Last Tuesday night, director Peter Malota and producers Richard Salvatore and Rafael Primorac hosted the premiere of Jean-Claude Van Damme's latest film, Kill'em All. Held at the Harmony Gold Theater on Sunset, the same spot of the stacked Robocop charity screening years back. There was a crowd outside the theater and inside was a small red carpet set up. Frequent JCVD collaborator and friend Sheldon Lettich was on hand, one of the first things he said was that JC was not going to show after originally planning to attend. Classic Van Damme, the man remains a true enigma. Martial artist and usual Van Damme training partner at Gold's James Bennett seemed to be running the room while I caught up with several other folks I've met at other JC-centric events. Co-star Daniel Bernhardt, and star of the VD-less Bloodsport sequels, was on hand along with female lead Autumn Reeser. Josef Cannon from the still unreleased Full Love was in the lobby as well.
Peter Malota has been a long time Van Damme cohort, providing fight choreography for films like The Quest and The Order while appearing as a high kicking, spur wearing baddie in Double Impact. Here he's given his first shot at directing the Jesse Cilio, Brian Smolenskey and Craig Stewart written script. We meet Van Damme's security expert/bodyguard Philip being brought into the emergency room with a big slash on his arm and a possible concussion. Nurse Suzanne (Reeser) tends to him when a host of black clad bad guys show up, lead by Radovan (Daniel Bernhardt) and start shooting peeps. Slickly shot and produced with a surprising amount of beautiful establishing shots, Kill'em All is also all over the place. Every character walks in slow motion then gets a full on flashback introduction. Not simply a "one man takes on the bad guys" in a single location kinda deal, KEA has a surprising amount of geopolitical, Cold War, end of Communism and ensuing difficulties in Europe story filler, delivered by Peter Stormare along with Maria Conchita Alonso in what was probably a couple days of shooting in an office to get some names in the film.
Son Kris shows up as a high kicking killer who likes knives while Daniel delivers some nice leg work as well. There's gunfights, grappling and fisticuffs galore with Van Damme throwing some hard round houses and hammer fists to the dome. Surprisingly, Reeser's Suzanne gets to kick quite a bit of ass and is far from a damsel in distress waiting for Van Damme to save her. Like Pound of Flesh, he's supposed to be in pain most of the time so his face is usually drained of color and sweaty so it's not exactly a vanity project. While it's not full on sad Van Damme, it's close. Philip's part doesn't have a juicy arc or dialog so it's not on par with say Wake of Death or Until Death from the 2000's. All in the film isn't as action driven as I imagined but it also wasn't as small in scope either. We'll see where Black Water, a reteaming with Dolph Lundgren, goes from here.
Last night The Egyptian Theatre hosted a members exclusive screening of new horror-thriller The Veil. Director Phil Joanou directs a script by Robert Ben Garant that finds Thomas Jane as Jim Jacobs, enigmatic leader of a cult based on removing the nails between your physical body and spiritual soul. After a mass suicide leaves survivor Sarah Hope (Lily Rabe) scarred for life, she agrees to accompany a documentary crew headed by Maggie Price (Jessica Alba) back to the camp. Price's father was an FBI agent on the scene and like Sarah, her family's lives have been forever affected by the cult. Boasting a strong performance by Jane as the death defying, violence prone yet miracle healer Jacobs anchors the film along with Rabe and Alba as motivated women trying to make sense of a tragedy. Joanou creates an atmospheric thriller versus a straight slasher film that has a few chills and shocks even if the narrative and supernatural elements get a little confusing. Lots of cast and crew were in the audience and I spotted the man himself Thomas Jane in the lobby looking dapper and chill. I had a great time hanging with RAW Studios and convention maestro Mike and our friend Vladimir Kulich made an appearance as he's a big fan of Jane's dating back to Stander where he thought the Maryland born actor was actually South African.
A very energetic Phil Joanou participated in a brief Q&A:
- Shot in 25 days over 5 weeks at a First Nations reservation. Shortest schedule he's ever had.
- Did a movie for $3.2 million that shot for 32 days in the states and several cities abroad to compare.
