Con-Man: Good, Tough & Deadly @ SDCC '16

In the last couple of years I've attended conventions near and far, domestic and international, set up my own, been on a panel and organized a movie premiere during, this past San Diego Comic-Con was another first, participating in a book signing on the show floor. david j. moore's The Good, the Tough and The Deadly was Amazon's #1 New Release in film books this past summer and the author graciously asked if I'd join him at La-La Land Records' booth while he sold and signed books for an hour. There was lots of traffic going by as the booth was near Warner Brothers. We hustled folks walking by as friends stopped by to support as well as subject Eric Jacobus, stuntman and filmmaker, with some of his stunt industry friends from 8711 gym, the team behind The Matrix, John Wick and many more. David was able to sell some books, I signed and chatted with #ActionMoviePeeps and saw how hard it is to get people's attention even when there's thousands around. Until next time, keep kicking like you're on Broadway.

Don't let the title fool you, it's just two dudes who can appreciate other, helping each other out!

Good, Tough & Deadly Week: Release!

Since starting this ol' online journal I've produced live events, interviewed some of my favorite actors and filmmakers, met most of my idols, organized movie premieres, put together and moderated a convention panel and had my work splashed around in the L.A. Times, magazines and a book. Last Sunday was yet another first, a book signing! David J. Moore's The Good, the Tough & the Deadly was already #1 on Amazon's New Releases and this past Sunday, Dark Delicacies in Burbank hosted a star and guest packed signing. First off, DD is an awesome store, it specializes in horror and genre books with DVD's, action figures, posters and the like for sale. Del and company have had the shop for 21 years in the picturesque strip of Magnolia where many a store are surprisingly closed on Sundays.

Moore recruited contributors Dustin, Michael, Corey, Jason and Vern along with interview subjects Jino Kang, Julian Lee, Robert Chapin, Don Wilson, Ernie Barbarash, Sheldon Lettich, Steve Latshaw, James Bruner and Keith Batcheller. While we set up it was great to check in with so many legends in the field. Latshaw gave me more of the story how he worked with Jean-Claude Van Damme to rework In Hell for Warner Brothers to create a Bloodsport meets The Shawshank Redemption theatrical comeback while Bruner brought a giant The Delta Force display Menahem Golan gave him a the 1987 premiere! It's always awesome to chat with Sheldon as he had recently returned from the G.I. Film Festival in Washington, D.C. Ernie filled me in on his current projects and gave me a broader picture of being a working filmmaker in this day and age when financing just isn't what it used to be. Had a nice quick chat with martial arts expert and filmmaker Jino Kang, who I'll be interviewing soon so be on the look out for that.

A queue had formed and we were off to the races, signing books and chatting with attendees. I asked each person who stopped at our table who their favorite action star was and usual suspects like Bruce Lee, Arnold and JCVD reigned while one surprise answer was Lance Henriksen and 70's icon of macho Charles Bronson came up multiple times. A few peeps had been to some of my events and I heard my online moniker "VienDammage" being muttered in line, which was cool. I was shocked at some of the folks show just showed up to get a book signed like Cannon Films documentary, Electric Boogaloo filmmaker Mark Hartley who told me how development on the doc had kind of stalled and he randomly received word from Brett Ratner who wanted to produce it as he had a deal through Netflix. Movie gunsmith Mike has worked with just about everyone in the action world, he was rocking a The Purge shirt as he worked on both and I asked about Frank Grillo to which Mike said he was a nice guy. Towards the end, director Jesse V. Johnson, who is currently shooting Savage Dog with Scott Adkins and Cung Le, strolled in and picked up a copy. Johnson makes films with awesome action as well as heart and as usual has a stellar cast lined up so I'm excited to see the results.

