As drivers near the corner of Mountain Road and Emerald Valley Lane in Bernards Township, they’ll come upon a tree that rises from the brush. At sunset, it becomes a dark silhouette against the field that stretches behind it. Known as the Devil’s Tree, the oak is believed to have sinister powers, cursing anyone who…
★★★ Directed by: Nathalie Moreira ,,Film Review by: ,,Jason Knight The 8th of December 2020 will mark the fortieth anniversary of John Lennon’s passing. Lennon was an English singer, songwriter and peace activist and known for being the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles, the rock band that is considered to be…
Watching Harry Macqueen’s sophomore film Supernova is like hugging someone you love for the last time. It is a warm, rapturous embrace, but one that is filled with immeasurable sadness. It is not a SUPERNOVA or hard-edged experience, but a pleasant one; so pleasant, in fact, that you never want it to end. It is…
Premiering this weekend at the 2020 Sitges Film Festival, The Old Ways, from director Christopher Alender, is a horror film that takes you below the equator and into the jungle of forgotten traditions. Cleverly balancing the elements of horror with its deeply relevant and urgent themes, The Old Ways is sure to satisfy both viewer…
Philippe Lacôte’s Night of the Kings follows a young pickpocket in his first night at the “MACA”, one of the main prisons in Abidjan, the largest city in the Ivory Coast. As the Ivory Coast’s entry for International Feature Film at this upcoming Academy Awards, Night of the Kings has the power and storytelling to…
Jumbo will go down in film history, somewhat unfairly, as the movie in which Noémie Merlant fucks an amusement park ride. The film, a French-Belgian co-production I saw at Nightstream’s Virtual Film Festival, has a funny premise, but there’s real pathos beneath that conceit, coaxed out by Merlant’s graceful performance and beautiful, measured direction from…
“Each one of these stones from darker worlds has its own story. And the bigger ones have changed entire landscapes.” Apple has unveiled the first official trailer for Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds, the latest documentary made by Werner Herzog, and co-directed by volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer (also seen in Into the Inferno). This recently premiered…
Thanks to its long history, the city of Rome is full of archaeological remains from many different eras. While the most famous ones, like the Colosseum or the Pantheon date back to the golden age of the Roman Empire, the city dates back many centuries. The traditional date of the foundation of Rome is 753…
“Imagine if it were like that with everything that’s beautiful. One minute it’s there. And then it’s gone.” Peccadillo Pics in the UK has released a UK trailer for the German coming-of-age / sexual awakening drama Cocoon, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. Kreuzberg is Nora’s microcosm. The silent observer, she’s…
French Exit, from director Azazel Jacobs, is a film I shouldn’t like, yet can’t resist. There’s a quirky awkwardness interwoven throughout the film’s premise and character interactions that lends itself to a strange, unique narrative. The appeal to separate one’s self mirrors the high-class society that has turned its back on the fallen family, whose…
Churches are usually filled with decades and possibly centuries-old items and decorations. Typically these depict biblical scenes and saints. However, at the St. Petri Cathedral in Malmo, a pair of stained glass windows have a very modern appeal. The project was a collaborative effort between the church, local organizations, and the Malmo Museum to give…
Hollywood and the press are working hand in hand to bring greater diversity to filmmaking. To a point, that is. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences tweaked the iconic Oscar rules to ensure films offer richer representation than ever before. Actors are trying to do their part, which sometimes means quitting well-paying gigs…
The first utility poles in America weren’t really supposed to be there. It was 1843, and telegraph inventor Samuel Morse was granted $30,000 by the U.S. Congress to construct a line that could send messages more quickly than had ever been possible before. Morse started by trying to bury the cable to carry the messages…
October is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as “31 days of horror.” Don’t bother looking it up; it’s true. Most people take that to mean highlighting one horror movie a day, but here at FSR, we’ve taken that up a spooky notch or nine by celebrating each day with a top ten list. This article about…
The Nanhai One, (South China Sea No. 1) is a Chinese merchant ship that sank during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279 CE), possibly due to a storm. It was found in the South Sea in 1987 by a British maritime exploration team while searching for the wreck of the 18th-century ship, Rhynsburg. Not only is it the largest ship…
There’s a lovely little old-school manual typewriter in “Martin Eden,” director Pietro Marcello’s adaptation of Jack London’s semi-autobiographical novel. The protagonist of the title sits behind the mechanical device while transferring his innermost thoughts to the page. As Martin (Luca Marinelli of “The Old Guard”) hammered away at the keys, I was reminded how much…
“Any comic who says they’ve never bombed onstage, they’re not being real about what we do.” – Cedric the Entertainer Some fathers and sons bond through sports. Some bond through fishing. Some bond about books, cars, opera. It doesn’t matter, as long as bonding happens! In “The Opening Act,” written and directed by comedian Steve…
“I don’t know where all the bad blood came from…” Circle & Square Films has released a promo trailer for The Letter, a doc from Kenya that is screening at film festivals this fall. This originally premiered at the IDFA Doc Festival last year, and is still looking for a release – but this trailer…
