iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 29/09/2026

I'm back banging the drum for football on film & the fact there is lots of great recent stuff in the doc space. A forerunner to all of this wave is ZIDANE: A 21ST CENTURY PORTRAIT, but that film has a special quality to me which captures why the subject himself holds fans' imaginations decades on.

Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 28/09/2026

I will once again be covering #BFI #LondonFilmFest for @takeonecinema.net and perhaps others. Longer reviews throughout but press screenings started today, so here’s a thread of short reactions and links to Letterboxd. #LFF boxd.it/MZiH

LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 2026 — https://boxd.it/MZiH

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 27/09/2026

If I was being uncharitable - and I am today - I would say a poster with "Directed by Jon Watts, Screenplay by Simon Kinberg" should be enough to strike mediocrity into the heart of any Star Wars fan.

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 26/09/2026

A STAYCATION IS NOT WHEN YOU GO ON HOLIDAY IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY - 👏STOP 👏 THIS 👏 MADNESS.

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 25/09/2026

We're back, and not sounding anywhere near as cool and collected as Ocean and his crew. This actually dropped two days ago but a crazy work week stopped me shouting about it in timely fashion. I ain't robbing no casinos with this level of organisation.

TAKE ONE ███zine 📽️🎞 @takeonecinema.net · 25/09/2026

Reposted by Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞

The Heistpod reaches OCEAN'S ELEVEN, @jimgr.com & @simonxix.com discuss the jump in quality, the stylishness of the filmmaking, importance of the music/tight script, & the lack of common ground with the original. They also discuss Brett Ratner and MELANIA for a while for some reason: buff.ly/168E6jO

buff.ly

TAKE ONE Magazine | Episode 2: Ocean's Eleven (2001) | The Heistpod

Simon and Jim return to discuss Steven Soderbergh’s OCEAN’S ELEVEN, the first in his trilogy of Ocean’s films. They discuss the film’s huge jump in quality from the 1960 original, the stylishness and…

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 22/09/2026

One of the most wildly irritating things about modern streaming’s pursuit of retention metrics is the windowing of the credits to take over the screen with WHY DON’T YOU WATCH THIS NOW!? *Fuck* **all** the way off and let me sit in the conclusion of what I just watched.

Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 20/09/2026

“hOlLyWoOd AnD MoVIes ArE COokEd MAn!!1!”

Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 19/09/2026

BAD APPLES: very much not the film to be watching the week my daughter started school for the first time. Maybe gets a little too on the nose as it tries to wrap up, but overall this is sharp stuff & has teeth. The performances from the kids are incredible and Ronan is pitch perfect. boxd.it/gnSHHb

boxd.it

A review of Bad Apples (2025)

Very much not the film to be watching the week my daughter started school for the first time. I think the subtextual dark satire is brought a little too ridiculously to the surface as the film toils a...

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 18/09/2026

Was doing a first read of a writer’s first draft they sent me yesterday. I’m ready to drop Google Docs and burn everything to the ground.

An AI pop up prompt to “Summarise this document”

Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 18/09/2026

In typical fashion, I got an invite to a press screening of Digger and it's on *literally the one night* between now and the film's release I cannot do.

static.klipy.com

Malcolm Tucker: Are You Joking?!

ALT: Malcolm Tucker: Are You Joking?!

Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 17/09/2026

I have no idea whether Digger will be any good, but I already appreciate the trailer reminding me of Talking Heads’ Burning Down The House. youtu.be/3Z2LhwMprLQ?...

youtu.be

Stop Making Sense | Burning Down the House | Official Clip HD | A24

YouTube video by A24

Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 13/09/2026

This seems like A Really Bad Idea™. I have an Apple Watch from about 2018, and had been considering replacing it because it’s on its last legs. This makes it entirely possible I won’t! Stop doing things like this. I’m edging closer to throwing all my on-person tech in the sea!

TAKE ONE ███zine 📽️🎞 @takeonecinema.net · 10/09/2026

Reposted by Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞

The 'premise'? The premise is funny puppets. What the fuck are we even talking about?

Sam the Eagle: "What is the premise of this show?"

