Last Night In Soho. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9.5/10

Cast: Thomasin McKenzie, Diana Rigg, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Rita Tushingham, Synnove Karlsen, Michael Ajao, Pauline McLynn, Terrance Stamp, Sam Clafflin, Elizabeth Berrington, Jessie Mei Li, Rebecca Harrod, Kassius Nelson, Aimee Cassettari, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Beth Singh.

It is an old city and there are plenty of ghosts trapped amongst us who cannot rest, even with constant re-invention and new blood lured there in the promise of put their stamp on the world thanks to its influence, London cannot escape its own damaged past, its own cycle of death and mystery, for no matter what part of that mass conglomeration made of bricks and mortar, the ghosts have nowhere else to call home, nowhere else they can finally hope to see justice restored.

Last Night In Soho. Film Review. full post

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

McDonald & Dodds: A Billion Beats. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Jason Watkins, Tala Gouveia, Jack Riddiford, Claire Skinner, Lily Sacofsky, Danyal Ismail, Paul McGann, Ben Batt, Daisy Bevan, Kelvin Fletcher, Paul Forman, Naoki Mori, John Omole, Bluey Robinson, Bill Skinner, Bridgitta Roy, Nino Furuhata, Louise Jameson.

There are sports that seem universally embraced and then there are those that to a proportion of the population is not for them, that is not only fuelled by a passion that defies logic, but can seem reckless, spoiled by money, out of the realms to ordinary men and women, and in the case of motor racing, is all about the one second glimpse of the vehicle, a second in which A Billion Beats of the heart can seem to be over in a flash.

McDonald & Dodds: A Billion Beats. Television Review. full post

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

Christine McVie: Songbird: A Solo Collection. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

We must remove the earphones from their fleshy sockets and truly acknowledge the sound of the Songbird whilst we can. To wander in nature and feel the unblemished and resolute call to the early morning sun or the final song of rest as the day comes to its conclusion, is freedom that resonates unflinchingly, the adaption of the songbird’s voice, its pleasure, its pain, the very being that its soul is urging all around the hear, that is the liberty of expression that comes with opening ourselves up to the beauty of the voice.

Christine McVie: Songbird: A Solo Collection. Album Review. full post

(400 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Roxanne de Bastion, You & Me, We Are The Same. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Hearsay is all well and good, but if you want the truth, you go directly to the source.

The debut album is always one that captures the spirit of what went before, the old adage of it being a reflection of your life up until the moment it is released, no matter how old the artist, or even what genre they put their thoughts out into the world from, the debut is important, it is the standard bearer for what is come. 

Roxanne de Bastion, You & Me, We Are The Same. Album Review. full post

(397 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

D. E. McCluskey, Z: A Love Story. Book Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Every generation has its way of dealing with the undead. Whether it comes in the form of political observation transformed into pop culture critique, or the fierce biting satire of purposeful declaration of war against a population willing to look the other way until the effect of wrong is found scratching at the door and the sound of rabid death is proclaimed up on what they see is their acre of space in the universe; each generation deals with the fall out of the horror that awaits in their own way.

D. E. McCluskey, Z: A Love Story. Book Review. full post

(603 words, estimated 2:25 mins reading time)

Obi-Wan Kenobi. Television Series Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Ewan McGregor, Moses Ingram, Vivien Lyre Blair, Hayden Christensen, Rupert Friend, James Earl Jones, Kumail Nanjiani, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Indira Varma, Marisé Álvarez, Maya Erskine, Jimmy Smits, Grant Feely, Flea, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Simone Kessell, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Liam Neeson.

Ewan McGregor’s time as Obi-Wan Kenobi always seemed short and one that arguably carried, alongside Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine, the prequel trio of films that framed the Star Wars franchise to a place where the maligned nature and often heavy-handed criticism is thankfully overlooked.

Obi-Wan Kenobi. Television Series Review. full post

(466 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

Bella Hardy: Love Songs. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Love is complicated, if only it were a flawless, if only it was not so fragile, if it were robust and able to heal rather than fracture so easily when the slightest pressure was applied; if only love was tolerant, if it did more than leave you vulnerable and elated at the same time…but then we would have no need for Love Songs, we would have no need for the melancholia, we would have no need for sentimental beauty, the passion of regret, the joy of reconnection.

Bella Hardy: Love Songs. Album Review. full post

(395 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

Larkhall: Say You’re With Me. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Words are meaningless when all you require is understanding, the acknowledgement that someone else is willing to walk beside you in the dark, to have your back when the world turns on you, and to nod solemnly and then, only then do words matter, for in the question posed from your lips, Say You’re With Me, only yes or no will mean the difference between faith and conviction, and only then will you know for sure someone is truly listening.

Larkhall: Say You’re With Me. Album Review. full post

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

Chastity Brown: Sing To The Walls. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Perhaps of all the genres of music out there not to suffer a downward sense of appeal in its long and fruitful past across the whole spectrum of lovers of the art, Soul still finds new ways in which to enrapture the feelings of the individual, the ones who listen comfortably for the thousandth time of asking, and those who rarely dip their toe in the waters of anything other than their chosen musical love.

Chastity Brown: Sing To The Walls. Album Review. full post

(407 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

The Time Traveler’s Wife. Television Series Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Rose Leslie, Theo James, Everleigh McDonell, Gui Agustini, Natasha Lopez, Jaime Ray Newman, Michael Park, Caitlin Shorey, Desmin Borges, Marcia DeBonis, Peter Graham, Kate Siegel, Josh Stamberg, Jason David, Brian Altemus, Shawna Hamic, Spencer House, Taylor Richardson, Finn Brown, Carol Mazhuvancheril, Chelsea Frei.

From The Time Machine to Doctor Who, Time travel has intrigued us, thrilled us, and at times left us breathless with excitement and rigid with fear for generations. From book to audio dramas, from theatre to cinema, and across every language possible, the interest in the ability to travel through Time and perhaps put right the wrongs of our generation, is a palpable conceit that is embraced by all despite knowing it is a physical impossibility.

The Time Traveler’s Wife. Television Series Review. full post

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