Occupants Movie Review (2016)

Above Photo: New official poster for 'Occupants'


Before I start this review a full disclosure; I was given special permission from 'Occupants' director Russ Emanuel to submit this early review. 'Occupants' has several convention screenings throughout the U.S. this year, which I will link at the end of the review text. In addition, I submitted an unpaid testimonial video for the Peterson Research Institute, my dialogue is not used in the completed film, thus I have decided to review based on the distinct merits of the 82 minute production, instead of recusing myself from review as I did in 'Rock Of Ages'.

Intrinsically, 'Occupants' is a study of reality for the erudite. 'Occupants' forces the watcher to be engaged in the story at all times, and assumes the viewer is an intellectual sci-fi and or horror fan. There is no blood and guts, no murder, maiming, killing or fighting. Director Russ Emanuel and writer Julia Camara craft a bare bones tight suspenseful flick, with just enough information to continue to ask more alternative dimension, and reality questions.

'Occupants' opens innocently enough with couple Annie and Neil Curtis Briana White and Michael Pugliese setting up camera's throughout the house to record and document their commitment to clean living. Of course things go askew when another couple shows up in an alternate reality, and that couple turns out to be them. The highlight in 'Occupants' is the thought provoking and careful acting of Briana as Annie. Although both her and Michael Pugliese had to go through the dual character landscape, Annie had to carry the entire film, not only with dialogue, but every emotion possible, from anger, to happiness, to fright. Look for her star to rise in the coming years.

'Occupants' is basically a single location film, shot in a home. The audience are witnessing the lives of these two characters, and their doppelgangers. This aspect perhaps would have been additionally served by fleshing out one additional couple, beyond the minimal PRI videos. Perhaps a bit of nitpicking, I wanted to see a further scope of field explored, but Russ, in deference to pacing, kept the film tight of focus, which is also fine, but a bit of less impact. Again this is a lower budget film, and the ending is left open and asks more questions. One could assume that this was not meant to be it for the Peterson Research Institute and 'Occupants'.

Look for a fantastic, intuitive,  extended cameo from talented 'Star Trek: Voyager' alum Robert Picardo as Dr. Alan Peterson. He is trying to wrap his mind around the goings on of the mysterious Curtis couple, and attempts to offer advice. Picardo is a pro, he has an amazing realism in alll of his performances, not like acting, more like life. Again would have been cool for them to actually visit with him rather than video, but alas, the budget constraints, I am sure if a second 'Occupants' film, or a series is made this angle will be explored more in depth. There are concepts, not worth spoiling in 'Occupants', so the story will not be further discussed in this early review.

Definitely a no morons allowed film, if one does not like B movies, nor talking based movies, nor sci-fi, films, that raise more questions than answers, 'Occupants' is not for you. Dichotomy balanced in dimensional portals, juxtaposed into semi delusional state, is 'Occupants' in a nutshell. The film is thoughtful, and worth a purchase. Even with minor quips aside, 'Occupants' rates a 7 out of 10.

Official Sites for Occupants: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/occupantsthemovie/?fref=ts 
Web:  http://occupantsthemovie.com/
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3980310/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/russellemanuel


The film is making the convention Spring-Fall rounds check out this link for specifics:  http://occupantsthemovie.com/news.html

Important dates are the world premiere of the film @ Phoenix Comicon 6-2-15 thru 6-5-16 and-----
The big event on the east coast will be Florida Supercon July 1st thru 4th.  July 1-4, 2016
Director Russ Emanuel, executive producer Prem Singh, producer Howard Nash, actors Michael Pugliese and Robert Picardo, and composer Vasilis Milesis attend the Florida Supercon promoting Occupants, including a Work-in-Progress Screening and Panel Discussion. 

Full Convention list for occupants:

a.      4/21: Northern Virginia International Film & Music Festival (NOVA Fest): https://www.facebook.com/events/1559862401009300/

b.      4/28: USC Cinema Screening: https://www.facebook.com/events/1581427072178111/

c.      5/6: Ratha Con Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1677429732511602/

d.      5/7: DevCon Arizona Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1255968414417662/

e.      6/2: Phoenix Comicon Film Festival: https://www.facebook.com/events/1850551415171823/

f.       7/1: Florida Supercon Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/242848226051006/

g.      7/6: WIND International Film Festival: https://www.facebook.com/events/129879344070190/

h.      7/15: Shore Leave 38: https://www.facebook.com/events/1003965096345581/

i.       10/22: Promenade-acon 2: https://www.facebook.com/events/1508402066126194/

 



 

Action Actress Lauren Mary Kim Interview (C) 2016 Dan's Movie Report (Exclusive Daredevil Chat!)

