My latest interview: Cult b-movie action star Ted Prior

And, I’ve got another interesting interview here. If you’re into b-movies, then the name Ted Prior should definitely sound familiar to you.

I’ve been lucky enough to interview Ted especially for my movie blog BZFilm, and below is the interview, where Ted explains his acting method, his shape in “Deadly Prey”, talks “Deadliest Prey” and also explains why he never stayed in the modeling business…

Ted, first of all, thanks for agreeing to do this interview. I’d like to start from the beginning. According to you biography, you became involved with theater as a child actor. How do you think, for an actor, which is easier, on stage in the theater, or perform on-screen in a feature film?

 

CINEMANIA – Jean-Claude Van Damme: Baku is quite a place…

Yesterday, I got quite lucky. I got an interview answers from Jean-Claude Van Damme himself. Yep, you got it right. Took about 2 weeks to get it done. Actually, at first I wrote to his representatives couple of months ago, and back then it did not work out.

This time it did, as Van Damme gave a short exclusive interview to the website I work for (Today.Az).

At first, we have requested Mr. Van Damme to comment on his new upcoming sci-fi action film “Universal Soldier 4”, however veteran Hollywood actor did a little bit more, by agreeing to do a complete interview with us. So, read on below, as Van Damme talks about his favourite movie, the new Universal Soldier film, Baku, and how he choses his movie parts.

 

Former Kickboxing champion, documentary filmmaker Ian Jacklin: I took on martial arts, after my friend got beat up in front of me

Below is a new interview I did a couple of days ago, with former kickboxing champion, actor, and documentary filmmaker, Ian Jacklin.

Ian Jacklin, like so many others, is a real-life kickboxing champion. His accomplishments however, do not end there. Jacklin is also an actor, and a documentary filmmaker. He’s a graduate of the highly acclaimed method acting school, Joanne Baron Studio via Bill Esper Via Sandy Meinsner. His 10-year acting career in Hollywood included starring roles in “Death Match” “Expert Weapon”, “KickBoxer 3″ as well as lead roles in several other action movies. His television credits include appearances on Days of Our Lives and the sitcom Just Shoot Me among many others.

His acting years coincided with his 10-year professional fighting career. In 1990, he was chosen to be the light heavyweight in the camp of heavyweight boxing champ Lennox Lewis. A black belt in Kenpo karate, Jacklin went on to become the International Sport Karate Association’s and the World Kickboxing and Karate Association’s North American champion. He was ranked number two in the world by WKA in 1992.

During the last years, his focus has been producing documentaries and music videos as owner of Co-dependent Pictures, Inc. In this interview with Today.Az, former champion talks about his path into the world of fighting, cinema, how he started making his documentaries, and also how he managed to completely transform himself physically in a very short period of time.

 

My interesting interview with Dan Pesina, someone you all know…

Even today, “Mortal Kombat” remains the most well-known computer fighting game. Children all over the world were (and still are!) playing it. Back in the 1990’s, Azerbaijan was no exception. I personally remember the so-called “computer halls” full of Sega Mega Drive’s, where kids would sit and play MK2 all day long (i was hooked on MK2 as well).

Now, time has come to meet one of those, who made this game what it is today. Someone, who’s face was familliar to millions of Azerbaijanis, and pretty much to everyone else who ever played Mortal Kombat. Daniel Pesina, who agreed to do this interview, portrayed Johnny Cage (along with Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Reptile and Smoke) in Mortal Kombat games.

Master Daniel Pesina has been studying the martial arts since 1972. He began his formal training with Master Guo Jianhua in 1989 studying both external and internal Wushu. Master Pesina has also studied under many other Chinese living treasures and instructors including Hu Jianqiang (former Chinese National Champion), Zhu Bao Jian Bagua Zhang Grand Master, and Lin Jianhua, to just to name a few. Pesina has competed both nationally and internationally. He has won numerous first places and awards in forms, weapons and fighting on the A.A.U., N.A.S.K.A., and U.S.A. KungFu/Wushu circuits.

His film and multimedia careers include starring roles in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies and Book of Swords, as well as co-creator credits for the “Mortal Kombat” game. His image has been featured on the cover many magazines including “Time Magazine”.  In the interview, Pesina talks about how the world’s most famous fighting game got created, how Mortal Kombat popular, recalls the problems that appeared after the game became super popular, and what is Mortal Kombat today.

 

CINEMANIA – Gary Daniels, and the “MMA drama” in Romania

Couple of days ago I talked to Gary Daniels, who, right now, is in Romania, shooting another movie. According to Gary, its a drama with martial arts (MMA to be exact). I noticed, that there have been a lot of “MMA dramas” being released lately. Most of them circle around a hero, who (under certain circumstances) is being forced to participate in these “underground, illegal fights” to achieve some brave goal (to get money for his sick mother, or to save his gf), its an old formula, yet it still works, which is definately a good thing in my book. People sometimes get tired of watching these “perfect” hollywood movies, they need something fresh, less heavy. And that’s exactly what a huge, rich b-movie world can offer.

Interesting thing is that IMDB does not (or did not have at the moment) any info on this new movie. So, I guess its nice to be connected to stars so that you can get news from the first source, so to speak. “Forced 2 Fight” is still in production, as Gary noted himself, he doesnt even have time to check out Romania, its on-the-set-and-back-to-the-hotel routine mostly. Well, at least keeps one focused. I will definately be waiting for this film to come out, as Daniels plays the lead in it, and this is something I, personally, havent seen in a long time.

Teymur

 

EXCLUSIVE: “Mortal Kombat” star talks about life, martial arts, and his future

This is another interview i did for my website. Sharing it with you all here.

Keith Hirabayashi (Cooke) was born in Seattle, Washington on September 17, 1959. He grew up in the Seattle area and attended the University of Washington. He has trained in wushu, Tae Kwon Do and karate. His career in action movies has taken him around the world. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife Suzanne and their son Jake.

Keith began his martial arts career after becoming intrigued with Wushu during the performance of a wushu form. He sought out a Wushu instructor Roger Tung in 1973 and began his life long journey in Chinese martial arts. The Japanese-American’s enthusiasm for the art lead him to train Wushu in China in 1980 and he returned in 1982 to compete in China. In 1983 he joined the karate competition circuit and in 1985 he was inducted into the Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame as the Competitor of the Year. Keith Hirabayashi has been five time Grand Champion at the US World and US Open Karate Tournaments.

 

Azerbaijani film “The Precinct” reviewed by L.A. Times – PHOTOS

Not long ago, Azerbaijani film “Precinct” was shown in U.S., and just yesterday, there even appeared a review from L.A. Times about the movie. I personally would not call it a very positive review, however we all know this – “different people, different tastes”…Below is the actual text of the review.