As you’re reading this, I’m just reflecting on how my year has been ahead of what I’m going to post in December. I haven’t done much but I’m looking to add some more memories before long so, we’ll see.
As for now, we off to this week’s jam-packed installation of The Hit List and there’s plenty of goods here to help bide your time. Action man Eric Jacobus takes to the Dead Or Alive character movelist once again for Rig in a new video of his own, followed by stunt and demo videos courtesy of Cassandra Ebner, Barry Nerling, Hannah Spreitzenbarth, Justin Charles Evans, Milly Nalin, Laurent Plancel, Sadiqua Bynum, Marvin Ross, Jessi Fisher, Chuck Johnson, Tien Hoang, Annette Van Moorsel, Alberto Rama, Unleashed 360 Stunt Team, Benjamin Redic II, Nicholas Marinos, and Team VellusTa hailing from their recent nine-day stint in Japan. Enjoy the playlist!
Off to a quartet of promotional vids for this segment of The Hit List and the first is a teaser promo for a project that’s been long awaited for a matter of years now. It’s called Urban Fighters from KV Productions and NB Films and not much is really known about it or the plot but the teaser boasts something that looks pretty promising along with some cool little behind-the-scenes shots.
Up next is a trailer announcement for Max Payne: Retribution, from actor and director Leroy Kincaide (Freeman: New World Order). Inspired by the first two titles in the original game franchise from Remedy, the project arrives two years in the making with £1500 raised on Indiegogo, and is finally poised for a 2017 release. Kincaide stars opposite main actor Joan James Muixi in the title role, along with Gracie Tyrell and Jon Campling for its 2017 release while Kincaide and the folks over at Nocturnal Films work on plotting hopefully larger prospects for the new 35 minute short between now and then.
Following that is a trailer that caught me completely and totally off guard on Monday as I was moving onto other things. Contracts 3 is the name, also arriving in 2017 and while the plot is unknown, the project itself is also the biggest currently ever achieved for filmmaker, actor and stuntman Alex Chung at his Foolhouse Films banner. Chung is a proven talent at delivering great drama as well as action and fight choreography on film as he’s consistently shown in the years following his rise at Eclipse Stunts in Canada. Don’t take my word for it though, the trailer is all you need and it plays last in the playlist below.
Lastly, we have a trailer sent to us by director Johnny Balazs for his newest shortfilm, Dancer. The project is part of an effort on behalf of the folks over at Australia-based Prima Lux Films, with a story of a man, infatuated by a local club stripper with aspirations for a new life, finds himself fighting for her freedom away from Melbourne’s seedy criminal underbelly. Balazs’s last co-directed effort with Rob Baard in The Ninja Immovable Heart, drew a more mixed response among viewers while Dancer certainly looks to fare much better for moviegoers judging by the slick trailer which you can now view among all four mentioned in the following playlist. Enjoy
And now we dive right into this week’s goods in online action shortfilm and screenfighting content, starting with actor, writer and director Jose Montesinos’s recent release, D.C.E.. Montesinos stars opposite lead actor Sari Sabella in a short story centered on two nomads roaming a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and the brutal encounter that ensues over the possession of a wooden box and its contents. Both actors produced, as well as worked on the action here with producer Dennis Ruel also coordinating the terrific stuntwork all amid a story that takes a turn for the satirical, and quite adorable, even.
Just beneath that is the accompanying YouTube playlist for this week, and the four videos come from a handful of people you may already know of for as long as you’ve been following martial arts action online. If not, then may the names of Vlad Rimburg, Emmanuel Manzanres, Bryan Sloyer and Micah Brock forever burn into your memory from here on, and with performances by some of today’s top action actors, including – not limited to – Brendon Huor, Sam Puefua, Amy Johnston, Monica Lopez Aleman and Katelyn Brooke. Following that is a whimsical, fun little short from Finnish action stylist, Mikko Lopponen titled HouseBattle, followed by Arcade Killers’s own Slobo and Duy Panouvic in a hard-hitting new shortfilm called Medallion with Daniel Himschoot, and helmer Scott Bass for Ampisound‘s thrilling new POV action horror shortfilm in promotion of im30.net’s new game, Last Empire War Z.
From there, the newest online release hails K&K Productions for the X-Men fan film, Cable: Chronicles Of Hope, now running online as of its MCM London Comic-Con premiere on Sunday. Actor Solvi Fannar stars as our title hero tasked with protecting one of Earth’s last remaining mutants, played by Christine Lynn, in the face of a new looming threat. Actor Phillip Tommy also stars with martial artist Grant Stevens who plays Nightcrawler in a ferocious performance under fight coordinator James Curley to accomodate the slick visuals and epic scoring, making this excellent nod to one of Marvel’s most prized properties surefire hit, and if you enjoyed this little gem from K&K Productions, you may want to take a look at this, as well.
Last and far from least is a breath taking new superhero shortfilm that will leave your cup completely runneth over. Putting his photography to great use following his work on CW series The Flash, John Cassidy brings us his own creation, Sidekick, featuring actor Josh Dallas as a struggling father whose fight to teach his son an important life lesson takes you amidst an epic battle between good and evil. Stellar visuals notwithstanding, Sidekick will leave you breathless and joyful by the end with young actor Christan Cooper capturing the center of the narrative in electrifying fashion.
Also starring are Emily Bett Rickards and Tom Cavanagh.
If you have a little more time on your hands, you may still check out last week’s Hit List to remedy your spare time. Head over there and sub to these channels to follow all the content you can take in, and as always, if you or someone you know has interest in presenting a quality stunt or demo reel, an experimental screen fight, or a fantastic shortfilm that you feel deserves a spot in our weekly Hit List, hit us up at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com!
