Frozen Crown - Crowned In Frost (2019) CD review (C) Dan's Movie Report

Above: Crowned In Frost CD Cover (C) 2019 Scarlet Records & Marquee / AVALON (JP)

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report readers, today I mix it up a bit and review an amazing new CD from the band Frozen Crown. Hailing from Italy, this band caught my attention with several amazing music videos, most notably, I am the Tyrant and Neverending. I kept watching YouTube for more, just an incredibly talented and diverse band. Doing independent metal is often a thankless and hard job, Frozen Crown takes so much pride in crafting intelligent songs, and coupled with a energetic live show, warrants a review of their latest CD Crowned In Frost. Please note, I did not receive the CDs yes there are two of them (The Fallen King is their first) for free, I bought them, one from Amazon and the other CD and limited LP direct from the band. Support indie music is my motto!

From 1984 thru 1995 I reviewed music for various magazines, some music was amazing, some was average and some was awful. I always seem to gravitate towards 80s music and some modern, yet the last big discovery I had in music was Nightwish in 1995, of course Arch Enemy with Angela as well, on top of the usual Iron Maiden, Dio etc... I must say Frozen Crown from the first note I heard blew me away like a lightning bolt burned from mount Vesuvius, the band merges a variety of styles in a seamless quintet of cacophony of sonic blasts.

Crowned in Frost opens with a short intro Arctic Gales, then blasts into Neverending. Neverending is a fitting opening song with a power set of riffing, followed by the sonic vocals of Jade Etro. Frederico Mondelli writes the music, playing guitars, and keyboards. Jade and him craft the lyrics as well. The vocals on the CD are a unique blend of mellow and power with Frederico blasting out the occasional death metal power. Kind of reminds me of Arch Enemy meets Nightwish! The galloping speed of the riffing reminds me a bit of Iron Maiden, but faster.

Of particular note is the band's young prodigy guitarist Thalia Bellazecca. Amazing talent, for her age. According to Frederico she is brought in as the live guitarist, yet, I hope she can find her way onto the next studio albums. The entire band is so talented, and singling her out is not fair to the bone crunching back beat of Filippo Zavattari (bass) and Alberto Mezzanotte (Drums) both who provide a solid backing bed to the absolutely energetic and often complicated dual lead guitar riffs.

Diving deep into the CD Crowned in Frost, the music is made for driving, and waking up, rising for a glorious battle ahead regardless if it is a battle in an office or charging a Roman Army! All of the songs flow together to tell a bit of a story, but never will the audience be bogged down in a mire of slush, this CD is all action no filler tracks to round out the disc.

Before you know it, the album bleeds into the final track, which is the title track, Crowned in Frost. I must say it is epic, begging for a live performance and audience participation, Jade calls out the lyrics like a siren then Frederico blasts out some Angela style Arch Enemy growls, the music is heavy, yet listenable, then it flows into a more mellow lyrical interlude. The song gallops along at a good pace until conclusion. A fitting ending to a damn fine CD.

What more can I say, Crowned in Frost is just an amazing CD, an Earth shattering sophomore CD and a great followup to The Fallen King. Both CDs are great. This band needs to be huge, and play in the USA. The live performances on YouTube are quite amazing and the various shows and festivals they have done this year, have allowed the band to have hoards of new fans worldwide!

I rate Crowned in Frost a 10 out of 10, The is a generational unique sound, worthy of multiple repeat listenings, and an excellent bridge between metal styles. I will say buy directly from the band, as they do all of the mailing direct, that said, the music is also available on Amazon. The link to their merch is:

https://frozencrown.bigcartel.com/

For the band's official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frozencrownofficial/

Thalia Bellazecca has an official Facebook Page as well: https://www.facebook.com/thaliabellazecca/

She really rocks and on her YouTube page she has a play through video of one of the songs and a couple of cool cover tunes. A rising talent.

Check this out! Queen Of Blades play through by Thalia!

Finally to check out the band on Amazon, you can listen to some of the tunes: https://www.amazon.com/Crowned-Frost-Frozen-Crown/dp/B07NJRX84P/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Frozen+Crown&qid=1569016397&rnid=2941120011&s=dmusic&sr=1-1

For the YouTube make sure you check out some of the amazing videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o0imRANjm0 Neverending

Cool new live video shot in Portugal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BChcm4Nf--w

Stay metal, and keep your eyes and ears to the indie scene! Keep it locked on Dan's Movie Report, as I plan to review more metal by the end of the year!

Mayday (2019) Movie Review

Above: Poster for Mayday (2019)

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report readers, as we near the Halloween season I have decided to select a few titles horror related. Although many of my reviews have focused on action, this site is open to reviewing all types of films, drama, comedy, foreign, and horror. Brushing this aside for the moment, today I tackle a film that Crystal Santos told me about awhile back. She told me she was going to be in this new film called Mayday and all she let me know about is that it will be a horror film called Mayday. Crystal, who is known for her work in stunts, said that she would also serve as the stunt coordinator on the film. To avoid confusion when searching for this film make sure you add (2019) as other films called Mayday have been released prior.

