Christopher Saunders

LATEST ARTICLES ( 667 )

• She's Gotta Have It

  

  Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It (1986) has the raw, unpolished feel of a great director's first movie. It's an energetic, engaging rough draft for Do the Right... Read more

  Posted on 18 March 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Play Misty for Me

  

  "The thing I hate the most in the whole world is a jealous female!"Clint Eastwood's directorial debut came with Play Misty for Me (1971). Read more

  Posted on 17 March 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Morning Glory (2010)

  

  Rachel McAdams has danced around stardom for the past decade. Despite appearing in hits like Mean Girls, The Notebook and Sherlock Holmes, she's never landed... Read more

  Posted on 15 March 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Path to War

  

  "What do you want me to do, kill everyone's grandmother in that place?" Lyndon Johnson remains one of America's most controversial, complex Presidents: a... Read more

  Posted on 14 March 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Foxcatcher

  

  Bennett Miller's Foxcatcher (2014) is a slow-burn psychodrama. Miller uses a real-life crime for an oppressive, eerie drama that's gripping, yet elusive. Read more

  Posted on 11 March 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Glory Guys

  

  Early in his career, Sam Peckinpah adapted Hoffman Birney's Custer-inspired novel The Dice of God into a screenplay. The project lingered in development hell fo... Read more

  Posted on 09 March 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Martian

  

  Last year's entry in the space exploration genre, Ridley Scott's The Martian (2015) underwhelms. Like most of Scott's work, it has a worthy premise, nice visual... Read more

  Posted on 08 March 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Truth (2015)

  

  Last year saw Spotlight, a well-made paean to investigative journalism, win Best Picture. A far messier reporting drama also appeared to middling reviews and... Read more

  Posted on 08 March 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

  

  "You stick with me kid, you're gonna live forever!"Michael Cimino got his start directing Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974). An ambling, engaging thriller, it's... Read more

  Posted on 05 March 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Room (2015)

  

  was the odd film out at this year's Oscars, a heart-wrenching chamber drama lost amidst topical true stories, bloody frontier epics and overwrought Spielberg... Read more

  Posted on 05 March 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Great Man

  

  Jose Ferrer directs and stars in The Great Man (1956), which isn't a great movie. Based on Arthur Godfrey, the same television personality who inspired Elia... Read more

  Posted on 03 March 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Gabriel Over the White House

  

  What happens when you blend anger at the Great Depression, New Deal idealism and William Randolph Hearst's politics? You get Gabriel Over the White House (1933)... Read more

  Posted on 02 March 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Candidate (1972)

  

  "Vote once, vote twice for Bill McKay, you middle-class honkies!"Michael Ritchie's The Candidate (1972) provides a cynical twist on a familiar story. Read more

  Posted on 01 March 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Obligatory Oscar Commentary

  

  The Oscars were last night. I didn't watch the telecast, so no deep thoughts on Chris Rock's performance or the inevitable interminable musical numbers. I... Read more

  Posted on 29 February 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• A Face in the Crowd

  

  "I'm not just an entertainer. I'm an influence, a wielder of opinion, a force!"Few films are as prescient as A Face in the Crowd (1957). Read more

  Posted on 29 February 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Network

  

  "You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale!"Sidney Lumet's Network (1976) is a "classic" that leaves me cold. Read more

  Posted on 28 February 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• All the King's Men (1949)

  

  "Man is conceived in sin and born in corruption!"Modern political dramas owe a debt to All the King's Men (1949). Robert Rossen's classic plays as an epic... Read more

  Posted on 27 February 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Where the Sidewalk Ends

  

  "Your job is to detect criminals, not to punish them." Six years after Laura (1944), Otto Preminger reteamed Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney for Where the Sidewal... Read more

  Posted on 26 February 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Lost Weekend

  

  "I'm not a drinker; I'm a drunk."Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend (1945) still packs a punch. This grim portrayal of a man's descent into alcoholism won Best... Read more

  Posted on 25 February 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• No Way Out (1950)

  

  "You ain't gonna change the world; you've got work to do."Classic Hollywood handled racism with kid gloves; films that bothered allowed their message to outweig... Read more

  Posted on 24 February 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES