Ard Vijn
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Ard joined Twitch in November 2006, promising Todd to share information about the Dutch film industry. Instead, he focuses on Asian cinema and Japanese animation in particular. Once every year he nearly becomes the writer he so desperately wants to be and that is during the International Film Festival Rotterdam. He juggles his time between his wife and two sons, films, and a career-on-the-side as a financial analyst.
The SILENT HILL: REVELATION 3D Poster Reveals Ehm... That The Film Is In 3D
Back in July we posted the trailer to "Silent Hill: Revelation 3D", the sequel to Christophe Gans' videogame-to-movie adaptation "Silent Hill". What was successful about the first film worked because it kept the mood, visual design and especially its SOUND...
More »
Have Your Say: What the Hell Happened Here, OOGIELOVES?
Know that I am not writing this article with any sort of glee in mind, nor do I hate the film or the people involved. How could I? I haven't seen it yet. Until today I had never even heard...
More »
Have Your Say: Is Sequelitis On The Wane?
When writing gets tough, the tough turn to statistics. Well actually they don't but I do. Checking the latest US box office numbers I wondered what the total score for 2012 was so far, and what it had been for 2011....
More »
HOLLOW has a trailer
Anyone who has visited Great Britain knows that you cannot visit any village over there (big or small) without virtually stumbling over the damnedest pieces of history and ghost stories. It should come as no surprise that someone would make...
More »
DVD/BluRay Review: BLACK LAGOON (First Two Seasons)
(Tag along. You're it...) In the Japanese animated series "Black Lagoon" a low-level Japanese office salary slave becomes a member of a South-East Asian band of modern-day pirates. It is almost the ultimate fish out of the water scenario: the...
More »
Have Your Say: The Hunt For A Modern Horror Classic
Those who know me a bit here at Twitch will not be surprised to hear that I am a bit of a statistics nut: I can be quite happy poring over a sheet of numbers for minutes and see all...
More »
R.I.P. Carlo Rambaldi, creature creator extraordinaire.
Sad news: today the Italian special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi died, aged 86. Mr. Rambaldi was responsible for many a memorable practical gore effect in the seventies, especially in seminal Italian gialli like Bava's "Twitch of the Death Nerve" and...
More »
KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE and ONLY YESTERDAY announced on BluRay
Good things happen in twos over at Studio Ghibli, as yet another two of their classics are released simultaneously. And again both founding fathers are represented here: one title is the fantastic "Kiki's Delivery Service" by Hayao Miyazaki and the...
More »
DVD Review: PANTY AND STOCKING WITH GARTERBELT
(I cannot top this release's own tagline: "Drop Those Britches, Bitches!") When animation studio Gainax (home of the "Evangelion" franchise) announced "Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt" we sort of threw a wobbler here at Twitch. The ever more worrying 'lolicon'...
More »
DVD Review: SPICE AND WOLF (SEASON 2)
(If you watch only ONE bickering anime couple this year, watch THIS one!) This week, Manga UK releases the second season of the anime "Spice and Wolf" on DVD. A few months back I reviewed the first season (link) and...
More »
Have Your Say: EVANGELION 3.0 Will (Not) Make Sense...
In three months time, a new Evangelion film will have its premiere in Japan. To say that this is an anticipated event is an understatement: ever since the original television series "Neon Genesis Evangelion" aired in 1995 it has been...
More »
Have Your Say: Which Live-Action Remake By Studio Ghibli Would You Anticipate Most?
This week we got a really good peek at a Japanese live-action short made by Studio Ghibli, featuring what looks a lot like one of the God-Warriors from "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" flattening a big city. You...
More »
BAE DOONA Is Ready For Her Extreme Close-up, Mr. deMille!
(It's been a while since we did one of these...) There are many things worth looking at in the trailer for "Cloud Atlas" but one thesp in particular is noteworthy: the Korean actress Bae Doona. Despite having been a Twitch...
More »
Have Your Say: How Many HOBBIT Films Do You Want?
Peter Jackson can be quite the joker sometimes. Therefore his comments at ComicCon last week about maybe maybe making three movies out of "The Hobbit" rather than two should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt, or just be...
More »
BluRay Review: ROUJIN-Z has hardly aged
(Listen up whippersnappers, gramps is going to talk about anime...) Last month Manga UK released the Japanese animated film "Roujin-Z" on BluRay, and I couldn't wait to scoop it up. A hit on VHS back in the days, I had...
More »
New SDCC Poster Reveals Several Monsters From FRANKENSTEIN'S ARMY!
For those following Dutch director Richard Raaphorst's twitter account, these are exciting times as he is starting to drop nuggets of information and designs from his upcoming WWII-based horror film "Frankenstein's Army". Back in March I visited the set and...
More »
Blu-ray Review: WELCOME TO THE SPACE SHOW Keeps Afloat on a Big Pile of Awesome
(Do prepare for some overly contrived sentimental shenanigans as well, but still...) Whenever Manga-UK releases a film on BluRay I do perk up and take notice. The BluRay market in the UK is a bit of a difficult one, the...
More »
DVD Review: GOLGO 13 Always Hits Its Tiny Mark
(The ultimate genre hero for NRA-nerds returns...) Meet Duke Togo aka. Golgo 13. A man so macho, it fucking took both Ken Katakura and Sonny Chiba to portray him in the live-action movies. He is James Bond without a conscience,...
More »
HAVE YOUR SAY: Who To Persuade For A New Version Of THE PERSUADERS?
A few weeks back I heard a song on the radio and part of it triggered a tune in my head. Only a few notes of a completely different tune, on repeat and driving me nuts because I couldn't remember...
More »
Confirmed: Brian Henson's HAPPYTIME MURDERS Aims For The Hard R!
Good news for everyone who thinks that animation is a genre that can be used for more than just kiddie-entertainment. Fred Topel over at Craveonline interviewed scriptwriter Todd Berger (of "Kung-fu Panda" fame) on a number of ongoing projects, and...
More »