Best of the Best's James Lew showed up into the signing looking fit and trim while being a very nice guy. I asked him if the shot of him and Simon Rhee in Inception was an unspoken nod to BotB or just a pure coincidence since they were both working on the film. He laughed and didn't think it was intentional and recalled how he and Rhee had appeared in several films together, including the Rush Hour flicks where they play different characters in each film. About halfway through, the one and only Michael Jai White strolled in. I don't think he quite knew what the event was and seemed a little surprised when fans and guests alike began to ask him to sign their copies and grab photos. But as he caught up with Wilson, Sheldon and Ernie, he made the rounds and was a chill guy. He's also definitely not a small man, phew!

Two hours in we were alerted every copy the store had in stock had sold so David dug into his reserves. Not too shabby! It was a terrific afternoon but also crazy and exhausting. I can only imagine what celebs go through at conventions for days at a time. Big thanks to Moore for inviting me to the action movie party, Dark Delicacies for hosting and all of the fantastic guests for attending. Until San Diego Comic-Con, keep laughing and lifting! Or as James Lew and I coincidentally both signed, keep kicking!

Good, Tough & Deadly Week: No Retreat, No Surrender 2 & Back in Action

After reading reviews and interviews for hundreds of action and martial arts flicks theatrical and direct to video in The Good, the Tough & the Deadly, I had to dip my toe into some of the lesser known titles I passed in the aisles of Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, Video Star and Classic Family Video years ago. Author David J. Moore couldn't believe I'd never seen 1987's No Retreat, No Surrender 2 so I started with that and to give Loren Avedon a spin. The first film was regular viewing in my home, it helped launch Jean-Claude Van Damme but more than that, it's a crazy and hilarious flick that somehow blends Bruce Lee's ghost, the KBG taking over karate schools nationwide, break dancing and inspirational pop songs. Apparently original stars Kurt McKinney and JCVD ducked out of the sequel at the last minute, opening the door for relative newcomers Avedon, Cynthia Rothrock and Matthias Hues.

Made by Seasonal Films' usual suspects like Corey Yuen and Keith Strandberg, NRNS2 transports the action from Los Angeles to Cambodia where kickboxer Scott Wlyde (Avedon) is visiting his buddy Mac Jarvis (Max Thayer) and his lady then somehow gets involved with a kidnapping plot and Russian soldiers? There's action and flips galore with everyone showing off impressive kicks and acrobatics along with a few explosions. This is the first flick I've ever seen Avedon in and I must say, I was not impressed. Sure he can kick and move but he doesn't have much in terms of leading man charisma. Cynthia Rothrock has some entertaining spunk and Matthias Hues shows a bit of humorous posturing along with a muscular frame. The real ace here is Max Thayer as the Hawaiian shirt clad, cigar smoking, tail chasing ex-pat Mac, he's a cool dude. Yuen and company's goofy yet choreographed approach comes off cartoonish and not as endearing as the original's. Still, seeing so many physically talented actors pull off crazy fight scenes still impresses after all these years, especially in the era of hyper editing, stunt doubles and not seeing combatants actually make contact.

Moving on to1993's Back in Action starring Roddy Piper and Billy Blanks, I had a little more hope for a solid DTV flick as it came from Shapiro-Glickenhaus, who produced classic action thriller Shakedown. While Back in Action doesn't scale those theatrical heights of high octane action on the streets of New York, the Steve DiMarco and Paul Ziller from a Karl Schiffman script delivers the boom boom boom. Billy (Blanks) is trying to help out/protect his sister from mobsters but keeps running into hardened and sweaty cop Frank Rossi (Piper), or something like that. There's banter, rough and tumble fights and destruction pretty consistently throughout the 93 minutes. Blanks and Piper made a cool duo with the martial arts champion's muscular frame and 3 inch flat top juxtaposed with the professional wrestler's rough and gruff yet likeable demeanor. The two would team up nearly immediately for 1995's Tough and Deadly which I'll have to check out next.

Good, Tough & Deadly Week: Read It!

Two San Diego Comic-Con's ago, a guy stopped me and asked, "you're that Van Damme guy, right?", referring to the Los Angeles screenings of Bloodsport, Double Impact and Universal Soldier I had set up with the likes of Sheldon Lettich, Brian Thompson, Harrison Page, Joey Ansah, Craig Baumgarten, Darren Shahlavi and Dolph Lundgren in attendance. Answering in the affirmative, David J. Moore introduced himself and from there we have enjoyed a terrific #ActionMovieBro dynamic that has traversed meals, conventions, screenings and premieres. A prolific writer for magazines of all genres, Moore had just released his first book, World Gone Wild: A Survivor's Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Movies that encapsulated nearly 1,000 reviews and dozens of cast and crew interviews. Now deep into a one of a kind look at action movies and films, Moore recruited me to provide a few last minute reviews as well as my Q&A turned print interview with Carl Weathers.

On Tuesday I received a copy of The Good, the Tough & the Deadly: Action Movies & Stars 1960- Present, from Schiffer Publishing. Published author could now be checked off my imaginary list of life accomplishments and/or goals. What struck me immediately was the size and heft of the tome that includes around 1,500 reviews and 80 some interviews. The hardcover art is gorgeous and inside are glossy pages and color photos galore. Moore's introduction sets up the parameters of the book, this being a guide of action stars who came from an athletic or professional background. So Arnold from bodybuilding, Jean-Claude Van Damme from karate, Carl Weathers, Jim Brown and Fred Williamson from football and Steven Seagal from Aikido, etc. Or actors generally identified by the action genre a la Charles Bronson and Sylvester Stallone. That means titles from the likes of big screen favorites Bruce Willis, Kurt Russell and Mel Gibson are not included. Moreover, I saw it as a study of the new type of action hero that emerged from the 1980's where Arnold and Sly were kings with JCVD and Seagal their eager successors. The type of larger than life hero who cut through red tape, took on an army of bad guys and got the job done. Usually while branding a machine gun, tossing a one liner or using their hands and feet to dispatch all enemies in bone breaking or face mashing fashion. While acting talent and charisma would be fairly overlooked in favor of muscular and hyper developed physicality.

In the 80's and 90's, Cannon Films and Carolco helped usher in the age of international box office while capitalizing on burgeoning home video revenue. While the four kings of action ruled theaters, less expensive alternatives, many from the worlds of kickboxing, bodybuilding and martial arts like Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Michael Dudikoff, Roddy Piper, David Bradley and Oliver Gruner could have their names above titles and faces brandished across posters and VHS boxes around the world. Good, Tough and Deadly is a study of these films; the muscles, machine guns and VHS era. Along for the ride with Moore are half a dozen contributors who produced nearly 1,500 reviews and conducted 80 interviews. Subjects range from golden age stars like Weathers, Lundgren and Wesley Snipes to writer/directors including Sheldon Lettich (Double Impact, Rambo III) and Craig Baxley (Action Jackson, Stone Cold) to PM Entertainment's once prolific Joseph Merhi. Modern age filmmakers like John Hyams, Jesse Johnson and Isaac Florentine along with stars Scott Adkins, Tony Jaa and Michael Jai White also get their light.

As a total 80's and 90's kid, I can certainly recall seeing VHS covers with Billy Blanks, Jeff Wincott, Gruner and more but never taking the plunge since I was catching up on JCVD or Seagal titles I couldn't see in a theater. And let's be honest, there's a reason why talent rises, they've got the IT factor Hollywood can't produce but loves to exploit. Don Wilson might be a more accomplished kickboxer than Van Damme but he's sure not as interesting to watch. So reading reviews and the thoughts of so many B-level stars without much knowledge of their work was interesting. No Retreat, No Surrender 2's Loren Avedon comes off as a bit egotistical, even when talking about being broke by 2000, eating crow and going from headlining low budget martial arts flicks to doing stunts anywhere he could. Or Gruner, a French Special Forces soldier and champion kickboxer turned low rent movie-star in the likes of Angel Town and Nemesis, thinking he should have been in The Expendables along with half a dozen stars who actually had theatrical careers.

