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Simon Rose

The Business of Film: Abigail, Sometimes I Think About Dying & The Lavender Hill Mob

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Business Of Film

The Business of Film: Abigail, Sometimes I Think About Dying & The Lavender Hill Mob
With no big new releases, James Cameron-Wilson explains that the UK box office is down 36%, with Back to Black still #1. At #5 is horror film Abigail about a kidnapped ballerina. Extremely gory, it is also increasingly clichéd. James was impressed by Sometimes I Think About Dying at #19, a minimalist drama in which Daisy Ridley is a shy loner. Nuanced, it makes the audience work but is moving and sticks in the memory. Out for home viewing is 1951's A Lavender Hill Mob, with Alec Guinness a meek bank clerk with nefarious ambitions. The beautifully-restored disc is packed with fascinating extras. It is a must, says James.
Guest:

James Cameron-Wilson


Published:
Simon Rose

The Business of Film: Back to Black, Civil War & Scoop

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Business Of Film

The Business of Film: Back to Black, Civil War & Scoop
James Cameron-Wilson welcomes a 7% kick in the box office. #1 is Sam Taylor-Johnson's Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black with Marisa Abela giving a stunning performance, celebrating her talent while not shying from depicting the reality of addiction. Although James rarely cries in movies, he was exceptionally moved by the film and loved it. He was also impressed by #2 Civil War, a dystopian USA-set thriller that is realistic and timely. An amazing and riveting film which is a great piece of cinema, he feels writer/director Alex Garland is one of our greatest filmmakers. On Netflix, he found Scoop, about Prince Andrew's ill-fated TV interview, to be a cross between The Crown and Spitting Image. He thought it engrossing but had trouble suspending disbelief.
Guest:

James Cameron-Wilson


Published:
Simon Rose

The Business of Film: Monkey Man, The First Omen & Road House

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Business Of Film

The Business of Film: Monkey Man, The First Omen & Road House
James Cameron-Wilson reports on a box office down 36%, with blockbusters maintaining the four top spots. Dev Patel's directorial debut Monkey Man comes in at #5, a violent film about a hustler with a score to settle. Although it has kinetic energy, it lacks humanity and is derivative and wearisome. Worse is The First Omen at #6. Incredibly similar to the plot of Immaculate, it's a horror film with no sense of credibility. James much preferred the Amazon Prime superior remake of Road House with Jake Gyllenhaal as a charming bouncer. Directed by Doug Liman, it's more complex and interesting than the original and, while violent, it also has a great deal of humour.
Guest:

James Cameron-Wilson


Published:
Simon Rose

The Business of Film: Kung Fu Panda 4, Godzilla x Kong – The New Empire, Mothers' Instinct & Shirley

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Business Of Film

The Business of Film: Kung Fu Panda 4, Godzilla x Kong – The New Empire, Mothers' Instinct & Shirley
James Cameron-Wilson reports box office up another 65% with Kung Fu Panda 4 #1 with over £5m. The animation is superb and the jokes were just good enough to keep James awake. #2 is Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire with £4.1m has amazing CGI and decent human performances from the likes of Rebecca Hall but James wasn't overimpressed with this, the 38th Godzilla film. He found #6 Mothers' Instinct with Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway to be a stylish 1960s thriller in the Patricia Highsmith mould, enjoying it so much he didn't want it to end. On Netflix, he found Shirley, with Regina King as Shirley Chisholm, fighting to become the first black woman in the US Congress a noble and nuanced history lesson, if not entirely compelling as a film.
Guest:

James Cameron-Wilson


Published:
Simon Rose

The Business of Film: Ghostbusters Frozen Empire, Immaculate, The Lavender Hill Mob & One Life

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Business Of Film

The Business of Film: Ghostbusters Frozen Empire, Immaculate, The Lavender Hill Mob & One Life
James Cameron-Wilson says that #1 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is the sort of film that makes him sorry he became a film critic, being rushed, full of bloated CGI and an utter waste of time. He found horror film Immaculate at #3, set in an Italian convent, nasty and utterly formulaic. He and Simon celebrate the cinema re-release of Ealing comedy The Lavender Hill Mob while James urges everybody to see Anthony Hopkins in the amazing true-life tale of Nicholas Winton and the Kindertransport, One Life, now out for home viewing.
Guest:

