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Jim Ross

Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:

Jim is a Scottish film critic based near London. He has been the lead critic at TAKE ONE Magazine (TAKEONECinema.net) since 2011, stepping up from Managing Editor to Editor-in-Chief in 2022. He has contributed to Film Inquiry, Cultured Vultures, Vague Visages, Little White Lies, and others, covering festivals worldwide, including multiple editions of Sundance, Tribeca, London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Cambridge. Jim has produced, hosted, and edited film-focused radio shows on Cambridge 105FM and Edinburgh’s EH-FM, and co-hosts the ‘TAKE ONE Presents…’ podcast series online. He has worked with several film festivals, including the Cambridge Film Festival, Cambridge African Film Festival and Edinburgh Short Film Festival, as part of programming teams and jury panels.

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Marty Supreme (2025) 93% EDIT “By the time [MARTY SUPREME] finishes batting balls at you and falls to the floor in exhaustion, the chaos left in its path is at once maddening and impressive.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Jan 15, 2026 Full Review Ultras (2025) EDIT “[ULTRAS highlights that] football is not an escape from society, or even a reflection of it – it is a key thread running through the tapestry of communities across the globe.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Dec 30, 2025 Full Review Kenny Dalglish (2025) 100% EDIT “That inextricable relationship between politics, society, and sport [presented in KENNY DALGLISH] is the story of modern Britain, a powerful tool for understanding what tomorrow’s nation may look like, and for how we will come to view today’s.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Dec 21, 2025 Full Review Die My Love (2025) 74% EDIT “DIE MY LOVE is unlikely to be considered the pinnacle of Ramsay’s career. Still, it shows a stylistic approach that, even when revisiting themes, retains an intense clarity of vision which ensures Ramsay’s work continues to feel fresh & ominously vibrant.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Oct 26, 2025 Full Review Frankenstein (2025) 85% EDIT “If Shelley’s novel is the dense & sprawling sheet music for an orchestral symphony of ideas, then Del Toro’s arrangement here is sparser. However, the tune of FRANKENSTEIN extracts tension, horror & beauty that harmonises with the full version.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Oct 20, 2025 Full Review Ballad of a Small Player (2025) 48% EDIT “...rarely fails to be entertaining, with the visuals & performances taking the film a long way. However, they are fleeting thrills in the service of an unmemorable story. Berger’s film looks like a high roller, but it’s playing with buttons & matchsticks.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Oct 13, 2025 Full Review The Smashing Machine (2025) 70% EDIT “THE SMASHING MACHINE is an accomplished enough film, [but the] narrative seems to be all exploratory jabs and no haymaker. Safdie’s film skips deftly around [several cliches, but] fails to use that fancy footwork to advance something memorable of its own.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Oct 7, 2025 Full Review One Battle After Another (2025) 94% EDIT “Paul Thomas Anderson’s proven filmmaking ability makes ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER a technically accomplished picture that is gripping and entertaining, taking sides in the battle for history without losing its capacity for doubt.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Oct 6, 2025 Full Review From Ground Zero (2024) 98% EDIT “Some pieces, such as the phone call [in] ECHO, or the child’s role in NO SIGNAL, border on emotionally overwhelming. There is a skill in creating a feature-length program which does not overpower one’s ability to engage with the work being presented.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Sep 23, 2025 Full Review Sinners (2025) 97% EDIT “Ryan Coogler continues to grow as a filmmaker: the choice not to water down the more challenging ideas underneath the blockbuster sensibilities of SINNERS proves to be the lifeblood of the film.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Aug 5, 2025 Full Review Jurassic World Rebirth (2025) 50% EDIT “The strengths of REBIRTH in creating more than one memorable scene may well ensure its status as one of the better JURASSIC PARK follow-ups, but that bar is sadly low: it still exhibits the same problems as many of its less compelling fellow sequels.