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writers gone wild!
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Bright Lights Film Journal
Issue 52 | May 2006

from the editor

We were hungry ...

We admit it; our appetite got the best of us. We shamelessly over-ate at our weekly "gorge fest." That's the one where Bright Lights' staff attempts to replicate the feast in Fellini Satyricon. Yes, there were whole pigs, yes there were cows, and of course chickens, and chickens and pigs inside cows — all devoured to the screech of "Christian Death Metal" blasting from our trusty Philco. But hey, we're Americans. We're supposed to gorge. It's our birthright and our patriotic duty. Who knew that being patriots would make us sick? We spent the weeks we should have been preparing Bright Lights bent over the toilet (and not in the good way). That's why we're a week late with this issue. Because we were hungry and patriotic.

But enough of this mea culpa. Did I mention we're Americans and shouldn't have to apologize — for anything? We're just doing our part. As are our writers, who, thank goodness, excused themselves from the fete that laid us low. We did manage to crawl to our feet long enough to publish this new issue, which we offer herewith.

Leading off this issue are three fun features. BL newbies David Pike and Bo-Myung Seo explore and explain, respectively, what's happened to Atom Egoyan and how the reunification motif plays out in recent South Korean action cinema. Gordon Thomas jumps in the way-back chariot with an exhaustive comparison of the two Ben-Hurs.

The articles antechamber features a tempting array. Erich Kuersten amusingly unearths the "sensitive male" soundtrack in recent cinema. Andrew Culbertson offers a subtle study of Sunset Blvd. D. J. M Saunders enticingly examines French and American "cinematic vistas" from Tati to Scorsese. BL regular Robert Castle makes provocative pronouncements on "un-movies" and movie sequels. Yours truly left his sickbed briefly to pontificate on documentaries about surrealist painters Leonor Fini and Kay Sage. Associate editor Alan Vanneman adds a pithy new entry to his Fred Astaire encyclopedia, this time Three Little Words.

Vanneman also saw a lot of recent films so you won't have to; his skewerings of Transamerica, Brick, and Thank You for Smoking are surely more entertaining than those films. Also in the recent film roundabout are Tony Macklin's deserved decking of Glory Road; Jayson Harsin's lyrical lament over the Walk the Line that could have been; and BL associate editor Bob Keser canny cheering of Moments Choisis, the short version of Histoire(s) du Cinema. Keser also found time to attend — and write up — the annual European Union Film Festival in a worthy overview.

Revivals are coming fast and furious, and BL is there to meet the trend! Tom Sutpen cleverly confronts Herzog and "God's Angry Man" Gene Scott. Lesley Chow does his distinctive brand of filmic forensics on male and female stars in two unusual pieces. Dan Callahan resurrects the undeservedly obscure Mikio Naruse in a tasty tribute. Matthew Kennedy greets the Busby Berkeley DVD box with open arms, and scratches his chin over the vagaries of Ryan's Daughter. BL newbie Victoria Large takes up with Minnelli's The Pirate in a charming piece, while yours truly revisits an old, beloved pal, Kurosawa's Red Beard.

One of our delightful fever dreams starred Kay Francis, and fortuitously, Dan Callahan uses the two recent bios to celebrate her unique "tawent." BL newbie Sean Edgecomb caught up with the mysterious James Bidgood, of Pink Narcissus fame, for a witty interview. And, in homo corner, your editor takes a look at the pioneering queer doc Word Is Out.

Now that this issue's done, we can go back to the really important stuff: planning the next BL gorge-fest! Bigger and better than ever! More cows!

Gary Morris

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Visit the archives for hundreds of other articles, dear.

features foyer

Four Films in Search of an Author: Egoyan Since Exotica — Scattered pleasures and frequent irritations

Getting It Right the Second Time: Adapting Ben-Hur for the Screen — Bigger is better this time — though Wyler and Rozsa helped

Reunifying Identities: North and South in Contemporary Korean Cinema — Can cinema do what politicians cannot?

articles antechamber

Aural Drag: This Is What It Sounds Like, When Men Cry — Bwaaaaah!

"Who Owns This Place?" Clashing Values in Sunset Blvd. — This is one close-up Louis B. Mayer wasn't ready for

French & American Beauty: Mid-20th-Century Vistas from Tati to Scorsese — Par avion ad astra

A Sequel Too Far: The Case of the Multiplying Movie — "A Hollywood Satan is a persistent devil"

Surreal Women: Leonor Fini and Kay Sage Documentaries — "All there is to do now is scream."

When Fred Met Red: Fred Astaire, Red Skelton, and Vera-Ellen Commingle in Three Little Words — It's Bert and Harry, together again! Why are you not excited?

Un-Movies — When is a movie not a movie?

conflict corner: women v. men

Game On: The Gold Diggers of Heartbreakers — The screwball comedy's back, and Weaver's got it

Mystique Without Camp: The Allure of the Leading Man — Turning "the male gaze" on men

film festival flying buttress

Hands Across the Atlantic: The 9th Annual European Union Film Festival — A Baltic-to-Balkan road trip

recent film roundabout

When Portentous Met Pretentious: Rian Johnson's Brick — "I've got all five senses and eight hours' sleep! Don't fuck with me!"

Lonesome Road: Bruckheimer's Folly — Glory Road? Make that Dead End.

The Misery and Splendors of Cinema: Moments Choisis des Histoire(s) du Cinéma —"Godard 24 times per second"

How Slick Is Too Slick?: Jason Reitman's Thank You for Smoking — A movie only a preppie could love

Drive S/He Said: Felicity Huffman in Duncan Tucker's Transamerica — The odd couple takes it on the road

Walking the Fine Line: Between Clever and Stupid — "Is that all there was to the Man in Black?"

interrogation alcove

Camping out with James Bidgood: The Auteur of Pink Narcissus Tells All — "I don't live in a harem either, but well, God, I did for awhile …"

documentary dormer

Great Scott! Herzog Profiles God's Angry Man — On the madness of Dr. Gene

the empty guest room

Kay Francis, Secrets of an Actress: New Books Reveal the "Wavishing" Star — "I'm not a star, I'm a woman, and I want to get fucked!"

revival room

The Hip Hooray and Bally Hoo: Busby Berkeley Explodes on DVD — Come and meet those dancing feet, and pianos, and buildings, and . . .

Notes on Naruse: An Auteur Ascends — Pitch-black pessimism, unsparing emotional truths, and women on the verge

Gene and Judy Go Wild! Thoughts on Minnelli's The Pirate — The best of the Garland-Kelly collaborations?

Epic Sweep: On Kurosawa's Sprawling Red Beard — This one's got it all, including the kitchen sink

David Lean's Problem Child: Gorgeous but Flawed Ryan's Daughter on DVD — For maximum effect, see it when you're 13

homo corner

Speaking Out: Pioneering Doc Word Is Out Turns 29 — Assimilate this