Bright Lights Film Journal

» 77

Nothin' but Legs! Fred and Cyd Go out Kicking in Cole Porter's Silk Stockings

by Alan Vanneman

Sorry, folks, but this is the last dance

» 76

Funny Face! Audrey Hepburn's Fabulous Fifties Fashion Frolic! Also Starring Fred Astaire

by Alan Vanneman

Paris! Gershwin! Been there! Heard that!

» 72

Who Took the Folk Out of Music?: Everybody, It Seems

by Norman Ball

"How does Tibet's cultural destruction differ, in essence, from Time-Warner's choreographed glamorization of bitches and ho's in inner-city America, or death metal's hold over disenfranchised Midwestern youth?"

» 71

Yeah, I'm 56 and She's 24. What's Your Point?: Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron, frequently though not continuously irresistible in Daddy Long Legs

by Alan Vanneman

Come on, do the Sluefoot? That I can resist.

» 67

When Thelonious Met Pannonica: Hannah Rothschild's The Jazz Baroness

by Alan Vanneman

"The Jazz Baroness goes beyond the barrel of stereotypes the screeching monkeys of society use against the intricate gusts of life swirling about us." Really!

» 65

Astaire Reborn! Jane Powell Gives Fred a Lift in A Royal Wedding

by Alan Vanneman

"I hope he knew how much the world loved him."

» 64

Busby Berkeley's Hollywood Hotel: Bring on the dancing girls! Oh, wait! There aren't any!

by Alan Vanneman

Thank God for the Benny Goodman Quartet

Let's Dance? Must We? Fred Astaire Collides with Betty Hutton

by Alan Vanneman

Ouch!

» 62

Finding Unlikely Ideology in Prokofiev: Polyphonic and Anti-Authoritarian Gestures in The Gambler

by Andrew Grossman

"Alexei must be condemned to the pointless, loveless, and finally false freedom of a spinning limbo, as unfinished and unfinishable as the best Bakhtinian polyphony."

The First-Class Jewels: An American in Paris and Gigi

by Matthew Kennedy

Two golden-age musicals get the deluxe treatment

Music, Morricone, and Jack Nicholson's Voice: The Soundscape of Wolf

by Lesley Chow

"Suddenly my senses are all incredibly acute . . . I'm different, more alive, stronger . . ."

Music in the Making: Highlights from the 2008 Melbourne International Film Festival

by Lesley Chow

"The surprise musical number can represent a facile avoidance of complexity, a moment of true strangeness, or a way of harmonizing existing, underlying themes."

» 61

Across the Universe: Julie Taymor Made the Most Spectacular Film of the Year

by Alan Jacobson

Too bad nobody noticed

» 59

False Consonance and False Consciousness: Contrarian Notes on the Ideology of Film Music

by Andrew Grossman

"Defenseless against music, I must submit to its despotism and, depending on its whim, be god or garbage." — E. M. Cioran

» 58

The Devil Wears a Fatsuit: John Travolta in Hairspray

by Matthew Sorrento

"Even if the new Hairspray seems a welcome return to camp for Travolta, his mock-seriousness is as frozen as ever."

Will the Shark Bite? G. W. Pabst and The Threepenny Opera

by Gordon Thomas

"Macheath: I'm not asking you to put on an opera." — Bertolt Brecht, The Threepenny Opera, Act 1, scene 2

» 57

Space Here We Come: P. J. Harvey's Please Leave Quietly Redefines the Concert Film DVD

by Justin Vicari

"It flashes before our eyes, and we are not even sure what we have witnessed."

» 53

Clouds and Scattered Sun: Kelly and Donen's It's Always Fair Weather

by Victoria Large

"Shot in earthbound Eastman color, It's Always Fair Weather doesn't look or feel like the Technicolor froth that preceded it."

» 52

When Fred Met Red: Fred Astaire, Red Skelton, and Vera-Ellen Commingle in Three Little Words

by Alan Vanneman

It's Bert and Harry, together again! Why are you not excited?

