Sonic Cinema Podcast

Last year, it appeared that the greatest film composer of all-time, John Williams, might be retiring after "The Fabelmans" and "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny." Now, we are not sure, but it's still a great time to honor the maestro whose music has led so many people to listening to film music. In this episode, I'm joined by Darin Lundberg from NostalgiaCast, Dr. Becky O'Brien, Danielle Solzman from Solzy and the Movies, and Kelly from Big Shiny Robot. I hope you enjoy!The closing piece is "Ahsoka's Theme," composed by Brian Skutle, inspired by the work of John Williams.

**This podcast was recorded during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movies being covered here wouldn't exist.Film preservation is vital to keeping film alive, and right now, we are at a perilous moment for the practice. Today's guest was on in 2022 as he launched a new streaming site for showing classic films as a part of Film Detective; this year, he is still in the film preservation industry, but with a new venture, Film Masters. Joining me once again is Phil Hopkins, and we discuss the challenges of restoring classic B-movies, some of the films that matter to him, and why a resource like "Mystery Science Theater 3000" can aid in passing films down. I hope you enjoy!

After an episode record required being rescheduled, Brian takes time to reflect on the podcast, where it's been, and where it's going, as well as share some meaningful film experiences from the past few years.

This ended up being a much deeper discussion than intended, but it is one worth listening to. Sexploitation cinema can mean selling sex for a number of reasons, and in my talk with Jason from Binge Movies, we run the gamut in terms of three of those reasons. Listen to us discuss the state of film criticism before diving into "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls", "Emmanuelle" and "The Blue Lagoon," and the sometimes-problematic ways they exploit our reasons for wanting sex on screen.

After a brief break, the Sonic Cinema Podcast returns, and with a guest that has been away for far too long. This time, independent filmmaker Chris Esper returns, and the subject is one of the godfathers of the American independent film movement as we know it, John Cassavetes. All of these were blind spots for both of us, as we discuss "Shadows," "Faces," "A Woman Under the Influence," as well as the modern independent filmmaker struggle along the way. I hope you enjoy!

The Atlanta Film Festival for 2023 has come to a close. In this episode, I discuss the experience of the festival, some of my favorite films of the fest, and share my interviews with George R.R. Martin and Vincent D'Onofrio on the red carpet for "Night of the Cooters." I hope you enjoy!

One of my favorite films of the 2023 Atlanta Film Festival was the meditative sci-fi film, "Red Earth". On the night of its premiere, I had the chance to discuss it with director Georg Koszulinski, cinematographer Kate E. Hinshaw and producer Tiffany Albright, and it was great to discuss this complex film with them.

One of the great things about the interviews I did at the 2023 Atlanta Film Festival was that they feel more like conversations than just basic Q&As. This one, with Georgia filmmaker Brian Lonano, is no different. In addition to his short film, "Content: The Lo-Fi Man," we discuss content vs. film, inspiration, film scores and the value of film festival. I hope you enjoy!

One of my early favorites from the 2023 Atlanta Film Festival came from watch Geoff Marslett's "Quantum Cowboys" ahead of the festival. As a result, I was able to set up some time prior to the film's screening at the festival to talk with the director and one of his producers, Melodie Sisk, about the film, and it was a great, expansive discussion. I hope you enjoy!Continuing with the Western motif, the piece that plays at the end is my own "At Peace Under the Stars" (Reprise) from my 2007 album, "Sonic Visions of a New Old West".

Darren Aronofsky has been a bold, and polarizing, filmmaker since he first hit the scene with 1998's "Pi." In this episode, I am joined by filmmaker K/XI as we explored Aronofsky's films, with a particular focus on "The Fountain," "mother!" and "The Whale." I hope you enjoy!

We're not quite done with our Oscar discussion for this year, but in this episode, it ties into the past, and one of the great stars of Hollywood's Golden Age. Barbara Stanwyck is an actor I've been familiar with by name, but not as much by her work. When my guest- film critic Matthew St. Clair- suggested this topic, however, I got excited in being able to rectify that. Listen as we discuss Stanwyck's four Oscar-nominated films, "Stella Dallas," "Ball of Fire," "Double Indemnity" and "Sorry, Wrong Number," and how the Oscars haven't really changed much over the years. I hope you enjoy!

