Welcome to the last Hit List of 2016 before I take my fat butt away from my phone a bit more to enjoy life around me some. Indeed it’ll be at home through Christmas and New Year’s Eve at least until my cough dissipates…It’s not how I wanted to go out this year but… oh well… Wish me luck!
Moving on to the business of things here, we’re starting things off via Vimeo exclusive with a new reel by acclaimed author, stuntman, stunt coordinator and venerable cinematic fight coordinator John Kreng (Battle B-Boy, Paying Mr. Getty), whose newest reel is a litany of highlights from various interviews, documentaries and television work showcasing his knowledge and wisdom on stunts, stunt equipment, Bruce Lee and Jet Li and more.
From there, we keep the business going with the latest in action, stunt and choreography reels, kicking off our playlist with Hayden Lam, soon to make his way online with a project titled Crows. Check out his latest reel now along with other demos courtesy of Grant McCartney, Miroslava Mala, Tyler Riso, Anais Almonte, Eric Sweeney, Cory Tomicic, A.J. Gaglairdi, Hannah Betts, Jesse Turner, János Bognár and Michel Quach.
Up next is the kind of treat that I seldom get to include in The Hit List, especially when it comes to kickass music videos with action-packed imagery and themes. This one comes from Brazilian metal band O.S.P. following the online debut of their latest music video, Someday, and starring actor and stuntman Renan De Silva Medeiros who has already progressed quite a bit in the past year as fight choreographer. His debut credit as such in Afonso Poyart’s José Also biopic, Mais Forte Que O Mundo, makes Medeiros someone invariably worth paying attention to and with his pending apearance in Tomires Ribeiro’s upcoming action short, Punhos E Leis, needless to say I’ll be doing just that.
Click here or below and enjoy!
There’s only one trailer right now this week on my hands and it further hypes the pending release of Legend Of Korra: A New Beginning, the latest fantasy action short from the folks over at Art School Dropouts inspired by the hit Avatar sequel series. The trailer is a montage rounding up audience reactions from a screening held by director Joey Min for the ASD members and their friends. An online air date is still pending but I reckon this one may arrive sometime in 2017. I might be wrong, but keep your eyes open for this one nonetheless. Peep it!
Now for the meat and potatoes of every Hit List every week…some badass fight action to make your day or evening and for starters, let’s head over to the anarchy on full display between stunt fighters Kai Fung Rieck and Marie Mouroum, followed by the latest test fight fro Izzaz Mohd Sani and Hasibahrain at Malaysia’s Lekir Stunt Team, and Eunoia Creations’s own Stanton Chong for his newest Thailand collab with Brahim Achabbakhe and co.
Following that is quirky little nod to the internet from filmmaker Andrew Kim with performer Gee “Lil Bomb” Jay simulating online viral video glory in a simulated boxing prank “gone awry”, and stunt fighters Kai Ferris and Margaryta Soldatova in a slick new test fight of their own.
Winding things down some are a pair of new Star Wars fan films released ahead of this weekend’s successful release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – First up is The Inquisitor from co-star and director Alfred Hsing with performances by C.C. Weske and Force Storm Entertainment’s own Noah S. Fleder with a special guest appearance by a certain Street Fighter actor from recent memory. The second comes from the trio of creatives over at Beat Down Boogie with Micah Moore at the helm for Star Wars Samurai: The Blind Jedi with Matthew Sumner and Brian Lee.
Stepping briefly into the 360° realm of filmmaking is the first episode of a new action series produced and directed by Blair Kelly for IGN titled Augmented, centered on The Asset – a highly coveted human carrier of extremely powerful augment technology, and you’ll definitely get a taste of what that entails in this episode with action designed by none other than Eric Jacobus. Also viewable on Google Daydream, Occulus and Vive while you’re free to check out an isolated link here.
Winding down the Hit List for the week, we have yet another hard-hitting and soulful new shortfilm action drama by Bryan Sloyer titled Abel, taking cues from the noted story in Chapter 4 of the bible with Sloyer starring opposite Jay Kwon. Definitely watch this one and make a note of it as you glance through Sloyer’s chanel. Having followed him since 2014, he’s definitely sharpened his skillset to a degree which always makes me proud to share his work as notable hits each and every time.
