The Miniaturist. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Romola Garai, Hayley Squires, Paapa Essiedu, Katy Carmichael, Lucas Bond, Lara Bond, Alex Hassell, Sally Messham, Caolan Byrne, Emily Berrington, Ziggy Heath, Aislin McGuckin, Geoffrey Streatfeild, Ian Hogg, Christopher Godwin, Jack Brady, Graham Elwell.

You can be let down if you have high expectations of anything, the possibility of major adaption of a piece of literature can have you believing that television will treat any new drama with respect sometimes falls short, can leave the festive desert leaving the stomach and the mind as lumpy as a debut Christmas pudding offered to the table; over filled with sweetness, too much brandy covering the meal and the chance that it could become a smouldering wreck before it has even had chance to settle.

The Miniaturist. Television Review. full post

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

Keeping Books In Order.

You can organize

and categorise your books

just how you want them, neat,

coordinated, by publication date,

by alphabetical treaty

and genre specific,

detailed, arranged with love

like a marriage that was not seen coming,

and yet

somehow

in all the tidying and methodical embrace

of putting the books in a system, upon

shelves and shelves and make shift piles

that befits that page turned embrace and declaration

of stand back and admire your handy-work and dedication

you

still find

one piece

Keeping Books In Order. full post

(95 words, estimated 23 secs reading time)

Liverpool Sound And Vision Review Of 2017.

The year has perhaps been one of diverse feelings across the board in Liverpool, one in which reflection, triumphant returns, masterpieces and some sadness has been experienced. The Playhouse Theatre has undergone work for a while and yet held inside its doors one of the most magnificent scenes caught on camera as Annette Bening and Jamie Bell recreated one of the last days of the film star Gloria Graham for the cinematic love letter, Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool. The much loved Unity Theatre closed its doors for a time and reopened with a flourish as it too underwent a change in its decor and look and yet still retains the welcome that makes it one of the places to visit in the city.

Liverpool Sound And Vision Review Of 2017. full post

(2216 words, estimated 8:52 mins reading time)

A Christmas Engagement.

 

‘Twas the night before Christmas and there’s no one about not even a mouse

Or an eight-legged creepy to scare you out of the house,

Quietly though a figure creeps down the stairs leaving his loved one alone but asleep

He finds what he’s looking for high on a shelf, hidden behind the books three deep

It’s a little Santa ornament hinged in the centre, a small space to hide something

Gold and blue amethyst glint in the night, a beautiful engagement ring

Hidden in Santa and put back on the shelf ready for a surprise on Christmas Day

A Christmas Engagement. full post

(258 words, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)

John Thompson, Jobe – The Beginning Of A Liverpool Legend. Book Review.

Jobe- The Beginning of A Liverpool Legend is Liverpool writer John Thompson’s debut novel, and is a nostalgic look at 19th century Liverpool and the thriving port that bought so much wealth to the city.

Mr. Thompson’s research into Victorian Liverpool is extensive and he has created a rich, vibrant description of the city. Mostly seen through the eyes of eight year old Jobe, he has painted a bleak picture of what young Jobe and his friends face daily; the struggles that his mother Kitty faces in the tenement slums where she does her best to keep her son safe. But it has not always been this way, and as is often the case circumstances change the fate for young Jobe that alters the course of his life for good.

John Thompson, Jobe – The Beginning Of A Liverpool Legend. Book Review. full post

(273 words, estimated 1:06 mins reading time)

Taking A Leaf Out Of Feng-Shui.

In an effort to make space,

I moved books of every genre around.

A kind of literature feng-shui,

or just a bound refusal to look

at ever letting go of any written

word I have given

house room to since

 I first grasped

 the meaning of the phrase,

In the beginning.

 

Ian D. Hall

Permanent link to this post (57 words, estimated 14 secs reading time)

Doctor Who: Twice Upon A Time. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Peter Capaldi, David Bradley, Mark Gatiss, Pearl Mackie, Lily Travers, Jared Garfield, Toby Whithouse, Jenna Coleman, Jodie Whittaker, Matt Lucas, Nikki Amuka-Bird.

How many regenerations have you lived through? It could be a question in which the critics decry as nostalgic, one that avoids a sense of action or purpose to the story line, the conclusion to a life is the only thing worthy as a new set of eyes to see the universe with fresh hope and a new catch phrase. To do this though misses the point, it shows that arguably you might not have been paying attention, or consumed with eager optimism for the fresh face to appear at the end.

Doctor Who: Twice Upon A Time. Television Review. full post

(627 words, estimated 2:30 mins reading time)

Upstart Crow: 2017 Christmas Special.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: David Mitchell, Liza Tarbuck, Emma Thompson, Gemma Whelen, Paula Wilcox, Harry Enfield, Rosanna Beacock, Dominic Coleman, Tim Downie, Mark Heap, Spencer Jones, Helen Monks, Rob Rouse, Steve Speirs, Joe Willis.

“Be not afraid of greatness”, words to live by and words in which there stands the golden possibility that Ben Elton’s Upstart Crow will gather the same attention bestowed upon the realm of Blackadder, for in the wit and humour of the show stands that greatness, a passion for the bard that never seems to fall out of favour and why should it, for in the greatest of them all lives much to pluck a juicy Christmas tender joint from.

Upstart Crow: 2017 Christmas Special. full post

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

Maigret: Maigret In Montmartre. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Rowan Atkinson, Shaun Dingwall, Lucy Cohu, Lorraine Ashbourne, Cassie Clare, Sebastian De Souza, Simon Gregor, Mark Heap, Douglas Hodge, Sara Kestelman, Nike Kurta, Colin Mace, Gyula Mesterhazy, Adrian Scarborough, Hugh Simon, Nicola Sloane, Leo Starr, Olivia Vinall, Tilly Vosburgh, Jane Wood.

There may be murders in the Rue Morgue but then Paris, under the watchful eye of renowned Detective Maigret has always had its share of acts of homicide in which to fear the mist that rises off the Seine and through the artistic expression of Europe’s most romantic city. It is love that spurs on more murders than hate so it seems in detective fiction and in Maigret in Montmartre, that love is heightened, corrupted and put to the test of what even Jules Maigret can possibly solve.

Maigret: Maigret In Montmartre. Television Review. full post

(521 words, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)

Not Going Out (Christmas Special).2017. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Lee Mack, Sally Breton, Bobby Ball, Geoffrey Whitehead, Hugh Dennis, Abigail Cruttenden, Deborah Grant, Keith Barron.

A Christmas special, especially one in which comedy writers are expected to create, can go either way, either it is one that defies the convention of the season and goes all out to produce anarchy and chaos or it submits and goes down the road of the pre-fabricated Christmas tree, complete with decorations and a rather sickly angel dressed in colours of Battenberg Cake rather than the off white purity. Either way, it has to be endured and if that is the case then chaos, anarchy and slight resentment are always the finer treat to laugh alongside.

Not Going Out (Christmas Special).2017. Television Review. full post

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