At a typical film festival, there’s only going to be a certain amount of films you can get to. There’s usually multiple venues, there’s showtimes that run parallel to one another, and honestly, if all you do is watch films, I feel like you’re going to drive yourself mad. That is part of why the 2022 Sundance Film Festival was a struggle for me; while I don’t regret covering it […]
News
One of the things I love about the Renegade Film Festival is that it has the personality and sense of community of DragonCon, but on a much smaller scale. Don’t get me wrong- the cosplay on display every Labor Day is simply stunning, magnified when thousands of people are doing it, but when you are dealing with a film festival, it’s better to feel as though you’re getting together to […]
Sonic Cinema Podcast
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 […]
Music News
I don’t really write music reviews. I feel it’s a lot easier to watch a movie, and examine all it does right and what it does wrong. How do you do that for music? That said, when my friend and fellow composer Adam Scott Neal– whose website can be viewed through the link on his name- asked me about review his two latest albums of music, I agreed nonetheless, not […]
It’s the day Hitler killed himself. It’s origins date back to pre-Christian times. It’s the day during which the “Night on Bald Mountain” sequence from “Fantasia” supposedly takes place. It was acknowledged in the poem “Faust” by Goethe, whose words were later used in a Cantata by Felix Mendolssohn. Now, “Walpurgisnacht”- which is defined as the evening of April 30-March 1- is the inspiration for a short film I’ve had […]