James Cameron-Wilson

FILM CRITIC, BROADCASTER, AUTHOR & EXECUTIVE EDITOR

James Cameron-Wilson is a film critic, journalist, broadcaster and author with a career spanning five decades. As Executive Editor of Film Review, he brings more than 50 years of experience in film criticism, movie reviews, broadcasting and Hollywood journalism to his coverage of the latest theatrical and streaming releases.

Forbidden from watching movies as a child, James decided to become a professional film critic, beginning his career with What's On in London in 1976. Since then, he has written extensively about film for newspapers, magazines, television, radio and digitally, contributing to The Times, The Sunday Times, The Mirror, The London Paper, Photoplay, Ritz Newspaper, Shivers, Filmstar, Flicks, Showbiz, TVTimes and the What's On Magazine Group, to name a few. He wrote extensively for Film Review magazine (ironically no relation to the Film Review Annuals and Film Review Daily) from 1980 until its closure in 2009.

James has been editing or co-editing Film Review for nearly forty years. He served as the editor of Film Review annual for twenty years after taking over from founder F. Maurice Speed. When the annual books ended in 2015, Film Review Daily began, where James has continued in his position as Executive Editor for over a decade.

A prolific film author, James has published twenty-six books, including twenty editions of the Film Review annual, The Cinema of Robert De Niro (the first book on the actor, translated into French in 1988), Young Hollywood and its sequel, Hollywood: The New Generation, CinéStars and The Index, an alphabetical reference guide to words, people, fascinating facts and everything worth knowing. He also edited the trade magazine Showbiz, published by Michael White and photographer David Bailey.

On television, James was a regular presenter on BSB TV's daily Movie Show and has reviewed films for Sky TV. His extensive broadcasting experience also includes BBC radio, Talk Radio, BBC local radio, Whitechapel AM and periodic presenting duties on BBC Radio 2's Arts Programme. For more than ten years and over 600 episodes, James has reviewed major new film releases and discussed all things Hollywood on Share Radio's The Business of Film, with Simon Rose firing the questions.

A member of the London Film Critics' Circle since 1991, James has also served as a board member of its Film Awards panel, bringing decades of experience and insight to film criticism and journalism.

At Film Review, James continues to share his expertise through film reviews, coverage of new releases and commentary on the ever-changing world of cinema, connecting readers with the movies, filmmakers and stories shaping the film industry.

Read James’ Latest Reviews

Why I Became a Film Critic

by James Cameron-Wilson, Executive Editor, Film Review

Although I always enjoyed writing at school, it never occurred to me that I could make a living out of it. I was forbidden from visiting the cinema at school, so when I moved to London at the age of 17, I immediately joined the National Film Theatre and lapped up this forbidden fruit. For me, cinema offered a window to other worlds, different cultures, periods in time and language. It served as both an education and an entertainment.

When I joined What’s On In London as a clerk, I was promoted to cinema editor six months later and shortly after that I was given my own column. It is to Twentieth Century Fox that I owe everything, as, because of my column, they invited me to meet Milos Forman, who was promoting One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at the time. It was a life-changing meeting of minds and I was so electrified by the experience that I begged my editor to allow me to write it up. In the event, I had so much material that my interview was serialised over three issues. After Forman came Truffaut, Bertolucci, Ridley Scott, Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Altman… and my addiction was complete. Since then, I have reviewed for The Times, The Mirror, The London Paper, The Sunday Times and a slew of film magazines, including Photoplay, Film Review (no relation to the publication which you are now reading), Flicks, Film Star, Movie, Shivers, Showbiz, The TV Times, and more. I also co-presented The Movie Show on Sky TV, a daily programme, while writing a series of books on film. I am now working on my 27th. I have pretty much reviewed movies via every available medium, including having my reviews reproduced on posters (sold in the British chain store WH Smith) and on collectible cards. One company even asked to reproduce my reviews on mouse mats. I was even Britain’s ‘dial-a-film critic’ for a time! Radio, of course, was another regular outlet, and I broadcast regularly for the BBC, LBC, Whitechapel AM and Talk Radio and have guested on CNN, BBC Worldwide, Channel One TV, the BBC's General News Service and BSkyB, while contributing to the BBC’s Radio 2 Arts Programme.

I was also inducted into The London Film Critics’ Circle in 1991 and became a board member of the awards’ panel, selecting the shortlist for the nominations. It was a huge responsibility, a task currently delegated to a number of critics. Now that I have so much experience behind me, it is rewarding to pass on the baton to a younger generation, giving Zoom talks to university students and mounting film nights in my own private cinema (complete with surround sound). Luckily, my passion for the medium continues unsated.