Author Archives: admin

The Goose That Died On Animal Farm.

How much more entertaining

to slowly the strangle the sleepless Goose

that laid Golden Eggs, than to remove its head

from its neck and find the plump belly only contains

unspent grit and the remains of the previous day’s feed.

 

By placing an ever tighter grip with one hand

around the stout, formally resolute bird’s feathery neck,

and in the other

the sense of the caring fatherly figure protecting the Goose

from the ravenous wolf, forever telling the scared bird stories

of wolves and fox with mange in their fur and steel

The Goose That Died On Animal Farm. full post

(219 words, estimated 53 secs reading time)

Cartoonopolis, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre Studio, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Lewis Bray.

Imagination is arguably the greatest gift bestowed upon humanity. It can lead us down many paths that were once closed off for whatever reason  and it can be a shelter in any storm, a place in which to escape to when the world is against you, a place in which to explore and create.

Cartoonopolis, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre Studio, Liverpool. full post

(482 words, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

Jupiter Ascending, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *

Cast: Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth, Tuppence Middleton, Christina Cole, Nicholas A. Newman, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Ramon Tikaram, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tim Pigott-Smith, James D’Arcy, Jeremy Swift, Vanessa Kirby, Samuel Barnett, Terry Gilliam.

There is no doubting the scale of imagination of the Wachowskis. Other, arguably more highly regarded and even phenomenally charged films such as The Matrix trilogy and the exceptional V for Vendetta, will however be remembered with more fondness than the latest film to escape Andy and Lana’s burgeoning net, the visually stunning but poorly delivered Jupiter Ascending.

Jupiter Ascending, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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

A Sonnet For Those That Wish You Ill.

I would write a sonnet just for you,

something comparing roses to your sweet breath

or the clouds in the sky, anything to hide a solitary clue

of how you wish me nothing but ill-fortune and possible death.

 

I hold a candle for you at all times of the day and night.

The wax cascading down, tear by tear

and soon snuffing out eventually your guiding eternal light

as the days turn to months and finally a goodbye to the year.

 

Oh I wish I could say I still miss the way you were

A Sonnet For Those That Wish You Ill. full post

(149 words, estimated 36 secs reading time)

Broadchurch, Television Review. Series Two, Episode Six.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: David Tennant, Olivia Coleman, Andrew Buchan, Jodie Whittaker, Arthur Darvill, Eve Myles, Charlotte Beaumont, Lucy Cohu, Joe Sims, Carolyn Pickles, Jonathan Bailey, Tanya Franks, Simone McAullay, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, James D’Arcy, Charlotte Rampling, Meera Syal, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, William Andrews, Matthew Gravelle, Adam Wilson, Shaun Dooley, Amanda Drew, Eliza Bennett, Hollie Burgess.

At some point the healing process has to begin, it must be seen to mend and restore; however before it does, like a scab that you cannot help but pick at, the blood-letting must continue and at times it may feel like the hurting will never stop.

Broadchurch, Television Review. Series Two, Episode Six. full post

(463 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

Grim Fandango: Remastered (PS4), Game Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Grim Fandango: Remastered is a story driven third-person adventure puzzle game available for download from the PlayStation Store for the PS4 and PS Vita. The game is an enhanced version of the cult classic point and click adventure which was originally released in October 1998 and is known as one of LucasArts’ best games amongst many big name classics such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Grim Fandango was met with mass critical acclaim upon release with many awards in 1998 such as Adventure Game of the Year from PC Gamer, IGN, Game Critics Awards and Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences as well as an entire range of GameSpot awards with a lot of recognition for the quality the game possessed. Tim Schafer who is known for his work on other such classic games as Day of the Tentacle and Psychonauts was the project lead on the original release of Grim Fandango which he stated cost around $3 million to develop and he also lead the project of remastering the game with Double Fine Productions.

Grim Fandango: Remastered (PS4), Game Review. full post

(2185 words, estimated 8:44 mins reading time)

Selma, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Wilkinson, Giovanni Ribisi, Tim Roth, Clay Chappell, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Andre Holland, Colman Domingo, Omar J. Dorsey, Common, Tessa Thompson, David Dwyer, David Morizot, Dylan Baker, Wendell Pierce, Trai Byers, Keith Stanfield, Stan Houston, Nigel Thatch, Tara Ochs, Cuba Gooding Jr., Michael Shikany, Martin Sheen.

 

Selma, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(626 words, estimated 2:30 mins reading time)

Dinosaur Deniers.

The dinosaur presented to you this evening

has had the most awful of press.

Uncaring, even abusive towards its young,

beast like, carnivorous and rotten I stress;

A constant whimper in the Universe and one that destroyed

its home and yet was capable of inspiring us to greater thought

and to whom even now after all scientific data has been agreed upon

sees Dinosaur deniers take paleontologists  to court.

 

“We shouldn’t teach our young about these absurd creatures” they decry

they try to denounce the dinosaur as an evil spread by science

Dinosaur Deniers. full post

(264 words, estimated 1:03 mins reading time)

And Then There Were None, Theatre Review. Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Paul Nicholas, Colin Buchanan, Susan Penhaligon, Mark Curry, Verity Rushworth, Frazer Hines, Ben Nealon, Eric Carte, Judith Rae, Paul Hassall, Jan Knightley.

Justice, it should be seen as being above all. The knowledge that justice must not only be done but seen to be done is the overriding factor in any democratic society. What happens when justice is served by an unhinged mind? The reasons of impartiality become skewed and twisted and whilst it gets the job of retribution done, the voyeuristic viewer becomes entangled in the right of death debate too closely.

And Then There Were None, Theatre Review. Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton. full post

(529 words, estimated 2:07 mins reading time)

36 Crazyfists, Time And Trauma. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Everything in life comes down to two subjects, sex and death. For the witty, taxes comes into the equation as a means of pointing out that everything alive between finding a lover and the point of ultimate demise is just basically because everybody is out to take advantage of you. In amongst it all though is the somehow forgotten entity of Time.  Sex and death may be the two romantic visions that a poet will surreptitiously weave into a new sonnet and mentally ask their readers to gouge out the sentiments tied up within, but Time is ever present and demands more than the other state of affairs put together.

36 Crazyfists, Time And Trauma. Album Review. full post

(447 words, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)