We’ve Been Busy…

by Lewis Manalo

We appreciate all of you who’ve followed Split Edit in the past, and we just wanted to let you know that we haven’t been lazy with writing articles. We’ve just been busy with other things.

One of these things is the Slice Girls: Fight Test, a sample scene that we shot for the development for Slice Girls, a horror-action film about a handful of teenage girls who have to fight off an undead ninja attack.

We wanted to explore the possibilities of the style we intend to use for the fight scenes, looking for ways in which choreography can entertain as it tells our story and depicts our characters.

The fighting here will be used in the scene that introduces the main characters.

Thanks for watching, and please share our Fight Test with your friends.  For more info, check www.princessrevolver.com.

Fighters
Maria Alegre
Jessica Frey

Editor
Tony Nigro

Director & Choreographer
Lewis Manalo

1,002 Words: Bound for Glory

Ramble on.

DVD: Busby Berkeley 9-Film Collection

by Lewis Manalo

I admit it. I like musicals. I like the singing and the dancing. The sugary feel-good-or-die attitude.

I especially like the chorus girls, and no one does chorus girls better than Busby Berkeley. Adopting the formulas of Broadway for the silver screen, Berkeley’s editing techniques were also innovative for his time. This collection, which includes classics like Gold Diggers of 1933 and 42nd Street, has more kicking legs than you can handle.

And yes, dressing in nothing but money will get my attention.

Fil-Am Cinema Moments

by Lewis Manalo

It’s Filipino-America History Month! Seriously!

To celebrate this month of Fil-Am appreciation, we offer you three great Fil-Am movie moments.

1. In the classic bar scene from Out for Justice, skip to 4:20, and see Dan Inosanto in a bad hairpiece.

2. In case you didn’t get the Special Edition DVD of Step Up 2: the Streets, here’s ABDC Season 1 winners JabbaWockeeZ in a deleted scene:

3. And of course, RUFIOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Mabuhay!

Sally Menke, 1953-2010

by Tony Nigro

Perhaps it’s the deadly L.A. heat these days, or maybe it’s that I’ve been spending them alone watching dailies, but seeing these videos in the wake of editor Sally Menke‘s untimely death is heartrending.  Every editor should be so appreciated.

Via Mubi Notebook, which also has a nice roundup of links.

Freak of the Week: Herzog Saves Phoenix

by Tony Nigro

If you haven’t already heard, Werner Herzog saved Joaquin Phoenix from a car accident.  Below is a reenactment.

Via Laughing Squid, where you can also see the interview that spawned the animation.  Did I mention David Lynch was involved?

The Social Network: As Unoriginal As Its Poster?

by Lewis Manalo

David Fincher’s new film The Social Network, about the founding of Facebook, comes out next month, and it looks….really lame. Aside from the bizzare trailer that opens with an odd rendition of Radiohead’s “Creep” and a voyeuristic montage of random personal photos, somebody in marketing isn’t helping the movie look very original by rocking out with a one sheet that’s clearly a copy of the Criterion cover image of The Man Who Fell to Earth.

Who the heck wants to see a serious movie about Facebook anyway?

RIP: Patricia Neal

Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!

A Documentary That Kicks Ass

by Lewis Manalo

Ruel Antipuesto’s documentary Eskrimadors screens this weekend in Queens, NY at the Bayanihan Filipino Community Center. Featuring interviews with some of most eminent grandmasters of Filipino Martial Arts, Eskrimadors will make you think twice about messin’ with a flip (aka, Funny Little Island Person).

Already available on DVD, this is more than just a History Channel special. Many of Cebu’s greatest teachers are featured here, in interviews and swinging sticks. Action fans will not want to miss it.

DVD: Vincere

by Lewis Manalo

Who knew that Mussolini was a bad guy? Okay, we knew Fascists are generally unpleasant, but, geez, a secret first wife?

A visually-arresting and operatic biopic, Vincere depicts the life of Ida Dalser, Benito Mussolini’s baby momma who he done wrong. A contender for the Palme d’Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festial, Vincere makes Justin Rego on the The Bachelorette look like the ideal boyfriend.