- Once Blumhouse decides to make your movie, just tell you to go.
- Script was originally found footage but completely overhauled as fad had passed.
- Learned how to use After Effects on YouTube and spent more man hours adding in blood and ghosts than did shooting the actual movie.
- Loves his cast, said he couldn't have done it in the time frame with a weak crew.
- Shot very wide to evoke likes of John Ford and Roman Polanski to highlight ensemble.
- 1 to 3 takes, accomplished 40 + shots on first day of production.
- Film screened once with an audience for first test, cut out 20 minutes and this was second public screening before going VOD and Netflix.
- Was a protege of Steven Spielberg's and discussed the highs and lows of Hollywood, how hard it is but the key is to do it because you love it, whether it's a big budget, small budget, 3,000 screen release or On Demand. The journey is the destination.
- Spent two years on The Veil and couldn't be prouder of the film and those who worked on it.
While it would have been nice to hear from The Jane, Joanou was a ball of funny and inspiring energy. It was a fun night but only Monday! Check out The Veil on Netflix, available now!
Our friends at The American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theatre are hosting a Private screening of new horror film The Veil next Monday, February 1st at 8:00 PM and you can go! Director Phil Joanou and cast members will be attending for Q&A. The spooky and violent looking thriller tells the tale of The Heaven's Veil, a cult that perished thirty years ago. Now, soul survivor Sarah Hope (Lily Rabe) returns to the scene with a documentary crew headed by Maggie Price (Jessica Alba). From there, bad memories, seances and seemingly gory deaths ensue. The King of WeirdCool himself, Thomas Jane, co-stars as cult leader Jim Jacobs. Writer Robert Ben Garant takes a detour from his previous comedic offerings of Reno 911!Night at the Museum and the upcoming Baywatch while former music video director turned filmmaker Joanou gave us the Sean Penn, Ed Harris and Gary Oldman starring crime flick State of Grace and Richard Gere and Kim Basinger led Final Analysis among others before teaming up with Jane for The Punisher: Dirty Laundry, 2012's well received fan film co-starring Ron Perlman which has over 7 million views on YouTube. Producer Jason Blum continues to offer up modest budget genre flicks with familiar faces while providing creative freedom to movie makers with a successful track record of Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Purge, Stretch and The Visit.
Catch more exclusive screenings from The American Cinematheque by becoming a member and support films on the big screen the way they were meant to be seen.
For a chance to win tickets for this special evening, e-mail DammagedGoodsWin@gmail.com by Friday, January 29th. See you there!
Live-Evil is a little horror comedy flick written and produced by Ari Kirschenbaum. I came into contact with the project after meeting Vladimir Kulich at the Pound of Flesh premiere back in May. We had coffee to do an interview and since then I'm proud to call the big guy from Czechoslovakia a friend. He starred as Sheriff Pete in the indie flick which is now playing at film festivals and conventions, mainly on the east coast. After picking up awards at the North Carolina Film Festival and Scare-A-Con, I figured it was time to get Live-Evil some west coast love. Since it's set at Halloween, Comikaze Expo seemed as good as any place to hold an exclusive screening. It would also be my first convention panel after producing and hosting a half dozen other nights through my Dammaged Goods Presents banner. Kirschenbaum was joined by cast members Kulich, Charlene Amoia, Vincent M. Ward, J. Richey Nash, Carter, Ed Ricker, Frank Saverino and Adam Flores.
