Monthly Archives: April 2014

An August Bank Holiday Lark, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Barrie Rutter, Emily Butterfield, Darren Kuppan, Jack Quarton, Ben Burman, Elizabeth Eves, Sophie Hatfield, Lauryn Redding, Brett Lee Roberts, Mark Thomas, Russell Richardson.

An August Bank Holiday Lark, the chance for some men to become heroes, for some to find some meaning or importance in life away from the remote villages they may have been raised in all their lives or even the chance to be looked at differently by those they need validation or even respect from. An August Bank Holiday Lark, the hazy days of summer before Gavro Princip took a gun and assassinated one man and his wife and started the ball rolling on the first mechanised whole sale slaughter of soldiers and civilians that tore through Europe and beyond.

An August Bank Holiday Lark, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(577 words, estimated 2:18 mins reading time)

Locke, Film Review. Picturehouse@Fact, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Tom Hardy, Nqabilezitha Mhlonga, Olivia Coleman, Ruth Wilson, Andrew Scott, Ben Daniels, Tom Holland, Bill Milner, Danny Webb, Alice Lowe, Silas Carson, Lee Ross, Kirsty Dillon.

American cinema may have invented the concept of the “Road Movie”, just as they did with the beat poetry that used the idea as metaphor to describe life but surely in the hands of one film, British cinema has shown exactly what can be done with the genre. The wide open spaces that run the width of the United States is can be argued is a poor substitute to the tediousness that is inflicted upon drivers in the U.K., the road in America takes you to the place you want to be, the road in Britain takes you where you need to be. For that prospect alone makes Locke one of the finest films dealing with solitude and everyday realism that you are likely to come across.

Locke, Film Review. Picturehouse@Fact, Liverpool. full post

(490 words, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)

Liverpool Legend Ian McNabb Launches His Own Open Mic Night in Liverpool.

Ian Mcnabb is one of the great singer/songwriters to emerge from the 80’s Liverpool music scene. The founder and lead singer with chart toppers The Icicle Works, will be launching his very own ‘Open Mic’ night at Mathew Street Live on Mathew Street, Liverpool (above Eric’s) starting on Wednesday 7th May from 9pm – 1am. Entry is free.

“I’m pleased to report that I will be hosting a singer-songwriter night every Wednesday upstairs from Eric’s club starting next month. I hope to see as many of you there as possible. Come and play your music!” says Ian Mcnabb.

Liverpool Legend Ian McNabb Launches His Own Open Mic Night in Liverpool. full post

(159 words, estimated 38 secs reading time)

Doctor Who: The Crooked Man. Audio Drama Review, 3.3. Big Finish.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, Sarah Smart, Robin Pearce, Richard Earl, Neil Stuke, Lizzie Roper.

Whoever said reading was good for you had never came across the fear that radiates the characters in novels that never get read, the terror that appears when The Crooked Man comes a calling.

Doctor Who: The Crooked Man. Audio Drama Review, 3.3. Big Finish. full post

(507 words, estimated 2:02 mins reading time)

Only Child, From Muddy Water To Higher Ground. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

It seems an interminable age since Alan O’ Hare put forward the cause. The imposing marriage between the personal thought and the anger that burns within at the way that the world has taken a sudden turn to an extreme position in that all has been made steadily good now comes crashing down amongst the bitterness of memories. Yet there is hope, there should always be the glimmer of optimism that makes each day worthwhile and keeps the anger tucked up inside just that little bit longer. Such is the power of Alan O’ Hare’s writing under the banner of Only Child that the latest album, From Muddy Water To Higher Ground is just that, the anticipation of seeing your loved one smile whilst raging at the past and the future in the same breathe.

Only Child, From Muddy Water To Higher Ground. Album Review. full post

(532 words, estimated 2:08 mins reading time)

Fargo, The Rooster Prince. Episode Two. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Allison Tolman, Colin Hanks, Bob Odenkirk, Keith Carradine, Joshua Close, Adam Goldberg, Russell Harvard, Glenn Howerton, Brian Markinson, Tom Musgrave, Joey King, Rachel Blanchard, Peter Breitmayer, Barry Flatman, Oliver Platt, Spencer Drever, Lori Ravensborg, Gordon S. Miller, Allegra Fulton, David LeReaney, Graeme Black, James Dugan, Peter Strand Rumpel, Paul Braunstein, Sarah Elias, Mart Ronaghan, Leah Cairns, Crystal Brooke, Liam Green, Eve Harlow, Chad Stanley Martin.

Fargo, The Rooster Prince. Episode Two. Television Review. full post

(552 words, estimated 2:12 mins reading time)

Locke & Key: Welcome To Lovecraft. Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Welcome to Lovecraft; welcome to the world of Joe Hill but whatever you find it might be better to keep it under Locke & Key.

Locke & Key: Welcome To Lovecraft was the opening graphic novel by the writer Joe Hill and top rated artist Gabriel Rodriguez and as graphic novels go it is sensational. A story of incredible depth but with the added bonus of some of the most interesting comic art to ever see the light of day that its only peers in the last twenty years would be arguably Watchmen and the Sin City series, certainly when it comes to independent graphic novels.

Locke & Key: Welcome To Lovecraft. Graphic Novel Review. full post

(601 words, estimated 2:24 mins reading time)

The Grid, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: James Bibby, Esta Bickerstaff, Catherine Brown, Georgina Cummings, Philipa Gaskell, Lucy Harris, Heidi Henders, David Jackson, Gus Kearns, Chloe Nall-Smith, Emily Rainbow, Keeley Ray, Anthony Roberts, Grace Sandison, Josie Sedgwick-Davies, Whitney Suku, Kieran Urquhart, Matthew Woods, Nick Crosby, Tiegan Byrne, Caitlin Carey, Cortney Carey, Poppy Hughes, Kate Keeton, Niamh McCarthy, James O’ Neill, Mark Powell, Darren Pritchard, Jamie Pye, Paislie Ried, Joe Roberts, Nathan Russell, Harry Sargent, Kaila Sharples, Daryl Wafer, Nadia Anim Mohammad Noor, Rachel Barry, Lewis Bray, Jennifer Briggs, Daniel Fitzgerald, Tom Harrington, Tammy Holland, Sean Hyland, Nina Levy, Scott Lewis, Hannah McGowan, Kathryn McGurk, Spencer Montague, Joe Ringwood, Jenny Stock, Jonathan Taylor, Theo Thompson, Tommy Williams, Curtis Wilson.

The Grid, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(567 words, estimated 2:16 mins reading time)

Mike McCartney, Sex, Drugs and Rock N Roll ( I Wish). An Evening With Mike McCartney. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

When anybody with the authority of Mike McGear McCartney, celebrated photographer, part of the great Liverpool band The Scaffold and ambassador of many things to do with the city, comes back home and offers the chance to hear him give a talk on his life, it is not just a night out, it is a chance to live through history.

Mike McCartney, Sex, Drugs and Rock N Roll ( I Wish). An Evening With Mike McCartney. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(490 words, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)

Aquaman: The Others. Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Aquaman may well have been the poor relation for many years in terms of superheroes from the big two mainstream makers of comic books and graphic novels but in terms of modern story-telling, the fight against injustice actually going hand in hand with environmental concerns, it really has opened many fans eyes to the possibilities that was afforded to Arthur Curry due to the huge re-boot by D.C. Comics in the New 52 series.

Aquaman: The Others. Graphic Novel Review. full post

(594 words, estimated 2:23 mins reading time)