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writers gone wild!
Keep up with Bright Lights between issues by visiting our companion blog, Bright Lights After Dark.
Alan Vanneman
in issue 60
Who Do You Love? Jean Renoir's Rules of the Game Reconsidered — Was Le Grande Jean too soft on the aristos?
Looking at Charlie — The Circus: An Occasional Series on the Life and Work of Charlie Chaplin — Life in the ring
in issue 58
Looking at Charlie — An Occasional Series on the Art and Life of Charlie Chaplin — Hats off, dudes! A masterpiece!
Whose Noir Is It, Anyway? Robert Aldrich's Kiss Me Deadly — Mike Hammer deconstructed, or Mike Hammer disrespected?
Too Gay, or Not Gay Enough? Greg Mottola's Superbad — The urge to merge with a splurge — story of my life
in issue 57
Mo' Money, Mo' Money, Mo' Money! J. K. Rowling Just Got Richer — Harry the Fifth comes in third
Rat's Eye for the Straight Guy: Disney/Pixar's Ratatouille — Eat first, talk later? If only!
An Infarction to Die For: Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Thirteen — Can a film with George Clooney, Matt Damon, and Brad Pitt be all bad? Yes.
Ronald Reagan's Shoot from Hell! Cattle Queen of Montana — Up shit creek without a Pichon Longueville '47
in issue 56
Tight Pants in Paradise: Tom Selleck Is Magnum, P.I. — Keats, Shelley, and firm, manly thighs
Will Ferrell on Ice! Speck & Gordon's Blades of Glory — No Betty White, but funny!
Billy Ray's Breach At Last, a Film as Boring as DC! — The evil that men do in a Fairfax County regional park
Being John, Seeing Stanley: John Malkovich in Brian Cook's Colour Me Kubrick: A True … ish Story — "Plot keywords: drugs, glamour, party, rent boy, sex, bisexual, celebrity, con artist, male model"
In Like Clint! Letters from Iwo Jima Is Excellent — With one, yeah, pretty major caveat
Isn't It Romantic? Hugh and Drew in Marc Lawrence's Music and Lyrics — The King of the Backseat Blowjob gets mildly post-ironist on your ass
in issue 55
Still the Same Old Story? Definitely. — Ed Zwick's Blood Diamond
You Only Live Twice? Martin Campbell's Casino Royale: Bond Rebottled — Forget the book, just see the movie
Dude, Where's My Suicide Pill? Alfonso Cuarón's The Children of Men — One virgin birth too many
Robert De Niro at Yale Again! The Good Shepherd: Poor Little Lamb! — Hey! How did we win the Cold War, anyway?
One Small Step for a Penguin: George Miller's Happy Feet — Getting down way down under
Looking at Charlie: The Idle Class, Pay Day, The Pilgrim, and A Woman of Paris: An Occasional Series on the Art and Life of Charlie Chaplin — "Now, Goliath was a big man."
in issue 54
The Ant Bully: 3-D to the IMAX — When ants got big, and kids got small
From Aaron Spelling's Vault of Horror: Charlie's Angels on DVD! — "I expect to be erect any time now."
The Departed: Crime All the Time — Scorsese gets all Irish on our asses, and it works
Doug McGrath's Infamous: The Best Truman Capote Movie I've Seen All Year! — If you must see only one Truman Capote movie in your life, let it be this one
No Tobacco Juice, but Funny! Monster House, Rockin' in 3-D! — Bob Zemeckis and Stephen Spielberg want your money. Give it to them.
in issue 53
Looking at Charlie — First National, Shoulder Arms, and The Kid: An Occasional Series on the Art and Life of Charlie Chaplin — "LOST CHILD WANTED — Last seen with a little man with large flat feet and a small moustache"
Jesus, Mary, and Sophie! Tom Hanks Faces Torture by Elevator in Ron Howard's Da Vinci Code — So middle of the road you can't see the fucking curb
The Muscles from Bois de Bologne: David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli Kick Gallic Butt in Pierre Morel's District B-13 — Do not be alarmed, monsieur. We come from France. We are here to eat your sausages.
The Devil Wears Product: Anne Hathaway Almost Loses Her Cherry to the Big Apple in The Devil Wears Prada — "You're making fashion history" — not!
Forbidden Fruit? Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible III — Is it a sin to see this film?
Finding the Funny, One Dick Joke at a Time: Comedy Central's Pam Anderson Roast on DVD — Enough engorged vagina jokes to feed a family of four for an entire year!
The Don Goes Digital: Don Giovanni — Mozart's Dramma Giocosa for the Ages — Jürgen Flimm and Brian Large supply a stage production that lives on DVD
in issue 52
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?
When Portentous Met Pretentious: Rian Johnson's Brick — "I've got all five senses and eight hours' sleep! Don't fuck with me!"
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
in issue 51
Nine Hamlets: Olivier, Burton, Jacobi, Kline, Gibson, Branagh, Scott, Hawke,
and Lester All Take a Stab at the Original Man in Black
"Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes
of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar?"
