Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson says that box office is down another 24% this week. Steven Soderbeg's spy thriller Black Bag is #3. With the likes of Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett it looks good but is dry, unbelieveable and contrived. He was far keener on #7 Last Breath, a true-life feature based on an earlier documentary about a deep sea rescue. Starring Woody Harrelson it feels totally authentic and is very tense but, if anything, rather too short. James recommends the restoration of 1969's A Touch of Love with Sandy Dennis and Ian McKeellan. It's a searing slice of social commentary which swept James away. A real time capsule, it was hugely influential on the NHS at the time.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson says that #1 Mickey 17, from Parasite's Bong Joon Ho, is a sci-fi film about replicated human beings in the vein of Terry Gilliam which seems terribly familiar. He found the lead irritating and thought it entirely humourless. #3 Marching Powder proved to James's surprise that he IS shockable after all. Another Nick Love-Danny Dyer collaboration about a coke addict who loves violence, it's a state-of-the-nation black comedy which is massively politically incorrect and offensive. Yet there's no denying it's well made and often witty. On Amazon Prime Sing Sing, thrice-Oscar-nominated, is about the power of theatre to heal. It is funny and deeply moving and James recommends it highly.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson laments box office falling 42%, saying it is unlikely to pick up until May when the new Mission Impossible film is released. #5 is The Last Showgirl in which Pamela Anderson plays an exotic dancer feeling her age after 30 years stripping in Las Vegas. Despite good performances from her and Jamie Lee-Curtis, James found the appalling camerwork made it hard to engage. He thought the Disney+ documentary Elton John: Never Too Late was eminently watchable but felt there were big gaps in the narrative. James finishes by rounding up this year's Oscars and highlighting where he thought the Academy voters got it wrong.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson says box office, though down 39%, is still up 78% year-on-year thanks to Bridget Jones. #4 is The Monkey, a spectacularly grisly horror film which, neither funny nor scary, is just depressing and illogical. I Am Still Here is #6, Walter Salles's much-garlanded docudrama about Brazil's dictatorship in the 1970s. James loved the Blu-Ray box set "Douglas Sirk 1934-5" with the director's three lost German films available for the first time. And James ends with his predictions for the forthcoming Oscars.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson celebrates a 162% box office jump with Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy the new #1. Its £12.3m take was the biggest ever for a romcom. James, although recognising he's not the target audience, was a little less enthusiastic, as was Simon Rose, though James found it the best of the four films. #2 is Captain America: Brave New World, the 35th Marvel film. A thriller that gets increasingly far-fetched, James enjoyed it to an extent. He loved watching the BAFTAs and discusses the ceremony and the results.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson reports on box office +13%. Avoiding animated #1 Dog Man, he found #5, September 5, a true-life drama about TV's coverage of the Munich Olympics kidnapping of Israeli athletes totally engrossing, if uncomfortably timely. At #6 is The Brutalist. Despite admiring its many exceptional attributes, including the acting, he found the characters in this 215-minute labour of love tiring. He admired the film but has no wish to see it again. He enjoyed The Gorge on Apple TV+ which begins as a Tom Clancy thriller but ends up being more like a Richard Curtis movie. He found it barmy, surprising and ludicrous.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson says that UK box office is down for the fifth week in a row. #3 is Companion which James says is best enjoyed knowing little about it. It has laughs, thrills and plenty of surprises but is essentially a black comedy. Steven Soderbergh's horror Presence has slipped to #20 but James found it a one-trick pony with little flesh on its bones, short though it is. He suggests everyone avoids at all costs Amazon Prime's matrimonial romcom You're Cordially Invited. With Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon, it is depressing, irritating and mean-spirited and beggars belief in its awfulness.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson says that box office is down 21%, although A Complete Unknown remains #1. The Mel Gibson thriller Flight Risk is #4 with Michelle Dockery and Mark Wahlberg excellent in a well-produced, tight piece of hokum which actually drew a round of applause in the cinema. On Netflix, James found Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger with Rory Kinnear, about the iniquity of payday lenders, superior to the first film. It's more believable and he was perfectly engaged. He also discusses the Oscar nominations, including the snubs, the disappointments and the surprises.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson reports on box office -13% but still up on 2024, with Wicked becoming last year's most successful film with £59.6m. The musical biopic of Bob Dylan, A Complete Unknown, with Timothy Chalomet and Edward Norton is the new #1. Despite great performances, with little narrative momentum, it might be mainly for fans. The tedious and unbelievable Wolf Man limps in at #7. James found Netflix's spy thriller Back in Action, the return from retirement of Cameron Diaz, all very silly and over the top, despite some good stunts. The Oscar nominations were coming out during recording so James gives his first thoughts on who's in and who's out.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson says that yet again 6 films took £1m at the box office, with Mufasa replacing Nosferatu as #1. Racy drama Babygirl is #5, with Nicole Kidman amazing as a businesswoman whose perfect life is threatened by an affair. James found it almost too much, so real and voyeuristic did it feel. Jesse Eisenberg's A Real Pain at #6 has him and Kieran Culkin mismatched cousins tracing their European heritage. It's original, deftly realised, witty and well acted. Although perhaps aimed at younger viewers, Amazon's White Bird has Helen Mirren explaining her experiences under the Nazis to her grandson. Made by the great Marc Forster, it is poignant and touching and had James on the edge of tears at times.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
Published: