Blindsided (2017) & Blindsided: The Game (2018) Eric Jacobus

[AlbertV]

Blind man and apple pie connoisseur Walter Cooke (Eric Jacobus) ventures to his neighborhood corner store to buy milk and apples. When mafia thugs try to shake down the storeowner (Roger Yuan), Walter shows them what a blind martial artist is capable of!

Directed by Clayton Barber and produced by David No. This was mentioned before the forum breakdown but here is the full short film.

[Drunken Monk]

Definitely not some of Jacobus' better work. I actually found the fight sequence pretty pedestrian. The gimmick was interesting and added a level of intrigue to the whole thing, but I can't help but feel like he's done much, much better.

[Mike Leeder]

That was pretty much my opinion, perhaps the hype was a bit too much for me but i was expecting much more.....

[ShaOW!linDude]

17 hours ago, Drunken Monk said:

Definitely not some of Jacobus' better work. I actually found the fight sequence pretty pedestrian. The gimmick was interesting and added a level of intrigue to the whole thing, but I can't help but feel like he's done much, much better.

 

13 hours ago, Mike Leeder said:

That was pretty much my opinion, perhaps the hype was a bit too much for me but i was expecting much more.....

I would say it's on par with his previous work. I enjoyed this very much. The Rope-A-Dope short films have a great HK flavor to the choreography, especially the second one. The fight sequences here are intricate on a different level, there are some nice impacts, and the flow is great as it always is with Eric's work. It incorporates his keenness with his other senses without an over-reliance on the fact. I especially enjoyed his employment of the collapsible walking stick with a stiletto in the handle. That was a sweet touch, and for me heightened my appreciation of the fight choreography. While this doesn't afford us the typical showcase Jacobus' fantastic bootwork, there are some nice kicks used. My only qualm is it is a little lacking in the comedy aspect that he's usually so good insert, though there are a couple of moments.

I always thought Eric would be a good stunt double for Charlie Cox on Netflix's Daredevil series. This just bolsters that idea for me. I've watched this about 3 times now, and I enjoy it more each time.

[massa_yoda]

I thought this was great.  Jacobus continues to impress.  

[D1 Ma]

As a whole, I thought it was one of his better efforts. Not really impressive from MA point of view, but the idea, direction, camera work, even the acting was pretty good, IMO

I wasn't expecting really intricate fight choreography for that kind of character( a blind man, after all), so I liked what I saw

I've always thought and still am, that Eric is one of the best talents working in a MA field. Not as big or famous, but just as good as any big names out there

[CT KID]

I really enjoyed it, the guy is very good at staging fights. Remember having the DVD Contour years ago made by his group and how much I liked it...

[One Armed Boxer]

Producer David No (also facing off against Jacobus in the below shot) has confirmed that a sequel to 'Blindsided' will be out before the end of the year. 

[whitesnake]

"Blindsided was the beginning.  Blindsided: The Game is the full story.  The story of Walter the cook continues on May 17th [2018]!"  from https://ericjacobus.com/blog/ 

More info at - http://filmcombatsyndicate.blogspot.com/2018/04/dont-turn-blind-eye-this-may-for-eric.html  - "Industry stuntman and coordinator Clayton Barber, collaborates as director and writer once again with Jacobus following up as Walter Cooke, a blind apple pie connoisseur who clashes with a loan shark and his goons after saving the life of an indebted store clerk.  Jacobus sternly crafts the physical slapstick comedy that foundates the slick, solid martial arts action that personifies the fole of Cooke in a way that resoundingly bridges the protagonist likes of Zatoichi, Blind Fury and Daredevli's Matt Murdock."   Cast list at https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7115904/  Poster below -

   

[ShaOW!linDude]

Eric Jacobus has taken his character and concept from the short film Blindsided and turned it into a full length film. I believe it supposed be available for streaming May 17th. I, for one, am super-stoked see this.

 

[One Armed Boxer]

On 5/10/2018 at 12:13 AM, ShaOW!linDude said:

Eric Jacobus has taken his character and concept from the short film Blindsided and turned it into a full length film. I believe it supposed be available for streaming May 17th.

 

Just to clarify the above dude, 45 mins is still officially classed as a short film (I believe the minimum length for a feature film is 85 mins)...but it's still definitely a lot longer than the first instalment!

[ShaOW!linDude]

9 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said:

Just to clarify the above dude, 45 mins is still officially classed as a short film (I believe the minimum length for a feature film is 85 mins)...but it's still definitely a lot longer than the first instalment!

Ah. I never did come across a run time. I assumed it was feature length based on the impression I got. My bad, and good looking out. Still, 45 mins. of Jacobus kicking butt will do me good.

[Drunken Monk]

 

[Drunken Monk]

I'd just like to say that I thought this was garbage. An uninteresting story with lackluster fights. I get what he's going for but I preferred Jacobus' early stuff way more. Even "Contour," made in 2006, is vastly superior to this.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Been meaning to post about this.

Well, I liked it. The 2 short films pieced together makes for an interesting 45 min. run. I am intrigued by the character Walter Cooke played by Jacobus. He has a mysterious backstory I want to know about. The Ron Yuan character was fleshed out a little bit more and he actual had a couple of action scenes. What didn't work for me was the guy playing the mob boss. He was just off somehow. Didn't seem to really fit the character for me.

Jacobus gets to go "blind swordsman" in this. While he's no Zaitochi, it's a nice homage to the character. I personally enjoyed the action in this, however some of the sword scenes are edited a bit too quickly. Still, Jacobus plays it well and as always, he sells his fights. It's still a little lax in the bootwork department, but understandably so. I really dug the scenes around the poker table.

Personally, I'm hoping for a 3rd installment that will include a fitting rival to Walter's skill set.