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By Doug Oswald

Michael Dudikoff leads a military-themed double feature in “Platoon Leader” and “Soldier Boyz,” released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber. The first is a standard “Rio Bravo” knock off taking place during the Vietnam War. A recent West Point graduate arrives in Vietnam and is assigned to command and defend a jungle outpost. “Soldier Boyz” is the story of a former Marine working with inner city youths who are serving time and are recruited to join him on a mission to free an aid worker held hostage by a Vietnamese warlord. “Platoon Leader” is a standard military action drama, while “Soldier Boyz” is a rescue tale which takes place several decades after the end of the Vietnam War. While both movies are set primarily in Vietnam and they both feature Dudikoff, that’s about as far as the similarities go.

Mexico City — TV producer Aaron Norris, showrunner of “Walker, Texas Ranger,” is teaming with Buffalo 8, producer of Spike Lee’s Netflix original “Rodney King,” to produce “Peace River,” a one-hour drama series set on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Norris (“I Love You Phillip Morris”), created the series with Sheree J. Wilson – “Dallas’” April Stevens Ewing and star with Chuck Norris on the entire eight-year run of “Walker, Texas Ranger” – and writer-producer Ani Kyd Wolf, CEO of Canadian production company Sugar Skull.

Described by Buffalo 8 as “timely” in a press statement, “Peace River” turns on a former big city vice cop who, after her husband is killed, packs up her kids and returns to her childhood home, the small border town of Peace River. But going back home is not as simple as she imagined.

Norris, Wolf and Wilson executive produce, along with Matthew Helderman and Peabody Award winner...

Walker: Texas Ranger writer and producer Aaron Norris, the brother of Chuck Norris, feels he has found the next big high-speed car action film franchise with a project called Maximum Speed. He will produce and direct the first film and the hope is that it will be the next The Fast and the Furious.

It's said that the franchise is "aimed at taking advantage of the popularity of stock-car racing and the Western culture of bull-riding and honky-tonks."

The story is said to center on "a young bull rider and the son of a racing legend who returns to stock-car racing to save the family legacy. Wade Motorsports only has one good driver, a rookie who’s fast and bold and the only woman on the circuit. Racing again is the only option, since Cody’s older brother is driving for his father’s arch enemy that wants to eliminate Wade Motorsports.

Aaron Norris will produce and direct “Maximum Speed,” the first in a planned franchise tapping into the global market for high-speed car action films such as the “Fast and Furious” movies.

“Maximum Speed” is aimed at taking advantage of the popularity of stock-car racing and the Western culture of bull-riding and honky-tonks. Pre-production will begin upon completion of funding, and filming is scheduled to begin in Texas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina in the mid-summer or early fall, based on track availability.

Joe Gibbs Racing and Petty Racing have been consulting on the film, assisting with locations, tracks, cars, props, corporate sponsors, and all elements related to the filming of stock-car racing. Executive producer Tristin Fowler, an Oklahoma-based business executive, told Variety that major national sponsors have already committed to the film.

“We are very excited to have the support from the grassroots racing community and...

Who needs a gangsta kitty in Keanu when you have a dog man-enough to roll with Chuck Norris?   Top Dog (1995)   Director: Aaron Norris Stars: Chuck Norris, A Dog   Only Chuck Norris and Chuck Norris' dog can save San Diego from white supremacist terrorists. Top Dog is remembered mainly as that movie where Chuck Norris had to share top billing with a... Read More...

Dallas — Need space to practice roundhouse kicks and fist-enforced Texas justice? You're in luck: Chuck Norris' spacious Dallas home, complete with a gym featuring memorabilia from his "Walker, Texas Ranger" television series, is on the market.

The Mediterranean ranch-style home in the tony Dallas neighborhood of Northwood Hills also was the on-screen residence of Cordell Walker, the roundhouse-kicking Texas Ranger who battled villainy at every turn.

Norris portrayed Walker in the CBS series that ran for eight seasons. It ended in 2001, but lives on in syndication. Portions of the series were shot in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The 7,362-square-foot home is listed for $1.2 million. Along with the weight room, it's listed as having four bedrooms, seven full bathrooms and a theater. There's also a separate building that served as a studio for the filming of "Walker, Texas Ranger," as well as other Norris productions, according to listing agent Rogers Healy.

As all lovers of crime, suspense thriller, war, western, horror and science fiction films know, creating a truly great cinematic villain is no easy task. When it happens, it’s virtually impossible to forget that character.

We’ll now take a look at the greatest film villains of the 1980’s.

The criteria for this article is the same as my previous article Cinema’s Greatest Villains: The 1970’s: the villains must be from live-action films-no animated features-and must pose some type of direct or indirect lethal threat. The villains can be either individuals or small groups that act as one unit.

The villains must be human or human in appearance, so no shape-shifting alien from John Carpenter’s amazing 1982 The Thing, no Aliens from James Cameron’s classic 1986 sequel and no Predator from John McTiernan’s beloved 1987 film of the same name.

Also, individuals that are the central protagonists/antiheroes...

Hellbound (1994) Director: Aaron Norris Stars: Chuck Norris, Calvin Levels, Christopher Neame Chuck Norris vs. Satan! Okay, technically Chuck Norris doesn't fight the Devil himself in Hellbound. But that's one of the funnier things about this 1994 movie from Cannon Films (producers of Norris classics like Missing In Action and Delta Force). Why they didn't just go for broke and have the Bearded One take on Ol' Scratch is beyond me. I'm sure plenty of fans of justice...

Guest Author Ed Travis served as Editor In Chief of the ActionFest 2012 blog. Part of the mission of ActionFest is to pay tribute to the unsung heroes of action cinema, the stunt men and women. Jack Gill is one of the most important names in action cinema stunt work. Without the daring work of the stunt coordinators who make action scenes pop, the entire Hollywood machine would break down. This is a fact which I had no trouble believing personally, but came face to face with in my work at ActionFest this past year. ActionFest founders Bill Banowsky, Tom Quinn (Radius TWC) and Aaron Norris use the festival both as an showcase for films and as a platform to connect fans to the real makers of action, the stunt community. It was through ActionFest that I came in contact with Jack Gill, a legendary stuntman and the primary activist who is fighting for the creation of an...

It’s not often that a film festival does you the courtesy of delivering its mission statement within its brief moniker, but such is the case with the now three-year-old ActionFest. Taking place in North Carolina, ActionFest was created by a conglomeration of Bill Banowsky (founder of Magnolia Pictures), Tom Quinn (former head of acquisitions for Magnolia and currently working in a similar capacity for The Weinstein Company), teaching pioneer and tech wiz Dennis Berman, and Aaron Norris (brother of action legend Chuck Norris). It is a celebration of the hard-hitting-est, car-smashing-est, explosion-filled treats action cinema has to offer. After a 20-hour road trip from Austin, I arrived in Asheville ready to strap on a helmet, warm up my flamethrower, and fight my way through...

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If you haven’t heard of ActionFest, let this piece stand as your introduction. ActionFest is a young film festival held annually in April in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina celebrating, predictably, the best in badass action cinema. The fest is currently in its third year and is presided over by the likes of Magnolia founder and CEO Bill Banowsky, former Magnolia and current Weinstein Company acquisitions guru Tom Quinn, and Aaron Norris brother of Chuck. Colin Geddes, who programs the prestigious Midnight Madness slate at the Toronto International Film Festival, is in charge of programming and serves as Festival Director. These guys know action films and they’ve put together a scrappy if relatively small fest that’s a ton of of fun to attend. I happened to be in North Carolina in April of last year and decided to come up to Asheville for two days jam-packed with ActionFest films. Upon...

North Carolina's ActionFest has announced its opening night film, which will screen at the action-only festival on April 12. "Solomon Kane" is a medieval epic starring James Purefoy and Max Von Sydow. The festival will close April 15 with the martial arts film "Wu Xia." Full press release reprinted below: ActionFest 2012 Opens with Solomon Kane, Closes with Wu Xia, Honors Fight Choreographer J.J. Perry Asheville, Nc Fest to Celebrate the Best of Action Cinema and its Unsung Heroes Asheville, Nc – March 8, 2012 – ActionFest, the only international film festival devoted exclusively to action cinema returns to in beautiful Asheville this April 12th – 15th. Founded by Bill Banowsky (Carolina Cinemas founder and Magnolia Pictures co-founder), famed action director/producer Aaron Norris (Missing in Action III, “Walker, Texas Ranger”), and Radius-twc Co-President Tom Quinn, ActionFest will once...

