Author Archives: admin

Pure Phase Ensemble 4, Live at SpaceFest! Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The collective, whether by design or by fortune, is one that can achieve so much more than the individual; together and pulling in the same direction humanity can be seen as outstanding, of placing any slight difference aside and putting the sound ahead of the note. It is in the collective endeavour that makes the ensemble look and feel cohesive and beautiful.

Pure Phase Ensemble 4 takes the songs off the recording Live at SpaceFest! and gives it the edge of perfect madness, of alluding to magnificence and the never ending search for something greater than the individual, anything larger and grandiose, splendid and interesting than a single personal objection can raise.

Pure Phase Ensemble 4, Live at SpaceFest! Album Review. full post

(368 words, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

Bad Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 5/10

Cast: Seth Rogan, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne, Chloë Grace Moretz, Ike Barinholtz, Kiersey Clemons,Dave Franco, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jerrod Carmichael, Beanie Feldstein, Selena Gomez, Lisa Kudrow, Kelsey Grammer, Liz Cackowski, Carla Gallo.

There seems to be no shame in a sequel, in many cases the story demands that the character’s lives are further resolved or they are at least interesting enough to wonder what would happen next in their lives, that the demand for the story will always ensure a franchise. The first one though, the first part, that is where the demands starts and if the first film goes down in flames then the second one should never be attempted upon pain of death in the audience.

Bad Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising. Film Review. full post

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

The Musketeers, The Spoils Of War. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Tom Burke, Santiago Cabrera, Howard Charles, Luke Pasqualino, Tamla Kari, Alexandra Dowling, Rupert Everett, Ryan Gage, Hugo Speer, Michael Ballard, Terence Beesley, Danny Burns, Sam Clemmett, Chris Corrigan, Crispin Letts, Matthew McNulty, Dan Parr, Giselle Scantlebury, Matt Stokoe, John Woodvine.

War between the two great 17th Century European superpowers of France and Spain was never one that ended easily or with much gained upon either side; just lots of dead men, lots of potential wasted and heroes made, some of bronze, some of clay.

The Musketeers, The Spoils Of War. Television Review. full post

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

Judged.

I wonder what happened to the woman

who once claimed

with moral authority

that it took over a hundred hours

to get ready for a date.

I never did understand

what the hell would take so long

in a society where the expectations

are high and the results

are often low.

Clean my teeth, that takes time,

I hate having bad teeth, wash my hair,

grew a beard so I didn’t have to shave

and kept it unruly

like my hair, knots in which the hairdresser

Judged. full post

(174 words, estimated 42 secs reading time)

Love & Friendship, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Morfydd Clark, Tom Bennett, Jenn Murray, Lochlann O’ Mearáin, Sophie Radermacher, Chloë Sevigny, Stephen Fry, Xavier Samuel, Emma Greenwell, Justin Edwards, Kelly Campbell, Jemma Redgrave, James Fleet.

Playing the action hero for so long can lead to unexpected issues within cinema. For many the sight of an actor in anything other than the expected, the fight scenes, the tense muscles quivering under the spandex or leather a precursor to the belief that in anything else you would not get the merit you deserve. It happens to so many and yet the trend does occasionally get bucked, it does bend and snap and what emerges is nothing short of fantastic.

Love & Friendship, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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

Alice Through The Looking Glass, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathway, Sacha Baron Cohen, Rhys Ifans, Matt Lucas, Lindsay Duncan, Leo Bill, Geraldine James, Andrew Scott, Richard Armitage, Ed Speleers, Timothy Spall, Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Barbara Windsor, Michael Sheen, Paul Hunter, Siobhan Redmond, Paul Whitehouse.

Alice Through The Looking Glass, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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

Read This At Your Peril (A Poetic Health Warning).

It might appear to be a suggestion

but even in the most dire distress

do not take exceed the stated dose,

the small print on the packet

which can stop

your day turning…well turning.

 

When the Senakot packet

cautions do not take more than two

of these little pills, then for your own

sake, pay heed as you would

a big scary sign, admonishing

the feeding of squirrels, birds,

furry creatures or even hippos

on park property…take heed.

 

When the notice all the way round

Read This At Your Peril (A Poetic Health Warning). full post

(289 words, estimated 1:09 mins reading time)

No Sinner, Old Habits Die Hard. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

A sound can change, it can evolve and become even bigger, even more alluring to the careful listener than what it started out as, for Colleen Renison, the sound, the beauty of the individual’s voice is heightened by the band’s almost new approach to writing and it is one that sends a clear and unambiguous message to the world; No Sinner are back with bite, vengeance and maturity by their side.

No Sinner, Old Habits Die Hard. Album Review. full post

(380 words, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

E-Mail (One).

Her E-Mail was polite

but damningly self shaming,

as she flattered herself into believing

that the world was alright,

perfect blue on the horizon

and not a rain drop

in sight to spoil her view.

 

I don’t know why we ever stopped

talking, she wrote with several

emoticons displaying insincerity

in her thoughts but to whom

the coy yellow smile sensed an opportunity

to gloss over the past, to paint

herself in a glowing light of reconciliation.

 

She signed it off with that annoying letter t

E-Mail (One). full post

(188 words, estimated 45 secs reading time)

Sound

I wish I could capture the sound

that is playing just out of reach,

over my shoulder and delicate,

I can hear it,

flowing and full of crescendo,

full of vigour

and then in one sweeping gesture

it changes to the most beautiful

resonance of melancholic desire

and moody day;

I hear it and it gestures love to me,

I wish the other noises

were as kind.

 

Ian D. Hall 2016

Permanent link to this post (74 words, estimated 18 secs reading time)