Private (and Public) Traps: Truman Burbank’s Audiences in The Truman Show
“Are we trapped like Truman? Is this why we want him to leave his world? Then what will we do? Turn off the set? Leave our society with its endless[…]
Gay Old San Francisco: Hitchcock’s Closet Case and Other Thoughts on Vertigo
“Could Scottie’s real beau ideal be Gavin Elster?” Vertigo is famously about obsession. Brian Da Palma’s homage/rip-off is even called Obsession. But what is Scottie’s obsession, really? San Francisco’s past[…]
Experimental & Underground · Horror · New Media
Found Footage Horror #2: Textures of Silence and Decay: Marble Hornets and the Haunted Archive
This is the second of two articles riffing on found footage horror and new media. The first was Sarolta Mezei’s “Found Footage Horror #1: The Dead Rising: Aspects of Spectrality in[…]
Her Brilliant Career: Honoring Katrin Cartlidge (1961-2002)
Katrin Cartlidge, born May 15, 1961, died on September 7, 2002 at age 41. Julian Upton’s tribute to this remarkable actress first appeared in Bright Lights in November 2003. *[…]
Found Footage Horror #1: The Dead Rising: Aspects of Spectrality in the Vicious Brothers’ Grave Encounters
This is the first of two articles riffing on found footage horror and new media. The second is Alexandra Heller-Nicholas’s “Found Footage Horror #2: Textures of Silence and Decay: Marble Hornets and[…]
BLFJ News · Interviews · Writers & Critics
Bright Lights, Big Cine: Interview with Bright Lights Editor Gary Morris
In the shameless self-promotion department (and because it’s his birthday), we decided to retrieve this interview with Bright Lights’ head honcho Gary Morris. Our favorite interviewer, Matt Sorrento, talked to him in[…]
Move Over, Godzilla! Killer Bugs, Babes, and Beasts in 1950s Drive-in Cinema
With the latest version of Godzilla opening on May 16, we were reminded of other 1950s drive-in “classics” featuring everything from irradiated giant bugs to women on other planets who look suspiciously[…]
Experimental & Underground · Music & Musicals
The World’s First 24-Hour Music Video: Mapping the Cinematic Geography of 24 Hours of Happy
UPDATE May 21, 2014: Six Iranian participants in 24 Hours of Happy were arrested on Tuesday, May 20, and “forced to repent” on national television for that appearance. They posted[…]
Documentaries · Festivals & Awards · LGBT & Queer
Heroes (Mostly) and Villains: Portland’s QDoc Queer Documentary Festival, May 15-18
Portland, Oregon’s notoriety of late has come mainly from being satirized as over-the-top PC (Portlandia), its status as a foodie and craft beer paradise, a haven for runaway teens and activists,[…]
Activist & Political · Documentaries
Recording the Rhythm of Change: A Rhetoric of Revolution in The Square
“The problem with the media is that they oppose change, and turn people against the revolution,” Khalid tells his dad. His Quixotic character is evident: “I am going to keep[…]
Flashback 2008: Heartbreak in a Pan: 25 Seconds in Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy
We at Bright Lights continue our celebration of Be Kind to Animals Week with this brief revisit to Wendy and Lucy, specifically a brief, evocative lateral pan that follows Wendy’s[…]
What a Way to Go! Shirley MacLaine, the 1960s, and How Hollywood Learned to Start Worrying and Fear the Bomb
Who’d have dreamed that the 1960s were as dumb as the 1990s? And that Shirley MacLaine was the transitional figure between the serious 1950s and the brainless decade that followed?[…]
Cinco de Mayo Fun! Ninón Sevilla Gets Down in the 1950 Mexican Musical Melodrama Aventurera
Cabaret or whorehouse? If only poor Elena had known the difference! In the late 1940s, Mexico experienced an economic boom that shifted the cultural and artistic energy from country life — the[…]
Mary Astor (1906-1987) Birthday Tribute: A Lady’s a Lady
Mary Astor was born May 3, 1906 and died September 25, 1987. In honor of this superb star, we present Imogen Sara Smith’s profile, which originally appeared in Bright Lights in[…]
Activist & Political · Actors & Personalities · Asian
“A Certain Slant”: A Brief History of Hollywood Yellowface
This article originally appeared in slightly different form in the March 1997 issue of Bright Lights. While limited to the history up to that time, it remains sadly relevant. *[…]
Interview: Editor Joe Walker on 12 Years a Slave, Hunger, Shame, and More
Joe Walker gives us the skivvy on working with the acclaimed director of 12 Years a Slave, editing for TV versus films, music and editing, and much more. In November[…]
Pablo Ferro’s Title Montage for Bullitt (1968): The Criminality Beneath the Surface of Civil Society
While Bullitt (1968) is better known for its extended automobile chase sequence through the streets of San Francisco, the film is also a carefully written detective story in the same[…]
Books · Exploitation & Erotica
Book Review: Sexplosion: From Andy Warhol to A Clockwork Orange, by Robert Hofler
Sexplosion: From Andy Warhol to A Clockwork Orange – How a Generation of Pop Rebels Broke All the Taboos, by Robert Hofler. New York: HarperCollins, 2014. Hardcover, $27.99 When Michael[…]
Interview: Cinematographer Sean Bobbitt on Working with Steve McQueen and More
Sean Bobbitt talks about changes in the industry, shooting news and documentary versus dramatic features and shorts, and working with the acclaimed director of 12 Years a Slave. Sean Bobbitt[…]
Hollywood Daedalus: The Robert Wise of Audrey Rose
Befitting a great film architect, Robert Wise gave good prologue. The beauty of a prologue well executed is in more than setting a mood or tone or offering simple backstory[…]
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