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He has beaten up Ryan Reynolds, and been beaten to a pulp by Ryan Gosling. He’s tussled with guys like Dwayne Johnson, Jet Li, Jean Claude-Van Damme and Jackie Chan.

Now, after decades of working in the world of stunts on movies like Green Lantern, Drive and Punisher: War Zone, Jeff Wolfe has fulfilled a longtime dream of directing his own movie, with the zombie drama Outbreak arriving in a handful of theaters Friday.

The film stars Billy Burke as a park ranger grieving his missing teenage son when a mysterious outbreak threatens his small community. It’s a zombie movie, but not what audiences may expect from the genre. There’s action and scares, but also human melancholy and a deep mystery.

Wolfe has a lot riding on Outbreak, which is one reason he spent last week putting up fliers around Santa Monica near the Laemmle Monica Film Center,...

Mortal Kombat movie franchise has stayed true to the popular video games and brought the flair of Hong Kong action movies to the big screen. The Karate Kid franchise has been a modern culture phenomenon, with its story of the master-student relationship resonating with audiences. The Ip Man franchise, led by Donnie Yen, has become the greatest martial arts movie franchise of all time, blending epic fight scenes with the life story of a martial arts master.

Both East and the West have produced long lists of martial arts movie franchises, some of which being significantly better than their contemporaries. Like any other genre, the storytelling of martial arts films can often be encapsulated very well in just one movie, as seen in Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury, the John Carpenter's '80s classic Big Trouble in Little China, or Iko Uwais' debut movie Merantau. However, the popularity...

Jacques Haitkin, the cinematographer on the first two Nightmare on Elm Street films as well as myriad other horror and action movies, has died. He passed on March, 21 after a battle with Als and Leukemia, according to a Facebook post by his son Zak Haitkin. He was 72.

More recently, Haitkin had worked as second unit director of photography or camera operator on some of the industry’s biggest titles, including Black Panther, Venom, Captain America: Civil War (and Winter Soldier), Furious 7, The Fate of the Furious, Captain Phillips, The Expendables, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: The Last Stand and Kong: Skull Island.

Below is his son Zac’s statement.

I am deeply saddened to announce that my dad, Jacques Haitkin passed away peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 at the age of 72 in San Francisco, CA after a long and courageous battle with Als and Leukemia. Despite the challenges that he faced,...

Original A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) cinematographer Jacques Haitkin passed away last month at the age of 72, we’ve learned via The Hollywood Reporter today.

THR reports, “Haitkin died March 21 in San Francisco after a battle with Als and leukemia, his son Zak Haitkin told The Hollywood Reporter.”

Jacques Haitkin served as the cinematographer/director of photography on both A Nightmare on Elm Street and A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985).

He later reunited with Wes Craven on the horror movie Shocker (1989).

As cinematographer, Haitkin’s credits also include The Prize Fighter, Galaxy of Terror, The House Where Evil Dwells, My Demon Lover, The Hidden, Cherry 2000, Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence, Scanner Cop, Fist of the North Star, Bloodsport 2, and Wishmaster.

He also worked as additional or second unit director of photography on The Expendables, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: The Last Stand, Furious 7, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows...

Jacques Haitkin, who served as the cinematographer on the first two Nightmare on Elm Street movies, has died. He was 72.

Haitkin died March 21 in San Francisco after a battle with Als and leukemia, his son Zak Haitkin told The Hollywood Reporter. “He always said he never worked a day in his life because he loved his job so much,” he noted.

Haitkin also manned a camera and/or did second-unit work on three Fast & Furious films, two Captain America movies and other action features including Cherry 2000 (1987), Last Man Standing (1995), The Expendables (2010), X-Men: First Class (2011), Kong: Skull Island (2017), Black Panther (2018), Venom (2018) and 21 Bridges (2019).

Haitkin was the D.P. on A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), directed by Wes Craven, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), directed by Jack Sholder. He reunited with Craven on Shocker (1989) and with Sholder on The Hidden (1987) and Beeper (2002).

Jacques Adam Haitkin...

