Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson reluctantly returns for more of those yellow mischief-makers in #2's 'Minions & Monsters', which provides kids with a quick snapshot of early film history and little else of value. He raves about the third film in the chart, Olivia Wilde's chamber drama 'The Invite', which he says is distinguished by Wilde's direction, terrific performances and an enormously witty screenplay from Will McCormack and Rashida Jones. James also covers StudioCanal's 4K UHD Blu-ray release of Russell Mulcahy's 1986 film 'Highlander', which arrived on the 29th June and celebrates the film's 40th anniversary.
Guests: Chad Kennerk,James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
For the final Bigger Picture with Simon Rose, Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University looks back over the past 12 years of the programme. Into the good category, he places the advances in technology in areas like medicine, the digital world and the AI revolution. This will give a huge uplift to developing countries. As to the bad, that would include the polarisation of political life as the state hollows itself out from the inside, with taxes at an all-time high and services getting ever worse. Tim highlights the number of people under 40 abandoning the NHS, who believe they won't get a state pension for them and who see their future not in Britain but abroad. The ugly is the ever increasing indebtedness of the world's most advanced democracies and the rising authoritarianism which threatens the underpinning of our open society.
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
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Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin is so amazed to discover that you can watch World Cup matches on BBC in 3D, it has almost made him keen on football. WhatsApp is soon to allow user names but you might need to get in quickly to reserve the one you want. Steve visited an Amazon fulfilment centre (a warehouse to the rest of us) and was amazed at what he saw. Delivery robots will soon be allowed throughout the UK, but it will need a change in the 1835 Highways Act forbidding "carriages" on the pavement. Commodore have made a retro flip phone. Dead lithium batteries can soon be resuscitated. Scout badges include the likes of digital comms and content creation. The BBFC are using AI to help classify films.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson thought he was in for a treat with #2 Supergirl, starring Milly Alcock. But it is disappointingly tedious, with lots of fighting and killing and a surprising 12A certificate, given that it deals with alcoholism and sex trafficking. #27 Blue Heron, a Canadian film about childhood trauma, is highly regarded by some. But James found it self-indulgent, abtruse and unfathomable. He was keener on Netflix's romcom Voicemails for Isabelle. It looks great, has a super soundtrack, winning performances and boasts dialogue so effervescent, he would happily watch it again for that alone. It's the sort of film that makes you happy to be alive. In the Hand of Dante, also on Netflix, stars Al Pacino, Martin Scorsese and more but is two films in one, with an intriguing modern thriller weighed down by a plodding medieval biopic. It's half a masterpiece, half a disaster.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
For Simon Rose's last discussion with Russ Mould of A J Bell, Russ looks at the tentative bid for FTSE 100 stock Segro, once a warehouse REIT, now moving into data centres. It's the 16th bid for a UK property company in the last four years and yet UK investors don't seem interested in UK commercial property. The 10-year gilt yields 4.7% against a sector yield of 6.3%. Does that premium compensate investors for the risks? Russ wonders why, if REITs believe the sector discount to assets of 25%, they don't buy back their own shares. It would be more positive for the sector than bids, even if those bids show that there are people overseas who think that there is value there.
Guests: Russ Mould
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
It is hard to say what finished off Keir Starmer as PM, says Mike Indian. It was political death by a thousand cuts. But he seemed to be decent and honourable and tried to do his best. Posterity will probably be kinder to him than many current critics are. It now seems certain that Andy Burnham will become Prime Minister and Mike thinks it right that there won't be a distracting leadership contest. Burnham says he will stick to Reeves's fiscal rules which means he will have to show a lot of creative thinking. He is more charming and wittier than Starmer, but will that be enough? His appointment of Chancellor will be crucial. We don't really know what a Burnham premiership will look like. Mike reflects that in the nine years he and Simon Rose have been discussing The Bigger Picture, the world has become a less certain place, politics is now a lot less kind and public trust in institutions and politicians has declined considerably.
Guests: Mike Indian
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Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin reports that the Chinese LineShine supercomputer is beating the American El Capitan. A battery-swapping system for electric lorries has an serious flaw. Those streaming the World Cup may see goals 100 seconds behind those following on live TV or radio. An AI law firm has won its first case, for a fraction of the cost of a real solicitor. A Japanese estate agent uploaded a promotional video featuring a woman in a green bodysuit, as he couldn't work out how to edit her out. Some gamers waiting for Grand Theft Audio 6 have been scammed because of their eagerness to experience the game. The Osmo Pocket drone for pro filmmakers is full of features, but only £445. And there's a crowd-funded harness to make walking on country roads safer.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson says that, despite the heatwave, box office was up 72%, thanks to #1 Toy Story 5. Maintaining the franchise's fantastic quality, it is vastly amusing but also perhaps the most moving of the films. With a plot about the damage screens are doing to children, it has a joyful score, new characters and a stellar voice cast. At #12 is Virginia Woolf's Night & Day, with Haley Bennett an astronomer suffering the social mores of the day. It's a very loose adaptation, with plot, class and language all making it seem more modern. Although kinetic, it feels redundant, despite a great central performance. James wondered why it was made at all. He did, however, enjoy Netflix's Office Romance with Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein. Goldstein, famous from Ted Lasso, co-produced and co-wrote this romcom, which is silly and predictable but also an entertaining romp.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin is keen on the social media ban for under-16s: not so Simon Rose. Steve is impressed by new lighter batteries for electric planes. AI is helping to cope with mutating viruses. The Argus robot is a dodecahedron with 20 legs and 20 eyes, looking the most unlike a human of any robot. There's a cautionary tale about a banking scam. There's a stylish – but probably expensive – way of hiding your TV when not in use. A screwdriver with a built-in camera can help with fiddly jobs. A company claims to be about to launch a space station with artificial gravity. And the Chinese government has asked the West to stop sending spy turtles into its waters.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Yana Mihaylova of Edison Group focusses on XP Factory, a £32m AIM stock which is the market leader in escape rooms with Escape Hunt and also operates Boom Battle Bar. They are making a strategic shift from the latter to the former. Escape rooms are significantly cheaper to set up and run than the bars and are more profitable, so the shift makes sense, particularly given rising employment costs. The company aims to expand from 24 to 100 venues and make them larger and is helped by smaller escape room operations closing. Neil Shah of Edison returns to PZ Cussons, which manages a brand portfolio including Carex and Imperial Leather. Its trading update showed the new management team's turnround is ahead of expectations. The company aims to spend twice as much on R&D in 2027 as in 2025 and, with a yield of 4% and a forward P/E of 12, Edison feels it has a long way to run.
Guests: Yana Mihaylova,Neil Shah
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