Set on Halloween night in a sleepy college town, we meet Deputy Hancock (Amoia) as she takes out a wounded piece of almost roadkill. Things get weird when she investigates a mysterious call from a house in town where she finds dead bodies and a seemingly possessed naked woman. Back at the station isn't any quieter as a random traffic stop has netted Sheriff Pete (Kulich) custody of two of America's most wanted, Mr. Eleven (Ricker) and Twelve (Carter) with a trunk full of money and guns. The naked chick is brought in and brings evil with her, infecting near everyone with their worst fears. Visions of dead fathers, serial killers and more invade the usually calm crew and they set out to figure out what is going on. The two fugitives were retrieving some artifacts for a buyer that has unleashed the supernatural forces on "f*cking Halloween". From there we get zombies, machine guns, bazookas, exorcism chants, shotguns, licking whiskey off a table, shooting locals and much more. Kirschenbaum's script is funny while he gives it a stamp of his own as the film unfolds partially in black and white with visual flourishes of blood, eyes and floating evil stuff. There's plenty of laughs throughout as Deputy Eric (Nash) gets to play scared/dumb, the fugitives bicker and instigate and the college Dean tries to make sense of the situation. The cast all gel quite well and bounce off one another with Kulich getting to play angry, crazy and distraught while Amoia is the calming force among all of the chaos. Tony Todd shows up late in the game as a smoking and drinking preacher while the synth tinged score keeps things going in a John Carpenter way.
After the film I brought up our huge panel to talk the film:
- Kirschenbaum wanted to make a throw back film to the 80's like Return of the Living Dead, Night of the Creeps and George Romero's work.
- Nearly everyone made comment on liking the script.
- Long haired in the film, Ricker and Carter showed up with short cuts and weren't recognized by their co-stars. Had originally gone up for other roles.
- Richey had worked with Kirschenbaum on another film.
- Another actress was cast as Hancock but wasn't providing the physicality the director wanted. Amoia got the call, showed she could throw punches, was on a plane by the weekend and shooting Monday.
- Amoia loved being the central female characters in a cast of tall guys as it was never dull.
- Film was shot in Raleigh, North Carolina over several cold weeks, mostly at night.
- Kulich and Richey spent a lot of time tasting the local bourbon and barbecue.
- We're used to seeing Kulich as a bearded viking, this time he's a bearded Sheriff with a shotgun, Kulich was excited to play an American and turned him into a bit of a good ol' boy.
- Lots of guns in the movie but using each one meant the armorer had to painstakingly inspect and test each one for safety reasons which took up a lot of time.
- This was the first film for Adam Flores who had a great time and is thinking of giving acting a go.
- Cast all loved Kirschenbaum's script and would love to see him given a proper budget.
Of course more was discussed but I don't want to give away too much of the film. We handed out several prizes like signed posters and tee shirts with many a viewer sticking around to meet the panel and ask more questions. While it was Halloween night, it had been a long day and with my mission accomplished, it was time to go home. With a stop at McDonald's first... Check out the official Live-Evil website for all the latest news and I'll keep you updated on further screenings and distribution. Keep itching!
We're just days away from Halloween and the Comikaze exclusive premiere of Live-Evil! Kick off your haunted evening with an appropriate tale of supernatural evil and zombies on Saturday, October 31st at 5:30 PM in room 515B. It's basically right over the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center. So when you go upstairs to the third floor, just go to the right for a while! We'll have trivia, prizes and giveaways like tee shirts and signed posters. The panel has grown immensely as we're joined by writer/director Ari Kirschenbaum, leading man Vladimir Kulich (The 13th Warrior), leading lady Charlene Amoia (How I Met Your Mother), Vincent M. Ward (The Walking Dead), J. Richey Nash, Carter and Ed Ricker. Co-star Tony Todd (Candyman, The Rock) is currently working outside of Los Angeles but recently popped up for a screening at Santa Fe's Dark Frame Film Festival. Admission to the west coast premiere is included in your Comikaze Day Pass for Saturday. It's going to be a fun day as Comikaze is really coming into it's own with tons of screenings, panels, contests and special guests along with the giant exhibit floor and Artist Alley. See you there!
