Category Archives: Film

The Eternals. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harrington, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Ma Dong-Seok, Harish Patel, Bill Skarsgård, Haaz Sleiman, Esai Daniel Cross, Harry Styles, Alan Scott, Patton Oswalt.

The powers that be behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe should be congratulated and praised for what they have achieved by bringing more than the big hitters of their graphic novel range to the screens.

The Eternals. Film Review. full post

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

A Quiet Place Part II. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Cillian Murphy, John Krasinski, Djimon Hounsou, Okieriete Onaodowan, Scoot McNairy.

Step lightly upon this Earth, for in the shadows lay those waiting for our footsteps to falter and for us to cry out in pain, and they will tear us apart.

If A Quiet Place was one of the surprise, and deserving hits of the last decade, then its sequel was almost a sure gone conclusion; it just demanded the continued involvement of John Krasinski, and in A Quiet Place Part II, the same racked up tension, of delivery without dialogue in some of its more observed and focused scenes, is key and astutely pursued.

A Quiet Place Part II. Film Review. full post

(456 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

The Suicide Squad. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Viola Davis, Daniela Melchior, David Dastmalchian, Sylvester Stallone, Michael Rooker, Peter Capaldi, John Ostrander, Joel Kinnaman, Nathan Fillon, Jai Courtney, Flula Borg, Mayling Ng, Pete Davidson, Sean Gunn, Stephen Blackehart, Steve Agee, Tinashe Kajese, Jennifer Holland, Storm Reid, Natalia Safran, Jared Leland Gore, Rey Hernandez, Juan Diego Botto, Joaquin Cosio, Gerardo Davila, Mikaela Hoover, Lynne Ashe, Julio Cesar Ruiz, Taika Waititi.

The Suicide Squad. Film Review. full post

(561 words, estimated 2:15 mins reading time)

No Time To Die. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Daniel Craig, Léa Seydoux, Rami Malik, Lashana Lynch, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Naomi Harris, Rory Kinnear, Jeffrey Wright, Billy Magnussen, Christoph Waltz, David Dencik, Ana de Armas, Dali Benssalah, Lisa-Dorah Sonnet, Coline Defaud, Mathilde Bourbin, Hugh Dennis, Priyanga Burford.

Debates will rage on long after his replacement in the franchise is announced, a new favourite taking in the mantle as Ian Fleming’s suave, and sometimes brutal, hero, but as the final moments of No Time To Die roll, as the memories re-emerge of intricately drawn characters, of timely antagonists capturing the era with sublime fierceness, and of a screen hero facing arguably his own mortality, what we should arguably be recognising is that Daniel Craig as 007 is the greatest version of super British spy, James Bond, we might ever be treated to.

No Time To Die. Film Review. full post

(563 words, estimated 2:15 mins reading time)

Last Train To Christmas. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Michael Sheen, Cary Elwes, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sophie Simnett, Mia McKenna-Bruce, Robin Askwith, Anna Lundberg, John Thomson, Natalie Mitson, Laura Evelyn, Sianad Gregory, Thomas Law, Claire Cage, Anna Bolton, Edward Harrison, Samuel Logan, Harry Giubileo, George Hannigan, Dan Bothers, Danny Ashbrook, Matthew Lee, Philippa Cole, Jack Cristou, Ebony Aboagye, Charlotte-Hannah Jones, Volenté Lloyd, Coein Dalton, Lily Adair, Tom Hayes, Samuel Blake, Emily Adair.

Last Train To Christmas. Film Review. full post

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

The Unholy. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Crocket Brown, William Sadler, Katie Aselton, Cary Elwes, Diogo Morgado, Bates Wilder, Marina Mazepa, Christine Adams, Dustin Tucker, Gisela Chipe.

Faith is an acquired taste, too much of it can either be a blessing in the eyes of the devout, not enough, and the accusations and whispers start to float through the air as if caught on the winds of scandal; whispers that can be misinterpreted, rumours that can lead to exile, gossip that can unleash Hell on Earth and guide the faithful to take a life.

The Unholy. Film Review. full post

(519 words, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)

Godzilla vs. Kong. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eliza González, Julian Dennison, Lance Reddick, Kyle Chandler, Demián Bichir, Kaylee Hottle, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Ronny Chieng, John Pirruccello, Chris Chalk.

When Titans collide it is either a simple case of love or hate for the audiences who cannot but help pick a side, cheer on the winner, take cheap pot shots and boo with bravado the expected loser; this is hard enough to convey with any appropriate meaning when it is two boxers slugging it out in the ring, their signature moves keenly studied and reported, the grudges they bare against each other, but when you transfer that sense of toxic, animalistic brutality to a wider, less human shape, you can end up with a Battle Royale that you cannot keep your eyes from watching, and your heart from pumping with excitement.

Godzilla vs. Kong. Film Review. full post

(590 words, estimated 2:22 mins reading time)

Jungle Cruise. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, Edgar Ramirez, Jesse Plemons, Paul Giamatti, Veronica Falcón, Dani Rovira, Quim Gutiérrez, Dan Dargan Carter, Andy Nyman, Raphael Alejandro, Simone Lockhart, Pedro Lopez.

The adventurous romp, the quest for something more than we can conceive in the everyday avenue of life, has always been one to draw cinema crowds in to the darkened room, but it remains, it a post-Covid world, something that the producers of such films might have to look at with a finer eye if they are to keep the thrill of the chase paramount and not relegated to that of a mere show, of  whimsy without the necessary spectacle.

Jungle Cruise. Film Review. full post

(532 words, estimated 2:08 mins reading time)

Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Simu Liu, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Awkwafina, Ben Kingsley, Meng’er Zhang, Fala Chen, Michelle Yeoh, Wah Yeun, Florian Munteanu, Andy Le, Paul W. He, Jayden Zhang, Elodie Fong, Arnold Sun, Stephanie Hsu, Tsai Chin, Jodi Long, Dallas Liu, Ronny Chieng, Stella Ye, Fernando Chien, Michael-Anthony Taylor, Zach Cherry, Raymond Ma, Benedict Wong, Jade Xu, Shelley Xu, Alistair Bates, Dee Bradley Baker, Brie Larson, Tim Roth, Mark Ruffalo.

Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings. Film Review. full post

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

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ruairi O’Connor, Sarah Catherine Hook, Julian Hillard, John Noble, Eugenie Bondurant, Shannon Kook, Ronnie Gene Blevins, Keith Arthur Boldon, Steve Coulter, Vince Pisani, Ingrid Bisu, Andrea Andrade, Ashley LeConte Campbell, Sterling Jerins, Megan Ashley Brown, Mitchell Hoog, Paul Wilson, Charlene Amoia.

The darker the days, the more we seem to look to omens, signs, and wonders to see us through our existence. We may believe we have reached a point in our evolution, in our collected history and ability to weave stories, that the unexplained is by its own insistence, is rationalised, efficiently excused, and our reasoning enhanced…and yet there are mysteries that continue to confound, that cannot be explained by cold logic, nor blamed upon human irrationality.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. Film Review. full post

(561 words, estimated 2:15 mins reading time)