By RONALD BERGAN DATELINE CANNES, May 18, 2011. The films of Belgian brothers Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne give new meaning to the term motion picture. Their protagonists are continually on the move, with the camera following doggedly behind them, as if the directors are trying to keep up with them to see that they ... read more »

By RONALD BERGAN DATELINE CANNES, May 13, 2011. On approaching a Terrence Malick film, it has seemed impossible to avoid mentioning the long gaps between the films (20 years between Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line), the director’s reclusiveness, and his footage fetishism (he was said to have shot one million feet of ... read more »

By RONALD BERGAN DATELINE CANNES, May 13, 2011: When watching Woody Allen movies in the past, I was always reminded of a remark John Updike makes of one of his characters: “He thought that anyone who didn’t live in New York had got to be kidding.” I presume Allen shared that view, and his best ... read more »

There’s so much happening these days, culture-wise, that we can only scratch the surface. Here are some Monday morning scratchings from your faithful editor. If you’re in Portland OR; Washington DC; Houston; Vancouver BC; or Ithaca NY, you’ve got a treat in store. UCLA’s annual “Festival of Preservation,” which travels hither and yon (including a ... read more »

Since we’re commemorating dire events today, here’s one from queer history worth noting. From today’s Guardian website: Gordon Brown issued an unequivocal apology last night on behalf of the government to Alan Turing, the second world war codebreaker who took his own life 55 years ago after being sentenced to chemical castration for being gay. ... read more »

Herewith is a new occasional announcement entry for various and sundry doings by Bright Lights writers and friends that may interest readers. First, our pal Bob Moricz, future reviewer of the notorious “pink films” and auteur of the wild, Kucharesque indie Palace of Stains (reviewed here, is back with an intriguing new feature called BUMPS. ... read more »

One of our writers, Prof. Stephane Dunn, sent in this personal tribute to dazzling, wounded, now dead Michael Jackson. We loved his artistry and his mysterious and powerful presence in the culture and lament his passing with her. – GMLoving MichaelBy Stephane Dunn The calls came fast — Michael Jackson was dead. The words flashed ... read more »

Despite what you’ve heard, publishing is not dead. (You can’t be on life support and still be considered dead, can you?) But seriously, our good news, as a glance at the pic at left will tell you, is that the first “Bright Lights book” will soon be available: Action! Interviews with Directors from Classical Hollywood ... read more »

Director Jack Hill took the time to send along his thoughts on Noah Berlatsky’s article “Men in Women-in-Prison: Masochism, Feminism, Fetish” in the most recent issue of Bright Lights. Hill, as many of you know, is arguably the major architect of the women-in-prison genre, with such seminal credits as The Big Doll House, The Big ... read more »

Nothing succeeds — or annoys — like repetition, as evidenced by the ubiquity of the type font Trajan on movie posters and DVD covers. Who knew? Kirby Ferguson highlights the phenomenon in an amusing video from YouTube: http://www.blogger.com/img/videoplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fv19.nonxt1.googlevideo.com%2Fvideoplayback%3Fid%3D9d94ef6fa21b393f%26itag%3D5%26begin%3D0%26len%3D86400000%26app%3Dblogger%26et%3Dplay%26el%3DEMBEDDED%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1265126634%26sparams%3Did%252Citag%252Cip%252Cipbits%252Cexpire%26signature%3D7CEA169C5686DF8442E2C94FEC09AB46023D5022.1246376BE4C1A9FECC3E27D8B52E0303DDE89E4%26key%3Dck1&nogvlm=1&thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2FThumbnailServer2%3Fapp%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D9d94ef6fa21b393f%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw320%26sigh%3DbI2GldsQohhU9FWJH0tUmGJ3cSE&messagesUrl=video.google.com%2FFlashUiStrings.xlb%3Fframe%3Dflashstrings%26hl%3Den For more laffs from Kirby, check out his homepage.