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Mark and Aaron welcome Ben Model, silent film historian, accompanist, distributor, and enthusiast. He gave a presentation about “undercranking” on Criterion’s release of Chaplin’s The Kid. We discuss the idea of undercranking, scoring silent music, and the state of silent media today theatrically and in the home video market.

Episode Links & Notes

Special Guest: Ben Model from Silent Film Music and Undercrank Productions. You can find him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

0:00 – Intro and Welcome Ben

1:15 – Ben’s Criterion Connection

4:00 – Discussion and explanation of undercranking

18:20 – Ben’s background

24:00 –Silent films on Criterion and other labels

27:20 – Silent Film Kickstarters

38:00 – Silent Film discussion

Silent Film Music – YouTube Silent Film Music podcast Kickstarter – Accidentally Preserved Rare and Lost Silent Films Kickstarter – When Knighthood Was in Flower Kickstarter – The Bridge’s Play Kickstarter – Pioneers of African-American Cinema Movies Silently – Top Five Silent Film Directors Seriously...

David Davies/Pa Archive/Press Association Images

When news broke that Hatem Ben Arfa had returned from his summer break only to find himself – along with Sylvain Marveaux – training with the kids, some eyebrows were raised, and suspicions that the player had played his last game for the club seemed to gather pace, particularly when Remy Cabella – a similarly flair-based, small-framed player – was signed from Montpellier. The suggestion was that despite his team-mates coming back to the club in better condition than they left it, Ben Arfa had returned with some of the extra bulk that cruelly saw him dubbed Fatem Ben Arfa by some towards the end of last season.

Now, according to Le Parisien, the club are not only attempting to fine the Frenchman for being 1.5kilos over weight – which he claims is muscle weight from his holiday – but also to force him out of the club entirely.

We’re back with the latest edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting the recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes release details for Zombie Squash with George Romero, the announcement of a Reaper cast reunion special, release details for Bad Kids Go to Hell, and much more:

Zombie Squash Release Details: “Acw Games released their new game Zombie Squash (Free) today at Amazon as well as on GooglePlay this weekend. The free game stars George A. Romero, the godfather of all zombies and the iconic director of ‘Night of the Living Dead’ who provides the voice of Dr. B.E. Vil. The free game is compatible with over 2,400 Android devices. An HD version for the iPad was recently released on iTunes. The iPhone version is expected to be available on iTunes May 1st, 2013.

Zombie Squash is a world where plants and vegetables like turban squash and...

With the Oscars only hours away, many of the categories look pretty much sewn up, and no doubt in La right now, sure-thing winners are putting final touches to their speeches for the big night.

One of the few categories the still very much an open field is Best Adapted Screenplay, with Argo, Life of Pi and Silver Linings Playbook all possible winners.

We caught up with Argo screenwriter Chris Terrio last week, when he made a flying visit to London for the BAFTAs, and it turns out we weren’t the only ones, as Terrio explains:

Chris Terrio: I had a meeting with Paul Greengrass, I’m working on this film that Clooney’s going to be in that Paul and I are doing, so we’d planned to get together and talk, and then with the delay everything got pushed back.

HeyUGuys: Was that in the UK you were meeting Paul Greengrass?...

11. Zama – Dir. Lucretia Martel

Why This Makes Top 10: At number eleven we have Argentinean filmmaker Lucretia Martel’s latest film, her first since 2008’s The Headless Woman (a film that critics were slow to warm to, but ended up being on many a best end of year list in 2008/2009). Previous titles include her stunning debut, 2001’s La Cienega, along with 2004’s The Holy Girl. Her latest is a period piece based on the novel by Antonio de Benedetto and will be produced by Lita Stantic, El Deseo (the Almodovar Bros’ company), as well as a still to be named French producer. Martel is one of the most prolific names to come out the New Argentinean Wave and this looks to be a massively mounted period piece we’re eager to get a look at.

The Gist: Written in 1956, Zama is an existential novel about Don Diego de Zama, a...

Our Indie Spotlight feature returns with UFO’s, a zombie webseries pilot, and an exclusive interview with Woe to the Living co-designer Joshua Butterfield. We also have an exclusive first look at the cover art for Shakespeare v. Lovecraft:

Devolution: Reckoning- This short film is a unique 10 minute piece about UFOs attacking Earth, told through timelapses and other experimental means.

“Fed up with the failures of mankind, a cruel race of UFOs set out to destroy Earth and all that inhabit it. Can civilization survive the incredible onslaught of the attackers? Baraka meets War Of The Worlds in this unique sci-fi short, told through an unconventional arrangement of dramatic timelapses, public domain radio plays, and some experimental flair from horror filmmaker Gavin Heffernan.”

Watch the short film for free at: https://vimeo.com/12120049

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Zombie Squash: Last month, we were one of the first to bring you news Zombie Squash,...

Urban legends carry with them that unmistakable element of fear that we long for in the deepest, darkest parts of our psyche -- you know, the one that goes crazy when we watch a great slasher flick. Part of us wants the horrific yarn to be true -- because wouldn’t that be much more interesting than the truth?

You might be surprised to learn these same types of grotesque tales run rampant in the video game industry. And we’ve got nine of the most unsettling legends out there to prove it.

Gruesome water cooler epics, like the soul of a young boy, trapped in one of his favorite video games, torturing players unlucky enough to obtain the cartridge. Bizarre transmissions from unidentified number stations, broadcasting encrypted messages that seem to predict the future. A mysterious survival horror adventure deletes all traces of itself from the computer on which it was installed.

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has admitted that the returning Demba Ba and new mega signing Papiss Cisse being back in the UK for Sunday’s Premier League tie against Aston Villa has given him a selection headache

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Pardew said;

“It’s a tough call on Sunday as to what we’re going to do with Cisse and Demba,” “Best was sick, but he was brilliant against Blackburn.”

With Senegal crashing out of the African Cup of Nations prematurely at the group stages, high flying Newcastle have welcomed back Ba and his International colleague Cisse to the North East. As long as neither are jet-lagged (they came back into the UK yesterday and should be ok), then they should be match fit given their International games and raring to go as Newcastle are looking to secure a European slot with The Magpies currently fifth in the table,...

The first annual Indie Game Challenge wrapped up this past Friday and over $200,000 was awarded in prize money to the winners.

Steam punk puzzle game Cogs won the day with three different awards including Best Professionally Made Game with a prize of $100,000. Lazy 8 Studios, the developer of Cogs is a three man team and hopefully these awards will help them continue to develop more great titles.

After the ceremony, the Indie Game Challenge announced their plans for next year’s iteration of the contest. Hopefully they consider adding more categories for awards, simply so they can garner attention for a greater body of independent titles.

Other winners include 2D puzzle platformer Gear and multiplayer aerial shooter Altitude.

Here’s the offical list:

Non-professional $100,000 Grand Prize Winner: Gear

Gear was submitted by: Joshua Maiche, team lead; Mike Halbrooke, level designer; Ben Frazier, level designer; Brian Lee, designer, graphics, art and music; and Andrew Hill,...