Here’s the summation:
By Jonathan Rich
jonathanwlrich@gmail.com
If you weren’t at the Carolina Cinemas this weekend, you simply weren’t where the action was.
Starting Thursday with a stuntman’s leap off the building adjacent to Arcade Asheville, continuing through the opening night screening of “Ironclad” and running through the final frames of Takashi Miike’s “13 Assassins,” Action Fest 2011 was definitely as advertised and a lot of teeth-gritting fun.
There was something for everyone. There was the 70’s black fu parody “Black Dynamite” that screened late Friday night with the titular character actor Michael Jai White in attendance. There was the postmodern comic book epic “Super,” which screened in Asheville in advance of its national megaplex release date. And there was even a special screening of the iconic Charlie Sheen’s “The Wraith.”
Some of the fun was just being among other film fans who like to watch their flicks to go boom. Respect was paid to legendary stuntman Buddy Joe Hooker, who was awarded the Action Fest Lifetime Achievement Award if for nothing else than his clip reel which showcased him flipping a truck 22 times. Former WWE wrestler turned action film heroine Trish Stratus was on hand looking stunning in support of her movie “Bail Enforcers,” and everything from the panel discussions to the special Action Fest ale was simply top notch.
But the excitement wasn’t just contained to the screen. Event organizers held a party late Saturday at Arcade which saw the multi-muscled White sign the work of local artist Dustin Spagnola, who had immortalized Black Dynamite on canvas on the barcade wall. Many of those same partiers were back in line at noon Sunday for more movies. They also stood outside in the Carolina Cinemas parking lot under a hot spring sun when members of Action P.A.C. Stunts dove off cranes and were set on fire. Local martial artists showcased their skills before daredevils on motorbikes defied gravity all around the parking lot as part of the a free stunt show spectacle.
I’ve attended several film festivals in my 15-year career as an entertainment writer, and I have to say this one was easily the most fun.
Circumstances beyond my control kept me from attending the first Action Fest (and missing an opportunity to meet Chuck Norris.) But the event organized by Colin Geddes, Bill Banowsky, Aaron Norris and many others will definitely have me back next year.
The only question in my mind is – how will the third edition vault over the bar which has been set so high by the first two installments. I hear it’s gonna be pretty difficult to surpass the blood-soaked cinema of “Hobo with a Shotgun.”
Freelance writer Jonathan Rich has a NC Press Association Award for Film Criticism and his work appears in the Asheville Citizen-Times, Bold Life magazine and on Hvillescoop.com.
5 Comments
I went last year and wasn't as into it as I was this year, needless to say it was a really super cool weekend of awesome action movies, panel discussions featuring some great actors and stunt coordinators and the awesome stunt show! I'd agree it will probabl;y be hard to top this festival each year but its a deep genre of film and they have a lot to work with. Very well done!
Wow. Even Ain't It Cool News covered it.
Super took me completely by surprise and I remained glued to my seat. Prior obligations kept me away from this until Sunday afternoon, but Super and the stuntshow were enough to get me excited about next year.
My sunburn was completely worth it. Thanks Action Fest!
Exactly. Couldn't have said it better myself. -=WL=-
This was also some of the most fun I've had in Asheville.
If anything I hope Actionfest proves the power of watching a film with a crowd of like-minded people. If you saw HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN alone on your laptop, you would possibly say that it sucks. Watching a midnight show in a packed house is a different experience altogether, and you might say it is the greatest movie you ever saw.