Author Archives: admin

Underworld: Blood Wars. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Theo James, Tobias Menzies, Lara Pulver, Charles Dance, James Faulkner, Peter Anderrson, Clementine Nicholson, Bradley James, Daisy Head, Oliver Stark, Sveta Driga.

It was probably too much to ask that Kate Beckinsale completely transform herself from an action star to a fully fledged actor of incredible repute, too much to hope that certain parts could be left behind as a reminder of what it takes to get into films and relish the accolades thrust upon her shelves at home in the rush of excitement that was in evidence in the brilliant Love and Friendship. Yes it may pay the bills, it probably does keep the actor in the eyes of the cinema goer and there is arguably still a certain amount of mileage left in the tank in the Underworld franchise but still, it should be noted that Kate Beckinsale is a talent not to be allowed to stagnate.

Underworld: Blood Wars. Film Review. full post

(438 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

The Bye Bye Man. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating *

Cast: Douglas Smith, Lucien Laviscount, Cressida Bonas, Doug Jones, Michael Trucco, Jenna Kanell, Erica Tremblay, Marisa Echeverria, Cleo King, Faye Dunaway, Carrie-Anne Moss, Leigh Whannell, Keelin Woodell, Laura Knox, Jonathan Penner, Nicholas Sadler, Martha Hackett, Andrew Gorell, Ava Penner, Will F. Moore, Dan Anders, Kurt Yue, Jessica Graie.

The Bye Bye Man. Film Review. full post

(394 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

Drinking Poison.

They Say,

There is a fine line

between love and hate,

that’s like saying there is just

a shade of difference between

wanting to drink the poison

offered you and wanting to

see the sun shine

with all the heat of a beautiful summer’s day;

there is no difference, mostly

it is indifference, I don’t

think about you

but when I do

it is only with the grim satisfaction

that one day

you will never see another Augusts’ afternoon

and I will not have to listen

Drinking Poison. full post

(95 words, estimated 23 secs reading time)

Merry Hell, Gig Review. Philharmonic Music Rooms, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The bench mark so keenly set out by the month of January is normally set at a medium position, the year to come not wanting to have to work so hard to leap past records as if produced by the great Lyn Davies or Jonathan Edwards, the quick jump into the musical express never one to be truly expected as the audience and band alike always find themselves unravelling their web like bones from a season of warmth and inside festivities.

Merry Hell, Gig Review. Philharmonic Music Rooms, Liverpool. full post

(427 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Jimmy Rae & The Moonshine Girls, Gig Review. Philharmonic Music Rooms, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It is a crime to miss out on a filled room with like mind, appreciative people, a crime which is exonerated if the venue is sold out but not when things such as television, just things, unwarranted intrusions in to the life of going out and being social, of supporting musical talent in any form or guise; it is a misdeed, a felony to miss out on the man with the pencil neck tie and a smile as broad as the Mersey, Jimmy Rae and the Moonshine Girls.

Jimmy Rae & The Moonshine Girls, Gig Review. Philharmonic Music Rooms, Liverpool. full post

(421 words, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

Brief.

It’s brief,

short and to the point

as per usual

when we talk on the telephone,

only truly opening up

to each other when we sit

and take up room on the sofa.

It is my fault,

I am lost in the minefield

of unexploded conversation

when technology is the preferred state of

carrying words;

yet when I am

face to face

with you

my son, our chats

mean the world to me.

 

Ian D. Hall 2017

Brief. full post

(80 words, estimated 19 secs reading time)

This Girl Can.

For all who said no,

You can’t, won’t, don’t,

It’s not possible,

You never will,

It’s in your head,

You’re not capable,

It’s just a whim,

You’ll give up, give out, give in

 

For all those who stopped me before I started,

For those who stopped me dreaming,

Who made me content with just O.K.,

Who made comfortable too comfortable,

 

I’m saying yes,

I’m hearing yes

And I am trying,

I’ll fall, I’ll fail

And I’ll try again,

This Girl Can. full post

(120 words, estimated 29 secs reading time)

Ghost Avenue, Impact. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The future is not written and yet every possible scenario that could plague humanity has been played out, thought of, given so much consideration by experts and the layman that if disaster did find its way into the rolling news there would be many who would shrug their shoulders and carry on digging a hole, avoiding all possible means of Impact.

Ghost Avenue, Impact. Album Review. full post

(377 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

The Darker My Horizon, Acquiesce. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The Darker My Horizon, the clearer and lighter the past seems, without the benefit of hindsight, without the ability to see what that future brings, the more it is shrouded in a thick veil of mist. Impossible to perceive what you might be doing in two years time and yet in full glorious Technicolor you can sit back and transport yourself a decade and relive an emotion that may have been as powerful as a seismic shock across a continent, such is the power of Time and it is the kick in the fat underbelly of those who cannot see beyond their own reluctance just how timely the band’s album Acquiesce is.

The Darker My Horizon, Acquiesce. Album Review. full post

(411 words, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

Midsomer Murders, Last Man Out. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Neil Dudgeon, Fiona Dolman, Nick Hendrix, Jason Hughes, Manjinder Virk, John Bird, Susan Jameson, Raj Awasti, Tia Bannon, Joe Dixon, Daniel Eghan, Susan Fordham, Frances Grey, Esther Hall, Stephen Hawke, Michael Haydon, Bruce Lawrence, Natasha Little, Mark Powley, Mike Ray, Paul Reynolds, Parth Thakerar, Glenn Webster.

The village green, second only to Lords as a natural home of English cricket, a place where the icy, money tentacles of show business have not crept in and the game remains pure, cricket at its most gentlemanly, where the only thing to worry about is bitter rivalry, untamed jealousy and the wearing down of the natural order; where the Last Man Out might still buy the round or quite easily find himself the target of death.

Midsomer Murders, Last Man Out. Television Review. full post

(427 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)