THE HIT LIST: November 20, 2017
I was a little more keen on taking this week off given the forthcoming holiday, but I was already on par for another installment of the Hit List so I figured “why not?”…
Alas, we’ve arrived to another spiffy new around of demo reels and action gems to help warm you up. Cameron Bostanabad kicks off this week’s round of stunt and training reels followed by Wes Cochran, Braelyn Smallwood, Megan Dorn (https://www.megandorn.com), Andrew Mihalko, Jason Linere White, Barrett Coates, Al Dupont, Ryan Rasberry, Bryan Dodds, Joshua Zacharias and the daring feats of Kimberly Shannon Murphy (www.kimberlyshannon.net).
Enjoy!
This week is an especially ceremonial time for folks freshly off of this month’s Urban Action Showcase & Expo fallout. Angel Vasquez hails as yet another fledgling talent from Puerto Rico with plenty of time spent collaborating under fellow rising star Jose Manuel’s North Compass banner. Thus, Vasquez is poised to present his own project to the masses in due time with Atrápame (Catch Me), a pilot in which he plays Lio, an ex-con and former thief whose search to make ends meet lands him back in the very kind of gig that put him behind bars.
There’s no premiere date yet but Vazquez has already produced a trailer now available online. For us, however, Film Combat Syndicate is here to exclusively present a subtitled version to help whet the appetite.
Check it out:
Onward and forward we move to this week’s round of amazing independent fight action. Fellow creative James Newman is finally on my radar this month, opening my own eyes to his Vimeo channel from where I’m sharing two cool experimental action pieces, the most recent one featuring Newman opposite stuntman Suo Liu and with some outstanding choreography to boot.
Following that is a nifty new playlist of test fights and action shorts all worthwhile for your enjoyment. Tony Santoro’s La Mela Rossa starts it all off with a hilarious three-way fight over an apple performed by Cornelia Dworak, Marco Falcone and Antonio Luigi Simone, while Johnny Yang and Malay Kim shepherd a fresh, Donnie Yen-inspired group fight piece led by Jerry Quill with Jay Kwon and Minami Hiroo, and Federico Berte maps out a video game-style action comedy short for Berte Productions via Skyecam.
Following that is a ceremonial return to the Hit List for Joseph Le and Team Red Pro. Having won big at the UASE this year in two categories, Flush centers on an undercover cop whose cover gets blown by his clumsy partner. Rising Tiger Films’s own Leroy Nguyen joins in as his oft-gangster persona, Lefty and clocking in close to six minutes of comedy and action that humbly exemplify this projects much-deserved UASE wins.
Actor, filmmaker and Kingslayer Joey Min follows in hot pursuit of DL MacDonald in the latest episode of The Forgotten Kingdom: A Kung Fu LARP Story, just before Kevin Barile settles an old score with the star of his latest martial arts one-on-one short, Wake Up, starring Davis Chong (Die Fighting), and Jino Kang scores with his latest UASE winning online release, Kid Fury, starring Timothy Mah.
Next up is a delightful new Western revenge drama short that arrived over the summer and with debut helmer Courtney Hoffman to keep in mind for further thanks with a feature film now in tow as of last week. It’s Refinery29’s August release of The Good Time Girls, starring Laura Dern in a blood-soaked feminist thriller telling of a group of vengeful women who serve as prostitutes in order to corner posse of killers terrorizing the American West. Click here to read more about the upcoming movie.
Actor and filmmaker Choice Skinner also makes his return to the Hit List, making good on his word this month since winning Best Fan Film at the UASE. For this, we have the electrifying second installment of his stellar contribution to DC fandom with Black Lighting: Tobias’s Revenge, also featuring James Moten-Black as superhero favorite, Static Shock, and Ishida Sachiko as Lady Shiva.
Last and far from least, the folks at Robot Underdog have come a long way from their beginnings prior to the 2015 hit pilot for Dragonball Z: Light Of Hope. Their huge undertaking, preceded by nearly ten million views online with Anton Bex and Jack Wald starring, has since offered an epic two-part helping with episodes 2 and 3 knit together for a sprawling, spectacular and explosive sequel that sees the return of Amy Johnston and Tyler Tackett as Androids 17 and 18 in their quest to playfully destroy as much of mankind as possible.
Wald reprises his role as Trunks with actor Kenny Leu taking the mantle this time around as Gohan with a script by Derek Padula and Rita McMillin, and action sequences by Lohan Buson and Fabien Garcia.
Enjoy the hits!
This is actually a holiday week so I might make up for it on Monday in which case The Hit List will ultimately return in December. We’ll see how it goes! Maybe some of you dudes can keep me busy through the holidays ?…
In the meantime and if you’re not too busy, last week’s post is still as great a viewing as one could hope. Sub to the channels and share the Hit List with friends, and if you or someone you know has a fantastic new stunt demo reel, or, a project that needs promoting or completed and seeks an audience on our Hit List, send it to us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com and let us have a look!
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.
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