If at any point these Hit List articles become weekly events for you, whether it be by yourself or among friends, then I’m truly greatful. I find a lot of these things online, and it surprises me how many videos I come across that remain hidden from us for so long until we’re lucky enough to catch on to them, and among this list, there are quite a few within the last few years that I felt were worth sharing given their relevance. So, let’s get to it!…
Starting off is a new retrospective video from Lunar Stunts’ own in-house action duo, Eric Nguyen and Irvin Nguyen as they look back at last year’s highlights. Everything from Fair Game to Eat. Pray. Ninja. and even Rope-A-Dope 2 is included in this reel as the Nguyen bros look ahead to what the new year will hopefully bring.
2015 is looking pretty upworthy for independent filmmaker Charlie Dennis since successfully crowdfunding his latest new action project, Deep Pan Fury. It was late last year that we got a whiff of some of the action we’ll be expecting from our cast, including U.K. actor and martial artist Laurent Plancel (a.k.a. Law Jhon) who now has a new action-packed stunt and fight reel to kick off the new year. Check it out below, along with three other spectactular new stunt reels from Elizabeth Carpenter, Jessi Fisher and Tyler Williams.
Short, sweet and to the point, the first of the next two pieces from independent filmmaker Shaun Charney include a new fight short with performances by PeiPei Alena Yuan and Sayaka Pereira. Again, it’s pretty short with a silly endin courtesy of Charney‘s own comedic wit, but the video is quite stylish and worth taking a look at for the minute-and-a-half it plays.
The second is a solo weapons/form video featuring Charney following his previous video which you can check out by CLICKING HERE.
…Meanwhile, it’s just another day at the office for the wrecking crew over at stunt training facility, Action Factory. Check out independent filmmaker and stuntman Rustic Bodomov‘s latest quick experiment behind the lens with principle performances by Kara Petersen, Peter Jang and Matthew Kennedy.
This next video comes from independent filmmaker Sean Dunlap and co-director, actor Andrew Dismuke whose latest shortfilm, Ment, centers on one man’s battle to protect a powerful element that could heal the sick and wounded. The execution in the action is very rough around the edges from top to bottom, but the idea here is presentable, and even watchable with the choreography and a concept which suit a shortfilm like this quite nicely.
Here, we have a small sampler from a YouTube account hosting the latest trailers for Jimmy Henderson’s latest offering to Cambodian moviegoers titled Hanuman: Year Of The Monkey. The film’s prolific aim at showcasing the indigenous ancient style, Bokator stems from the hardworking team over at Bokator Sor Association from which the video below, uploaded last year, is shown on the front page of their official website. If it at all interests you, feel free to pay them a visit after you watch the action demo… or before, whichever suits you best.
Adding to his list of screenfighting eye candy is Jeff Centauri‘s latest little gem featuring Keanna Reyes opposite El Salamanca in Young Model Fights Back. Centauri is currently working on a Legend Of Korra fan short at the moment, along with a few other shortfilm projects releasing soon prior to his partake in at least two local feature films this year, so it’s nice to see him still keeping warmed up behind the camera when he can. In the meantime, take a look at his latest just beneath.
Actor Jonathan Lee‘s participation with the folks over at Cinematic Fight Studio are proving quite beneficial since collaborating for indie filmmaker Anthony Pellino’s upcoming fan-attributed short, Mortal Kombat: The One, wherein you’ll likely find Lee donning the iconic black and blue ninja garb as Sub-Zero. This week, the studio has presented its latest fight scene package for fellow client, with Lee opposite working actor Louis Balletta in a scene where Balletta wanted to showcase a lesser-stylish formula of martial arts choreo. Leave it to in-house fight coordinator Lang Yip to design the action, and below is what we get!
It was quite a delightful surprise when I came across Malaysian filmmaker and stunt professional Ayez Shaukat Fonseca‘s YouTube channel. He’s been up and coming in the field of stunts and action direction for some time now, and the most recent short film on his channel, Kejar, is a pretty good example of his progress. The end caption is a reflective moral following a short story of how a simple act of kindness can change things for the better; Indeed, there are no shortcuts in life, although this nice, simple little action short is a worthy exception.