Toto, I Don't Think We're in the Grand Tetons Anymore: Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain
Queens in Jeans?
Grandma's Boy: No, Not That One
Linda Cardellini dies and goes to Hell
Looking for Angst in All the Wrong Places: Sam Mendes's Jarhead: Marines Gone Wild!
A few really cute boys take their shirts off, but that's about it
Anthropomorphizing the Anthropoid: Peter Jackson's King Kong
Even a big ape can enjoy a sunset, can't he?
Tentacles No Knives Can Cut: Noah Baumbach's The Squid and the Whale
All in the family, unfortunately
"Step Right Up and Call Me Speedy!" Harold Lloyd — Almost All Isn't Enough
The last of the great silent clowns now on DVD
in issue 50
The Barkleys of Broadway: Fred & Ginger's Last Dance: Ten Pounds Shy of a Gem?
"You'd be hard to replace"? Damn near impossible!
Bennett Miller's Capote: Flatter Than Kansas, and Almost as Boring
Life is earnest, sure, but why does art have to be?
Tony Scott's Domino: Too Dumb to Write About? Not Entirely!
Strong violence, pervasive language, sexual content/nudity, and drug use
Extra! Extra! Read All About It! Clooney Defeats McCarthy!
Rosemary's nephew clocks dairy state demagogue in Good Night, and Good Luck
In a Galaxy Far, Far Away — But Not Far Enough: Joss Whedon's Serenity: Like TV, but Without All the Intelligence
Sayin' ain't doin', motherfucker!
Mr. Monk's Moods: Tony Shalhoub Returns as the Prince of the Obsessive-Compulsives in Season Three of Monk on DVD
Funny, yes, but where are all the queers?
in issue 49
Looking at Charlie — the Mutuals: An Occasional Series on the Life and Work of Charlie Chaplin — "Love backed by force, forgiveness sweet,
brings hope and peace to Easy Street"
Batman Begins: Now with 50% fewer nipples! — It's one step forward, two steps backward as our long national aureoline nightmare refuses to end
War of the Worlds: You Win Some, You Lose Some — Steven Spielberg meets Tom Cruise (again), and things get boring (again)
in issue 48
In Your Easter Bonnet, with All the Frills Upon It: Irving Berlin's Easter Parade
Fred and Judy celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ
The Good, the Bad, and the Disingenuous: Jazz on DVD
You get what you pay for, if you're lucky
Got Trouble? Wire Paladin! The Western for Existentialists
Richard Boone slaps leather in the classic fifties oater, Have Gun, Will Travel
in issue 47
The Aviator: Marty and Leo Do Howard
It all started when his mother washed his balls
No Cellos, Please, I'm American: Mike Nichols' Closer Is Haute Merde
All glitz and no guts
Sideways: Sideways to Hell, Maybe
Alexander Payne's new indie is headed in the wrong direction
in issue 46
"If I were different, maybe things could be the same, only different." Leo McCarey's Screwball Classic The Awful Truth on DVD
Cary Grant and Irene Dunne live our dreams
Blue Skies? Well, Partly Sunny
Fred 'n' Bing 'n' Irv, Part II
The Pearls of Pauline (Kael, That Is)
The little film critic who could — sort of
Odessa, Texas Goes Hollywood: Friday Night Lights I
Are you ready for some rural idiocy?
in issue 45
Looking at Charlie: Keystone and Essanay Days
The first in an occasional series of articles on the life and work of Charlie Chaplin
Oh, the, You Know, Humanity
Freaks and Geeks is on DVD. Why?
Harry Potter and the Valley of the Mysterious Female
When Harry got laid
Tina Fey's Mean Girls: Welcome to the Chest Club
Freaks and Geeks redux
Steal This Picture ... Please!
Fred almost suffocates in Minnelli's Yolanda and the Thief
in issue 44
Follies Is Right!
Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly barely survive Ziegfeld Follies
The Doctors Are In!
Jekyll and Hyde three times on DVD
in issue 43
Fred Meets Joan Leslie and The Sky's the Limit
"Never let it be said little Freddie can't carry his load"
Bonnie and Clyde: Together Again
Warren Beatty's seminal sixties shoot-em-up revisited
Roses Without Thorns, Gains Without Pains, Love Without Tears: Mona Lisa Smile
Doctor Julia explains it all
in issue 42
Alfred Hitchcock: A Hank of Hair and a Piece of Bone
A photo study of the Master's fetishes — uh, motifs
Shakespeare Improved! Cole Porter Teaches the Old Bard New Tricks in Kiss Me Kate
"Why, you'd make a perfect shrew!"
Fred and Rita Go Latin in You Were Never Lovelier
Chiu chiu to you, baby
O Captain! My Captain!
Master and Commander wants to raise your mast
in issue 41
Too Much Bing, Not Enough Fred
There's not much room at the Holiday Inn
Steven Spielberg: A Jew in America
Deconstructing Catch Me If You Can
in issue 40
What's Rita in the Hay Worth?
