Category Archives: Film

Dune (2021). Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, Chang Chen, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, Javier Bardem, David Dastmalchian, Babs Olusanmokun, Golda Rosheuvel, Roger Yuan.

To adapt faithfully for cinema a novel so revered, covered in glory, and one that wears the word epic as if it were a robe sewn by hand for someone with more money than a small nation, is to perhaps court feelings of unrestrained excess, to forgo modesty in favour of magnified extravagance, and no matter how noble the intention, no matter how faithful, there on screen will be the accusations of pretension.

Dune (2021). Film Review. full post

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

Don’t Breathe 2. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision * * *

Cast: Stephen Lang, Madelyn Grace, Brendan Sexton III, Adam Young, Rocci Williams, Christian Zagia, Bobby Schofield, Fiona O’Shaughnessy, Stephanie Arcila, Diaana Babnicova, Sofija Stojanovic, Steffan Rhodri, Miodrag Cvetkovic, Ibrahim Ishaq, Eydel Francisco Balbuena, Ron Rogell.

An argument persists that a surprising cinematic hit should at times understand that it should remain a solo outing. This reasonable contention does not always follow suit, the film lover perhaps only has to think of the Saw franchise to know how decent a series can be when its own universe and mythos is expanded, but on the whole a decently produced film with one particular dynamic should by all means refrain from ever thinking of creating cinematic offspring.

Don’t Breathe 2. Film Review. full post

(476 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Spider-Man: No Way Home. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, J.K. Simmons, Jon Favreau, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori, Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire, J.B. Smoove, Charlie Cox, Angourie Rice, Rhys Ifans, Thomas Hayden Church, Paula Newsome.

Spider-Man: No Way Home. Film Review. full post

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

Death On The Nile. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Armie Hammer, Gal Gadot, Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Rose Leslie, Letitia Wright, Sophie Okonedu, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Russell Brand, Emma Mackey, Michael Rouse, Alaa Safi, Orlando Seale, Charlie Verhaeren, Susannah Fielding, Rick Warden, Ali Fazal.

It could be argued that we may have reached peak Christie.

The Queen of Crime has not lost any of the affection on the fans, the books will always sell, the dedicated devotee will pour over even the shortest of articles that has Agatha Christie’s name attached, even if by the merest of association, they will believe that there is somewhere a story, a tale in which perhaps one more exercise in observing the act of criminality and murder will make itself known.

Death On The Nile. Film Review. full post

(459 words, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)

In The Earth. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Joel Fry, Ellora Torchia, Reece Shearsmith, Hayley Squires, John Hollingsworth, Mark Monroe.

Not so gentle are the sleepers in that quiet Earth, or so we might come to believe when we find that nature has turned her back on us and makes us reap all that we have sown, all that we have buried underground.

In The Earth. Film Review. full post

(499 words, estimated 2:0 mins reading time)

Old. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Alex Woolf, Thomasin McKenzie, Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ken Leung, Eliza Scanlen, Aaron Pierre, Embeth Davidtz, Emun Elliott, Alexa Swinton, Gustaf Hammarsten, Kathleen Chalfant, Francesca Eastwood, Nolan River, Luca Faustino Rodriguez, Kailen Jude, M. Night Shyamalan, Matthew Shear, Daniel Ison, Jeffrey Holsman, Deidra Ciolko, Margaux Da Silva, John Twohy.

Growing old is a burden to our youth, and one that comes with worry, problems, afflictions, and escalating medical disorders, but thankfully, and if we are fortunate to survive the passage of time, is one that we have years to prepare for.

Old. Film Review. full post

(587 words, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

Escape Room: Tournament Of Champions. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Deborah Ann Well, Thomas Cocquerel, Holland Roden, Indya Moore, Carlito Olivero, Matt Esof, Jamie-Lee Money, Wayne Harrison, Lucy Newman-Williams, Isabelle Fuhrman, James Frain.

A sequel to a surprise cinematic hit does not always guarantee further success. In an age of marketing paranoia, where every precaution is taken to ensure that the box office does not bomb under the weight of expectancy, under the rampant lights of cost effectiveness and a post-Covid world, to find that a sequel that is worthy of the limited budget offered, one in which every last cent and dime, pound and pence has projected the idea from the page to screen without missing a heartbeat, is to find solace in recognition, in admiring the art with pride.

Escape Room: Tournament Of Champions. Film Review. full post

(389 words, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)

The Forever Purge. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Ana de la Reguera, Tenoch Huerta, Josh Lucas, Leven Rambin, Cassidy Freeman, Alejandro Edda, Will Patton, Will Brittain, Sammi Rotibi, Zahn McClarnon, Gary Nohealii, Gregory Zaragoza, Brett Edwards, Carol Cantu, Keenan Henson, Kacey Montoya, Joshua Dov, Annie Littel, Lupe Carranza, Willow Beuoy, Dylan Morales-Brodie, Steve Kuzj, Yomary Cruz, Jeffrey Doornbos, Susie Abromeit, Emily Trujillo, LaSaundra Gibson, Patricio Doren, Marco Martinez, Veronica Falcón, Edward Gelhaus, Hope Lauren, Coda Boesel, Alfonso Illan, Shaw Jones.

The Forever Purge. Film Review. full post

(640 words, estimated 2:34 mins reading time)

The King’s Man. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Djimon Hounsou, Gemma Arterton, Matthew Goode, Charles Dance, Harris Dickinson, Alexandra Maria Lara, Rhys Ifans, Tom Hollander, Valerie Pachner, Daniel Brühl, Ron Cook, Joel Basman, Todd Boyce, Barbara Drennan, August Diehl, Alison Steadman, Ian Kelly, Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

There is nothing quite like the epic romp, and in modern cinema nobody does it arguably finer and with more dynamic display than Director Matthew Vaughn.

The King’s Man. Film Review. full post

(540 words, estimated 2:10 mins reading time)

Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, Naomi Harris, Reid Scott, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu, Sian Webber, Jack Bandeira, Olumide Olorunfemi, Scroobius Pip, Reece Shearsmith.

Despite the seriousness of the storyline, the undertones of institutional abuse and the outright red flags of cruelty, neglect and violence, Andy Serkis’ Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a romp, a graphic book large screen hybrid, a mutation of fine comedy underpinned by the gravity of murderous revenge.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Film Review. full post

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