Ben Umstead

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• Posted A TOWN CALLED PANIC Review to Reviews
  (Our thanks goes out to Joseph Sylvers for the review)The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy's book within the book begins with the phrase "Don't Panic", because the universe is a dizzying, dazzlingly complex place, that to take it all...
  November 19, 2009 3:00 PM
• Posted A Town Called Panic to Movies
  November 19, 2009 2:57 PM
• Commented on First Images Arrive From Satoshi Kon's THE DREAMING MACHINE (YUME MIRU KIKAI)
  One word: beautiful!...
  November 19, 2009 1:47 PM
• Commented on Tomm Moore's Stellar SECRET OF KELLS Finds A US Home ...
  At least a nomination!...
  November 11, 2009 12:39 PM
• Commented on Review: THE BOX
  I was not a fan of Kelly at all before this one. I had a very fun time watching it - ambitious, weird, freaky, silly, and just plain exciting. It's all about the ideas. For the record, the cop was...
  November 7, 2009 7:09 PM
• Commented on From The Writer Of THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE, Producers Of PAN'S LABYRINTH And HIERRO And Director Of THE BIRTHDAY: First Images From AGNOSIA!
  Color me very, very interested, especially when you throw Bárbara Goenaga into the mix. She's quite lovely on the eyes....
  November 6, 2009 6:24 PM
• Commented on A Rant And Some Advice
  You bring up some valid and valuable points and experiences, James. And I'm sorry you had to have such an inconsiderate couples of louts in front of you. The thing is I've never really had a bad cinema going experience...
  November 5, 2009 10:48 AM
• Posted Harishchandrachi Factory to Movies
  November 4, 2009 5:21 PM
• Posted SAIFF 09: HARISHCHANDRACHI FACTORY Review to Reviews
  (Once again, thanks goes to Dustin Chang for the review)Harishchandrachi Factory, a first feature from Marathi theater director Pareshi Mokathi is immensely crowd-pleasing. It tells the story of the father of Indian cinema, Dadasaheb Phalke (Nandu Madhav), a Groucho Marx-esque,...
  November 4, 2009 5:12 PM
• Posted Raat Gayi, Baat Gayi? to Movies
  November 4, 2009 12:24 AM
• Posted SAIFF 09: RAAT GAYI, BAAT GAYI? to Reviews
  A comedy of errors and manners, there's something very classical yet fresh about Indian director/actor Saurabh Shukla's new film. And while it doesn't bat one hundred percent, it's an honest little take on the breakdown of communication that can happen...
  November 4, 2009 12:22 AM
• Commented on SAIFF 09: FATSO Review
  Hey Raj, First up, thanks for following the coverage. Galen Rosenthal, the programmer of SAIFF, and I have been wondering if anyone is really reading this stuff. As long as one perso knows! Secondly, totally agree with you on the...
  November 4, 2009 12:18 AM
• Commented on Elias Koteas joins cast of LET ME IN
  "Weighed down with genre stuff it's 'just' good horror with more than a brain than usual" - I pretty much agree. The book focuses on the adults and the community at large almost as much as Eli and Oskar. Other...
  November 3, 2009 8:55 AM
• Posted Elias Koteas joins cast of LET ME IN to News
  Yup. Wow. Cloverfield director, Matt Reeves' American adap. of the Swedish book/film Let the Right One In just got pretty darn interesting with the addition of Casey Jones himself, Mr. Elias Koteas playing the role of the policeman. Incidentally this...
  November 3, 2009 2:48 AM
• Posted Fatso to Movies
  November 2, 2009 12:39 PM
• Posted SAIFF 09: FATSO Review to Reviews
  Let me get this out of the way fast! Don't let the title fool you, it's kind of a misrepresentation of Rajat Kapoor's film, especially with such a limited meaning in English. In fact, Kapoor doesn't even like the title...
  November 2, 2009 12:37 PM
• Posted SAIFF 09: THE LAST THAKUR Review to Reviews
  Shot through with Yojimbo like dynamics and seemingly Shakespearean family vendettas, Sadik Ahmed's debut feature is neither a wily commentary on violence nor an overwrought tragedy. It is a meditative, slow burn of a picture, of men drowning in...
