Sonic Cinema

Sounds, Visions and Insights by Brian Skutle

News

When I first covered the Renegade Film Festival in 2020, I did not anticipate it being my last communal experience theatrically until six months later, during our brief reopening at Regal during the pandemic. I also did not anticipate it being a film festival I would find myself looking to return to over the years. But the high of Renegade is not just in its programming; it’s in the community […]

Categories: News, News - General

When I first covered the Women in Horror Film Festival back in 2020, before it became the Renegade Film Festival, I did not expect the community I’d find, and the sense of the unexpected, and belonging that the festival provided. By the time I finished covering it in 2022 and 2023, I knew for sure this would be a festival I’d go to for as long as I can. After […]

Categories: News, News - General

Sonic Cinema Podcast

A few months ago, we discussed three films about the press speaking truth to power. What happens when the powerful pervert media for profits? As it enters The Criterion Collection this week, Sidney Lumet’s satirical look at television news- 1976’s “Network”– feels like a documentary of the times we live in now. Joining me to discuss the legacy of this film is Jason from Binge Movies and The Slashers and […]

Categories: News, News - Podcast

What could be more romantic than two Gen X white guys talking about Alfred Hitchcock’s most romantic film before Valentine’s Day? I’m sure plenty of things, but this is what you get from the Sonic Cinema Podcast this year. My frequent guest, Phil Fasso, returns for the third time in five months to discuss Cary Grant and Grace Kelly being two of the most drop-dead gorgeous people in movie history […]

Categories: News, News - Podcast

Repertory Revues

This was a rough year for me in terms of moviewatching. If you’ve already read my end-of-2014 review, you know there’s still a lot left to see, although I’m definitely making up for lost time at the start of this year. That same lack of consistency seeped into my “weekly” series of older movie reviews, as well, so much so that, at the end of the year, I was doing […]

With Spike Lee’s great biopic, I finish up my fifth year of “A Movie a Week” reviews, and it’s been quite a year. I’ve been behind most of the year, as life has been busy for me. Very busy. On the one hand, I started a great relationship with a wonderful woman at the start of the year. On the other hand, my father passed away in October, making for […]

Music News

Since I last wrote in this section back in June of last year, a LOT has happened. Not necessarily from a musical standpoint, but in life. The most significant change in my life over the past nine months was the passing of my father, Mark, after a year and a half of heart trouble. That put my plans for my October composing practice, which included releasing an album’s worth of […]

Categories: News, News - Music

It feels like I’ve had a busy year thus far musically, but the truth of the matter is, I really haven’t had much I’ve done. That’s not really true, of course, as I released two long-awaited albums: “Storytelling” and “Arpeggiations & Atmospheres”, both of which had been completed in 2011. The reasons for their delay? Cover art for “Storytelling” (WELL worth the wait from my dear friend, Carrie Stribling), and […]

Categories: News, News - Music