I spent good portions of my weekend dozing off at work when I could. ? It was a little necessary too – I’m actually on a new diet now, and I definitely have to work on my energy levels and sleep habits, so hopefully this will lead to better health in the months to come.
At any rate however, it’s been two weeks and so it’s time for another installment of The Hit List. As always, we begin with a playlist packed with alluring stunt reels from some of today’s top and up-and-coming stunt performers and action actors.
Peter Pham is first on the roster with an extended four-minute action reel of his own followed by the lightining fast feats of rising star Chintya Candranaya. Rounding out the playlist are entries by Randall Trang, Eric Shamm Watson, Alexander Burgos, Joseph Oreste, Vanessa Seemore, Chris Cortez, D.L. MacDonald, Gene Freeman, Alyma Dorsey, Dylan Rampulla, Jose Luis Rodriguez, Kristian A.K. Mogensen, Anna Yosin and riveting action and fight choreography reels by Tara Macken and Dani Medina.
There’s no trailer out just yet but as far as promotional goods go, Ryan Polly’s new short, Pizza Time, is as good as it gets with a poster now making the rounds. Successfully Kickstarted earlier this year and now screening at festivals with actor and action director Eric Jacobus in attendance, Pizza Time sees Ben Worley in the role of a pizza delivery man who stumbles into a contract killing already in progress. Check out the poster and check back for more info.
Following that bit of detail lies in a all that’s to come for this year’s Iron Dragon TV Action Fest, a riveting two-day event that kicks off on August 9 and 10. Actress, stunt performer and filmmaker Cassandra Ebner continues to prove she’s more tha meets the eye with Life XP, a new fantasy dramedy action series about a jobless lab-rat whose first time playing a video game is about to take her on the wildest ride of her life.
Tickets for the screeening are here while the upcoming independently-produced series now brings an official trailer for you to enjoy.
We are flippin’ thrilled to screen Life XP at IDTV Action Fest 2019🤩🎥 Get your tickets before they are gone➡️ https://t.co/0ekA228z7C @LifeXP_Series – Stars the amazing @CassandraEbner 🙌🏽 #IDTVActionFest2019 #LifeXp @giomocibob @Lindsay_Navarro @joshknepper @TrevorAddie pic.twitter.com/tOyuNv0nWn
— IDTV Action Film Fest (@IDTVActionfest) August 5, 2019
It’s off to the last lap with a tasty raft of practice fight and indie shortfilm action to bookend things. LK Stunt Team returns with a performance by Marcos De La Rosa and Kenji Shimohira while German action star Mike Moeller sends his Greetings From Mumbai, and K Dynamique’s new crime comedy, Briefcase.
The next raft is a minute-long shorts from a variety of groups – some who entered Film Riot’s own #ActionSceneChallenge of late: Leo Kei Angelos’ 60 Seconds To Hero, Peter Jang’s Yours, Strike To Burn’s Running Late, Thinking Art Entertainment’s The Vessel, Zack Reichgut’s Time Fight, Murray Enders’ Castle and Godefroy Ryckewaert’s Surprise.
Art School Dropouts works it out with some 80s-reminiscent action from Joey Min and Stephanie Pham, Rachel Gefeld puts her violent musicianship in play opposite Alfred Hsing in a fight scene redux a la John Wick: Chapter Two, and Kamen Ramen weighs in with cop comedy, In-Cop-Petent while Jay Kwon and Caitlin Hutson return with Fight or Flight 2, and Kyle Potter clocks in for Nine Thirty Two with Mackensi Emory, Justin Chang and Andrew Franklin.
Following that is the first installment of K&K Productions‘ VR-produced Mortal Kombat fan films before we get reacquainted with Jarrod Crooks in an experimental fight scene reenactment from Paul Verohoeven‘s Total Recall with Erin Antilla, and AMP Stunt Films’ own Scott Hoffman dives into The Matrix to redo the legendary dojo fight with Bobby McFarlane.
Chintya Candranaya returns with her newest “Lady Of Fury” chapter and director Maria Shokh brings the epic brooding action with Bloodborne fan short, Blood Echoes, while Gary Mattis hunts down Ermias Baraki in Jungle Loop for Frappe Mortelle Productions, and Amy Sturdivant continues to exude strength behind the camera for her latest short fantasy paean, Darling, also with Caitlin Hutson, Bryan Sloyer, Joseph Oreste and Robert Dill.
Rounding out the playlist is all three parts of Afro Samurai Champloo from Team Red Pro and Quirktastic, mingling anime/manga properties to produce crossover fandom featuring Robin Calvo as “Samurai Champloo”‘s Mugen, and Tarrell Bullock as the titular “Afro Samurai”.
Enjoy the hits!
Click here for previous installments of The Hit List and to enjoy more action-packed content. To send us your entries, e-mail us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com, and be sure to acquaint yourselves with the International Action Film Awards from now through its main 2020 event!