WATCH ME KILL: Bear Witness To Jean Garcia’s Grim Testimony In The First Official Teaser
Actress Junyka Santarin joins Garcia on their violent adventure with actress Althea Vega, Jay Manalo and Bodjie Pascua also starring.
the philippines
THE TRIGONAL: Vincent Soberano’s Martial Arts Revenge Thriller Lands A New Official Poster
Actor and martial artist Ian Ignacio emerges to lead a cast that includes Soberano with actress Rhian Ramos, fellow action cinema legends Monsour Del Rosario and Levy Ignacio with Gus Liem, Christian Vasquez, Li Jingliang, Paul Allica and actress Sarah Chang who also serves as fight choreographer.
GRACE UNDER FIRE: An Interview With Actor, Stuntman And Producer, Sonny Sison
Last week, I had the opportunity to share a dialogue with Sison about the film among several others within the span of his career in the past two decades. Having cut his teeth as an actor and stuntman over the years, primarily as a suit actor on the AmeriToku crossover series, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and having recently worked with a number of familiar faces fans know and love, I would say there’s plenty of reason to bookmark him as someone worth looking out for in the months ahead.
Hollywood Ninja Presents: MANILA ASSASSIN'S CREED
Jearome Calica strikes a pose in ‘Manila Assassin’s Creed’
Independent filmmaker, action director and stuntman Jeff Centauri is currently in the middle of something truly awesome over in the Philippines. Having launched his career in the 1990’s after serving U.S. Air Force, Centauri has gone on to work on a great number of projects for TV and film, including the three-part compilation DVD series, Everyone Is Kung Fu Fighting, and even making his directorial debut in 1996 with the ultra low budget flick, The Zombie Ninja.
Since then, his experiences in film while living in the states have seen their fair share of challenges, but that has not stopped him from moving forward and stepping out on his own beyond borders. Currently based in the Philippines, you can now catch Centauri‘s online repertoire of indie action gems via his YouTube channel, with the latest being this week’s airing of the new short, Manila Assassin’s Creed with performances by Jearome Calica, Novie Banoy, Noe Evangelista and Diana Bertumen.
Centauri‘s work overseas is also part of a larger effort to help revive the action cinema industry at home with the current early stages of pre-production for the new feature film, Extra Heroes, a project that could do for the Philippines what films like The Raid and Ong Bak did for Indonesia and Thailand, respectively, if proven successful. “I believe that if an action movie is successful not only in the Philippines but internationally, then a lot of people will follow.” he says. “There are a lot of people just waiting. There are several groups of martial artists and parkour teams itching to be in movies. Some of them train regularly because they love to, and when the time comes, they will be ready.”
Check out Manila Assassin’s Creed in the exclusive video embed below, or feel free to CLICK HERE to watch it, as well as subscribe to Centauri’s channel where you can browse for other cool action shorts. Also, feel free to subscribe to his official Facebook page for EPIC Action Concepts to learn more about some of his work behind the lens.
P.S. ~ To the two lovely ladies, Novie and Diana, thanks for the shout out! ♡♡
Sharpen Your View With New Pics From THE BLADED HAND 2
Every now and then, a documentary comes along that inspires some reflection and changes the way you view a specific topic. For martial arts enthusiasts, such a documentary can be found in the recently released film, The Bladed Hand, a critically acclaimed and intricate retrospective into the world of the Filipino Martial Arts, hosting an eclectic array of interviews with fight professors and martial arts masters, as well as stuntmen and fight choreographers for film and television.
The film became a huge success upon its DVD and Vimeo VoD release last year since earning its praise with several screenings back in 2012, so much so that a sequel is currently underway as of November last year, with writing and producing trio, Jay Ignacio, Kent Vives and actor and stuntman Sonny Sison (Broken Path, The Lackey, Godzilla), back on board to bring the next film to life. And with a large handful of interviews already done with at least 20 more subjects to go, Sison took to his Facebook group to share a few recent photos with former Navy SEAL Chris Carraci, who will no doubt be featured along with his bladed weapon collection in the new film which could arrive later this year or in 2015. Check them about below:
We’ll keep you posted about the new film in the months ahead. In the meantime, The Bladed Hand is already available for rental and purchase on Vimeo and Amazon. Watch the trailer below, and to keep close to what’s happening for The Bladed Hand 2, feel free to join the official Facebook group.
The Bladed Hand – Trailer from ShowVIS LLC on Vimeo.
Kozo Takeda Takes Center-Ring In The New MMA Action Drama, DEATH MATCH
As common as it is nowadays to see the birth of an acting career with former fighting athletes, filmmaker Arty Morgan (a.k.a. Atsushi Muroga, helmer of the Gun Crazy film franchise) isn’t afraid to do step in the ring and do just that. In fact, he did so about a few years ago on location in the Philippines with the production of his latest action drama, Death Match (once known as The Death Match: Fighting Fist Of Samurai Joe).
The film appears to be the English-language feature-length screen debut of former welterweight K-1 kickboxer Kozo Takeda who has already done some television work within the past few years. This time, Takeda takes the stage as a former mercenary who partakes in street fights to help a woman pay off her unclaimed debt to a gangster, following a six-year prison sentence for rescuing her from her abusive husband by killing him.
The film had its premiere in the Peace category of the 5th annual Okinawa International Film Festival last year and is finally making its way to a domestic theatrical release on June 21. Takeda is joined by actress Elle Velasco and actor Alvin Anson.
Check out the trailer below and stay tuned for more news when available.
Christian Paolo Lat Is A One-Man Stickfighting Army In The New Shortfilm Trailer For ESKRIMADOR
Filipino martial arts have always been a tried and true application to martial arts action cinema, and such happens the case with the latest trailer for independent filmmaker Jelani Kim L. Maniago‘s upcoming dramatic action short, Eskrimador. Starring Chrisrian Paolo Lat, the new project started about a month and a half ago in collaboration with Maniago, as well as stuntfighter, performer and fight choreographer Eulver Presto, and a handful of other students from from the International Academy Of Film & Television near the city of Cebu.
Not much is known about the plot here, but based on this week’s new trailer, Eskrimador could very well be one more treat to enjoy from the online action community. One guy armed with two Escrima batons taking on five skilled guys armed with similar knowledge on martial arts weaponry? I’m down with it. And with any luck, we will see more of it as time goes on.
Take a look and stay tuned for more ahead!
MMFF 2013: Rono Set To Debut Biopic Crime Drama BOY GOLDEN: SHOOT-TO-KILL
After initially being censored from premiering at this year’s 39th Annual Metro Manila Film Festival due to “excessive violence”, it appears the circumstamces have changed, and now writer and director Chito S. Roňo is now getting the chance to debut his new biopictoral action crime drama, Boy Golden: Shoot-To-Kill. After previously starring in the 2011 award-winning thriller, Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story, actor ER Ejercito returns center stage as the lead in his second role as another historical crime figure, now centered around the life and times of 1960’s notorious Filipino gangster, Arturo Porcuna, a.k.a. Boy Golden, who eventually met his demise at the hands of a group of assassins nearly fifty years ago this week. The film is also the latest of two notable titles centered on Porcuna’s life-the other being Daniel Zialcita’s Hindi sa Iyo ang Mundo, Baby Porcuna, which won a FAMAS award in 1978 for Best Director.