actor profiles
animation
book reviews
director profiles
documentaries
experimental &
avant garde
exploitation
film festivals
film noir
film reviews
gay & lesbian
hong kong films
horror
interviews
japanese cinema
music & musicals
silent film
tranny cinema
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writers gone wild!
Keep up with Bright Lights between issues by visiting our companion blog, Bright Lights After Dark.
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Welcome, Comrade!
Bright Lights Film Journal is a popular-academic hybrid of movie analysis, history, and commentary, looking at classic and commercial, independent, exploitation, and international film from a wide range of vantage points from the aesthetic to the political. A prime area of focus is on the connection between capitalist society and the images that reflect, support, or subvert it — movies as propaganda. Published quarterly in Portland, Oregon by Gary Morris and Gregory Battle. ISSN: 0147-4049.
Editor/Publisher: Gary Morris
Associate Editors: Alan Vanneman, Megan Ratner, Bert Cardullo, Robert Keser, Andrew Grossman, Eric Schlosser
To be automatically notified when the next issue is posted, join our mailing list.
See our writer's guidelines and our list of banned words.
Reviews are indexed in Internet Movie Database, Rotten Tomatoes, and Movie Review Query Engine.
See books that mention Bright Lights Film Journal.
For more Bright Lights, check out our companion blog, Bright Lights After Dark, and our tiny, ridiculous MySpace page. We're also on Twitter and Facebook.
Visit our latest online project: The Ivy Compton-Burnett Home Page. English novelist Ivy Compton-Burnett (1884-1969) was one of the most innovative writers of the twentieth century.
Praise for the Web edition of Bright Lights Film Journal
Bright Lights Film Journal was a 2003 Webby Award nominee for best film site.
Bright Lights Film Journal was named a Forbes.com "Best of the Web" site.
"Superb film journal" — The Times (London)
"Anyone who doesn't love Bright Lights doesn't love life." — Green Cine Daily
"One of the best film journals on the Web" — Images Journal
"Stuffy, stilted and stifling it's not, but it isn't stylized, either. This online film journal deftly manages to express big ideas and thoughts without losing readers in big words and big sentences." — Snap! Online
"Smart and eclectic" — about.com
"The legendary film magazine, now gloriously on the Web, is a highly literate mix of movie analysis, history, and commentary that focuses on every category of film imaginable. All the writing is informed and hip ... great, sharp stuff." — Gay and Lesbian Online: Your Indispensable Guide to Cruising the Queer Web
"Not just effete 'hot air,' refreshing film analysis and criticism. Where else can you find Norma Shearer's article next to Annie Sprinkle's?" — Infoseek
"The perfect mix of style and substance" — Chicago Tribune
"Now online only, terrific popular/academic zine has movie analysis, history, and commentary, and is a joy to peruse for any cineaste." — LookSmart
"Bright Lights Film Journal is a real boon to those looking for serious film criticism online. It describes itself as a 'popular-academic hybrid of movie analysis, history, commentary,' and that's an on-the-mark assessment of the wonderful array of offerings here." — briefme.com
"BLFJ is a smart, amusing online quarterly reminiscent of classic film mags like Film Culture and Cineaste. Look for articles like "In Praise of Stan Laurel," "The Cinema of Paul Morrissey," and "The Church of Camp: A Brief History of San Francisco's Castro Theater." A welcome blast from the literate past!" — The Web Magazine
"A breadth of fresh movie views.... The depth and variety of articles in Bright Lights is invigorating." — Films on Disc
"You should be reading it from cover to digital cover." — Morphizm
"Its content should not be missed." — documentaryfilms.net
"You must check out this great film site!" — Film Forum
"A savvy journal which loves to go off the beaten track. Essential." — Kinoeye
"This is really a great one. For thoughtful, insightful film commentary, Bright Lights Film Journal can't be topped." — What a Character
"An intelligent journal of film criticism. Equally compelling with popular film and the more esoteric." — Pacific Audio Visual Institute
"Excellent, eclectic film journal that manages to nicely blend a scholarly yet readable approach to a variety of subjects ranging in equal measure from the horror genre to experimental cinema." — Offscreen
"This great site is devoted to exploring film in all its glory — from indie, obscure and underground flicks to the great classics from cinema’s past. A serious and amazing site." — Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Bright Lights Film Journal was named a New York Public Library Best of the Web site
Bright Lights Film Journal was featured on the British television program The Web Review.
Praise for the print edition of Bright Lights Film Journal
(Print edition discontinued in 1995)
"Bright Lights blends
literate essays with a snappy visual style that's often lacking in academic
journals." —SF Weekly
"A good movie magazine title, reasonably priced, handsomely produced, and of interest to all libraries with meaningful film collections." —Library Journal
"This ultra-slick and smart film journal … has so many meaty articles it's hard to know where to start!" — Factsheet Five
"Admirably thoughtful, well-designed, all dressed up with someplace to go!" —Dick Jameson, Film Comment
"You are doing a terrific job — I read every article in the current issue, which is saying something in this hectic age …" —Peter Cowie, International Film Guide
"The most beautiful magazine in the 'states …" — Franco La Polla, Cineforum, Italy
"A beautiful job well done …" —Films in Review
"Bright Lights looks (and reads) so well …" — Leonard Maltin
"Beautifully produced!" —American Classic Screen
"Immensely valuable" —Framework, England
The print edition of Bright Lights Film Journal was published from 1974 to 1980 and then again from 1993 to 1995. The print edition is indexed in Film Literature Index, International Index to Film Periodicals, and Media Review Digest.
