Jim has written about film since freelance since 2010, and is a co-founder and the Editor-in-Chief of TAKE ONE Magazine.
From 2011-2014 he was a regular co-host of Cambridge 105FM's film review show. Since moving back to Edinburgh he is a regular review and debate contributor on EH-FM radio's Cinetopia film show.
He has worked on the submissions panel at Cambridge Film Festival and Edinburgh Short Film Festival, hosted Q&As there and at Edinburgh's Africa In Motion, and is a former Deputy Director of Cambridge African Film Festival.
He is Scottish, which you would easily guess from his accent.
MEGALOPOLIS’s proposed worldview may be naive, sometimes presented immaturely, and have enough minor embellishments and subplots in the narrative to border on the incoherent, but their expression certainly doesn’t lack sincerity and optimism.
FOLIE Á DEUX may mean this iteration of the Joker leaves cinemas with a whimper, but at least it finally had something to say with its dying breath. Jim Ross reviews.
A picturesque chronicle of a young man’s life and the long shadow cast from whence he came, SUJO represents another assured piece of work from the creators of IDENTIFYING FEATURES.
Coralie Fargeat’s THE SUBSTANCE is a delirium-inducing concoction of numerous body horror films and literary influences, further combining an askew glance at fame and a gaudy gore aesthetic to an eye-catching effect.
STARVE ACRE’s distinctive qualities have roots in Daniel Kokotajlo’s eye for unsettling images that build dread and a balance of special effects work and plot developments that toe the line adeptly between unnerving and absurd.
If this franchise has its Romulus in Ridley Scott, and ALIEN is his Rome, Fede Alvarez’s ALIEN: ROMULUS is the fall of the Roman Empire: a scattered jumble of icons and monuments faintly echoing a triumphant past.
DUNE: PART TWO improves on its predecessor in some crucial ways, but the reliance on spectacle leaves gaps in the storytelling and a frustratingly ephemeral interest in the most interesting ideas the film brings forward.
THE IRON CLAW is a familiar arena for Sean Durkin in terms of themes. Still, it has its own signature moves and an emotional core in Efron that will wrestle empathy from even the most outwardly macho soul.
AMERICAN FICTION never feels as cutting as it could be with its commentary, but Cord Jefferson’s debut feature is witty, with sharp characters, and engaging performances from Jeffrey Wright and Sterling K. Brown are the best vehicles for the script’s funnier and more keenly observed moments
A beautifully touching central performance from Andrew Scott elevates ALL OF US STRANGERS to stirring levels, and Andrew Haigh’s directorial gift for eliciting emotional sincerity remains undimmed.
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