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Jul 30, 2025 Full Review Late Shift (2025) 97% EDIT “One may argue that there is little story actually told in LATE SHIFT, but that mistakes plot developments for story. The specific events in Floria’s evening don’t especially matter, but [her resilience] in the face of whatever they may be matters hugely.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Jul 30, 2025 Full Review Hot Milk (2025) 37% EDIT “Emma Mackey is an engaging screen presence that keeps HOT MILK more or less on track in her lead role, but the lack of narrative direction leaves her character and the film to languish in the hot Spanish sun.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Jul 1, 2025 Full Review 28 Years Later (2025) 88% EDIT “[Boyle and Garland] do not express any single [theme] especially clearly. However, in defying a desire for simplistic metaphors and clear avatars, it's arguable that 28 YEARS LATER allows meaning to emerge [with] viewers in more complex & unexpected ways.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Jun 25, 2025 Full Review Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (2025) 80% EDIT “THE FINAL RECKONING gets lost in a sense of importance & finality, which bloats the script while robbing it of the lighter elements that [make] the series so entertaining. More unforgivably, the much-ballyhooed stunt set pieces leave little impression...” – TAKE ONE Magazine May 26, 2025 Full Review The Brutalist (2024) 93% EDIT “The film will stand the test of time, both in terms of the ideas and questions it raises, as well as a beautiful example of the moving image. However, something about THE BRUTALIST arriving now lends the film potency.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Feb 19, 2025 Full Review Flow (2024) 97% EDIT “The unique approach of FLOW streams through [its] animation style [&] character behaviour, in a way that deepens the impact of its themes of solidarity, companionship, and harmony. The film [possesses] a remarkable blend of calm and beauty.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Feb 19, 2025 Full Review On Falling (2024) 96% EDIT “ON FALLING demonstrates that when our societal systems are dysfunctional at best & broken at worst, we all lose something: our ability to connect, be joyful, & share in the world. [Laura Carreira's film] is an extraordinarily accomplished feature debut.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Feb 18, 2025 Full Review Nosferatu (2024) 85% EDIT “...often visually remarkable, and some shots will leave viewers as awestruck as Ellen supposedly is by Orlok. However, the film falters in communicating [its themes], content to menacingly nibble around the edges rather than sink its teeth in.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Jan 14, 2025 Full Review On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024) 100% EDIT “Nyoni's feature is a slow-paced film but one with a unique and exacting grasp on tone. As the film opens, it may seem as daft as a coot, but the powerful perspective of ON BECOMING A GUINEA FOWL is delivered with an eagle eye.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Dec 10, 2024 Full Review Rumours (2024) 76% EDIT “Despite a messy and unfocused narrative trajectory, the depth of absurdity Guy Maddin (and co-directors Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson) offers in RUMOURS skewers the modern geopolitical scene better than most.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Dec 4, 2024 Full Review Jurassic Park III (2001) 49% EDIT “...it's a dull regression to the mean [of blockuster filmmaking]. Although [the regressive portrayal of heteronormativity and feminism] is not at the forefront of the film's concerns, it is indicative of the lack of imagination the film has.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Nov 27, 2024 Full Review The Assessment (2024) 84% EDIT “THE ASSESSMENT has enough interesting ideas to bolster the excellent central performances & basic premise. It never quite rises to meet its loftier concerns, but intelligent writing & captivating performances deliver something well above a passing grade.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Nov 13, 2024 Full Review Santosh (2024) 100% EDIT “SANTOSH is a patient film – almost to a fault as the film moves towards a conclusion – that [...] illustrates how a dysfunctional environment can pervert the meagre empowerment it offers marginalised people.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Nov 12, 2024 Full Review 2073 (2024) 49% EDIT “Many activists over the globe are fighting the forces 2073 points its confused finger at. Hopefully, history will be kinder to them than it should be to this messy expression of solidarity.” – TAKE ONE Magazine Nov 5, 2024 Full Review
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