REVIEWS

the site

What is Sonic Cinema?

Simply put, Sonic Cinema is the fusion of my two passions- music and movies. For me, the two have been inseperable ever since high school. When I began to write music in college, my compositions retained- and continue to retain- the emotional and “aural-visual” aesthetic of film music, and many times, a particular vision- or a particular piece of film music- was in my mind during the composing process. And when I began to write reviews on movies, I’d always make a point of singling out the film’s composer and his contribution- good or bad- to the film. That, also, has continued to this day.

Sonic Cinema is intended as an outlet for me, a place to share my music and thoughts and feelings on movies with anyone curious to find out. This is not intended to be a site devoted to all-things related to modern- and classic- cinema; there are other places on the web for that, and I’ll be happy to point you in their direction. Sonic Cinema is a labor-of-love, and a personal expression- with a little help from my friends every now and then- on the two art forms that have had the most profound impact on my life.

I can’t promise you’ll like my music, and I can’t promise you’ll like my opinions on any of the films- or aspects surrounding film- I choose to discuss. What I can promise is enlightenment on simply one man’s opinion on the most significant form of expression of the new century (film), and one man’s experimentation within the most significant form of expression in centuries past (music). Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy!

-Brian Skutle

about Brian Skutle

Brian Skutle’s passion is for storytelling, be it through music, film, or creative writing, with the story dictating the medium that best brings it to life. In his music though, it may not be a specific story that inspires him but a feeling. A sense of longing. Of mystery. Of tension. Of serenity. Of sensuality. Of something beyond the humdrum normalcy of life, though sometimes his goal is to just compose for the fun of creating. Inspired by storytellers of all forms, select examples of Brian’s personal expressions, and several of his film reviews and commentaries, are found at www.sonic-cinema.com.

Brian (b. 1977) began to play trombone in 1989; though he enjoyed performing, it wasn’t until later that he would consider music as a career option. In 1995, Brian- already an admirer of film music- heard James Horner’s score for “Braveheart”; this was the score that inspired him to want to compose for film. The other key score he heard during this time was Hans Zimmer’s music for 1996’s “Broken Arrow,” which inspired Brian to consider the possibilities of electronic music for the first time. Brian graduated from Lassiter High School- and a rewarding four years in their acclaimed band program- later in ’96, headed to Georgia State University to major in Sound Recording Technology in their Music Industry program. From the Fall of 1996 until he graduated in the Spring of 2001 with a B.M. in Music Industry, Brian- who studied recording, MIDI applications, and Csound synthesis under Dr. Robert Scott Thompson from Fall 1998-Spring 2000, and composition and orchestration under Dr. Nick Demos from Fall 2000-Spring 2001- composed about 20 pieces employing both electronics and acoustic instruments played by friends/fellow musicians. He also belonged to the University’s student chapters of the Music Industry Association and the Society of Composers, Inc. While he wouldn’t compose his first film score until 2005 (written for a series of hand-made short films by a friend of his), this valuable experience at GSU served him well in creating an aesthetic quality to his music that is capable of standing alone as concert works, but also retaining the same sense of mood and emotion he found in the best film music he listened to during this time. In 1999, Listen.com said of Brian’s music, “At times these compositions can get downright spooky, first lulling you and then raising the hairs on your neck with eerie, minimalist rhythms and synthesized reverberations.” Since 1999, Brian’s music has been available online at sites such as MP3.com, BeSonic.com, IUMA.com, and MySpace. Currently, Brian’s compositions can be found on three CDs he’s released via CDBaby.com- “Creative Beginnings”, “Dark Experiments”, and “Sonic Visions of a New Old West”- and online @ www.sonic-cinema.com, Brian’s personal website that also includes many movie reviews, essays, and fan commentaries he’s done over the years. In May 2006, Brian became a member of the Society of Composers, Inc.. In addition to his musical projects, Brian is currently working on a short film of his own (check out the MySpace page for Cinema Nouveau Productions), with the intention of creating a soundtrack for it that is layered and ambitious while serving the underlying purpose of film music.

If I had to decide when my movie buff “mentality” began, it would probably be between 1992-1993. This is the time I first remember the itch to watch movies multiple times starting (either in theatres or on video), and beginning to pay attention to the end-of-the-year and Oscar hoopla. Over the next few years it would graduate to full-blown fanaticism as I would find myself going to more independent films in theatres, and looking in the “classics” section in video stores. In 1996, I started to notice the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “You Be the Critic” section (with readers submitting their thoughts on recent movies), and when I began working on the computer more often later that year, I began writing my own contributions and sending them in (email would later make this easier). In January of 1997, my first contribution would be published; from that time to the features’ discontinuation in September of 2000, I would have over 60 published. In the summer of 1999, I began to send these to friends and family; this series of emails continues to this day, and has expanded substantially over the years. Early on in 2003, I began to record audio commentaries for a variety of movies with friends after being inspired by a Roger Ebert article in Yahoo Internet Life, and discovering a site that acts as a search engine for those interested in listening to other peoples’ commentaries.

So you can start to see where I’m coming from, here are some lists of faves…and not so fave.

-Brian Skutle

Brian’s faves and picks

Five Favorite Movies

  1. "Sherlock Jr." (1924)
  2. "The Crow" (1994)
  3. "Braveheart" (1995)
  4. "Pulp Fiction" (1994)
  5. "The Star Wars Saga" & "Star Wars: Clone Wars" (1977-2005)

Five Best Movies

  1. "Vertigo" (1958)
  2. "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968)
  3. "Schindler's List" (1993)
  4. "Gone With the Wind" (1939)
  5. "Pulp Fiction" (1994)

Five Worst Movies

  1. "Manos: The Hands of Fate" (1966)
  2. "Monster a Go-Go" (1965)
  3. "An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn" (1998)
  4. "Red Zone Cuba" (1966)
  5. "Time Chasers" (1994)

Five Favorite Actors/Actresses

  1. Amber Benson (TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer")
  2. John Cusack ("High Fidelity")
  3. Kate Winslet ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind")
  4. Mel Gibson ("Lethal Weapon")
  5. Nicolas Cage ("Adaptation.")

Five Favorite Movie Characters

  1. Celine (Julie Delpy), "Before Sunrise" & "Before Sunset"
  2. Michelle Flaherty (Alyson Hannigan), the "American Pie" movies
  3. Charlie & Donald Kaufman (Nicolas Cage), "Adaptation"
  4. Father Brian Finn (Edward Norton), "Keeping the Faith"
  5. Novalyne Price (Renee Zellweger), "The Whole Wide World"

Five Favorite Filmmakers

  1. Steven Spielberg ("E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial")
  2. Andrei Tarkovsky ("Andrei Rublev")
  3. Joss Whedon (TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer")
  4. Martin Scorsese ("GoodFellas")
  5. Buster Keaton ("Our Hospitality")

Five Favorite Film Soundtracks

  1. "The Crow"
  2. "Braveheart"
  3. "Broken Arrow"
  4. "Vertigo"
  5. "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"

Five Favorite Film Composers

  1. Ennio Morricone ("The Good, the Bad & the Ugly")
  2. Hans Zimmer ("The Lion King")
  3. John Williams ("The Star Wars Saga")
  4. Danny Elfman ("Big Fish")
  5. Howard Shore ("Spider")