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Jim Schembri

Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:

Jim Schembri has been a professional film critic since 1980, chiefly for Cinema Papers magazine, The Age newspaper and radio station 3AW. He now operates independently at jimschembri.com. Jim fell in love with the power of film as a young child after seeing The Lord of the Flies on TV, which he thought was real, and The Love Bug at the cinema, which he saw three times. He was six. Jim’s personal film collection contains more than 30,000 titles, including rare VHS tapes of such lost classics as Android (1982) and Weekend at Bernie's II (1993). He also owns many Beta tapes and two working Beta machines, which he refuses to sell on eBay. His second favourite movie quote is from the 1967 classic The Graduate: “Plastics”. His favourite movie quote comes from Steve Martin in the 1991 film Grand Canyon: “All of life’s riddles are answered in the movies.” For Jim this is more than just a great line; it is a philosophy of life.

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Cold Storage (2026) 78% 3/5 EDIT “A zippy horror-comedy featuring gore galore as heads and chests explode with Cronenbergian zest...In a year that’s turning out to be a big one for zombie yarns, this number chimes in as a singularly silly, fun frolic with the Undead. ” – jimschembri.com Mar 13, 2026 Full Review GOAT (2026) 84% 3.5/5 EDIT “The snappy story is stuffed with hip pop culture references and moves at a breakneck pace... Running beneath all the fun is a swag of positive messaging involving self-respect, teamwork and friendship.” – jimschembri.com Mar 13, 2026 Full Review Reminders of Him (2026) 56% 3/5 EDIT “A very ably directed romantic tearjerker, a multiplex weepie that knows exactly what emotional buttons to press and which heart strings to pluck.” – jimschembri.com Mar 13, 2026 Full Review Arco (2025) 92% 4/5 EDIT “A beautiful, traditionally rendered tale...Again demonstrating how the look of old-style cel-animation holds charm and warmth unmatched by the sheen of digital.” – jimschembri.com Mar 13, 2026 Full Review Anemone (2025) 52% 3.5/5 EDIT “A searing psychological drama [and] a punchy return that reminds us what a compelling screen presence this guy can generate through little more than dialogue.” – jimschembri.com Mar 13, 2026 Full Review How to Make a Killing (2026) 42% 3.5/5 EDIT “[A] winning, biting black comedy about retribution, greed and poetic justice...there’s also some nicely thought through mental chewing gum...serves as a prime case study about how to do remakes (even loose ones) properly.” – jimschembri.com Mar 5, 2026 Full Review THE BRIDE! (2026) 57% 3.5/5 EDIT “Very inventive, highly enjoyable, marvellously off-centre Gothic frolic riffing merrily on the classic 208 year-old premise and on the 1935 classic Bride of Frankenstein...The film is wild and deliberately erratic, as all cinematic thrill rides should be.” – jimschembri.com Mar 5, 2026 Full Review The Testament of Ann Lee (2025) 85% 3.5/5 EDIT “A weird, wondrous, beguiling film...This is real curveball cinema, splendidly made and another showcase for Seyfried, whose immersive rendering of Ann Lee gleams with an intensity verging on the fanatical.” – jimschembri.com Feb 26, 2026 Full Review Scream 7 (2026) 31% 4/5 EDIT “Expecting yet another juicy slice of franchise extender, Scream 7 turns out to be, well, yet another juicy slice of franchise extender – only with extra-large dollops of fun, wit and ingenuity, with one encounter qualifying for neo-classic status.” – jimschembri.com Feb 26, 2026 Full Review Fackham Hall (2025) 75% 2.5/5 EDIT “There are enough decent laughs in this spotty spoof on Downton Abbey to pass muster, yet it lacks the punch, pace and cheek of the classic comedy films it strives to emulate, such as Flying High and the ‘70s oeuvre of Mel Brooks.” – jimschembri.com Feb 22, 2026 Full