BEYOND STRONG

Paul Newman RIP

Sadly, Paul Newman, 83, died on friday. Without a doubt he is one of my favourite actors and was one fo the coolest screen actors of all time. My favourite films of his include The Hustler, The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Colour of Money, The Towering Inferno and my all time favourite Cool Hand Luke. Newman was battling cancer. His food company has donated more than $200 million since its inception. He has been married to Joanne Woodward for 50 years which is in itself a great achievement. She and his five children survive him.

Nick

RIP Heath Ledger

From the BBC News Website.

Hollywood actor Heath Ledger has been found dead at a downtown Manhattan residence, a New York Police Department spokesman has said.

"He was found unconscious at the apartment and pronounced dead," a police spokeswoman said.

It is not yet clear how the 28-year-old Australian actor, who earned an Oscar nomination as a gay cowboy in 2005 film Brokeback Mountain, died.

Police said he had been due to have a massage at the flat.

The housekeeper went to tell him the masseuse had arrived and found him dead on Tuesday afternoon, police spokesman Paul Browne told Associated Press news agency.

Police said they did not suspect foul play in the death of the Perth-born actor.

I was fortunate enough to be working on the recent film The Dark Knight, where Heath was playing the Joker. He seemed like a personable and private man and as always put 100% into his role as Batman's nemesis. He will be missed.

We wish his family and friends our condolences.

Nick

A great man and a great fight

Brandon Lee was one of my favourite action stars in the early 90's. He had already done Laser Mission and Showdown in Little Tokyo when he went on to star in Rapid Fire which this scene comes from. He died in a freak accident on the set of The Crow in 1993. A blank gun was used but the casing from a previously fired bullet was still inside the gun. It fired out of the gun hitting and fatally wounding Brandon. Having lost Bruce Lee when I was a mere toddler I was excited to have his son as someone to watch and admire. To lose Brandon as well was a shock to everyone who had followed his short career.

The Crow was finished by using his stunt doubles Chad Stahelski and Jeff Cadiente as stand ins for certain scenes that didn't need to see Brandon's face. I have worked with Chad on The Matrix films in Australia and he is a true gentleman of the stunt world and a perfectionist of the highest order. Jeff is also a super friendly guy with a huge credit list. I know both men will remember Brandon fondly.

This is a scene with Al Leong who has been in a multitude of great action films and you will know doubt recognize him from films like Die Hard, Big Trouble in Little China, Lethal Weapon and Double Dragon. You'll see many influences of different martial arts within the fight including Jeet Kune Do from Bruce Lee. The fight begins with Brandon being chased down by some other thugs before facing off with Al at around the 1minute 16 second mark.

Nick

It doesn't get much better than this...

Charles Bronson and James Coburn star in one the best fight films you'll ever see - Hard Times (sometimes called The Street Fighter). So many films have taken their lead from this film and rarely has this level of 'coolness' been achieved. The film also stars Strother Martin and Jill Ireland who starred in a number of other films with Bronson. Robert Tessier is the ever present big, bad bald guy!

Enjoy!

Nick

If you liked Rocky IV...

Then you're gonna like this...John Rambo!!

My friend Stanimir is Stallone's double for this movie and Chad Stahelski is the stunt coordinator who coordinated all the fights for the Matrix films among other things.