The handshake
from one who supposes himself to be God,
sarcasm overflowing and it is there
in plain sight, drool dripping in anticipation
of the take down, of owning a soul
and making them feel as stupid,
as insignificant
as an ant in a silver filled ant mound,
his home destroyed by the handshake
and the hose pumping hot toxic metal.
It was offered in a church,
both the biting sarcasm and the handshake,
both accompanying the sound of a section
of music that tinkled over the church hall pews
I don’t believe in burials,
outdated and morbid,
better to be free in the air,
to let your soul soar
through time than be in the ground,
cold, alone, aloof, who would want that;
yet if we still love each other
at the moment of passing,
I would want be safe with you,
let a future grave digger
find our bodies side by side,
holding hands
and perhaps your head resting
on my bony shoulders.
Ian D. Hall 2017
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The music Rooms of the Philharmonic Hall are exactly the type of venue that were made for the writings and compositions of an artist such as Findlay Napier, the sense of beauty that is carried within the lyrics, the harmony that exists between musician and their chosen weapon of virtue and the deeply held implication of the offering that can be felt without being blinded by lights and dazzled by distance; for Findlay Napier and his visit to Liverpool this was as close to heavenly, funny, anarchic but brilliant, as an audience could ask for.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Michael Stuhlbarg, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mark Strong, Jake Lacey, Alison Pill, John Lithgow, Sam Waterston, Douglas Smith, Dylan Baker, Ennis Esmer, Lucy Owens, Noah Robbins, Joe Pingue, Michael Cram, Meghann Fahy, Grace Lynn Kung, Sergio Di Zio.
There will be those that dare suggest that Feminism has no place in the 21st Century, that to them, disturbingly on the increase in the younger more affluent ends of female society, the word is dead, that it is meaningless to them; however without a construct and movement in place such as Feminism, it would be unlikely that a film of such intrigue and collective brilliance such as Miss Sloane would have ever been made.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Jussie Smollett, Callie Hernandez, Amy Seimetz, Nathaniel Dean, Alexander England, Benjamin Rigby, Uli Latukefu, Tess Haubrich, Lorelei King, Goran D. Kleut, Andrew Crawford, James Franco, Guy Pearce.
Perhaps once upon a time it would have been too much for a cinema audience to ask that the phenomenally superb and Box office smash Alien would ever get the treatment it deserved in sequels; to think it could happen in a prequel was beyond even the stretch of imagination of many a die-hard fan and yet lurking in the shadows, skulking with shiny black skin and acid for blood is the 21st Century equivalent of a nightmare made real, the outstanding Alien Covenant.
I slowly ground to a halt
on the intersection of the Holy Corner, my mind
blowing hard on Paradise and Whitechapel,
Lord Street and Church, I was crossed
on all sides, spectacles, tentacles, wallet and watch
and the Friday night throng of people passed me by,
invisible, concealed by own thoughts of the weekend ahead
and disguised by looking aimless, a waste
of space and noticed only as being in the way,
get out of the way, get out my way,
the unseen only sighted when they dare make a noise.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Patrick Brennan, George Caple, Pauline Daniels, Laura Dos Santos, Emily Hughes, Tom Kanji, Asha Kingsley, Melanie La Barrie, Dean Nolan, Zelina Rebeiro, Keddy Sutton, Liam Tobin.
The balance sheet that people live their lives by, the counting out of every penny just to make ends meet, the sense of never getting ahead of the game and spiralling ever deeper into the world of debt, of being on the streets. This is a world in which the feeling of inhumane, of intolerable suffering, is so prevalent, so close to everybody’s thoughts that it is surprising that there is less vocal anger than there should be at politicians who see food banks as a complex reason, who see the poor as deserving and it always feels like the world of politics is one step away from re-introducing that most evil of Victorian values, the workhouse.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Tim Piggott-Smith, Oliver Chris, Richard Goulding, Charlotte Riley, Margot Leicester, Tamara Lawrence, Adam James, Priyanaga Burford, Tim McMullan, Katie Brayben, Nyasha Hatendi, John Shapnel, Parth Thakerar, Ian Redford, Max Bennett, Tom Mothersdale, Rupert Vansittart.
The vast majority of the country has not seen a day like it, the moment a crowned monarch passes on, the moment when pomp and ceremony, of tradition and unpalatable truths are laid out and given a public airing; to have a constitutional monarchy is to expect that nothing would be simple following a death in the family.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *
Cast: Jamie Foxx, Michelle Monaghan, Scoot McNairy, Dermot Mulroney, T.I., David Harbour, Gabrielle Union, Octavious J. Johnson, Tim Connolly, Drew Sheer, Sala Baker, Tim Rigby.
The story of the corrupt cop is always one that can enthral an audience, to see someone who is supposed to uphold the law cross the thin blue line to the other side, normally for money, is one that is as old as Hollywood and as poignant as modern day society. It is also a tale which has been assuredly been done every way possible, that in many respects it is no longer shocking because we live in a world where moral boundaries have become blurred and downright insensible; we have become immune to it because we understand it goes on all the time, the chronic Sleepless feeling we have is the only defence to the constant news about it.
The dinosaurs
were not wiped out by an asteroid,
they just refused to
believe
that their time had come
and the people
were finally angry enough
to demand
that they pass away
and take their capitalist policies
with them.
Ian D. Hall 2017.