Fred Finds Out in You'll Never Get Rich
Desperately Seeking Ginger
Hollywood Rhythms, Vol. 2 on DVD offers relief for the Rogers-deprived
Bad Film, Great Soundtrack: New Orleans on DVD
How Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday saved
New Orleans from the Yankees
The Sound of Jazz, The Sound of Gene
New DVDs offer rare TV appearances by jazz greats Billie Holiday, Gene Krupa, Coleman Hawkins, and Benny Goodman. But where's Thelonious?
in issue 39
Fred Astaire Meets Artie Shaw in Second Chorus
New DVD also includes Ezio Pinza, Lena Horne, and Duke Ellington
Chicago: Hollywood Does Bollywood
No one can steal like America can steal
Weill & Brecht: The Rise and Fall of Mahagonny on DVD
Show us the way to the next pretty boy
in issue 38
Fred Goes Over the Top with Eleanor Powell in Broadway Melody of 1940
The semi-sweet smell of excess
Fredric March and Carole Lombard Find Nothing Sacred in the Big Apple
"There she is, in all her beads and ribbons!"
in issue 37
"Why Are They All Ugly Little Men?"
Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, and Langdon:
the great silent clowns reformatted
Fred & Ginger Fade to Black in The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
Fred dies, Ginger cries
Spider-Man: There's No "There" There
Why Tobey Maguire has us by the testicles and why he isn't going to let go
1966
CBS Version of Death of a Salesman Now on DVD
Sure Arthur Miller's
masterpiece is flawed, but so's your mother
Looking
Back at the Fabulous Invalid
TV Broadcasts of June Moon, Awake and Sing!, The Human Voice,
and The Journey of the Fifth Horse on DVD
in issue 36
Fred & Ginger, Together Again, yet Not Quite Carefree
"Colorblind," and maybe just a little bit tone-deaf
Gosford Park: Not Renoir, but Not Bad
Robert Altman gets all warm and fuzzy on your ass
Todd Field's In the Bedroom: Wake Me When It’s Over!
More boring than real life, plus you have to pay to get in
in issue 35
Fred Astaire Goes Solo in Damsel in Distress
Nice work if you can get it
Bardot on DVD Offers Vintage Titillation
"See that girl? Her ass is a song."
Queer for the Rings
Pretty boys in danger: How yummy!
in issue 34
Fred and Ginger Miss a Step in Shall We Dance
"Let’s call the whole thing off?"
Dixiana on DVD Has Everything but Bill Robinson’s Feet
Where’s the rest of him?
We’ll Always Have Paris, Now That Rene Clair’s Le Million Is on DVD
Not many extras but lots of fun
Mozart’s The Magic Flute on DVD
Ingmar Bergman does it again!
in issue 33
Fred and Ginger Savor La Belle Romance in Swing Time
"Shall we take it straight through?"
Feedback from the Global Village
From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China offers three documentaries on DVD for the price of one; Genghis Blues is too shaggy for words
Brad and Julia go south in The Mexican
Julia Roberts has pits!
Stephen Sondheim’s Company on DVD
Life is shit: Let's put on a show!
Bob Dylan’s Don’t Look Back on DVD
The dude with the ’tude
in issue 32
Manhattan to America: Drop Dead!
The New Yorker takes a slap at Julia Roberts
Too Haute to Handle: Jazz on a Summer’s Day on DVD
The best jazz documentary just got better
Fred & Ginger Get Their Feet Wet in Follow the Fleet
"There may be trouble ahead"
in issue 31
The Fabulous Baker Boys
Why there are no people like show people
Fred & Ginger Hit Their Highest Peak in Top Hat
What's black and white and simply reeks with class?
in issue 30
Irving Berlin on Film
Forget Barry Manilow — this is the guy who really wrote the songs
in issue 29
Erin Brockovich
Easy on the eyes, brutal on the brain
American Psycho
American Psycho, stay away from me!
Roberta
One of the least known, and one of the very best, of the films that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers did together
in issue 28
Psycho
Hitchcock's seminal Oedipal nightmare revisited
The Gay Divorcee
Fred and Ginger get continental on your ass
Fight Club
This just in: men are stupid
Back Lot: Growing Up With the Movies
Maurice Rapf's memoir reviewed
in issue 26
American Beauty
Why it sucks and why the critics love it
Murder at the Vanities
This 1934 musical mystery has girls, grins, guns, and Duke Ellington, too
Flying Down to Rio
The film that put Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers together on a dance floor
The King of Jazz
Hot licks and high kicks in a rare early musical
in issue 25
Robert Benchley and the Knights of the Algonquin
If you think Benchley, Woollcott, et al. are wits, you're half right
The Jackson Twins: What Next for Michael and Janet?
Self-invention and self-love: Can you tell the difference?
in issue 24
Pillow Talk
Are Rock and Doris Hollywood's strangest romantic team? How about Rock and Tony Randall?
in issue 23
Words and Music
How can an MGM musical with Judy Garland, a young Perry Como, and a pre-Depends™ June Allyson be obscure?
in issue 21
Whoopee
A chunk of Flo Ziegfeld's Roaring Twenties Broadway, preserved in glorious, 1930 two-color Technicolor