Moore's style of interview gets subjects to open up about the triumphs of becoming a working actor and action star, the harsh realities of the business and what happens when your shelf life expires. Creative control and lack thereof is a constant cause of retiring, along with the fact that the video market simply dried up so there was no use in denying it. Bruce Lee is a frequent inspiration and for the younger guys, it's Jean-Claude Van Damme. Experiences with, observations of and basic example being elevates JCVD to enigma status and rightfully so, he's a force of nature. Reviews are generally two paragraphs, one to set up the story and cast and the other to state opinion. Some of my contributions were for Bruce Lee's The Chinese Connection and Van Damme's Timecop. After an off and on marathon of skimming reviews and reading interviews, I finished The Good, the Tough and the Deadly, cover to cover, late into last night. I'm extremely happy and proud to have been invited to the party and contribute. Thank you, David. I'm also excited that it was the #1 New Release on Amazon for Film/TV books! Keep laughing and lifting, or alternatively, keep punching and pumping.

Ask Me a Question: Mad Max Fury Road w/ George Miller

Another Monday, another night with The American Cinematheque! This time it was to the much closer Aero Theatre in Santa Monica for Mad Max: Fury Road as part of their Oscar series. Director George Miller was on hand for Q&A for the sold out screening. We stopped off at Santa Monica staple The Daily Grill, a solid spot for happy hour with drinks and three kinds of pot pie but spotty service this time. Outside the theater was a Mad Max-ified Bug complete with fake gatling gun and scores of folks in cosplay from The Road Warrior and Fury Road. Caught up with #ActionMovieBro David J. Moore whose latest opus, The Good, the Tough & the Deadly: Action Movies & Stars, will be hitting shelves in a couple months and features a few reviews and an interview by yours truly. This would be my fourth time seeing Fury Road on the big screen and the extended car/truck/motorcycle chase still delivers. Refreshing with its use of practical f/x and physics layered on top of one another to create a gonzo and kinetic 2 hours while still finding time to add in some character bits.

After the film, Miller, in cargo pants and a tuxedo top, partook in a brief Q&A:

- Hadn't seen The Road Warrior with a crowd in 30 years before a SXSW screening and had a ball.
- Fury Road began not as a script, but 3,000+ storyboards hung up on the walls of a "Mad Max" room that depicted every moment and look in the story.
- Tom Hardy was about the only guy Miller saw as Max as he had the same nervous energy, likability and hint of volcanic temper like Mel Gibson.

- Miller joked how Hardy was only 6 weeks old when he started on Mad Max in the 70's.
- Talked current F/X to layer and add in landscape, sky and carnage. Removed tire tracks in the sand and lamented how old films you could tell how many takes they did by the number of skid marks.
- Safety has improved greatly since The Road Warrior where Guy Norris went tumbling through the air after a motorcycle crash and onto a field of cardboard boxes.
- Hardy is afraid of heights but did the polecat sequence and many stunts while Charlize Theron's background as a dancer helped her tackle many sequences as well.
- A former doctor, Miller acted as the on-set medic for the earlier films.
- On giving his characters dramatic moments, Miller spoke about needing the arc for each to keep things interesting and not just non-stop action. Was hard to direct as sometimes he'd be under the floorboards of the truck, talking through a speaker, it was loud, etc.

It was a brief affair with no audience questions but Miller hung out for a while signing for fans. The Road Warrior queued up next but being a Monday and already after 10:00 PM, it was time to go home to kick back with an Aqua Cola, shiny and chrome.

Summer Cinema: Jian Bing Man aka Pancake Man

Please help me welcome author and #ActionMovieBro david j. moore to Dammaged Goods as he reviews Jian Bing Man, the Chinese superhero comedy that features one Jean-Claude Van Damme in a cameo role as the villain. Translated to Pancake Man, Jian Bing has grossed an astounding $125 million dollars in China and The Middle Kingdom. It's currently playing in AMC's across America so check your local listings. Moore and I met at San Diego Comic-Con last year and have been working together since. His first book, World Gone Wild: A Survivor's Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Movies has been a hit around the world with over 800 reviews and over 60 exclusive interviews with cast and crew. Moore's next work, the action film focused The Good, The Tough & The Deadly: Action Movies & Stars 1960's - Present hits shelves this holiday season. Yours truly is featured briefly with a couple of reviews and the Carl Weathers interview. Take it away David:

