Last Sunday, I was invited to attend Diana Lee Inosanto’s DVD release party of her directorial debut, The Sensei.

For most martial artists, you’ll recognize the name. She is the daughter of martial arts legend Dan Inosanto and the “honorary niece” of one of the world’s biggest icons, Bruce Lee. But what you might not realize is that she’s also an actress, stuntwoman, and producer.

Now, she can add writer/director to her long list of accomplishments.

The Sensei is about a female martial arts instructor who secretly takes on a gay student in 1980s Colorado during the height of the AIDS scare. Though not flawless, the movie is a courageous and powerful piece — particularly considering it’s a low-budget independent and is Diana’s first ever directing gig.

More details about the project later. For now, I highly recommend you check it out on DVD when it’s released on March 9.

Looks pretty cool. I like the idea of taking the zombie genre into the digital realm — worlds of possibilities, I say, not just for animators, but for stunt coordinators and stunt fighters, too. A lot of people complain that with CGI movies, they’ll be less need for human actors. Not true. Look at Avatar or even how the video-game industry has revolutionized fighting games.

Any good animation director knows that to do convincing animated violence, you need flesh-and-blood stuntman to strap on a motion-capture suit to record his movements as the basis for a CGI character. That’s the only way to translate complex action scenes convincingly on screen.

With a successful zombie CGI cartoon, even more doors will open for the types of animated action that can be filmed — and for the variety of stuntman who can lend their talents.

So, strap on the mo-cap balls and let’s get undead, shall we?

It was held at the recent International Mixed Martial Arts Expo in Los Angeles and features stunt coordinator John Kreng and his stunt crew explaining the differences between a realistic MMA-style self-defense situation versus an MMA-styled fight for the movies.

It features the talents of actress/stuntwoman Lauren Mary Kim and professional wrestler/stuntman Van Asayit, among others.

What do you think? After writing down my initial thoughts and now seeing some footage, I’m not sure what to think. Seeing Chan in a different type of role makes me want to champion it, but some of the other elements makes me just cringe.

Check it out for yourself below and let me know what you think:

Check out my story for a recap of all the excitement, from Jamie Lee Curtis receiving the Action Icon Award and Zoe Bell (Kill Bill) making an appearance, to actress/stuntwoman Natascha Hopkins (Spider-Man 3) tossing taekwondo expert Ilram Choi (Avatar) through a dinner table.

Let me know what you think!

Avatar is everything I expected from a James Cameron big-budget action-packed sci-fi epic — and more.

I’m most pleased that he’s maintained his own directing style. Rather than adopt the most annoying trend of vomit-inducing handheld camerawork and seizure-sparking rapid-fire editing, Cameron sticks with what made him the most successful action-movie filmmaker on the planet: imaginative set pieces, innovative and clean visuals, clear character logic, and (most importantly) story-based suspense.

He’s always been a great action director (re: from The Terminator to True Lies), but I’m even more impressed that he’s bringing stuntwork and storytelling to a whole other level with the way he combined motion-capture technology, CGI special effects, and 3D movie technology.

If you don’t believe me, check out Avatar yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

Reuben has worked with everyone from Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung to Sam Raimi and Hayden Christensen. He most recently worked on the epic James Cameron movie Avatar and Capcom’s blockbuster Resident Evil 5 video game.

Let me know what you think of the article!

Ugh. I gotta be honest, I groaned the first time I heard they were remaking The Karate Kid. Why does Hollywood continually remake good movies/TV shows? It’s supposed to remake only bad ones.

But then I started thinking some more. Chan is in it, and I’m pretty much going to watch everything he does, even if the caliber of his films have steadily dropped. Whether it’s the entertaining but elementary Forbidden Kingdom or the unintentionally laughable The Tuxedo.

Plus, it’s starring Smith’s kid, Jaden, who proved he can act in Pursuit of Happyness. And then there’s Smith himself acting as producer. He’s too talented to ignore. Despite all the knocks against him, you gotta remember, he’s a mega star. The first Grammy-winning rapper. And let’s not forget, Oscar-nominated actor. Hmm…ultimately, I’m going to watch The Kung Fu Kid. I figure any movie that promotes the martial arts in a positive light is a good movie.

And hopefully the fight choreography will be good — the stunt coordinator is Wu Gang, one of Chan’s proteges and stunt doubles.

I love horror movies and the zombie subgenre is one of my favorite. It would be a dream come true if I could play one of the undead! (First a grim reaper and now a zombie? Let’s hope so!) And if not, it would still be pretty awesome to do some stunt fighting in a zombie show.

I’ll keep you updated!

While you were slipping into a food coma, watching the traditional football game, or braving the Black Friday sales crowds, I set up an images gallery with pictures taken during my recent photo shoot with lensmaster Don Le, an excellent and versatile photographer who is also a producer, writer and actor. Check it out!