Christopher Saunders

LATEST ARTICLES ( 659 )

• Do the Right Thing

  

  "Fuck you, fuck your fuckin' pizza, and fuck Frank Sinatra!" Throughout the '90s, Spike Lee became American cinema's greatest provocateur. Read more

  Posted on 19 December 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Captain America: The Winter Soldier

  

  "There's a chance you might be in the wrong business."I found Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) boring, but its sequel is far superior. The Winter... Read more

  Posted on 17 December 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Election (1999)

  

  "Some people say I'm an overachiever, but I think they're just jealous." Like many indie darlings, Alexander Payne's Election (1999) was screwed by bad... Read more

  Posted on 17 December 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Law and Order (1953)

  

  "I'm hired to keep the peace, not kill people."Ronald Reagan never became an A-list star, but was well-suited for Westerns. Nathan Juran's Law and Order (1953)... Read more

  Posted on 12 December 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Hoffa

  

  "Life's a negotiation. It's all give and take."No film about organized labor can please everyone, but Danny DeVito's Hoffa (1992) was an especially tough sell. Read more

  Posted on 11 December 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Creed

  

  "Make your own legacy."After 39 years and six films, Sylvester Stallone finally hands the Rocky franchise to a younger filmmaker and star. The choice wasn't... Read more

  Posted on 10 December 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Fruitvale Station

  

  "We're just trying to get home!"Fruitvale Station (2013) provided an auspicious debut for Ryan Coogler, who graduated to this fall's Rocky spinoff Creed. Read more

  Posted on 09 December 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Departed

  

  "The rat symbolizes obviousness!"Considering Martin Scorsese's resume, how did he win Best Picture for The Departed (2006)? Partly as a make-up Oscar, partly... Read more

  Posted on 06 December 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• My Cousin Vinny

  

  "I'm learning all this as I go along. I'm bound to fuck up a little!"Joe Pesci gained recognition playing hair-trigger psychopaths in Martin Scorsese movies. Read more

  Posted on 05 December 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• RIP Gabriele Ferzetti

  

  Fans of Italian cinema mourn the death of Gabriele Ferzetti, one of Italy's greatest screen actors. Active since the fascist era, Ferzetti earned comparisons... Read more

  Posted on 04 December 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Run of the Arrow

  

  "Maybe a broken neck is the best answer for what ails you."Samuel Fuller's Run of the Arrow (1957) is a definite oddity. Anticipating A Man Called Horse and... Read more

  Posted on 01 December 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Spotlight

  

  "If it takes a village to raise children, it takes a village to abuse them."Modern journalism has a bad name, which Tom McCarthy's Spotlight (2015) seeks to... Read more

  Posted on 29 November 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Trumbo

  

  "You don't just write happy endings - you believe them!"Jay Roach's Trumbo (2015) depicts an unlikely hero: a Communist screenwriter victimized by, then... Read more

  Posted on 29 November 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Cop Land

  

  Sylvester Stallone earned some of his best reviews for Cop Land (1997), James Mangold's overachieving crime drama. Despite Stallone and a high-caliber supportin... Read more

  Posted on 25 November 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part II

  

  With Mockingjay Part I, The Hunger Games franchise veered from Battle Royale lite to Spartacus for Teens. It impressed me as a surprisingly violent and sober... Read more

  Posted on 23 November 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Fifty Shades of Grey

  

  It's well-known that Fifty Shades of Grey started life as Twilight fan fiction. But E.L. James' novels manages to one-up those books; at least Stephanie Meyer... Read more

  Posted on 22 November 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Rocky Balboa

  

  "It ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward."After Rocky V, Sylvester Stallone fell into self-parody... Read more

  Posted on 20 November 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Rocky V

  

  "Time to put some hustle behind this muscle!"Rocky IV won over fans through sheer silliness; it's impossible to hate, even if it's terrible. Read more

  Posted on 19 November 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Rocky IV

  

  "I must break you."And so the Rocky franchise becomes a joke. Rocky IV (1985) is a time-capsule of '80s Cold War kitsch, where a forceful left hook can shatter... Read more

  Posted on 18 November 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Rocky III

  

  "This guy is a wrecking machine, and he's hungry!"About halfway through Rocky II (1979), Rocky Balboa went from relatable man to godlike pugilist. Read more

  Posted on 17 November 2015 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES