Sonic Cinema

We are a few days away from the beginning of the 2026 Atlanta Film Festival, and I’m optimistic in what this year’s coverage will be. (At the very least, I’m hopeful that I will not have to delay my podcast about the festival until July due to my computer dying on me.) My work schedule can get plenty chaotic, but I’m hopeful that most of what I have planned in […]

One of the first long-form reviews I sent to friends and family in the email list that would become Sonic Cinema was for Stanley Kubrick’s final film, “Eyes Wide Shut”. Along with “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace”, it was the most anticipated film of the summer of 1999, even before Kubrick’s untimely passing shortly after presenting his final cut to Warner Bros in early March of that year. Production had […]

Earlier this week, the 2026 Atlanta Film Festival wrapped up its 50th iteration with its virtual festival. What was great? What was noteworthy? What was the experience. All will be discussed in this episode, and for the topper, I present an interview with filmmaker Costa Karalis, who made one of my favorite films of the festival, “Frogtown”. I hope you enjoy! Episode 184 – Atlanta Film Festival 2026 Sonic Cinema […]

As I started to look to 2026, I knew there was still more to cover in this series beyond what we hit upon in the five episodes last year in discussing authoritarianism in cinema. One of the richest genres doing that was science fiction which, coincidentally, is what led to my emphasis on the genre this year. With such a vast subject, there was only one choice to join me […]

If you love film, you likely have been to a repertory screening at some point in your life. The chance to watch an older movie, on the big screen, with a crowd as in love with the opportunity to watch a movie in theatres, maybe for the first time, or maybe to recapture that sense of wonder of when you first saw it. The idea of repertory showings of movies […]

For the most part, I did- indeed- get “Repertory Revue” back on track in 2025. Yes, in February and March I didn’t do a single review for this, but considering that that time period I was dealing with a hectic work schedule, season tickets for pro volleyball, a film festival, and personal situations- including my mother passing- the fact that every other month I was able to get two movies […]

One of my favorite things in movies is when they show why a piece of music matters to a character. While a great soundtrack can help us figure out who a character is, when we see characters actively engage with music onscreen, that is a special thing for me. There are plenty of great examples of this- Max Cherry discovering The Delfonics in “Jackie Brown”; “As Time Goes By” being […]

**Author’s Note: The following essay includes scenes from “Touch of Evil” to illustrate my words. These scenes not only include spoilers to the film, but one involves implied sexual assault. Orson Welles never stopped pushing cinema form forward after “Citizen Kane”– the problem was his resources got more and more scant, and his freedom more and more bowled over by studio interference as he went along. But watch films like […]