SYNCHRONIC: A Bumpy Trip Through Time

SYNCHRONIC: A Bumpy Trip Through Time

Synchronic, from directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, is a film you don’t realize has your attention until you find yourself struggling to look away, to hear the world around you. Like a drug, its effects are slow, building into an experience. And like with drugs, whether that experience is good or bad will depend…

Kings Square Gravestones in York, England

Kings Square Gravestones in York, England

Kings Square (also spelled King’s) is one of the main public squares in the city of York. Unlike others however, this was not always by design. Until 1937, a church was located here known as both Holy Trinity, King’s Court (to distinguish it from other Holy Trinity churches in the city such as Goodramgate) and…

10 Spookiest and Most Terrifying Silent Horror Movies

10 Spookiest and Most Terrifying Silent Horror Movies

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…

Grotte di Pilato in Isola di Ponza, Italy

Grotte di Pilato in Isola di Ponza, Italy

These caves located south-east of Ponza’s harbor are believed to be an elaborate example of a Roman fish farm. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe caves were dug into the island’s volcanic rock around the 1st-century CE, and formed five basins connected to each other via underwater passages. These were used to…

High Powered: Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson on Synchronic

High Powered: Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson on Synchronic

There’s such a thing as a really bad trip and then there’s the frightening, mind-bending experience from a drug named Synchronic, which sends its user to an unknown point in time for seven minutes. Results vary. In the latest film from co-directors Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson, the directors depict a New Orleans paramedic named…

Sutri Amphitheatre in Sutri, Italy

Sutri Amphitheatre in Sutri, Italy

Sutri is a fascinating small town north of Rome. The entire town is constructed inside and on top of the local volcanic tuff rock. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonUpon entering the town, visitors will notice an excavated Roman necropolis, but the most interesting feature is the impressive Sutri Amphitheatre that was…

Monumental Cemetery of Milan in Milan, Italy

Monumental Cemetery of Milan in Milan, Italy

The Monumental Cemetery of Milan (Cimitero Monumentale di Milano) was designed by Carlo Maciachini and opened in 1866. The site allows visitors to time-travel into the history of Milan, as they can spot the tombs of figures whose names now adorn major metro stations, roads, and squares. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho…

Ridgefield International Film Festival 2020: Comedy Shorts

Ridgefield International Film Festival 2020: Comedy Shorts

After a night of horror shorts, I was excited to dive into the comedy corner of the short film medium. I had already seen one of the shorts being showcased – 40 Minutes Over Maui – at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, its humor and hilarity setting the stage for more to come here. Age…

Glasnevin Cemetery and Museum in Dublin, Ireland

Glasnevin Cemetery and Museum in Dublin, Ireland

The largest cemetery in Ireland, Glasnevin Cemetery is home to an estimated 1.5 million burials and holds the graves of some of the most significant figures in Irish history. These range from the legendary Irish novelist Brendan Behan, to Éamon de Valera, former president of Ireland.  Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe…

How to Give Stolen Artifacts Back to Historic Sites

How to Give Stolen Artifacts Back to Historic Sites

In the year 79, Mount Vesuvius spewed scalding ash and lava across Pompeii and Herculaneum. As a pyroclastic flow surged, Pompeii was famously laid to ruin—its inhabitants killed, its homes and public spaces obscured under a terrible blanket. The city was snuffed out so speedily that many aspects of daily life were eerily preserved—a carbonized…

Official Trailer for ‘Us Kids’ Doc About the Next Generation of Activists

Official Trailer for ‘Us Kids’ Doc About the Next Generation of Activists

“Change is on the horizon!” Hopefully it is! An official trailer has debuted for the acclaimed documentary Us Kids, from award-winning doc filmmaker Kim A. Snyder (of Welcome to Shelbyville, Newtown). This originally premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year, and also just stopped by the Montclair Film Festival this fall. It will be…

Ridgefield International Film Festival 2020: Psych Night Shorts

Ridgefield International Film Festival 2020: Psych Night Shorts

It has been a while since I have immersed myself in a compelling and tantalizing collection of shorts and what a way to return. This year’s Ridgefield International Film Festival has gone virtual, embracing the unprecedented times the pandemic has created while also maintaining the widely diverse content they have boasted since the festival’s induction….

Highlights from Ebert Symposium on Future of Movie Industry

Highlights from Ebert Symposium on Future of Movie Industry

Here are ten video highlights from the first virtual event of this year’s Ebert Symposium Series, which can be viewed in full here. Titled “The Film Industry in a Time of Change,” the panel was broadcast on Thursday, October 8th, and was moderated by Ebertfest co-founder Chaz Ebert and Ebertfest director, Dr. Nate Kohn. The…

THE UNDOING Miniseries: A Gripping But Soapy Domestic Nightmare

THE UNDOING Miniseries: A Gripping But Soapy Domestic Nightmare

David E. Kelley‘s new miniseries The Undoing is, on the surface, a gripping psychological thriller. It puts a murder mystery at the center of its story, and throughout six episodes (five are available for review), it investigates who’s telling the truth, who’s not, and who actually does the gruesome killing. But the core of the…

Indie Memphis Film Festival 2020: AMERICAN THIEF

Indie Memphis Film Festival 2020: AMERICAN THIEF

When I heard the synopsis for American Thief, from writer and director Miguel Silveira, it was a film that seemed appropriately timed. A hacker out for revenge that is inadvertently pulled into the 2016 election. With only days remaining before this year’s election, there was a relevancy to the past that screamed to be seen….

Nana-chan Mannequin in Nagoya, Japan

Nana-chan Mannequin in Nagoya, Japan

In front of Nagoya Station is the Meitetsu Department Store, and in front of its entrance stands an unusual mannequin known as Nana-chan. The gigantic mannequin stands 20-feet tall with a thin, long neck. The various costumes Nana-chan dawns are changed almost every month.  Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe mannequin was…

DEFINITION PLEASE: A Layered Depiction of Family, Freedom and Mental Illness

DEFINITION PLEASE: A Layered Depiction of Family, Freedom and Mental Illness

Human emotions and experiences are at the core of filmmaking. The imitation of life brings about a catharsis for viewers, introducing them to perspectives other than their own and presenting an opportunity to see themselves, wiping away the vacuous void of loneliness. Definition Please, from writer and director Sujata Day, is one of these films where viewers…

Semaforo di Monte Guardia in Ponza, Italy

Semaforo di Monte Guardia in Ponza, Italy

Monte Guardia is the highest peak on the island of Ponza, measuring more than 900 feet (280 meters) in altitude. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonTravelers to the island will spot a lonely ruin at the top of the peak that hearkens back to a forgotten form of technology used for communication….

Lost Kings short film review

Lost Kings short film review

★★★★★ Directed by: #BrianLawes Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonWritten by: #BrianLawes Starring: #DashMelrose #JoAshleyMoore #CassieSelf Read moreRobert Stack Finally Solves a Mystery in ‘The Strange and Deadly Occurrence’,,Film Review by: Madison Ford Lost Kings is a visually captivating short film following a boy, desperate to get food for him and his…

10 Terrifying and Twisted Horror Movie Road Trips to Hell

10 Terrifying and Twisted Horror Movie Road Trips to Hell

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…