Ben Umstead
East Coast Editor; Los Angeles, California

Born in New England, bred around the Capital Beltway, and schooled in the heart of Hollywood, Ben joined Team Twitch in the summer of 2009 when he moved to NYC. He can once again be found wandering the streets of Los Angeles.

Indie Beat: What We Talk About When We Talk About Independent Cinema
(Zoe Kazan recovers from a stressful moment in Bradley Rust Gray's 2009 film "The Exploding Girl")My mindset in talking and writing about film has always stemmed from an inner dialog which goes something like this: "Well if I were out... More »
  

This Is The Timeline Where COMMUNITY Is Renewed For A Fifth Season
Word came late on Friday that network NBC and studio Sony had arrived at a deal for a fifth season of the ratings challenged, but beloved cult show Community. The fifth season will consist of at least 13 episodes that... More »
  

Review: COMMUNITY S4E13, ADVANCED INTRODUCTION TO FINALITY (Or, Is It?)
It was in the season 3 episode Documentary Filmmaking: Redux that we saw a hilariously outdated video promoting Greendale Community College. In this video we saw a hopelessly hokey basketball player say "Why Go Greendale? Just because!" That episode, written... More »
  

LA Happenings: Czech Films, Experimental Shorts From Slamdance And... GALAXY QUEST!
I am probably flattering myself a little too much in thinking that there is an eagle-eyed reader or two who noticed that this East Coast Editor no longer resides on the east coast. Yes, as you can see from the... More »
  

Review: HE'S WAY MORE FAMOUS THAN YOU Is Excessive, Obnoxious And Hilarious
He's Way More Famous Than You is a zany bit of fame-whore lambasting, with co-writer and star Halley Feiffer fearlessly taking aim at just about everything under the Hollywood/celebrity sun, most notably herself, and more importantly her appearance in "Noah... More »
  

Brooklyn Film Festival Reveals Their 2013 Line Up
It was just yesterday that I was extolling the pluses of watching movies in a place like Brooklyn, what with the fifth Annual BAMcinemaFest happening there in June. Well Today, and not to be out done (because no one is... More »
  

Here's An Indie, There's An Indie! BAMcinemaFest Announces 2013 Line Up

Oh, New York, New York, you're one hell of a town. And Brooklyn in the summertime is a place to be. Come this June BAMcinématek is most certainly a place to be, when their fifth annual BAMcinemaFest kicks off with... More »
  

Kevin Smith And Phase 4 Films Embrace Slamdance Favorite THE DIRTIES
I ain't gonna lie, it's always fun to get in on the ground floor of a movie you just know is gonna be a buzz film all year long and beyond because not only is said film really, really, funny,... More »
  

Exclusive: Collaboration Filmmakers Challenge 2013 Has Its Short Film Winners And You Can Watch 'Em Right Now

If you're an independent filmmaker or film student who is looking to broaden your creative circles, exercise your filmmaking skills in new ways and win up to $5,000, then you may want to check out Collaboration Filmmakers Challenge. It's a... More »
  

Review: COMMUNITY S4E12, Heroic Origins (Or, Hey, Here's An Idea: Let's Insult The Entire Fanbase And History Of The Show)
So here we are, the penultimate episode of the season, and what may be the penultimate episode of the series -- though NBC has renewed a slew of their hour-long shows, they've yet to comment on the status of their... More »
  

Interview: Director Jason Mann On His Deliciously Dark DELICACY
If there is a lesson to be derived from Jason Mann's whimsically morbid short film Delicacy it is to expect the unexpected... and to relish it.Premiering last fall at the Telluride Film Festival, I saw Jason's film during this year's... More »
  

Watch The Meditative Short Film BRIDGES
Bridges is a quiet, minimalist short film from critic-turned-filmmaker Christopher Bell. It's worth noting in these here pages because at its core it features a finely tuned, nuanced performance from the brilliant Joslyn Jensen. Those with their finger on the... More »
  

