CHRIS: Drowning by Numbers (Greenaway, UK, 1988)
Alan Parker famously said of Peter Greenaway, that he would move his children to America if he was allowed to make another film. It was a typically frank, working class, […]
Author Archives: Dirk
DOM: Lawrence of Arabia (Lean, UK, 1962)
One cloudy Sunday afternoon at the beginning of April 1990, the prisoner’s of Strangeways, Manchester decided to riot and so the news was extended and so the TV premiere of […]
CHRIS: Husbands and Wives (Allen, US, 1992)
” Life doesn’t imitate art, it imitates bad TV.” Compare this film with my previous choice for the list: IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE is about the unspoken tensions at […]
CHRIS: In The Mood For Love (Wong Kai-wai, Hong Kong, 2000)
I have a real problem with BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1945). I’m not sure why. It is a much admired British film, albeit by train enthusiasts and those who crave that golden-age […]
DOM: Dracula (AKA Horror of Dracula) (Fisher, UK, 1958)
The ultimate horror film, full stop. There, I have said it. 82 minutes of pure brilliance! When I was growing up in the 1970’s, I was always fascinated by my […]
CHRIS: The Elephant Man (Lynch, US, 1980)
No other director has brought art and mainstream American cinema clashing together in quite the same way as David Lynch: film-maker, transcendental educationalist, coffee supplier and cartoonist. From his early […]
DOM: La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life) (Fellini, Italy/France, 1960)
Fellini’s once scandalous film, now seems pretty tame, but it remains perhaps the best film reflecting a certain place at a certain time. It opens with a statue of Christ […]
CHRIS: The Talented Mr Ripley (Mingella, US, 1999)
One of the limitations of creating a list of films since STAR WARS (1977) is that many of my favourite directors either stopped producing films or had died before its […]
CHRIS: Ran (Kurosawa, Japan, 1985)
In the week that British political landscape was rewritten, it is fitting that The Dirk Malcolm Film Club should feature this epic study of the destructive effects of power as […]
DOM: Star Wars (Lucas, US, 1977)
To quote Halliwell’s Film Guide “Flash Gordon rides again!” One of the most enjoyable blockbusters of all time, this became THE must see film of the late 70’s and if […]
The Dirk Malcolm Alternative 