jose manuel

UNCOMPROMISED Sees Jose Manuel Taking On The Mafia In The First Offical Trailer For Upcoming MA Action Pilot

Having spawned from online shortfilm success, Puerto Rico’s own, actor and martial artist Jose Manuel has landed himself and the good folks over at North Compass quite an accumulating profile over the last several years. For me, it wasn’t until the top of 2015 when I began covering Manuel’s incredible work as Puerto Rico’s answer to Eric Jacobus, and most prolifically since his lead acting debut in the groundbreaking, award-winning 2011 feature actioner, Andres Ramírez’s El Testigo. Yes, it’s been rewarding work ever since, and until otherwise, we are now met once again by the reunion of the film’s star and director for the latest production of a pilot for a hopeful action crime series going into the new year. Uncompromised is the name of the show and while we await to see where things stand with the pilot, the first official trailer is now online and it’s as every […]

THE HIT LIST: September 14, 2015

Lee B. Golden III

It’s Monday, and that means another fully loaded Hit List has arrived with loads of stunts and action. This week has a few late entries that I’ve been otherwise inspired to share, and I think you all will enjoy them in some capacity. Of course, we’re starting this off with a playlist that’s nice and light, graced with stunt and martial arts reels. Fabio Santos kicks things off in fiery fashion next to Jason Wingham, “Kid Haru” himself – Devin White, early 2015 demo reel footage from Team Raffaelli, industry fight choreographer, actor and stuntman Tim Man and the latest awesome tricking reel from Team Emig’s own Mackensi Emory (viewable only here). Up next are a handful of trailers, a few of which are for foreign language projects on the way, and the first comes four years in the making from filmmaking duo David Vergne and Renaud Guin. Detour is the name […]

Screener Review: EL TESTIGO – THE WITNESS (2011)

Lee B. Golden III

SYNOPSIS: On what seemed to be a normal day, Chelo, unexpectedly witnesses a murder. In the midst of the chase by the perpetrators, the cops mistake him as the killer. He will be forced to fight for his life. REVIEW: It’s not everyday you get to see a Puerto Rican-produced martial arts film…well, at least it felt that way until about 2011 with the rollout of director Andres Ramírez‘s action adventure, El Testigo (The Witness). Featuring the stylings of lead actor, writer and stunt coordinator Jose Manuel, the film was ultimately the first of its kind in Puerto Rico to reportedly cater to the martial arts movie niche. It’s earned its share of awards and nominations for a reason, and while the genre is still slow to take in Puerto Rico among other parts of the world, one can only hope that the slow nature of progress in today’s film […]