As the beginning of his IMDb bio states, “Every horror film buff will recognize the name Jacques Haitkin.” Haitkin was the cinematographer on one of the most popular horror movies ever made, the 1984 Wes Craven classic A Nightmare on Elm Street (watch it Here). And while Craven didn’t return to the helm for A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge, Haitkin did return to be the cinematographer on that sequel. Sadly, we have to share the news today that Jacques Haitkin is no longer with us. This news was broken on the Facebook account of filmmaker Tony Randel, who is best known for directing Hellbound: Hellraiser II and worked with Haitkin on Galaxy of Terror, Ticks, Fist of the North Star, Rattled, One Good Turn, and Assignment Berlin.

Randel posted, “I knew Jacques Haitkin practically my entire career. We met on a Roger Corman horror/sci-fi epic – Galaxy of Terror.

(clockwise from upper left) Daniel Bernhardt in Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite; in Lou; in John Wick; and in Barry. Image: Todd Gilchrist/ Lionsgate Entertainment; Netflix; Lionsgate Entertainment; HBO As an actor in The Matrix Reloaded, Barry, Nobody, Atomic Blonde, and now Lou, Daniel Bernhardt has enjoyed a lot of high-profile roles.

Alex Winter (“Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”) and Patton Oswalt (“Young Adult”) are set to appear in martial arts drama “Absolute Dominion” for Netflix.

“The Porter’s” Oluniké Adeliyi, “Better Call Saul’s” Julie Ann Emery and “Jerry Maguire’s” Reagan Gomez will also star in the project.

Helmed and written by stunt-woman turned director Lexi Alexander (“How to Get Away with Murder”), the high-octane sci-fi action film is co-produced by Blumhouse Television.

“It’s 2085 A.D. and the world has been destroyed by religious warfare,” reads the logline. “Desperate to save humanity, global governing forces host a gripping, no-holds-barred, martial arts tournament. Last fighter standing wins Absolute Dominion for one faith.”

Rounding out the cast are Alok Vaid-Menon, Andy Allo, Désiré Mia, Jennifer Jajeh, Juliana Joel, June Carryl, Junes Zahdi, Laith Ashley, Mario D’Leon, Nora Armani, Oluniké Adeliyi, and Shawn Mousavi.

Meanwhile martial arts expert Phil Tan has boarded...

The director of Sergio and many docs talks about docs and movies taken from true stories.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Sergio (2009)

Sergio (2020)

Reds (1981)

The Two Popes (2019)

Rules Don’t Apply (2016)

Bulworth (1998)

Dick Tracy (1990)

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

Innerspace (1987)

Ishtar (1987)

The Thin Blue Line (1988)

Man On Wire (2008)

The Fog of War (2003)

American Dharma (2018)

Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru (2016)

The Killing Fields (1984)

The Year of Living Dangerously (1983)

Under Fire (1983)

Salvador (1986)

The Quiet American (2002)

The Quiet American (1958)

A Private War (2018)

The War Room (1993)

The Final Year (2017)

Independence Day (1996)

Citizen Kane (1941)

Bloodsport (1988)

Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite (1996)

When We Were Kings (1996)

Soul Power (2008)

High School (1968)

Hospital (1970)

Titicut Follies (1967)

The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (2007)

Before Night Falls (2000)

At Eternity’s Gate (2018)

American Factory (2019)

Dina (2017)

Honeyland (2019)

The Act of Killing (2012)

The English Patient (1996)

Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990)

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Purple Noon (1960)

Other Notable Items

Sergio Aragonés

Wagner Moura

Narcos TV...

http://www.urbanactionshowcase.com

https://www.facebook.com/UrbanActionShowcase?fref=ts

Urban Action Showcase is an event to showcase action and martial arts to the world. The events are presented by Action Scene Combat (Asc) Productions, a production company which was founded in 2000 by Demetrius Angelo. Demetrius worked on movies and tv shows, not only as a fight choreographer, but also as an actor and director. Some of them include S.E.A.L.S Domestic Warfare (TV series), 3 X Harder: My Man’s and ‘Em and more. Demetrius also has a great background in Martial Arts, studying in styles such as Western Boxing, Chinese Boxing, Kobudo and many more.

