Jim Ross
Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:
Jim is a Scottish film critic based in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has been Managing Editor and senior critic at TAKE ONE Magazine since 2011, and has also contributed to Film Inquiry, Cultured Vultures, Vague Visages and Little White Lies, amongst others. Jim has also produced or hosted local radio shows on film in Cambridge (Cambridge 105FM, 'Bums on Seats') and Edinburgh (EH-FM, 'Cinetopia') and has worked for several film festivals.
Publications:
Little White Lies,
Film Inquiry,
Cultured Vultures ,
Vague Visages,
TAKE ONE Magazine,
Cinetopia,
Bums on Seats,
Roobla
Movie Reviews Only
T-Meter | Title | Year | Review | |
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98% | The Dissident (2020) |
...unsurprisingly hard-hitting, but it's the context for macro-scale geopolitics that The Dissident communicates so well. Despite some missteps and wasted frames in the visual execution, the contextual aspect is multiplicative. - Vague Visages
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| Posted Mar 10, 2021
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79% | Synchronic (2020) |
The film's tight running time leaves [the emotional angle] comparatively starved for attention, and empathy levels generated by the film suffer for it. Still, there are enough intelligently-approached ideas to keep SYNCHRONIC engaging and smart. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Mar 7, 2021
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73% | The Mauritanian (2021) |
The Mauritanian has a political edge and points to make, emphasising in polarised times that the constitutional aberration of Guantánamo cuts across the partisan divide. - Vague Visages
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| Posted Mar 1, 2021
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89% | Black Bear (2020) |
In the end, BLACK BEAR is a bit of a Penrose triangle of a film. Viewed from certain angles, it may make little sense, but when considered from a new vantage point or spun around, it paradoxically comes together elegantly and beautifully. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Feb 24, 2021
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73% | The Mauritanian (2021) |
The film is also politically quite interesting in highlighting arguably how little has changed across different US administrations. [...] The performance of Tahar Rahim is where the film gets its punch from. - Cinetopia
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| Posted Feb 20, 2021
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96% | Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) |
...the film's most captivating aspects are the central performances and Kaluuya's as Hampton in particular. If the film has any shortcoming, it is that it loses energy when Kaluuya is not in the frame. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Feb 12, 2021
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58% | Prime Time (2021) |
Jakub Piątek's tense feature debut is a smart hostage drama that sidesteps some of the genre cliches [but] the film's ambiguity robs it of the energy to make it particularly memorable, aside from a brutal closing sequence. - Vague Visages
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| Posted Feb 11, 2021
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70% | Land (2021) |
Land is positioned as an exploration of grief and survivor's guilt - a crowded celluloid space - but the lack of distinctive figures renders Wright's film picturesque but fallow. - Vague Visages
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| Posted Feb 11, 2021
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100% | Luzzu (2021) |
The conclusion of LUZZU is profoundly sad but caps off a story told with skill, beauty, and resonance far beyond the shores of Malta. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Jan 30, 2021
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55% | John and the Hole (2020) |
There is plenty to commend the technical and performance aspects of JOHN AND THE HOLE. Still, the storytelling choices and structure fill in the intriguing gaps with narrative quicksand, into which the film's potential slowly sinks. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Jan 30, 2021
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20% | Stardust (2020) |
STARDUST isn't entirely without merit, but it lacks the cryptic charisma of its subject; something that might distract from a disjointed and inconsequential narrative. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Jan 15, 2021
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70% | Tenet (2020) |
TENET ends up something of a Rube Goldberg machine of a film: a wondrously complex set of mechanics that is fascinating, but also an incredibly convoluted way of masking what is, in essence, a thin and poorly executed story. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Dec 23, 2020
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98% | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020) |
Much like FENCES, this new film (adapted from the only Pittsburgh Cycle play not set in Pennsylvania's second city) also showcases exceptional acting in dialogue-heavy scenes, perhaps at the expense of visual storytelling. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Dec 20, 2020
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83% | Mank (2020) |
[The] attention to look and feel may, over time, position MANK as more of a cinematic curio in Fincher's filmography. However, there is enough bite and edge here to give the film some insight beyond the origin of one of cinema's most significant works. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Nov 30, 2020
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89% | The Nest (2020) |
As well constructed as Durkin's space and tone is - the flat, desaturated, and sunless locales conveying the increasing bleakness of the characters' moods - the most engaging aspect of the film are the lead performances. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Nov 28, 2020
