Christopher Saunders

LATEST ARTICLES ( 667 )

• Accident

  

  Like all of Joseph Losey's films, Accident (1967) is bold and unconventional. Fortunately, it lands on the positive side of that erratic filmmaker's ledger. Read more

  Posted on 17 March 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Garden of the Finzi-Continis

  

  "In order to really understand the world, you must die at least once."Over time, Vittorio de Sica drifted from his neorealist roots, gravitating towards broad... Read more

  Posted on 16 March 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Mourning Becomes Electra

  

  (1947) was a colossal boondoggle for RKO, netting Oscar nominations for stars Rosalind Russell and Michael Redgrave but nonexistent box office. Read more

  Posted on 15 March 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond

  

  "The bullet hasn't been made that can kill me!"Budd Boetticher repurposes his efficient Western formula for the gangster movie with The Rise and Fall of Legs... Read more

  Posted on 14 March 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Logan

  

  Hugh Jackman's played Wolverine in assorted X-Men adventures for seventeen years. The role's served Jackman well for money and name recognition, but rarely... Read more

  Posted on 13 March 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Book Review: Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I (2014,...

  

  Watson, Alexander. Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I. London: Allen Lane, 2014. 788 pp. For all the recent outpouring of World War I... Read more

  Posted on 11 March 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Harper

  

  "The bottom is loaded with nice people, Albert. Only cream and bastards rise." Harper (1966) updates the detective film to the Sixties. Read more

  Posted on 11 March 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Unvanquished

  

  Long before his association with the National Front and other far-right causes, Alain Delon played a sympathetic right-wing terrorist. The Unvanquished (1964)... Read more

  Posted on 08 March 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• La Commune (Paris, 1871)

  

  "History is violence, all the time."As cinematic experiments go, Peter Watkins' La Commune (Paris, 1871) (2000) is truly impressive. Read more

  Posted on 08 March 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• RIP Robert Osborne

  

  For anyone who missed it, longtime Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne recently died at the age of 84. As a lifelong TCM addict, I always appreciated his... Read more

  Posted on 07 March 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Culloden

  

  Peter Watkins spent his career redefining "docudrama." While the phrase often describes any fictionalized version of real events, Watkins' movies restage... Read more

  Posted on 06 March 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Collateral Beauty

  

  Awhile back, Will Smith decided to shed his Fresh Prince/Men in Black persona and become a serious actor. It's an understandable impulse shared by many stars,... Read more

  Posted on 05 March 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Book Review: The Guns of August (1962, Barbara W. Tuchman)

  

  Tuchman, Barbara W. The Guns of August. New York: Macmillan, 1962. 511 pp.In October 1962, when the Cuban Missile Crisis poised the world on the cusp of... Read more

  Posted on 05 March 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Book Review: The Proud Tower (1966, Barbara W. Tuchman)

  

  Barbara W. Tuchman, The Proud Tower: A History of the World Before the War, 1890-1914. New York: Macmillan, 1966. 528 pp.The First World War's centennial... Read more

  Posted on 01 March 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Oscars So What?

  

  I didn't watch the Oscars last night, but like all sentient humans I'm aware of what happened: namely, that La La Land was mistakenly announced as Best... Read more

  Posted on 27 February 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Hearts and Minds and Oscars

  

  April 8th, 1975 in Los Angeles, California. A massive thunderstorm swamped the Academy Awards, inundating the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and its Hollywood... Read more

  Posted on 27 February 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Groggy Watches TV: OJ: Made in America and The People Vs. O.J. Simpson:...

  

  As someone six years old when the O.J. Simpson drama unfolded, I can't claim any particular attachment to the "Trial of the Century. Read more

  Posted on 26 February 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Groggy Watches TV: Gravity Falls

  

  What does Groggy do when not reviewing classic movies, charting the evolution of American conservatism and pondering life's purpose in a world of alternative... Read more

  Posted on 20 February 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Sweet Smell of Success

  

  "I'd hate to take a bite out of you. You're a cookie full of arsenic!"There's no shortage of movies depicting the press as irresponsible and sensationalist,... Read more

  Posted on 19 February 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• RIP John Hurt

  

  Looks like another awful year for celebrity deaths: not only Mary Tyler Moore and Barbara Hale, but the great John Hurt. The venerable star of so many classics ... Read more

  Posted on 28 January 2017 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES