The Fabulous Baker Boys Explains Why There’s No People Like Show People
Damn we’re good. With the single exception of biting the heads off of rats, lounge acts are the lowest form of show business. As such, they exert a perverse fascination[…]
Actors & Personalities · Asian · Interviews
An Evening with Jackie Chan: Interview and Profile
This article appeared originally in the all-Hong Kong issue of Bright Lights #13 (1994). * * * Jackie spills his guts – verbally, this time I first met Jackie Chan in 1980,[…]
A Better Tomorrow? American Masochism and Hong Kong Action Films
This article appeared originally in the all-Hong Kong issue of Bright Lights #13 (1994). * * * Among their thrills, Woo’s homoerotic bullet ballets offered welcome distraction from 1997’s doomsday[…]
Asian · Directors · Interviews
Interview with John Woo
This article appeared originally in the all-Hong Kong issue of Bright Lights #13 (1994). * * * Hong Kong’s master of balletic blood ‘n bulletplay speaks John Woo, one of[…]
Asian · Historical & Epic · Reviews
Beautiful Beast: Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
A 19-year-old newcomer and a middle-aged veteran steal the show from two legends of Hong Kong cinema Director Ang Lee would not be an obvious first choice to direct a[…]
Activist & Political · Documentaries · LGBT & Queer · Reviews
Blind Spot: Nonny de la Pena’s The Jaundiced Eye (1999)
A grim intersection of homophobia and hysteria ruins two men’s lives America’s criminal justice system has been under increasing attack in the past few years, and it’s hardly surprising. The[…]
Turnabout: Lane Janger’s Just One Time (1997)
The latest attempt at a “gay crossover date movie” almost succeeds Just One Time will trigger déjà vu in some viewers. This feature-length comedy is an expanded version of a popular[…]
Asian · LGBT & Queer · Reviews
Softcore Soap: Mel Chionglo’s Burlesk King (1999)
Like the macho dancers it portrays, this uneasy mix of melodrama and realism never quite gets it up With Macho Dancer (1988), the late Filipino director Lino Brocka (1940-1991) pioneered a[…]
Poor Queen: Giorgios Katakouzinos’s Angel (1982)
Soldier by day, tranny slut by night Giorgios Katakouzinos’s 1982 feature Angel (Aggelos) is one of the most acclaimed and popular Greek films ever, allegedly having been seen by one Greek[…]
Olivier’s Hamlet (1948) on DVD
A pristine transfer of one of the Bard’s most gothic – and gayest, in Olivier’s hands – works Criterion is continuing its mining of the wonderfully rich Janus film catalog[…]
Anthony Asquith’s Pygmalion (1938) on DVD
Wendy Hiller triumphs in the fine 1938 film of Shaw’s masterpiece The plays of George Bernard Shaw have long been a cinema staple. Works like Caesar and Cleopatra, Saint Joan, Major[…]
Edgar G. Ulmer’s Detour on DVD
Is Tom Neal’s Al Roberts really Fate’s Plaything or just the ultimate pushy bottom? Edgar G. Ulmer is one of the more provocative auteurs in movie history. His provenance is impeccable[…]
Ozu’s Good Morning on DVD
Schoolboys on strike, farting contests, and a mysteriously acquired washer make up the world of this Japanese classic Of the three great directors of classical Japanese cinema, Yasujiro Ozu (1903-1963) remains[…]
Fellini’s Variety Lights on DVD
A tacky theatrical troupe finds fun and romance – and occasionally a paycheck – on the road in Fellini’s classic Variety Lights (1950) is a rarity in the career of Federico[…]
Documentaries · Experimental & Underground
Documentaries: Peter Wintonick’s Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment (2000)
The “moment” is both defined and celebrated in this exceptional documentary “I don’t know what truth is. Truth is something unattainable. We can’t think we’re creating truth with a camera.[…]
Russian Cinema After Perestroika: Notes from the 2000 Thessaloniki International Film Festival
A heady tour of alternative world cinema from one of Europe’s oldest festivals Repentant sinners, ideological misfits, vindictive peasant workers, obsessed lovers, and aging prostitutes are but a few of[…]
Achievement and Crisis: Hong Kong Cinema in the ’80s
This article appeared originally in the all-Hong Kong issue of Bright Lights #13 (1994). * * * A comprehensive look at a seminal decade in one of the world’s great[…]
Alive and Kicking: The Kung Fu Film Is a Legend
This article appeared originally in the all-Hong Kong issue of Bright Lights #13 (1994). * * * HK’s martial arts film stylishly bridge time, space, and now cultures More popularly[…]
Masterpieces of Japanese Silent Cinema on DVD-ROM
Japanese silent films are no longer silent in this fabulous – and expensive – DVD-ROM Western interest in Japanese film falls mainly into three realms: the Godzilla movies and their endless cheesy[…]
Chabrol, Losey, Antonioni: Three Classic Eurofilms: Les Bonnes Femmes, Eva, Il Grido on DVD
“La dolce vita” is more bitter than sweet in these razor-sharp rarities DVD has become the preeminent forum for high-art cinema on video, and the trend shows no sign of[…]
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