THE HIT LIST: August 27, 2018
It looks like it’s gonna be another crazy few weeks going forward. The review stuff is piling up a little on top of the other coverage I’m doing so I’ll do my best to keep The Hit List consistent unless I need another emergency break in between.
In the meantime, the Hit List is back and here to welcome another nifty round of demo reels from some of today’s best stunt performers and professionals alike.
First up is someone I had a chance to meet during the summer and she’s an absolute sweetheart in person, and as you’ll see in Evelyn Osorio Vacarro’s reel, an even badder badass on screen.
Lance Herota keeps the groove going with his reel, followed by reels from John Francis McCullagh, John Santiago, Karter Ohlson, Andrea Berchtold, Joseph V. Oreste, Graham Powell, Sarah Moser, Alex Nguyen, Matthew T. Robinson, Stan Elton and Josh Vinyard.
Last and far from least is are two reels via Vimeo, first of which comes from François Mequer. I’m only a little familiar with his work but he never disappoints; he actually did a 2014 film with Louis Mandylor called Tension(s) which I still have to see and I’ll eventually share my thoughts when I do.
Rounding it all out is some sweet, dandy fight choreography from Alex Chung and I’ve hyped this dude like crazy in years before because he’s one of the hungriest creatives I know. He’s putting something together that’s going to drive fans of independent action cinema fucking insane, and I know this because I’ve been privy to some of what he is working on and the fact that I’m cussing about it should be more than enough for a hint that you should, at the very least, follow this guy on Instagram. You’re going to want to sink your teeth into what he has in store, and you WILL thank me later!
We have a few bits in the way of trailer content and the first comes courtesy of Kingdom Creative with Credo, centered on supernatural forces who find a safe haven among those who are unafraid of dystopian darkness. The new short, directed by Kyle Tiernan, will mark the start of a new webseries with the goal of eight episodes and publicity through the 2019 festival circuit.
Following that is a trailer from independent filmmaker and actor Ben Letteri who first came on my radar several years back with his independent feature, The Liberator. He’s still filming on projects both big and small, including a shortfilm sequel on the way titled The Liberator Strikes Back.
Suo Liu and Jim Ng light it up this week for Dan Carter at the lens to ring in the fights and films for this week, followed by some sword-and-shield fight choreography over at Sergi Tomas’ channel, and Kyro Wavebourne’s latest offering with The Objective and two daring fatales aimed at completing it with Claire Hoogenboom and Zhanna Sattsaeva.
Narayan Cabral returns to the Hit List by way of Austin’s film festival scene with action actress Hope Lavelle getting her Ameritoku on with some Yellow Power Ranger fanfare, followed by ninjas Vi-Dan Tran and Khoa Huynh with some swordfighting, Kyle Murillo and Troy Butler reennacting some classic fight scenery from The Raid 2, and the return of Daria Drobotova with some practice fight time of her own.
The Le Brothers are joined by Sterling Holloway to promote some merch over at the Martial Club channel just before Anthony Hoang and Justin Carney duel it out for David Lavallee Jr. behind the camera, a test of Friendship thanks to Critical Coffee Break by way of Rustic B.’s most recent fight scene challenge, and Anthony Javier and Aris Bare in The Chase.
Caio Fontes is back in the Hit List with a brief second part to his January shortfilm release, Broken, and since it’s been so long, I’m showcasing both parts so far. Fred Nguyen and Yue Qi get their Shenmue fight fandom on while Jeffim Sheroky throws down with friends at his channel – also by way of Rustic B.’s recent fight scene challenge, and Brian McNulty directs a test of wit and wills in Dumbo In DUMBO with Kaitlyn Farley, Tony Mita and Alton Savoye.
Andrej Hofer thrusts you into horror with Psycho The Thirteenth, and Michael Dinh’s most recent short, Hunter, just resurfaced since late last year. I can’t remember if I shared this one yet, but actor Diezie Ivan Sahn is fantastic in this one and he’s still kept to his craft this year in other small projects.
Via Novo Studios is next on our radar with Josh Mabie’s Cities Under Fire, a proof of concept that involves two men, one with a deep-seated grudge against the other in the wake of a woman who has been held captive. It’s an exciting thriller and I’m curious to see if it will build into anything else with Albert Abraham leading the charge, and with Cynthia Rodriguez and actors Sean Gallagher and Jarrid Massey starring.
Bookending this week’s hits is Paul from Bryan Sloyer, a loose, action-packed telling of the story of the titular apostle with excerpts from the book of Acts. It’s very pulp-structured with events traversing back in forth in the sequence of events and I find myself impressed at his ability to apply this method in delivering such an emotive, cinematic affect.
What I love most is that as good as Sloyer has become in the last five years since I began covering his work and as much as I would love to see him take on features, that he’s found a useful root for much of his storytelling inspiration and artistic flourishing among Biblical tales. It’s not his first time and nor would I hope it be the last as he continues to invoke solid action with layered, soulful drama in his filmic practices. I’m rooting for the guy, as I’m sure are many.
Enjoy the hits!
Last week’s installment of The Hit List still has goods if you missed any. Be sure to sub to the channels and share The Hit List with friends, and if you’ve made something that you feel deems worthy of Hit List profusion, send us your gems at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com!
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.
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