When revising the history of film, the invention of sound seems to emerge out of nowhere: one day there was Metropolis (1927); the next, Al Jolston appeared, singing the death song for silent film. Sound had fallen from the sky, a blessing and a curse. The truth was, sound had been in the works since the first days of film, as they had the technology to record sound—the problem was with synchronization and amplification. During a thirty year period, there were more than enough tries at making a talking picture.

When Oliver Stone made Wall Street (1987), he was riding high from the commercial and critical success of Platoon (1986). His father, Lou Stone, had been a stockbroker on Wall Street in New York City and this film was a son’s way of paying tribute to his father. Almost twenty years later, it has become one of the quintessential snapshots of the financial scene in the United States and epitomizes the essence of capitalism, greed, and materialism that was so prevalent in the 1980s.

In 1993, Clint Eastwood was enjoying a resurgence in popularity. His revisionist western Unforgiven (1992) won three Academy Awards and he received critical and commercial acclaim for his performance in the action-thriller, In the Line of Fire (1993). When he was approached with the screenplay for A Perfect World (1993), he was still making Line of Fire and doing promotion for the Academy Award nominations for Unforgiven. As a result, Eastwood anticipated only directing A Perfect World. However, when Kevin Costner came on board, he felt that Eastwood would be perfect for a smaller role in the film. Eastwood agreed because it wouldn’t require him to spend a lot of time in front of the camera.

Impressions from the road. A specific destination in mind (whether that be a genre, director, actor, era, etc.) with entries along the way. These road trips are taken knowing that there is no definitive route, no definitive focus. Having given his destination, the writer is free to do as he or she wishes along the way. Journalism at its messiest, and some might argue, its finest.

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Film auteur David Lynch uses sound to establish mood effectively in every one of his films, but he uses it best in his surrealistic masterpiece about small-town evil, Blue Velvet (1986) . Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) returns home from college after his father suffers a stroke. While walking from the hospital one day, he finds a severed ear lying in a field. The ear draws Jeffrey into a mysterious world of intrigue and dangerous characters. As the film progresses, Jeffrey is torn between two worlds—one that is dark and seductive, and another that is safe and wholesome. The mystery culminates when these two worlds inevitably collide. Together with sound designer Alan R. Splet, Lynch uses different aspects of sound in a unique way to enhance the atmosphere of Blue Velvet, so that the viewer is drawn in, enveloped in the environment that the director creates.

No man is an island, says John Donne, but sometimes it seems that way. When we see Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) for the first time in Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas, we see an island. Alone, wandering in the desert, Travis carries an empty water jug and a blank expression like an unused, forgotten chalkboard. Wearing a dusty suit and a red sports cap – the apparel of the modern-day businessman – Travis is the everyman. We do not know anything about Travis, but we want to identify with him. We want to hear his story. Thus, the question demanded of him by his brother, Walt (Dean Stockwell), throughout the movie is our question as well: “What the hell happened to you?” What caused this man to set his mind to walking? When we find Travis, he has walked a long way out. Now he appears to be walking back to the people and situations he left behind.

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