Category Archives: Film

The Accountant, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Tambor, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Jean Smart, John Lithgow, Andy Umberger, Jason Davis, Robert C. Treveiler, Mary Kraft, Ron Prather, Susan Williams, Fernado Chien, Alex Collins.

Anybody can make a film it seems where the protagonist has a deep dark past, something in their history that has driven them to the point in which the audience joins them in the carnage, mayhem and resolution to come; anybody and everybody has made a film in which the leading role or the anti-hero has a quirk, a certain eccentricity that makes them stand out but rarely do they do it such a way that the characteristics of autism are made to be so dynamic and fully mapped out, explored in a way that the hero is anything but fulfilled and given absolute purpose.

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

(392 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Hacksaw Ridge, Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths, Vince Vaughn, Goran D. Kleut.

Much is made of the hero, the person who can look insanity in the face and treat it with kindness, who can see the horror of war and find the grace to be compassionate to those who perhaps don’t deserve it but give each soul the benefit of their own internal wisdom.

Hacksaw Ridge, Film Review. full post

(503 words, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

Doctor Strange, Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Mads Mikkelson.

To corrupt the great Bard, there is more in the Universe than we can ever understand, and at times it feels like that when you immerse yourself into the world of the comic book Superhero, to many it just seems a waste of celluloid or its digital sister and yet under the surface, the latent power it fills others with is at least enough to further enhance their imagination, and for that alone films from the houses of D.C. and Marvel have a place that would leave the world slightly less colourful for their absence.

Doctor Strange, Film Review. full post

(406 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

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

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 5/10

Cast: Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, Ben Foster, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Ana Ularu, Irrfan Khan, Omar Sy, Ida Darvish.

If there was ever an example in the world of cinema of a truly superb idea being driven down the wrong street then unfortunately Inferno would have to be one of the most disappointing examples of them all.

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

(434 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

The Girl On The Train, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Édgar Ramírez, Laura Prepon, Allison Janney, Darren Goldstein, Lisa Kudrow, Cleta E. Ellington, Lana Young, Rachel Christopher, Fernando Medina, Gregory Morley, Mac Tavares, John Norris, Nathan Shapiro, Tamiel Paynes, Peter Mayer-Klepchick.

When you reach the bottom of the glass, perception is everything, it can define who you are because of what you see or what you fail to register; the comfort of the glass might be the great pain killer and momentary healer but it does nothing for your eyesight or your ability to think through a situation clearly.

The Girl On The Train, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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

Swiss Army Man, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Antonio Ribero, Timothy Eulich, Richard Gross, Marika Casteel, Andy Hull, Aaron Marshall, Shane Carruth, Jessica Harbeck.

There are moments on screen when you wonder who exactly gave the green light to a project that on the face of it seems so incredibly preposterous that it surely only exists in the minds of the wonderfully imaginative but creatively bonkers. A story that somehow really should not work at all on film; yet has the power at the closing credits to have you smiling as you walk towards your bus or contemplate catching your train, a smile that borders on the enticed and cinematically romanced.

Swiss Army Man, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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

The Girl With All The Gifts, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Gemma Arterton, Sennia Nanua, Glenn Close, Paddy Considine, Dominique Tipper, Anamaria Marcinca, Anthony Walsh, Lobna Futers, Fisayo Akinade.

The Girl With All The Gifts, the latest in a long line of Zombie apocalypse films that scream for attention and makes use of the fear that has invaded our thoughts in the last century; yet this contribution to the horror genre is not one that has the usual suspects running the show, this is the calm and fire all in one body, one who can save us but also tear us apart. It is a film that allows the cinema goer room to breathe but one that asks it not to, to take a large deep breath and keep in until the guts are about to burst.

The Girl With All The Gifts, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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

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

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Jamie Dornan, Cillian Murphy, Toby Jones, Brian Caspe, Karel Hermánek Jr., Sara Arsteinova, Sean Mahon, Jan Hájek, Marcin Dorocinski, Alena Mihulová, Bill Milner, Charlotte Le Bon, Pavel Reznícek, Anna Geislerová, Justin Svoboda, Harry Lloyd, Václav Neuzil, Jiri Simek, Detlof Bothe, Jan Budar, Mish Boyko, David Bredin, Roman Zach, Sam Keeley, Alexander van der Groeben, Andrej Polak.

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

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

Blair Witch, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez, Brandon Scott, Valorie Curry, Corbin Reid, Wes Robinson.

Going down to the woods used to be such a peaceful, indeed a much anticipated past time, whole weekends would be spent deep in the interior, no other human, except for the hardy souls whose company you keep and whose tent erecting skills you knew would come in handy, would be anywhere near you for miles around and the closest scare you might receive is that of somebody warbling uncontrollably the theme to the Teddy Bear’s Picnic when the midnight bells rang out far into the distance. The woods were the best thing about camping, then along came The Blair Witch Project and all that changed.

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

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

Hunt For The Wilderpeople, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Sam Neil, Julian Dennison, Rima Te Wiata, Rachel House, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Oscar Kightley, Stan Walker, Mike Minogue, Cohen Holloway, Rhys Darby, Troy Kingi, Taika Waititi, Hamish Parkinson, Stu Giles.

In Sam Neil the cinema has had one of strongest and most consistent actors of the last 50 years, a man who can easily transfer himself between the rigours of being part of a great film and the sideshow that television sometimes provides. It has always been something of an honour to watch his complex character unfold, and even in films that haven’t quite hit the mark, he still retains that genuine affection from the forgiving cinema goer.

Hunt For The Wilderpeople, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(390 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)