The Hip Hooray and Bally Hoo: Busby Berkeley Explodes on DVD

by Matthew Kennedy

Come and meet those dancing feet, and pianos, and buildings, and . . .

Gene and Judy Go Wild! Thoughts on Minnelli's The Pirate

by Victoria Large

The best of the Garland-Kelly collaborations?

» 51

What the Sound Is Saying: How Music Moves in Bertolucci

by Lesley Chow

"Who doesn't want to be rescued by their narrator?"

» 50

The Barkleys of Broadway: Fred & Ginger's Last Dance: Ten Pounds Shy of a Gem?

by Alan Vanneman

"You'd be hard to replace"? Damn near impossible!

» 48

In Your Easter Bonnet, with All the Frills Upon It: Irving Berlin's Easter Parade

by Alan Vanneman

Fred and Judy celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ

The Good, the Bad, and the Disingenuous: Jazz on DVD

by Alan Vanneman

You get what you pay for, if you're lucky

» 47

Shocking Times: Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue on DVD

by Megan Ratner

While the counterculture turns on, Miles plugs in — with startling results

» 46

Norbert, We Hardly Knew Ye: Rethinking the Late German Composer

by Boris Trbic

He composed "Lili Marleen" — and, oh yeah, hundreds of other songs and scores

How to Murder John Williams: Toward an Ideology of Contrapuntal Antirealism

by Andrew Grossman

To construct musicality through expressionism, or to express musicality through constructivism?

Blue Skies? Well, Partly Sunny

by Alan Vanneman

Fred 'n' Bing 'n' Irv, Part II

» 45

Steal This Picture . . . Please

by Alan Vanneman

Fred almost suffocates in Minnelli's Yolanda and the Thief

» 44

Follies Is Right!

by Alan Vanneman

Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly barely survive Ziegfeld Follies

AfroPunk: The Rock 'n' Roll Nigger Experience

by Daniel McNeil

Making up reality: race, rock, and wrestling

Outside In: Documentaries on Gary Wilson, Jandek, and the Song-Poem

by Gary Morris

"We accept you, we accept you, gibble gobble, gibble gobble."

Wish Upon a Star! Robert Wise's Musical Mess on DVD

by Matthew Kennedy

Or, a turkey returns

» 43

Fred Meets Joan Leslie and The Sky's the Limit

by Alan Vanneman

"Never let it be said little Freddie can't carry his load"

» 42

Shakespeare Improved! Cole Porter Teaches the Old Bard New Tricks in Kiss Me Kate

by Alan Vanneman

"Why, you'd make a perfect shrew!"

Fred and Rita Go Latin in You Were Never Lovelier

by Alan Vanneman

Chiu chiu to you, baby

» 41

Too much Bing, Not Enough Fred

by Alan Vanneman

There's not much room at the Holiday Inn

» 40

What's Rita in the Hay Worth?

by Alan Vanneman

Fred finds out in You'll Never Get Rich

The Sound of Jazz, the Sound of Gene

by Alan Vanneman

New DVDs offer rare TV appearances by jazz greats Billie Holiday, Gene Krupa, Coleman Hawkins, and Benny Goodman. But where's Thelonious Monk?

Desperately Seeking Ginger

by Alan Vanneman

Hollywood Rhythms, Vol. 2 offers relief for the Ginger-deprived

Bad Film, Great Soundtrack: New Orleans on DVD

by Alan Vanneman

How Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday saved New Orleans from the Yankees

» 39

Fred Astaire Meets Artie Shaw in Second Chorus

by Alan Vanneman

New DVD also includes Ezio Pinza, Lena Horne, and Duke Ellington

» 38

Fred Goes Over the Top with Eleanor Powell in Broadway Melody of 1940

by Alan Vanneman

The semi-sweet smell of excess

» 37

Fred & Ginger Fade to Black in The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle

by Alan Vanneman

Fred dies, Ginger cries

» 36

Fred & Ginger, Together Again, yet Not Quite Carefree

by Alan Vanneman

"Colorblind," and maybe just a little bit tone-deaf

» 35

Fred Astaire Goes Solo in Damsel in Distress

by Alan Vanneman

Nice work if you can get it

» 34

Mozart's The Magic Flute on DVD

by Alan Vanneman

Ingmar Bergman does it again!