Past events have brought many stars which include Michael jai White (Blood And Bone), Robert Samuels (Dont Give A Damn), Kelly Hu (Martial Law), Fred “The Hammer” Williamson, Ron Van Clief and many more great stars. Urban Action also brings you workshops to get involved with,...

For many American anime fans, after a likely introduction to the genre from series such as Dragon Ball Z, Bleach, Naruto and/or Sailor Moon, you stumble across the darker and more adult titles such as Hellsing. Hirano's 1997 manga series is ultra-violent and definitely not for the faint of heart. Probably best described as a mixture of Hellboy and Blade to unfamiliar genre enthusiasts, writer & director David S. Goyer (Man of Steel, Batman Begins, Godzilla) will be helming the independent adaptation which features a script from Asim Ahmad (rumored to be playing Michael Morbius in The Amazing Spider-Man sequel) who will also be portraying Alucard. Jake Sharp (All My Children) will be portraying Father Anderson, Daniel Bernhardt (Bloodsport 2, The Matrix Reloaded) will be portraying Walter and Swedish singer Ana Johnsson will be portraying Integra Hellsing. Expect some recognizable names from the action genre to cameo. Filming...

Screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen is known for a particular type of movie. Having written all of the Transporter, Taken and Karate Kid films as well as Lethal Weapon 3, The Fifth Element, Kamen knows a little something about action flicks. He recently sat down with Crave Online and discussed projects that are happening and some that never saw the light of day. On Bloodsport 2 and whether Van Damme will make an appearance: This film resembles the original in title only. It has nothing to do with...

I remember once when I was driving over the Louisiana swamps on this long bridge, I happened to notice a little house in the middle. If you stare long enough in the swamps, you’re bound to see something, even if it’s your imagination messing with you. But who would want to live there? Swamp people are weird and damn scary. It’s quaint thinking of the voodoo and gators of Louisiana, which is the jumping off point for Creature, an aptly named creature feature debut from Fred Andrews. While it doesn’t hit the insanity of Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer, it feels like a true student of the old Roger Corman way of things in B-movies, a notion he’s lost in the trenches of CGI and Syfy. Creature is a non-stop boobs and blood ride that creature feature fanatics will love.

The nature of modern creature features...

Let’s face it horror fans: we want and rarely get classic rubber monster movies now days. CG has changed the game, but for the better? Occasionally, we get some glimmer of hope in films like Dylan Dog: Dead of Night and Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer, and maybe in the upcoming prequel The Thing, but our wishes will soon be granted by director Fred Andrews in his debut, Creature.

In the back country of Louisiana, a group of friends unearth a terrible secret that unleashes a monster from the depths of the swamp.

Starring Sig Haig (The Devil’s Rejects), Daniel Bernhardt (Bloodsport 2), Serinda Swan, Mehcad Brooks, and Rebekah Kennedy (Season of the Witch), Creature is arriving in theaters soon, and Killer Film catches up with director Fred Andrews for a chat about the film, the monster, and making an icon.

Jon: In 2009, you started working on a graphic novel called Blood is Blood,...

According to Total Film, when Sylvester Stallone was assembling his team of kick-ass action stars for The Expendables, he asked Jean-Claude Van Damme to join the fight. Apparently Jcvd turned down the part because Sly was more about the money than the characters.

“Stallone gave me a part in his next movie,” Jean-Claude told Total Film. “But I ask him about the subject, about the story. He said, ‘You’re gonna make lots of money.’ I don’t want to hear that, I want to hear what was my character. He was unable to tell what it’s going to be. [Stallone said:] ‘You know, uh, well, the fighting will be good.’ [So I said:] ‘Sly, what is my character?’ So I didn’t do the movie.”

The movie moved on without him, casting Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Forest Whitaker, Dolph Lundgren, and of course Stallone.

At first it seemed Jean-Claude had turned over a new leaf.

Hot off the heels of Van Damme’s indy success story Jcvd, the muscles from Brussels is trying to get a true sequel to his first hit Bloodsport greenlit.