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91% | African Apocalypse (2020) |
Although mostly straightforward in visual presentation, Lemkin isn't above the odd flourish, which adds to the themes and connections the film looks to address. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Oct 30, 2020
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96% | Mogul Mowgli (2020) |
Bassam Tariq's feature fiction debut is a wonderful showcase for Riz Ahmed's versatility as a performer and an engaging explosion of energy about heritage, identity, and the clashing cultural expression of both. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Oct 9, 2020
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78% | Concrete Cowboy (2021) |
The overarching plot of this drama seems very paint-by-numbers, but the setting and underlying themes keep the film feeling fresh, and the central performance from Caleb McLaughlin keeps it engaging. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Oct 3, 2020
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67% | New Order (Nuevo orden) (2020) |
...although Franco is an intelligent observer of the chaos he scripts, the balance of the film tips away from insight and commentary towards narrative brutality. He loses some of the grander points in a nihilistic spray of blood and green paint. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Oct 3, 2020
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92% | Wildfire (2020) |
...character-driven, the film never loses sight of that with the focus on the late McGuigan, in particular. Although the broader-scale backdrop doesn't coalesce fully with that story, it still provides a pointed and bold addition to the film. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Oct 3, 2020
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92% | Another Round (Druk) (2020) |
The concept of ANOTHER ROUND reads like a bawdy comedy, but the cocktail Vinterberg and Mikkelsen shake up is altogether sharper and more complex than that. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Oct 3, 2020
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98% | One Night in Miami (2020) |
King shakes off a slightly mechanical opening to set up a fascinating interplay, allowing each character to take on symbolic significance and metaphorically represent the clash and overlap of ideas without diminishing their real-life achievements. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Sep 18, 2020
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87% | Shirley (2020) |
[Despite being an adaptation], SHIRLEY still very much retains Decker's visual style and that adds to the story. - Cinetopia
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| Posted Sep 16, 2020
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100% | Apples (Mila) (2020) |
In divorcing [...] from any modern touchstone - smartphones, laptops, internet - APPLES smartly suggests the absurdity of [modern social] trends and their purpose. The sad emptiness pierces through if you take away the modernity. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Sep 16, 2020
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87% | Cuties (Mignonnes) (2020) |
Adolescent struggles on film are a well-trodden path, but CUTIES (MIGNONNES) from Maïmouna Doucouré feels fresh and modern. That modernity often manifests in uncomfortable ways, but the authenticity of this portrait is evident. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Sep 16, 2020
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94% | Nomadland (2021) |
...embodied with heart and strength by Frances McDormand. Zhao's film scatters the shattered remains of the American Dream amongst the breathtaking vistas of the 'land of the free'; a romantic sonnet dedicated to a broken place. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Sep 16, 2020
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88% | Les Misérables (2020) |
The final shots of the film [...] have no easy conclusions for viewers. [A] critical standpoint is clear and present, [but] moral and ethical certainties are not. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Sep 4, 2020
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84% | Pinocchio (2020) |
PINOCCHIO stands apart from previous adaptations, and most definitely from versions of the story familiar to English-language audiences. [In] doing so, it has an authentic 'fascino' that is unlikely to be bettered by a Hollywood-led live-action version. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Sep 1, 2020
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92% | Clemency (2019) |
The usual cliché with films of the nature of CLEMENCY is they are 'difficult to watch', but to say that would overlook the reality that Chukwu's film is engaging and thoughtfully constructed. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Aug 4, 2020
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88% | Madeline's Madeline (2018) |
...this really is a superbly made film [...] .The sound design is really fantastic [and] quite disturbing in a way. It takes a while [as a viewer] to find its rhythm, but once you do you'll be with it the whole way. - Cinetopia
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| Posted May 22, 2020
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54% | The Dead Don't Die (2019) |
At first, it's quite amusing but as the film goes along, I'm not sure what the purpose of [the meta nature] actually was. The rest of the film feels like a rather weak version of others that have done it before. - Cinetopia
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| Posted May 22, 2020
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98% | Varda by Agnès (2019) |
It has interesting moments, but long stretches play like a TED talk Varda did which covers much of the same ground. While she is a wonderful filmmaker - which bits of this film get across - I think you'd be better watching one of Varda's many other films. - Cinetopia
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| Posted May 22, 2020
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92% | Monos (2019) |
[...] a stunning looking film, but the musical approach [from Mica Levi] is what really makes it stick in your head... - Cinetopia
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| Posted May 22, 2020
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86% | Meeting Gorbachev (2019) |
On the face of it, this could be quite a hard sell, but it's not and the reason for that is the approach taken to questioning. It's not about dryly what happened and instead how Gorbachev feels about it. - Cinetopia
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| Posted May 22, 2020
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86% | The Nightingale (2019) |
It is an extremely difficult film to watch. It's quite a smart film [...] and Jennifer Kent's direction is very accomplished. But I do think it's a legitimate question to ask whether [the brutality] is pushed a little too far. - Cinetopia
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| Posted May 22, 2020
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93% | The Favourite (2018) |
The film is much more saturated in the attitudes of the Catholic Church [...] and deals with this particularly 'Catholic' mix of issues that the story brings up. - Cinetopia
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| Posted May 22, 2020
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87% | Non-Fiction (Doubles vies) (2019) |
The original title means 'Double Lives' and sums it up a lot better, in fact. [...] It's refreshing to see a film with these philosophical discussions that have a very modern sensibility - Cinetopia
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| Posted May 22, 2020
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90% | Capernaum (Capharnaüm) (2018) |
It really all hinges on the performance, but the way Nadine Labaki has shot certain segments really adds to it... - Cinetopia
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| Posted May 22, 2020
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93% | Bacurau (Nighthawk) (2020) |
The editing and the way the film is put together have a bit of a graphic novel vibe [and] it works very well with the tone and shotmaking. Extremely effective. - Cinetopia
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| Posted May 9, 2020
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89% | The Souvenir (2019) |
A beautifully made film, but one so impossibly dripping with privilege it starts to become distracting. [However,] the film acknowledges this and doesn't really do anything with it - Cinetopia
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| Posted May 9, 2020
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94% | Marriage Story (2019) |
Good script, good performances; the whole thing comes together really very well [and] the supporting performances really balance the tone effectively. - Cinetopia
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| Posted May 9, 2020
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98% | Parasite (Gisaengchung) (2019) |
It's very rare a film makes a step-change in what is going on and the dynamics of the characters, and makes that work as well it does here. - Cinetopia
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| Posted May 9, 2020
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93% | Moffie (2019) |
Moffie has a lot going for it which is extremely effective [and, despite the intensity,] isn't above poking at and subverting some of stereotypical homoerotic military tropes... - Cinetopia
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| Posted Apr 30, 2020
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89% | Ema (2019) |
It would be very easy to look at Ema on the surface and think it was style over substance, but I don't think it is. It's really pretty good visual storytelling. - Cinetopia
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| Posted Apr 30, 2020
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97% | Why Don't You Just Die! (Papa, sdokhni) (2020) |
...the central performers handle the range of tones without snapping as abruptly as Matvey's bones. The insane violence and gore won't sit well with everyone, but Sokolov executes Why Don't You Just Die? with a cinematic sensibility and confidence. - Vague Visages
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| Posted Apr 23, 2020
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72% | Vivarium (2020) |
A single giant metaphor wrapped in more than one enigma and many influences, Lorcan Finnegan's film is a wonderfully executed pastel-hued nightmare. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Apr 21, 2020
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94% | System Crasher (Systemsprenger) (2019) |
System Crasher (Systemsprenger) features a tremendous central performance from Helena Zengel, along with superb use of editing and colour. Although the tone is occasionally muddled, the film manages to be both viscerally engrossing and heartbreaking. - Vague Visages
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| Posted Apr 16, 2020
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69% | The Translators (2019) |
A stylish and sometimes fun mystery story, with some heist elements thrown in for good measure. However, it's so preoccupied with dramatic reveals and building intrigue that it starts to border on the parodic. - Vague Visages
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| Posted Apr 16, 2020
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100% | Son-Mother (Pesar-Madar) (2019) |
Mohammadi's visual storytelling is impeccable, and there is nothing sensationalised about it in the slightest. - Vague Visages
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| Posted Apr 16, 2020
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83% | Proxima (2019) |
In the end, PROXIMA isn't quite next to the stars, but there are enough unique elements, including a beautiful central performance, to forgive its more thudding metaphors. - TAKE ONE Magazine
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| Posted Mar 1, 2020
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