stuntwoman Mickey Facchinello (above/right) fitting Yen’s shoes as a mute demon huntress in a brutal, contained battle with The Hammer, played by Jimmy Chhiu (above/left) and his small group of demonic henchmen. Facchinello‘s previous credits with Rimburg include Chapter 1: Part C, Men In Suits and Chapter 2: Parts A and B which also featured actor Gui DaSilva, and CZ12 co-star, actress Caitlin Dechelle. Rimburg and Facchinello were supposed to work together again in January earlier this year, but Facchinello had other plans overseas. Facchinello recently made her appearance as one of the masked killers in the futuristic horror thriller from director James DeMonaco, The Purge.

I asked Rimburg what he enjoys most about working with Facchinello, who shares her martial arts lineage with the likes of actors and martial arts performers Mike Chat and Matt Mullins over at Team Sideswipe, and is also a member of LBP Stunts Chicago and Thousand Pounds Action Company. “I believe that Mickey is arguably the best female screen fighter around.” he says. “Her technique is clean and she adapts very well to anything I throw at her. She wrecks and she’s not afraid to go hard with the boys. I would love to see her in a Hong Kong finale.”

Rimburg continues his long path toward his dream of becoming a mainstream action director for bigger films to this day. Martial arts action cinema lovers will also be happy to know that Rimburg will be co-starring in Dennis Ruel’s directorial feature-length debut, Unlucky Stars, in which he also directed the action sequences, attributing specifically to a contemporary adherance to the classic Golden Harvest/Media Asia label Hong Kong action comedies of the 1980’s that most of us know and hold near and dear. And for all things considered, directing innovative, classic sequences is something Rimburg is not hesitant to express himself over.

“I love having the freedom to create.” he tells Film Combat Syndicate. “To be able to think of something and put it in a visual format, to me, is one of the greatest feelings there is. There are no limitations when thinking. Even if I know I’m choreographing something that I can’t film for a year or two, I love being able to fill my mind of beautiful and violent images. Most importantly though, I want to keep the art of martial arts filmmaking alive. It’s great to see the independent community continue to produce fights done right, in a time where fast editing and funky camera angles dominate skill and technique.”

Personally, I hope this won’t be the last we see from Rimburg. Even moreso, I hope Hollywood is paying attention to what Rimburg has to offer. Many a stuntman and woman I have shared words with speak nothing but praise for his efforts. Accordingly, I hope we continue seeing more of these from Ms. Facchinello for years to come. She’s a fan favorite, for certain. And of course, if you need to see more to believe, you can always explore the Youtube channel in the embed below.

Special ID – Episode 1: The Mute also stars Michael Lehr, Jimmy Chhiu, Brendon Huor, Bryan Cartago, Alfred Hsing, Jerry Quill, Noah Fleder and Brian Le.

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