From AintItCool -

Jean-Claude Van Damme has confirmed to totalfilm.com that he is working on Bloodsport 2, a true sequel to his first hit movie.

“You know, like, we’re gonna do Bloodsport 2,” he told us in a recent interview. “Which was my first movie. And I want to do it now in a very mature way, where the guy from Bloodsport is a complete bum, maybe abusing his son.”

The original Bloodsport spawned three follow-ups, but Jean-Claude was connected to none of them.

Despite the recent success of latest movie Jcvd, Van Damme is encountering some resistance from the studio.

“They told me, ‘No, no, no! You cannot make a movie in America where a father is abusing his son physically!

Yes, if Jean-Claude Van Damme has his way, oh and yes, really, Bloodsport 2...

{sidebar id=1}So I guess if he's a bum we won't be seeing any "splits across the ropes" poses huh?

Ah well, Jean Claude had this to say to Totalfilm.com,

Â.You know, like, weÂ.re gonna do Bloodsport 2," he told us in a recent interview. "Which was my first movie. And I want to do it now in a very mature way, where the guy from Bloodsport is a complete bum, maybe abusing his son."

The original Bloodsport spawned three follow-ups, but Jean-Claude was connected to none of them.

Despite the recent success of latest movie Jcvd, Van Damme is encountering some resistance from the studio.

Â.They told me, Â.No, no, no!  You cannot make a movie in America where a father is abusing his son physically! ItÂ.s wrong."

Read...

Bloodsport 2? Yep.

Jean-Claude Van Damme managed to get through an interview without hitting on the journalist , and confirmed to Total Film that a sequel is imminent. Now, perhaps you're well-versed on all things Bloodsport, and you remember that there were already sequels. Ah, yes, that's true, but none of them starred Jcvd. And he wants to get it done the right way.

“We’re gonna do Bloodsport 2, which was my first movie. And I want to do it now in a very mature way, where the guy from Bloodsport is a complete bum, maybe abusing his son," offers Van Damme.

Two things: Bloodsport wasn't his first movie. I thought it was No Retreat, No Surrender, but there are a few things earlier that that. His first movie was actually Monaco Forever, in which he played Gay Karate Man. Tough to live that one down.

First of, if you guys haven't seen "Jcvd" yet, what are you waiting for? It's actually a good film, with Van Damme poking fun at his celebrity stature.

Now, Jcvd has confirmed to our friends at totalfilm.com that he is working on "Bloodsport 2," and he is calling it a True sequel, not the other wannabe sequels namely "Bloodsport 2," "Bloodsport 3," and "Bloodsport: The Dark Kumite."

It is of interest to note that Van Damme wasn't part of any of those sequels!

The actor further says:

.You know, like, we.re gonna do Bloodsport 2...which was my first movie. And I want to do it now in a very mature way, where the guy from Bloodsport is a complete bum, maybe abusing his son."

Hhhhmmmm...a darker take? A mature angle? Wow, I just may see this one If studios agree, but...

.They told me, .No,...

Hollywood hard-man Jean-claude Van Damme is to reprise his role in cult martial arts movie Bloodsport - over twenty years after its original release. The 48-year-old actor confirmed he is working on Bloodsport 2, a follow-up to the 1988 hit which launched him to stardom.

The original film, in which Van Damme's Frank Dux won a deadly fighting tournament, spawned two straight-to-video sequels - yet Van Damme was attached to neither.

And the Timecop star wants to make the new movie a deeper affair.

He tells Total Film, "You know, like, we’re gonna do Bloodsport 2, which was my first movie. And I want to do it now in a very mature way, where the guy from Bloodsport is a complete bum, maybe abusing his son."...

Jean-Claude Van Damme has confirmed to totalfilm.com that he is working on Bloodsport 2, a true sequel to his first hit movie. “You know, like, we’re gonna do Bloodsport 2," he told us in a recent interview. "Which was my first movie. And I want to do it now in a very mature way, where the guy from Bloodsport is a complete bum, maybe abusing his son." The original Bloodsport spawned three follow-ups, but Jean-Claude was connected to none of them. Studio Hesitant Despite the recent success of latest movie...

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