CHRIS: The Muppet Christmas Carol (Henson, US, 1992)
Ah, the festive season, with its fine traditions: waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve, realising he’s never going to appear, so you’ll have to do all the wrapping yourself while […]
Category Archives: Chris’ List
CHRIS: The Mission (Joffé, UK, 1986)
The opening scene of THE MISSION is one of those moments that are often described as ‘iconic’, like “you talkin’ to me” or Marilyn’s frock blowing up. It features a priest strapped […]
CHRIS: Lone Star (Sayles, US, 1996)
John Sayles has a talent for telling stories about how the political affects the personal. As a writer director he has a reputation for engaging with socio-political subjects and inflecting […]
CHRIS: House of Games (Mamet, US, 1987)
“It’s called the confidence game. Why? Because you give me your confidence? No, because I give you mine.” Mike David Mamet was already an established Broadway dramatist and Hollywood […]
CHRIS: Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum) (Schlondorff, West Germany, Yugoslavia, Poland, France, 1979)
Oskar Matzerath is the boy who refuses to grow older. A child of the petite bourgeois in Danzig during the rise of Nazism, he throws himself down the cellar steps, […]
CHRIS: Eureka (Roeg, US, 1983)
“More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.” Truman Capote, Answered Prayers – The Unfinished Novel When the The Greatest Films of All Time were published in Sight […]
CHRIS: The Empire Strikes Back (Kershner, US, 1980)
I was twelve years old when EMPIRE… was released. Months and months of insidious immersion in novel tie-ins, comic strips, Starburst features, Look-in posters (Han Solo and Princess Leia, in […]
CHRIS: Traffic (Soderbergh, US, 2000)
“It’s all downhill from here.” – Soderbergh, on winning the Palme D’or for his first film The film sections of the newspapers were filled with high-camp this week. On the […]
CHRIS: The Dungeon Masters (McAlester, US, 2008)
For us, the movie came down to an essential question about creativity. Because if you’re an adult in America and you get paid to be creative, people look at you […]
CHRIS: Far From Heaven (Haynes, US, 2002)
“I can’t shoot straight anymore.” Ron Kirby (Rock Hudson) – All that Heaven Allows (1955) A few years ago there was a sudden revival of interest in 1950s America thanks […]
The Dirk Malcolm Alternative 