TAKE ONE Magazine 🎥 🎞

If you're interested in following the work of the TAKEONECinema.net team, then we are on a variety of other social sites. We've not engaged fully [on Twitter] for a while, but we've continued to post links to new work. We can't do that anymore. There are a few reasons...(1/6)

...including the reduced traffic from X/Twitter overall, increasing tolerance of bigotry & dis/misinformation on the platform, removed API access increasing the small team's posting overheads, & propping up the influence/reach of a site and owner, who is fucking insane. (2/6) As for the world's richest man, using a media source he bought on a whim, desperately inciting civil war in a different country, & allying w/ a racist crackpot? Not so much the straw that broke the camel's back, as another crate of straws above a now subterranean camel. (3/6)

If you're using [Twitter], the activity & high profile contribute to the level of influence - perceived or real - held by its owner and the discourse perpetuated here. Everyone has their own calculation of the value of their presence here, but the scales have tipped for us. (4/6) We owe it to our writers to promote their work as best we can, but we also want to help create spaces that celebrate art, cinema, film festivals, and thinking about these things in an inclusive way that celebrates all the things that make them great. We can't do that [on Twitter]. (5/6)

We'll maintain a placeholder in the hope that the formerly active and vibrant community that was once [on Twitter] may return. And yes, it's not an airport; you don't need to announce your departure, but it's a message that we are still very active - just not [on Twitter].

Follow us here, folks! Xitter was once our most significant traffic source, but we can't keep posting there in good conscience. We have healthy traffic from search, IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes & others, but please share/repost our writers' work and our profile here so we may grow a social audience here.

Salve Maria | TAKE ONE | Cambridge Film Festival 2025 SALVE MARIA is a rebellion against the sociological monomyth of the 'immaculate mother' and a rebellion against a literary inheritance that makes monsters out of the mother disturbed, and a…

"SALVE MARIA is a rebellion against the sociological monomyth of the 'immaculate mother' and a captivating story which also renders visible those who are so frequently mythically distorted: women in crisis." - Katherine Stockton for #ReelVoices at @camfilmfest.com buff.ly/APINvC7 #cinema #filmsky

I really appreciated A Sad and Beautiful World; a film I'll remember because of the chemistry between Mounia Akl and Hasan Akil. The final reels, as the story concludes, will also really stick with me. Review below for @takeonecinema.net out of #LFF, probably my last full write-up from the fest.

A Sad and Beautiful World | TAKE ONE | BFI London 2025 Director Cyril Aris’s A SAD AND BEAUTIFUL WORLD tells a story that can and has collapsed into a maudlin heap many times on film. However, the gentle chemistry of the romantic leads, the dexterity…

"A SAD AND BEAUTIFUL WORLD tells a story that can & has collapsed into a maudlin heap many times. However, the [leads'] gentle chemistry, the [stroytelling] dexterity, & the sincerity of relatable themes [create] affecting & engaging romantic drama." - @jimgr.bsky.social from #LFF: buff.ly/D8swVm7

Salve Maria | TAKE ONE | Cambridge Film Festival 2025 SALVE MARIA is a rebellion against the sociological monomyth of the 'immaculate mother' and a rebellion against a literary inheritance that makes monsters out of the mother disturbed, and a…

"SALVE MARIA is a rebellion against the sociological monomyth of the 'immaculate mother' and a captivating story which also renders visible those who are so frequently mythically distorted: women in crisis." - Katherine Stockton for #ReelVoices at @camfilmfest.com buff.ly/APINvC7 #cinema #filmsky

Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day | TAKE ONE | Cambridge Film Festival 2025 BEAUTIFUL EVENING, BEAUTIFUL DAY by Croatian writer/director Ivona Juka presents the story of four filmmakers whose artistic, human, and sexual freedom hangs by a thread under Josip Broz Tito’s…

“BEAUTIFUL EVENING, BEAUTIFUL DAY [...] presents the story of four filmmakers [...] with incredible stylistic nuance and narrative depth[.] Ivona Juka’s LGBTQ drama is a monumental film of striking cultural importance.” - Asia Lo Savio, part of the #ReelVoices team @camfilmfest.com: buff.ly/nG4coNg

We Live Here | TAKE ONE | Cambridge Film Festival 2025 WE LIVE HERE is a hard-hitting debut that questions the future of warfare and military action on a global scale, as well as presenting the catastrophic impact of nuclear weapons and radiation…