Above: Headshot from IMDB

Update May 23rd 2016: Brand new Elektra official Stunt reel!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wM0tRZw_4M
A full stunt breakdown, coupled with practices, spot hits and falls! It is epic!


Below: Lauren Mary Kim as Elektra behind the scenes. Photo Credit: Instagram from Lauren.

The biggest thrill for me as a writer is to sit back and watch someone I have known a long time and followed their career. As the time machine blasts back to the (Winter) January 2005 Issue of Vengeance Magazine, ironically, I wrote about Lauren, guess who was on the cover, Jennifer Garner's Elektra! In my column I wrote about the young and extremely talented Lauren Mary Kim with a photo of her with the rest of the cast of a film by Kantz. The time machine is now reset, 2016 is upon us, Lauren Mary Kim has arrived. My apologies to Lauren for the long wait for this interview.

Coming from a strong dance background and exploding on the stunt scene more than a decade ago, Lauren has positioned herself in the A list action category. With over 100 IMDB credits, consistent learning and growing, and focusing her efforts to make the projects she is a part of burn like a fire on a hot August Day. Watch for her doubling Ming-Na Wen on 'Agents of Shield' among other projects in 2016. Every so often a special opportunity comes along, for an stunt person, to work with another actress like Elodie who can match intensity and intellect with most anyone. Lauren and Elodie Yung make the character of Elektra come alive with fervor and daring. Daredevil Season 2 on Netflix is must binge watch TV. Without any more of my inane chattering, time to stick the Sai in deep and feel the aggression and power of ½ of the Elektra Duo, Lauren Mary Kim! 3-2-1 GO!! Oh yes, when Lauren speaks the text is blood red hahaha!

Above Photo: Lauren does a flip, and of course kicks ass (C) 2016 Netflix

I saw in a few of Elodie's interviews there was not much time to train prior to the action sequences in Daredevil Season 2. How long did you train with the Sais and with Elodie prior to the start of production or was it episode by episode?

Our schedule was pretty hectic and we didn't have a lot of time to train Elodie. While we were designing the fights and shooting 'previs' (editor's note-pre-rendering, preview or wire frame windows) is a function to visualize complex scenes in a movie before filming) she was often on set shooting her scenes without action, dialogue etc... We basically were doing feature film fights in Television time constraints. It was rough but we did it. It definitely was a team effort. At the end I was able to have some one on one time with Elodie to go over choreography and to get her familiar with the sai's. Not nearly as much time as we wanted of course. But she is a natural, and I am so fortunate to work with another martial artist. She did an amazing job learning choreo on the fly and performing with such great intensity. 

 Above Pic Lauren and Elodie as Elektra prepare to injure some unlucky thug.

I am glad you mentioned her martial arts ability. Because Elodie is well versed in karate and action films were you that much more enthusiastic to expand your martial arts abilities, as the Elektra character is versed in a wide variety of styles.

Yes, she learns faster than most people, so I was excited to work with her and the fight coordinator was able to throw some really intricate moves for her character.

Trust me it was hard to tell who was doing the ass kicking! Shifting gears to the production side, I read in a few interviews that the dialogue was shot in the beginning of each week's episode then the stunts and action were shot last. How many days per episode did the coordinators dedicate to the action, or did it vary?

Every week, every episode, was completely different. Some fights we would have 1-2 days and other fights we had 3-5 days. So yeah it varied, not to mention there are many fights in one episode with different characters so the stunt coordinator, fight coordinator, and asst coordinator definitely had their hands full everyday.

Above Pic: Season 2 Episode 10 of Daredevil. Lauren laying the kick to the face!

One of my favorite fights is the airplane hanger fight, the wing slide, the capoira, that looked hard, would love you to go in detail how that fight was set up some of the training etc, looks like Elodie did work very hard also.

The fight coordinator would research cool moves and he saw that move from a Muay Thai fighter. We tried variations of that trick, but it is a very effective trick as we saw it during a sparring match. We also did the slide across the airplane wing which I love. That particular stunt is a tribute to the Black Widow move (Heidi Moneymaker). In Daredevil (Season 2 Episode 10) the move backfired on Elektra and he ultimately slammed her very hard on the wing. So we wanted to show that us super heroes are not always perfect and things can go wrong in fights, just as real life fights. I remember working on this move and trying to figure out to properly do it the way we wanted to do it....we were all pretty tired and loopy during rehearsal, I just remember laughing constantly.....but we finally got it, and I love how it looks on camera!

