Christopher Saunders

LATEST ARTICLES ( 667 )

• The Winslow Boy (1999)

  

  David Mamet breaks from profane verbal sparring for a genteel Terence Rattigan adaptation. The Winslow Boy (1999) is one of Rattigan's perennials, already... Read more

  Posted on 26 September 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler

  

  At last we review Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922). Four-and-a-half hours long, leisurely paced and heavily stylized, it's tough going for those not... Read more

  Posted on 25 September 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Blue Max

  

  (1966) updates the dogfight epic for the cynical '60s. Playing off familiar themes of ambition and class warfare, it's undoubtedly better as spectacle than... Read more

  Posted on 24 September 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Revisiting The Empire of Crime

  

  "When humanity grows bored by the banality of blockbusters... when snobbery has become the supreme law, then the time will have come for the Empire of... Read more

  Posted on 23 September 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Odd Man Out

  

  "Close the door when I'm gone, and forget me."Carol Reed's first masterpiece is Odd Man Out (1947). It's just as stylish as The Third Man but even more... Read more

  Posted on 22 September 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Rear Window

  

  Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954) is the rare movie that appeals to everyone. Auteurists love it for showcasing Hitchcock's thematic preoccupations. Film... Read more

  Posted on 21 September 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Inside Man

  

  (2006) is as safe and commercial a film as Spike Lee ever made. It's a conventional heist film, with some last act revelations that aren't entirely convincing. Read more

  Posted on 19 September 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Trials of Oscar Wilde

  

  Ken Hughes' The Trials of Oscar Wilde was one of two 1960 films addressing the playwright's conviction for "gross indecency," released amidst fierce debate... Read more

  Posted on 17 September 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• This Sporting Life

  

  (1963) marks the apex of the British New Wave. Lindsay Anderson transcends the dour grubbiness associated with that movement, showing elements of the wild auteu... Read more

  Posted on 15 September 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• A Taste of Honey

  

  "My usual self is a very unusual self - and don't you forget it!"Shelagh Delaney's play A Taste of Honey (1958) is a feminine riposte to John Osborne and Alan... Read more

  Posted on 14 September 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Rogue Male

  

  Geoffrey Household's novel Rogue Male inspired Fritz Lang's Man Hunt (1941), whose anti-Nazi stance was controversial in still-neutral America. Read more

  Posted on 13 September 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Compulsion

  

  Notorious murderers Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb inspired numerous films, including Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948) and Tom Kalin's Swoon (1992). Read more

  Posted on 13 September 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Groggy's King of the Hill Blog

  

  Longtime Groggy readers can surmise that I'm a fan of King of the Hill. Right now it's the only TV show I regularly watch, thanks to a screwy cable package and... Read more

  Posted on 10 September 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Room at the Top

  

  (1959) is typical of Britain's Free Cinema movement, the struggles of working class Britons amidst postwar drudgery. Laurence Harvey earned an Oscar nod,... Read more

  Posted on 07 September 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Good Morning, Vietnam

  

  Robin Williams' greatest gift was versatility: he could instantly switch from humor to seriousness, fart jokes to heart-rending pathos. Read more

  Posted on 07 September 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

  

  Don Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) stands as a genre classic. Remade three times and imitated innumerable others, it's one of science fiction's... Read more

  Posted on 05 September 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• RIP Andrew V. McLaglen

  

  Today brings news that director Andrew V. McLaglen passed away at age 94. Son of Victor McLaglen, protege of John Ford, one of John Wayne's best buddies,... Read more

  Posted on 04 September 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Spellbound

  

  (1945) is definitely problematic Alfred Hitchcock. Its reputation rests on the charming stars and incomparable style. Yet the story is a messy psychodrama that... Read more

  Posted on 01 September 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Marnie

  

  (1964) has long divided Alfred Hitchcock fans. Much discussion centers on Tippi Hedren's performance, but this movie has deeper problems. It's a grab bag of... Read more

  Posted on 30 August 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Advise and Consent

  

  Otto Preminger's Advise and Consent (1962) is better-remembered for its racy incidental content than its story. Too bad, since it's a well-tuned political... Read more

  Posted on 29 August 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES