James Cameron-Wilson discusses the UK box office numbers with Simon Rose, with total take down 5% despite two big new films. Scream VI takes the #1 slot but James found it boring, unpleasant and full of unbelievable characters. Sci-fi thriller 65, starring Adam Driver, slips in at #3 ("irritating and dull"). James made a plea for discerning cinemagoers to go to charming romcom What's Love Got To Do With It (#7) while they still have the chance. He rounds up the podcast with a discussion of the Oscars, both the results and the ceremony itself.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
Published:
Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose of the latest tech innovations. A startup has worked out how to use data processing centres to heat swimming pools which cool the PCs in return. Bing's latest GPT upgrade has many improvements, but still hallucinates and makes things up. There's a revolution in the world of paint, better protection for windswept buildings, a keyboard hand heater, spirally-constructed wind turbines and Apple moving into the world of streamed classical music.
Guests: Steve Caplin
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Political commentator Mike Indian discusses Jeremy Hunt's Budget with Simon Rose, though he considers it more a Sunak Budget than a Hunt Budget. With little not already briefed beforehand, he feels the most important intervention for most people was the extension of free childcare. He found nothing in it, though, to galvanise the UK economy or slow Britain's comparative decline. He also remarks on the Illegal Immigration Bill, with neither main party admitting how dependent the UK is on migrant workers. Lastly, he looks at what he considers the "farcical situation" between the BBC and football pundit Gary Lineker.
Guests: Mike Indian
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University explains to Simon Rose why he sees an almighty showdown with the EU coming over the rule of law over UK asylum plans. He wonders if a "steady as you go" Budget might actually boost the Conservatives' electoral prospects. And, in the light of the Republican Party dividing over support for Ukraine, he discusses the long tradition of American isolationism, pointing out that the latest split is extremely worrying for NATO.
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson takes Simon Rose through the latest UK box office numbers, up 22%, largely thanks to the arrival at #1 of Creed III. Taking £5m at the weekend and starring and directed by Michael B Jordan, James found it a polished, well-directed, crowd-pleasing movie. On Amazon Prime, he found Somebody I Used To Know, starring Alison Brie and written by her and her directing husband Dave Franco, watchable but undermined by an abrupt tonal switch from comedy to heavier drama. Netflix's comedy horror We Have A Ghost he found too ambitious for its own good and most definitely over-long.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
Published:
Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Tech expert Steve Caplin discusses Tesla's non-Ford assembly line, Musk's dull investor day and a setback for his Neuralink. Breadcrumbs will be the key to exploring caves on Mars, it seems, while the iMAG could be the way to end uncomfortable endoscopies and 3D printing taking place within the human body could soon be feasible. There's a crowdfunded exoskeleton to help with hill-climbing (or even shopping or visiting museums) and on the River Lee, there's an ingenious hand-powered rolling bridge.
Guests: Steve Caplin
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Victoria Scholar of Interactive Investor looks at some of the recent indicators giving a guide to the state of the UK economy, including the Halifax house price index and the RICS's house price balance. She also looks at the recent retail sales numbers and KPMG's jobs market report. But the big driver of the market this week has been the hawkish testimony to Congress of Fed Chairman Jay Powell.
Guests: Victoria Scholar
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Russ Mould of A J Bell looks at the results of Persimmon, the latest company offering a paper yield higher than 10% that turned out to be illusory. That the share price didn't fall further on terrible results shows that the market was ahead of the game. Russ looks at the sector as a whole. Some builders are trading at a discount to book value and sentiment will turn at some stage. But housebuilders are likely to be volatile and potential investors will have to be very brave.
Guests: Russ Mould
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson examines the UK box offie, down 40% on the week. With Ant-Man 3 still #1, the much-anticipated Cocaine Bear enters at #3. Stomach-churningly violent and unsubtle, James's verdict is, "Great trailer, shame about the movie". Romcom What's Love Got To Do With It, written by Jemima Khan and starring Lily James and Shazad Latif, is #4 and James and Simon both recommend it. It's romantic, funny and even educational. South Korean Broker is #8. On Apple TV is Sharper, with Julianne Moore in a con artist film that is entertaining but also too clever for its own good.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
Published:
Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin delves into the latest tech, with the Chinese coming up with ways to stroke and kiss loved ones when not together. ChatGPT has been banned in China, there's a new AI app to try, an electronic bandage will dissolve after use, Metaverse property prices have gone south, there's a crowdfunded self-building igloo, the MoD is hiring sci-fi writers to predict the future of warfare, you can get a balloon ride to space for just £150,000 and the Kinks have asked Elon Musk to stop Twitter censoring the band's name.
Guests: Steve Caplin
Published:
