James Cameron-Wilson recommends IF, the new #1 in a UK box office +16% on the previous week. Starring Ryan Reynolds, this family film is sentimental but smart, is beautifully executed by some famous names behind the camera and is both touching and funny. James found the first part of a trilogy prequel, The Strangers: Part One, to be clichéd and far-fetched beyond belief and yet the camerawork of director Renny Harlin made him want to know what happens next. But he found Unfrosted on Netflix...

James Cameron-Wilson laments the UK box office, down 32% because of the sunny weather. It meant Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes only took £3.8m. Despite his loneliness in the cinema, James found it a miraculous piece of cinematic magic; clever, multi-layered, exciting and often funny, with amazing production design. On Netflix, he was disappointed by In the Land of Saints & Sinners, a plodding thriller with Liam Neeson. And he found Disney Plus's Prom Dates to have a few amusing bits...

James Cameron-Wilson takes Simon Rose through the UK box office chart, up 27% on the week. New #1 is The Fall Guy about a stunt man. But James found Ryan Gosling smug and obtruse and Emily Blunt irritating in a noisy & cheesy film that, while possessing some impressive action scenes, makes little sense. At #6 is boring low-budget horror Tarot, which is one star all the way. James, however, did enjoy Amazon Prime's The Idea of You with Anne Hathaway romancing a much younger pop star. Often...

James Cameron-Wilson reports on a becalmed box office. New #1 is the tennis drama Challengers with Zendaya. Although a tennis fan, James became irritated by the cinematic pyrotechnics which got in the way of the drama. He was amazed to see the period-set black and white Italian drama There's Still Tomorrow – Italy's top film last year – released in 142 cinemas. An homage to neo-realist post-war Italian cinema about the role of women in a patriarchical society, he considers it a modern...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

James Cameron-Wilson reports that 2023's box office was up 9% at £978m. This week, though, it's down 25% with no new big films. True-life wrestling pic The Iron Claw, with Zac Efron, made only £750,000 at #3 but nothing rings true and James found it dull. With no other new releases other than Peppa's Cinema Party, James turned to Amazon Prime for the romcom Upgraded which, while hardly a true original, he found smart, savvy and very funny. The dialogue zings and he was left with a stupid...

While UK box office rose 25%, James Cameron-Wilson found the animated Migration, #1, as processed as American cheese. #2 spy spoof Argylle from Matthew Vaughn he found over-familiar, over-long, unbelievable and lazy filmmaking. #5 is The Zone of Interest which, despite its 5 Oscar nominations, can be hard to see in cinemas. James, however, heartily recommends American Fiction at #10, also garnering 5 Oscar nominations, with Jeffrey Wright as a multi-faceted writer trying to break down...

James Cameron-Wilson says UK box office is down another 21%. While Mean Girls is #1 but fading, garlanded UK low-budget 4-hander All Of Us Strangers from Andrew Haigh is #2 with £1.1m. Andrew Scott is outstanding in a mesmerising, original film about a gay writer. He was less complimentary about the musical version of The Color Purple at #8, with the showstopping tunes at odds with the dark underlying material. Restored for home video, 1960's Peeping Tom, a voyeuristic film from Michael...

In a bumper box office week, James Cameron-Wilson finds the musical reboot of 2004's Mean Girls (#1), dull and lacking fizz, despite Tina Fey's script. Like Simon Rose, he adores Poor Things (#3) from The Favourite director Yorgos Lanthimos, with Emma Stone getting one of 11 Oscar nominations. It's odd, extraordinarily original and visually and aurally glorious. Simon praised The Holdovers, with Paul Giamatti one of 5 nominees, at #6 from Sideways director. #7 is so-bad-it's-good thriller The...

James Cameron-Wilson marvels that Wonka is still #1 after 5 weeks, with total of £53m at the UK box office. Anthony Hopkins stars in One Life, the true story of stockbroker Nicholas Winton's extraordinary wartime rescue of hundreds of Jewish children. James found it beautifully realised and hugely affecting. He was less impressed with Priscilla, about the spouse of Elvis Presley. Written and directed by Sofia Coppola, which he found unimaginative. He admired the decor and scenery more than...

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 infamous American Samoan football team is not a patch on the documentary on which it is based. However,...

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 nominated, and possibly win, at the Oscars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

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 delighted, however, by Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, which he reckoned not just the best animated...

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 when James saw it forgot all about toilet breaks. James also saw Leave The World Behind on...

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 Came To Me on Sky Cinema. With Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway and Marisa Tomei, it's about an opera...

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 often slow starts and around for a long time. James also discussed true story Nyad, on Netflix,...