by RONALD BERGAN It is traditional in Cannes to open with a relatively mainstream film that would soon be shown at a multiplex near you. It is a ritual that I can’t see the point of. I’m not so naïve to as expect the festival to open with a movie like Godard’s Film Socialism (although ... read more »

FROM THE EDITOR Editorial: Of Devils and Runaway Trains, Anthony Mann and Jean-Claude Van Damme Gary Morris FEATURES Tragic Cinema: The Death of Subjectivities in JCVD Amir Khan Postlude to a Kiss: Will Smith’s Performances of Race and Sexuality in Fred Schepisi’s Six Degrees of Separation Willie Tolliver SIDEBAR: ANTHONY MANN Going Through the Devil’s ... read more »

Only white Hollywood would make a mainstream movie where toilets and shit are used as significant tropes to tell a story of black-white relations, as if the topic is right up black folks’ alley.

We recently heard, and verified, the shocking news that some of Bright Lights’ contributors actually have lives and activities outside their work on the once-humming BL assembly line. Apparently some of them (and you know who you are) have been busy writing books and making art! After we recovered from our initial dismay that BL ... read more »

November 2011 | Issue 74 From the Editor “#Occupy Bright Lights?” Gary Morris FEATURES Religious Allegory and Cultural Discomfort in Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky: And Why Larry Crowne Is One of the Best Films of 2011 J. D. Markel “You can laugh while Rome is burning, but believe you me, Poppy, it is burning, and if ... read more »

[Editor's note: Wham! Bam! Islam! plays on PBS on Thursday, Oct. 13 as part of its estimable Independent Lens series. Check local listings for time.] In July 2010, Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa presented a lecture as part of the nonprofit TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) “Ideas Worth Spreading” series, entitled “Superheroes Inspired by Islam.” In April of ... read more »

by Bob Moricz [Editor's note: This is our second tribute to George Kuchar, who passed away in San Francisco on Tuesday, September 6, 2011, age 69, from prostate cancer. He was beloved by many, and was certainly a "bright Light" to us at the magazine. Here filmmaker and Kuchar pal Bob Moricz talks about George.] I’m ... read more »

By Jack Stevenson [Editor's note: George Kuchar passed away in San Francisco on Tuesday, September 6, 2011, age 69. The cause was prostate cancer. He was beloved by many, and was certainly a "bright Light" to us at the magazine. Here writer and Kuchar friend Jack Stevenson offers some reminiscences.] My original plan with this ... read more »

by David Hathwell The Tree of Life seems to excite fanatical devotion. The reactions to the film heard, for example, on Filmspotting, from both the podcast’s commentators and its listeners, have an uncritical — an anticritical — ardor that makes those of us with mixed feelings about the film feel like infidels. I agree that ... read more »

From the Editor “You can’t have your cinema and eat it too” – or can you? Gary Morris   Features Bodies Politic/Body Politics: The Political and the Personal in Contemporary Film Essays Matt Brennan “Your body is a microcosm of all existence.” – Death: A Love Story Boris Barnet: The Lyric Voice in Soviet Cinema ... read more »