jimschembri.com

Your source for movie reviews, video interviews, commentary and more fun online.

Latest Movies & Streaming Reviews

‘Only the Animals’: a near-brilliant French mystery; ‘Penguin Bloom’: top-shelf family drama; ‘Shadow in the Cloud’: high-flying fun with a gremlin; ‘Dawn Raid’: fab doco about the crash of a hot hip hop label

Reaching out: Denis Ménochet stars as a lonely farmer in in the fantastic mystery ‘Only the Animals’. ONLY THE ANIMALS ...
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‘Elfkins’ a cute, positive, pleasantly predictable lark for kids

Cupcake-cute: Gnomes defy the rules to help humans in ‘The Elfkins: Baking a Difference’. THE ELFKINS: BAKING A DIFFERENCE *** ...
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‘Music’: Sia’s brightly coloured musical drama a hit-and-miss affair

Odd coupling: Docu-drama realism and fantasy numbers vie for attention in Sia’s ‘Music’. MUSIC **1/2 (107 minutes) M Noted songstress ...
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Tepid, watchable drama ‘My Salinger Year’ sparked by newcomer Margaret Qualley

Author, author: Margaret Qualley plays an office clerk with a big job in ‘My Salinger Year’. MY SALINGER YEAR **1/2 ...
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Latest Video Interviews

‘The Dry’ aims to connect after delays and despite COVID-19: interview with actor/producer Eric Bana & director Robert Connolly

Actor Eric Bana & director Robert Connolly discuss their new film The Dry, based on the best-selling novel by Jane ...
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Using a crime-thriller to confront the tough issues mainstream films avoid – interview with writer/director John Marco Lopez

“It’s like the old saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child’; I feel the same way about independent ...
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Taking a deep dive into the one-man free music movement and the disruption it causes; interview with director Ryan Camarda

“I was trying to shoot for the moon even though the budget was really low for this kind of thing.” ...
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Holding returned Jihadists to account demands looking at both sides of the story says Serhat Caradee, writer/director of ‘A Lion Returns’

Writer/director Serhat Caradee: “Pursuing violence to achieve peace is not a way to go.” The story of a terrorist who ...
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Latest Articles & Commentary

Cinemas likely to die and movie pirates likely to pounce with the home release of ‘WW84’, a brave move by Warner Bros that might backfire

Running into trouble: The home release of ‘WW84’ could ignite widespread movie piracy. In what could turn out to be ...
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Ignore the critical pile-on; Ron Howard’s ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ is a fine film about poverty, perseverence, neglect and class

Listen up: Glenn Close plays a grandmother who’s not to be messed with in ‘Hillbilly Elegy’. HILLBILLY ELEGY *** (116 ...
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Bob the cat returns to pluck the heart-strings once again

Christmas cat: Luke Treadaway and Bob the Cat star in ‘A Christmas Gift from Bob’. A CHRISTMAS GIFT FROM BOB ...
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Olivia de Havilland dies at 104; studio-defying actress pioneered strong female leads, sued Warner Bros and won creative freedom

Game changer: The debt actresses today owe Olivia de Havilland is incalculable. The sad passing of Olivia de Havilland – ...
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Jim Schembri

Journalist, critic and author based in Melbourne, Australia