‘Ya gots ta move wid’ da times’

Busy times here at TFT – with me in New Zealand and Jett in the Big Sleepy, we’re separated by what Bram Stoker’s Dracula might call ‘oceans of time’ – I’m in tomorrow, he’s in yesterday, and today hasn’t happened yet.  The world is changing…

But we have still strived (striven?  strifd?) to bring you the internet’s most important commodity: CONTENT (I used to call it writing and broadcasting, but ya gots to move with the times, which is the kind of thing you feel duty bound to say when you’ve just watched Robert Altman’s remarkable ‘Popeye’).

And so, herewith, heretofore, hence, and now: The Weekly Roundup of TFT News.

I’ve been blogging the production of ‘The Insatiable Moon’, a low budget NZ film about a homeless man with schizophrenia who believes he’s the second son of God.  It’s been a fascinating privilege to be observing what the DOP Tom Burstyn calls ‘frugal film-making’.  I’ve written about this concept: of making films so cheaply that you make ‘em fast, and maybe better; have touched on the questions of metaphysics and empathy that this film raises; the parallels with the ‘Twilight’ vampires (trust me); and the lead actor, Rawiri Paratene, who’ll be familiar to TFT readers through his performance in ‘Whale Rider’.

Meanwhile, we’ve continued Operation Save The Film Talk with a new offer: a free subscription to Film-maker Magazine – check it out here.  For the first time ever, you can hear some outtakes from our last almost vain attempt at recording the show; we feature the great Brian Cox as an acting teacher; and in Episode 104 we discussed our versions of the best films of the decade.

Jett has only today declared himself to be “on Cloud 9 after just seeing a film which has reinvigorated my love for cinema!  It’s Werner Herzog’s THE BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS – and friends I’m tellin’ ya it’s the most joyous, life affirming film I’ve seen in years – see it if it comes out near you!”

This week we’ll record our last show of the year, in which we hope to have some special guests talking about the best films of this year; while Jett & I get to focus on ‘Avatar’, which due to the time difference in NZ I will get to see before they’ve even made it.

For now, take care, keep in touch, and watch good movies…