Next in the playlist is a jewel straight from Wales with actor and filmmaker Marcus Shakesheff honing in his stunt and screenfighting skills once again, and this time it’s to take vengeance in The Night I Met Santa 2! Hopefully you saw the first part and if not, go check it out on his channel and you’ll definitely be in for something as over the top and violent as this sequel. Yep, violent, NSFW and probably not for the kids.
The short is just the latest to arrive from Shakesheff in the weeks since the announcement of his latest starring and directorial debut, Kamikaze which is now available on DVD in the U.S. courtesy of Indican Pictures. It’s the first film of its kind to come out of Wales and Shakesheff’s work, stemming from his credits as a bonafide Hollywood stuntman and extended further to online netizens and fans of martial arts action is sure to further put Wales on the map for years to come.
Last in the playlist, and with all the promise of talent on usual display by such a fine group, is Pokemon Go Crazy, featuring Lorenz Hideyoshi in a lead role that nonetheless iterates why you don’t hit a man with glasses… especially when he snaps and turns into an outward kung fu demon. Taking to task alongside Hideyoshi is martial artist and stuntman Andy Long opposite Martial Club’s own Andy Le, Brian Le, Du Au and Lin He Rong in a riproaring feat of martial arts comedy that proves every bit of mettle these guys have endured to become the astute stunt professionals they are today, and I can announce that I will soon have an interview published with one of these amazing performers in due time! ?
Click here or below and enjoy all that is on display!
And, finally and far from least is an innovative, fantastic new action short by actor Jon Huertas (This Is Us) from his WestSide Stories production banner. Adapting Marvel’s 1975 emergence of latino superhero, White Tiger, Huertas unveiled his latest proof of concept in an effort to call upon Hollywood to advance efforts toward engaging superheroes for more diverse audiences.
The report from The Wrap also cites the growing number of latinos living in America as well as box office numbers that further suggest the case this new project makes. “As a mainstream actor who happens to be Hispanic, I feel it’s time for someone to develop an adult male comic character.” says Huertas. “It’s time, and in my opinion it’s taken far too long.”
Huertas takes to task in the role of Hector Ayala as he transforms into the title hero to put a gang of muggers in their place. The brainchild of creators Bill Mantlo and George Pérez, White Tiger was the first Latino superhero in comic book history, centered on Hector Ayala, a native of San Juan, Puerto who, while attending college in New York City, learns of a trio of mystical amulets worn by the Sons Of The Tiger, which transform him into our title hero when he puts them on.
As a point of interest, the amulets come from K’un-lun, the noted interdimensional colony where Marvel character Danny Rand gains his powers to become Iron Fist, something we’ll all get to see in live-action when that series airs in the next several months on Netflix. Given this, I suppose a White Tiger treatment wouldn’t be such a bad idea…quite the opposite, and judging by Huerta’s work here, I’d say he’s making a great point.
Enjoy!
I hope 2016 has proven delightful for all of you in the world of online action. The Hit List is probably the hardest piece I do all week and almost every week considering all the content that is out there, as well as many of the detailed information that is sometimes difficult to acquire – whether it be language barriers or lack of communication. It takes a lot of work to put these jewels together and I will absolutely continue those efforts going into 2016. These are all some of the best projects online that I think we’ll ever see and I hope these articles inspire you to create and invest in making wonderful and entertaining shortfilm content that reverbs the quality and comprehension exercised by many creators today.
I thank all of you for taking the time to enjoy these and I look forward to another year of bringing you all some of the best in martial arts action cinema from around the web. And, if this is your first foray into the Hit List, then I humbly welcome and invite you to enjoy these weekly entries, sit back and relax, whether you’re solo or with a friend, watch these on a projector if you can and have at it!
The Hit List will return on January 9, 2017. Until then, click here for last week’s Hit List if you missed it and be sure to subscribe to these channels for more awesome content. And as always, if you or someone you know has a spectacular demo reel, a trailer or images from an amazing project, or a shortfilm that demonstrates quality filmmaking and comprehensive action design suited for action fans alike, send us your best material at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com and let us weigh in.