Christopher Saunders

LATEST ARTICLES ( 659 )

• Lady Caroline Lamb

  

  In her study of Robert Bolt's oeuvre, Sabine Prufer dismisses Lady Caroline Lamb (1972) as a "Regency version of Ryan's Daughter" - far kinder than... Read more

  Posted on 10 July 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Agony and the Ecstasy

  

  The Agony of the Ecstasy (1965) is curiously frustrating. Drawing on Irving Stone's novel, Carol Reed excels in showing the battle of wills between... Read more

  Posted on 05 July 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Howards of Virginia

  

  Hollywood's always struggled with the American Revolution. There aren't many films to begin with, and most of the extant ones stink. That includes The Howards o... Read more

  Posted on 04 July 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Edge of Tomorrow

  

  Another summer blockbuster season's upon us, cluttered with the usual franchise noise. Loosely based on a manga, Edge of Tomorrow (2014) provides a sci-fi riff... Read more

  Posted on 02 July 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Baby Doll

  

  Elia Kazan returned to Tennessee Williams with Baby Doll (1956), possibly his most controversial film. It sparked a major censorship debate, accompanied by... Read more

  Posted on 29 June 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Taxi Driver

  

  Even more than Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese's auteur status stands on Taxi Driver (1976). Bleak, violent and unsettling, it explores the thin line between hero... Read more

  Posted on 28 June 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Bunker (1981)

  

  Adolf Hitler's grim final days inspired many films. Oliver Hirschbiegel's extraordinary Downfall (2005) has eclipsed workmanlike dramas The Death of Adolf Hitle... Read more

  Posted on 21 June 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Nuremberg

  

  The Nuremberg war crimes trials are a natural morality play replete with human drama and ethical debates. Yves Simoneau's Nuremberg (2000) makes... Read more

  Posted on 15 June 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• April Morning

  

  I vaguely remember watching April Morning (1988) in junior high, and it holds up better than the treacly Johnny Tremaine. A Hallmark Hall of Fame production,... Read more

  Posted on 14 June 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Fault in Our Stars

  

  (2014) is the latest among a barrage of YA lit adaptations, now rivaling superhero flicks as blockbuster fodder. Fortunately it's a good one: Josh Boone's... Read more

  Posted on 12 June 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Intimate Enemies

  

  (2007) offers a French perspective on the Algerian War for Independence. Rather than explore political and imperialist concerns, director Florent Emilio Simi... Read more

  Posted on 11 June 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Longest Day

  

  (1962) is the archetypical all-star war movie. Using a multinational cast of thousands, Daryl F. Zanuck recreates the June 6th, 1944 Normandy landings in... Read more

  Posted on 08 June 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• More Mabuse Madness! The Return of Dr. Mabuse, The Invisible Dr. Mabuse and The...

  

  After the success of Fritz Lang's The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960), Central Cinema Company (CCC Film) commissioned several sequels. Read more

  Posted on 01 June 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse

  

  For his final movie, Fritz Lang returned to his native Germany and a character who'd twice served him well. Fittingly perhaps, The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse... Read more

  Posted on 31 May 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Saving Private Ryan

  

  (1998) was easily the most influential war movie in decades. Steven Spielberg's World War II epic indelibly shaped American perception of that conflict, not to... Read more

  Posted on 27 May 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Hannah Arendt

  

  Intellectuals make difficult movie subjects. How does a director make thinking, writing and debating esoterica compelling? Margarethe von Trotta's Hannah... Read more

  Posted on 24 May 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Tracker

  

  Rolf de Heer's The Tracker (2002) stands among a number of recent Australian films exploring white-Aboriginal relations. David Gulpilil gets the lead role, the... Read more

  Posted on 24 May 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Entertainer (1960)

  

  John Osborne's The Entertainer ranks among the best plays of its era. Where Osborne's Look Back in Anger is nigh-indigestible nastiness, The Entertainer blends... Read more

  Posted on 22 May 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Odd Angry Shot

  

  Australia committed 61,000 troops to the Vietnam War, yet few films show their story. Tom Jeffrey's flawed but enjoyable The Odd Angry Shot (1979) presents the... Read more

  Posted on 18 May 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Newsfront

  

  Beloved in Australia but little-known elsewhere, Newsfront (1978) deserves a look. It launched the career of Philip Noyce, who's balanced Hollywood... Read more

  Posted on 17 May 2014 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES