THE HIT LIST: January 29, 2018
My weekend was brutal. Very. Thankfully I managed to muscle through in time with at least one of several reviews and another on the way.
Top (L to R): Marie Marolle, Chris Romrell, Li Jing, Andy Long, Ilana Collins
Bottom (L to R): Alex Lopoka, Max Huang, Sophie Cook, Michael DeCamp, Haga Akihiro
The Hit List, quite the task in and of itself, is still a priority and all for everyone’s enjoyment, as well as my way of showing some of these amazing cats my own appreciation. That includes stuntwoman Marie Marolle out of Montreal and currently based in London or wherever in the world her career takes her next. I had a wee chat with hr lare last week and I’d say she’s pretty much one of the biggest highlights of my month thusfar.
Indeedy, Ms. Marolle goes first in the stunt reel playlist to kick off this week’s installation followed by reels from more of some of today’s amazing and rising stunt talent, including Haga Akigiro, Rad Floria, Ilana Collins, Chris Romrell, Kendall Wells, Megan Hui, Matthew Perry Smith, Jackson Rozario, Rachel Star Withers, Vinny Silva, YouTube food and travel personality Sophie Cook, Sari Sabella, Michael DeCamp, Alice Reitveld, Anton Gurynov, Mam Smith and a riproaring reel of stuntastic proportions out of Canada from UBCP/ACTRA.
Off to promote some gems and for this, we have a new pre-lim poster for upcoming martial arts webseries, Voyeur Killings. Production is expected to move forward as planned this month with director Brian Southers tackling the story of a martial arts master who wages a one-woman war on high-profile rich and powerful men who systemically abuse women, and with none other than actress and stuntwoman Anna Kristina Ranoso wielding her choice as indicated in the fresh new ink below.
As for teasers and trailers, our next playlist kicks off with work from actor/director multihyphenate Lee McGeough who has since sought apply his craft accordingly for the shortfilm proof of concept, Chinatown London. Stu Laurie scripts the narrative centered on McGeough in the role of Sean Brady, a lifetime gangster now seeking a way out of the underworld life when his boss’s son sets out to employ him. The proof of concept short is exclusively available on at Amazon’s UK portal with McGeough reportedly working on a feature film expansion.
The second and last trailer is the latest since the launch of a campaign late last year courtesy of Golden Horde Productions with upcoming webseries, Fatal Blades. Leandro Mayor Martinez and Tatjana Tatar star in the story of a young mobster on a mission to rescue his captive girlfriend from his vicious rival, played by none other than Shirzada himself. Shirzada and Tatar share directing and lensing duties, respectively, for an upcoming 12-episode series with two versions – one each for Chinese online streaming and for YouTube to hopefully start airing this Spring or Summer.
This week welcomes an opportune music break courtesy of hip-hop trio, Migos, whose frontman, Quavos chairs as helmer along with director Sing J. Lee for their newest music video release, Stir Fry. At six-minutes, this one is plentiful in its delivery for Migos fans and kung fu cinema enthusiasts with an ample set-up for an explosive second half brimming with fists and kicks of fury. Also featured among our performers are PeiPei Alena Yuan and Mami Spede Ito with stuntwoman and multi-award winning martial arts master Jing Li and stuntman Michael Lehr who choreographs the fight action next for stunt coordinator Vince Cupone.
Kai Young makes an encore presentation here at the Hit List to kick off the Fights And Films segment, and he’s joined by Alfredo Sanchez just before we hit up Ulrik Bruchholz in a fantastic fight clip he’s since shared freely from an unfinished project called Straight Blast, which probably would have had a little more Mike Moeller had things gone as planned. Mykola Galagan rings in some test fight action out of Ukraine, and out of Russia with a prison-style fight gem from XGST Stunt Team.
Daniel Nelson and Nasri Hashim trade blows in a boxing practice piece of their own before we head out to Texas where Benjamin Redic II and Robert Steven Brown have commenced a decisive light saber battle for the fate of the galaxy, and Jackie Chan stunt team member and noted Bleeding Steel fight coordinator Max Huang emerges with co-star Alex Schmidt circa 2013 with a Wheels On Meals-inspired Jackie Chan fight scene.
Jessica Wake dresses to kill in a late 2017 noir action short from Brandon Champ Robinson which also has Billy R. Smith starring while Anthony Javier suits up as the hero the world needs to defeat Bronson Cameron in the first part of a Kamen Rider-inspired twofer. Hannah D. Scott leads The Rescue in a reupload of an action short from director Federico Berte, Laurent Demianoff helms riveting and brutal fight drama in My First K.O. starring Alex Lopoka and John Medalin with action by Marc David, and Film Combat Syndicate favorite Andy Long loses himself in a fight-loaded trance eight years in the making with independent action auteur Vlad Rimburg and co. in Enter The Vlad.
Rounding it all out is a heavy dose of comedic action with a humble nod to a classic game. Shenmue: Yokosuka Blues engages what Rising Tiger Films and Team Red Productions bring to the table as Mishashi Goro (Leroy Nguyen) fends off the blues, as well as his an uprising from pal Ryo-san’s gang led by none other than Team Red’s own Joseph Le.
Enjoy the hits, folks!
Top (L to R): Rachel Star Withers, Michael Lehr, Joseph Le, PeiPei Alena Yuan, Alice Rietveld
Bottom (L to R): Robert Steven Brown, Kai Young, Vlad Rinburg, Temujin Shirzada, Hannah D. Scott
The Hit List is ready and waiting for you with weekly entries every Monday evening at Eastern Standard Time (U.S.). Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and feel free to connect to last week’s installment for more online gems of indie stunt action. Also, if you or someone you know has an equally badass stunt reel or action short project that needs promoting or presenting, contact us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com!