I’m pondering taking next weekend off for the Hit List. As it stands I have a few screeners that need screening and reviewing and I haven’t at all had the time for them. Plus, a little extra time for myself would be spiffy.
L to R (top): Adele Elasmar, Marrese Crump, Amber Lamarca, Troy Butler, Amy Johnston
L to R (bottom): Noel Schefflin, Monique Ganderton, John Wood, Niahlah Hope, Timothy Eulich
Of course, all that could change depending on the content of the coming week and if it’s too good to hold back, you can expect another entry online stunts and hits. For now, its the 16th of April and back hand-springing in her element is stuntwoman Niahlah Hope for the inaugural reel of this week’s stunt playlist.
Rounding it all out are reels by Max Laferriere, Thaddeus McQueen, John Wood, Amber Lamarca, Ivan Kasnyov, Nakamura Koji, Bryan Dodds, Beni Alexander, Attilla Kiss, Sarah Laidler, Joseph Roark and StormFreerun with a cinematic display of parkour feats featuring athlete Charlie Havill. Last and far from least is a share from Vimeo with a cool fight reel by Timothy Eulich.
Beneath is a playlist with two promos and the first hails from actor and martial artist Marrese Crump of The Protector 2 fame now back and stirring the hype a little more with Cash, and upcoming webseries from Diallo Frazier. Following that is a humble update from action cinema favorite, Accident Man actress Amy Johnston following up with a number of updates coinciding with her channel and in conjunction with her latest series, Hero Training, in which she brings aboard fellow entertainment performance artists and stunt players to highlight health, wellness and training methods.
Lastly and greatly is Johnny Balazs, now ramping up at Indiegogo to crowdfund tactical revenge thriller, Night Shift. Several gems have alreasy emerged online courtesy of Balazs at Prima Lux Films, hinting at the style action that will entail with actress Adele Elasmar training hard for the role as production nears.
Balazs is best known for gaining notoriety at multiple festivals in the past year for his stylish, hard-hitting hitman thriller, Dancer, and now looks toward bringing Night Shift centerstage with a worthwhile heroine front and center, and furthermore, with your help suited to equal perks available for you here.
Vimeo played a major role this week in nabbing some accidental finds for the Fights and Films section. Bangkok Dangerous star Daniel O’Neill’s starring role in Matt Routledge’s 2016 thriller, Fixer, was a winning center of attention at producer Soo Cole’s inaugural Fighting Spirit Film Festival and last year’s HBO Urban Action Showcase. It’s an anomaly as to why I’ve only just spotted it this weekend but…better late than never.
The same goes for The Compass Rose from sibling film duo, the Dell Sisters – Producer Elizabeth and writer/director Emily. The two won Best Action at the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival in 2014 with stunt talent, actresses Tara Macken and Monique Ganderton; The two also front their own stunt and fight sequencing central to the ministory about one fugitive’s connection to missing letters, and an organization rooted in an enigmatic tattoo.
Both of these amazing projects kick off this week’s Fights and Films section in fitting fashion!
Bookending this week’s Hit List is a playlist full of practice fight and thrilling shortform content. Ukraine-based XGST has a pair of vids now up and running, followed by Jefferson Lewis III trading blows in a few new entries this week – one opposite Troy Butler, and in a seperate spy-themed gem with Katie Kramer, and two comedy shorts from Lucia Ordaz’s channel, The Bodyguard and Roomie’s Rules and Regulations.
Matt Philiben gets his game on with a little help from Lo Lieh in Code Of The Dim Mak, and actress and martial artist Chintya Candranaya makes her return to the Hit List this for a second week in a row courtesy of Chevrolet with Silat Assassin 2. Following that is Project 7, a gritty throwback that looks as spectacular as I recently found it, hailing from 2010 as an Action On Film Festival favorite from director Vincent Gatinaud the talented creatives at Cascade Demo Team.
Next on the roster is Fury Fingers, having stepped up to the plate for a roaring fan film inspired by Ubisoft’s latest Far Cry installment with Far Cry: Baptism Of Fire. The Ubisoft Australia-backed fan thriller is directed by Nicholas Cleary who stars along with Hjalmar Marteinsson, Diane Dee Kalei and Eliott Howard.
Last and far from least is actor Noel Schefflin, front and center for Robot Underdog’s most recent rollout of the new unauthorized DC Comics/Stephen King hybrid fan film, Red Hoot: IT. The short is shepherded by film duo Hisonni Johnson and Alberto Triana, and with Jeremy Boone starring and voicing and the prolific balloon-teasing killer clown among a few surprise appearances in this latest fan-driven labor of gruesome joy.
L to R (top): Matt Philliben, Lucia Ordaz, Nicholas Cleary, Tara Macken, Max Laferrier
L to R (bottom): Katie Kramer, Bryan Dodds, Beni Alexander, Thaddeus McQueen, Sarah Laidler
Native New Yorker. Lover of all things pizza, chocolate, pets, and good friends. Karaoke hero. Left of center. Survivor. Fond supporter of cult, obscure and independent cinema - especially fond of Asian movies and global action cinema. Author of the bi-weekly Hit List. Founder and editor of Film Combat Syndicate. Still, very much, only human.