In this episode, I close my coverage of the Renegade Film Festival this year by sharing my thoughts on the films that played the 2023 festival, several that stood out, and interviews with "Give Me an A" filmmakers Natasha Halevi and Jessica Taylor Galmor, screenwriter Megan Fitzgerald and "Number Twelve" filmmaker Nonie Shiverick.

It's that time of year again when every movie podcast and their brother discusses the Oscars, and who would I be to deprive you of that? Joining me once again is Amanda Spears to discuss the chaos of the 95th Oscar nominations before I wrap things up with my 10 Best films of 2022. I hope you enjoy!See my yearly retrospective from December here.

There's a lot to set up in this episode- which I try to in the episode- but this is, simply, a discussion with my mother, Victoria Skutle. She was an actress, a lifelong movie fan, and obsessive about the TV shows she loved. This was recorded in December 2018, after I noticed her memory starting to slip, and before we officially heard her dementia diagnosis from doctors. I hope you enjoy- it's as enlightening about me as it is her.

As we've moved through the podcast, and guesting on podcasts, I've realized a lot of what I focus on in terms of these discussions are things and movies that I really want to talk about, and with people I want to talk about them with. We are at that point with a film that is one of my very favorites about the struggle to create. It is Spike Jonze's "Adaptation.", and joining me in the discussion is return guest David Rosen, a composer and the host of the Piecing It Together podcast. I hope you enjoy!*There are some blips that you'll hear. Zoom was muting me periodically during the record, and so it resulted in a lot of stops in the record. I edited as many out as I could.**The end music is my original composition, “Creative Beginnings.”

Our guest on this episode was actually on the Sonic Cinema Movie Chat back in 2021, and that discussion is what inspired this one. When a lot of people think about "blind buying" movies, they typically think about buying movies they've never seen. But if you think you're going to get greatness, how much of a blind buy is that? We talked more about that on the chat, but in this episode, I'm joined by Simon Watson of the Extra Features podcast, and we discuss a multitude of subjects before getting to our respective blind buys for this episode, 1972's "The Stepmother" for me, and 2003's "Kung Phooey!" for Simon. I hope you enjoy!

After a slight delay, the "Established Classics" series continues, and begins the 2023 podcast year. As always, I am joined by actor Timothy J. Cox to discuss three terrific classics from Hollywood's Golden Age. This year, we begin with Preston Sturges's 1941 classic, "Sullivan's Travels". Next, we discuss Elia Kazan's Oscar-winning masterpiece, "On the Waterfront" before concluding with Alexander Mackendrick's "Sweet Smell of Success". I hope you enjoy!

Thirty years ago today, my parents, my grandfather and I went to go see Rob Reiner's "A Few Good Men", and an unorthodox Christmas tradition for me was born. I've wanted to talk about the film with other people for a while, and I'm pleased to be joined by Kevin the Critic and Kip Mooney in this discussion on one of my favorite films.

On December 13, it will have been 30 years since my Eagle Scout Court of Honor. Also on December 13, the new documentary, "Boy Scout's Honor," becomes available. The film tells the story of Aaron Averheart, and several other Scouts, who were sexually abused by one of their Scoutmasters, Bill Sheehan, as well as how the organization has kept secret files on pedophiles in BSA, while not doing much to curb the abusers themselves.In this episode, Brian begins by sharing his own memories of scouting before going into interviews he conducted with the film's director Ash Patiño and Averheart himself. This episode does touch on subjects of child abuse, trauma, and sexual assault.

With the release of his semi-autobiographical film, "The Fabelmans," it's finally time to discuss Steven Spielberg in depth on the podcast. Joining me in a wide-ranging discussion of Spielberg's impact on film, how he means something else to audiences now than he did when he started, as well as our favorite films, is Danielle Solzman from Solzy at the Movies and Darin Lundberg from NostalgiaCast. I hope you enjoy!

This episode is the continuation of a discussion I began with Robert Yaniz Jr. on his Close Watch podcast about the 2012 epic by the Wachowski sisters and Tom Tykwer, "Cloud Atlas." We focused on the film in that episode; here, we dive into the score by Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil. I hope you listen to both of these episodes as a piece to get the full scope of our discussion on a movie I love.Also, the music at the end of this episode is an original composition of mine for concert band called, "Interludes for Winds, Marimba and Timpani." I hope you enjoy!

A month of horror movies would not be complete if we didn't talk to Phil Fasso. This year, however, we're discussing some of the best the genre has ever delivered, from one of the best years in movies. We discuss the genre in general, but specifically dive into John Carpenter's "The Thing," Tobe Hooper's "Poltergeist" and George A. Romero's "Creepshow."

If you want to talk horror, there are few people better to talk to than former critic, and current podcaster and filmmaker, Scott Weinberg. This month, I wanted to discuss some of his favorite under-the-radar horror films, and you could not get a better lineup to hear about than "Session 9," "Frailty" and "May." I hope you enjoy!The piece of music at the end is my original composition, "Into the Dark Alone."

We begin the annual month of the macabre on the podcast with a great and insightful discussion on film music- specifically, six horror soundtracks, some of which you'll know and love, some that might surprise you. Joining me is musicologist Dr. Becky O'Brien, and I hope you enjoy our conversation!

In this episode of the podcast, we celebrate an anniversary that lives in infamy. Is 2002's "Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever" really deserving of the honor of being the worst-reviewed film on Rotten Tomatoes? Joining the podcast for the first time to discuss the film is film critic Shaurya Chawla. I hope you enjoy!

Brian recounts his weekend in downtown Atlanta for Dragon*Con 2022, including his first time being a panelist.

The genesis of this episode started with our Best of 1996 episode. Here, we welcome back Mathew Timms to the podcast to discuss the career of British director Alan Parker. Our talk focuses on three of his 1980s films- 1982's "Pink Floyd: The Wall," 1984's "Birdy" and 1987's "Angel Heart." I hope you enjoy!

For this episode, Death Ensemble's P Owen Fasso joins me once again, but we're talking about real-life horrors instead. Here, we chose two films from Vittorio De Sica- "Bicycle Thieves" and "Umberto D"- to discuss the Italian neorealist movement, the value of art, and how themes from 70 years ago continue to be relevant.

It's Leo season on the horoscope, and I wanted to mark the occasion by welcoming two fellow Chaotic Leos back to the podcast. What topic would make the most sense? How about the most chaotic lion in movie history, MGM? Joining me are Morgan and Chels from the Untitled Cinema Gals Project, and we discuss the studio, the old Hollywood system, and "The Thin Man," "The Women" and "North By Northwest." I hope you enjoy!

This episode's guest is someone I've wanted on the podcast for some time. His name is David Rosen, and he's the host of the Piecing It Together podcast, and a producer of the Awesome Movie Year podcast, as well as a composer and musician. It was great to talk to him about our shared interests, and where his came from, in this episode.You can find links to all of David's work at https://www.bydavidrosen.com/.

In this episode, Brian is joined by the co-host of NostalgiaCast, Darren Lundberg, to discuss his favorite film composer, Hans Zimmer. Scores discussed include "Backdraft," "Broken Arrow," "The Peacemaker," "The Thin Red Line," "The Da Vinci Code" and "Interstellar." I hope you enjoy the discussion of Zimmer, as well as a Zimmer-inspired piece I wrote in 1999, "Ethereal Atmospheres," which ends the episode.

Brian sits down with actress Joyce Meadows to discuss her career, and 1957's "The Brain From Planet Arous," which is coming to Blu-Ray from The Film Detective.

With the release of Colin Trevorrow's "Jurassic World Dominion," another era of dinosaurs and man ends on the big screen. To discuss the film and franchise, I am joined by film critic Danielle Solzman, who has a personal affection for the series.

