Last week’s Hit List was crazy-loaded with fight gems. Incidentally, there are a few that I missed in the last few weeks and I’m more than happy to include those as well, and I’ll be throwing in at least one throwback in here that I felt compelled to share.
For now though, we’re getting this party started with a playlist of stunt and demo reels courtesy of Tom Yum Goong 2 co-star and actress Wanwan Kittisiriprasert, stunt performers Mykola Galagan, Kate Petersen, Mirkos Radas, Harley Davis, Alan Delabie, Lunar Stunts Action Cinema with a cool new Hapkido choreo reel, Wushu stylist Stephanie Lim and industry stunt and fight coordinator by Byran Forrest.
Now that that’s done, it’s time to throw down for a bit, and I have at least one noteworthy mention from a few years ago I’d like to mention. But first, actor and stunt coordinator Geo Corvera put together a little sword display with three amazing stuntwomen recently and you can check that out below. Following that is a fight bit called Thieves from David Conk at Wolf Stunts, an epic Lightsaber/Portal battle over pizza by stunters Taylor Tai and Ken Do, Nathaniel Caauwe’s latest LCC 2015 entry with Brothers Quarrel, a snipped fight clip from the June 2015 short, La Calvaire, Dorian Kingi’s new test fight, Gunless. and Jay Kwon‘s newest test fight with Amy Sturdivant and Wadi Jones. The last one is a delightful homage to Scott Mann’s 2009 action adventure thrill ride, The Tournament, with Tara Macken, and shotgun-wielding Renae Moneymaker re-enacting fight choreography by J.J. Perry!
Moving onto trailers, there’s only one right now, but it’s worth a peek if you follow Darren Holmquist’s Dardrex Productions on YouTube. His latest, Send Off is on the way soon with a story focused on Holmquist upward mobility is hindered by a slew of final battles portrayed by actor C.J. Riot, in the role of every character he’s played in Darren’s shorts. Holmquist and Riot have been together for a while now and this particular concept is the first I’ve seen executed by an indie director, so needless to say I’ll be enjoying this one when it releases. Trailer below.
Moving on to our finale of longer-form content, Nigerian writer and director Nosa Igbinedion‘s latest superheroine short, Oya: Rise of the Orisas, arrived back in February (which sucks because I’ve promoted the trailer before and no one told me! :-P). The film is a lustering proof-of-concept that dabbles in West African religion and culture with a delightful reimagining of Yoruba religion-inspired Gods and Goddesses as superheroes, with actress Ethosheia Hylton in the title role.
I love the overall set design of the final battle and some of the visuals added to it. Granted, this was a small scale project with a big vision and has earned its share of film festival approval around the world, and with talk of a feature film looming, I would keep track of this one in its current growth. It needs AND deserves every bit of your attention.
Following up with their stellar return to regular output, the EMC Monkeys have released a spectacular new sequel to last monthSuper Nerf Cops twofer. Xin Wuku and Malay Kim as our hard-boiled cops opposite Tim Y. Park in this tall glass of kung fu and action movie fandom, laden with all sorts of nods to the genres that fans may recognize as well as enjoy, and there’s plenty more where that came from as long as you continue to support them on Patreon! (1000 cool points to Kevin Barile for that wig. I want one.)
Second to last of the Hit List, I’ve spent a great deal of time and carpo tunnel-inducing typing discussing independent filmmaker Robin Schmidt’s film festival short fave, Dog. You can read all about it here, summing up all of its history from a two-part hip-hop music video to a semi-fulfilled realization of a concept for a gritty gangster drama that otherwise bares tremendous potential for the U.K.’s martial arts film niche. Simon Wan stars with Sophia Del Pizzo, and featuring fight choreography and stunt performance by Chris Jones and SG Action.
Alas, enjoy, and visit the official website for more info!
And finally, four years in the making with a skeleton screw and a shoestring budget, action actor Young Aiden Lee has finally broken through the hinderances and various challenges of his long-awaited webseries, Steel Wulf: Cyber Ninja from Fluid Robot and Cinematic Fight Studio. The 6-episode series focuses on Lee in the role of a ninja on a mission to rescue his matter amid a dystopian guerilla war against a machine army in the wake of deadly digital software that causes braindeath.
As long as its taken to surface, this is yet another project to appreciate in its enjoyment for all the struggles artists endure to forsee an idea and manifest it into reality. It’s a glimmer of what’s possible given the necessary resources are provided amply, and specifically, a general motive for supporting independent artists who love action on film.
Watch Steel Wulf: Cyber Ninja in the playlist below!
Be sure to revisit last week’s Hit List in the aforememtioned link and subscribe to the respective channels above. Also, if you yourself are a filmmaker, martial artist and/or stuntman with content that’s up to par you feel worthy of a Hit List mention, challenge us and send us your material at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com!