Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson is mystified by the success of #1 The Conjuring: Last Rites, the 9th in the series. It's the biggest horror opening ever but it is dumb and clichéd and James spent most of its 135 minutes trying not to fall asleep. Ethan Coen's Honey Don't! is #10. Chris Evans & Margaret Qualley star in a good-looking but lightweight dark comedy with a surprising amount of sex, violence & bad language for a 15. He much preferred Apple TV's Highest 2 Lowest. Directed by Spike Lee, Denzel Washington stars as a music mogul in a gripping crime thriller which is also a moral fable.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson loved the start of beautifully-written black comedy The Roses (another remake) at #1. But he liked the characters played by Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch so much that it became painful and hard to stomach as it turned darker. He preferred #6 Caught Stealing, a freewheeling caper set in 1998 with Austin Butler, directed by Darren Aronofsky. It's an inventive and often very funny surprise. He found #43, Slovenian Little Trouble Girls, an awakening drama set in a Catholic school, sensitive and a breath of fresh air. He had few good words to say about Netflix's The Thursday Murder Club with the likes of Helen Mirren, feeling it like a poor TV movie from another era.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson says that the top five UK films have the lowest take since 2022. #6 The Life of Chuck with Chewitel Ejiofor and Tom Hiddleston is a challenging and original fantasy which is beguiling, terrifying and yet life-affirming. Highly recommended. #10 Eddington has Joaquin Phoenix in a satire of America as the pandemic hit. Although thought-provoking it meanders, isn't always credible and is far too long. James thoroughly enjoyed Netflix's Night Always Comes with Vanessa Kirby, a formulaic thriller but nonetheless a genuinely gripping one.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron Wilson says the new #2 film Materialists with Dakota Johnson and Chris Evans is one of his favourites of the year. A fascinating insight into online dating, it's a classic romantic drama that looks sensational and boasts a great screenplay. He found #8 Together a barmy and nonsensical body horror with little to recommend it. And he thought #10 Nobody 2 with Bob Odenkirk not a patch on the first film, being a formulaic, predictable & witless John Wick knockoff. He loved Netflix's Shark Whisperer, an intriguing documentary which, unusually, puts both sides of the argument and is a visual treat.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson says that despite not being a sequel or remake, #1 Weapons took £2.8m. A disturbing mystery thriller which changes genre near the end, it's too long but is definitely an original. That's hardly true of #2 Freakier Friday, with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan returning one generation older. If you can suspend disbelief, you might enjoy the mayhem. To his surprise, James thorougly enjoyed the Netflix romcom My Oxford Year with an American woman studying in England. It's formulaic but smarter than it looks.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
With Fantastic Four still #1, the reboot of The Naked Gun with Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson could only manage second place. Much as he enjoyed the original movies, James found the continual running gags in this version soon became tiresome while the film was so silly silly and surreal it undermined the comedy. He was more impressed with The Legend of Ochi which only limped in at #18. With Willem Dafoe and Emily Watson it's a visually spellbinding fable but, being both magical and barmy, it may struggle to find an audience, even if it eventually becomes a cult classic. Apple TV+ add to their many music documentaries with Bono: Stories of Surrender, in which the star tells stories of his life with a few songs. He's a charismatic storyteller with an unexpectedly poetic turn of phrase.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron Wilson says box office is up 17%, though most films have dropped as #1 The Fantastic Four: First Steps took in £8m. The plot may not be unduly original but there are lots of incidental pleasures, with a humorous script and a realistic family dynamic: Vanessa Kirby gives the film a human dimension as her character is expecting. #3 The Bad Guys II is an animated sequel in the mould of Ocean's Eleven but the dialogue is lazy and the film noisy and frenetic. However, James celebrates a glorious 4K restoration of 1952's High Noon, "the Western for those who don't like Westerns" starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. It looks wonderful and some of the extras are superb.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
With UK box office up slightly as schools break up, James Cameron-Wilson found #5, a new version, 28 years on, of I Know What You Did Last Summer wildly implausible, very silly and undermined by a limp script. He thought #15 Four Letters of Love beautifully made. Starring the likes of Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter and Gabriel Byrne, it's a love story with a touch of Mills & Boon and, although it will have its fans, it isn't always believable. He also revisited 2007's Superbad, rereleased at #28. A time capsule with the likes of Michael Cera, Jonah Hill and Emma Stone in her first film, it's somewhat misogynistic and would never be made nowadays. But there are great performances, much about it still feels fresh and funny and it was a template for much to come.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson is disappointed that UK box office is down 36% but delighted with new #1 Superman, starring David Corenswet. Written and directed by James Gunn, he found it a thrilling and funny ride which is also pertinent and reckons a stale genre has been saved from the brink. Simon Rose was less enthusiastic. #26 is Modi: Three Days on the Wings of Madness, directed by Johnny Depp. Concerning Modigliani and other dissolute, starving artists in 1916 Paris it's a visual feast but also a mixed bag. On Amazon Prime, Heads of State has Idris Elba and John Cena as UK & US Premiers battling terrorists in an odd couple thriller. It's improbable and clichéd but rattles along nicely with decent banter.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson celebrates a buoyant summer box office climbing another 42% with #1 Jurassic World: Rebirth. But despite a great cast including Scarlett Johansson and director Gareth Edwards, it is very formulaic and feels like a retread of past glories. Fiona Shaw and Emma Mackey star in #11 Hot Milk but again, despite such fine actors, it is bafflingly abtruse and so little happens, you might as well see the excellent trailer which even includes the climactic scene. On Netflix, James was disappointed by The Old Guard 2. Much as he enjoyed the first spin on immortaility this one is overbudgeted, crammed full of exotic locations and leaden.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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