Above pic: Flip to kick from Lauren. (C) 2016 Netflix

I loved the realism, characters on Daredevil take real damage, they have weaknesses. Chat about how the action flows between Elodie and yourself, watching season 2, obviously Elodie did a lot of the action.

While we shoot a previs we show what shots are actor shots and which shots are stunts. The edit sometimes comes out different than what you expect. Some sections of fights were all me and some sections were all her and some sections were cut back and forth seamlessly between the two of us. Together we make Elektra in the fight scenes, like a marriage....lol!

Speaking of a perfect marriage, I listened to an interview where you chatted about learning Elodie's walk as part of your adaptation to Elektra, were you able to spend some quiet time chatting with her about the character's movements and actions?

Any time i could get with her, we would share notes and chat about the character. She told me often she did not want Elektra to make noise when she fought which was very difficult for me since I like to vocalize while I fight. Which later I realized they added someone else voice in post, for her fight beats. She also didn't want Elektra in fighting stances (i.e. poses) after fights as she is a cool, no nonsense kind of woman and very dismissive to her opponents. I liked that part about her character....

Many times you see these women on films always striking a martial art poses after and sometimes its not always a right character choice for your character. Elektra doesn't give a fuck and she doesn't have to prove she is a fighter, she is a killer....i like Elodie's take on Elektra a lot. It was a lot of fun. 

Above Pic: Lauren as a bridge officer on the Kelvin (C) Paramount Pictures

 

I think you and Elodie looked like real killers in the series, shifting gears before I get my ass kicked, chat about who are some of the stars and directors you want to work with you have not, or someone you have worked with that would jump at a second opportunity. 

I would love to work with JJ Abrams again. He was a pleasure to work with on Star Trek. Always wanted to work with Ryan Reynolds. The list is pretty endless. I love working on marvel shows and would like to work more features with them. Their content is so good, forever a fan.

I loved the first two Star Treks, great action and story. I am looking forward to more on screen work from you. I am sure your dreams will be realized. I notice you are always training, working hard, what is your secret to getting consistent stunt and acting work in Hollywood?

No idea..... basically, stay humble, professional and be yourself! Be true to who you are, always train and hustle! 

Above Pic: (C) Jason Ng 2016 =  Daredevil stunt crew dinner. Check out Lauren and Elodie Yung in the middle!

 

In 10 years 20 years, what is Lauren doing in the Hollywood life, producing, acting, stunts, retired, teaching?

Hopefully have a baby, producing projects that elevate human consciousness. Of course, still training in martial arts.

Thank you so much Lauren for taking time out of your hectic filming schedule to conduct this interview. Watch this space later in the year for the second part of my chat with Lauren! Keep your browsers locked into Dan's Movie Report for all of your exclusive film and TV news, interviews, and photos. 

2016 is the year to Stand Up For Stunts. Please like this Facebook page and help the quest to have stunt performers recognized in the Academy Awards. https://www.facebook.com/Stand-Up-For-Stunts-714286178593690/?fref=ts

Please follow Lauren and all of her activities on her various sites:

 Official:  http://www.laurenmarykim.com/

 Twitter: https://twitter.com/LaurenMaryKim  IMDB http://www.imdb.me/laurenmarykim

Rush Hour TV Series (2016) Review

Greetings fellow indie action fans, what we have here is a rare breed on network tv, a show that is funny, full of action and has subtitles, and is in prime time. CBS has a cool idea with 'Rush Hour' expanding on the movie idea first put forth by Jackie Chan and Chis Tucker.

Been reading that people think this show is "dated" , has "forced Jokes"  "crude humor" HELLO, that is the damn point,  The politically correct humor of today is so boring, why so sensitive? Remember 'Blazing Saddles' as a case in point. Humor is humor, regardless, I do not care if someone makes fun of my race or religion in a humorous light, what is the damn issue. Ooops... tripped off my soapbox.

 Above Pic: The dynamic duo! Carter and Lee (C) 2016

Justin Hires portrays Det. James Carter and Jon Foo plays Lee a cop from Hong Kong.
Basically the series follows the film, renegade black detective who cannot follow procedure is forced to babysit Chinese cop. The story is pretty basic, but fun and light hearted, Rush Hour never crosses the area of serious crime drama, it is sarcastic, crazy, and non apologetic.