Review Jimpa (2025) 54% 1.5/5 EDIT “Largely boring, unengaging waffle...chances are we’ll be chalking this up as yet another Australian film to draw a blank at the box office.” – jimschembri.com Feb 19, 2026 Full Review EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (2025) 96% 4/5 EDIT “A dazzling, loving, lovingly assembled bio-doc designed to please those who love Elvis. For those who think they don’t, consider the film a dose of cinematic conversion therapy – and prepare to see the rhinestone-spangled light. ” – jimschembri.com Feb 19, 2026 Full Review Crime 101 (2026) 88% 3.5/5 EDIT “It’s tight, serious-minded stuff especially designed for those crime movie lovers who prefer their screen crims to carry strong motivations as well a few chips on each shoulder.” – jimschembri.com Feb 12, 2026 Full Review War Machine (2026) 70% 3/5 EDIT “After decades of Transformer and alien invasion movies, War Machine might not lay claim to being all that original, but as far as seat-filling, sci-fi-hued action mulch goes it’s very well done. ” – jimschembri.com Feb 12, 2026 Full Review Wuthering Heights (2026) 57% 4/5 EDIT “The umpteenth version of Emily Brontë’s eternal tale of doomed romance, unbridled jealousy, sexual sadism and steamed nookie unspools as a barely restrained, goth-tinged bodice-ripper that gets you from the git-go. It’s a thoroughly satisfying sit.” – jimschembri.com Feb 10, 2026 Full Review Is This Thing On? (2025) 87% 1.5/5 EDIT “Unfortunately, Bradley Cooper’s much-ballyhooed movie goes belly-up pretty quickly once you realise it’s in no particular hurry to get to anywhere particularly interesting. ” – jimschembri.com Feb 5, 2026 Full Review Saipan (2025) 93% 3/5 EDIT “The performances are strong, with Hardwicke proving especially convincing as a team captain who’s not much of a team player. ” – jimschembri.com Feb 5, 2026 Full Review We Bury the Dead (2024) 88% 4/5 EDIT “How gratifying it is to see such invention and fresh ideas wash through such a highly codified, convention-driven genre as the zombie movie...[it's] an excellent Australian take that adds new dimension to the well-worn zombie scenario.” – jimschembri.com Feb 5, 2026 Full Review Addition (2024) 60% 1/5 EDIT “Dreadfully dull...Yet another Australian film with a weak narrative, no apparent target audience and a microscopic marketing profile. Seriously, how are people supposed to care about a film they haven’t heard about? Even the trailer sucks. ” – jimschembri.com Jan 29, 2026 Full Review Hamnet (2025) 87% 2.5/5 EDIT “Earnest as it is, to be frank, the film turns out to be something of a downer. Dare one suggest the film is a tad overrated? ” – jimschembri.com Jan 29, 2026 Full Review Blue Moon (2025) 90% 3/5 EDIT “The ever-reliable, too-cool-for-school Ethan Hawke takes a terrific left turn, putting in some of his best work yet.” – jimschembri.com Jan 29, 2026 Full Review Send Help (2026) 93% 3/5 EDIT “A fun, funny satirical revenge comedy with an acidic tongue that takes aim at male chauvinism and old-fashioned boy’s-club office politics.” – jimschembri.com Jan 29, 2026 Full Review Air Shift (2025) 0.5/5 EDIT “A lame attempt at a horror-comedy, Air Shift is just plain awful.” – jimschembri.com Jan 24, 2026 Full Review Misfits (2025) 1/5 EDIT “There are hints throughout of potentially engaging themes...Unfortunately, they are squashed by sheer narrative sloppiness, waffling dialogue, overuse of f-bombs, poor continuity and, painful as it is to say, a pretty ordinary lead performance.” – jimschembri.com Jan 24, 2026 Full Review Vineyard Ablaze (2024) 3/5 EDIT “In a strong feature debut, Troy Blackman methodically unfolds his tense drama in a minimalist framework, with stately black-and-white cinematography evoking a subtly haunting domestic atmosphere that feels progressively constrained and threatening.” – jimschembri.com Jan 24, 2026 Full Review
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