Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
Not a great week. James Cameron-Wilson found Lee Cronin’s 'The Mummy', #4, an OTT, grotesque blend of Egyptian frolics and Exorcist-like demonic possession, genuinely unpleasant. Not much better was the Kander & Ebb musical 'Kiss of the Spider Woman', #51, a downer set in a prison cell with Jennifer Lopez as the Spider Woman, at least in the fanciful dreams of Luis, an imprisoned homosexual in 1983 Argentina. On Netflix there wasn’t much relief, with 'Thrash', a disaster pic set during a category 5 hurricane which unleashes sharks into a small South Carolina community: implausible, very silly and unintentionally mirthful.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson,Chad Kennerk
Published:
Simon Rose re-visits one of his early episodes, recorded on 25th April 2016 with Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin. With the show opening with some very weird sounds, and continues to describe an online Thesaurus: years before the emergence of Artificial Intelligence! Then, the world's first smart clothes peg — you'll soon find out how far things have travelled over the past decade ..
Guests: Steve Caplin
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Political commentator Mike Indian says that the Iran war will have a profound and lasting effect upon the UK government. In the short term, it has strengthened the Prime Minister's position, with his "Steady Eddie" persona. But the cost of living will come to the fore, with energy, food, CO2 and fertiliser costs all rising and the possibility of food shortages. The PM has come under attack for delays in defence spending. It is one thing to announce an increase in investment but it is important how the money will be spent. We don't appear to have learnt from the Ukraine invasion about the importance of shortening supply chains. Mike discusses the extraordinary intervention by J D Vance in the Hungarian election. Many European leaders will breathe a sigh of relief at Orban's outing but it is not clear what Magyar is for and how he will use his power.
Guests: Mike Indian
Published:
Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin warns holidaymakers to check their data allowance abroad, having saved a small fortune by using the Roamless app in Morocco. He loves some of the public's names for autonomous cleaning robots. American scientists are experimenting with robot seeing-eye dogs. Skoda, who made bikes before cars, have come up with a bell that works even if pedestrians are wearing noise-cancelling headphones. The singer Eddie Dalton, topping UK music charts, turns out to be AI-generated. There's a crowdfunded gadget that lets you use your vintage camera lenses digitally, while Steve admires a cheap multi-function pen. And he is impressed that Jeff Bezos's company Blue Origin has found a way to make oxygen from moon dust.
Guests: Steve Caplin
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson found the romcom #7 You, Me & Tuscany implausible, clichéd and derivative dross. However, he adored #9 California Schemin', a true story directed by James McAvoy about a pair of Scottish wannabe rappers who pretend to be American to get noticed. Told with cinematic verve and with great performances, it's an extraordinary story which reminded him of Trainspotting. James found Keanu Reeves in Outcome, on Apple TV+, a story about a movie star worried about a bizarre video from his past, all rather too familiar and underwhelming. Directed and co-written by Jonah Hill, it's also terribly crude. He adored The President's Cake, an Iraqi film, again based on true events, made with non-actors. Heartbreaking and compelling, it's a small masterpiece, available on BFI Player and Amazon Prime.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Russ Mould of A J Bell says that the S&P 500 has just set a new all-time high, with the UK getting close too. Despite the war in in the Middle East, markets must believe that they've seen it all before and that the war won't last long. But there are longer-term issues to address if not, including the status of the dollar, supply chain issues and national security, with a move from Just In Time to Just In Case. This year the best performer has been Latin America while the UK has beaten the US. If you want dependable stodge and think the emphasis will continue to be on commodities and raw materials, then both areas look sensible. Russ also discusses Japan. Investors need to think about their sectoral and geographical mix as well as valuation. This can go a long way towards helping you find an optimal asset allocation.
Guests: Russ Mould
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson says box office has jumped 113% with the release of Super Mario Galaxy Movie but he opted to go to #3 The Drama, with Robert Pattinson and Zendaya. It's a comedy of manners which is grown up, thought-provoking and enormously funny in a dark way, leading to an unusual post-movie discussion. James also caught #123 Two Women, a French-Canadian comedy of quiet suburban desperation. It's odd, amusing and unpredictable and will be appearing in various places over the coming months. He recommends steering clear of the Disney+ film online Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, with Vince Vaughn playing himself twice in a dire shambles of a movie.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University thinks that a huge political realignment is happening in the West. There's a new type of discourse which is less about economics, as it largely was for almost a century, and more about identitarian politics, about the shifting sands of statecraft and the nature of the nation state and borders. It's a big, historic inflexion point which Tim believes will be the biggest geopolitical upheaval since the last 1940s. The boom in higher education in the UK turned into a bubble and bubbles are prone to burst. The sector is in crisis, with culling of courses and institutions while student loans are now a hot political football. Clearly it is a bad idea for national targets to be set for higher education, but Tim wonders why there is no competition for student loans. Why can't institutions compete with the government and develop their own products?
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
Published:
Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin is impressed by hydrogen fuel cells for trucks, but disappointed there are so few hydrogen stations to fuel them. There's a device for perfectly matching colour for hair dyeing. VR headsets will soon have added aromas to heighten realism. There's a robot that can keep functioning even if it loses all its legs. Cassette-manufacturer Maxell have a new portable cassette players for those who are into retro gadgets. A clever device being crowdfunded lets you pair your devices with TVs while away, as well as a smart night light Steve strongly recommends. But beware of economising on bike or scooter batteries as eBike fires are up 38% in just one year.
Guests: Steve Caplin
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Finlay Mathers of Edison Group highlights Billington Holdings, a steel specialist with a market cap of £50m which makes frames for large buildings. Listed on AIM, it restructured and consolidated operations last year, increasing capacity. Recently it has won a raft of new contracts. The company focusses on training its own staff, has a strong balance sheet with zero debt and will report results in a couple of weeks. Chloe Wong looks at Devolver Digital, an indie games publisher of third party and in-house video games. Its full-year results were encouraging in a flat gaming market. Indie games are expected to perform strongly and the company, which has made significant operational improvements since its 2021 IPO, is well positioned and at a significant discount to fair value. More information is available on the Edison website.
Guests: Finlay Mathers,Chloe Wong Yun Shing
Published:
