CONCUSSED: A Delerious Jarrod Crooks Has Only Minutes To Live In The New Award-Winning Action Comedy Short!
CONCUSSED debuted at Z-Fest last year winning multiple awards including Best In Fest.
jarrod crooks
Streaming Sleepers: THE BIG GIFT Rewards You With Holiday-Filled Comedy Beat ‘Em Up Thrills
The holidays are just around the corner, folks! Alas, a shorthand push is ordered here for Jarrod Crook’s latest action comedy, The Big Gift. The film landed on Prime for a while and only recently made its debut via free ad-supported streaming service, Tubi. An unemployed father must do whatever he can to ensure his son receives the gift he wants for Christmas, even if it means battling it out with Santa. Crooks directed from a script he co-wrote with co-star Erin Antilla. I was allowed a screener at one point a few years ago and my subsequent review thusly reads in part with the following: Light-hearted, warm, and with a solemn, introspective message that doesn’t get lost on the viewer amidst the spectacle, The Big Gift marks another return to form for Crooks who deserves more ceremony and coverage than he gets. With The Big Gift, Crooks gets a […]
THE BIG GIFT Review: Jarrod Crooks Battles A Beefy, Superpowered Santa To Save Christmas
Wisconsin-based Jarrod Crooks has well over fifteen years on his belt as an independent up-and-comer in acting in, as well as directing or co-directing his variety of projects in both short and long form. He’s been keeping up the habit in the last decade as well, especially with action comedies like 2014’s Dispatched and a few years later with co-helmer Gregory Kuper’s Indie Guys, which I managed to see upon Crooks reaching out to me back in 2017, and which served as an abundantly pleasing introduction to his work going forward. To that end, Crooks is now planning a December screening of his latest completed work, The Big Gift. Crooks directed the film in addition to starring from a script he wrote together with co-writer/producer Erin Antilla, this time jumping into a more holiday-themed platform for his style of action and comedy direction with an interesting revisionist take on Santa […]
THE BIG GIFT: Jarrod Crooks Wages War On Santa In The Official Trailer
Wisconsin local Jarrod Crooks stands to be one of the most unsung heroes of independent action cinema to this day. He’s cut from the same creative cloth as a lot of the cinematic action artists and stunt performers this site and many others have covered and as it stands, I’m just glad to see he’s still at it. His latest is ramping up the holiday spirit with The Big Gift, which he directed from his own script, and packages with another humble indie-made allotment comprised of romance and comedy, peppered with the same level of impressive, inspired action and stuntwork that’s fueled much of Crooks’s filmmaking stride to this day. In JC films “The Big Gift” is a feature length film about an out of work dad, Chris, who does everything possible to buy his son the perfect Christmas gift; it is the gift he has been longing for…the BIG […]
DISPATCHED: Stream Jarrod Crooks’ New Martial Arts Cop Comedy Now On Amazon Prime
I sort of feel like independent filmmaker Jarrod Crooks deserves a much bigger spotlight than he has now. I’ve expressed this back in 2017 to some affect in reviewing of his third feature, Indie Guys, which stands as one of the most delightful action comedies I’ve ever seen – packed with gems and plenty of space to allow Crooks and fitting cohorts like Film Combat Syndicate favorite, co-star José Manuel to do what they love most and are pretty damn good at. I honestly don’t know when that one will be out, although I look forward to covering Crooks’ endeavors in due time. Meanwhile, his third feature, Dispatched, had a local release throughout his home state of Wisconsin where he’s based, and at long last after five years in limbo, the film is now available on Amazon Prime Video where consumers can rent or purchase and support Crooks’ efforts. He […]
Jarrod Crooks’ INDIE GUYS Delivers The Cinematic Love/Hate Relationship You Crave (Reprint)
