Like Alan I am in catch up mode so have only just listened to episode 26. Three comments -
1. I have placed a review on iTunes (even though the T Shirt deadline has passed - such selflessness!)
2. I think 40 mins should generally be the maximum length. I love your witty and incite full film reviews and film related discussions (even when I disagree - see 3.) but sometimes I think "For the love of (insert appropriate deity here) - stop waffling and get back to the film!"
3. OK - I'm willing to accept that M. 'Night to Remember' Shalamar is misunderstood, that The Village is underrated and that The Lady in the Water has some redeeming features. But (and it's a big but) how you can think The Happening is anything other than terrible amazes me. Hard to know where to begin but easy to know where to end - the script! The plot is so bad and the dialogue so ludicrous that this has to be the worst script for a major film that I have seen in a long time. And Gareth - putting in a load of sub Hitchcock references doesn't make it Hitchcock. To say if this is no good then neither is Psycho or The Birds makes no logical sense at all (though I think an "is Hitchcock as good as everybody thinks" discussion would be interesting).
- Still love the show though!

Bless ya for posting an iTunes review Tim; and we´re trying to keep the show down to 40min. and more focused as I found myself driving to Jackson Miss. listening to the show and having the same experience as you = "for the love of God get to the movie!".

As for ´The Happening´= when I saw it in the theatre the whole room was filled with dread and people were really freaked out = this phenomena (sic) of context releted perception is one I´ll continue to explore on TFT.

Added a review on iTunes ... several episodes behind in the feed. But the 40 minute length seemed good.

I think the good Dr. is tryin' to wiggle out of this one! ;)

Fair enough, Prof. Dr.

Love Rear Window, although I think North by Northwest is my personal favourite.

And apologies Gareth, you were actually raising a question as opposed to knocking Hitch entirely.

I sure hope that M Night's work is reavaulated as time goes by.

Well...I'll spot ya 'Marnie'! ;)

And 'Vertigo' and 'Rear Window' are two of my favorites - saw them both for the first time on a double bill during the Universal re-release of the mid-eighties, (though now that I'm older I can see where Hitchcock was coming from re: hating to have to use Kim Novack in Vertigo - she's not the best at projecting intelligence and mystery).

hello the listener

just wished to intervene in the midst of the rumblings about my alleged disdain for mr hitchcock...i refer the listener with respect to what i actually said on the last episode...which was merely to pose a question, not to make a statement...all the points about alfred being taken more seriously after his death (or by the french critical community while he was alive) implying that m night might effect the same response seem entirely valid to me. dear listener (and dear co-host), i trust that you will forgive any potentially blasphemous outpouring against mr hitchcock, and allow for the elegance of language to sometimes run the risk of obscuring the truth.

for what it's worth, i see 'vertigo' every time it screens in belfast.

I may be thinking of "Vertigo", as to why I thought that - I don't think it had the commercial success as some of his others did.

Interesting about 'Psycho'...

Personally, "Rear Window" has always been one of my favorite movies.

Hitchcock - a master. Enough said.

Gareth is wrong about Hitch = he was one of the great artists of the 20th century.

But here's the thing; right around the birth of the silent era Hitchcock stopped talking of himself as an artist, replacing that public persona with that of a showman, an entertainer. He still was an artist of course but he realized that didn't sell as well. He had to wait a couple of decades for popular culture to catch up.

Psycho was a HUGE commercial hit, (especially considering its production cost - after all it was shot with a TV crew on a TV budget); its reputation as a great art film, (see the Turner Prize winner 24 Psycho as an example / Gus Van Sant's 'Psycho' commentary as well for examples), came later.

Well now it seems I have a bone to pick with Gareth as well as Jett. After Jett trashed one of my favorite trilogies (Star Wars), Gareth...well, Gareth didn't exactly "trash" one of my favorite directors, but he did insinuate Hitchcock was less than "great".

It does raise a question I have - Gareth (or Jett, I can't recall which) made a statement in discussing Shyamalan that perhaps some of his movies may be more well-received 20 years from now....weren't several of Hitchcock's movies criticized when they originally came out, only to be revered years later? I could be completely wrong on this...

His films are beautiful - as I mentioned on the show - the shots in the Happening of grass/reeds/trees blowing in the wind are fantastic - both beautiful and ominous - mysterious, (reminding me of the scenes in the park in Antonioni's 'Blow Up'

I will re-watch 'The Village' - maybe you and Professor Doctor GH are right.

How refreshing to hear someone say something positive about M. Night Shyamalan. I'm with Gareth, I think The Village is - for the moment - the pinnacle of a great body of work. Shyamalan is presenting original ideas (or at least original takes) when there is such a lack in modern 'popular' cinema. I agree with you Jett about how he makes such wonderful use of the camera, only moving it when needs be. I think of Shyamalan's films as quite beautiful at times. He's so much more than the man who provides twists at the end of all his films, giving you much to enjoy on repeated viewings.

I suppose I could also 'speed up' the and alter the pitch to deliver it in at 30min! ;)

wow by randomly pausing and un-pausing this week's episode, i was able to lengthen it to a full 45 minutes! (NOTE: For those who want it shorter, just fast forward! ;) )