These facts aside, I made a few attempts to connect to the film maker, and was told that the film would release on Lionsgate in 2019. Now on DVD, and available from the various outlets comes this 76 minute, yes you heard right, very short, yet rather unusual horror flick. The entirety of Mayday takes place on a flight to London, in what seems like a smaller plane, not a 747 or 757. the film opens with the passengers getting on the plane and let us just say each one has a quirk or characteristic that makes them a bit annoying, haha, but actually it kind of works later in the film. We have newlyweds, a man clutching a briefcase a Sikh doctor, two very flighty flight attendants a gruff old man, and the actor Michael Paré, who plays a sky Marshall, and Crystal Santos, the seemingly only sane one of the bunch. Of course we have the young pilot and copilot as well. The film is classified as a combination drama, action and horror, while this is true, there is not much action.

The movie does develop some of the characters, but we never really know them, just what they are like. More of a personality study in reactions, rather than out and out jump horror, Mayday works in the realm of supernatural, yet once (Minor Spoiler) passengers start vanishing things get rather frantic. The pace still seemed a bit slow for people in peril, even though no one had a clue where the danger came from.

Above: Behind the scenes photo of Crystal Santos on the set of Mayday Photo by Ryan Walker - © MWP Productions

I will not spoil the story, as the ending is pretty cool, and elevates Mayday to a pretty decent film. This fact aside, I did not care for much of the acting except for Crystal Santos and Michael Paré. Not that the acting was bad, it just seemed to forced and not natural. An example when the newlywed watches her husband vanish she is of course visibly upset, then is calmed down, then kind of falls a sleep, I am thinking if I lose someone, I would be upset, nervous, and angry for the entire flight, no rational person unless given a sleeping pill which we did not see, would just drift off to dreamland while their loved one just is voided from the seat next to you.

Actually director Massimillano Cerchi has a difficult task at hand, because the film is set in one place, the characters barely move thus they are relegated to their airline seats or going to the bathroom, as the plan is in flight for the majority of the Mayday. The script and dialogue are interesting, yet at only 76 minutes, I felt a bit jilted that I was dropped into a film that had already started. Actually, to see the people in the gate waiting for the plane, or even prior to flying would have made me care about the characters more. Understandably though, Mayday is meant to be a sonic blast of horror, mixing elements of the Exorcist and Twilight Zone. Playing out more like an episodic TV show rather than a movie, Mayday could have easily been a plot on The Twilight Zone show, and even worked in a 60 minute time slot.

Kudos to the lighting and DP personnel, too often in Horror films it is so hard to see the action when whatever it is jumps out at you. Mayday you saw from beginning to end the plight of the virtually helpless passengers. I know it seems trivial to point this fact out, but go back in your recent horror film memory and count the number of times you said wow, I can see the things happening.

Overall, I struggled with the rating, a second pass yields slightly better results. Mayday rates a definite rent on Amazon, if you like horror a 14 dollar DVD is not out of line, basically the film is about a 6.5 out of 10, I wanted more, yet Mayday (2019) was not disappointing. Check out the band Leaving Eden, who provides the closing song, appropriately titled Skies of Grey. I have had the opportunity to witness them live a few times and they are quite talented!

Above: Trailer for Mayday (2019)

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Mayday-Michael-Par%C3%A9/dp/B07XMKJM2Q/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Mayday&qid=1568726424&rnid=2941120011&s=instant-video&sr=1-1

Action/SciFi Film Transit 17 Official Trailer!!!

Above 2019 poster of Transit 17 from Official Facebook Page! (C) 2019 Vision Films.

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report and www.action-flix.com readers check out this radical trailer for the film Transit 17! Vision Films is on the cusp of releasing this Sci-Fi Epic and watch for a new exclusive interview with Zara Pythian in the coming months!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xARxop7R6GU&feature=youtu.be

Point your browsers to the official Facebook Page @ https://www.facebook.com/TRANSIT17/

I have covered the film in the past, exclusively! Check out this radical video of Zara live on set of the film! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dNsXlUKMm0

Keep it locked on Dan's Movie Report and Action-Flix for new information and exclusives later in 2019! 

Scott Adkins Interview!! (C) 2019 Dan's Movie Report

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report and www.action-flix.com readers. Back in May my good friends Tayah and Dean were able to attend the Fighting Spirit Film Festival in Birmingham and witness the U.K. Theatrical debut of Triple Threat, and to interview the amazing Scott Adkins! Though I posted the video awhile ago, many viewers were not able to see it, thus I have decided to type it out and pay respects to the entire Fighting Spirit Film Festival Staff, and of course the gracious Mr. Adkins. I was not able to attend, nor send a rep for the most recent one, yet I stand in support of this great event. On to Tayah and the one and only Scott Adkins!

DMR: Tayah- Hi I am here with the one and only Scott Adkins on behalf of Dan's Movie Report. I have a few questions for you, can you chat a little bit about working with and having a fight scene with Tony Jaa, in Triple Threat? What are some of the things you did to amplify the action.

