It’s always a funny thing when people ask me what my thoughts are about certain selections I add to the Hit List or films I give positive reviews on – funny because for one, reviews should speak for themselves. The same especially goes for the former, really, in that usually if I see a video that I like and I like it enough to put in the energy to write something about it, it’s normally because I liked it. ?
I’m actually a little upset that I came across a few of this week’s entries as late as I did, particularly having tried to been on top of it. Such is why I need at least two more of me (especially since one could use the extra sleep ?).
At any rate, tireless and forever tired as I am (a phrase coined by my friend Philippe), my quest continues to help bring notable independent content and stunt talent to the spotlight per our weekly vehicle here at the Hit List. Let’s load up on paramount stunt talent with the latest stunt and training reels from today’s talented stunt performers beginning with Dylan Rampulla, Jessica Barfoot, LeRoyal Tutt, Alina Andrei, Kage Yami, Damali Ross, Tony Vittorioso, Donny Nichols, Niko Dalman, Camran Bostanabad, Johnny Zhao Haitao and Darrell McLean. We round out this playlist with a tasty teaser reel by a fantastic group from the land down under called Dauntless Movement Crew, and a delighful and adventurous parkour mini doc by performer and filmmaker Remi Girard.
Onto a few promotional bits this week and we revert to an earlier piece I did for Stephen Vitale’s upcoming chanbara horror proof of concept, Sword Of The Dead. The teaser is available in the campaign video I wrote up on here but you’re more than welcome to view an isolated version just beneath. And, by all means, stay tuned for our forthcoming interview.
Last and far from least is the latest creative effort from Chasing The Dragon and London Has Fallen co-star, actor Bryan Larkin with Dead End, the latest entry in a series of shorts here from director and co-star Carter Ferguson. Filmed on a shoestring budget, London, Hong Kong and the U.K. serve as the backdrop for the narrative with Larkin starring as a contract killer whose latest job with a young hitman goes awry, forcing the two to question their motives.
Larkin wrote the self-funded Dead End which was also crowdfunded in an effort to help circulate through festivals, so keep an eye out for this one.
And onto the business we go of bringing hearty fight action by way of a select number shorts and action practice gems, starting with a pair of offerings via Vimeo with Ulrik Bruchholz and Andy Long having brought their six-year old test bout to my attention over the weekend with Do Not Disturb. The second comes courtesy of one of my favorite people in film and action, Tanay Genco Ulgen who harnesses his strengthening storytelling for a gripping crime thriller capped off with brutal action featuring Starlise Waschuk in One Eight Seven.
For the playlist just beneath, our good friends at Lunar Stunts warm up the crowd with an L.A.-set installment of Eric Nguyen’s The Fighting Journey while Kai Ferris and Ben Van Huis aim to please with a slick new lightsaber gem, and Gaetan Caillot trades fisticuffs and prop-knife warfare with Gabriel Senges over at Stunt-Do Fighting as the start of this week’s Fights And Films playlist. Following that is David Lavallee‘s own triskadekaphobic action short offering with The 13th Friday as one of two shorts this month reviving the Jason Voorhees fandom – the other being Flawless Films‘s newest fanfight pitting the resurrected killer against the Gingerninja himself, Aaron Gassor as Spider-Man.
Filmmaker and fight choreographer Lawrence Yip assembles his own throwdown with performers Sam Jaikaran and Nhan Du for hitman short, Just Another Job, before we take a Critical Coffee Break with a couple of guys named Trevor and Orion and learn their swift and applicable techniques for breaking a werewolf’s curse, Troy Sandford and Vladmir Ershov delve right into a spectacular action short with an anime twist for Said Chaou’s My Revenge, and Rooster Teeth’s latest shortfilm thereafter ties into the Volume 5 premiere of RWBY, focusing on the rising underdog, Yang, and I highly recommend watching the series now available online via YouTube or Rooster Teeth, or Crunchyroll.
Inanna Sarkis and Anwar Jibawi return with a second episode of spy comedy webseries, Secret Life (watch the first installment HERE), while Brian Lee and Matthew Sumner clown around over at Beat Down Boogie for an Epic Clown Fight that’ll slap you so hard your momma will feel it.
Brazen Action Design sets forth an impressive debut this month with Jackie Zenders’s action proof-of-concept, Providence, set in a dystopian world as we witness seeds of betrayal and family upheaval between forces of law and order, and lingering factions of chaos. Zenders directs from her own script, co-written by Veto Swarn who stars along with Jonathen Wallace, Monique Avila, Jake Moore, Daniel Masterson, Austin Durden, and Hayden Lam among the B.A.D. cast.
Last and far from least is a brand new comedy short by stuntman and filmmaker, actor Marcus Shakesheff who is never one to shy away with his love and fandom for all things comic book and DC. Here in The British Superman, he leads as mankind’s ill-gotten and unpopular savior named Neville at the center of his own documentary in which a professor puts our less-than-enthusing hero through a series of trials to prove he’s from the planet Krypton. It’s a less-action oriented affair but Shakesheff plays the role fittingly and entertains viewers from start to finish.
Enjoy the hits!
There’s plenty more where hits like these came from and you can catch them by clicking here. Share The Hit List with friends and help grant these creatives the audience they need to grow and thrive in the name of awesome cinematic action, and by all means, if you or someone you know is in the market for support as a filmmaker or a stunt performer with a kickass new demo reel or a project with Hit potential, hit us up at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com!
A full on trailer is said to be coming in December while we have a pair of action clips from the upcoming short which will hopefully arrive before long as it looks all kinds of awesome.