I have the same problem as timmytheimpaler on my newer toshiba laptop.
If using gnome, there is a "brightness" applet that can be added to
the panel (right-click on panel -> add to panel -> scroll down ->
select "Brightness Applet") which works fine for controling the
brightness.

A quick web search shows options from the command line similar to:
sudo echo -n 100 > /proc/acpi/video/VGA/LCD/brightness (change 0-100
(or 1-8) after echo -n) for brightness and
sudo xgamma -gamma 0.6 (change 0.6 from 0.0-1.0?) for contrast...

Though the above CLI lines can differ a bit depending on your model,
so if they don't work, may want to do a model specific search.
Also, if you have NVidia, I think I have read somewhere that there are
some driver updates you can install that have such options available.