It's been a wild ride this last year and a half producing events that's seen Dammaged Goods presents at three different theaters around town hosting a multitude of guests from Sheldon Lettich, Dolph Lundgren and Steven de Souza to Carl Weathers, cast and crew from G.I. Joe and Transformers and of course, the recent two day He-Man and She-Ra event that saw no less than five screenings and over a dozen guests. On Saturday, October 31st, I can add comic convention moderator to my list of accomplishments as yours truly will take the stage at Los Angeles' largest comic book and popular culture convention, Comikaze Expo! That's right, I'll be hosting the west coast premiere of Live-Evil exclusive to the Comikaze crowd on Halloween night. Written and directed by Ari Kirschenbaum, this quirky, throwback flick is a mash up of Ghostbusters, Dawn of the Dead and The Twilight Zone. Having been accepted to a half dozen festivals on the east coast and picked up a few awards, Live-Evil stars Vladimir Kulich (The 13th Warrior), Charlene Amoia (How I Met Your Mother), Vincent M. Ward (The Walking Dead), J. Richey Nash (Hitting the Cycle) and Tony Todd (The Rock, Candyman). It's Halloween night in a small college town when supernatural forces are unleashed resulting in walking nightmares and zombies armed with machine guns.
The fun starts at 5:00 PM on Saturday, October 31st with the exclusive screening followed by Q&A with Kirschenbaum, Kulich, Amoia and Nash. Admission is included with your Comikaze Day Pass and stay tuned for location updates when the full schedule is released. This year Comikaze welcomes the likes of Stan Lee, Carrie Fisher, William Shatner, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Jim Lee, Grant Morrison, Rob Liefeld and many, many more. Get your tix and stay up to date HERE.
It was back to Hollywood last night for some Happy Hour at Boardner's, much better deals than Pig & Whistle, for the west coast premiere of Bone Tomahawk! I've been pumped for this flick since first hearing about it, I mean come on, a gothic western with cannibals starring Kurt Russell?! The screening officially sold out and the packed audience included no less than Clu Gulugar, Sid Haig, Martin Kove and Quentin Tarantino! #ActionMovieBro David J. Moore was in the house, his action movie opus The Good, the Tough and the Deadly hits shelves this February, featuring a couple of things by yours truly, so be on the look out for that and for accompanying screenings and signings. Beyond Fest maestros Grant, Christian and crew kicked things off in ridiculously awesome fashion as usual, shooting and winging tee shirts into the crowd along with DVD's.
Bone Tomahawk takes place around the turn of the century in the quiet town of Brighton Hope, population 200 and something. A couple of rustlers run afoul of a tribe of savage cannibals dubbed troglodytes who kidnap Samantha (Lili Simmons), the wife of local cowboy with a broken leg Arthur (Patrick Wilson). Along with Sheriff Franklin Hunt (KURT RUSSELL), his old timer deputy Chicory (Richard Jenkins) and cold blooded dandy Brooder (Matthew Fox), the quartet sets out to rescue Samantha. What follows is a beautiful, funny, brutal and gorily violent adventure that had the audience laughing, cheering and cringing throughout. Written and directed by S. Craig Zahler, the first time director makes good use of his deep cast, wild west setting and hardcore if not over the top violence. It kind of reminded you of The 13th Warrior, the vikings, men on a mission flick as it was an odyssey to battle a strange and unforgiving enemy. But as a western. The dialog has a certain panache and tilt to it and the actors all deliver their lines in their own special ways. You had hot head Arthur, overly calm and deadly Brooder, funny/dumb/crazy Chicory and Hunt right in the middle. There aren't any huge gun fights or horse chase sequences but Zahler makes effective and shocking use of violence throughout. Beyond the poster names, familiar faces like Sid Haig, David Arquette, Michael Pare and Sean Young pop up briefly.
After the film, Zahler was joined by actors Matthew Fox and Lili Simmons for a podcast interview with Jeff Goldsmith from The Q&A:
- Zahler went to NYU, is a huge heavy metal fan, wrote fanzines, worked full time as a caterer then started writing. Can finish a script in 30 days, a novel in 45 or so. Has had 22 scripts optioned but only one produced by a random international consortium.
- Simmons started off at Disney, landed an agent through her manager. Currently wrapping up series Banshee.
- Matthew Fox grew up in Wyoming with no TV until his teens, encouraged to read a lot of fiction by his father and graduated with an Economics degree before booking commercials and acting jobs.
- After so many projects optioned but never produced, Zahler wrote Bone with an eye to direct and get something made. Friend and partner Dallas Sonnier secured financing.
- Small movie, under $5 million to make it. At one point $1.8 million was mentioned, phew!
- Kurt Russell was attached from the beginning and stuck with it for two and a half years. Zahler describes him as having the energy of 5-10 Kurt's.
- Fox loved working with Russell and Jenkins, described them both as easy going guys, excited to be making movies, down to earth and totally supportive.
- Fox grew up riding horses and had a crazy mare to work with but ended up taming the creature.
- Film shot for 21 days, partially in upstate New York.
- Not much music in film, didn't want to use it as a crutch.
- Inspired by R. Rider Haggard and books like King Solomon's Mines as well as micro-budget horror films. Wanted to create his own race and gave them a distinct look and feel. - Original script was 128 pages and basically shot all of it. Miraculously never fell behind.
- Fox doesn't choose roles based on anything much more than the material presented. Studied photos of people from the era, impressed with how they carried themselves and used it in film.
- Zahler and Fox are developing a crime/mystery TV series.
- Film is going to be released uncut and unrated.
Of course much more was discussed but you can catch the full podcast when it's released. A great flick that I hope lands on a special features loaded Blu-Ray soon! Beyond Fest keeps on chugging this week with He Never Died, Men & Chicken, Too Late, Eraserhead, The Mind's Eye and The Phantom of the Opera among others with guests like Henry Rollins, John Hawkes, Bernard Rose and more scheduled to attend. We'll be back for Dog Day Afternoon followed by a chat with Al Pacino!
Beyond Fest has been in full effect since last Thursday night's premiere of gangster flick Legend starring Tom Hardy with writer/director Brian Helgeland stopping by for Q&A. Things have been pedal to the floor ever since with a Better Off Dead reunion, Evil Dead double feature with Edgar Wright, Bruce Campbell and surprise guest Sam Raimi along with 600 foam chainsaws then a rare concert featuring Italian composer Frizzi. We finally made it Monday night for the west coast premiere of The Invitation, a single location ensemble piece about a dinner party featuring old friends who haven't seen each other in two years after a family tragedy. We saw a clip at Comic-Con and you just knew some weird shit was going to happen. Directed by Karyn Kusama from a script by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, the flick stars Logan Marshall-Green, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Michiel Huisman, Mike Doyle and John Carroll Lynch. It was a packed house and the lobby was set up with posters from various films playing throughout the festival. But the pre-show clips of random horror, trailers, Rocky III training and whatnot lent terrific additional energy.
The Invitation starts with Will (Green) and Kira (Corinealdi) on their way to Eden's (Tammy Blanchard) home in the Hollywood Hills. Eden happens to be Will's ex-wife and they used to share the house. It's been two years since they split and their circle of friends haven't seen much of either since. Past secrets and pain are revealed as present plans unfold leading to a final act that I thought involve aliens. While it wasn't Invasion of the Body Snatchers at a dinner party, there's the same sense of dread and questioning who your friends are that made for a funny, intense, violent and raw 100 minutes. It's a simple flick so I don't want to spoil anything but it's definitely worth checking out as performances are solid as is the ambiance and shocking conclusion. After the film, director Kusama, writers Hay and Manfredi along with actor Marshall-Green took to the stage for Q&A. Non-spoiler basics:
- Kusama and Hay are married in real life.
- Hay and Manfredi have been kicking the idea around since about 2000.
- Play on reality and legends of Hollywood Hills' various crimes and oddities.
- Kusama met Green at a coffee shop who thought he was a loitering lurker, liked his lack of ego or vanity.
- Diverse cast reflected reality of living in Los Angeles.
- Nice to work in modern day, independent horror or sci-fi as big ideas can replace big set pieces.
- A week before shooting, ensemble cast and filmmakers spent time with each other alone, in pairings and groups to work out dynamics and tone.
- Edited in Kusama and Hay's garage much to neighbor's chagrin.
- Worked hard to keep the tension up throughout, where to throttle, where to let go, etc.
It's a little tough to talk about since once you see it or talk about it, you can't unsee it or untalk about it, know what I mean? A great night and a solid flick, bring on the west coast premiere of Bone Tomahawk aka Kurt Russell's gothic western, with cannibals! See ya at The Egyptian.
Another night, another premiere. This time at The Grove in West Hollywood for Jean-Claude Van Damme's latest, Pound of Flesh. After making friends with Popular Press Media Group and interviewing producer Kirk Shaw and director Ernie Barbarash, I snagged an invite and a V.I.P. wristband, oh la la. We arrived around 6:00 PM as I was told the 400 person screening was overbooked. There was a fan line outside and the red carpet was all set up inside the lobby. During check in I excused myself past UFC fighter Michael Bisping and boxer Victor Ortiz showed up as well. Running back and forth from Morel for happy hour, I bumped into Chuck Zito again, I introduced myself to him at Skin Trade and we chatted a minute. He's a very dapper and strong looking man. Mr. Sheldon Lettich was meeting up with us and in the lobby I ran into Carl Weathers and Aki Aleong from Pound of Flesh and The Quest. It was a bit of a mad house in the lobby but I chatted with Ernie Barbarash then spent a while talking to Vladimir Kulich aka Buliwyf from The 13th Warrior! Kulich was with I Come In Peace's Mattias Hues and they all live on the westside with Kulich being Carl Weathers' neighbor! Kulich was super cool and fun to talk to, it probably helped that I knew his work from 13th, Smokin' Aces, Breach of Trust and other randomness. I'll have to get him for a Dammaged Goods chat but it was awesome to hear about his time working on 13th, how it shot for 9 months, the dual schedule with director John McTiernan and Michael Crichton, etc.
Then I spotted Van Damme's buddy Kamel, the majong parlor operator from Double Impact among many other VD films. Introduced myself to Peter Malota, a high kicking actor and stuntman who you'd know as the guard with spurs on his boots in Double Impact as well as popping up as The Spaniard in The Quest. Born in Albania, Malota has lived in Detroit for the last 20 years and was great to talk to. I didn't spend much time looking at the red carpet but noticed Terminator 3's Kristanna Loken at one point and then the man himself, Jean-Claude Van Damme, showed up with daughter Bianca. Van Damme was looking great, slim and built in a tight white top and trademark, trademark initialed ball cap. This is the 3rd time I've seen him in person and the 2nd time it's been a complete mob. After the taping of Jay Leno's Tonight Show, people rushed Van Damme's car and wouldn't back off so they sped away. It was more of the same here with security constantly yelling for people to step back. I was in the theater hallway when this happened and the man walked right by me in a huff. The next time I saw him, you could tell he was a little flustered from all the attention. The man has some really rude and pushy fans as a friend got shoved out of the way at one point. Inside the theater I spoke to Todd Senofonte, Van Damme's longtime stunt double who also worked on PoF as he mentioned it being a tough shoot. Former wife Darcy LaPier was there as well, not sure if their son Nicolas was in attendance or not.
Kirk Shaw and Barbarash introduced the film, talking about spending a couple of years securing the script and Van Damme, the difficulties of making modest budget action films and thanking everyone in attendance along with paying tribute to co-star and martial artist Darren Shahlavi who recently passed. Chinese producer Henry Luk expressed his satisfaction with the film and project and is looking forward to making more movies soon. In a funny moment Van Damme yelled "volume, please!" as the microphones weren't working which was followed by "focus!" shouted out by none other than Charlie Sheen! The night was running late of course and we all settled in to watch Pound of Flesh, the tale of JCVD's Deacon, a kidnap and rescue specialist who gets taken by some organ harvesters in Manila. Waking up without a kidney, Deacon and his peaceful brother George (John Ralston) set out to get it back as the vital bodypart was supposed to go George's daughter. Working with Kung (Aki Aleong), an old crime buddy, they crack open the lucrative business of casing targets using hospital information, drugging them and removing their organs. The movie did a nice job of mixing the drama with the action as Deacon is a self described bastard while George is the good guy. Once upon a time, this could have been another film where Van Damme played twins.
