shortfilms

Nezumikozo Jirokichi (Japan Cuts 2024)

Japan Cuts XVII Review: A Roundup Of The Short Cuts Of This Year’s Festivities

There’s a bundle of movies I wanna watch this summer, and the list is only increasing. That certainly goes for the selections I have in mind for covering Japan Cuts next month. The official line-up is here and I’ll be touting a small curtain raiser later next Monday. To start though, I thought I’d dive into the Short Cuts portion to get warmed up. The works below are pretty inspirational and intriguing, and I’ve shared my reviews and thoughts for each in the descriptions of each still below. Director Rintaro’s twenty three-minute short is as much of a revelation as it is a celebration of the work to whom it’s attributed. The animated Edo-set folkloric tale of a Japan’s answer to Robin Hood is drenched in blue tint for its night time setting, and scored to a lively and skittish swing track to capture the playful antics of a infamous […]

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THE HIT LIST: May 18, 2020

As you’re reading this, I had to get this installment of The Hit List on the day of! Definitely didn’t have much time this weekend, or energy for that matter to be honest. And frankly, Sky Atlantic/Cinemax series Gangs Of London hasn’t yet arrived, and so I’m going without looking at stunt coordinator Jude Poyer‘s latest reel as it kicks off this edition of The Hit List, although I’m certain you’ll enjoy it. The remainder of stunt and demo reel entries come courtesy of Molly Miller, Michel Quach, Matt de Souza, David Lenz, Grace Dougall, Gregory Balzi, Dylan Hintz, Gaetan Caillot, Katrina Leigh Waters, Mandalin Dragan, Dan Carter, Stephen Bodi, Veera Seppälä, Yann Brouet, Genís Lama, Haruki Yoshida, Hayley Wright, Veto Swarm and Kristoffer Jørgensen, and Pirates Project out of Japan. Jude Poyer – Reel Power Stunts 2020 from Jude Poyer on Vimeo. A quick note before we continue: The […]

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THE HIT LIST: January 27, 2020

Putting together this week’s installment of The Hit List wasn’t too troubling, though the workload is now piling up, so I’ll be working on pacing myself a little more apart from last month’s announcement. For now, The Hit List begins with an extensive commemorative video of late stunt performer, athlete and martial artist Hans Wikkeling II who sadly passed away last year. The video was created by Peter Rulon-Miller for the late star martial artist’s memorial service earlier this month. The playlist continues with a raft of stunt reels by some of today’s top and up-and-coming stunt performers: Marie Mouroum, Jason Truong, Allen Quindiagan, Zia Kelly, Benjamin Sanchez, Ryan Bainbridge, Olivia Wilcox, Kent Lloyd, Margo Graff, Brian Krainson, Austin Durden, Megan Le (click here to watch), Jim Priz, Yessenia Cossio, Jackson Rozario, Tanguy Guinchard, Rissy Dollins, Jessica Barfoot, Simon Li, Margaryta Soldatova, Taylor Tai, and a 2019 lookback reel featuring […]

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THE HIT LIST: January 13, 2020

There are so many things happening in the world as we speak that it’s been difficult not to get sidetracked what with all that I have to do from this point forward. At any rate, the last three weeks have been quite the emotional rollercoaster in my personal life and with enough time, at least tentatively, to reflect and think on what I can do differently. That especially goes for The Hit List, which makes its return to Film Combat Syndicate with the new year underway, and a world of stunt and independent film talent to share. That field ultimately includes a good share of actors and actresses who are also capable of stunt performance and physical acting, and so with this, I present the first entry into our Actor’s Showcase courtesy of actor Axel Nu, whose screen credits partly include The Take Down, Nightshooters, Fast And Furious Presents: Hobbs […]

