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James Cameron-Wilson reorts on box office down 9%, the third downturn in a row. He thought #3 The Outrun, a searing drama based on a memoir starring Saoirse Ronan, a terrific film. A work of arthouse cinema, it's a beautiful and emotional expedition with great acting. Francis Ford Coppola's long-cherished dream project Megalopolis reaches the screen at #7 but it is preposterous, self-indulgent and incomprehensible and had the audience leaving in droves. #10 Never Let Go with Halle Berre is a boring cabin-in-the-woods horror. But James was unexpectedly delighted by Ronan's first film from 2007, I Could Never Be Your Woman, which is available to view free online. He found Netflix's family drama His Three Daughters unduly theatrical and disappointing.

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Box office is down 27%, says James Cameron-Wilson with new entry The Substance, a feminist body horror starring Demi Moore, entering only at #3. Although #12, Jodie Comer's Prima Facie has now taken £7.6m, the highest ever for an event movie and it is still screening. James waxed lyrical about the extras-laden Blu-Ray Michael Powell: Early Works, giving umpteen insights into the development of one of the UK's greatest directors. He was also positive about Netflix's Rebel Ridge, a thriller about corruption and racism in America's South with Aaron Pierre and Don Johnson, even if the drama ebbs away when it begins to resemble First Blood.

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James Cameron-Wilson tells Simon Rose that box office is down 21%, with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice still #1. #2 is the James McAvoy thriller of manners Speak No Evil which James praised highly while advising cinemagoers to avoid the trailer. Kate Winslet stars in passion project Lee (#3) about WW2 photojournalist Lee Miller. While she is brilliant and the film looks amazing, the story is so slow paced and conventionally told James had trouble keeping his eyes open. And while he enjoyed Ian McKellen's performance in the 1930s-set The Critic (#7), he found it improbable, flat, leaden and lacking in humour as well, as too often these days, much too dark.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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