Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
For this episode, James Cameron-Wilson is joined by Chad Kennerk, our occasional American correspondent, to discuss the news that Netflix has made an agreement to acquire Warner Bros. Following the separation of Discovery Global for a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion (equity value $72 billion). James covers Disney’s 64th animated feature, 'Zootropolis 2', an entertaining sprint through a world of zoological delights. He raves about awards contender 'Christy', the extraordinary true story of a female boxer in 1990s’ America starring Sydney Sweeney. James was also pleased with the Disney+ release of 'Swiped', in which a tech entrepreneur played by Lily James has her idea for the dating app Tinder swiped.
Guests: Chad Kennerk,James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson says #1 Wicked: For Good's £18.9m take has boosted box office 123% but at the expense of all other movies. However, James enjoyed it muich more than the first half. It has gobsmacking costumes and sets, great songs and is surprisingly touching and funny. It is clearly set for Oscar attention. He thought Russell Crowe superb as the bombastic Gõring in #4 Nuremberg. With a great supporting cast, it is long but holds the attention throughout. And he admires Tom Hardy playing both Kray twins in the 10th anniversary 4K UHD release of the very violent Legend. It comes with lots of great extras.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson likes #1 Now You See Me: Now You Don't as much as the first in the trilogy. Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson are joined by younger actors as magicians mounting a heist. He particularly cares for the details and the allusions. #2 is Edgar Wright's take on The Running Man with Glen Powell. But despite the big budget, the main character is unsympathetic, the plot makes little sense and the product placement is appallingly blatant. As a fan of French horror, he likes #27 Alpha from Julia Ducournau. It deserves two viewings before the pieces will fall into place.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson's dislike of the Predator franchise isn't changed by the 9th in the series #1 Predator: Badlands which, with no human characters, bored him. He loved #2 The Choral, another film from the Nicholas Hytner/Alan Bennett partnership. Set in World War 1, Roger Allam and Ralph Fiennes star in a tale of a local choral society short of men. It's full of compassion, drama and humour and is timeless and uplifting. #24 Anemone is a first-time film from Ronan Day-Lewis who gets his father Daniel to return to the screen as a remote-living hermit. Also starring Sean Bean, it's self-indulgent and leaves the audience too often in the dark.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson laments that no film grossed more than £1m last weekend. He found #1 Bugonia, directed by The Favourite's Yorgos Lanthimos with Emma Stone to be beautiful cinema. The story, about conspiracy theorists convinced a CEO is an alien, is a tad pretentious but you have no idea where it's going. At #11 is Shelby Oaks, a low-budget horror film from film critic Chris Stuckmann. Sadly, this slim tale is full of the usual horror tropes: James couldn't remember when he'd last been so bored. No boredom in Netflix's A House of Dynamite, though. Kathryn Bigelow directs Idris Elba in a thriller about the US facing a defence emergency. If you're short of time, just watch the first 39 minutes.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
Steve Caplin is surprised that, despite AWS's massive internet failure, OpenAI will pay it $38bn for computing power. Robot dogs are to be used to deal with Sellafield's nuclear waste. A humanoid housekeeper apparently has to have a human operator. An Australian company has devised a way of skiing indoors in something resembling a giant hamster wheel. Tesla's Cybertrucks are losing their headlights, because mechanics used the wrong glue. China has built the world's first wind-powered underwater data centre. And a solar powered backpack has been devised for homeless people in California.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson says that October could be the worst for cinema since the late 1990s, despite the high quality of many films. Docudrama #1 Springsteen:Deliver Me From Nowhere is enjoyable, if not emotionally engaging. #2 Regretting You is a mother and daughter drama with great acting but the annoying screenplay makes the characters' lives unnecessarily difficult. He laughed more than he should have done. He loved All Of You on Apple TV+, with Imogen Poots and Brett Goldstein friends in a near-future world. It's a lovely, dramatic, fresh and charming film. He also recommends seeking out the prescient S1m0ne from 23 years ago, with Al Pacino digitally creating an actress.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson says he can't remember when there were so many good movies in the chart. At #6 is Channing Tatum in Roofman, a true tale of a polite crook who hides away in a toy store. Also starring Kirsten Dunst, it's a character study full of great performances. At #9 is After the Hunt with Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield in a superbly-made ideas movie with an exquisitely calibrated script. On Netflix, The Woman in Cabin 10 with Keira Knighley and Guy Pearce disappointed. It's an old-fashioned thriller set on a luxury cruise, which might be fine if you put your brain in neutral.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson loved #1 Tron: Ares, the 3rd in the series. It has amazing graphics, a great score and is often very funny. He was impressed with #3 I Swear, set in the Scottish Borders, about a lad with Tourette's. A true story boasting great real performances, it is funny and yet heartbreaking; James had to hold back tears many times. Despite the Oscar buzz he was disappointed with #5 The Smashing Machine. Yes, Dwayne Johnson can act and Emily Blunt is super but it's a dull story. James and Simon both recommend the 4K restoration of the massively influential 1981 French thriller Diva, with an embarrassment of extras. And James thinks Netflix's Steve, produced by and starring Cillian Murphy – about a head teacher of a reform college – may be a touch melodramatic at times but is one of Murphy's best performances.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson raves about #1, Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn. At times baffling, it's bravura film-making which you can't stop thinking about and which seems destined for Oscar glory. Not so #7 The Strangers: Chapter 2, a nonsensical horror sequel. More interesting is #25 Brides, a low budget production about two naive teenage girls who want to flee the UK. It's very realistic and you don't want to tear your eyes away. Disney+'s The Man In My Basement is a psychological thriller with Willem Dafoe. Scuppered by an unlikeable protagonist, it might have made a better play.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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