  November 1, 2009 12:18 AM
• Posted SAIFF 09: RED ALERT: THE WAR WITHIN Review to Reviews
  Ananth Mahadevan's political thriller exposes Westerners to a little known history of a decades long struggle that began in 1947 India, and escalated in '67 with the splitting of their Communist parties, and of the self proclaimed champions of the...
  October 31, 2009 12:30 AM
• Posted Red Alert: The War Within to Movies
  October 31, 2009 12:03 AM
• Posted Red Alert: The War Within to Movies
  October 31, 2009 12:03 AM
• Posted SAIFF 09: MANJADIKURU Review to Reviews
  (Our thanks to Dustin Chang for the review) Manjadikuru tells a bittersweet story about a family getting together for the funeral of its patriarch, seen through a 10 year old boy named Vicky. While the grown-ups bicker and wait anxiously...
  October 30, 2009 5:50 PM
• Posted Manjadikuru to Movies
  October 30, 2009 5:46 PM
• Posted SAIFF 09: Gonzo Trailer Extravaganza! to News
  If you're in New York City this Halloween night and want to do something a little different, perhaps a bit nuts, a bit gonzo... Keep reading.Amidst the world premiere glitz and glamor of the South Asian International Film Fest, Omar...
  October 29, 2009 6:30 PM
• Commented on AFM 09: Tak Sakaguchi and Sion Sono Teaming For THE BLOOD OF WOLVES!
  Sakaguchi's directorial efforts have been uneven at best so it's good news to hear that Sono is giving him a hand with this next one, which sounds pretty darn cool story-wise... Samurai, curses, morphing, fem ninjas? Yes, please, I'm game....
  October 29, 2009 2:22 PM
• Posted Aladin to Movies
  October 29, 2009 12:16 PM
• Posted SAIFF 09: ALADIN Review to Reviews
  (Our thanks to Dustin Chang for the review)As the 6th annual South Asian International Film Fest's opening night film, the world premiere of a Bollywood big budget, special effects driven fantasy, Aladin didn't disappoint the mostly Indian audience that...
  October 29, 2009 11:55 AM
• Posted Reminder to UK Readers: Sion Sono's LOVE EXPOSURE opens this Friday! to News
  That's right, starting this Friday, October 30th, Third Window films will be releasing Sion Sono's 4 hour up-skirt photog.etc. etc. epic at the ICA cinema in London. After running the festival gauntlet, from Berlin to Fantastic, my favorite film of...
  October 29, 2009 5:00 AM
• Posted SAIFF Gonzo oil paintings to Galleries
  October 28, 2009 9:01 PM
• Commented on Lights! Camera! ZOMBIES!
  If we must wait two decades for your zombie opus, Nacho, then I guess we'll just have to wait two decades. I'm sure it'll be worth it. And thanks for dropping by and reading! It was a nice surprise. And,...
  October 28, 2009 5:45 PM
• Commented on Lights! Camera! ZOMBIES!
  Oh spit... Roeg isn't dead. Why did I not catch that? It was one of those things everybody assumed, which is down right terrible. Well, it's been changed, although now I think I'll need to add someone to the "undead"...
  October 28, 2009 10:27 AM
• Posted Lights! Camera! ZOMBIES! to Featured
  The idea for this T-o-M is simple enough (hell it's probably been done before!)... a list of directors who should make (or should have made) a zombie movie. After all, zombies are the new vampires... or is that the other...
  October 27, 2009 8:00 PM
• Commented on [J-FILM REVIEWS] ゴエモン (Goemon)
  No matter what the films does in dividing audiences, I think that trailer will always be fun. Still curious, but not elatedly so....
  October 27, 2009 5:23 PM
• Commented on Denmark Gets Bloody With Nazi Slasher FINAL SOLUTION
  What we have right there is an excellent teaser....
