Paul McCartney at the Echo Arena. Photograph by Ian D. Hall
Originally published by L.S. Media. December 21st 2011.
L.S. Media Rating *****
There is nothing like a homecoming. It’s a chance for the family to welcome back a member of their own and lavish attention on them for the endeavours they have been through and give them credit for their success.
Originally published by L.S. Media. December 21st 2011.
L.S. Media Rating ****
No matter how many times you may think to yourself you’ve heard all the good albums of the year, there is always going to be one that you receive in a brown dusky envelope that adds just that little thrill down your spine when you hear it.
Stephen Langstaff at the o2 Academy. Photograph by Ian D. Hall
Originally published by L.S. Media. December 23rd 2011.
L.S. Media Rating ****
If there is anyone left in Liverpool that doubts the talent and ability of Stephen Langstaff then it would be easy to say they really have no idea of how good this man is, it would be even easier to show them why their misconception of Stephen is wrong and to take them to a gig and let them change their mind naturally.
Photograph by Ian D. Hall
Originally published by L.S.Media. December 23rd 2011.
L.S. Media Rating *****
The anticipation amongst the near capacity crowd in the o2 Academy was electric. This was a date that had been keenly looked forward to amongst the music lovers of Liverpool since the news had broken that Space were going to reform and play an end of year gig in the city.
Through the smoke and sweat, Tommy Scott, Jamie Murphy, Franny Griffiths, Phil Hartley, Ryan Clarke and Allan Jones came striding out with grins on their faces, a purposeful look in their eyes and a determination to prove once again why this city has missed them and the incredible music they perform.
Originally published by L.S. Media. December 30th 2012.
L.S. Media Rating *****
Cast: Aled Jones, Adam Cooper, Kerry Washington, Ken Farrington, Amy Ellen Richardson, Louise Bowden, Mark Dickinson, David Lucas.
Liverpool may not have had a White Christmas to end 2011; however there can be no doubt in anybody’s minds on how sumptuous and grand the performance at the Empire Theatre this year of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. The amount of joy it visibly put on people’s faces and even more so than the sight of a foot of snow outside your door on the big day.
Originally published by L.S. Media. January 1st 2012.
L.S. Media Rating **
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Tom Wilkinson, Michael Nyqvist, Vladimir Mashkov, Anil Kapoor, Josh Holloway.
Style over substance; perhaps significantly so to the point that Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is a feast for the eyes but will eventually leave you feeling empty and a little unfulfilled. The fourth in the highly successful franchise is no doubt a perfect vehicle for Tom Cruise. As with the action films that he has made, he seems to revel in being the hero, an action man who really does the genre justice and like Steve McQueen before him, does his own stunts to the point where many a seasoned stunt double would balk at the idea of hanging off the world’s tallest building.
Originally published by L.S. Media. January 4th 2012.
L.S. Media Rating *****
Cast: Shaun Evans, Roger Allam, Patrick Malahide, Danny Webb, Abigail Thaw, Flora Montgomery, James Bradshaw, Rachael Heaton.
I admit; I was quite prepared to hate it. However, the moment Barrington Pheloung’s musical composition started, a new dawn in the life of Morse began. This though wasn’t the chiselled, finally tuned, instinctive Morse that viewers first came across 25 years ago, this was a Morse that was nervous, shy, prone to mistakes, somewhat damned egotistical but still instantly loveable.
Originally published by L.S. Media. January 5th 2012.
L.S. Media Rating ****
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Una Stubbs, Rupert Graves, Mark Gatiss, Andrew Scott, Lara Pulver.
It’s been a long wait but finally television audiences were able to greet Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ version of Sherlock Holmes with open arms and once more willing to see the great detective transplanted from the ideal of 1880’s London through to the present day.
Originally published by L.S. Media. January 5th 2012.
L.S. Media Rating ****
Cast: Gillian Anderson, David Suchet, Douglas Booth, Ray Winstone, Shaun Dooley, Claire Rushbrook, Mark Addy, Jack Roth, Vanessa Kirby, Harry Lloyd, Tom Burke, Oscar Kennedy. Izzy Meikle-Small.
One of the big shows for the B.B.C. this Christmas period has to have been the latest big budget version of Great Expectations. An all-star cast, one of the biggest for a television series for a while on the channel, was greatly added to by newcomers Oscar Kennedy as the young Pip, Izzy Meikle-Small as the young misguided and manipulated Estella and a towering performance by Douglas Booth as the elder Pip.
Originally published by L.S. Media. January 9th 2012.
L.S. Media Rating ****
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Russell Tovey, Amelia Bullmore, Clive Mantle, Rupert Graves, Gordon Kennedy, Mark Gatiss, Sasha Behar, Una Stubbs.
The second of three new stories for the world’s greatest consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes, sees Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat bring the wonderful and tantalising story of The Hound of the Baskervilles completely up to date and leave the Victorian era behind completely and utterly forever.