I have to credit my latest interview subject, actor and rising star José Manuel, whose own career progression has been much more mobile than I imagined over the past several years. At some point back then, it appears his journey landed him somewhere in Wisconsin and in the throes of writing/directing duo, actors Jarrod Crooks and Greg Kuper, leaving in their wake what I think is one of the most discernible odes to cinema and the love of cinema to date. Indie Guys presents a hilarious, healthy and hearty mix of mumblecore comedy and drama at the forefront of our tale telling of local indie filmmakers Ian (Crooks) and Gordon (Kuper) as they struggle to complete their newest and most ambitious action movie with only a skeleton crew and, much to their chagrin, no money. From bizzare auditions and casting near-complete strangers at the last minute to creative differences that […]
THE HIT LIST: July 2, 2018
There are good things on the horizon for Film Combat Syndicate, and I can’t wait to show you. That’s all I can say right now, so I hope you will all follow along. From L to R (top): John Cihangir, Jesse Liskola, Bridgette Bentley, Jon Alagoa, Brian Monk From L to R (bottom): Alex Meglei, C.C. Weske, Yoshi Sudarso, Kayla Radomski, Josh Chavez In the meantime, The Hit List is back with another rousing installment for fans of action films and a deep appreciation for the stunt performers and action actors that make it all possible. We begin with another spectacular weekly playlist of stunt and action performance reels with entries from DeVille Vannik, Dominique Smith, Brian Host, Kate Angus, Talin Chat, Sergi Subito, Mami Speede Ito, Patrick Chan, Geo Corvera and Danny Rowe, and a powerful Emmy 2018 entry for Best Stunt Coordination for AMC’s Into The Badlands, edited […]
THE HIT LIST: August 21, 2017
So…how was your weekend? I spent mine reviewing a few titles – one which apparently led people to think I was picking a fight with a martial arts expert who lives thousands of miles away from me, which is…STILL hilarious. Anyway, I also got to look at some great shortfilm items in the past week and I’ve gladly collated them for this week’s installment of the Hit List, kicking off with another round of awesome stunt reels and other cool film bits from around the web. Stuntwoman Ellette Craddock gets a spotlight twice over this week, beginning with her new stunt reel, followed by reels from Brady Jo Merriman, Josh Schmitt, Michael Hartwick and Beni Alexander with action actor and filmmaker Jarrod Crooks, stunt players Tom Caserto, Girvan Bramble and Anton Guryanov, and 3Run Ambassador, stuntman and traceur Bogdan Pascal trekking the terrain in Bilbao, Spain. Promotional bits are few […]
THE HIT LIST: July 24, 2017
My weekend was exciting at the start. It was also kind of hilarious due to a rather odd exchange on Sunday involving trolls on my fanpage. Annoying and intolerable but…it comes with the territory. What can I say? Trolls are lame… Stunt players? Not so much, and once again we take another week to celebrate their genius and thrilling work in another installment of The Hit List packed with feats of stuntwork and independent action on film kicking things off with a Vimeo upload courtesy of Felix King. The playlist beneath rolls onward with reels by David “Dax” Bauer, Jessica Bennett, Kyle Potter, Jason Elwood Hanna, Robert Steven Brown, Reuben Maldonado, Daniel Hargrave, Jay R. Adams, Alex Skelly, Entony Ruscetta, Samantha Huffmann, Omid Zader, Chris Silcox, Adam Lavender, Troy “Smalls” Neault, Kaanchana Kerr, and Guiness World Record holding BAFTA winner and stunt pioneer, Vic Armstrong. There isn’t much as far as […]
Review: INDIE GUYS (2016) Delivers The Cinematic Love/Hate Relationship You Crave
I have to credit my latest interview subject, actor and rising star José Manuel, whose own career progression has been much more mobile than I imagined over the past several years. At some point back then, it appears his journey landed him somewhere in Wisconsin and in the throes of writing/directing duo, actors Jarrod Crooks and Greg Kuper, leaving in their wake what I think is one of the most discernible odes to cinema and the love of cinema to date. Indie Guys presents a hilarious, healthy and hearty mix of mumblecore comedy and drama at the forefront of our tale telling of local indie filmmakers Ian (Crooks) and Gordon (Kuper) as they struggle to complete their newest and most ambitious action movie with only a skeleton crew and, much to their chagrin, no money. From bizzare auditions and casting near-complete strangers at the last minute to creative differences that threaten […]
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