The Teaser For Sono Sion's WHY DON'T YOU PLAY IN HELL? May Be The Most Insane 35 Seconds Ever Teased
At this point it just feels plain crazy to call Sono Sion merely prolific. I mean the man has made  nearly two movies a year for the past five years. But whatever the case may be Sono is a beastly... More »
  

Review: COMMUNITY S4E11, Basic Human Anatomy (Or, Commit To The Bit, Even When It's Not Great)
Basic Human Anatomy is an odd duck of an episode. It shouldn't work based on a number of reasons going in, but then largely succeeds on some of those same reasons (and then some), thus proving that the craft of... More »
  

Tribeca 2013: Short Film Round-Up
There are plenty of features to catch during this year's Tribeca Film Festival. There are also just as many shorts. For those of you in town who can't quite decide which short film blocks to catch, and for those of... More »
  

Watch WRECKED, A New Short From The Directors Of RESOLUTION
Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are well known and appreciated in these parts for their genre subverting feature film Resolution. Some of you may also know them because of their absurd and hysterical promo videos, which were made to help... More »
  

Review: COMMUNITY S4E10, Intro To Knots (Or, When Exposition On Betrayal Betrays The Funny)
For the four people that read these Community reviews on a regular basis: Apologies for being late. Perhaps we're past the point where doing a review this week feels relevant, or perhaps it's just that I was so underwhelmed by... More »
  

Tribeca 2013: Twitch Picks 17 Can't Miss Titles
Time to raise that curtain up! The Tribeca Film Fest starts tonight! We've already brought you plenty of previews with our looks at the Galas and Midnighters, the Documentary and Narrative Competitions, the Special Screenings and Shorts, and the... More »
  

Tribeca 2013 Preview: Spotlight And Viewpoints
Well here we are. Tonight the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival opens with the premiere screening of The National concert documentary Mistaken For Strangers. Things then kick off good and proper tomorrow, the festivities running all the way to the 28th.... More »
  

Tribeca 2013 Preview: Special Screenings And Shorts
With less than 24 hours until Tribeca kicks off, we're back again with another preview of this year's fest. Yesterday I laid eyes on a few fine looking flicks in the Gala and Midnight sections, this morning Ryland told you... More »
  
 
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Featured Articles

Hollywood Beat: Notes On Cutting The Cord And NBC's Genre Programs

I cut the cable cord last year, but I'm not always happy about it. I had to wait a year before seeing Season 2 of Game of Thrones, for example, and will have to wait to see Season 3 until next year. I only have to wait to see Mad... More »

Twitchvision: Talking STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS, MUD and THE ICEMAN

Another Twitchvision chat with Scott Laurie, this time me gushing about J.J.'s latest Star Trek film, which I unabashedly loved.Also talked about he fabbo Mud, and the less fabbo The Iceman, both with Michael Shannon doing his thing.Video embedded below.Update: Was asked to come in today and pick a few... More »

Learning from the Masters of Cinema: Henri-Georges Clouzot's THE MURDERER LIVES AT 21

While Henri-Georges Clouzot is best remembered for many of his later films, including The Wages of Fear and Diabolique, the French filmmaker's 1942 debut has gone largely unseen by Western audiences until now. The Murderer Lives at 21 (L'Assassin Habite au 21), based on the novel by Belgian author Stanislas-Andre... More »

China Beat: What did China See in IRON MAN 3?

Much has already been written, both on these pages and many others, about the landmark Hollywood-China co-production that is Marvel and DMG Entertainment's Iron Man 3. The film, directed by Shane Black, is the third solo outing for Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark, and has proved a phenomenal success around... More »

FEAR & LOATHING AT CANNES, PART 2: I'M IN LOVE WITH EVERYBODY'S GIRL

CHAPTER 4: THE PHILOSOPHY OF ANNA KARINA AND BUTT PLUGSI'm sitting outside at a small Café that my editor told me to meet him at. I'm a 10 minute walk from the Marche Du Film convention hall and I'm still waiting for my editor to arrive so he take guide... More »
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