  Bill Lawrence, Blake McCormick are the show's creators and have some cool ideas, With the stolen statue and mysterious sister of Lee who seems to be mixed up in the criminal element. Yes kind of like the original, but a bit different.

The supporting cast Aimee Garcia as Sergeant Diaz and Jessika Van as Kim Lee (sister) do a good job of balancing the testosterone driven show, by adding in their own attitude and toughness.

Above Pic: Get ready for a bar fight! (C) 2016 CBS TV


 The highlight of the show is the action and maniacal stunt work. Helicopters, crazy fights, car stunts, gun play- everything. Stunt co-ordinator James Lew did a masterful job of wrangling all of the stunt crew together This is a good show for stunt people. Support the stunt community and watch. Is 'Rush Hour' high art; nah, but fun. 'Rush Hour' rates a solid 7 out of 10! Bang!

 The show airs on CBS Thursday nights at 10pm EST.

FB page for the show is @ https://www.facebook.com/RushHourCBS/?fref=ts

Hot New Movie Trailer! Asian Connection! A Daniel Zirilli Directed Steven Segeal Film! New Photos!

Greetings Dan's Movie Report readers! Get ready for some Seagal action Asian Style! From Director Daniel Zirilli comes ;Asian Connection' Oh yeah!

With the Slogan "The Beast is in the East" expect copious action, a bit of humor and look for cool action peeps Dean and Ron from 'Time Rush' I am all over this one! Need to get my Gotee on point and my buffet game active and party down to South East Asia! Michael Jai White adds to the intense action as well! My head already hurts from the beating!

Check out these hot new shots from the film's trailer! On your home for action Dan's Movie Report!

Description: Two American expatriates, Jack and Sam, unwittingly steal a drug lord's money when they rob a series of banks in Southeast Asia and become the target of the gang's vengeance. When Sam is killed, Jack turns to the love of his life, Pom, and the couple becomes a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde that takes the fight to the gang. Written by IvanWong

Check out the new Youtube link @ 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSy_F3DbXmI


IMDB @  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3187378/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

From Daniel===  The ASIAN CONNECTION Official Trailer is out! Directed by Daniel Zirilli, screenplay by Glase Lomond story by Tom Sizemore & Daniel Zirilli. starring STEVEN SEAGAL, MICHAEL JAI WHITE, John Edward Lee, Pim Bubear with Byron Gibson Sahajak Boonthanakit Eoin O'Brien Dean Alexandrou Ron Smoorenburg Natalie Lorence Kecha Khamphakdee, Byron Bishop Nick Blade Khan Alex Winters David Gray ... screenplay by Glase Lomond, story by Tom Sizemore and Daniel Zirilli produced by Danny Roth, Damiano and Tiziano Tuzzi, Michael Tadros Jr. Chris Conover, and Thai production company Wych Kaosayananda and team!

Watch for more exclusives and an interview with Director Daniel Z in the coming months, on your home for awesomeness! Dan's Movie Report!

Time Rush (2016) Movie Review

Above DVD cover and poster for 'Time Rush'

Director Daniel Zirilli interview: http://dansmoviereport.blogspot.com/2016/04/director-daniel-zirilli-interview-dans.html

Greetings Dan's Movie Report readers. Beginning in December of 2013 I exclusively covered a cool indie action film called Reflex. Check out this post: http://dansmoviereport.blogspot.com/2013/12/reflex-begins-production-in-thailand.html

Check out Selina Lo live shout out on the set of 'Reflex', now called 'Time Rush' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pAbyn_9i1s

Fast forward to 2016 and from Archstone Distrubution comes a name change and the DVD of 'Time Rush'. The Daniel Zirilli directed film created and produced by Dean Alexandrou follows the time paradox loop story of Alex, who witnesses a murder, and has to put the pieces of his memory back together. Remember kids, this film was conceived prior too 'Edge of Tomorrow' and although Time Rush is a memory loop concept, the quest he is after is not to win a battle it is to understand his own life. Alex lives his life through a watch, with a starting off point of 30 minute countdown, and the film then skips around to the distinct fragmentation point he needs to unlock the secret to his life and mysterious love Jane, played by Selina Lo. Selina helps him complete the puzzle in a non linear fashion, all the while being chased by the tentacles of the mysterious Prevara Cooperation and Lead Captain of the guard Ron Smoorenburg. The jumping off point in 'Time Rush' is the murder of his friend Brink, played by action expert Byron Gibson, the film reverts back to his shooting, as a beginning to the time loop,

