Genres Archives - Page 60 of 93 - Bright Lights Film Journal

“We can’t help but roll our eyes at a woman who would rather wear holes in her shoes looking for a ‘good honest job’ than roll around in money and mink.”

Essays · LGBT & Queer · Photo Essays

Retro Virus: Did AIDS Perform Nensha?

April 30, 2009

“Be aware: there are forces at work here of which we have no knowledge.”

Actors & Personalities · Asian · Silents

The Goddess in Her Element: Ruan Lingyu in Shanghai

April 30, 2009

“This is an actress who shows excitement down to the curl of her fingers, and whose face reveals every kind of mercurial change.”

Animation · Animators

Tex Avery: Arch-Radicalizer of the Hollywood Cartoon

April 30, 2009

“Tex Avery — Arch Radicalizer of the Hollywood Cartoon” consists of slightly glorified program notes that I wrote for the Zagreb Animation Festival in 1978. It was a big hit in the Old World and was published in Russian, Croatian, Dutch, French, and Italian (twice), but the only time it ever got printed in English was by Gary Morris in his cinephile-revered rag called Bright Lights. Now, thirty-one years later, Mr. Morris has decided to reissue the piece online. I have forgone attempting any actual rewrites, though, because the observations have not dated especially egregiously, except for my discussion of the then-current state of cartoon criticism. The biggest faux pas contained herein is my overconfident assertion that cel animation would inevitably dominate the future of the medium (oops – maybe not), as CGI was then but a distant pixel on the historical horizon.

Actors & Personalities · Interviews · Sports

Return of the Obsessed: James Toback Steps into the Ring Again with Tyson

April 30, 2009

“And then he said, ‘It’s like a Greek tragedy. The only problem is, I’m the subject.'”

Actors & Personalities · Documentaries

“Just Another Man”: On James Toback’s Tyson

April 30, 2009

“Toback, to his credit, and despite the empathy he feels toward his subject, doesn’t pull his punches.”

DVD & Blu-ray · Experimental & Underground

Opposition Compositions: Treasures IV: American Avant Garde Film 1947-1986 on DVD

April 30, 2009

“Avant garde filmmaking has been defined almost entirely in opposition to the Hollywood mainstream.”

DVD & Blu-ray · Pre-Code

The Branding of THE CHEAT

April 22, 2009

Kicking off the second pre-code set to come out this year, we’ve got THE CHEAT (1931, another in the “rich ne’er do well offers to ‘help’ married woman” genre. This[…]

DVD & Blu-ray · Pre-Code

The Code and its Perfect Specimens

April 9, 2009

There’s TWO pre-code sets out for spring: Forbidden Hollywood Vol. 3 and this week comes the Pre-Code Hollywood set from Universal. None of the films quite measure up to the[…]

Animation · Reviews

Women in Wonderland, Part 5 – Coraline (Henry Selick 2009)

February 23, 2009

Every one of Henry Selick’s four feature films to date has dealt with alternate realities. In the Tim Burton-produced The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), the ghoulish Jack Skellington finds a[…]

Animation · Reviews

Women in Wonderland, Part 1 – Lost Girls

February 6, 2009

All three meet as adult women in Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie’s X-rated graphic novel, Lost Girls (above). Moore, the genius author of Watchmen, From Hell, and The League of[…]

Horror · Interviews

Of Bullies and Blood Drinkers: Talking to Tomas Alfredson about Let the Right One In

January 31, 2009

“I think the most horrifying images are the ones you make yourself. Is there someone standing behind the door, or is it just two shoes standing there?”