Sunday, April 10th Recap

Posted On 04.10.2011

The final day of the four-day ActionFest 2011 was a day that will be remembered by those who attended the event at The Carolina Asheville on Hendersonville Road.

For film fans they day began at noon with a tough decision as four action flicks began at the same time: 13 Assassins, Bail Enforcers, Super, and Tomorrow, When the War Begins.

Fortunately, 13 Assassins was shown again at 7 p.m. so those wanting to catch that movie had one more chance. An official selection of the Venice Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and South by Southwest, 13 Assassins is a remake of 1963 movie based on a real-life incident.

Bail Enforcers offered the big screen debut of seven-time World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Women's Champion Trish Stratus, who attended ActionFest 2011. The movie had its world premiere the night before at the event.

Super offered a big-name cast including the likes of Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Live Tyler, and Kevin Bacon. Tomorrow, When the War Begins won Best Action Sequence at this year's ActionFest awards.

At 2 p.m. the movie Bunraku was shown and it also features a cast of stars, including Josh Hartnett, Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson, and Ron Perlman. At 2 p.m., though, it was a great time to see some real live action in The Carolina parking lot at the free stunt show.

The show began with a performance from Robert Bradley's Ghost Town Gunfighters, which was followed by a martial arts demonstration. Those in attendance got to see a couple great high falls onto an airbag along with a demonstration of roller derby from the Blue Ridge Roller Girls.

The real crowd pleaser of the show, however, was the freestyle motocross guys who flew through the air performing tricks and wowing the crowd. Though the day was breezy and the guys couldn't do everything they had hoped to do, the jumps were amazing. It was fun to see ActionFest co-founder and longtime stuntman Aaron Norris getting a bit nervous about the daredevil feats of the FMX team.

The stunt show concluded with an appearance from the fire-breathing car Medusa from the movie Bellflower—which also was showing at 2 p.m.—and then a demonstration of a "full burn," which basically means catching a guy on fire.

Another highlight of the day was a free screening of the Robert Rodriguez film Machete, which was celebrated as the ActionFest Film of the Year for 2010. The movie offers an all-star cast of Danny Trejo, Michelle Rodriguez, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Steven Seagal, Cheech Marin, Don Johnson, and Lindsay Lohan among others.

For fans of action movies, ActionFest is a must. For those who are not necessarily fans of the genre, a few days at ActionFest gives an insight into the industry that brings with it a gained respect for the action world—especially for the men and women behind the scenes. Obviously ActionFest met its mission admirably.

Sunday, April 10th Preview

Posted On 04.09.2011

Sunday, April 10, is the final day of action at ActionFest 2011. Like the films the event celebrates, the festival ends with a flurry of activity.

One of the day's highlights is a stunt show in the parking lot of The Carolina Asheville at 1640 Hendersonville Road. In addition to professional stunt people and coordinators, a few local celebrities will be present as well, including the Blue Ridge Roller Girls. The stunt show begins at 2 p.m. and is free to the public.

Just prior to the stunt show will be a screening of Bail Enforcers, which features seven-time World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Women's Champion Trish Stratus in her movie debut. Trish will be at the screening and will answer questions from the audience. The movie saw its world premiere on Saturday night.

The movie 13 Assassins will be shown twice on Sunday. An official selection of the Venice Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and South by Southwest, the film is a remake of 1963 movie based on a real-life incident. You can catch 13 Assassins at noon and then it closes the event with another showing at 7 p.m.

Another highlight of the day is a free screening of the Robert Rodriguez film Machete, which is being celebrated as the ActionFest Film of the Year for 2010. The movie offers an all-star cast of Danny Trejo, Michelle Rodriguez, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Steven Seagal, Cheech Marin, Don Johnson, and Lindsay Lohan among others. Machete begins at 4:30 p.m.

View Sundays's schedule here.

Saturday, April 9th Recap

Posted On 04.09.2011

ActionFest on Saturday, April 9, offered yet another day full of films but it also featured two panels, an awards ceremony, and more at The Carolina Asheville at 1640 Hendersonville Road.

The first ActionFest panel of the weekend was A Tribute to Buddy Joe Hooker. One look at the montage put together featuring some of Buddy Joe's stunts made you immediately realize that this is an amazing man. The montage began with Quentin Tarantino talking about the legend that is Buddy Joe Hooker then those in attendance got the pleasure to view Buddy Joe's work in car chases, falls, fights, and more.

"Every day we get to live a fantasy," the legendary stuntman said. Whether it's playing cowboys and Indians, crashing other people's cars, or tearing up other people's stuff, Buddy Joe said it was a thrill to be in the stunt world.