The moment frozen in time the battle begins in 'Time Rush'. (C) 2014 Archstone Films


Whew! 'Time Rush' is an indie film that forces the viewers to pay attention as the flashbacks to previous points in time occur. The world of Alex is crashed back with a figurative death to 6 months, 1 month and several other places in time, to learn what will happen and anticipate the moves of his enemies in battle. This brings me to the true highlights of the film the action sequences. Dean, Ron, Selina, and the entire Jaika stunt team, coupled with the excellent direction and principle photography of Daniel Zirillis's team create action so up close and clear, we can see the expressions of the fighters. With Dean, Ron and Selina, and the Jaika team, you have true trained action people, The fights are crisp, falls are hard, and there are consequences.Make no bones about it, there are sci-fi elements in 'Time Rush' but it is: "All about that action boss" haha!

Dean executes "Flaming Leg" style martial arts in 'Time Rush'  (C) 2014 Archstone Films


Starting with Dean, combining his masterful parkour with martial arts, his movements force the viewers to be engaged where he is going next, what battles he picks, what battles he runs away from. Ron Smoorenburg combines raw power with hard energy, the intense anger, he shows as the lead antagonist is refreshing, He wants to return Alex to the Prevara headquarters.
 
 Sultry Selina Lo, powers through a diverse character range from sweetheart to kick ass brutality. Selina relishes the action, and the respect for Dean in real life shines through in 'Time Rush'. Jane is Dean's moral compass, a quiet waitress by day, Selina's character evolves and begins to show Alex the path to follow to find the truth, putting her life on the line, and fighting off a few baddies along the way. She has my favorite fun line in the film when approached by two smarmy guys making comments like where are you going my house is that way and generally getting in her face. She proceeds to kick their ass and say's prior "Save your breath for your blow-up doll". Actually the movie plays pretty serious, but a few moments of humor lighten the tone.

A quieter time in the life of Jane (Selina Lo) Ok stop drooling, Selina may be sexy but is far from harmless!


A minor gripe, obviously with budget constraints, is the ADR, and at times the character's voices seemed unnatural. This aspect can also be explained as much of the film was outside, and in order to limit the background noise of for example the Train Market in Thailand, and some of the U.K. scenes the post production had to eq the sound. The voices were equalized and at times do not match the character's state of exhaustion etc. Seriously though it is not a major detraction, as the story is engaging, and the action is so furious.

As stated before, when 'Time Rush' shines is the creativity and clarity of the action sequences. The audience does not have to set the brightness to maximum on their device. Yeah! We see the fights, falls, bruises, and flaming leg kicks! With homage to several other action movies as in the bullet dodge from 'The Matrix' 'Time Rush' adds enough originality and urgency to keep the viewer fully occupied through the tight 82 minute run time.The inventive musical score added to the urgency of the 'Time Rush'. Special shout out to Nicholas Rivera, for his musical genius, to keep the film flowing like an avalanche!

Nah, not going to spoil the outcome, look for a cool cameo from the talented Zom Ammara who plays a pretty important part near the end as a taxi driver, and gets to use the word asshole haha. Kudos to eveyone involved, my slogan for 'Time Rush' is "Live, Die, Run, fight, repeat" I can safely say this is a must own for action fans and time paradox fans alike. 'Time Rush' rates a 7.5 out of 10. A fun film on a minuscule budget, made by passionate people.

The film is available April 5th on DVD! Order it! http://www.amazon.com/Time-Rush-Ron-Smoorenburg/dp/B019C6X0CC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459274534&sr=8-1&keywords=time+rush+2015+movie

Please check out all of my interviews from the cast on the following links:

Dean  http://dansmoviereport.blogspot.com/2014/07/actorproducer-dean-alexandrou-interview.html
Ron: http://dansmoviereport.blogspot.com/2014/07/actor-ron-smoorenburg-interview.html

Selina's and Zom's were done prior to filming, but they are detailed and provide background on them"

http://dansmoviereport.blogspot.com/2012/01/selina-lo-interview-c-2012-dans-movie.html
http://dansmoviereport.blogspot.com/2013/02/zom-ammara-interview-dans-movie-report.html