With the recent crash of the "secret" Black Hawk stealth helicopter during the assault on the Bin Laden compound, it's pretty clear that America needs a new "secret weapon." We modestly propose that Bright Lights fill that gap. Think how perfectly positioned we are for the role. Every schoolchild knows that "ideas" and "insights" are more powerful than technology or even brute human force. Otherwise, how could the old adage "the pen is mightier than the sword" even exist? And let's face it, when it comes to ideas and insights, we at Casa Bright Lights take a back seat to no one. This issue, for example, is practically collapsing under the weight of them. Just the other day, Igor and I were having a spirited discussion brimming with terms like "polysemic" and "hermeneutic," and yes, we casually invoked such names as Lacan and Christian Metz between sips of sherry and viewings of several lively works by Straub-Huillet. (Sample dialogue: "Christ, Igor, I am feeling so hermeneutic this morning!") Whether it's an international terrorist or the local Aryan nation thug, Bright Lights will be there to resolve the problem. Wherever there's injustice, we'll be there, with our arsenal of words. Even the most hardened miscreant, we believe, will surely wilt when pelted with "scopophilic" and "limited omniscience"!

As evidence of our worthiness for this task, we offer this new issue of Bright Lights. Leading off we have a new writer, JD Markel, offering a dazzling look at the multiplicity of influences on Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, not excluding Ovid, Shakespeare, "Lonesome" Leni Riefenstahl, and spaghetti westerns. Meanwhile, associate editor Andrew Grossman weighs in with two pithy pieces that riff on CGI vs. the "real," monadism and dyadism in film advertising, and, as always, with this author, so much more. (Take that, terrorist!) Another new writer, John Engle, studies that old warhorse, male mid-life crisis in three films in a brilliantly written article (though we were tempted to chide John for not somehow working in "metadiegetic" or at least "narratology"). Our beloved pal and BL regular Dave Saunders uses cinematic and cultural tropes as a prescription for healing in a vibrant, wide-ranging piece. Like Dave, we don't like to neglect the body and its demands, so we were thrilled to publish another new writer, Marilyn Papayanis, whose "Our Orgasms, Ourselves" surveys some shocking truths about female sexuality as represented cinematically. (Touché, abortion clinic protestor!) Recent BL inductee Matthew Sewell does a heady job of forensics with one of his "short takes," this one on the Star Wars films and Wizard of Oz and the surprising meaning behind their "mistakes." John Hall returns after a long absence from BL with a fine reading of J. Edgar Hoover, G-Men, I Was a Communist for the FBI, and the changing image of the FBI agent. (We resisted explaining to John that "guns" and other paraphernalia of a violent culture could never compete with BL's words.) BL virgin Alexandra Heller-Nicholas skillfully scrutinizes the "Highway Safety Foundation" films, with particular emphasis on the still grimly effective non-driver-ed work The Child Molester (1964). Peter Tyson, also appearing for the first time here, authoritatively answers the nagging question of whether it was Brecht or Sirk (or maybe Antonin Artaud) who decisively influenced Fassbinder's The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant. Finally, another new writer, Prakash Kona, rigorously explores the "passive Indian woman" theme and gender politics in Hindi cinema. Welcome Prakash and you other new writers!

Director — excuse me, auteur — studies this time encompass a wide range of works by three more recent arrivals at BL. Joanne de Simone evocatively examines the religious forces driving le cinema Scorsese. Rob Smart takes on experimental/indie filmmaker Carlos Atanes in a penetrating profile. And Michael Ward expertly explores the theme of "intertextuality" in the work of Wong Kar-Wai.

Individual movies get their due as well this time. Jacob Mikanowski artfully appraises recent "sleeping beauty" works by the ancient Manoel de Oliveira and art-sex auteur Catherine Breillat. Norm Ball, as always, brings it back to earth with a brief, provocative take on the documentary Tibet in Song. BL buddy Joseph Aisenberg delves deeply into the Michael Corleone character in the Godfather films with exciting results. And in a crackling piece, newbie Ian Murphy does what few have dared to do: rehabilitate Friedkin's The Hunted. (Begone, Navy Seal turned super-criminal!)

Despite CGI's increasing takeover of the cinematic body (see Grossman's piece on "thingness" for more details), actors remain indispensable to the form, and we've got three profiles to prove it. Christopher Sandford pays heartfelt homage to Phil Silvers; newbie Jake Hinkson graciously gives long-overdue props to Welles's shadow-figure, Norman Foster; and BL first-timer Penelope Andrew poignantly praises the wonders of Deborah Kerr.

No issue would be complete without the distinctive voice of associate editor Alan Vanneman, appearing here with a witty skewering of the "adult swim" cartoon Archer.  Matt Sorrento shares the insights of Mildred Pierce/Meek's Cutoff writer Jon Raymond in a typically probing interview. And we've even made it easy for homebound readers to visit the Big Scary World via three film festival reviews. This time up we're featuring associate editor Lesley Chow's enchanting entry on the Hong Kong International, associate editor Megan Ratner's scintillating study of New York's New Directors/New Films fest, and new writer Tijana Mamula's incisive interrogation of the Rotterdam fest. Gordon Thomas makes an appearance with his usual cutting critiques of six recent DVD releases in his "Bright Sights" column.

Our fascination with "the power of words" extends to that old-school favorite, the book. Remember? This time we feature four reviews. Our pals Erich Kuersten, Robert Dassanowsky, and C. Jerry Kutner work their verbal magic on, respectively, Daniel Ekeroth's Swedish Sensationfilms, Justin Vicari's study of cinematic bisexuality, and David Del Valle's  hefty update of Hollywood Babylon called Lost Horizons Beneath the Hollywood Sign. Recent BL-er Leah Anderst does a sharp scrutiny of Andrew Shail and Robin Stoate's Back to the Future book.

I think this should put to rest any doubts that we at Bright Lights are well qualified to defend democracy, freedom, and so on and so forth. We have words, and we know how to use them. Igor, the thesaurus!

Gary Morris