hit list heads up

THE COLD DARK: Watch The Chilling New Teaser For Mikko Lopponen’s Finnish Survival Western Shortfilm

The relative chemistry between an actor and a director is a pivotal one for a film to succeed, much like that of Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Cameron, or even Scott Adkins and Jesse Johnson of late. To that affect, I loved observing what independent filmmaker Mikko Löppönen and I discussed in our recent interview having follwed his work in the last several years, partly with fellow film cohort, actress Jessica Wolff and seeing how well they gel together. Their latest pairing now awaits the festival circulation of The Cold Dark, Löppönen’s latest Finnish survival Western thriller tale stretching nineteen minutes. That’s nineteen minutes of chilling suspense and character development followed by a brutal second half in which our heroine is forced to fight for her life – something I’m always keen on with Wolff on screen with projects like The Finnisher and Löppönen’s blood-gushing action-packed short proof, Eliza, the latter […]

HIT LIST HEAD’S UP: Danny Leysner’s CIBLE Precipitates With Vengeance In New Promo Art

Lee B. Golden III

EXCLUSIVE: I’m like most people who’ve been following actor and filmmaker Joey Ansah (The Bourne Ultimatum, Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist) for some years now and have been keen on his next moves thereafter. As it turns out, one such shift included a recent visit to Amsterdam in lieu of collaborating with Dutch music video director, Danny Leysner for his newest narrative short film endeavor, Cible, for which you can spot the new artwork below. The project enlists up-and-coming actor Geoffrey Thompson, starring front and center as a prolific underworld enforcer forced to witness his girlfriend’s execution before being left for dead by his former employer as pennance for pursuit of a better life. He miraculously survives the gunshot wound to his brain with lasting affects that have inhibited his perception of physical pain, substituted only by the emotional trauma and tragedy that now consumes him on his quest for vengeance. Leysner […]

HIT LIST HEAD'S UP: New Stills Unleash The Kung Fu Fury Of Joey Min's MY ASIAN AUNTIE

Lee B. Golden III

Not all young performers can pull off the look of an elderly character, and that fact can easily be attributed to actor and filmmaker Joey Min who, razors be damned with that stubborn beard of his, still dares to have a little fun in life with ideas. Such is the case for My Asian Auntie, the latest webseries from the folks over New Jersey-based indie banner Art School Dropouts. Thursday will mark the premiere of the new kung fu comedy series following a few earlier short videos exploring the concept. I had the opportunity to screen all seven parts of this series for myself and it’s a well-worthy labor of love to watch and enjoy from start to finish with Min starring in the title role. Also leading the story is actress Stephanie Pham whose own knack for screenfighting has sharpened quite a bit since making her debut earlier this […]

HIT LIST HEADS-UP: Watch The Trailer For Kiyun Sung’s Award-Winning Short, THE DESTINED KING

Lee B. Golden III

Following independent action will take you in a direction ripe with tons of treats, and even the very people behind them. I say this having just reunited over the weekend with filmmaker and action choreographer Joey Min who has been writing at Film Combat Syndicate off-and-on this year, and even contributing a review for this year’s Well Go USA release, Park Heung-Sik’s Memories Of The Sword, which I think is quite fortuitous in the wake of his most recent festival acclaim, The Destined King. The film hails from Baek Ho Productions from producer and filmmaker Kiyun Sung and is the first Korean fusion-historical short film shot entirely in the U.S., and whatever the case may be, The Destined King had a great fight director on its hands to add to its stunning story and backdrop. It’s got intertwining drama, romance and tragedy with a scope clearly geared for fans ardent […]