There are movies whose very names conjures ideas of greatness. In the third episode of this miniseries, actor Timothy J. Cox and I continue to look at Hollywood's Golden Age, this time through Howard Hawks' "Bringing Up Baby," John Huston's "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and Stanley Donan and Gene Kelly's "Singin' in the Rain."

Brian interviews acclaimed makeup and hairstylist Donald Mowat to discuss his work on Marvel's "Moon Knight."

Brian recounts his favorite and best films from the 2022 Atlanta Film Festival, and shares interviews with director Erica Orofino (the short film, "She Keeps Me") and director Abi Damaris Corbin (the Opening Night presentation, "892").**Audio note: The sound on the second discussion with Corbin is very loud due to the environment and crackling. It has been mastered as best as it could while still being usable. Make sure to turn down the volume during it.

Brian sits down with musician and film composer Karl Frid to discuss his score for Ninja Thyberg's "Pleasure." There is an odd edit around 19:30 where Karl had to step away for a bit before we resumed.

Brian sits down with filmmakers Erin Bernhardt and Din Blankenship to discuss their documentary, "Refuge," which screened at the 2022 Atlanta Film Festival.

Over the past few months, I've really enjoyed diving deep into the Blu-Ray releases from The Film Detective. So when the opportunity arose where I could talk to its founder, Phil Hopkins, I wanted to take the chance to do so. He is the president of Fandor, and we talk about what led to him being a collector, what goes into film restoration, and more. I hope you enjoy!

With baseball season starting this week, how about a discussion of America's pastime on the big screen? Joining me on this episode is film critic Danielle Solzman, a freelancer who also runs Solzy at the Movies, and we discuss our own histories with baseball, film criticism, the value of rewatches, and remembering what makes certain films and actors special. I hope you enjoy!

We change up an annual tradition on the podcast. This year, I have awards watcher Amanda Spears on to discuss the Oscars, #PresentAll23 and help predict the winners. I also share my 10 Best list for 2021. I hope you enjoy!

Brian is joined by Carlo from The Movie Loot podcast to discuss Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 classic, "The Godfather," and what continues to make it such a unique and unassailable masterpiece after 50 years.

Brian discusses the 2022 Renegade Film Festival. He talks about the features, his favorite short films from the festival, and interviews writers/filmmakers M.R. Fitzgerald (a Screenplay competition nominee for "People in a Box"), Syd Vanroosendaal (the filmmaker behind "Skin and Bones") and Nonie Shiverick (the writer-producer of "Scales").

Brian and frequent guest Phil Fasso get together for a discussion on the new "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" movie released by Netflix, and why it's attempts at social commentary are as hackneyed as a body after Leatherface is done with it.

Brian sits down with editor Luca Cappelli to discuss his work on Goran Stolevski's horror drama, "You Won't Be Alone."

Composer Nathan Halpern had three projects at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival- "Watcher," "Emily the Criminal" and "The Martha Mitchell Effect." But in this interview, Brian wanted to do more than just discuss these projects- he wanted to give a window into the mind of a composer, and what goes into creating music.

Brian sits down with cinematographer Matthew Chuang to discuss his work on Goran Stolevski's horror drama, "You Won't Be Alone."

Brian sat down with production designer Alexandra Schaller to discuss her work on Kogonada's science fiction drama, "After Yang," which played at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.

One of the movies that stood out for me at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival was the Danish horror movie, "Speak No Evil." As you'll hear, though, I had a difficult time trying to figure out how best to discuss it for review. So, what I decided to do is give you my spoken thoughts on the movie- which will be well worth checking out when it comes to Shudder later in the year- and dovetailing those into my interview with director Christian Tafdrup. I hope you enjoy!

Back in 2020, I joined friend Marv Dickey for a discussion of an obscure 1990s film he was going to build into a podcast. His show never took off, but he gave me permission to share our discussion on Steven Soderbergh's 1991 thriller, "Kafka," on the Sonic Cinema Podcast, I hope you enjoy!