SCREENING: Maximum Choppage: Round 2 in Newcastle!

Yay! Maximum Choppage: Round 2 is hitting 2.5 hours north of Sydney at a place called Newcastle! The coordinator is Adam Clough from The Octopod Association - a media arts organisation based out this region. Its definitely exciting times once again! The last time I recall a last request for a screening was in 2009 in Hollywood, LA for another independent film cinema. It does thrill me when the film resonates with communities and other creatives. If you are in Newcastle, do check it out!

MEDIA RELEASE | Feb 2011

KICK ARSE KUNG FU & GUERILLA MAYHEM HITS NEWCASTLE!

MAXIMUM CHOPPAGE: ROUND 2

Maximum Choppage: Round 2; Australia’s first urban kung fu action adventure is finally in Newcastle!

Made by an artist collective called Rumble Pictures based in Cabramatta in Sydney’s West – Maximum Choppage: Round 2 is their offering to the recent explosion in popularity for Kung Fu Films.

One of the makers of this epic no-budget, first-time youth movie, producer/ actress Maria Tran will be traveling with it.

“We definitely want to get feedback from this creative city and meet up with Newcastle movie makers and emerging artists” comments Maria Tran.

Not since the cult 1975 film The Man From Hong Kong has Australia produced its own Kung Fu picture. Tired of the solid foreign diet, Rumble Pictures decided to produce their own tribute to the martial arts movies of the 70’s and 80’s using their local urban streets as the back drop.

Offering a reinvention of the Kung Fu genre but taking direct inspiration from the classic 70 and 80s narratives of Jackie Chan, Rumble Pictures are proud to present Australia’s first “no-budget, but epic ambition” action Kung Fu film.

"It's an awesome example of what anyone can achieve independently from the traditional routes of movie making." remarks former Shootout judge and Newcastle Grind co-ordinator Adam Clough. "Anybody at a grass roots level with a camera and a computer is able to create and show their movies."

Maximum Choppage: Round 2 is a 70 minute urban action adventure exploring the great story telling corner stones of love and pride. Two arch rivals fight with swords over a girl in down town battle! Within a story line dedicated to accommodate as many kick ass kung fu show downs as possible, the result is fast, furious and funny.

The producers, Rumble Pictures, have ensured that the fundamental essence of Kung-Fu action is not lost nor compromised in their ploy to pay such homage. What results is a preservation of the slapstick fun and comedic notions of the earlier work of Jackie Chan highlighted with the animated cues of Steven Chow’s Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle.

Writer and Director Craig Anderson from the ABC’s Double the Fist noted MC2’s presence as an innovative montage of action and comedy. “Here’s a truly funny film that acknowledges its roots. An old school Kung Fu film in its purity!” he says.

Maximum Choppage: Round 2 is an independent picture four years in the making. It makes no apologies for its ‘rough around-the-edges’ approach to cinematography that pushes the boundaries of guerilla-style moviemaking – action sequences at its most organic. In the project’s initial stages when resources were limited, camera dollies were replaced by skate boards and home mattresses dragged into the street to use as crash pads as people dove off council bins!

Adam goes on to add "The Australia we see in the media is often far removed from the reality of the outer suburbs of capital cities or places like Newcastle, whose culture in arts, music, and even movies is distinct in it's own way. Newcastle's exported a lot of independent arts & music over the years, but not a lot of movies. So I hope Maximum Choppage & Rumble Pictures encourages young people to have fun and make movies that celebrate the things they do rather than trying to fill the mold film culture's wanted us to fit into to be accepted."

To be held at Newcastle's The Loft Youth Venue, Rumble Pictures & Newcastle Grind invites punters, punks, geeks, enthusiasts, and emerging artists (martial and non-martial alike) to be part of the awesomeness.

“Maximum Choppage: Round 2” – Feature Movie Screening

Date: Friday 11th February, 2011

Screening Times: 7.00pm

Venue: The Loft Youth Venue, Level 1, 7A Wolfe Street Newcastle Mall

Entry is FREE. All popcorn is FREE. For enquiries call 02 49742094 or email newcastle-grind@hotmail.com