This particular video seems to make the rounds often. It’s a clip from a New Zealand satirical comedy series titled Auckland Daze which began its run in 2012 and centers on the lives of four hapless professionals trying to make it in the entertainment industry in some fashion. That said, check out the clip below featuring series co-star, actor and martial artist Glen Levy and guest star, actor Liam McIntyre (The Legend Of Hercules).
With the Naruto franchise still garnering mass appeal, it’s easy to see why fans have become so creative and inspired in their own ways to tap into the fanbase through action and filmmaking. The most notable example so far has been Thousand Pounds Action Company’s 2012 milestone hit, Naruto Shippuden: Dreamer’s Fight, which evidently became a source of inspiration for independent filmmaker Brian Huynh over at Ohh Wow Films with Naruto Shippuden: Root that same year. It’s worth a look now if you’ve haven’t seen it yet, particularly in the wake of two forthcoming releases, one of them being the long-awaited Dreamer’s Fight follow-up, Epic Rival’s Naruto Shippuden: Dance Of War on Feburary 16, before the limited U.S. release of the animated feature, The Last: Naruto The Movie later that week.
And an awesome week it will be!
…And here as a nice little segway into the pre-viz department, with two freshly-released choreography videos in the players below. The first is a prep video for Epic Rival’s Clandestine project series featuring key sequences that couldn’t be included in the final product due to time and money restraints. The other is a blocking video attributed to the U.K. student-produced action short, Prime Contact which was successfully crowdfunded and filmed in the last two years. The short film eventually screened last Summer and Fall for two separate events at the University Of York, and there’s currently no word on its release or even a trailer. Thankfully, the choreography team over at SG Action released some concept footage this week representing a principle fight scene in the third act.
As a noteworthy mention, I had the opportunity to screen it for myself last year, and it’s a real solid piece of work with a very professional and large scale appeal. I sincerely hope to share it as soon as I hear more.
Sometimes I have a habit of catching up with myself. Having covered actor and martial artist, Wildchild Gil Sanabria from time to time, it’s with great credit that his career continues to grow beyond contributing to Puerto Rico’s first ever martial arts action film, El Testigo also starring lead actor Jose Manuel. The film went on to earn a flurry of nominations and runner-up acknowledgements at the Action On Film Festival in 2012, including two wins for best action sequence and best fight choreography, making it a good year for director Andres Ramirez and the folks behind this amazing film.
And to think, it all spawned from a 2009 action short. Check it out below, and also check out a teaser from last summer from another indie actioner from Manuel‘s own channel titled Driven To Kill.
Injuries are no joke, especially when it comes to parkour, but its always inspiring when these athletes are able to showcase their stories of recovery in such style. Alas, observe freerunners, stuntman Ronnie Shalvis as well as Sanabria in the players below, along with other freerunning and tricking reels featuring Nick Provost, Sérgio Bödtker-Lund, Albert Vallardares, tricker Vellu Saarela‘s sampler promoting a jam-packed tricking gathering in Finland this April, and the latest featurette for the new post-apocalyptic zombie game, Dying Light, with actor and parkour founder David Belle (Banlieue 13, Babylon A.D.) as main highlight.
Last but not at all least, healing continues a week since news of the passing of actor and action legend Darren Shahlavi earlier this month shook the world of martial arts cinema from its core. Efforts are now being made to help fundraise for a Hollywood memorial, as well traveling expenses and funeral arrangements for relatives as well as the body of the late actor between the U.S. and the U.K., and if you want to learn more in addition to the facts surrounding the news of his passing, CLICK HERE.
Shahalvi, 42, spawned a fruitful career from his roots as a Hong Kong stunt professional to an otherwise prolific action star with credits like Bloodmoon, 300, Mortal Kombat Legacy and Arrow, with upcoming appearances in several more projects along the way. Gladly, Shahlavi‘s fanbase has grown so much so that any number of searches will turn up with showreels featuring the late star in his element, and this week, you can check out a some of the legendary actor’s highlights in an amazing promo reel from the humble folks over at Iron Dragon TV.
Subscribe to these channels right now and CLICK HERE if you missed any videos from last week. If you have a QUALITY shortfilm, reel or teaser/trailer of any kind you would like showcased on Film Combat Syndicate, send them to filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com!