He was also honored with a Lifetime Achievement award at Saturday's ActionFest Awards ceremony and received a touching tribute from Aaron Norris, who is a co-founder of ActionFest. "I wanted to be Buddy Joe Hooker," Aaron said about his early days as a stuntman.

A big award winner for the day was the film A Lonely Place to Die and its director Julian Gilbey, which took home Best Action Film and Best Director respectively. Russell Towery won Best Stunt Coordinator of the Year and Michael Jai White won the Man of Action award.

Other award winners included Bangkok Knockout for Best Fight in a Film and Tomorrow When the War Begins for Best Action Sequence. The Producer of the Year was Somsak Techaratanaprasert. The stunt group Stunts Unlimited was honored for 40 years of service to the action film industry.

Another afternoon panel was called Modern Fight Directors and included movie scholar Ric Meyers, action star and director Michael Jai White, 2010 ActionFest Best Choreography winner Larnell Stovall, and stunt coordinator for Ironclad Richard Ryan. Michael, Larnell, and Richard all gave props to Bruce Lee as a major influence on their careers. Michael said that martial arts then became an important part of his life.

Michael offered advice to those who might want to act in action films. "Establish yourself as an actor first," he said. He discouraged those who thought they could be body builders or fighters and then just transition into acting. "It's like anything else, you have to study it," said.

The action did break away from The Carolina briefly Saturday as a party took place downtown at Arcade Asheville beginning at 10 p.m. The event gave those who had been spending all day at The Carolina a chance to mix and mingle and discuss films in a relaxed environment.

Saturday, April 9th Preview

Posted On 04.08.2011

After a full day of film screenings on Friday, the action continues at ActionFest on Saturday, April 9, with more movies, two panels, an awards ceremony, and more at The Carolina Asheville at 1640 Hendersonville Road.

As for the films, one of note is the world premiere of Bail Enforcers, which features seven-time World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Women's Champion Trish Stratus in her movie debut.

The first ActionFest panel of the weekend takes place at 1:45 p.m. Saturday and is A Tribute to Buddy Joe Hooker. You can stroll into the panel for free and catch a demo clip of this legendary stuntman in action throughout his long and distinguished career.

Buddy Joe began his work in front of the camera at age six on the TV series Rin Tin Tin. He began stunt work in the 1960s and his long résumé now features a host of movies for which he has contributed, including Blazing Saddles, Harold and Maude, The Right Stuff, Scarface, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Death Proof among dozens of others.

At 3:30 p.m. a panel of Modern Fight Directors will discuss their roles in movies and will answer questions from the audience. The panel will include movie scholar Ric Meyers, action star and director Michael Jai White, and 2010 ActionFest Best Choreography winner Larnell Stovall. Admission to the panel is free.

At 5 p.m. the 2011 ActionFest Awards ceremony takes place where, among other things, Buddy Joe Hooker will be honored and the film Machete will be recognized as the 2010 Action Film of the Year.

A Saturday night party takes place downtown at Arcade Asheville at 10 p.m. but film buffs can also stay at The Carolina and watch films late into the night. Here is the full schedule.

Friday, April 8th Recap

Posted On 04.08.2011

ActionFest on Friday lived up to its billing as the film festival for action movies. Over the course of the day, a dozen films were shown at The Carolina Asheville at 1640 Hendersonville Road.

The day began at 1 p.m. with a showing of Ironclad, which had its world premiere on Thursday night. Stunt coordinator Richard Ryan was on hand to discuss the movie with festival-goers.

Michael Jai White attended the festival for the world premiere of his new film Never Back Down 2. Michael directs and stars in the movie and was joined in Asheville by the movie's fight choreographer Larnell Stovall, who won Best Fight Director at ActionFest 2010.

Never Back Down 2 also stars Alex Meraz, Todd Duffee, Scott Epstein and Dean Geyer as a group of men trained in fighting by Michael's character, Case, who prepares them for a competition called the Beatdown.

Michael was the center of attention Friday night as another film he starred in, Black Dynamite, was screened at midnight for free. Black Dynamite is a 2009 spoof that pays homage to blaxploitation classics. The movie also featured the likes of Tommy Davidson, Arsenio Hall, Brian McKnight, and John Salley.

Also at midnight was a screening of a film with one of the best names at the festival. Hobo With a Shotgun, which was an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival and South by Southwest.

