Greetings everyone, and welcome back to another installation of the Hit List. Lately I’m getting the feeling that the workload here is lightening up a bit – it feels like a bit of a sign that I may be running out of awesome shorts to share and I hope I’m wrong.
At any rate, it’s a new week and we’re jamming with some great stuff now online, and we’re kicking things off as usual with a slightly smaller, but fantastic playlist of great stunt reels. First up is a video from a couple of guys behind the martial arts film fighting group, SG Action. Together, they’ve now moved on to something quite special for their own over in Leeds in the UK with the new multifunctional training facility, Level Up, and their latest minisampler highlighting Open Day from a few weeks ago is up and running. Note their official website as shown at the end, as well as amazing reels from Omar Zaki, Marc Anthony Lowe, Jae Greene, Stuart Williamson, Virginie Parres, Justin Carney and Dany Ramos.
Topping it all off is a reel by a stunt professional bearing more than fifty years of excellence in the stunt industry from venerable stunt performer and coordinator, Charlie Picerni, whose resumé runs as a what’s-what in many hit TV shows and films you’ve seen while growing up, from Hart To Hart and Batman to Die Hard 1 & 2, Lethal Weapon 3 and Demolition Man, and the upcoming Independence Day: Resurgence.
Enjoy the reels!
There’s isn’t much to go on here in the promotional department, but you’re more than welcome to consider such a thing from this latest treat from filmmaker David Karlak who’s been keeping himself pretty busy in the last five years or so in building his craft next to developing his newest feature, Outsiders at Warner Bros. Part of that time insofar has included working on an amazing, crowdfunded proof-of-concept that delves deep into the throes of a brewing war between man and machine. And thus, with actors Anton Yelchin and Rufus Sewell on hand, Rise, is now going viral with five minutes of some of the most visually stunning and deep storytelling you’ll wish was in longer format.
Check it out now!
Now it’s time to take the gloves off and get brawling this week with some great fight action bits from various teams online. Eclipse Stunts kicks and punches off this week with a quick sampler of their own led by DL MacDonald, Vincent Khai and Somnang Chai, followed by Leo Kei Angelos in an explosive two-on-one against Greg and Geoff Samuels, and a fight sampler from Mario Perez featuring Su Castillo and Ken Arata.
Following that is the next best thing while we wait for Fox to get it together for a Gambit feature, and for this we turn to the EMC Monkeys pitting Tony Sre in full costume against a trio of ninjas in their worst gamble yet. Rounding out the playlist are two Star Wars-attributed fight videos – the first with Tim Man and Nickolas Hansson, and a re-upload with fight choreography by Matthew Lorenceau – indie actioner Narayana Cabral’s latest rainy day gathering in A Time To Fight with Hope LaVelle and Ishida Sachiko, a 2013 revival titled B2 by MagFighters with Andy Long Nguyen and Michi Addison, and Wolf Stunts going for broke with the ever-rampaging Johnny Junyi Gao in One Last Time!
And now we arrive at the longer form shortfilms and I have two for you this week, including a revival I think you’ll enjoy if not already.
The first welcomes back Andy Long Nguyen (see above) who I’ve thoroughly enjoyed covering each and every time I’ve had the opportunity to in the past three years. His contributions to indie action are nothing short of a love letter to classic Jackie Chan tropes, which now brings us to his latest effort with cinematographer Markus Ketterer and performers Michael Aderholz and Max Haüsle for Deck Vollständig 2 – a story of two guys in search of something they hid in the woods 15 years earlier. Nguyen’s character is after it as well, but either way you look it, it’ll be a sticky situation for everyone.
Check it out!
And last but not least, voice actor Jason Marnocha left a staunch impression in 2014 with the dual task of portraying the voices of Deathstroke and Black Mask in the action-packed fan-inspired Batman: Arkham Origins game prequel, Deathstroke: Arkham Assassin. Filmmakers Larry White and Chris White of the Going Nowhere Show are the minds behind this ambitious little award-winning gem with actors Spencer Mulligan Crusade and Jason Edelstein starring respectively as the aforementioned mercenary and crime boss, and seeing as how the Batman universe is still relevant, I’m of the opinion that this little short is still worth celebrating.
The shortfilm has received over a million views as of last November, but if you’re not one of those counted, here’s your chance. However, if you are, then I’m more than happy to help you waste time with a worthy encore. Check it out below and click here for a behind-the-scene look on how they made it all happen!
If you’re pining for more action, click here to view last week’s goods if you’ve missed them, and be sure to subscribe to these channels for more content. Moreover, if you have a tip or if you’re a filmmaker who loves making badass action movies and have a project or a stunt or a demo reel you think deserves an audience, send it to us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com and let’s keep creativity alive!