Let's just get this out of the way: Despite being heavily featured in the trailers, marketing, and posters, Jean-Claude Van Damme is neither the star nor the co-star of the new Chinese megabomb known as Jian Bing Man (English translation: Pancake Man). His name is spoken once early on in the film as a teaser that he might show up at some point, and you're sitting there waiting for your favorite action star to show his face in some capacity, and in the last five minutes he at last appears to add the only star quality this hopelessly immature and lost in translation motion picture has going for it. He does the splits (why wouldn't he since that's what he was paid for?), throws a butterfly kick, gets thrown on his face by the star who's wearing a yellow cape, and in the last seconds of the film before the credits roll Van Damme gets the last line: "Iron Man didn't kick my ass!" as if that's supposed to validate The Pancake Man's awesomeness. I'm telling you, guys, I really hope Van Damme got a million bucks for this garbage because if he didn't then there's no justice.

A quick backstory of my appreciation and devotion to Van Damme's work: The first time I saw one of his films in a theater was Timecop in 1994. I've been a fan ever since, seeing all of his theatrical releases any time he's been given one. I was there for everything from Maximum Risk (twice) to Knock Off and Universal Soldier: The Return, and I've sought out every screening of his latest film at every nook and cranny festival if it was playing in a theater within a hundred mile radius. I saw JCVD in a theater, I went out of my way to go see Welcome to the Jungle, Swelter, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, Dragon Eyes, Enemies Closer, Pound of Flesh, and I even went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 because he did the voice of an alligator in it. If the powers that be decide that Van Damme gets a theatrical release, I make sure I'm there no matter what. So when I found out that Jian Bing Man was getting a theatrical release - playing at the Puente Hills Mall AMC Theater, I made sure I was there for the preview night on Thursday at 7:00 PM before opening night. I figured I'd be the only guy in the theater (same as I was when I saw Universal Soldier: DoR, Dragon Eyes, and Enemies Closer), but I was absolutely floored when I entered the auditorium - it was packed! Almost every single seat had been taken by a crowd of young Asians (Chinese, I'm guessing educationally), and I had to find a seat in the last row in the back. After four or five trailers for exclusively Asian films, Jian Bing Man started.

The crowd went wild for this garbage, including the guy sitting next to me who kept looking over to me, wondering why I wasn't as thrilled as he was. From the first frames, the audience laughed uncontrollably, clapped, cheered, and had a great time. The guy next to me kept ribbing me, trying to get a response out of me, but it just wasn't happening. I almost wanted to run to the foot of the auditorium to take a photo of everyone in the theater having a such a good time because not only was I the only gweilo in the place, but I was also the only person not laughing. As in Chinese opera and theater, almost everything in these modern films from that region takes great pains to oversimplify drama, mystery, and comedy to the point of nullifying any sense of personal gratification for going on a cinematic journey along with characters you're supposed to care about. Silly characters are ridiculously broad, with massively broad strokes coloring their temperature when they're in comedic situations. Gay characters (forget subtlety) are parodies of gay characters, and romantic, leading characters are hopeless romantics with melodramatic subplots who are sometimes allowed long, drawn-out (and in slow motion, no less) flashbacks to childhood for no good reason. To top off all of this cinematic ineptitude, the main character (played by the film's director Da Peng, who is just cute enough to play the lead, but just nerdy enough to have everyone in the film consider him a loser) dreams of becoming a superhero known as Pancake Man, whose sole superpower is to throw raw eggs at bad guys. We get slow-mo shots of eggs crashing on grimacing faces, and Pancake Man (who sort of looks like Cyclone from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe) flips around and zooms off into the ether from whence he came. For me, this was not a superhero movie, a comedy, or a spoof of any sort. It is a sad and confounding state affairs to realize that this is what millions of Chinese people are eating up, and to know that this has made over a hundred million dollars and broke every record in its native country just bewilders me.  