“WE LIVE HERE is a hard-hitting debut that questions the future of warfare and military action on a global scale, as well as presenting the catastrophic impact of nuclear weapons and radiation exposure.” - Kit Gilby from @camfilmfest.com as part of #ReelVoices: buff.ly/KBBKt0G

News Without a Newsroom | TAKE ONE | Cambridge Film Festival 2025 For audiences interested in the effect of our shifting media landscape on democracy, the weaving of archival footage and personal stories with narrative momentum makes NEWS WITHOUT A NEWSROOM…

“For audiences interested in the effect of our shifting media landscape on democracy, the weaving of archival footage & personal stories with narrative momentum makes NEWS WITHOUT A NEWSROOM thoughtful, relevant, & well-timed.” - Emily Hill (#ReelVoices scheme) at @CamFilmFest.com:

I went long(ish) on DIE MY LOVE, please have a read. I appreciated a lot & think Ramsay continues to be one of my favourite working filmmakers. There's a bagginess here that her other features don't have, but it's also in fascinating conversation with her other work. Review for @takeonecinema.net!👇

Die My Love | TAKE ONE | BFI London 2025 DIE MY LOVE is unlikely to be considered the pinnacle of Ramsay’s career. Still, even when revisiting themes, the intense clarity of vision ensures Ramsay’s work continues to feel fresh and ominously…

"DIE MY LOVE is unlikely to be considered the pinnacle of Ramsay’s career. Still, even when revisiting themes, the intense clarity of vision ensures Ramsay’s work continues to feel fresh and ominously vibrant." - @jimgr.bsky.social reviews out of #LFF:

News Without a Newsroom | TAKE ONE | Cambridge Film Festival 2025 For audiences interested in the effect of our shifting media landscape on democracy, the weaving of archival footage and personal stories with narrative momentum makes NEWS WITHOUT A NEWSROOM…

“For audiences interested in the effect of our shifting media landscape on democracy, the weaving of archival footage & personal stories with narrative momentum makes NEWS WITHOUT A NEWSROOM thoughtful, relevant, & well-timed.” - Emily Hill (#ReelVoices scheme) at @CamFilmFest.com:

By the time ANEMONE bumbled towards its final scenes, my patience had long since been stretched by its interminable string of false summits. It’s hard for any film with this sort of intense Day-Lewis performance at its heart to be a total bust, but it really seems to try hard to be. Review below!

TAKE ONE & CFF Reel Voices 2025 | News | Cam Film Festival 2025 We’re delighted to share that we will be collaborating with Cambridge Film Festival and their education partner Anglia Ruskin University, in our role as media partner, on the CFF Reel Voices scheme.

We’re delighted to share that we will be collaborating with @camfilmfest.com and their education partner Anglia Ruskin University (@angliaruskin.bsky.social), in our role as media partner, on the CFF Reel Voices scheme. Read more here: takeonecinema.net/2025/reel-vo...

Anemone | TAKE ONE | BFI London 2025 ANEMONE is fortunate in being able to call upon Daniel Day-Lewis’s first film performance in eight years. Although Ronan Day-Lewis manages to garner a performance of simmering intensity from his…

“ANEMONE is fortunate in [possessing] Daniel Day-Lewis’s first film performance in eight years. Although Ronan Day-Lewis garners a performance of simmering intensity from his father, their co-written script is flat & opaque to the point of tedium.” - @jimgr.bsky.social’s #LFF review: buff.ly/Xl44ZuI

Hamnet: Shakespeare would have approved | TAKE ONE | BFI London 2025 We are told about Ophelia’s drowning in Hamlet with a single, stunning image. We hear she was underneath a ‘willow’ by a ‘glassy stream’ making ‘garlands…of nettles, daisies and long purples’ until sh...

"Both Shakespeare & Zhao acknowledge the beauty of grief, which is, of course, a form of love, as well as its horrific reality. [...] Tears streamed down my face, my breath coming in shudders by the end." - Sophie Russell writes on HAMNET from #LFF: takeonecinema.net/2025/hamnet/

Come for me being slightly softer on Dead Reckoning <whispers>ₚₐᵣₜ ₒₙₑ than I expected, although really not by much, stay for me laying into Tory donors with an enthusiasm only matched by Tom Cruise jumping off cliffs.

We recorded these episodes a while ago and I'd forgotten how off the rails we get at the end of this episode. DEAD RECKONING (PART ONE) truly drives us to a strange place: the film's script is bad, the IMF is now weirdly like Scientology, and the AI antagonist doesn't work.

