Hrkn to .. Share Radio's Film Review

James Cameron-Wilson explains that UK box office is up 14% YoY. Wonka is still #1 with £45m total. Michael Mann's Ferrari is #2; though interesting, it is slow and not energising. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom #3 is exhausting, all CGI and endless violence. Studio Ghibli's The Boy and the Heron is #4 while Anyone But You at #5 is an ludicrous and nonsensical romcom. Next Goal Wins about the infamou...

James Cameron-Wilson looks back at the cinematic world in 2023, counting the top grossing films worldwide from 10 to 1, with Barbie coming out on top with $1.4 billion. He discusses the female directors of the year as well as the best female performances. And, with awards season almost upon us, he explains what he voted for in the London Film Critics Circle Awards and the films he thinks will be n...

James Cameron-Wilson reports on the UK box office. Takings have dropped 25% but Wonka still rules. Godzilla Minus One is #2, a rare foreign language subtitled movie to ride high in the charts, though taking only £817,000. James found it a decent monster movie but no more. On Netflix, he thought Rustin, the real story of the gay civil rights activist, interesting despite much overacting. He was del...

James Cameron-Wilson celebrates UK box office +43% WoW and +173% YoY. It's the prequel Wonka that's responsible which, while a little woke and lightening Roald Dahl's dark world, is nonetheless great fun, somewhat in the moud of Mary Poppins. While Timothy Chalamet doesn't have the requisite magic, Hugh Grant excels. The music (there should be more) and dialogue is delicious and the young audience...

James Cameron-Wilson takes Simon Rose through the box office chart, with takings down 25% WoW but up 43% YoY. With nothing new in the chart, still led by Napoleon, he sought out Todd Haynes's Oscar contender May December, starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore. About celebrity, James was enthralled, without ever feeling it quite ignited. He was more enthusiastic about Rebecca Miller's She Cam...

James Cameron-Wilson assesses Ridley Scott's Napoleon, #1 with a take of £5.2m. Despite being 158m, he felt it cantered too rapidly through 32 years of Napoleon's life, as played by Joaquin Phoenix. However, the battle scenes are amazing, if gory, and he loved Martin Phipps's score. Shame about the longueurs. Disney's new U-certificate animation, Wish, is #3 with only £2.4m but such things are oft...

James Cameron-Wilson found Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes confusing and poorly made, though the new #1 helped box office rise 54% with a £5.4m take. Nor was he as enthusiastic as many critics about Saltburn, Emerald Fennell's darkly comic tale of aristocratic mayhem, though he did like Rosamund Pike's and Richard E Grant's performances, as well as the score. However, he loved the n...

James Cameron-Wilson laments another weak week at the UK box office where The Marvels took only £3.5m, the lowest per screen average of all 33 films in the Marvel universe. He found it a total mess with annoying tonal shifts and no emotional traction. He admired the filmmaking in Cannes' Palme D'Or winner Anatomy of a Fall, which took £413,000 at #5 but, while critics love it, he felt at over two...

James Cameron-Wilson laments a box office down 44% with no new films other than high school sex comedy Bottoms. He was unimpressed by Apple TV's Fingernails with Jesse Buckley, a sci-fi romance he found weird without being funny or moving. He was, however, a fan of Disney+'s Quiz Lady, an enjoyable farce with Awkwafina, Sandra Oh & Will Ferrell which he thought great fun. He was most taken, howeve...

James Cameron-Wilson laments a limp box office dominated by video game spinoff Five Nights at Freddy's which took a robust £5.3m. James found it ridiculous and repetitive. He still recommends the Scorsese (#3) and The Creator (#9). On in relatively few cinemas, he's glad he sought out Cat Person, which took just £79,000. A drama about the horrors of dating, he found it funny and intentionally excr...

James Cameron-Wilson takes Simon Rose through the latest UK box office chart, with takings down 9%. Trolls Band Together, the third in the series, is the new #1 with a take of £3m. Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon took £2.5m at #2. Majestic, brutal and based on a true story, James found Robert de Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio's acting overshadowed by Lily Gladstone, who is favourite to pi...

James Cameron-Wilson reviews the latest UK box office where the Taylor Swift concert film, The Eras Tour, sweeps everything before it with a massive £5.7m take, making it the highest-ever event release in the UK, just on its first weekend. James was disappointed by The Miracle Club (#9) despite Laura Linney and Maggie Smith. Simon Rose caught up with Blackberry, finding it one of the best business...