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 10/09/2026

So much for me getting round to pitching to The Skinny again at some point…this sucks mightily…

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It would be really great if filmmakers, actors, artists, and musicians whose work I like could stop outing themselves as uninformed-but-loud shitebags.

One for the LFF press crowd: I’ve been thinking back on previous P&I screenings in years past and am I right in thinking that typically, if a film has a Gala, the press screening is typically the morning of said Gala?

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Kind of wishing I’d upgraded my phone (not ancient, but not new, got it in 2022) when they just cost an arm and a leg, before prices went up to an arm, a leg, a kidney, and a chunk of liver.

A clean sheet. Zero. Zip. In fact, I’ve done each one many times. I think this means I’m officially old now.

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I don’t really game much these days, but if you can get me emotional while playing, over a character rendered like this, I don’t think you really need to have photorealistic people.

Aerith, in the blocky form seen in the original PlayStation version of Final Fantasy VII

TAKE ONE ███zine 📽️🎞 @takeonecinema.net · 09/09/2026

Reposted by Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞

“THE SAVIORS has interesting things to say about xenophobia, suspicion, and acceptance, even if it holds its most interesting cards in reserve for a hand it never ends up playing.” - @jimgr.com reviews. #filmsky

takeonecinema.net

The Saviors

THE SAVIORS has interesting things to say about xenophobia, suspicion, and acceptance, even if it holds its most interesting cards in reserve for a hand it never ends up playing.

Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 05/09/2026

I find it slightly absurd the use of em dashes is apparently an AI tell (it isn’t *really*, surely?), but I’ll use it to validate my inexplicable decades-long vendetta against a piece of punctuation I’ve never liked nonetheless.

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Some of these GTA 6 analyses are fucking weird to me

THINGS THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED:
• Rob and the team told me that if you see someone walking their dog and the dog does its business, you can wait for the owner to pick it up in a bag, hit them so they drop it, then pick the bag up yourself and throw it at people. That is the level they are going to.

YOUR SCIENTISTS WERE SO PREOCCUPIED WITH WHETHER OR NOT THEY COULD...
THEY DIDN'T STOP TO THINK IF THEY SHOULD.

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 27/08/2026

Just watched a clip where a robot ran faster than any human ever has, but straight into a wall. I don’t think I could find a more succinct metaphor for consumer AI use and the world of tech’s focus right now if a tried.

Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 26/08/2026

Delighted to launch this new series with @simonxix.com — who has knocked the intro out of the park again — but less delighted to have finally taken in the interminably dull and sexist 1960 Ocean’s 11, which has a dash of light racism to boot. The Soderbergh trilogy to follow, and the 8 spin off!

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Reposted by Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞

TAKE ONE ███zine 📽️🎞 @takeonecinema.net · 26/08/2026

TAKE ONE Presents...returns, sticking up a new franchise for all the critical insight we can get. @simonxix.com & @jimgr.com go back to 1960's OCEAN'S 11, discussing political lives of the Rat Pack (aka the Clan 😬), languid pacing, Vegas, & the film's unfortunate racist conclusion. buff.ly/O66shHu

takeonecinema.net

TAKE ONE Magazine | Episode 1: Ocean's 11 (1960) | The Heistpod

TAKE ONE Presents… returns for another job, this time sticking up the Ocean’s franchise and taking all the critical insight we can get from this franchise. In this first episode, Simon and Jim set…

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 25/08/2026

I think folk are in for a shock at how popular Harry Potter still is when this series launches. To be clear: *not happy* about that, but it does at least explain why actors sign up to be characters, even if I don’t think they should. It’s not like a lot of them were struggling for work otherwise.

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 24/08/2026

I can think of few tech products the world needs less than AirPods ear buds with a camera in them.

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 18/08/2026

I won’t lie, I continue to be confused by the notion Avengers: Doomsday won’t address the idea Doctor Doom looks like Tony Stark. And I don’t think the Chris Evans situation (playing Johnny Storm in Deadpool & Wolverine) is a like-for-like comparison given the aggressive meta-ness of those films.