Fights by John Salvitti are a nice change of pace for Van Damme with elbows, knees, throws, grappling and high kicks all being mixed together. Mike Leeder gets punched in the face and Van Damme does the splits while holding onto the side of a car in an applause inducing moment. You also get lots of Van Damme nudity in the opening minutes, in fact, there's more male nudity in the film than female! The man is still in great shape though. Besides the action, Van Damme gets some nice dramatic moments, talking about his backstory and challenging brother George to do whatever it takes to save his daughter. Even if that included Damme'ing his soul. There's also a few bits of humor throughout which were a welcome touch. Darren Shahlavi did a solid job as the evil enforcer Goran, playing the role with plenty of charisma and physicality. If anything, the film could have used more fighting between him and Van Damme to show off their kicks and cinematic grace.
After the film I congratulated Kirk Shaw on the film and turnout, apparently they had to rent out a second theater! He told me they were developing another project with Van Damme so we have that to look forward to. We hit the after party for a few minutes where it was just too jam packed with people. Some friends waited it out and ended up meeting Van Damme closer to midnight. While I didn't get to meet the man, I know in my heart, my soul and my gut that it will happen some day. Hopefully for a screening of Lionheart, Bloodsport and JCVD in Hollywood...It was a great evening and congratulations to Michelle, Jessica, Ernie, Kirk and everyone involved.
It's been an interesting journey going from the guy sitting in the audience to the one helping put things together and standing up front with a microphone. Last night's premiere of Skin Trade was an educational experience as I watched how studios and PR firms handle their business. The courtyard to The Egyptian Theatre was set up with a red carpet and lights with security checking people in at Hollywood Boulevard. #ActionMovieBros David J. Moore from World Gone Wildand The Action Elite's Eoin Friel were there while news outlets like Nerd Reactor, Variety, The Arnold Fans and Starburst magazine had their spots on the red carpet. I ran into co-producer Craig Baumgarten who was on his way to Asia shortly after the premiere. Bloodsport co-writer and Double Impact director Sheldon Lettich was one of my guests for the night and in some near perfect timing, it had been a year and a day since the inaugural Dammaged Goods Presents event, The Van Damme Triple Dip at The New Beverly Cinema. Speaking of Van Damme, Pound of Flesh director Ernie Barbarash was in attendance and walked the red carpet.
A pack of papparazzi was stationed on the Walk of Fame and one by one, our guests for the evening started to arrive. Ron Perlman. Tony Jaa. Director Ekachai Uekrongtham. Celina Jade. Dolph Lundgren. They were joined by the likes of Chuck Zito, Victor Ortiz and Chin Han. An invitation to one Jean-Claude Van Damme was extended but I was told he was too busy with his own impending premiere the next evening. Earlier in the day it was said that Jason Statham planned on attending and we were hoping Michael Jai-White and Peter Weller would swing by if they were in town. It looked like Statham was a no show while Mr. White had just hopped on a plane to London and Mr. Weller must have been predisposed. Apparently Mr. Statham had already snuck into the theater and lo and behold when I went to the waiting area to do the night's introduction, there he was. After a quick hello and shake of hands, where I forgot to invite him to do a movie night, we waited as the cast filed in from outside.
Then it was showtime and after a quick introduction and mic handoff to Dolph, the co-producer, writer and star of the film talked about the origins of the film coming from real world events, having met Tony Jaa a couple of years ago on a Thai comedy, getting the cast, securing financing and then enlisting director Uekrongtham. Dolph got a little more serious in talking about the horrors of real world human trafficking where mostly young women are drugged, beat and raped then put to work. While it seemed like a third world problem, Dolph cited an example of it in nearby Brentwood where a woman was brought to the country and put to work as a nanny. After slipping a note to a fellow nanny and praying for help, a week later a dozen FBI agents arrived and pulled her out. Thanks to C.A.S.T., the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, the young woman was put into a shelter, found new work and eventually married and had a child. That young lady was also in attendance. A special auction to attend the premiere, meet the cast and work out with Dolph netted a whopping $40,000.00 bid the last time I checked. Attending co-stars Jaa, Jade and Perlman joined Dolph up front and then it was movie time.