James Cameron-Wilson takes Simon Rose through the box office chart, led by The Exorcist: Believer which, despite the presence of Ellen Burstyn, James found boring, underlit & clichéd. He thought Gareth Edwards' sci-fi epic The Creator at #2 visually powerful and his best film to date. While Saw 10 (#3) was ingenious, James found it horribly sadistic and gave him a sleepless night, something a film...

James Cameron-Wilson laments the current state of the UK box office, down 20% WOW & 35% YOY. He hates Expendables 4, limping in at #2 wth a mere £760,000. Paul Dano stars in Dumb Money, #5, about the Gamestop story. However, James found it utterly baffling and felt he'd already seen the film after watching the trailer. He was, however, very impressed by Flora & Son on Apple TV, an Irish film from...

James Cameron-Wilson takes Simon Rose through the latest box office chart where Agatha Christie adaptation A Haunting in Venice is #1. However, James found it dreary, dragging the Whodunnit back to the Middle Ages. He much preferred The Equalizer 3 at #3 with Denzel Washington; although violent it's a thriller with character and atmosphere. He found The Sound of Freedom, about modern-day child sla...

Everybody knows that the name of the Scottish Play must not be pronounced in the theatre, but do you know the origin of this superstition? Geoff Lumb reveals it in this episode of Share Drama, first broadcast on 9th April 2015, together with Amelia's thoughts on the matter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

James Cameron-Wilson continues to marvel at Barbie, #1 for 6 weeks with a total of £90m, making it the 7th highest grossing UK film. Oppenheimer is steady at #2 with £54m. Theater Camp, a mockumentary, limped in at #15. James found it unrealistic and less funny than it thinks it is, but with great child performances. Underwater thriller The Dive was #20 but, though diverting, pales beside others i...

The UK box office is still dominated by Oppenheimer and Barbie, now the UK's 8th most successful film, beating Titanic, says James Cameron-Wilson. DC Comics' Blue Beetle, with a Latino superhero, enters at #3 but is depressingly unoriginal and unengaging. At #5 is Strays, a comedy with foul-talking dogs. Without a whiff of wit, James can't believe it got a 15 certificate. He's more interested in E...

James Cameron-Wilson reports on a UK box office still boosted by Barbie & Oppenheimer at #1 & #2, the former now the 11th most successful film here ever with £78.2m. True(ish) story Gran Turismo, partly based on a computer game, enters at #4. Directed by Neill Blomkamp, James found it hugely entertaining escapism with great race sequences. Disney's reboot of Haunted Mansion, the second based on it...

James Cameron-Wilson marvels at the UK box office, down a mere 10% on the week but up 165% YOY. Barbie has passed the $1bn mark, the first time for a woman director and it and Oppenheimer are still #1 & #2. In at #3 is monster movie Meg 2: The Trench with Jason Statham, bizarrely directed by highly-regarded Ben Wheatley. James found it so silly, it almost became a farce. He did, however, adore Fre...

James Cameron-Wilson takes Simon Rose through the revitalised UK box office which, although down 25% WOW, is still up 137% on this time last year. Barbie, still #1, has taken £48m after just 10 days and is already the 3rd highest grossing film of the year. Oppenheimer remains #2 with a £27.7m total. In at #5 is Australian horror Talk To Me, which James thought a real original. Despite being a hard...

James Cameron-Wilson reports on an extraordinary week for the UK box office, up 92% WOW and 190% YOY. Barbie, starring Margot Robbie, enters at #1 with an impressive £18.5m weekend take. James found it original, smart, funny, timely and moving, considering it "a cinematic miracle". Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer was #2 with £10.9m. With an all-star cast led by Cillian Murphy, he found it timely a...

James Cameron-Wilson eulogises Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, which has not only sent the UK box office up 58% WOW (and 80% YOY), but has single-handedly rescued the reputation of the blockbuster. Exciting, funny and with excellent acting throughout, the #1 film is the highlight of a dreadful summer and an action movie even those who usually spurn them might enjoy. Not so the docume...

With Empire in administration, closing half their cinemas, James Cameron-Wilson finds it hard to be positive. Pixar's Elemental at #1 is a forced morality tale while Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is creaky and overlong. Insidious: The Red Door at #5 is merely blah while Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken at #8 is devoid of wit or flair. James is only enthusiastic about The Flash at #10. Learn mo...

David Ricardo Pearce talks to the actor Saskia Portway about touring the world with a theatre show, the years she spent at Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol, working with Nick Hyntner at the National Theatre and the hard economic realities of Shakespeare's best loved comedy. originally recorded on 20 November 2014 - but note that A Midsummer Night's Dream is currently on stage at Shake...