On a warm day in February 2018, a nimble 63-year-old named Oumarou Alim leads the way through the dramatic stone caves of Mount Djim, a rocky peak in the Central African nation of Cameroon. Holding up an arm with a flourish, he declares that this cave “holds the traces of those who came before us.”…
“If we kidnap you, and forbid you to sleep, what happens with your mind?” Epic Pictures has released an official US trailer for a dark psychological thriller titled Sleepless Beauty, from Russian filmmaker Pavel Khvaleev. It just premiered at the Imagine Film Festival, and arrives on VOD in the US in November. A girl named…
Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project began in 2007, with a commitment to restoring and releasing films from parts of the world where filmmaking was difficult for political and cultural reasons. While some of these restorations resulted in films or at least works by filmmakers who had been recognized, some never would have found their way…
At the Gold Mining Camp Museum in Goldvein are two enormous relics from Virginia’s gold mining past. Few realize that Virginia was one of the first states in which gold was discovered. In 1782, Thomas Jefferson discovered a four-pound rock containing gold ore along the Rappahannock riverbank. His find caught the attention of local farmers…
The word “timely” has gotten a hell of a workout over the last several years. That’s what comes of living on a knife’s-blade moment in history. We balance, teetering, on a thin slip of stability, diamond-sharp and diamond-precious. At such times, stories cannot help but take on new resonance. Yet in this moment, in which…
“We can never go back again, that much is certain. The past is still close to us. The things we have tried to forget and put behind us would stir again, and that sense of fear, of furtive unrest, struggling at length to blind unreasoning panic—now mercifully stilled, thank God—might in some manner unforeseen become…
Of course “Battlefield Earth” is celebrating its 20th anniversary in this craptastic year. 2020 has thrown a lot our way: a pandemic, economic shutdowns, a draining presidential election and now a retrospective edition of John Travolta’s signature stink bomb. You’d be hard-pressed to find any real “Battlefield Earth” fans out there. While other films with…
“You can hear him, can’t you? Squirming his way into your thoughts.” Surprise! 20th Century Studios has released an official trailer for a supernatural horror movie The Empty Man, set for release next weekend (in one week). This is the first bit of marketing we’ve seen for this movie, which is still getting a nationwide…
★ Directed by: #JonathanHawes Written by: #JonathanHawes Cast: #MattHawes Film Review by: Amelia Eilertsen Hairball is a strange piece of film. It reminds me of those jarring, edited photographs of the razor in the eye kids would share to group chats in order to spook one another, make them feel uncomfortable. Not quite the unheimlich,…
There is still a little time left – and Pixar has yet to release their highly anticipated feature Soul, which will likely be in contention – but Wolfwalkers is almost certainly the best-animated film of the year. The third in the unofficial folklore trilogy from Irish studio Cartoon Saloon, it is brimming with charm, wonder,…
Yarra Bend Asylum first opened in 1848 as the first permanent institution in Victoria designed for the treatment of the mentally ill. Prior to the construction of Yarra Bend, the mentally ill were often imprisoned in jails across the region. These institutions were often referred to during those times as asylums, emphasizing their function as…
Character actors aren’t celebrated in the press despite delighting viewers whenever they appear on screen. They’re finally getting their due in a funny, fascinating online video series called “People Who Never Get Interviewed But Should.” Hosted by veteran standup comedian and actor Brian Scolaro, the videos stream exclusively on his personal Patreon account. Offering entertaining,…
“We got one option – we fight.” Paramount has released a trailer for an emotional and gritty drama about brothers titled Jungleland, the latest from talented filmmaker Max Winkler (of Ceremony and Flower). A reluctant bare-knuckle boxer and his manager / brother must travel across the country for one last fight to pay off a…
“Amy! No!” Paramount has debuted one final promo trailer for the movie Love and Monsters, formerly known as Monster Problems, launching direct-to-VOD this weekend – skipping theaters entirely. This is directed by the South African filmmaker behind Five Fingers for Marseilles previously. Seven years after the Monsterpocalypse, Joel along with the rest of humanity, has…
Pons Fabricius is a bridge located along the Tiber river in Rome. It connects the eastern shore of the Tiber Island to the mainland. This makes it one of only two bridges in the city not connecting the two banks of the river, the other being Pons Cestius west of the small island. The bridge…
Liam Neeson once again plays a man with a very particular set of skills—safecracking and bombmaking among them—in “Honest Thief,” a no-frills, low-thrills version of the kind of gritty action picture that has marked the veteran actor’s late-stage career. These movies can be gripping and visceral, as in the first “Taken” and “The Grey.” They…
“David Byrne’s American Utopia” is a joyous expression of art, empathy, and compassion. It is the intersection of two artists—Spike Lee and David Byrne—who have been interrogating how we connect through art for decades. Thirty-six years ago, Byrne and the Talking Heads made one of the best concert films of all time in Jonathan Demme’s…
In Cooper Raiff’s disarming, deceptively simple “Shithouse,” the lonely Los Angeles freshman Alex resembles the college version of Michael Cera’s Evan from “Superbad.” With a pair of wide-set, innocently vulnerable eyes, he walks through the campus and life looking like he’s just trying to figure stuff out, instead of playing it cool like most guys…