You may not know much about ActionFest, but that's okay because we're going to help change that. Later today we'll be launching a countdown to ActionFest column, which is exactly what it sounds like. So what is ActionFest? Well, it's also exactly what it sounds like: a film festival dedicated to the globe's finest action films, both new and old. The fest was co-founded by Aaron Norris (Chuck Norris' brother) and is programmed by none other than Colin Geddes, who genre fans will know as the man behind the Toronto International Film Festival's Midnight Madness program. Held April 12-15 in Asheville, North Carolina, this year marks the third iteration of ActionFest, and today the team behind it announced the creation of a new part of the festivities, an...

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By Sean O’Connell

Hollywoodnews.com: ActionFest has grown in size and stature over the years, attracting action-movie junkies to Asheville, N.C. to celebrate cinema’s general bad-assedness. This year’s event is scheduled for April 12-15, and they’ve just announced a very special guest that will help lure new attendees.

“Haywire” star Gina Carano will be the recipient of the inaugural Chick Norris Award at the 2012 festival. The prize, according to a release, honors the Best Female Action Star of the year, in a play off the attitude, spirit, athleticism and grit of Hollywood legend Chuck Norris, who was awarded ActionFest’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.

“It is an incredible honor to be included in this event,” said Carano, a fixture of the Mma world who made a successful transition to action movies earlier this year.

“Chuck Norris has always been someone I respect and look up to.

by Steve Dollar

What once were vices now are habits. Spreading like a brain-sucking virus, the gonzo contagion known as le cinema fantastique has rowdied on down into a peculiar Southern variation called ActionFest. Co-founded last year by director-producer-stunt man Aaron Norris (brother of Chuck), Magnolia Pictures co-founder Bill Banowsky and Magnolia/Magnet Releasing senior vice president Tom Quinn, the festival launched in Asheville, Nc at Banowsky's Carolina Cinemas—a multiplex with a drafthouse heart (and myriad local craft beer taps) and a geeky video store clerk's sensibilities.

Other film fests honor great auteurs. ActionFest champions the pyrotechnics coordinators, the fight choreographers, and other unsung soldiers who make the movies go boom. This year's guest of honor was Buddy Joe Hooker, stuntman supreme, who’s worked on movies as different as Harold and Maude and Hooper, in which Burt Reynolds plays a stuntman whose name is, in part, an homage to the rugged daredevil.

The organizers behind ActionFest has officially announced a second round of action cinema and unsung heroes with Actionfest 2, which creator Bill Banowsky (Carolina Cinemas founder and Magnolia Pictures co-founder), famed action director/producer Aaron Norris (Missing in Action III, "Walker, Texas Ranger"), and Magnolia Pictures/Magnet Releasing Svp Tom Quinn jointly announcing plans for ActionFest 2 this April. Full release below. Asheville, Nc - March 8th, 2011 - ActionFest, the only ...

After playing a Texas Ranger for eight seasons on CBS, Chuck Norris is now a ranger for real.

The 70-year-old martial arts expert and star of Walker, Texas Ranger became a Texas Ranger yesterday at a ceremony in the lone star state. Texas Governor Rick Perry presented the honorary status to both Norris and his younger brother, Aaron Norris. The latter is a 59-year-old stunt coordinator and was a producer on the series. The presentation was made at the Texas Rangers headquarters in Garland, Texas.

Of the honor, Chuck Norris wrote, "Both Aaron and I are greatly honored and humbled by our selection for this award. As Cordell Walker in our TV series Walker, Texas Ranger, and as executive producer along with my brother, we were aware from the outset of our obligation to show this legendary law enforcement body in its proper light.