The film that stars Rutger Hauer, Gregory Smith, and Molly Dunsworth was described by ActionFest Executive Director Colin Geddes: "A vagabond hobo's dreams of a fresh start mowing lawns go up in smoke when he finds himself stuck in a scum-ridden town. In a desperate bid to restore order to the chaos, the hobo takes up a shotgun and starts delivering a 12-gauge brand of justice."

With nonstop movies for nearly 14 hours on Friday, those in attendance got an understanding of just what ActionFest means. The event cranks up again at noon on Saturday, April 9.

View Saturday's schedule here.

Friday, April 8th Preview

Posted On 04.07.2011

Friday, April 8, marks the first full day of Asheville's international film festival that celebrates the wonderful people behind the scenes in action movies. ActionFest kicks off on Friday at 1 p.m. with another screening of the film Ironclad. The movie had its world premiere on Thursday night at ActionFest. All movies are being screened at The Carolina Asheville located at 1640 Hendersonville Road.

Friday is a day ActionFest dedicates to the films themselves with a dozen different movies being shown over the course of the day. One highlight includes the world premiere of Never Back Down 2 The film is the directorial debut of Michael Jai White, who also stars in the movie.

Michael's character, Case, trains a group of four men for a competition called the Beatdown. The film utilized fight choreographer Larnell Stovall, who was the Best Fight Director winner at ActionFest 2010.

Michael also stars in the 2009 film Black Dynamite, which will be screening for free at midnight. Michael will be at ActionFest for the screenings and for a panel discussion on Saturday. See the full weekend schedule of films and events.

Throughout Friday festival-goers also will get a chance to see the winners of the ActionFest 30-Seconds of Action Challenge. One of the winning entries, Farmocide, is a film from Asheville.

If you love the idea of 12 or more hours filled with action movies, then ActionFest is the place for you on Friday.

View Friday's schedule here.

Thursday, April 7th Recap

Posted On 04.07.2011

Film fans flocked to Asheville's ActionFest Thursday night for the world premiere of Ironclad, starring Paul Giamatti, James Purefoy, Derek Jacobi, Brian Cox, and Jason Flemyng. The film is set in 1200s England just after the signing of the Magna Carta and focuses on a castle siege and the small band of rebels who tried to defend Rochester Castle.

Prior to the movie screening an array of foam-weapon-toting warriors battled outside The Carolina to set the stage for the action that would come for the rest of the weekend. Richard Ryan, who was the fight coordinator for Ironclad, was supposed to be on hand to direct the warriors but car troubles on his way to Asheville from his home in Charlotte prevented him from arriving at the event on time.

Richard did make it into the screening of Ironclad, though, and was available to answer questions from the crowd. Watching Ironclad, one might think the film utilized dozens—if not hundreds—of stuntmen. Richard revealed that the trick lies in the editing. He only had a small Hungarian crew and then a few stunt guys from the United Kingdom to use in the film. "Some guys died two or three times in the same scene," he said, speaking of the many epic battle scenes in the movie.

Richard has also worked on such films as Troy, The Dark Knight, Stardust, and Sherlock Holmes. He is currently working as the fight coordinator of a Sherlock Holmes sequel. He will be on a Modern Fight Directors panel Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

ActionFest runs through Sunday at The Carolina Asheville located at 1640 Hendersonville Road. See the full schedule of ActionFest events. And stay tuned to The Laurel Of Asheville Online for more previews, updates, and recaps for each day of the event.

Thursday, April 7th Preview

Posted On 04.06.2011

Action film enthusiasts will congregate in Asheville starting Thursday, April 7, for ActionFest 2. The "action" begins with the International Premiere of the movie Ironclad, an epic, blood-soaked account of a brutal castle siege starring Kate Mara, Paul Giamatti, and James Purefoy. All ActionFest films will be screened at The Carolina Asheville located at 1640 Hendersonville Road.

Richard Ryan, who was the Stunt Coordinator for Ironclad (and is known for his work in Sherlock Holmes, Troy, Gulliver's Travels, and The Dark Knight) will be at the screening. Prior to the film debut, a collection of 30 warriors with foam weapons will receive instructions from Richard in an epic battle to whet the appetites of festival-goers. To catch this event, you should be at Carolina Cinemas by 6:30 p.m. Ironclad will begin at 7:30 p.m.

ActionFest is an international film festival devoted to action cinema and its unsung heroes. It is billed as four days of the roughest, toughest, and most explosive films from around the world. The weekend will be filled with movies, panels, an awards presentation, a stunt show, and more. Stay tuned to The Laurel of Asheville for our coverage throughout the weekend!

Read more about Asheville's ActionFest 2, or See the movie times and schedule