Scott Adkins: I did as I was told, because we had Tim Man as our Fight Coordinator. He is brilliant, obviously, I have done a lot of stuff with him. He had a really difficult job as he was creating fights for the best martial arts actors in the world. I think there was a lot of pressure on him and he did not have a lot of time to do it but he did a brilliant Job as he always does. I had always wanted to work with Tony Jaa, it was an absolute pleasure, he is such a humble guy, obviously he is an incredible martial artist, I literally have never been kicked as hard by anyone in my life. I know he was not trying to be he has so much power. He is a great guy, mutual respect. I cannot wait to work with him again and I believe we will.

Above: Exclusive photo from Triple Threat (C) 2019 Well Go USA

DMR: You and Jesse V. Johnson have worked together on more than half a dozen films, can you talk about the chemistry you have together, and why the two of you work so well together?

Scott Adkins: I am just doing more character stuff with Jesse. I am really enjoying doing the more character based action stuff with Jesse as I get a bit older. I am really interested in creating characters and Jesse gives me the space to do that. It is a great working relationship, we know each other's strengths, each other weaknesses. We can be hard on each other, we even have arguments on the set, to be honest, but it is always from a passionate place, where we are trying to do the best work that we can do. It can get pretty heated sometimes, haha, but by the time the film comes out we are both super happy with the direction we are both going.

DMR: I know we are running out of time, will we see Boyka again?

Scott Adkins: I don't think we will. I think Boyka is done. I think he ended in a nice way, he ended in prison, rotting. Haha, yes that is the trajectory of Boyka he is like a tragic hero in a way.

Above: Poster for the film Avengement used for promotional purposes only

DMR: Thanks for that insight to Boyka, what have you got coming up, that you can discuss?

Scott Adkins: Yes I have Hitman 4 coming up. It was great to work with Donnie Yen as he was a childhood hero of mine. He specifically asked for me in that film, so that was great. (Avengement is coming out, character driven action film, again working with director Jesse V. Johnson, very British very gritty, excited about that one.

DMR: OK Great, thanks Scott for taking time out of the Fighting Spirit Festival Birmingham to conduct this interview, we will look forward to watching the new films.

Scott Adkins: Thanks, thank you.

For more information on Scott Adkins please connect with him on his official social media pages:

Scott Adkins Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialscottadkins/

Scott Adkins Twitter: https://twitter.com/thescottadkins?lang=en

Scott Adkins IMDB page: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0012078/

For more information on the amazing Fighting Spirit Film Festival please point your browsers to:

https://www.fightingspiritfilmfestival.com/

Special thanks to Soo Cole and the entire Fighting Spirit Film Festival staff for their assistance in this interview. Please check out my associate, and interviewer Tayah Kansik. Tayah is an excellent martial artist, actress, and personal protection specialist: http://dansmoviereport.blogspot.com/2019/01/tayah-kansik-acting-action-spotlight-c.html

All photography and videos are courtesy of Dean Meadows, Dean owned and operated Vengeance Magazine in from 2003 to 2006 and now is completing his first feature film Scarlett Cross: https://www.facebook.com/deanmeadowsfilm/

Keep it locked on Dan's Movie Report and www.action-flix.com for the latest news and exclusives!

Action Film Snow Black Spotlight!! (C) 2019 Dan's Movie Report

All Photos on this page for Snow Black are copyrighted to Meyham Films and Maverick Entertainment Group. Used for promotional purposes only.

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report and www.action-flix.com readers, director, producer and star of Snow Black Robert Parham has informed me that the film is nearing final principal photography! Just a few more days of shoot remains.

The Facebook Page for Snow Black: https://www.facebook.com/snowblackmovie/

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10156586/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Synopsis for Snow Black: Sarah Camden is a Special Ops mercenary with PTSD. After a failed mission, she gets sent home to bury her mother. Her town has become ridden with crooked politicians, crooked cops, and a new drug called SEED manufactured by the BLOODBORNE gang. After her sister and father are killed at the hands of the Bloodborne gang, Sarah calls in her special ops sisters (THE FOX SQUAD) with the help of a homicide detective (Detective KELLAR) to make her town safe again!

The exciting action film stars the amazing Ron Van Clief as Jeremy Camden, Gloria Hendry as Aunt Sydney, Sarah V. Buckner as Sarah, and Robert Parham as Thomas Keller!

In a couple of weeks Robert has been tapped to direct a new Drama film in Memphis. Robert states: “I have a drama, called Why Me, starts in 2 weeks. It stars Hawthorne James (from Five Heartbeats) and Cyndy Williams (from Mo Better Blues)."

Facebook page for Why Me: https://www.facebook.com/Why-Me-The-movie-1162860727388719/

Watch Dan's Movie Report and Action-Flix.com for exclusive coverage of Snow Black in the coming weeks and months leading up to a trailer and the eventual 2020 release of the film! Robert has a whirlwind of action coming your way! 

Incidentally, his prior film Jackson Bolt is available on amazon prime to watch! https://www.amazon.com/Jackson-Bolt-Robert-Parham/dp/B07FFZKDQX/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Jackson+Bolt&qid=1568520974&sr=8-1