As a fitting followup to the national roll out of Silents Synced flagship release of “Nosferatu X Radiohead” on October 4th to over 150 independent cinemas in over 30 states, comes the news that Blue Starlite Entertainment follow up title will be Buster Keaton’s 1924 classic “Sherlock Jr.” paired with R.E.M.’s 9th & 10thalbums.
With the band’s blessing, Sherlock Jr. will be synced with R.E.M.’s Monster and New Adventures in High-Fi and have its world premiere on February 1st at the historic Morton Theatre in Athens, Georgia —the birthplace of R.E.M. as well asat Cine’ in Athen.
The film then opens nationwide on February 7th. The poster art was even done by R.EM.’s longtime graphics designer Chris Bilheimer and is available as a limited edition signed print (shown below).
R.E.M.’s co-founder/lead guitarist Peter Buck stated, “Buster Keaton is one of my favorite actor/director/writers in movie history. I’m honored that in some small way R.E.M. is collaborating with him from beyond the grave!”
R.E.M.’s manager Bertis Downs added, “The guys were all big Buster Keaton fans well before this left-field idea came down the pike and that everyone in the band, ‘Likes the uncanny way the music and film work together.’”
Silents Synced was created during the pandemic by Josh Frank—owner and operator of Blue Starlite, an independent cinema in Austin —late at night after running the only cinema open in central Texas during the shutdown. His hope was that by offering a new tier of alternative content event cinema to struggling independent cinemas post pandemic, he could help independent theaters and bands connect with both film and music lovers.
“This is a strategic format to draw new audiences to cinemas for a communal music experience like no other,” said Frank. Frank continued, “While traditional moviegoers will always be our lifeblood, music fans will go to greater lengths for a shared experience. They are a fundamentally new audience for us all.”
By folding beloved Gen. X alt rock music into classic silent films Frank has created a new way to experience both through a communal cinematic experience meant to be shared in an independent movie theater.
Frank expects next year’s Silents Synced to open even greater success and fanfare – to date, over 300 screenings of “Nosferatu X Radiohead” have been booked thus far and the five night residency at the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles sold out in record time. “Nosferatu X Radiohead” will run in theaters until the end of the year and already signed on to be a part future syncs are such influential groups as They Might Be Giants, Pearl Jam, Pixies and Amon Tobin.
For additional information, please visit: www.silentSynced.com
