Category Archives: TV

The Undoing. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant, Noah Jupe, Donald Sutherland, Edgar Ramirez, Lily Rabe, Matilda De Angelis, Edan Alexander, Michael Devine, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Jeremy Shamos, Madeline Faye Santoriello, Irma-Estel LaGuerre, Noma Dumezweni, Billy Lake, Douglas Hodge, Fala Chen, Tarik Davis, Maria Dizzia, Vedette Lim, Janet Moloney, Jason Kravits, Matt McGrath.

If the year has taught television audiences anything it that the court room drama, if handled and written with care and objectivity, can still grip the viewer and have them on the edge of the seat; and if you can get past the search for the face of the suspect and concentrate on the why rather than the who, then the investment will have been worth it.

The Undoing. Television Review. full post

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

Tin Star: Series Two. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Tim Roth, Genevieve O’Reilly, Abigail Lawrie, Christina Hendricks, Sarah Podemski, John Lynch, Jenessa Grant, Anamaria Marinca, Brendan Sunderland, Oliver Coopersmith, Ian Puleston-Davies, Ryan Kennedy, Lynda Boyd, Michelle Thrush, Matt Willis.

There was always, and will always be, a sizeable section of society that looks at a drama series, whether it is in the realm of the soap opera, quick turn- around scripts and Hollywood smiles and devil may care attitude, or in the arguably more serious vane to which the whole household gives there time to across a select number of episodes, and to which the conversation will inevitably turn, of just how much can actually happen to one person, that to a cross section of society an adventure is a one off, that the protagonist, the anti-hero, surely cannot have that type of complicated life.

Tin Star: Series Two. Television Review. full post

(607 words, estimated 2:26 mins reading time)

The Twilight Zone: A Small Town. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Damon Wayans Jr., David Krumholtz, Natalie Martinez, Paula Newsome, Keegan Connor Tracy, Andrew Alvarez, Jordan Peele, Steel Bey, Jason Asuncion, Marc Gaudet, Peter New, Michael P. Northley, Linda Darlow, Patrick Keating, Christina Jastrzembska, Tim Zhang, Krish Lohtia, Kelly Richard Nelson, Jeremy Arnold, Kristina Arnold.

If we could look down on creation and find a way to change all that is bad, all that is annoying, bothersome and frustratingly simple to fix, if we could do this, would we do it in full glare of the watchful eye of all who have their own agendas, or would we solve the problems anonymously, in quiet contemplation and never take a single word of praise for doing the right thing.

The Twilight Zone: A Small Town. Television Review. full post

(672 words, estimated 2:41 mins reading time)

Tin Star (Series One). Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Tim Roth, Genevieve O’ Reilly, Abigail Lawrie, Christina Hendricks, Oliver Coopersmith, Sarah Podemski, Ian Puleston-Davies, Leanne Best, Ryan Kennedy, Lynda Boyd, Christopher Heyerdahl, Jenessa Grant, Anamarie Marinca, Brenden Sunderland, John Lynch, Neve McIntosh.

The sins of the father always find a way to reveal themselves, and when they are ones that are committed with sanction from the state, then perhaps it is only right that they are exposed for what they are, the destroyer of lives and worlds.

Tin Star (Series One). Television Review. full post

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

The Twilight Zone: A Human Face. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision * * *

Cast: Christopher Meloni, Jenna Elfman, Tavi Gevinson, Jordan Peele.

A Human Face is all that is needed to make a person change their mind and perspective on most things, it is that connection we have, the pinpoint of recognising the similarity rather than the blank face of obscurity and blind hatred which makes us creatures that can feel empathy and love, even for those who have left us, who may have hurt us with words, who belong to a nation that wishes to see us humbled, subjugated, destroyed.

The Twilight Zone: A Human Face. Television Review. full post

(383 words, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)

The Twilight Zone: 8. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: Joel McHale, Nadia Hilker, Michelle Ang, Tim Armstrong, Brandon Jay McLaren, Jordan Peele, Michael Adamthwaite, Mark Silverman, Amy Rotifer.

It is in the arrogance of our species that we believe we have the unalienable right to investigate all that we see, not out of curiosity and how we can live alongside all things natural and unexplained, but out of a wanton desire to manipulate, to influence, too confirm our mastery over all we survey.

The Twilight Zone: 8. Television Review. full post

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

Roadkill. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Hugh Laurie, Iain De Caestecker, Helen McCrory, Olivia Vinall, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Jennifer Hennessy, Anna Francolini, Tony Pitts, Danny Ashok, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Emma Cunliffe, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Millie Bradley, Katie Leung, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Kate Lamb, Yolanda Kettle, Alice McMillan, Nicholas Rowe, Sylvestra Le Touzel, Caroline Lee-Jones, Pip Torrens, Natalie Drew, Saskia Reeves, Crystal Clarke, Sarah Greene, Adelle Leonce, Patricia Hodge, Tessa Banham, Guy Henry.

Roadkill. Television Review. full post

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

The Twilight Zone: Among The Untrodden. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Abbie Hern, Sophia Macy, Jordan Peele, Amanda Burke, Halle Galloway, Anisa Harris, Marci T. House, Esther Li, Graelle Owour.

What is great power without responsibility, a question posed by every comic and graphic novel artist when introducing a new superhero for the fans to wrap their imagination around.

The Twilight Zone: Among The Untrodden. Television Review. full post

(508 words, estimated 2:02 mins reading time)

The Sister. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Russell Tovey, Bertie Carvel, Amrita Acharia, Nina Toussaint-White, Paul Bazley, Ewan Bailey, Colin Blyth, Tim Plester, Fluer Keith, Amanda Root, Chirague Amarchande, Simone Ashley.

There has always got to be a way to redefine the classic ghost story, it can’t all be bumps in the night, the unexplained sound that catches the ears, nor can it settle on finding the way to redeem a soul that has suffered torment and looking for vengeance; it must continue to evolve, to seek new ways of telling a story that is older than Shakespeare’s Hamlet, that has captivated cinema and television audiences and, aural story tellers, book readers, alike for what may seem an eternity

The Sister. Television Review. full post

(525 words, estimated 2:06 mins reading time)

The Twilight Zone: Ovation. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Jurnee Smollett, Tawny Newsome, Sky Ferreira, Dan Martin, Paul F Tompkins, Thomas Lennon, Jordan Peele, Aliza Vellani, Murat Alvarez, Chris Webb, Silver Kim, Derek Morrison.

The whole world seems to crave fame, to either prove they existed at one point in time, or because they believe that their life will be better for it, the chance to be driven round in luxurious cars, eat at the best restaurants, have people at their command and carrying out their every whim and desire…fame is an evil in the guise of luminosity, in which celebrity is more lethal than any drug, which can be more destructive than any disease and the reason is because it is shallow, it feeds on vanity, sadness, the superficial and arrogance.

The Twilight Zone: Ovation. Television Review. full post

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