Elle, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Lafitte, Anne Consigny, Charles Berling, Virginie Efira, Judith Magre, Christian Berkel, Jonas Bloquet, Alice Isazz, Vimala Pons, Raphaël Lenglet, Arthur Mazet, Lucas Priso, Hugo Conzelmann, Stéphane Bak.

 

French cinema has always been the most infuriating beast, some will argue that at times it could be seen as pretentious, a place in which art goes too far and the sophistication plays more of a part than the actual plot; to those that never see beyond the screen that is possibly an argument worth having and yet the many layers that come to the front to be counted go way beyond that initially encountered and certainly in the last decade at least the films have become powerful statements on today’s society.

Elle, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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

Kong: Skull Island, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly, John Goodman, Corey Hawkins, John Ortiz, Tian Jing, Toby Kebbell, Jason Mitchell, Shea Whigham, Thomas Mann, Eugene Cordero, Marc Evan Jackson, Will Britain, Miyayi, Richard Jenkins, Allyn Rachel, Robert Taylor, James M. Connor, Thomas Middleditch, Brady Novak.

 

Kong: Skull Island, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(538 words, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)

I AM NOT A ZIMMER FRAME.

I AM NOT A ZIMMER FRAME

OR A LEANING POST…

Breathe easy, calm the old spirits and wheel

 gently away and leave the person

so in love with my handlebars

that they could not stop fondling them,

caressing with deepening fingers

or leaning so heavily upon them

that like an irate

and unwanted suitor

I was getting more aware of their

jiggling up and down and heavy handed

strokes as each moment passed.

It’s not that hard at the end of the day

I AM NOT A ZIMMER FRAME. full post

(207 words, estimated 50 secs reading time)

I See Rivers, Da Ram. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Norway offers such stories of intrigue, such lightness of spirit, that it holds a certain deep affection for music lovers; once the unfortunate calling card for European laughter, the wrongly thought joke of music from a continent that could barely hold its own head above the murky depths, now it is arguably seen as a model of grace and cool across all the genres it chooses to place before the European melting pot. If its Folk scene is ravishing and certainly enhanced by those who made Liverpool their home over the last few years, if its metal scene is full of dynamic pounding and sheer class then its pop has all the hallmarks of being able to mix subtle and wild abandon into a place of dance floor heaven.

I See Rivers, Da Ram. Single Review. full post

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

Hooligan Crooners/B-Leaguers, Tales From A Punk Rock Road Trip. Mini Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

If there is no anger, if there is no passion, then what are we fighting for, what is the point of just purely existing in a world which we crave change, less futile celebrity, less pseudo fawning around non political giants, less of almost everything except passion; for if we cannot hope to change the world with a spirited response, we may as well have not crawled our way out of the hangover that is the Victorian era and given credence to the very idea of Punk.

Hooligan Crooners/B-Leaguers, Tales From A Punk Rock Road Trip. Mini Album Review. full post

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

Little Hurricane, Same Sun, Same Moon. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

The view from the tallest mountain perhaps never changes, whilst it might occasionally be obscured by clouds or the ambitions of others trapping your sightline within a narrow field, it is nothing compared to being inside even the smallest whirlwind, the biggest twister or even the damage and respect caused by the Little Hurricane, even there the chances are the two views see the Same Sun, Same Moon.

Little Hurricane, Same Sun, Same Moon. Album Review. full post

(355 words, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)

Azure No More.

Nature reclaimed her

and now the window is no more,

a raging sky and sea

meet in the middle

and blur without the sense of Azure;

we live in the window frame

now and forever

as piece by piece,

the world crumbles

into the sea.

 

Ian D. Hall

Permanent link to this post (51 words, estimated 12 secs reading time)

Pygmalion, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Alex Beckett, Ian Burfield, Gavi Singh Chera, Flaminia Cinque, Natalie Gavin, Racheal Ofori, Liza Sadovy, Raphael Sowole.

Refreshing, radical and engaging….whilst the sweet saccharine taste of My Fair Lady sits in the theatrical playground like some street urchin outside of sweet shop, eyes aglow at the treats inside, deep in the interior of George Bernard Shaw sits the happiness of a man content at the thought of his tremendous play Pygmalion getting the sincerity of the performance that it fully and rightfully deserves.

Pygmalion, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(446 words, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

Good Ol’ Robert Browning Misspelled Twit.

Misused, good old Robert Browning,

I had long forgotten his Pippa Passes

and this charming year of spring

as the cowl and the twat fight over centuries

old words before vulgar Americanism

gave rise to the populist non thinker

and easily offended.

 

Good ol’ Robert Browning, nobody

would dare call him a twit

except some repeated self serving survivor,

the Gobermouch, the misused Nun

who used to bellow my breath away

but now I see for the fool

and has no use for the jammiest bits of jam.

Good Ol’ Robert Browning Misspelled Twit. full post

(154 words, estimated 37 secs reading time)

Meadowlark, Nocturnes. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The sound of the pastoral is always one in which to relish, the easy nature of birdsong and the whispering of meadows rustling their future wares to the keen ear of the passerby is always one that should leave that person feeling blessed, understanding the delicate relationship between nature and humanity is not one easily taken care of but one that should be seen as a privilege to have. Music has the same strands of D.N.A. within it, the same whisper to the audience that must be taken care of to the mutual benefit of both listener and those that supply the soft voiced pastoral.

Meadowlark, Nocturnes. E.P. Review. full post

(371 words, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)