Saturday, April 18, 2020

Ashley Becciani Unleashes 'Knife Fight' (C) 2020 Dan's Movie Report - Danny Templegod

Above: Knife Fiight (C) 2020 Ashley Becciani and Filippo Becciani
Choreo: Shaun Charney (Special Thanks- Eric Jacobus)

Ashley Becciani unleashes “Knife Fight' Short Film!

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report and Action-Flix.com readers. Ashley Becciani has been on my radar for a few years now. Ashley is working hard on the front lines as a nurse, but of course she is always up for some action, especially at night.

Filming took place in late January 2020. Filippo Becciani directs with fight choreographer Shaun Charney crafting the action. Her combatant is Anthony Magallanes, and he has a knife! Ashley also recently worked on a Kill Bill live stage show as Uma Thurman's character! and had the opportunity to meet QT at one of the performances! The 1.5 minute short is violent, quick and dangerous, depicting what can really happen if a woman is assaulted alone at night. In Ashley's case she can defend herself, and heal those she hurts or are hurt! Be respectful to the ladies!!

Watch for more of Ashley on Dan's Movie Report and Action-Flix.com
In the meantime check out her official Facebook Page @ https://www.facebook.com/yellowhairdwarrior/

Yessenia Cossio - Get Ready for Ultimate Tag on FOX! (C) 2020 Dan's Movie Report

Above: Ultimate Tag promo photo (C) 2020 FOX Unleashes May 20th! Check out Yessenia's promo for Ultimate Tag on Dan's Movie Report! Below - Yessenia as Dynamite in a promo photo for the FOX series Ultimate Tag!




Above: Yessenia with show host JJ Watt, and second photo, Yessenia as Dynamite! Below Yessenia on Ultimate Tag- Teaser video (C) 2020 Fox Network!



Below Shout out to Dan's Movie Report






Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report readers. A few years back I had the opportunity to meet Yessenia Cossio breifly at the Widescreen Film Festival. I did a little article on her --( http://dansmoviereport.blogspot.com/2018/07/miami-home-break-in-action-short.html

Fast forward to 2019 and 2020, Yessenia has taken the bull by the horns in stunts and action starring in the popular Spanish language competition show Exatlon, where the contests were divided up into teams and competed in various races and sports. 

Above Yessenia in the Telemundo show Exatlion (C) Telemundo Network used for promotional purposes only.

Above: Yessenia (C) Chris Headshots

Above: The group of pro taggers, ready for action May 20th! (C) 2020 Fox TV



 

Also Yessenia was able to work on the amazing Netflix 'Punisher' show on season 2! She has a really cool show coming up, 'Ultimate Tag'. It is a FOX competition show where the contestants have to run an obstacle course to try and avoid being tagged by their opponent. Yessenia has several exciting upcoming projects, watch for a full interview later in 2020. In the mean time check out her Official Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/yesseniacossioofficial/?hl=en


On the 'Ultimate Tag' show her character nickname is Dynamite! https://www.instagram.com/ultimatetagfox/?hl=en

Official Site for The Ultimate Tag https://www.fox.com/ultimate-tag/

Thursday, April 16, 2020

The Mentor – Movie Review © 2020 Dan's Movie Report – Danny Templegod

 Above: Poster for The Mentor from IMDB used for promotional purposes only.

(Global Exclusive Review!)

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report readers across my desk today comes a film called 'The Mentor'. Watching the film, reminds me of a mix of 'Eyes Wide Shut' and a very wordy yet intellectually dark and Sardonic comedy, that turns into a thriller. Producer/Writer/Director Moez Solis, really has an excellent script, actually the dialogue is far above the skill level of most of the actors, yet one incredible standout performance that is so good, and aggressive, I promise is worth watching. Liz Sklar as Clair Adams breathes fire into her character. Actually if Moez had additional funding, and found more pro theater actors like Liz 'The Mentor' really would have more impact.

The acting is not bad by any means, but this level of intellectual and nuanced dialogue really requires a pro delivery. Brandi Nicole Payne as Nilah, does an average job as the lead character who is supposed to be playing kind of a newbie. The other acting is decent, not horrible, but the emotional level shown really needed to be ramped up. In the defense of the actors, towards the end of the film it does get better.

 Above Photo: (C) 2020 Wind in a City Films - Liz Sklar in The Mentor

Liz Sklar emotes, when she is scared she shows it, when she is pissed off she shows it. When she gets angry curse words don't just come out, they come out with panther like aggression. Due to her experience, her body language tells the story. Liz has physical acting prowess, not just delivering the lines with her voice but her movements belay her emotions. Please someone get her a lead in a big budget horror or action flick.

Actually Brandi's aggressive nature comes out a bit, but it seems that the level of talent is just not up to the standard needed to carry 'The Mentor'. She does some voice over work to tell her story, I kind of wish the narrative would have only been in the beginning to set up the story, almost superfluous as the story unfolds.