Skin Trade is the tale of two cops, New Jersey based Nick Cassidy (Lundgren) and Thailand's Tony (Jaa). They're both working cases involving human trafficking and after Cassidy kills the son of drug dealer and trafficker Viktor (Ron Perlman), the Russian boss' remaining sons send a rocket into Nick's suburban house window, killing his wife and daughter. With nothing to lose and vengeance on his mind, Nick shows up in Thailand and tracks Viktor down with extreme interrogation methods including shotgun blasts, mangled joints, front kicks and letter openers to the throat. The two cops face off before realizing they're on the same side and they head into a gunfire and explosion filled confrontation with Viktor and his thugs. The script by Lundgren, Gabriel Dowrick and Steven Elder is pretty straightforward but the attention paid to trafficking is rightly sad and unsettling. Uekrongtham lingers a little long on the bad stuff to set up the world but the picture is extremely crisp, the locale used to great effect and action pretty Damme good.
Michael Jai-White shows up as task force member who gets to show off his meaty physique barely contained by a three piece suit and gets a nice fight with Jaa where he goes full Super-Shredder as he punches, kicks and breaks anything in his way. It's pretty impressive to see a man of his size move so fluidly and performing jump, spinning multiple kicks. Jaa of course whups all kinds of ass from his first scene involving a belt and a balcony and his fights with White and Lundgren are excellently staged. His bout with Lundgren showcases both of their styles, Jaa being smaller and faster, flipping, jumping and kicking 20 feet into the air while Lundgren gets to do a trademark step in side kick, show off some brute strength and his classic rough and tumble karate. The fight scenes were shot pretty wide so you could actually see what was going on and with each star being a lifelong martial artist in his own disciplines, showcased each of their styles. There's an old school harshness to action scenes with Dolph blasting a room full of thugs apart with a shotgun or bludgeoning another with the butt of an AK-47.
The cast is filled with familiar faces from the action genre as Peter Weller (Robocop) and Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa (Mortal Kombat) have a few scenes with Lundgren, Jaa, White and Perlman. The ending sets up a sequel so hopefully Skin Trade has been killing it on VOD and will find more success on Blu-Ray. Overall a solid flick elevated by the cast and a handful of stand out action and fight sequences. Following the flick we hopped over to Sadie's across the street for the after party for a few small bites, thank yous and hand shakes before calling it a night. Great times but gotta do it all again tonight, only this time I won't be directing traffic, I'll be part of it.
Many thanks to Magnolia, Magnet, The Egyptian Theatre, Dolph and Craig's teams and everyone who attended. We'll see you on the next one.
Last Tuesday night, director Peter Malota and producers Richard Salvatore and Rafael Primorac hosted the premiere of Jean-Claude Van Damme's latest film, Kill'em All. Held at the Harmony Gold Theater on Sunset, the same spot of the stacked Robocop charity screening years back. There was a crowd outside the theater and inside was a small red carpet set up. Frequent JCVD collaborator and friend Sheldon Lettich was on hand, one of the first things he said was that JC was not going to show after originally planning to attend. Classic Van Damme, the man remains a true enigma. Martial artist and usual Van Damme training partner at Gold's James Bennett seemed to be running the room while I caught up with several other folks I've met at other JC-centric events. Co-star Daniel Bernhardt, and star of the VD-less Bloodsport sequels, was on hand along with female lead Autumn Reeser. Josef Cannon from the still unreleased Full Love was in the lobby as well.
Son Kris shows up as a high kicking killer who likes knives while Daniel delivers some nice leg work as well. There's gunfights, grappling and fisticuffs galore with Van Damme throwing some hard round houses and hammer fists to the dome. Surprisingly, Reeser's Suzanne gets to kick quite a bit of ass and is far from a damsel in distress waiting for Van Damme to save her. Like Pound of Flesh, he's supposed to be in pain most of the time so his face is usually drained of color and sweaty so it's not exactly a vanity project. While it's not full on sad Van Damme, it's close. Philip's part doesn't have a juicy arc or dialog so it's not on par with say Wake of Death or Until Death from the 2000's. All in the film isn't as action driven as I imagined but it also wasn't as small in scope either. We'll see where Black Water, a reteaming with Dolph Lundgren, goes from here.
