THE HIT LIST - July 13, 2015

It's never a dull week when finding content online to share. Indeed, a new batch of stunt reels with an extra dash of tricking are now online, followed by new trailers as well as a couple of stellar action gems which keep things nothing short of exemplary...thus why the Hit List exists. Let's get to it!

First up are two playlists with the first showcasing this week's stunt packed demo reels from Lukaz Leong, Greg Rementer, Adam Chase, Benjamin Hoffman, Dan Dargan Carter, Dom Kegel and stuntwoman Elisabeth P. Carpenter. The playlist beneath features a small batch of tricking samplers led by the gang over at Martial Club, Micah Karns, Matt Emig, John Franks, Lee Hye-Ji, a video highlight reel from a preliminary round at a Red Bull jam in South Korea late June, and a fun little demo reel featuring Jimmy James Pham.

Moving forward, there is a TON of content here and coming soon and fortunately some of these projects are offering preview clips and trailers. To start things off, a clip has since gone viral for director and actress Jennifer Linch's new shortfilm, Flowers Of The Night, a tale of three assassins on their quest for vengeance. The film earned the iCannes Film Festival Grand Prize on July 7 in Beverly Hills, California in the wake of the sudden passing of festival co-host, Londy Pictures founder Rebecca Guzman who died at the age of 32 the same day. (H/T: Examiner) The other three videos come courtesy of Bat fan-flick Beyond: Rebirth helmer, filmmaker and action director Phillip Forteza with a new trailer for his next project, Ghost Ops starring Stef Valencia, the Dragon Ball Z: Light Of Hope creatives over Robot Underdog's newest contribution to Stan Lee's online heroic universe in the form of Vigilantes - due for an August release, and a trailer for Matthew Salanoa's Golden Gun-inspired 007 fan film, I Only Need One.

Alas, the fighting begins for this last leg of the Hit List this week and the first load comes straight from indie actioner Shaun Charney at Dragon Phoenix opposite actress Tatiana DeKhtyar, Cinematic Fight Studios's latest fight scene with inductee Nhan Du, David Conk's latest from Wolf Stunts called The Fugitive, and two collaborations between filmmaker Federico Berte and industry stunt coordinator Geo Corvera for the action short, Knock Out, and a stellar ensemble gathering of masked stunt perfomers at war in Combatants.

But FIRST..let's liven things up a bit. The first video in this portion is a promotional contribution from Epic Rival to the forthcoming Playstaion 4 release of the 16-bit game, Phantom Breakers: Battle Ground Overdrive with actress Gemma Nguyen in a dazzling cosplay of sword-wielding epic epicness. The game itself is available online as of July 21 and you'd be wise to click here to learn more about it, otherwise, watch Ms. Nguyen do her thing in the video below, and then enjoy the rest!

And now, for some of the longer form material, and kicking things off is Blood And Bone helmer Ben Ramsey's latest proof of concept short, Interface. Highlight of this have been previously seen in stunt reels performed by stuntman Christopher Balualua who principally performs the action designed by Arnold Chon as per the theme - a cyberpunk dystopia where virtual gaming is taken to a whole new level.

Maverick cinematographer and filmmaker Devin Graham (handled as @devinsupertramp) can pretty much film the shit out of any freerunning sequence, and there's a good chance you've sampled his work on Youtube (or Facebook, as typical as is the nature of viral video). And so it is, once again with his second fan-offering attributed to the new game, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, shot in 4K. The organically-performed stunts, as seen by French Freerun Family are nothing short of breathtaking with a filmic standard that dares to put Hollywood to shame! (H/T: Reader Ben Hoffman)

Up next is another offering from the folks over at Singapore-based JUO Productions (formerly branded as Jaze Phuaductions) with a new fan film spoof on the hitman genre Lucky Strikes, centered on Jaze Phua as a hitman assigned with eliminating the luckiest man in the world. The audio and acting aren't much here, but it brings plenty to the table stylish and impressive action and choreography toned with plenty of laughs, and even ornamented a little bit toward the end with some Gun-fu action, which I'm sure fellow contributor James Couche should be pleased with.

This was a treat to catch and you might enjoy it yourself.

Multifaceted filmmaker and stuntman Ulrik Bruchholz shares the same lineage as any fan of the action genre. Point in fact, it was at the age of ten that his evident love for film would ultimately bring him to the foray of German martial arts action cinema with credits that now include Kampfansage: Der Letzte Schüler and Arena Of The Street Fighter, whilst experimenting with aspects of the craft both in front AND behind the camera. Bruchholz has since compiled footage highlighting all of his achievements in a massive new career demo reel titles 22 Years - chronicling more than two decades of doing what he's loved since childhood. The evolution starts at around the six-minute mark.

And lastly, an action-packed Donnie Yen hero mashup...because why the hell not?

Talk about a Hit List...boy oh boy. Last week's Hit List was a trip too, so be sure to check it out if you've missed it. Otherwise, feel free to subscribe to these channels for future content, and if you yourself are a QUALITY content creator or a stunt performers with a kick ass reel, share it with us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com!

Kinyumba Mutakabbir Has Sheena Chou's Back In A New Clip From Upcoming 'Minifeature', BLACK SALT

Currently underway with additional crowdfunding efforts is Blood And Bone helmer Bem Ramsey's latest directorial effort, Black Salt. Currently in short form, the project launched in late 2013 through initial crowdfunding which became a success before filming and completion, and there are already MANY awesome pictures from the production to share.

Not to be underdone by itself though, funding still continues through the hopes of stretch goals as Ramsey and the rest of the production can market the shortfilm as a potential live-action feature, which has plenty to offer judging by the original comic book source material:

SYNOPSIS:

With only four days left the clock ticks down towards a new world holocaust. The only thing standing in its path is Interpol’s deadliest black-ops agent, Samuel Tharpe (Kinyumba Mutakabbir). Sam hunts down the path of a game-changing weapon of mass destruction called the Exterminatus. He follows hot on its trail deep into the ancient land of China where he must seek aid from the Abbot at the Shaolin Temple. 

An evil Yakuza master stole the Exterminatus and seeks to use it in the Far East. Sam must prove his worthiness by fighting one of the Temple’s most skilled monks. Prepared to lay down his own life in exchange for the lives of his family and the world, Sam steps forward and engages in combat. Only his long-past training by the Shaolin master, Yu Bai Shek (James Lew) will make him a worthy hero.

Ramsey is now hosting a new clip on his YouTube channel featuring Mutakabbir and actress Sheena Chou, along with some extra trailer footage you can now check out below. Otherwise, feel free to lend an extra buck to help make Black Salt the live action feature film it deserves to be!

THE HIT LIST - December 29, 2014

It's been another amazing year of presenting independent action to help their respective creators attain bigger audiences. There were a few that were supposed to come out by now, but unfortunately some of those (as usual) tend to take longer, whether or not they have to do with post-production or other plans for allocation. Maybe 2015 will bring better, much deserved prospects. Action films need to get better, and the folks included in this week's Hit List are just a handful of people worthy to help in this cause.

What better way to celebrate post-holiday cheer than to watch two Santas duke it out to see which one is more badass?! It's Good Santa vs. Evil Santa performed by Italian stuntfighting team D-Unit's own Mirco Cazzol and Loris Ripamonti in Mission: Impossible - Christmas Protocol!

Here is another new gem from Canadian stunt team, Eclipse Stunts with a newly released trailer for Jingle Bell Rocked. The project never got finished, as always with a lot of independent shorts that fall ill to lack of time and busy scheduling of its performers, but it still presents a nice little glimpse of what could have been. Maybe one day we will get to see a full fight scene from it, although I'm not sure. At any rate, the trailer is up for viewing.

Seven years after mixing it up on YouTube, stuntmen and brothers Alfred Hsing and Alvin Hsing are following up on their holiday tradition with another installment of Holiday Hsing Fight. It's got a nice little set up and both of these guys have have sharpened greatly over the years within their repsective careers. It shows and hopefully you've already taken notice. If not, then it's not too late to do so now.

Independent filmmaker and martial arts enthusiast, Eric Nguyen re-launched his official website for his film platform over at Lunar Stunts Action Cinema. As such, he's accompanied his latest update with fresh new content in the form of some cool behin-the-scenes footage showcasing Nguyen with performers Irvin Nguyen and Mickey Arce on the set of his own recent short, El Guerrero. It's not often shorts like these get their own making-of featurettes, so its great to have these little windows that allow us to look at these up-and-coming professionals from a genuine perspective; In my own humble opinion, one thing I've noticed is that Irvin smiles a lot. He can literally kick your ass with a smile on his face and not even know it... I guess some of us have yet to reach that level of "cool".

Take a look below and feel free to visit the website and check out Nguyen's entry along with a couple of set pictures for good measure.

Up next is another little bit of back and forth from Wolf Stunts' own David Conk behind the lens, collaborating with screenfighters Anthony Anderson, Blake Roach and Neil Bogucki. It's shorter than a minute but still cool to check out as a pre-requisite for what will hopefully come next this year. Check it out, in addition to two more reels featuring Conk, and fellow collaborator, action actor Ben Aycrigg.

French stuntman and filmmaker Godefroy Ryckewaert first came on my radar about a year ago. He's got a great eye for the lens and he's back to highlight that fact once again with the new comedic action short, Tatapis Tami, which I can only summarize as gang warfare at its most prepubescent! I thought this was funny, charming and well executed, and I'm hyped to see what Ryckewaert comes up with next after this.

