Aquaman. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Dolph Lundgren, Nicole Kidman, Patrick Wilson, Willem Defoe, Randall Park, Temuera Morrison, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Graham McTavish,Michael Beach, Julie Andrews.

It would not be unfair, unkind or malicious to suggest, openly state, that of all the D.C. comic book heroes to have come and gone, stayed around and become iconic, Aquaman had probably the worst of starts, and continued throughout to receive unjust treatment within the realms of ideas, attention and delivery, the character was a joke, a seismic buffoon brought to life as a foil for the grittiness portrayed in the golden and silver ages of comic books.

Aquaman. Film Review. full post

(602 words, estimated 2:24 mins reading time)

Bumblebee. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Jorge Lendeborg Jr, John Ortiz, Jason Drucker, Pamela Adion, Stephen Schneider, Len Cariou, Dylan O’Brien, Peter Cullen, Angela Bassett, Justin Theroux, David Sobolov, Lenny Jacobson.

You cannot blame a film studio for keeping a franchise going when it remarkably continues to have fans clamouring, almost chomping at the bit to revel in its storylines and desiring to learn more about the possibilities of other worlds. You cannot fault business for delivering what the public wants, it is when the film studio brings to the screen the unexpected that is when you have to praise them for their sense of direction, for the understanding that when you have a formula that works, you don’t let it fade, you don’t let it become stale.

Bumblebee. Film Review. full post

(495 words, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

Death And Nightingales. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Matthew Rhys, Ann Skelly, Jamie Dornan, Valene Kane, Charlene McKenna, Martin McCann, Sean McGinley, Michael Smiley, Francis Magee, Des McAleer, Ciaran Flynn, Aoibheann Mullan, Paul Kennedy, Eugene O’Hare, Pip Torrens, Conor MacNeill, Frankie McCafferty.

Against the backdrop of the fight for radical Irish independence from Britain in the 19th Century, a story of corruption, betrayal and tragedy is neatly interwoven through a 24 hour period in the life of Beth Winters, a condensed down reflection of what was happening across the Irish Sea, the pride of individuality and freedom from what was arguably seen as a distant master, one who made all the rules but wanted to keep the people in chains, if not physically, then at least metaphorically.

Death And Nightingales. Television Review. full post

(422 words, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

Paul Dunbar & The Black Winter Band, Gig Review. Music Room, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

There is always a debate on whether it is the atmosphere, the songs or the venue in which the music is played in which gives the night its vibe, its sense of hopefully glorious thrill and heart pounding beauty; a night which if you are fortunate enough to attend will leave you breathless and on the verge of weeping tears of joy of having had the honour of witnessing unfold.

Paul Dunbar & The Black Winter Band, Gig Review. Music Room, Liverpool. full post

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

Rosenblume, Gig Review. Music Room, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

All through the fire we search for the ones that can ease our soul, that will lift our spirits in times when the winter dark threatens to overwhelm us, to consume us; it is after all better to surrender to the flames of passion than to shiver in the cold embrace of the unloved.

Rosenblume, Gig Review. Music Room, Liverpool. full post

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

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Bryan Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin, Luna Lauren Velez, Zoe Kravitz, John Mulaney, Kimiko Glenn, Nicholas Cage, Kathryn Hahn, Live Schreiber, Chris Pine, Natalie Morales, Stan Lee, Jorma Taccone, Joaquin Cosio, Marvin Jones III, Lake Bell.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. Film Review. full post

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

Mortal Engines. Film Review.

 

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Hera Hilmar, Hugo Weaving, Jihae, Robert Sheehan, Stephen Lang, Leila George, Frankie Adams, Caren Pistorius, Andrew Lees, Colin Salmon, Ronan Raftery, Joel Tobeck, Patrick Malahide, Nathaniel Lees, Stephen Ure, Yoson An, Philip Reeve, Menik Gooneratne, Rege-Jean Page, Mark Mitchinson, Mark Hadlow, Sarah Peirse, Leifur Sigurdarson, Sophie Cox.

Mortal Engines. Film Review. full post

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

Mrs Wilson. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Ruth Wilson, Iain Glen, Otto Farrant, Fiona Shaw, Calam Lynch, Keeley Hawes, Anupam Kher, Joy Richardson, Ian McElhinney, Patrick Kennedy, Elizabeth Rider, Dave Hill, Wilf Scolding, Barbara Marten, Joseph Mydell, Alex Blake, Gemma McElhinney.

It is an inescapable certainty that truth is far more stranger than fiction could ever hope to be, the stories we weave in existence, through the lies we tell ourselves to make our lives more bearable, to the possible deceit in which we hold others captive by, truth is the reality in which we all find our hidden depths in which to practice either to deceive, or to thrill with our stories.

Mrs Wilson. Television Review. full post

(570 words, estimated 2:17 mins reading time)

A Christmas Carol, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Spymonkey’s A Christmas Carol at the Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. Photograph used with kind permission by the Playhouse Theatre and Johan Persson.

Cast: Aitor Basauri, Petra Massey, Toby Park, Sophie Russell.

Musicians: Ross Hughes, Marcus Penrose, David Insua-Cao.

A Christmas Carol, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(533 words, 1 image, estimated 2:08 mins reading time)

Satin Beige And Space, Gig Review. Shankly Hotel, Liverpool.

High above the streets of Liverpool, almost within eye-line of the St. John’s Beacon that stands eerily out when the sea mist and fog attempt to cover the city in a sense of gloom and bone-jarring cold, a multitude of people gathered for a cause which has become arguably the most serious of concerns for a generation. The plight of the homeless, the shocking betrayal by our government of its people, a damning indication of what their priorities actually are, that is to cause distress and anguish and the hope that the privileged few back them to the hilt, that the majority left untouched by this disgrace will fall over themselves to walk away from the problem in the promise that they wring their hands in time with the sound of Christmas bells chiming and tills chirping.

Satin Beige And Space, Gig Review. Shankly Hotel, Liverpool. full post

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