The Impossipod | Podcasts | TAKE ONE | Episode 7: Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) Simon and Jim discuss Christopher McQuarrie’s third Mission: Impossible film, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE, the first of a two-parter that will cap off this franchise (for now). They…

The Impossipod is back for DEAD RECKONING PART ONE! @SimonXIX.com & @jimgr.bsky.social discuss the IMF's reconfiguration to weird cult & the nebulousness of the AI antagonist. Their minds are then broken upon discovering which derided English director has an inexplicable knighthood:

Frankenstein | TAKE ONE | BFI London 2025 If Shelley’s novel can be considered the dense and sprawling sheet music for an orchestral symphony of ideas, then Del Toro’s arrangement here is sparser. However, even if the result lacks some of…

"If Shelley’s novel can be considered the dense and sprawling sheet music for an orchestral symphony of ideas, then Del Toro’s arrangement here is sparser. However, [...] the tune of FRANKENSTEIN [...] harmonises with the full version." - @jimgr.bsky.social reviews from #LFF: buff.ly/q41kjL9

Look, it's good, just listen ok

I can now give my unfiltered opinion that Alien: Earth had things it did well, but it had many more things it did extremely poorly, that I don't understand why this was the vehicle for this story, didn't think it handled its themes well or originally, and the season finale was absolutely dreadful.

We used our podcast about film franchises that we produce for a film reviews website to talk about a TV series. It's a brave new world for us.

(And don't worry, The Impossipod will return later this month for an episode discussing MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING PART ONE...)

Episode 11: Alien: Earth (2025) | TAKE ONE Simon and Jim return to The Xenopod for a special episode discussing the new Alien franchise TV series, Alien: Earth created by Noah Hawley. They discuss how well the worldbuilding works, the producti...

The Xenopod returns for a special new episode discussing the new Alien franchise TV series, Alien: Earth. @simonxix.com & @jimgr.bsky.social discuss how well the worldbuilding works, before descending into a discussion of why the series as a whole doesn't work: takeonecinema.net/thexenopod/a...

Bad Apples | TAKE ONE | BFI London 2025 With seething social commentary at its centre, BAD APPLES feels contemporary and culturally accurate to the landscape of public education in the UK. Normality becomes quickly warped by extenuating…

"With seething social commentary at its centre, BAD APPLES feels contemporary and culturally accurate to the landscape of public education in the UK [and] director Jonatan Etzler wields the school setting with skill." - @reaffirmsfaith.bsky.social reviews at #LFF: buff.ly/1YQk7Cp

I went quite long on WAKE UP DEAD MAN, the new Knives Out film, because it really resonates with thoughts I've been having around the right's (mis)appropriation of Christianity and how neo-fascists are using the rhetoric of Christianity without any embeddedness in Christ's teachings.

Wake Up Dead Man | TAKE ONE | BFI London 2025 @ GFT While WAKE UP DEAD MAN may not bring anything novel for newcomers to the series, it’s a treat for KNIVES OUT fans, serving as a corrective for the excesses of GLASS ONION and imbuing the story with…

"WAKE UP DEAD MAN may not bring anything novel for newcomers, but it’s a treat for KNIVES OUT fans, serves as a corrective for GLASS ONION's excesses, & imbues the story with meaningful resonance for contemporary Christian politics." - @simonxix.com @ GFT's satellite #LFF screening: buff.ly/e7zMeGP

Ballad of a Small Player didn’t click for me, despite some engaging showiness. Review below for @takeonecinema.net from #LFF! 👇

Ballad of a Small Player | TAKE ONE | BFI London 2025 BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER rarely fails to be entertaining, with the visuals and performances taking the film a long way. However, they are fleeting thrills in the service of an unmemorable story. Edward Berger’s film looks like a high roller, but it’s playing with buttons and matchsticks.

"BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER rarely fails to be entertaining [...]. However, [its virtues] are fleeting thrills in the service of an unmemorable story. Berger’s film looks like a high roller, but it’s playing with buttons and matchsticks." - @jimgr.bsky.social at #LFF: buff.ly/xPNsVy9 #filmsky

A Pale View of Hills | TAKE ONE | BFI London 2025 A PALE VIEW OF HILLS lives up to a strong cinematic legacy of Ishiguro adaptations with its stunning, dreamy aesthetic and the performances of a talented cast across generations, but the script does…

“A PALE VIEW OF HILLS lives up to a strong cinematic legacy of Ishiguro adaptations with its stunning, dreamy aesthetic and the performances of a talented cast, but the script does not achieve the nuances of its preceding adaptations.” - @reaffirmsfaith.bsky.social at #LFF: