THE HIT LIST: July 9, 2018

Well, I didn’t think I’d make it this week for another installment of the Hit List. It doesn’t undercut the amount of content still forthcoming, especially with San Diego Comic-Con inbound so… looks like it’ll be another full plate this season.

As for now, our weekly entree of inspired action and stunt feats begins as usual with a healthy appetizer of demo reels from some of today’s best and brightest stunt performers.

Pat Chu gave us something to gaze at last week in a supercool fight video and he now makes his return to the Hit List with his latest stunt reel, followed by selections from Justin Howell (click here to check it out), Andrew Nadanyi (click here to check it out), Nik Pelekai, Erin Wu, Simon Li, Danny Rowe, Kimberly Root, David Lavallee Jr., Jordan Okubo, Alexey Chagai, Alex-Marshall Brown and fight choreographer Tolga Degirmen.

This week in trailer news brings a pleasant reminder of what Johnny Balazs brought to the table last week upon dropping this particularly exciting and badass first teaser for upcoming crime thriller, Night Shift. Adele Elasmar, who co-starred in Balazs’s 2017 hitman short thriller, Dancer, puts fist to face this time around as a beleaguered cop forced to confront her demons amid fighting her way out of a five-floor drug lab. Select festival screenings are inbound with October online air-date expected to follow.

We don’t always get to share music videos. When we do, however, they’re not with something truly delightful to enjoy. Director Marco Kalantari invites us into a futuristic world centered on a soldier’s desperate mission to rescue a beautiful woman – the backdrop of recording artist Tia Ray’s latest cinematic musical, Love Herby, with Ray starring along with actor and fight choreographer Brahim Achabbakhe, and actor and martial artist Ron Smoorenburg.

Onward and forward we move with an action-packed beginning with Nilo Ghajar-Williams and Mig Buenacruz getting it on with some single-stick Kali action, followed by some cool fight beats from choreographer Ilyana Eberhardt performing opposite Sam Slater, and Lauren Mary Kim with a sharpened sixth entry of The Kali Diaries featuring a teamwork effort from Surawit Sae Kang and Abe Tsuyoshi.

Oleika Redd fends off a home invasion opposite Richard Crump in a new test fight short directed by Anthony Giovanni Elias, while journeyman filmmaker and stunt legend Bobby Samuels rebounds with Joey Min at Art School Dropouts for the resulting tie-in-movie project following last week’s romp, The Collab, and Daniele Balconi gets behind the lens for a Fist Of Legend-inspired short led by Elisa Carrera Fumagelli in Vendetta.

Ashlee Fidow brings the pain in Ash Vs. The Masked Ones from helmer Steven A. Davis, just before we take a gander at a direct entry to the Hit List sent adamantly by Sean Corbin with body-swapping heist comedy, Bingo Bango with Aaron Alexander and Bri Korin.

Afterwards, we get to check out an inspired new project newly on the horizon from the Force itself with Shrouded Destiny: A Star Wars Tale. Danish actor, writer and director Shahbaz Sarwar who, with nearly three years in his efforts, is now showcasing a six-minute proof-of-concept for which he’s now crowdfunding to extend into a 45-minute pitch for a potentially vast, exciting series at Disney.

I was especially fond of the blaster/saber action we’re shown between Sarwar and actress and stuntwoman Laûren Okadigbo. Joon Poore wore a few hats on this project including as choreographer, and I credit him for sharing this project with me to help bring to light. (Follow along on Facebook and visit the official Kickstarter page to learn more!

It’s down the wire with Diallo Frazier and actor and martial artist Marrese Crump shepherding their latest thrilling, fight-heavy crime drama webseries, Cash, with action sequences by JA Crooms. And, last and far from least, special thanks to Zhanna Sattsaeva who caught me up several days ago with a terrific 2017 fantasy action short in the form of Amuleto, featuring Sattsaeva and with Angie Alder-Koops starring.

Enjoy the hits!

I’ve got some more feature film reviews coming down the pipeline so let’s hope I make it before next week’s Hit List deadline. In the meantime, sub to the channels and SHARE the Hit List with friends, and as always, feel free to engage last week’s entries. AND…if you’ve got an awesome demo or shortfilm project you would like to see as a candidate for the Hit List, e-mail us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com and we will be more than happy to take a look!

Lee B. Golden III

filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com | Web

Native New Yorker. Lover of all things pizza, chocolate, pets, and good friends. Karaoke hero. Left of center. Survivor. Fond supporter of cult, obscure and independent cinema - especially fond of Asian movies and global action cinema. Author of the bi-weekly Hit List. Founder and editor of Film Combat Syndicate. Still, very much, only human.