  October 22, 2009 4:49 PM
• Commented on ICHI Review
  Just an FYI for those in the states: Funimation has the US rights for Ichi and have been doing one time only screenings in different cities before releasing they release it on DVD Dec. 29th. I wanted to go to...
  October 18, 2009 11:03 PM
• Posted Gearing up for SAIFF 09 to News
  The 6th annual South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF) will take place in NYC from October 28th - November 3rd, and Twitch will be there to cover an eclectic bunch of flicks from the Bangladeshi western,  The Last Thakur, to...
  October 18, 2009 6:00 PM
• Posted SAIFF 09 stills gallery to Galleries
  A collection of publicity stills for films playing at the South Asian International Film Festival....
  October 18, 2009 12:26 PM
• Commented on Video: Bong Joon-ho talks about 'Le Transperceneige (Snow Piercer)'
  Glad he's still planning on doing this. Know next to nothing about the graphic novel minus a few pages, but the basic idea sounds great, and in Bong's hands even greater....
  October 14, 2009 9:40 PM
• Commented on Full Trailer For Mamoru Oshii's ASSAULT GIRLS!
  While I still like the look of this, is all they do are snipe sandworms(whales?) atop an ashy hill? Unless Oshii is keeping things under wraps, I can understand the concern for this one. Granted there are budget limitations to...
  October 11, 2009 8:40 PM
• Posted White Material to Movies
  October 11, 2009 12:46 PM
• Posted NYFF 09: WHITE MATERIAL to Reviews
  Set in an unspecified French speaking African nation mired by civil war, Claire Denis' White Material skirts around much of the social and political commentary that comes with many films shot on the African continent by semi-outsiders. It is in...
  October 11, 2009 11:45 AM
• Commented on Where are my bleepy crunches
  Here's another hand up for LOLA, though maybe Tykwer's film is playing it a little too safe under your possible guidelines? Regardless these 4 you have are damn fine examples....
  October 6, 2009 3:18 PM
• Commented on Terracotta Distribution acquires UK rights for BREATHLESS
  Very good news. UK and Canada has the US beat on this front....
  October 5, 2009 10:07 AM
• Commented on STARTING POINT: 1979 - 1996 Book Review
  I stumbled upon this the other week in the bookstore. I had no idea it had been published in English, so I was pleasantly surprised, though not at the price tag (admittingly it is a hefty volume for $30). Still...
  October 5, 2009 10:05 AM
• Posted Matt Reeves' LET ME IN Cast Announced to News
  LET ME IN is Matt Reeves' retitled American adaptation of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. Overture and the recently resurrected Hammer films are co-producing. And now we have the initial cast...Kodi Smit-McPhee will be in the Oscar role, now called...
  October 1, 2009 11:11 PM
• Posted Let Me In to Movies
  October 1, 2009 10:56 PM
• Commented on Fantastic Fest 09: LOVE EXPOSURE Review
  Haha, beautiful, man. When a review captures the spirit of a movie... gangbusters. Best review I've read of the film. Anyone reading these comments who hasn't seen the film, just trust Peter. He knows what he is talking about. Buy...
  October 1, 2009 10:32 PM
• Posted LET ME IN Cast to Galleries
  October 1, 2009 10:07 PM
• Commented on Sitges 09: SPLICE Review
  Middle ground is what works for me and Natali's Cube and Cypher are absolutely two of the better sci-fi films of the past fifteen or so. I count, those, District 9, Gattaca and The Clone Returns Home on that list....
  October 1, 2009 5:22 PM
• Commented on Fantastic Fest Award Winners Announced!
  If I'm not mistaken Breathless came in as a runner up at NYFF for audience award... against Fish Story. People really do "like" the film. May not be a crowd pleaser. I'm a little bummed Love Exposure didn't rack up...
  September 30, 2009 10:06 AM
• Commented on FILM FESTIVAL YEARBOOK 1--A Response to Section Two
  Really lovely, Michael. More content of this type and depth would be appreciated. At the very least it helps me understand where they are coming from. I was wanting to cover NYFF for Twitch and made press inquires twice (at...
  September 26, 2009 8:07 PM