Particular current events in the news notwithstanding, Thanksgiving weekend was a mild letdown on my end. We still had dinner though, which was awesome as always. A bit indigestive? Yes… But delish nonetheless.
I also slowed down a bit so I can enjoy my weekend some, though with my Facebook notifications and messages buzzing with entries for the Hit List, I couldn’t pass it up and indeed there were a few things I wanted to share anyway. And as always, that includes stunt reels to kick things off first and foremost with Heather Bonomo‘s newest reel, followed by those of Nick Dunn, Tiana Webberly, Matt Philliben, Tanna Jo and freerunning extraordinare Josh Yadon. Going slightly longer-form are reels rounding out the playlist by Frederic Jean, a riveting new fight and stunt coordinator montage by Olivier Schneider, and extended stunt reels by Chris Silcox and John Street.
Onto a batch of trailers this week and the first comes with a bit of an action tease for an inspired new short that aims to lend a worthy fan-filmed nod to a hit manga property. Crows is the name and thusfar notes Haydem Lam and Steven Chan as both starring and directing the brutal action that coincides with the blunt force and street fighting fervor as depicted in Miike’s adaptations and in other fan films thereafter.
A full on trailer is said to be coming in December while we have a pair of action clips from the upcoming short which will hopefully arrive before long as it looks all kinds of awesome.
Along the way we get a glimpse of a concept now in tow following some mainstream reports of shows already in development based on this particular IP. This one, however, is completely fan-made and produced as we speak and it deals with the new upcoming short, Black Lightining: Tobias’s Revenge. Inspired by the 1977 DC Comics print, Choice Skinner stars and directs from his own script co-written by co-star James Moten-Black in a story that pits our title hero against the violent criminal organization known as the 100, led by none other than Tobias Black.
I grant that this one is still in post production so I don’t know when it will released, but the trailer itself looks very promising, and even welcomes an assist from the guest appearance of another superhero. Hint: Look for the braids.
The second and last trailer in the playlist has already been online for sometime now but I’ll be damned if I didn’t share it as I’ve been following this particular project for a few years. It comes courtesy of filmmaker Daniel Malakai Cabrera and the badass folks over at SubOverHype with Two Bellmen Three, their latest contribution to J.W. Marriott’s library of entertainment content promoting their services and hotel branches.
This one sends our protagonists to Seoul to partaking in a contest against other competing bellmen while also working to save a wedding. William Spencer and Caine Sinclair reprise their roles as seen in the previous shorts setting stories in Las Vegas and Dubai, with their newest offering also a show of epic force and scale to suit the dynamic stunt performance that lies in wait. Also starring are Maze Runner franchise co-star Ki Hong Lee and actress and singer Jessica Jung.
Check out all three trailers here or below and keep your eyes peeled.
Off to the weekly finale of things capping it off with some of the best bits of online action from around the web, and first up is a round of nifty little test fight pieces starting with Wolf Stunts and featuring Micah Karns opposite Nate Hitpas and Tony Vittorioso. We then head over to Germany with performances Moustafa Hammad and Ryan Hayashi, followed by are a pair of delish knife fights: The first features Cameron Early and the tenacious Tiffany Abney – It’s also the first I’ve seen that shows Abney in her element and considering that she also choreographed, I am thoroughly impressed. The second is a new karambit experiment by A. Solteck and featuring Lorenzo Bello and Melodie Veillard hailing from versatile stage and street theater performamce troupe, Compagnie Du Lysandore.
Lunar Stunts Action Cinema paves the way further with yet another riveting installment of The Fighting Journey with Molly McIntyre in the eponymously named short, Molly, along with Devin Graham’s latest 360° application for an action-packed comedy short, Bear Heist – best viewed on mobile as far as I know (click here for an isolated viewing), and Corridor Digital‘s ferocious new display of close quarters action brilliantly parodying the mania and adrenaline rush of a Jason Bourne action scene as he tackles….cooking a Thanksgiving turkey.
From there, we have filmmaker, stunt performer and fight coordinator Juan Bofill whose latest vid was accidently leaked last week before quickly taken down for some last minute edits to accompany some brilliantly crafted, breakneck and blistering action choreography ever assembled. The result, as of last Wednesday and hereafter is what we now see in a concept dubbed, The 7th Floor and it’s chock-filled with hard-hitting intensity through and through.
The last two videos are quite the gems and they’re from a delightful filmmaker, actor, martial artist and aspiring scholar based in China with his team, aptly named Troy’s team. Camera company DJI is marketing their latest Inspire 2 drone equipment in fruitful partnership with none other than Troy Sandford whose latest one-take action jewel, The Rescue, presents a bold and entertaining thrillride that shows what Troy and his apt squad of stunties and martial artists are able to achieve, be it small scale or bigger.
The same goes for Troy’s latest lead performance in Said (pronouned “sigh-yeed”) Chaou’s latest Watch Dogs 2-inspired fan flick, initially entered in a film contest to promote the title game which came out a little over two weeks ago for the PS4 and Xbox One. This one, however, offers a delightful 5-minute gem with a nice little crossover touch that pays homage to Ubisoft’s rich library of game content.
19th centry assassins and 21st century hackers? Hey Said, make this happen!
Take advantage of the time you might have and glance at last week’s Hit List if you’re up for some more hard-hitting selects to kill time, and feel free to sub to these channels for your own fulfillment! Last and far from least is the usual head’s up for all you creatives out there making some quality, action-packed shortfilms, demo reels or concepts you think are worthy of an audience through our weekly Hit List – thus, hit us up at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com and share what you have for us!