Fred and Ginger Miss a Step in Shall We Dance

by Alan Vanneman

"Let's call the whole thing off?"

Dixiana on DVD Has Everything but Bill Robinson's Feet

by Alan Vanneman

Where's the rest of him?

Rave On: Five Indie Music Docs on Four DVDs

by Gary Morris

Jello Biafra meet '90s D.I.Y. meet Patti Smith meet Rave Kulture meets . . .

» 33

Fred and Ginger Savor La Belle Romance in Swing Time

by Alan Vanneman

"Shall we take it straight through?"

Bob Dylan's Don't Look Back on DVD

by Alan Vanneman

The dude with the 'tude

Louis Prima: The Wildest! on DVD

by Gary Morris

The illustrious history of the king of the hepcats (and the queen of deadpan)

Stephen Sondheim's Company on DVD

by Alan Vanneman

Life is shit: Let's put on a show!

Feedback from the Global Village

by Alan Vanneman

From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China offers three documentaries on DVD for the price of one; Genghis Blues is too shaggy for words

» 32

Fred & Ginger Get Their Feet Wet in Follow the Fleet

by Alan Vanneman

"There may be trouble ahead"

Too Haute to Handle: Jazz on a Summer's Day on DVD

by Alan Vanneman

The best jazz documentary just got better

» 31

Fred & Ginger Hit Their Highest Peak in Top Hat

by Alan Vanneman

What's black and white and simply reeks with class?

The Fabulous Baker Boys

by Alan Vanneman

Why there are no people like show people

» 30

Irving Berlin on Film

by Alan Vanneman

Forget Barry Manilow — this is the guy who really wrote the songs

Derek Jarman's Jubilee

by Julian Upton

Punks hail Brittania in their own peculiar way in this little-seen gem by the late queer auteur

» 29

Roberta

by Alan Vanneman

One of the least known, and one of the very best, of the films that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers did together

The Sex Pistols in The Filth and the Fury

by Gary Morris

Julian Temple's engaging documentary about everybody's favorite spitting, puking punk band

» 28

The Gay Divorcee

by Alan Vanneman

Fred and Ginger get continental on your ass

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains

by Gary Morris

Girls on film, punk style

» 27

Bernard Herrmann's The Twilight Zone on CD

by C. Jerry Kutner

Serling's groundbreaking series was also a warm haven for Hollywood's greatest composer

» 26

Murder at the Vanities

by Alan Vanneman

This 1934 musical mystery has girls, grins, guns, and Duke Ellington, too

Flying Down to Rio

by Alan Vanneman

The film that put Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers together on a dance floor

The King of Jazz

by Alan Vanneman

Hot licks and high kicks in a rare early musical

» 25

The Jackson Twins: What Next for Michael and Janet?

by Alan Vanneman

Self-invention and self-love: Can you tell the difference?

» 23

Words and Music

by Alan Vanneman

How can an MGM musical with Judy Garland, a young Perry Como, and a pre-Depends™ June Allyson be obscure?

» 21

Whoopee

by Alan Vanneman

A chunk of Flo Ziegfeld's Roaring Twenties Broadway, preserved in glorious, 1930 two-color Technicolor

» 20

Love's Debris

by Gary Morris

Thrill as the withered opera hags revisit their vital past! Scream as the mock-incestuous-lesbian sisters kiss and waltz! Shudder as hunky baritone Sergei Larin makes goo-goo eyes at a twink!

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