Saturday, January 5, 2019

Director Scott Mann Interview (C) 2019 Danny Templegod

Above: Scott Mann from google, (Promotional Photo only)


Greetings valuable readers of Action-Flix.com and Dan's Movie Report. With his recently unleashed action film, Final Score, now on home video, Scott Mann revisits his cinematic origins and discusses The Tournament. What newer action fans may not know is more than a decade prior to Final Score, Scott Mann developed and directed The Tournament, his indie masterpiece, and his first feature film! Respecting the talents of Scott Adkins and Kelly Hu, I was quite interested to watch it when it came out. The Tournament is a real treat to revisit, it holds up surprisingly well. Now it is time get behind the mind of the MAN! Scott Mann! This is part one of a two part interview, which will spread across both Action-Flix and Dan's Movie Report. Part 2 will be about Final Score.

Before we start the questions on Final Score, I wanted to ask you a bit about the Scott Adkins- Kelly Hu starring film you did awhile back called The Tournament. The movie was one of my favorite indie action films, had so much fun watching it. I actually interviewed Kelly Hu's stunt double Kim Chiang, incidentally, she is working now as fight coordinator on The 100.

Scott Mann: Oh really she is now on The 100? Yeah Kimmy yeah she is brilliant, great.

Above: Scott Adkins, and Kim Chiang get very violent, on The Tournament.


Danny Templegod: Scott, one thing I really enjoy about your films is that you get women involved in the action.

SM: Yeah we had a double who could pull off the action. Yes Kimmy is amazing, and The Tournament as a total film as well it was a crazy experience. I love it with all my heart, it was my first film. It is so bonkers, haha, I am very proud of that film. 

Above: Pre-release poster of The Tournament (From IMDB)
 

DMR: Yeah I think the film was ahead of it's time. I feel The Tournament is more like a film made in the last couple of years, rather than more than a decade ago.

SM: Yeah there is actually a TV show I envision in the mix based on The Tournament, as we developed quite a lot of written material and concepts. We developed a whole world relating to The Tournament, I hope to have it furthered in the next 6 to 12 months. You know how these things take time.

Above: The DVD cover of The Tournament  (From IMDB) 

DT: Interesting ideas, I am curious if you were involved in the casting for The Tournament?

SM: Yeah the Tournament was all my movie. I learned not only directing, but producing. Honestly, I tried to get a film off the ground prior to The Tournament, which was much more kind of serious drama
Sadly I failed to do that, it was three years of hard slogging, and not having a film getting made. I remember my film school buddies and I, were kind of down on our luck, and we were researching what kind of films were getting made at the film market. We were watching the kind of films we loved and kind of came up with the idea. The film essentually of emerged from failure. We made a promo (Trailer) to sell the movie and to drum up interest. I wanted to make sure they ultimately wanted me as a director, and it is funny how similar it is to the finished trailer to The Tournament. We went through this big process.

Above photo: Ving Rhames makes sure that the sultry Kelly Hu gets the point! (C) 2009 Buzzfilms


DT: Not only do you have talented people, but you have to have people who are willing to work hard for the film, and it really shows in The Tournament.

SM: Right, to invest in themselves, makes all the difference. Everyone worked so hard on The Tournament, they put their blood and sweat in it, and it shows. I mean the film is really super low budget, the fact that we were able to pull it off is kind of a miracle for everyone involved really. We all poured are hearts into that one.

DT: I was thinking for that budget it would be hard to make a film like that now more than a decade later.

SM: I mean it is weird there is a way a type of method to do this, but of course you would want to spend more. That is why I am expanding the concepts to a TV show. I mean there are not many true action TV shows out there.

DT: I was thinking of Jack Ryan.

SM: Oh right, how is Jack Ryan?

DT: It is not bad, but could have been better.

SM: Well it is hard to marry top quality performance and action, and come up with a watchable product.

DT: I think the most important thing that is often lost is the acting, in an action flick, and that has to be first and foremost, and many of the so called action shows, push it to the side.

SM: Totally, yes I agree.

  Above photo: Ving Rhames makes sure that the sultry Kelly Hu gets the point! (C) 2009 Buzzfilms

DT: Bringing it back to The Tournament, Kelly Hu can act, and you do not have to worry about the action as you have a double who is so amazingly powerful and adept, she can not only handle it, but make it seethe with energy.

SM: Yes absolutely!

DT: Just because a movie has a bunch of big stars, does not mean it will be a good film, especially if the cast is just not into the source material.

SM: Yes I see your point, you cannot fill the acting parts of a movie strictly with people who are specialists with action. You can have a really great double making the action look glorious, so that side is covered.

DT: Yes my thing is if you did not have a stunt pro like Kim Chiang to do the incredible fight sequences in The Tournament, the film would not have turned out as good.

SM: Absolutely, that character I created for Kelly Hu to play is central to the story, so performance and action are everything, thus both aspects had to be strong. I am glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks Scott, this ends part one of the epic Scott Mann Interview. Thanks again for sharing your insights to the readers of Dan's Movie Report and Action-Flix.com Part 2 will soon be unleashed!

In the meantime, check out the Dan's Movie Report classic review for The Tournament: http://dansmoviereport.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-tournament-movie-review-2009.html Initially this review was on the older kungfucinema.com website.

For additional reference, please check out my earlier interview with stunt action specialist, Kim Chiang! http://dansmoviereport.blogspot.com/2014/08/kimberly-chiang-interview-exclusive-c.html


Keep reading Dan's Movie Report and www.action-flix.com as 2019, will be the year of dynamic action and exclusives! 

 


Tuesday, January 1, 2019

I am Vengeance (2018) Movie Review (C) 2019 Dan's Movie Report

Above: The IMDB poster for the film!



Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report readers. Director Ross Boyask has been on my radar for years and I have reviewed two of his earlier films on my site. The film Warrioress he directed and wrote along with Cecily Fay is damn amazing for such a limited budget, retaining the fun yet action style he is known for. Back when I wrote for Vengeance Magazine Ross was featured for Ten Dead Men, a crazy movie very early on in his career, but his directing power and intellect are there from the outset. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0854679/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Fast forward to 2018, now 2019. Ross is in full fledged ass kicking mode with Evolutionary Films, he plays an integral role with the company, directing, editing, and acquiring new films! Check out https://evolutionaryfilms.com/

I Am Vengeance as it is called in the United States, or Vengeance in the U.K. is currently available for Netflix subscribers, in the USA! It is exciting to see Ross get the recognition he deserves for his labors of love he is a true student of film and constantly is supporting other peoples work and going to the movies!

I Am Vengeance is a true action yarn a guys film. The amazing wrestler and all around big guy Stu Bennett plays John Gold an ex soldier turned mercenary. “John Gold, learns of the murder of his best friend, he sets off on a mission to find out what happened. What he discovers is a sinister conspiracy and he sets about taking down those responsible one by one. “ (From IMDB)

The film opens with a torture and killing scene of his friend, and damned if I am going to spoil it! Everything about I am Vengeance spells grit, power seriousness I have to say I did not see coming from Ross! The filming style is bordering on film noir, but has a tense building story. The lighting reminds me of the older style action films, a bit lower on the tech, which is a good thing. The film kind of depicts the life of regular people. There is two sisters chatting and sitting in the restaurant when the small confrontation, John Gold leaves and meets up with Sandra (Anna Shaffer) to learn more, and the story flails out from there.

The acting is excellent! All the way around, the cast were obviously enjoying the film and working for Ross. Anna Shaffer is cool as an actress proving that power does not always have to come from fists but intellect! Great story plus clearly defined plot! All the way around really enjoyed the film! Whet else can I say, British Violence and Bollocks and madness! I am Vengeance Rates a damn amazing 8 out of 10, a must own! Follow Ross on Twitter! This guy is active! https://twitter.com/rossboyask

Go to subscribe or log into Netflix now @ www.netflix.com

In addition, Ross is currently in Production on the followup and the amazing folks at Britflix.com have posted perhaps the most epic BTS video ever of a film in production!! https://www.britflicks.com/blog/post/7412/VENGEANCE-2Behind-The-Scenes-Of-Ross-Boyask-s-British-Action-Movie/

Blast that site and www.action-flix.com for more information! Watch for more interviews coming in 2019 and 2020! Incidentally Katrina Durdan is in Vengeance 2 as Jen Quaid! Get ready for people to have there asses kicked and smiled at! Check out our interview from late in 2016 watch for a new one in 2019!

A live exclusive video from Zara and Katrina! Female Zealots! And the amazing Lee Charles!

Watch for a variety of interesting things from Dan's Movie Report and www.action-flix.com as we enter our second year of collaborating!




Monday, December 31, 2018

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch Movie Review © 2018 Dan's Movie Report

Above: Bandersnatch (C) 2018 Netflix!


Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report readers, I would like to wish you all a happy New Year. Full disclosure, I have never watched ANY of the Black Mirror shows prior to this. I come to this interactive film as a fan of a variety of entertainment. Netflix represents an opportunity for film makers and content creators the world over to ply their craft. It is forcing older media to be more creative, and in 2019 will bring the biggest blockbuster ever for Scorcese.
Exciting times ahead, big risks as well.

The Black Mirror interactive movie represents for me as a viewer, the opportunity to watch an entire season of programming with a variety of scenarios. There is 5 hours of content, on this even though it says 1 hour and 37 minutes. Stick with it, choose all the options. I am not going to be a jerk and spoil it but for me when I saw Chloe Bruce as a stunt person, I needed to find that option, wow! I will liken Bandersnatch  to a choice between the light, the dark and the Netflix path, if the viewer has not reached the credits on all three paths then congrats you have more work. Wait, too hard you say, I understand it, you can be one of the apparent 45 million who have watched Bird Box, which I have not seen, mostly due to the tremendous amount of unusual content, and the amazing Tidelands series. 

I plan to watch Bird Box of course but again, Netflix is checking if its viewers want to see more happy, sad, action, violence, and or emotional stories. Black Mirror is their own personal playground, a rabbit hole or a mountain, you decide, jump or not, do or not.

Overall the interactive film as a whole is a huge step to Netflix,they are learning their audience. Big risk, as the stock has taken a hit after the Summer high. It is exciting times in this bustling world to “Netflix and Chill!!” Black Mirror: Bandersnatch Rates a mind bending - 9 out of 10!

Subscribe today! www.netflix.com
2019 will be amazing, get ready for Wu Assassins as well!