Share Sounds. from The Business Of Film presented by Simon Rose

Box office is up 47%, says James Cameron-Wilson, helped by the 36-years-on Tim Burton sequel to Beetlejuice called Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Still with Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder, James found it laugh-out-loud funny and wildly imaginative with amazing production design. At #10 is the oddly-titled Firebrand, the story of Catherine Parr (Alicia Vikander) and Henry VIII (Jude Law), which is fascinating to history buffs, if a little uncinematic. However, Robin and the Hoods on Sky Movies, a children's fantasy, was, despite an enjoyable screenplay, embarrassingly bad.

James Cameron-Wilson laments box office declining 30% despite National Cinema Day. The only new film is AI horror AfrAId at #10 with a family at the mercy of a digital assistant. Although slammed by critics, James found it nuanced and horrifically believable. He also watched faith-based horror The Deliverance on Netflix which features Glenn Close. Although not a great film, it still delivers a frightfest. James thinks that spy thriller The Union, also on Netflix and starring Halle Berry and Mark Wahlberg, might be one of those films so bad that it's good. He found it absurdly diverting.

James Cameron-Wilson reports on a bumper week of films, despite the box office take falling 17%. Kneecap, a mashup of A Hard Day's Night and Trainspotting is #5. Psychological thriller Blink Twice is #6. Written and directed by Zoe Kravitz and starring Channing Tatum, James felt that, though unsettling, he'd seen it all before. The supposed remake of The Crow at #8 was brilliantly made and disturbing but illogical. James both admired and hated it. Simon felt that Widow Cliquot at #24 was a wasted opportunity to explain the science behind champagne making. On Amazon Prime, James admired Miller's Girl, written & directed by Jade Halley Bartlett, a whipsmart movie about creative writing with wonderful dialogue.

With box office buoyant, James Cameron-Wilson was blown away by Alien:Romulus, the 9th in the series and the new #1. It feels fresh and smart, has a great retro look and, above all, is how horror films should work. He was glad to have caught #22 Hollywoodgate, a documentary made with the Taliban's cooperation after the United States pulled out of Afghanistan, leaving behind £7bn of military equipment. He found it eye-opening, fascinating and frightening. He (and Simon) were full of praise for the 2-disc set of Laurel & Hardy: The Silent Years. Beautifully restored, these comedies from 100 years ago and more are still fresh and funny and the superb extras only add to the enjoyment.

James Cameron-Wilson is joined by guest interrogator Chad Kennerk to discuss the UK box-office, which has dipped 3% from the previous weekend. Sadly, he was not a fan of any of the three new releases in the marketplace: he found 'It Ends With Us' implausible and ridiculous, M. Night Shyamalan’s psycho-thriller 'Trap' contrived and inexplicable and the video game adaptation 'Borderlands' (with Cate Blanchett, of all people) derivative and chaotic.

James Cameron-Wilson celebrates box office up 82%, helped by Deadpool & Wolverine at #1 for a 2nd week. He enjoyed the sweet-natured, amusing family film Harold & The Purple Crayon at #5 which is full of joi de vivre, innocence and wonder. He also loves Thelma at #20. June Squibb's first starring role at the age of 94, it's an action thriller like you've never before which is also extemely funny. On Apple+ he mostly enjoyed The Instigators with Matt Damon reunited with director Doug Liman in an anti-heist movie.

James Cameron-Wilson reports on a healthy UK box office despite the hot weather. New #1 is Deadpool & Wolverine, the first Marvel film James has enjoyed in a long time. Its 15 certificate is well-deserved as it has lots of blood, beheadings and bad language and there's too much CGI combat but Ryan Reynolds' meta-banter is undeniably funny and the film is full of "Easter Eggs" for fans. The 1959 Sylvia Syms and Herbert Lom British drama No Trees in the Street is available on 4K restoration disc. Shot like an American film noir it's a poverty row drama which is a fascinating time capsule and makes you appreciate the conveniences and luxuries of modern life. Guy Ritchie's films keep going straight to streaming in the UK, including the supposedly true-life war film The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. It's very Guy Ritchie, bloody with lots of OTT violence but is nonetheless a guilty pleasure.

While box office is down 12%, James Cameron-Wilson is excited by Twisters, taking £3.1m at #2, thinking the disaster movie is ripe for revival. A standalone sequel, he found this big slice of popcorn escapism with Daisy Edgar-Jones intense and totally engrossing. He wished he'd been able to see Kevin Costner's gargantuan Western project Horizon: An American Saga Part One on the big screen but had to settle for its streaming appearance. Although flawed and sometimes hard to understand, he still found it brilliant and visually amazing. He wanted to like Russell Crowe as a detective with memory loss in Sleeping Dogs on Amazon Prime but, despite the presence of Karen Gillan, it's a B-movie which is formulaic and implausible.

James Cameron-Wilson revels in UK box office up 64% thanks to the bad weather and a raft of new films. #1 is Despicable Me 4 which he likes no more than the other 5 in the franchise, finding a U certificate for such a violent film surprising. At #3 is horror film Longlegs from Oz Perkins (Anthony Perkins' son) with Nic Cage, which James found well made and unnerving. He was less charitable about supposedly trueish #4 Fly Me To The Moon with Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum. Failing as both romcom and conspiracy thriller, it is flat and ludicrous. He was absorbed, if not scared, by the well-made and often amusing South Korean horror film Sleep about somnambulism, #17 in the chart.

Cineworld plans to close 25% of its cinemas and James Cameron-Wilson says box office is down 26%, though Inside Out 2 is riding high with £40.1m, making it the biggest hit of 2024. Prequel A Quiet Place: Day One is #2 but, while accomplished and watchable, it doesn't have the coiled tension of the first two films. Despite loving films of Yorgos Lanthimos like The Favourite and Poor Things, James was not enamoued of Kinds of Kindness, an anthology movie with Emma Stone which is weird without being wonderful and a case of the emperor's new clothes, with no narrative cohesion. 40 years on, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, out on Netflix, creaks in all the wrong places with Eddie Murphy looking the same but with his manic energy diminished. So by the numbers, it's not worth your time.