Filmmaker Fernando Jay Huerto's year has proven quite fruitful, with a feature film in development with an official cast announcement pending, and a flurry of online action collaborations with a number of young and inspired performers at home and abroad. You can check out a glimpse of those in his newest 2014 martial arts action reel, featuring clips of previous and upcoming shorts to come!

There isn't much I can say about this particular video. It intially released online back in July as a concept for a new series titled Interface, which aims to introduce a story that crosses between the visionary strengths and urban, gritty tone of films and TV shows like The Raid, Inception, Blade Runner and The Wire. Blood And Bone helmer Ben Ramsey and actor, martial artist and writer Arnold Chon are behind this ambitious project, and not more has been built on it except what has been left with a Facebook page to further champion the concept with news articles devoted to innovative science and technology relative to the subject matter. If this all suits you, feel free to take a look and subscribe to the page, and hopefully it will mean this concept will be done some cinematic justice. For now though, the video is below. Oh, and for good measure, there's some more Interface footage in stunt performer Christopher Balualua's summer reel from earlier this year just beneath!

For this segment, we have some previz footage featuring UK stuntmen Jean-Paul Ly and Law Jhon for the new martial arts action short, Deep Pan Fury from filmmaker Charlie Dennis. Both are attached to the project with Ly (Lucy, Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist) directing the action in a spiritual thriller about a Japanese fighter in search of redemption with no choice but to reclench his fists once more when local Yakuza underlings threaten his grandfather's pizzeria.

I'm a pizza lover so I'm proudly partial. I can't wait to see the ass-kicking that awaits, and I hope it gets funded as it deserves to be. Check out the video and head over to Kickstarter to watch even more solid concept footage within the campaign video!

French action director Cedric Tellier delivered an impressive action short earlier this year in the form of Elit Unit prior to puttng up a small teaser for another upcoming fast-paced short titled La Casse back in October. This month, he's offered another small teaser, now with an additional kick in the eardrums courtesy of Metallica, and you can now check that out as well.

It's been quite a while since I last wrote about Danny Vega's upcoming directorial debut, A Dance With The Devil. Mainly, the production has hit a few snags between now and last year, so the project is now undergoing some reconstruction and it may be a while before we learn what that means. Nevertheless, Vega has taken to the interwebs to share one of the project's pivotal fight sequences. Hopefully we see more of this, because it really looks worthy of something larger in scale. Check it out!

Dardrex Productions's latest piece of work showcases what happens when a teacher becomes weary of his student's suspicious absenses. Missing Student is the name of the project with Darren Holmquist and Frank Hernandez working the lens with performances by Martin Chan and Eddie Ramos.

Swedish stuntfighter, up-and-comer Betim Alimi's latest showreel is online, and it's worth a look. Alimi has been aspiring for this particular field for close to ten years now, having been a martial arts purveyor since he was five. Endulging on a staple diet of the Hong Kong classics of yesteryear was what led him to start cutting his teeth in 2005. 2009 saw the worst of it when he broke his leg, and his screenfighting recovery has largely been a slow and steady one as more projects have followed, and I've had the good fortune of sharing a few of them on this site this year.

The stunts, the takes and the injury are among all you will see summarized in the following reel, highlighting Alimi's driven spirit to keep going.

Epic Bully Fight is a bit of a throwback. It's a little over a year old and features performances by YouTube personalities Dominick Sandoval and Jerel Mascarinas, and to be honest, I don't remember if I shared this on my blog or not, and I don't really care, because it's worth sharing as its one of the most fluid and slick videos I've seen in my time as a blogger. It's got action, goofball comedy and some spectacle to boot, and even though these two aren't known for making these kinds of videos, I certainly wouldn't complain if they made more.

If you watch enough online tutorials on martial arts, you probably know who Wing Chun expert Master Wong is. He talks a lot of shit, but backs it up pretty awesomely, and it's all very informative and entertaining as well. Moreover, I've been curious as to whether or not he would accomodate doing an action film someday, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that opinion. Well, to those it may concern, our curiosity here gets somewhat rewarded in his latest video pitting Wing Chun against boxing.

It's the stuff of all sorts of martial arts fanboy chatter when compairing styles, so take a look and feel free to decide who wins in the end. This should be interesting!

With this year's induction of vampire slasher comic book pitch, Heartbreaker, and sword-wielding samurai short, Bladed Minds, former adult entertainer-turned-screenfighting temptress, actress Celine Tran has already set herself up for potentially greater prospects in the action genre, provided that her efforts remain continued. The responses from online netizens have been nothing short of positive, and action fans can only hope we see much more sooner. And if you're one of those fans as of late, then you'll be delighted to take a look at Tran's newest action short, Burst, with director Vincent Gatinaud back behind the lens and Mathieu Lardot directing the truly cutthroat action!

And lastly, freerunner Ryan Doyle has something he wants you to know. And you know what? I believe him!

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