A Christmas Carol. Television Review. (2019).

Liverpool Sound and vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Guy Pearce, Stephen Graham, Joe Alwyn, Vinette Robinson, Lenny Rush, Jason Flemyng, Johnny Harris, Tiarna Williams, Billy Barratt, Carmel Laniado, Paul Chahidi, Tom Medcalf, Ninette Finch, Andy Serkis, Charlotte Riley, Kayvan Novak, Callum Evans, Earl Carpenter, Dan Fredenburgh, Elliot Warren, Niamh Lynch, Abraham Popoola.

There are many reasons why A Christmas Carol is so beloved, why it keeps enticing directors and adaptors to Charles Dickens’ most famous work and audiences enthralled with its message of redemption and hope; but a missing link to the truth of the human condition has not been one of them.

A Christmas Carol. Television Review. (2019). full post

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

The Goes Wrong Show: The Spirit Of Christmas. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Bryony Corrigan, Dave Hearn, Chris Leask, Henry Lewis, Charlie Russell, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shields.

The Spirit of Christmas is such a dichotomy of appreciation, a split personality of complete embrace or the careful shun avoiding infection, that in the modern age it can leave you cold and wanting to leave the conceit of life behind, it is in this that the feelings of emotions can become overwhelming, that they can uplift to the point of ecstasy or plunge the soul into turmoil; the only reasonable course of action to take is to find something to laugh with and see the whole period for what it often is, a cosmic farce given the chance to smile.

The Goes Wrong Show: The Spirit Of Christmas. Television Review. full post

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

Little. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 5/10

Cast: Regina Hall, Issa Rae, Marsai Martin, Justin Hartley, Tracee Ellis Ross, Tone Bell, Mikey Day, JD McCrary, Tucker Meek, Thalia Tran, Marley Taylor, Eva Carlton, Luke James, Rachel Drench, Christopher A. Martin, Noree Victoria, Kendra L. Franklin, Marc Hawes, Jade Fernandez, Chelsea Hayes, Caleb Emery.

Little. Film Review. full post

(479 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

The Slow Readers Club, Live At 02 Apollo Manchester. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The live experience is one that can never be discounted as being an integral part of the framework of music, to be at a gig in which the atmosphere is buzzing, in which the songs melt into your heart and leave a lasting impression, that is the feeling of extasy and inclusion to which so many of us search for, to be part of something greater, to reconcile the emotions, of the beat which hopefully never stops.

The Slow Readers Club, Live At 02 Apollo Manchester. Album Review. full post

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

Doghouse Roses, We Are Made Of Light. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

A novel written over time is no less important than the instant hit of a film brought to the screen in a matter of months, the film may be immediate but the novel will encompass the depth of each chapter poured and dissected over in a way that Time cannot ignore. The novel is to the reader as the album is to the music lover, the single release or the occasional new song performed may catch the ear initially, but it is to the album in which the themes explored knit together and become whole.

Doghouse Roses, We Are Made Of Light. Album Review. full post

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

Family. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 5/10

Cast: Taylor Schilling, Brian Tyree Henry, Bryn Vale, Allison Tolman, Jessie Ennis, Matt Walsh, Eric Edelstein, Fabrizio Guido, Peter Horton, Blair Beeken, Karen Kendrick, Kate McKinnon.

A tale of redemption is one that cinema cannot fail to embrace, especially when it comes to the idea of Family, the chance shown through a series of misadventures that relationships with those bonded by blood are worth more than blocking the self-absorbed and toxic out of your life, that no matter what, a family member can be redeemed and brought back into the fold.

Family. Film Review. full post

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

James Bond: From Russia With Love. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Toby Stephens, Eileen Atkins, John Sessions, Tim Pigott-Smith, Mark Gatiss, John Glover, Aileen Mowat, John Standing, Janie Dee, Julian Sands, Matthew Wolf, Olga Fedori, Micky Stratford, Nathaniel Parker, Martin Jarvis.

It could be argued that the fan and the listener alike have been short changed when it comes to adaptations of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels for the radio; whether this is down to the estate not wishing to decry from the scores of films or because it has been long thought that such books cannot be captured with just a voice rather than the dramatic sequence that film provides is for another debate, and yet there is something to be said for being able to see 007 aim his trilby at the hat stand, to see the devastation of his actions take place, rather than just match your imagination to the actor’s voice.

James Bond: From Russia With Love. Audio Drama Review. full post

(516 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

Benji Kirkpatrick & The Excess, Gold Has Worn Away. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There are those who will tell it, supposedly, like it is and there are those who will show you the error of your ways. The former will do so with punishment, they will feed off the energy like locusts on a corn field and leave the recipient exhausted, drained, distressed and troubled, and all because they have offered no real possibility of change, instead they have set the subject of their scorn back physically and mentally.

Benji Kirkpatrick & The Excess, Gold Has Worn Away. Album Review. full post

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

Norman Mackay, The Inventor. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Necessity may have a hand in the creation, but it is to the dreamer who deserves the accolade of being thought of as The Inventor, the creator of the moment which can turn a heart, which can give a person hope. To dream is to discover, to act upon it is to acknowledge imagination as a driving force to which we, as a species, can implement absolute, and positive change.

Norman Mackay, The Inventor. Album Review. full post

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

The Little Unsaid, Music/Nature. E.P Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

How much of life is ruled by nature and nurture, an age-old question to which there seems to be no defining answer, at least not one that ever satisfies those who seek to interrogate life with. However, whether it is nature or nurture that makes you act a certain way, sees you place your being in a direction that others might seem inappropriate or even not accepting their own view, what is surely not up for debate is the role that music plays in the foundation of your soul.

The Little Unsaid, Music/Nature. E.P Review. full post

(374 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)