The excess of overspending on blockbusters and relying too much on audience goodwill for franchises, and not putting enough creative muscle in stories, finally caught up with Hollywood in 2023. This summer was a reckoning for studios on a number of fronts: first with the studios penny-pinching and disregard of creatives in the form of multi-month strikes by both the Writer’s Guild and Screen Actors Guild (with more potential strikes […]
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 […]
In the latest episode of the podcast, Brian works through a long-time filmmaker blind spot. For a long time, I had not watched the work of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger- aka The Archers- but this discussion is a good time to do that. Joining me in talking about these great British filmmakers is film critic, and return guest, Matthew St. Clair, as we discuss “The Life and Death of […]
For this episode, I go a bit more introspective to lead into discussing a film that has had a profound impact on my life this year. I talk about what led me to my current profession, what I value in life, and how it relates to Wim Wender’s wonderful 2023 film, “Perfect Days”. I hope you enjoy! You can read more of my thoughts on the film’s use of a […]
This is my third year doing the “Movie a Week” series, and I continue to find it a rewarding endeavor. Sometimes, it takes a little longer to get myself worked up to watch the movie I intend to review, but especially if it comes to a movie I wasn’t too sure about at the time I first saw it, that gives me an opportunity to reconcile my initial thoughts with […]
In its second year as a regular column on Sonic Cinema, “A Movie a Week” has found its sea legs…as well as its own section on the front page of the site. That means no more obstruction of Oscar blogs & end-of essays. I figure some of you will be happy about that. I know I am… 🙂 As for the column itself, the basic structure of it (with films […]
In January 2011, Atlanta-area composer Brian Skutle had an idea for an EP that would return to the more exploratory type of musical craft he did in his years at Georgia State University. The result is his sixth release, and first digital-only album, “Arpeggiations & Atmospheres”. Inspired by electronica artists such as BT and Daft Punk, Skutle wanted to try his hand at something more in keeping with “popular” notions […]
After the ambitious scope displayed in his last two albums, Atlanta-area composer Brian Skutle returns to the more compilation-like approach of his first two albums with “Storytelling”. The original title of his fifth album (“Storytelling Through Sound,” later shortened to just, “Storytelling”) was inspired by an “artistic mission statement” Skutle wrote in 2006, in which he said, “As early as my first compositions back in 1998, a common thread connected […]
Sonic Cinema Quick Thoughts