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THE HIT LIST: July 23, 2019

I have a good amount of work to do for the next few weeks. To say the least it all started with a terrible start to my weekend but, it’s the 22nd, which means it’s time for another installment of The Hit List. So…let’s crack this open, shall we? We’re starting off with a Vimeo upload of Iesha Auyeung’s new stunt reel, followed by an explosive new playlist of stunt reels by Sean Kohnke, Megan Reneau, Brian A. Prince, Chad Gurrero, Allen Quindiagan, Yessenia Cossio, Lloyd Bowen, Jay Kwon, Robert Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson, Chase Armitage, Kyal Scott, Micaiah Chau, Kelly Phelan, Robby Robertson, T. Ryan Mooney, Josh Andrews, Juan Abdias, Dianna Castronuovo, Barrett Coates, Julien Meynier, Jim Punnett and Kyla Hymas, all followed by an extended, excellent demo reel from Franz Spilhaus and his Pyranha Stunt Team. Nothing to dole out in trailer content, so we’re going straight to the […]

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THE HIT LIST: June 10, 2019

The Hit List has taken a pretty interesting turn of late now that I actually get to host some video files on behalf of creators. It’s a blessing and I’m real thankful to those of you investing in my own YouTube channel to share your craft. You’ll see a bit of that later, while we begin with the usual raft of demo reels from some of today’s top and emerging talent in stunts and action performance. Up first is someone who rightly deserves the proliferation he’s gotten since throwing down in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Mission: Impossible – Fallout. His name is Liang Yang and his reel is up first followed by reels featuring Aaron D. Alexander, Jennifer Mitchell, Diego Ramiro, Eric C. Sun, Taylor Krasne, Danny Rivera, A.J. Gagliardi, Lauren Nguyen, Ben Tardif, Patrick Dunham, Bronte Coluccio, Jon Beal, Daniel Pera, Michelle Fisichella, Phillip Wainwright, Oliver Gough, […]

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THE HIT LIST: April 15, 2019

It’s been a productive two weeks with some time to focus a little more on myself and overall news production, but indeed it’s high time to bring some talent into the limelight and that’s what The Hit List is here for once more! You’ll find actor and martial artist Lewis Tan back in the habit with season 3B of Into The Badlands in its finishing run. His action teaser is the first to kick off the first round of stunt action and training reels for the first playlist followed by reels from Patrick Chan, Michelle Fisichella, Gary Cothenet, David Armstrong, Marissa Dollins, John Palmeri, Hymnson Chan, Lexie Kay, Travis Stanton-Marrero, A.J. Gagliardi, Hannah Landberg, Yasushi Sakai, Michael Bekemeier, Miriam Macip, Tony Christian, Kate Angus and Anthony Giovanni Elias. The playlist finishes out on a high note with reels from stunt coordinators Brad Martin and John Kreng, and a lookback tribute […]

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Small Update About THE HIT LIST

Alright, YouTube is being a pain in the neck lately; In terms of details, my targeted searches are only giving me generic search results when I do my searches for Hit List content. As a result, I’ve had to work twice as hard this week to find stuff to post for the weekly Hit List, which I’ve kept up for more than four years since December 2014. Changing search terms did make a difference along with some folks contributing videos for this week’s installment of the Hit List via email, but ultimately I did end up piling on more than I could handle in recent weeks as a result of YouTube not functioning as optimally as I need it to. For this – and at least tentatively, I am officially announcing that as of April 1, The Hit List will scale back from its weekly Monday night entries into a […]

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THE HIT LIST: December 3, 2018

Well how about that. Holiday break is almost here! I’m actually looking forward to some extra time to myself seeing as I’ve missed out on so much in the course of the year – I even had to put some anime on the backburner too…and kinda sucks. ? Stunt reel time! Hit the play button and catch up on the latest in stunt training, demo and performance with reels by Elizabeth Cotter, Luke Scott, Jen Mitchell, Scott Hoffman, Connor Simon, Alyma Dorsey, Donny Nichols, Natalie Strasser, Tom Cotton, Giovanni Dubard, Roxanne Roca, Brett Belcher, Keiona Chang, Tien Hoang, Hunter Smith, Kayley Carrigan, Johnny X Wang, and Kira Omans, fight choreographer J.A. Crooms and traceur Nate Weston. Time to promote some shorts and first up is one from Trent Duncan, best known for his recent ‘Epic Horror Battles’ on YouTube. His latest narrative short, Fallout Of The Reaper, is currently circulating […]

