Welcome to the third weekly TFT newsletter; coming to you from Auckland, New Zealand, where I’m observing the unfolding of what promises to be one of the best films of next year, Mike Riddell’s ‘The Insatiable Moon’, based on his novel, and starring Rawiri Paratene of ‘Whale Rider’ as Arthur, a homeless Maori fella with schizophrenia who believes he is the second son of God.  It’s a story about magic erupting into everyday life, about how marginalized people are treated in our society, about the possibilities when human beings decide to really see each other.  This concept of really seeing has guided our TFT posts over the past week, so if you’ve missed ‘em, here’s a reminder:

We’re also excited to offer as gifts to ten new members of TFT a poster of one of our favourite films: choices include ‘Andrei Rublev’, ‘Broadway Danny Rose’ (a reminder of that film’s magic above), and ‘Vertigo’.  See here for details of how to obtain one.

I began my epic journey into film release schedules of the past ten years with a post on the most over-rated and under-rated films of the decade (people who felt alone in loving ‘The Hulk’, your vindication is near…)

Episode 102 arrived, fresh and ready for the world, and our discussion of ‘Precious’ and ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’ brought some heat and light to bear on questions of graduated racism, vulpic costume design, class consciousness in the films of Wes Anderson (and certain members of his audience), and ended on a high note with a preview for the new de Niro film ‘Everybody’s Fine’ (we’ll find out if they are in Episode 103).

My far too long list of films worth remembering from the years since 2000 claimed members of the ‘B’ team, with over 3000 words devoted, nerd-like and rather too obsessive for my liking to ‘films I liked but not enough’.

And we were brought up to date by Jett’s pairing of the Goodie Bag video montage of New York’s cinematic destruction with his irreverent treatment of Gareth’s home town.

This week we can look forward to Jett’s list of over-rated and under-rated films of the decade (sure to elicit some raised eyebrows and hurt feelings from me), and my selection of the best 73 films of the decade.  Edward Yang acolytes, fans of nearly human androids, supporters of Swedish communal living, those whose lifelong ambition is to be a Mafia accountant trapped in a Swiss hotel, and shaven-headed practitioners of space yoga, it’s your time to shine!

Meantime, please do check out the new episode and posts, comment to your heart’s content, keep in touch, and take care of yourselves…