My weekend was mostly contemplative. I may try to explain this before the year is out as I’ve normally posted yearly thoughts around this time…
As for The Hit List, you’re about to indulge yourselves with the first of the final two installments for 2018. First up is a fresh new playlist host to some of today’s top and rising stunt talents listing Stephen Koepfer, Evelyn Osorio Vaccaro, Jackson Rozario, Bridgette Bentley, Ben Aycrigg, Aline Mayne, Tyler Street, Brea Schneider, Luke Baxter, Krista Jasper, James Procelli, Alyson Pickett, Robin Webb, Claudia Heinz, Levgenii Poliakov, and the explosive coordinator stylings of one Brendon Huor!
Promotional gems are but few this week, firstly from stunt performer, fight choreographer and screenfighting tutor Rustic B who invites followers of his channel to engage themselves in his latest holiday-themed Fight Scene challenge. As always, there are rules and the rules apply from now through December 29!
The second item on the table is the official poster for Mikko Löppönen’s upcoming short, Demon Huntress Brazen. This one’s really just new to me in keeping up with the Finnish filmmaker’s awe-inspiring indies but he’s never been a letdown in entertaining viewers with his work. All one needs to do is look up his craft on YouTube or Vimeo to come across projects like Eliza or The Cold Dark to get a whiff of what he’s capable of, and it may very well signal promise for this latest endeavor.
Time to get the action going as we delve into a raft of worthwhile action gems from the interwebs, starting with a reuploaded fight snippet from Darren Holmquist and featuring Dave Wu and Matt Bethel, and a fight redux a la Total Recall (1990) with Cina Maria and Jackie Gerhardy. Following that is Dani Medina’s Crazy Girlfriend with Dany Ramos and Samanta Kolbeck Hernandez, Therese Chen’s practice fight shoot with performers David Vuong and Pierre Azzi, and a pair of holiday-themed action comedies both named MistleFOE – firstly from Robb Stech and featuring Pat King and Samuel Lee, and from JK Fights with Chloe Baldwin and Jon Beal.
John Mac Schnurr and Ulisses Gonsalves cross swords at The Summit from Micah Khan, Legend Of Micah’s own Micah Moore pays tribute in stunt fighting fashion to Super Smash Bros. with Ben Aycrigg, Matt Sheib, Alex Hashioka and Tang Nguyen, PeiPei Alena Yuan contributes her latest test fight with Zhanna Sattsaeva, Brian Lee and Jarod Kearney battle it out for Santa’s Cookies, Kyle Murillo is your cute and cuddly champion of peaceful slumber in The Dream Guardian, and Jacob Hotovy and Colton Machado hone in their best one-take tribute with Daredevil fan film, The Book Of Job.
Following that is Jared Kirby’s Legends Of Tomorrow fight scene redux with Kaitlyn Farley and Emily Turner, Liam Forrest’s UASE 2018 finalist entry, The Withdrawal featuring Victor Chen, Jeff Choi, Alexander Nguyen and Johnny Walker Jr., and Kevin Potter goes toe-to-toe with Dirk Ellis and his merc’s mouth, Orion Acaba in Deathstroke VS. Deadpool from Bat In The Sun (the action begins at the 3:40 mark).
Last and far from least is a double header centered on Brazil’s own Renan Medeiros who stars in two shorts, the first of which is Punhos E Leis, in which he and fellow performer Bruno Carmo play two thieves vying for territorial rights. It’s been three years since its trailer arose and its director, Tomires Ribiero, had been keeping the project away from the viewing public; I’m not clear as to why or whether it was for festivals or other reasons, and this was even while I managed to add this to previous Hit Lists. Needless to say, it’s officially online and here to stay, and if you’ve missed it before, here’s your chance to dig in.
The second featuring Medeiros serves as the finale of this week’s Hit List and hails from the fifth episode of Lucas Nascimento’s Alameda Lacuna webseries titled A Última Vida De Bruce Thunderbolt. Medeiros is joined by actress Ana Carolina Oliveira for the story of a girl who decides to pick up a VR headset and engage the intetactive protagonist of the game she’s playing. This one bookends with one of the sickest twists you’ll bear witness to, and it’s in Portuguese which otherwise adds a dose of mystery to the suggestive Hitchcockian lore next to the action and drama.
Enjoy the hits!
Tune in next week for the final installment of The Hit List. Share these with your friends and be sure to click here and enjoy at least FOUR YEARS of Hit List awesomeness. And, as always, if you or someone you know makes killer action shorts or has demo reel jam-packed with talent and potential, message us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com and we’ll be happy to vet your materials. Good luck!