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THE HIT LIST: September 10, 2018

So…how about that second season of Iron Fist? Feel free to tweet me on the matter. At any rate, we’re back to another installment of the Hit List and this one’s coming at you short and sweet this week as the candidates were limited. The stunt training and performance reels are pretty rad and we begin with the latest from Allen Quindigian, followed by reels from Johan Lindqvist, Jarell Hall, Alex Bailly, Ricky Barksdale, Britannia Fader, Tyler Elliot, Michael Bekemeier, Ellis McFarland, Matt Yanagiya, Antjuan Rhames and Emilio Spinoza. There are a few items to promote this week and we begin with a trailer for upcoming short, Dead Zone. The project is set to arrive sometime in late 2018, hailing from Nocturnal Pictures whose Leroy Kincaide has been off and on my radar since the 2015 fan flick, Freeman. Slowly but surely, he’s etching his way now into feature territory […]

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ALL THE RAGE: Actress Kerry Lacy Talks VIOLA, Filmmaking And Fighting Back

Watching Stacey Maltin’s 2017 shortfilm, Viola, makes for great inspiration when daydreaming about certain female characters in any number of thrillers that could be further woven into something larger. For me, it toggles between short and longform/independent and mainstream properties and as prosperous as it is, shortform indie content makes for a great venue to tackle such ideas. Maltin succeeded this in directing her 2017 short film hit, Viola, which is still making the rounds at festivals and starting actress and producer, Kerry Lacy. Viola is currently making the festival rounds  while only available via restricted link fron Maltin, and the imaginably, the reception has been a positive one with a sequel in tow. “There’s really nothing better than seeing people enjoy your work.” says Lacy. “I feel like Viola is off to a great start and I’m just absorbing it all and trying to learn as I go so […]

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DIRECTING A DANCE OF VENGEANCE: Director Sam Puefua Talks Revenge Action Thriller Shortfilm, MAMBA

The latter end of May through early June saw the emergence of a promo campaign for a project now shaping up be quite the festival favorite. The project in question hails actress Sonalii Castillo in her latest electrifying role in Mamba, a new revenge shortfilm thriller from actor and filmmaker Sam Puefua. “Sonalii brings a level of authenticity to her character,” says Puefua who also co-stars as Sam, a former soldier who applies his skillset aptly as Kali’s right-hand man. “She’s a hard worker and very passionate about her role, and having created this character, there’s no one better than her to bring this character to life!” Heralded as a cross between John Wick and Colombiana, Mamba is currently garnering acceptances and praise from multiple territories in North America and Europe with Castillo having recently won the Gold Award for Best Actress at the Independent Shorts Awards. The project also […]

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Review: OPTION ZERO Spotlights The Moral Quandry Of Heroism With Pulsating Action And Drama

We last learned that director R.L. Scott has been in the making for his most recent efforts on superhero thriller, Lazarus, which is one of at least two titles made known to us. He hasn’t been on social media since last summer and we haven’t heard much thereafter so it’s safe to say he might have a lot on his plate for his independent endeavors. Going forward however, we can at least share some progress being made on at least one other project we reported on back in 2014 which was initially designated as the pilot of a hopeful series. Per the nature of most non-mainstream projects left shelved or incomplete or falling by the wayside, Option Zero was in danger of almost never seeing the light of day until co-star and creator, executive producer Eliver Ling took the post-production reigns in late 2017. Hence, while the wait continues for […]

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Review: Award-Winning Shortfilm Thriller, AIMEE, Is A Call To Action