Many of the characters wear masks, and much of the film takes place in only a few locations, which is fine as the less distractions are better for the enjoyment of the terse, vituperative, and slightly disjointed story.

I had to watch the 74 minute film two times to give it a rating. A first pass skewed lower, the second viewing reveals the more subtle madness of The Mentor. I mean the copious amount of times Liz says Mother Fu@$er are damn cool, and I envision her as this crazy blood soaked villainess in a film. 

 Above Photo: Brandi Nicole Payne (R) Liz Sklar (L) in The Mentor (C) 2020 Wind in a City Films

The Mentor gets crazy in the second act, no spoilers, but I dig the developments, and interplay between characters. Brandi Nicole Payne gets into the acting and unleashes her performance skill, still though I was searching for more emoting and impact.

The behind the scenes accouterments on this budget are quite good, clear audio, all the scenes are well lit, and the ADR is clear in the headphones. Scenery and costuming are very basic, but in this case, The Mentor is all about the dialogue.

Overall The Mentor is a mixed bag; Liz is damn amazing, some average inexperienced acting, and a wonderful script. The Mentor rates a 6 out of 10. I would say the film has a very specific audience, intellectuals, Warner Herzog, and dark comedy fans.

The film releases on several platforms April 22nd. More details will follow.

For now best place to check out the film is the Facebook Page @ https://www.facebook.com/thementorfilm/
IMDB page has full credits for 'The Mentor' @ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7922944/

Liz Sklar has been in many stage productions, check out her


Sunday, April 12, 2020

Miss Fisher & the Crypt of Tears - Movie Review (C) 2020 Dan's Movie Report (Danny Templegod)



 Above Image USA DVD and Blu-Ray cover ships 5-13-2020! (C) 2020 Acorn TV!

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report and Action-Flix.com readers across my desk on Acorn TV comes 'Miss Fisher & the Crypt of Tears'. I had the opportunity to interview director Tony Tilse, for HBO's ''Grisse' a full on action series! http://dansmoviereport.blogspot.com/2019/01/director-tony-tilse-interview-grisse.html

For those of you unfamiliar with the original show, I suggest you watch the entire Miss Fischer series, or at least several episodes. Basically she is a clever detective, sometimes skirting outside and inside the law, she goes on some rather intriguing and humorous cases, with somewhat serious undertones.

Although most of the episodes run about 45 minutes, I always wanted to see what the team could create, in a long form. The latest effort, is a cool mix of Indiana Jones, Tombraider, all the while keeping the amazing charm of actress Essie Davis as the title character Phryne Fisher. In fact, nearly all of the original series cast has returned to some extent, a nice closure to the show, or will it be?

Writer and executive producer Deborah (Deb) Cox once again creates, the world in more detail with a larger budget, what is also cool and I did not even realize that part of this was crowd funded in Australia! A huge undertaking that supports thousands of film jobs in the country is needed especially now!

I refuse to spoil the plot of this because so many have not seen the original series, much less this movie. Actually I recommend watching most of if not all of the 34 episode original series, well at least sever of them to get an idea of the characters, doing this will make it a really amazing story. Essentially there is a small child in prison, and Miss Fisher needs to get her out and search for a mythical Emerald. Remember this is a mystery as well, a who done it. In the TV shows the murder happens in the beginning and Miss Fisher has to go back and solve it, minus, cell phones, and of course modern equipment. In the feature time is taken to set up the story before the murder takes place.

An amazing standout is newcomer Izabella Yena https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8962183/
she stars as the grown up woman. She really does a wonderful job of showing emotions and care throughout this film. Always wonderful to see fresh talent arise!

Special Kudos go to the stunt team in this film. Zoƫ Amanda Wilson works with Izabella's character to craft the action. Stunt Coordinating was done by two people Russell Frost and Othman Ilyassa. Both are super knowledgeable in a variety of action as the movie involves fighting, gun play, fencing, and falling as well.

The technical aspects of Miss Fisher & the Crypt of Tears are solid. The outside scenes and areas used in Australia are really nice, some minor quips about the CGI train perspective. Musically it is rather amazing as a 1920s style Jazz band was even used, plus the musical score really gave it the worldly feel. Another thing I really liked, is the lighting even in the dark scenes, we can see the characters and their actions. There is a scene that involves fire at night and I can see the faces, and emotions! Remember no spoilers!

I really liked this feature! Cannot find much fault of it at all, obviously it Is not a 100 million dollar Tombraider or 200 million dollar Summer blockbuster, overall it rates a very strong 8 out of 10, a must own!

For more info, the IMDB page has all of the credits.  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9010738/

The official page on Facebook has the entire show and series covered!  https://www.facebook.com/phrynefisher/
Support this project, buy it, buy merch etc...


It is available to watch now on Acorn TV or Pre-Order on DVD or Blu-Ray!
Ships May 13th!