As for Jean-Claude Van Damme, he plays himself playing a nameless villain Pancake Man fights at the very end of the film. The fight lasts maybe two or three minutes at most. If you saw and were disappointed by Van Damme's appearances in Welcome to the Jungle and Swelter, you'll be glad (I guess) to hear that he kicks more and does more of what you're hoping he'll do in this thing. It's just over so quickly. It's not worth the price of admission, frankly, unless you're a diehard fan (like I've always been). A funny thing about the film is that a Chinese pop band (four dudes with ultra stylish hair and make-up) shows up immediately after Van Damme gets knocked out by Pancake Man, and their purpose in the film was simply to upstage him for the bigger-and-better cameo (at least to the Chinese audience, who cheered when these guys came into the picture), and one of their songs plays on the soundtrack to highlight their gorgeousness. When Pancake Man greets them (they have no purpose in the film other than to simply appear and disappear), they smile and chat with him for a second, and that's when I noticed their teeth. The true mark of Communism is bad teeth, and that's when the film got my first and only laugh. I dunno, guys. This movie's the pits, but if you feel you need to go there, then go there. I did. And I'll never forget the experience.  

Con-Man: San Diego '15 Thursday

After getting in most of my floor walking Wednesday at Preview Night, there was no rush to get over to the show today. After a little spell walking on the comic side of the exhibition floor I headed up to the first panel of the day, Peanuts 65th Anniversary! It was more a tribute to Charles M. Schulz with representatives from the museum up north and several artists inspired by the man. Of course it was a love and appreciation fest with the artists discussing Schulz's simple and economic style being one of the most difficult to emulate. Apparently, Schulz's famous squiggly line style came after he got on heart medication so it became even harder to copy. Of course The Peanuts gang is still firmly in our mind with a new movie on the way, holiday specials on every year, MetLife ads, etc. A limited series comic book based on Snoopy's Red Baron adventures is due out in September and looks like a lot of fun.

Then it was over to Bringing Toys to Life in Video Games: He-Man and G.I. Joe Complete the Toy Soldiers: War Chest, an action/strategy game coming out in August that pits armies from the Dark Lords, etc against 80's favorites G.I. Joe, Masters of the Universe and just announced Cobra and Assassin's Creed! Like Toy Story meets Warcraft, gameplay looked like a lot of fun as you're on a play set in a child's room. Controlling armies you can play as the hero Duke or He-Man. Joe historian and Hasbro exec Derryl DePriest, Mattel Director Mark Morse and game producer Josh Mast talked about the evolution of the title and translating the figures to the digitized world. As a Joe aficionado, DePriest asked for some broken thumbs and various fan favorite vehicles, sticker decals and the like. While He-Man was originally going to be based on the 1982 figure but if you'll remember, only had 5 points of articulation so they used a newer model in order to provide extra animation and movement. In a nice touch, you call down upgrades and support like Battle Cat or a new tank and it drops in it's original packaging box. There was some fun trivia (Duke was the first mail order figure available, "Let the power return" signals the transition from He-Man to Prince Adam, etc.) and Toy Soldiers looks like a good time.

I was late so of course Jim Lee's panel was fully booked but I just wandered over to see his former protege Humberto Ramos' Spotlight panel. To start, the Spider-Man, Impulse, Crimson and Out There artist/creator was awarded with Comic-Con International's Inkpot Award which identifies individual contributions to the worlds of comics, science fictoin/fantasy, film, etc. It was a stacked guest list to help Ramos including Jimmy Palmiotti and writer extraordinaire Mark Waid who helped start the dialog. Ramos always loved Spider-Man and got into the business by submitting his work and going to conventions for portfolio reviews. A still prominent artist told him to give up and now they share panels at shows, so eat that, douche! Industry stalwarts Tom Brevoort and Walt Simonson were early supporters, telling Ramos he had something special and to keep working. My favorite Ramos work came from his stint at the creator owned Cliffhanger label in the 2000's where high schoolers vs demons book Out There ran for 20 some issues. Asked about his contemporaries Joe Madureira and J. Scott Campbell who had trouble shipping books in a timely manner while Ramos put out two books, Ramos felt they owed it to the audience to finish their story and wrapped up first series Crimson. Unlike Joe Mad's fun but perpetually late Battle Chasers which went on hiatus and never returned. Everyone on the panel more or less described Ramos as the nicest guy in the world which was more difficult than succeeding. Ramos was humble, funny and thoughtful throughout so his success is well deserved.

