THE HIT LIST: July 31, 2017

My weekend was a much-deserved quiet getaway. Didn’t get to go out or anything but I did get in some extracurricular viewing and you’ll see some bits about that on my Instagram page if you’re following me.

If not, then clicking here is how you can do just that. Afterwards, you’re more than welcome to spend this moment getting in on some weekly Hit List fun with some of today’s upcoming stunt talents. A resplendent, firey mix of freerunning, falls and and film fighting ensue with Anna Griukach, Corey Tomicic, Alix Schwartz, Thomas Watson, Kate Angus, Andrew Nadanyi, Lacey Robinson, Glenn McCuen, Athena Perample, Xandar Chabrieay, Bethany Levy, Zoltan Hodi, Kyal Scott, Damian Mavis and the automotive catastrophic stylings of stunt coordinator Michel Julienne.

There are a couple of projects worth lending an eye to as their completion nears, first of which slated to arrive this Winter. The Omega, hailing from filmmaker Steven Michael has a GoFundMe campaign to help wrap things up for a story set in the distant future where a squad of scouts find themselves on a harrowing last ditch mission to preserve what’s left of mankind in the wake of centuries-old nuclear war and on-going conflict between five walled-off cities.

You can read more about The Omega, its cast and crew and their m.o. at the official GoFundMe page, while you can also catch their latest teaser for Ashley Beck’s newest action short, Abducted, as well as a ceremonial first trailer for Michael S. Moore’s milestone crowdfunded Kiai-Kick Films shortfilm adaptation, El Gato Negro: Prey, following its debut at the premiere Texas Latino Comic Con over the weekend.

The last phase of the Hit List has some really great material and we begin with Daniel Neslon and pair of experimental fight choreography pieces extrapolated from Marvel’s Captain America films – Winter Soldier and Civil War. Film Combat Syndicate favorites Tara Macken and Shahaub Roudbari follow through with a medley of kinetic Jiu Jitsu fight choreography at Inglewood’s 87Eleven gym just before we see Pejuang Stunt Indonesia keeping the momentum going in a group test fight of their own. Muhammet Aksoy and prolific action actor Mike Moeller also make their return to the Hit List in a reupload of a practice fight from late last year while Luis Fernandez hunts down Xavier Luo in Bluenight Productions’s latest, The Fugitive.

Veto Swarn and Jonathan Pantera Wallace mix it up with some Muay Thai and Capoeira in their new practice fight lensed by Steven Chan before catching this week’s return of film duo Vlad Rimburg and Emmanuel Manzanares with another BTS pre-viz clip stemming from upcoming game release, Batman: The Telltale Series, and Nathan Barris evens the score in iStunt Academy serial project, Outnumbered.

Up next is one badass shortfilm that recently had its exclusive debut on the Dust online network. It hails from director Steve Petersen (Erebus) who happens to be one of the best and most outstanding creatives I’ve ever observed, and his latest treatment of 2012 Dark Horse Comics property, dystopian aciton sci-fi, Number 13, is a testament of that fact. The shortfilm takes its cues from the August 2013 issue in which ouy bionically equipped hero sets out in search of a father he can’t remember, all while battling swarms of heavily armed creatures with a visual gloss that harkened back to my appreciation of Kiriya Kaz’s 2004 manga adaptation, Casshern. Gizmodo got some hits in their own notable coverage this month and you can learn more about the short there, and though the video is only a few minutes long, a few minutes is all this project needs to get you looking in his direction…unless you’ve seen Erebus in which case, you’re all caught up!

Next in line is an epic prop-battle between stunt pair Caitlin Huston and Omar Zaki in Netflix And Kill, with filmmaker Matthew T. Robinson following suit with two independent action finds I felt to be really impressive – Cornered and Shelter, host to performances by Saskia Allen, Jon Slayer, Tom Barnett and fight choreographer Marc Rodriguez-Bernet. Front and center thereafter is Mark Miscione as a fighter challenged in a 3-on-1 underground brawl in the aforementioned Manzanares’s latest brutal, pulse-pounding ode to martial arts pioneer and author, Judo founder Kano Jigoro with Bryan Cartago, Bryan Sloyer and Gui DaSilva also starring.

Last and far from least is something of a treat courtesy of Crunchyroll’s latest 14-minute special, Children Of Ether. Having chased an ample diet of anime for the last two years, I’m proud to add this one as a grand finale to this week’s Hit List from director LaSean Thomas and centered on a post-apocalyptic tale of a young, afflicted swordswoman on a trepidating quest to learn more about what’s happening to her in the year’s since her father’s murder.

I thought this would be a magnificent addition to the Hit List and a great way to change it up some, and I’m especially looking forward to an extension of this story moving forward.

Enjoy the hits!

Last week has everything you need and then some if online action is what you crave. Check it out and support the channels therein and once more, if you or someone you know has something equally terrific to share in the world of online action, stunts and filmmaking and you would like for us to host it in our weekly Hit List, hit us up at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com!