Chuck Norris, the one-time karate-kicking star of TV's Walker, Texas Ranger and '80s action movies, is now the real deal: an honorary Texas Ranger, by edict of the Lone Star State's Gov. Rick Perry. The actor, 70, was saluted in Dallas on Thursday at a ceremony that also recognized the good deeds done by his younger brother, Aaron Norris, 59, a stunt coordinator and producer, the Associated Press reports. As good-guy Chuck Norris (born Carlos Ray Norris in Ryan, Okla.) told People in 1985, just as his movies were making him famous: "Kids need heroes. Call it square if you want, but I'm a flag waver,...

Chuck Norris is now a real Texas Ranger. The 70-year-old film and TV icon has been named an honorary member of the elite Texas law enforcement forced by Governor Rick Perry on Thursday.

Norris, played Cordell Walker on the '90s TV series "Walker, Texas Ranger," was bestowed the honor at a state department office in Garland, Dallas alongside his stunt coordinator brother Aaron Norris, 59.

Perry said of the Norris brothers, "Together they helped evaluate our Texas Rangers to truly mythical status."

"People may whisper about his super powers, but the greatest power of Chuck Norris is his integrity."...

The inaugural Action Fest came to an end last night with an awards ceremony held before a packed house. Picking up the film prizes were Daniel Lee's 14 Blades for Best Fight Scene, Undisputed 3 for both Best Director (Isaac Florentine) and Best Choreography (Larnell Stovall), while Best Film went to Gareth Evans' Merantau. It's worth noting here that Undisputed 3 was not initially on the list of competition films given to the jurors but that all of us, as a group, felt so strongly about the film that we insisted on awarding it anyway.

Following the film awards a series of achievement awards were given to some of the biggest names in the stunt industry. First Marko Zaror (Undisputed 3, Mandrill) was awarded as an emerging star, then lifetime achievement awards were given to Jeff Habberstad, Kinnie Gibson, and Paul Weston. All three were present for the entire festival, all three...

Billing itself as the first film festival devoted to action films, the four-day ActionFest will kick off in Asheville, N.C. on April 15 with the world premiere of Neil Marshall's "Centurion."

Created by Carolina Cinemas founder/Magnolia Pictures co-founder Bill Banowsky and action director/producer Aaron Norris, the festival will take place at the Carolina Asheville Cinema.

Chuck Norris will be honored with a Lifetime Action Achievement Award.

Stuntman Kinnie Gibson will be on hand to demonstrate his Flying Rocket Belt, which has been featured at the Olympics, the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500.

Magnolia Pictures/Magnet Releasing Svp Tom Quinn is head programmer for ActionFest, and Matthew Kiernan is festival director.

This April, Asheville, North Carolina will be the home to the inaugural edition of ActionFest, a festival devoted "exclusively to action cinema, and to the people who make it possible, from filmmakers to stuntmen and fight choreographers." Created by Carolina Cinemas founder/Magnolia Pictures co-founder Bill Banowsky and action director and producer Aaron Norris ("Missing in Action III," "Walker, Texas Ranger"), the festival will take place at The Carolina Asheville cinema from ...

This April, Asheville, Nc will be the home to the inaugural edition of ActionFest, the world’s first film festival devoted exclusively to action cinema, and to the people who make it possible, from filmmakers to stuntmen and fight choreographers. Created by Carolina Cinemas founder/Magnolia Pictures co-founder Bill Banowsky and famed action director and producer Aaron Norris (Missing in Action...

All hail the arrival of a festival smart enough to worship at the feet of Chuck Norris whilst also hosting the world premiere of Neil Marshall's Centurion.  Will Chuck ever be a guest of honor in Cannes or Venice?  No. Therefore ActionFest is automatically superior.  Read on to learn why!

Actionfest To Premiere In Asheville, Nc April 15-18, 2010!

First ever film festival devoted to Action Cinema opens with World Premiere of Neil Marshall's Centurion!!

Chuck Norris to accept Lifetime Achievement Award!!!

Asheville, Nc - March 2, 2010 - This April, Asheville, Nc will be the home to the inaugural edition of ActionFest, the world's first film festival devoted exclusively to action cinema, and to the people who make it possible, from filmmakers to stuntmen and fight choreographers.   Created by Carolina Cinemas founder/Magnolia Pictures co-founder Bill Banowsky and famed action director and producer Aaron Norris (Missing in Action III, Walker,...