Almost thirty years in with a career in stunts and acting, Lee Whittaker has since taken the initiative into filmmaking with at least two shortfilm projects in his wake. His latest, Aimee, is already making the festival rounds for sometime now, and making a fantastic case for its circulation since debuting at the Hoboken International Film Festival last May and winning Best Dramatic Short at CENFLO last Fall. The project takes its cues from the script of a current feature film hopeful that strongly invokes Whittaker’s keen eye for kinetic story telling that still retains a sharpness in his desired aesthetic. Each scene is a brisk, fluid transition from one moment to the next that illustrates actress Amanda S. Hall in the already-immersed role of Jessica, an Afghanistan vet home from service and on a hard-hitting mission to rescue her sister from America’s festering underworld of underage sex trafficking. Jamie […]

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THE HIT LIST: August 28, 2017

I’m still in recovery mode and will likely be so for the next several days. I forgot that’s what happens when you have as much fun as I did for two nights in a row. Still, I had stuff ready for this week’s Hit List and I couldn’t help but finish it in time for you guys. Alas, the hits keep coming this week starting with a new batch of stunt reels featuring Fleur van Eeden, Veasna Keo, Ronin Skai, Meghan Koch, Joseph Roark, Brandon Recor, Deanna Page, Josh Brauer, Max Bojorquez, Emily Tung, Croy Tan, Fernando Huerto, and fight choreography favorite, David “Dax” Bauer. The finale hails from freerunner Aaron Burns with a 16-day montage of shots across five states for some inspirational parkour musings. Endulge! There’s wasn’t much in the way of promotion, initially… At least I thought so until I went online on Monday having spotted the first official […]

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THE HIT LIST: June 5, 2017

The past several days may have seen a slump of news. I admit, I kind of enjoyed it as I needed a bit of a breather. Best of all is I finally had a little time over the weekend to start watching Sense8 to see what the fuss is about and… …I’ll be sure to give my feedback in a future post if I catch the writing bug by then. For now though, it’s time for this site to do what it does most prominently on Monday nights and with this week’s installment of the Hit List. Staff boss and Canadian alpha Catwoman Michelle C. Smith fires things up with her latest reel followed by a raft of stunt and training reels from some of today’s rising talents: Eugenia Guryleva, Caleb Spillyards, Anthony Javier, Jordan Davis, Tyson Arner, Meghan Whitfield (that makes two weeks in a row!), Dave Cutler, fellow […]

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THE HIT LIST: March 6, 2017

If anyone needs me, I’ll be spending the week collecting my brain between articles and work so I can recover from my near-sleepless weekend. For the record though…no, I’m not complaining. Headshot was awesome! As for all else, this week’s HIT LIST is here for your enjoyment with another round of stunt and demo reels, promo goodies and action-packed shortfilms. Canadian stunt troupe K Dynamique kicks things off with a new reel of their own followed by Jared Blake DiCroce, Mark Miscione, Eurico Senna and the award-winning fiery stylings of Rachel Novak. The playlist rounds out with reels by Marcel Mala, Joseph Roark, Barry Nerling and Felix Cortes with Godefroy Ryckewaert showcasing some delicious lensing highlights of his own, including footage from Jimmy Henderson’s new movie, Jailbreak. Up next are the usual promotional goods and just in time for the release of the hit film, Logan, is an inspired new […]

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THE HIT LIST: November 7, 2016

Well, I can’t say much about my weekend. Saturday was a 19 hour day and so Doctor Strange had to be put on hold, and my energy level on Monday was about the same as your average everyday housecat. That said, I did get to enjoy a cool Sunday night out with someone who’s been doing stunts for some time now and you can read more about that by clicking here! On that note, The Hit List has arrived for this week and new stunt and action demo reels are here for your viewing pleasure with the first – a reel from an actress whose work I’ve been dying to share in a Hit List entry ever since I became friends with her on social media in 2014. Hailing all the way from London and fresh off of a stellar box office run thusfar in the U.K. and U.S. in […]

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