Sonic Cinema

In 2003, I had my first meetings with friends David Miles and Brendan Bushman about building Sonic Cinema. A year later, the first reviews went online; the year after that, hosting audio began, and my music and some of the Yahoos With a Microphone commentaries were online.

This isn’t the first time I’ve been reflective about the growth of Sonic Cinema. As with the last time I wrote about Sonic Cinema, this one is inspired by changes in my life, which I wrote about back in August. But, it’s also inspired by some recent outside feedback I’ve gotten about Sonic Cinema, and my work as a critic.

The last few years have seen tremendous expansion in terms of how I approach film criticism, and film coverage. The Sonic Cinema Podcast, which I was prepping to begin in 2015, has become a fundamental part of my film coverage, especially when it comes to film history and the film industry. In 2018, I was invited to join the Georgia Film Critics Association, which gave me an opportunity to not only vote for end-of-the-year awards, but also receive screeners and invitations to press screening. In 2019, I began covering film festivals, and in addition to annual visits to the Atlanta Film Festival, I’ve covered the local Renegade Film Festival, Fantasia Fest and two years of the Sundance Film Festival. That’s a lot of change in and of itself.

All that being said, this has been a catalyst for stretching out and expanding where my voice can be heard. Over the past several years I’ve written a lot of work for In Their Own League, as well as other websites occasionally, and been a guest on other podcasts, talking about movies and subjects I’m passionate about. In addition to that, I also was a part of a startup review aggregate website, though that is not as easy a thing to get started as possible. I’ve accomplished a lot, but I’ve still thought about expanding things more.

This year, I submitted for admission to the Online Film Critics Society for the second time. It had been a while since I had applied, and while I thought I had the requisite requirements, I missed on the amount of theatrical releases I had reviewed at the time of their theatrical releases. I had a hard time believing that, but when I went back to look at it, my reviewing of films for theatrical did not quite make the cut. While I certainly understand that is important, it’s weird to think that critical societies are basing such requirements solely off of theatrical releases, with the robust streaming and VOD market that exists, on top of film festival screenings. I know I am not alone in thinking that. We will see if I try to reapply in the future.

And then, there is Rotten Tomatoes. The premiere review aggregate website, it is still seen as an important part of expanding a publication, and critic’s, reach online. The last time I applied, I was told that- for as much as I did for Sonic Cinema- they wanted me to build my portfolio away from Sonic Cinema. In Their Own League and guesting on podcasts have helped with that, but when I received my latest rejection email, it wasn’t enough, but there was a new caveat added to their rejection- they “prefer to include critics whose reviews are timely and up-to-date,” as they consider themselves more relevant for theatrical and recent releases.

The reputation for Rotten Tomatoes is a complicated one. Many people have a fundamental misunderstanding of what the site provides in terms of critical analysis. In a way, they are the current iteration of the debate that occurred regarding “Siskel and Ebert’s” “Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down” ratings system; whether a film is “Fresh” or “Rotten” makes it seem as though the critical consensus of a film is good or bad, pass or fail, with little room for nuance. While for the general public it can be beneficial, it can drive the critical community a bit nuts when most people don’t really understand what the ratings mean, by and large. Again, there is value for this. But I’m not sure if it’s valuable for me.

When my latest RT rejection made a point to bring up how much I focus on reviewing older films, I think that stung me more than the actual rejection. While the site certainly is within their rights to want to put their energies towards being important for recent releases, what does their devaluing of their potential to be of value for people watching older films mean in terms of how they look at older films? (The irony of their recent list of the highest-rated film noir entries, which they published during Noirvember, is not lost on me, as that list would be chockful of older films.) But their desire to focus on newer films points to a larger trend of studios and many major sites not really seeing the importance in looking at older films, and inspiring people to search out the movies that laid the groundwork for the films of today.

Because of that, and because of my change of work, I’ve had to think a lot about what I want for Sonic Cinema, and my film criticism, to mean in the future. I’m ready to move on from being a part of Rotten Tomatoes- if it means changing how I discuss film, I’m not interested at this point of my life. Other film critics societies are still on my radar, but if nothing comes from it, I’m not going to be that broken up about it.

I’m still planning on covering film festivals moving forward- and my current job with regards to paid time off is advantageous in doing so- and I hope to start covering ones out of state. The podcast has, honestly, been invigorating; I’ve had some of the best conversations I’ve ever been a part of on film over the past few years at Sonic Cinema, and the opportunities to meet new critics, and talk about subjects they care about, have been rewarding. On top of which, I have some great guest appearances on other podcasts that will be coming in the new year. The amount of films I review on a monthly basis are likely to fluctuate, but I promise a healthy blend of classic and recent films being covered throughout the year.

Thank you to all my readers, listeners, and colleagues for your support and interest in what I have to say about film. I look at Sonic Cinema as a vessel towards communicating about myself, and sharing my passion. It’s become something so much more than I ever anticipated.

Thanks for listening,

Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com