There were several more panels I meant to check out but got caught up reuniting with friends and colleagues like #ActionMovieBro David J. Moore. While I'm here for fun, David has work to do and just came from interviewing Wesley Snipes, promoting new NBC show, The Player. It's a very rare thing when you can discuss hardly known action movies at a rapid fire pace. Was looking forward to checking out Miami Vice 30th Anniversary Retrospective but I totally forgot my badge coming back to the show and opted to go to Happy Hour with some cosplayers instead. Later that night it was time to support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund at their welcome party. Was a nice shindig at the Westgate's old school hotel where we had some delicious Incredible Hulk cocktails. Our pedicab driver told us about a semi-hidden bar on our way that was Alice in Wonderland themed complete with trick entry. We made it though and continued the Con-ebration. It's been a really fun year and it's not even time for Friday! See ya at the show!

That's the Power of #MovieBro

Movies bring people together.  I've been fortunate enough to meet some great folks who became firm friends over the years thanks to the power of cinema.  In the mid-2000's I made pals with a Jean-Claude Van Damme fan from the U.K. through the forum board of a fan site and we're still e-homies today.  Around the same time I e-met the administrator of the premiere Dolph Lundgren web site and now he works with the big Swede, has visited him on countless movie sets while writing and producing his own works.  A one time student in Los Angeles, we even met up when he was visiting a few years back.  Then there was the co-worker who noticed the Escape From New York button on my shoulder bag, we became instant #MovieBros and now he runs his own frigging film festival.  After attending one of the Van Damme Double Dips and Dolph night, an author recognized me at San Diego Comic-Con, we met for lunch where he was wearing an I Come In Peace tee shirt and we proceeded to discuss action movies known and obscure for a couple hours.  It just goes on and on and I'm only too happy to see them all succeeding.

Tom, the U.K. based Van Damme fan and I have traded movie ideas with for years, always joking that one day we'd meet up in Bulgaria to make a low budget action movie starring Michael Biehn or Rutger Hauer for Nu Image.  Now, Super Tom is one step closer as he's just wrote and produced a short film called Out.  The trailer just hit this past weekend, it looks great and I know he's got much more in the pipeline.  Watching the handsomely shot and edited trailer concerning a newly released convict helping his adopted brother get out of the world of crime has inspired me to keep moving towards Bulgaria, in a sense.  Running the blog, traveling to conventions and planning events has been fun and rewarding but it's good to keep pushing towards something bigger.

The author who introduced himself to me in San Diego was one David J. Moore, a prolific writer who has contributed to the likes of Black Belt Magazine, Fangoria and Filmfax while visiting movie sets around the globe.  He published World Gone Wild: A Survivor's Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Movies this past year and it is awesome.  It's hardcover with glossy pages and color text and photos, in other words, it's a real book.  The tome consists of bite size movie reviews for over 800 titles in the End of the World genre featuring dozens upon dozens of interviews with cast and crew.  After reading his review and interview with director Roger Christian, I actually want to see Battlefield Earth!  There's plenty of titles I'd never heard of but now want to check out.  Like me, David is celebrating these films and showing the filmmakers that someone out there enjoyed their work, no matter how obscure or how limited the release.  Sit downs with the likes of Albert Pyun, Michael Pare, Martin Campbell, Russell Mulcahy and Paul W.S. Anderson are highlights.  Mr. Moore's next book is The Good, The Tough and the Deadly: Action Stars and their Movies which pays homage to you guessed it, my favorite genre, the action movie!  David has lined up another winner with something like 60+ interviews with actors, martial artists, writers, directors, etc.  Yours truly contributed to one of them and has a couple reviews included.