Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson wished he liked #6, the fantasy A Big, Bold, Beautiful Journey with Colin Farrell & Margot Robbie. It looks good but there's no chemistry, just whimsy. He does recommend #8, the thought-provoking NT Live production Inter Alia. He found Wrack & Ruin, a box set of post-war DEFA films on Blu-Ray aimed at de-Nazifying Germany, particularly Somewhere in Berlin, an eye-opening education and a must for film lovers. And out next week on Apple TV+ is The Lost Bus, a true story with Matthew McConaughey a bus driver trying to save schoolchildren from a wildfire. Deftly directed by Paul Greengrass it's a prime example of the new panic attack genre.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin celebrates some of the bonkers research that has won scientists this year's Ignobel Prizes. A Denver designer thinks he can reinvent the wheel. Austin have a very neat-looking open-top EV roadster. There's a cyberpunk digital candle. Amazon Fresh are closing all their UK stores. Waymo are to launch driverless taxis in London next year. Northumbrian Water have found a way to catch sewer-clogging wet wipes. And Kent scientists believe that tea can be grown on the Moon.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Political commentator Mike indian thinks that it would be a big mistake for Andy Burnham to challenge Keir Starmer's leadership of Labour. He can't see what Burnham would bring to the table and feels it would be opportunistic in-fighting. He finds the American administration's criticism regarding free speech in the UK highly hypocritical. And he reckons Trump's speech at the UN is akin to a man standing on a street corner with a cardboard sign, someone we'd normally ignore. Trump is a danger to the modern world and we risk forgetting why we have become the societies we are.
Guests: Mike Indian
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Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Russ Mould of A J Bell remarks on the Bank of England slowing down its gilt sales. The 10-year gilt, currently 4.7%, is seen as the risk-free rate against which other bonds are rated, the risks with them being inflation, interest rates, credit risk and liquidity. With equities, there's a mysterious turning point where institutions feel it's safer to be in gilts. After its rise, the UK market isn't as attractive as it was. The cash yield on the FTSE is a little north of 6%. 19 of its companies offer more than the risk-free rate. The old rule of thumb was that if it's double, as one company is, it's "too good to be true". Where do we go from here, though, with a moribund economy and the UK still adding to its debts?
Guests: Russ Mould
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
With box office takings on the rise, James Cameron-Wilson celebrates the arrival of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, an exquisitely packaged production with most of the regulars that rounds the trilogy off nicely. He finds #4 The Long Walk, based on a Stephen King novel about boys forced onto a deadly march, to be so compelling you didn't worry about its illogicalities. #7 Spinal Tap II: The End Continues plays on a nostalgic yearning. Often too silly, it still has a high chuckle quotient. James also pays tribute to Robert Redford.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University believes that the defection of the talented Danny Kruger to Reform has demoralised the Tories. Will other defections mean they don't have enough numbers to be the official Opposition? He states why he believes that the most stable mixed economies are often those with monarchs, not presidents, especially in north-west Europe. Turning to Brexit, he feels that it is a process we are perhaps only halfway through, though he doesn't know where it will end up.
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
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Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Neil Shah of Edison Group admires Next for its forward planning and economic predictions. Its latest report anticipates anaemic growth, depressed by poor job opportunities, excess government spending and regulation and a rising tax burden. Coming on top of news that fund managers are dumping UK equities at the fastest rate in 20 years, it feels like a turning of the tide. On a more optimistic note, he says that housebuilder Springfield Properties is pivoting its portfolio to build housing to take advantage of green-related construction in the north of Scotland and feels that there's a long way to go.
Guests: Neil Shah
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Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin tells an incredulous Simon Rose that Albania has appointed an AI cabinet minister which is 100% corruption free. AI is also apparently writing speeches for many MPs. BA's Avios points can now be used for buying iPhones. Tesla's electric doors have a recurring problem. Amazon's Zoox driverless taxis are free to use on the Las Vegas strip. Mega have launched their new smart glasses. Sleep earbuds have cleverly done away with the need for batteries. And scientists claim they could regenerate the dodo – though Steve is understandably sceptical.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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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: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin explains the features of the new iPhones and their clever cameras. Elon Musk has been offered a $1trillion salary – with tough conditions. Mark Zuckerberg (not that one) is suing his namesake. Amazon's drone delivery service has been partly stymied by a model airplane club. Porche has introduced inductive charging. MIT scientists have invented a wearable device to turn thoughts into words. And there's an ingenious phone for young children without a screen or other temptations.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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