Author Archives: admin

Harley Quinn: Surprise, Surprise. Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

In all the character additions to the D.C. Universe since both Batman and Superman first had the duopoly of the public’s sense of change in the way that comic strips could intrigue, entertain and have the possibility beyond the realm of existence of the two dimension, no time world that lived in the heart of the funny pages, the shorts and the one joke barbed laugh, then surely The Joker is the one that has captivated the minds of the reader and film lover the most.

Harley Quinn: Surprise, Surprise. Graphic Novel Review. full post

(435 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

Granddad’s Ration Book.

 

I saw my Granddad’s ration

book once, held out to me

as a symbol of patient loss,

from the fall of the Canadian farmland

scrubbed dry and parched

in the ’36 Depression

to the bombs and shells

that descended, rained and flooded

around his Grandfather’s old fruit

and veg shop

opposite Stirchley baths;

in Time,

do I also hold out

the passing of this failed belief

in the form of a book

that we all must feel free

to express our gratitude,

Granddad’s Ration Book. full post

(103 words, estimated 25 secs reading time)

Jeremiah Johnson, Straightjacket. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The world is facing a storm, one perhaps that has arguably not been faced for as long as the vast majority of us have ever been alive, the dilemma of the path being taken, the ship of fools that are leading us into the damned unknown and making us the scapegoats for their decisions. It is no wonder that in such a period of uncertainty we find ourselves believing that the individual and collective soul has been placed in a Straightjacket, that our hands are tied, and our thoughts constricted.

Jeremiah Johnson, Straightjacket. Album Review. full post

(488 words, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

Manimal, Black Plague. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The song with the bestial, almost savage hook is the one that comes along and tears apart your soul, but also has the presence of mind to nurture its recovery by being honest, brutal perhaps, but far beyond the often-stolen kiss paraded by the pop boy band which lifts the spirits only for a moment.

Manimal, Black Plague. Single Review. full post

(351 words, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

Hotel Artemis. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Jodie Foster, Sterling K. Brown, Sofia Boutella, Jeff Goldblum, Brian Tyree Henry, Jenny Slate, Zachery Quinto, Charlie Day, Dave Bautista, Kenneth Choi.

It is almost impossible to hold antipathy towards Jodie Foster, there is no rhyme or reason to look at her contribution to the art of cinema as nothing less than favourable and with some incredible memories along the way, from Taxi Driver through films such as Bugsy Malone, The Accused, the unforgettable performance as Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs, and even in 1993’s Sommersby, Jodie Foster has sealed her reputation as an actor of outstanding quality, she has been one of the industry’s most forthright and passionate of spokeswomen.

Hotel Artemis. Film Review. full post

(481 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

Pinocchio: The Boy Within, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Catherine Devine, Kimberley Elizabeth Greenwood, Nick Wymer, Louise Gregson, Michael Newstead, Joe Matthew-Morris, Geraldine Moloney Judge , Lee Burnitt, Caitlin Harwood, James Stephenson, Charley McCafferty, Laura Jones.

There is a time when we must all look to those we may call father and take on the mantle of being grown up in front of them, that the facade of childhood and made up stories must cease, and we must find ourselves being the adult, we must cut the strings and stand upon our own two feet.

Pinocchio: The Boy Within, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(441 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

The ‘Crocodile Dundee’ Of Poetry Skirmishes.

 

From out of the shadows

the mugger brandished his weapon,

a desperate poet in need of a rhyme,

shunned by society, he thrust his

ill thought out Haiku

and grinned blackened teeth.

Call that a poem?,

enquired the mugger’s late-night target

and slowly drew out the epic

he had been working on

for twenty years, with unfolding

plot and elaborate narrative

weaved throughout time,

imagining gasps and the scent

of the Italian Rivera in his cold,

wind swept, storm driven sandals.

The ‘Crocodile Dundee’ Of Poetry Skirmishes. full post

(157 words, estimated 38 secs reading time)

Terence Blacker, Enough About Me. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The art of satire is one that must be preserved at all costs, to those that seek its obliteration we must always be on guard against, the alleged well-meaning hides a darker, nastier, almost totalitarian streak. If this is left unchecked by the ability to observe and have the arsenal of absolute wit to dismantle the pompous and the arrogant it will become a bleak and despotic world, in which humour of any type, if not banned, will be vacuous, boring and will be used to oppress by being aimed at the wrong people, the poor and the undervalued in our society.

Terence Blacker, Enough About Me. Album Review. full post

(440 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

Graham Nash, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There are few typically warm, lovingly affectionate, and genuinely positive welcomes to the Philharmonic Hall stage as there is joyfully reserved for what could be said to be the elder statesmen and women of the music world. The ones to whom kick started off the whole love affair with British pop music, to the ones who found fame not once, but over the course of different bands and outings, who made the crowd sing along to the best known, and sometimes more obscure, songs, the heroes of the 60s have always held a special place in the hearts of music lovers.

Graham Nash, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(479 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

John Harris Dunning And Michael Kennedy, Tumult. Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There is arguably no man to have ever walk the Earth who didn’t see himself as the hero in somebody’s eyes at one point in his life, or at least hope that he could be, to play out in his mind the actions of assisting personally in the healing of the soul that has been damaged, to exact revenge on behalf of the injured party, or at least destroy himself in the process. It is the basis of the storm that rages inside, the young man’s belief that to die nobly for a cause is a far greater reward than to live ignobly forever writing of other’s success.

John Harris Dunning And Michael Kennedy, Tumult. Graphic Novel Review. full post

(450 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)