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 11/08/2026

Wrote a little bit about some thoughts flying round in my head regarding something Mamdani said at his inauguration and how cinema has and has not been articulating what he meant in the last 18 months or so. Link below for @takeonecinema.net 👇

Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 08/08/2026

I think Spider-Man: Brand New Day…might…be…quite good? Fist of these to *look* good and have some action scene verve. That being said, there is an emotional intelligence in the writing and performances that would have been nice to give more room to breathe without all the MCU cruft: boxd.it/fIhbcn

boxd.it

A review of Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)

I think this…might…be…quite good? First of this generation of Spider-Man films that felt like it was photographed with some thought to the lighting (still a few green-screen-y moments but it feels lik...

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 07/08/2026

LilyPad from Toy Story 5 being used in an EE advert for giving teenagers a smart device feels a bit dystopian.

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 04/08/2026

Listening to @barryglendenning.bsky.social on Football Weekly say GenAI/LLMs frequently get basic football facts about players and teams wrong. Reminds me of the early days of ChatGPT, when it continually insisted that Lionel Messi signed for Manchester City in 2021, despite being told it was wrong.

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 01/08/2026

The only real problem with mega hits not based in 12A storytelling is not that everyone shares opinions on social media — that could and should actually be great — it’s everyone sharing them as if their opinion or interpretation is ironclad fact, even if it is the most harebrained nonsense.

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 31/07/2026

Forgot to try and get tickets when the extra batch of Odyssey 70mm IMAX tickets at BFI IMAX went on sale…

static.klipy.com

Ryan Gosling in Blade Runner 2049

ALT: Ryan Gosling in Blade Runner 2049

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Reposted by Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞

Mateusz Fafinski @calthalas.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Half the planet is having a massive fight about how to correctly interpret an Ancient Greek poem but go ahead, close some more humanities departments.

3558911659

Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 29/07/2026

Kind of cute to get an email from the Sundance press office entitled 'What to Know About the 2027 Sundance Film Festival', when it seems, since 2024, the content should merely be "You? You don't need to know anything, peasant!"

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 29/07/2026

We have a go at Americans for their terrible global geography knowledge, but the UK Prime Minister has set up ‘No 10 North’ about 125 miles south of Newcastle.

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 28/07/2026

They all have half decent ratings (even Tenet), but in context against the rest, the rating for Dunkirk feels like a joke.

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Reposted by Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞

TAKE ONE ███zine 📽️🎞 @takeonecinema.net · 28/07/2026

"When Odysseus speaks of “ten years of rage” being unleashed upon Troy, [a] specific modern echo is difficult to pin down, [yet] THE ODYSSEY is a triumphant piece of filmmaking; one that fills the frame in all dimensions, spatial and emotional." - @jimgr.com reviews: buff.ly/KGLLkUZ #filmsky

buff.ly

The Odyssey | TAKE ONE Magazine | Reviews

Nolan’s choice to adapt the Odyssey shows the continuing influence on modern storytelling, and the technical choices are emblematic of Nolan’s domination of modern blockbuster filmmaking.

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 28/07/2026

You don’t need to like THE ODYSSEY (I did, review publishes Tuesday) but reading Emily Wilson’s review since drafting mine…hmm. The source material insight is, of course, interesting but the critique is annoyance at the film not being the one you wanted, rather than critique of the one actually made

Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 25/07/2026

I’ll be publishing longer, more considered thoughts on The Odyssey soon, but my first impression is I hadn’t realised my childhood on the Scottish coast fine tuned my ability to spot a Scottish sand dune quite as sharply as it did.

Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 24/07/2026

Off to see a man about ̷a̷ ̷d̷o̷g̷ an Odyssey.

Simon is on strike ✊🏻 @simonxix.com · 23/07/2026

Reposted by Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞

We did our customary wrap-up episode for this series on the Terminator franchise. This has been a fascinating franchise because, as Jim and I discuss, it is so creatively impacted by business decisions behind the scenes and passing the franchise rights around like a pass the parcel.

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Jim Ross 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎞 @jimgr.com · 23/07/2026

Olivia Stoll one of four(!) writers making their @takeonecinema.net debut this week, here writing about one of my favourite films of the year so far.