James Cameron-Wilson


Published:
Simon Rose

The Business of Film: Anatomy of a Fall, Damsel & Ricky Stanicky

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Business Of Film

The Business of Film: Anatomy of a Fall, Damsel & Ricky Stanicky
James Cameron-Wilson analyses the latest box office chart, -28%, still dominated by Dune 2. With no new films to see, James turns to the home video release of the French drama Anatomy of a Fall. nominated for 5 Oscars and winning for its screenplay. It was more rewarding on a second viewing, being multi-layered, perceptive and peopled with three-dimensional characters. He feels that what he thought was a good film could be a great one. He was impressed, as before, by the 20-year-old Millie Bobby Brown who is the heroine of Netflix's dark fantasy Damsel, which he found intense and violent. He found Peter Farrelly's gross-out Amazon Prime comedy Ricky Stanicky, with Zac Efron, highly offensive and unfunny.
Guest:

James Cameron-Wilson


Published:
Simon Rose

The Business of Film: Imaginary, Spaceman & the Oscars

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Business Of Film

The Business of Film: Imaginary, Spaceman & the Oscars
James Cameron-Wilson reports on box office down 29% with Dune 2 now up to £19.3m at #1. At #5 is horror film Imaginary, which James found boring, bloated, clichéd and not particularly scary. He hoped for better from the philosophical sci-fi drama Spaceman on Netflix. However, despite Paul Dano and Carey Mulligan, it proved one of the weirdest films he had seen for a long time and suffered from the miscasting of Adam Sandler in the main role. He was far happier with the Oscars, which he felt were wonderfully hosted and both entertaining and compelling, even if he did – for once – get one of his main predictions wrong.
Guest:

James Cameron-Wilson


Published:
Simon Rose

The Business of Film: Dune 2, Mea Culpa, the SAG Awards & looking ahead to the Oscars

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Business Of Film

The Business of Film: Dune 2, Mea Culpa, the SAG Awards & looking ahead to the Oscars
James Cameron-Wilson assesses Dune: Part Two at #1, which boosted the UK box office by taking £9.3m with almost £13,000 per screen. While critics love it and James was impressed by it visually, he found the film confusing and ponderous and admired it rather than enjoyed it. He looks ahead to the Oscars which, for the first time in 20 years, can be seen on terrestrial TV. He gives his predictions for the main prizes and discusses the recent star-studded luvviefest, the SAG Awards, watchable on Netflix. He regrets watching Tyler Perry's film, Mea Culpa, on Netflix. A thriller about an artist accused of murdering his girlfriend, the ludicrous film is every bit as bad as the main character's art.
Guest:

James Cameron-Wilson


Published:
Simon Rose

The Business of Film: Wicked Little Letters, NT Live - Vanya & Paths of Glory

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Business Of Film

The Business of Film: Wicked Little Letters, NT Live - Vanya & Paths of Glory
James Cameron-Wilson on the UK cinema scene, still dominated by Bob Marley: One Love at #1 with a total of £11.3m in 2 weeks. He was disappointed by Wicked Little Letters at #2. Set in a 20s village, it sees the like of Olivia Colman and Timothy Spall overacting and overswearing in a piece of annoying whimsy. At #6 is the NT Live production of Vanya, with Andrew Scott playing multiple characters. Without boning up beforehand, James found it somewhat baffling. He loved the beautifully-restored home video disc of Stanley Kubrick's 1957 anti-war film Paths of Glory, starring Kirk Douglas. As powerful as ever, it comes with some fantastic bonus material.
Guest:

James Cameron-Wilson


Published:
Simon Rose

The Business of Film: Bob Marley One Love, Madame Web, Players & the BAFTAs

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Business Of Film

The Business of Film: Bob Marley One Love, Madame Web, Players & the BAFTAs
James Cameron-Wilson celebrates UK box office up 89% with Bob Marley: One Love #1 racking up £6.9m. But James was disappointed, finding the biopic a hagiography, a series of vignettes rather than a gripping story. He much preferred Madame Web at #3 with Dakota Johnson in a well-engineered and much more believable and human superhero story than we've been used to of late. Despite other critics, James couldn't recommend it more. Not so Players, an unoriginal romcom on Netflix about playing the field, which he found exasperating and populated with characters with unlimited money and time. He also mentions the BAFTAs praising host David Tennant.
Guest:

James Cameron-Wilson


Published: