The Musketeers, The Spoils Of War. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Tom Burke, Santiago Cabrera, Howard Charles, Luke Pasqualino, Tamla Kari, Alexandra Dowling, Rupert Everett, Ryan Gage, Hugo Speer, Michael Ballard, Terence Beesley, Danny Burns, Sam Clemmett, Chris Corrigan, Crispin Letts, Matthew McNulty, Dan Parr, Giselle Scantlebury, Matt Stokoe, John Woodvine.

War between the two great 17th Century European superpowers of France and Spain was never one that ended easily or with much gained upon either side; just lots of dead men, lots of potential wasted and heroes made, some of bronze, some of clay.

The Musketeers, The Spoils Of War. Television Review. full post

(440 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

Judged.

I wonder what happened to the woman

who once claimed

with moral authority

that it took over a hundred hours

to get ready for a date.

I never did understand

what the hell would take so long

in a society where the expectations

are high and the results

are often low.

Clean my teeth, that takes time,

I hate having bad teeth, wash my hair,

grew a beard so I didn’t have to shave

and kept it unruly

like my hair, knots in which the hairdresser

Judged. full post

(174 words, estimated 42 secs reading time)

Love & Friendship, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Morfydd Clark, Tom Bennett, Jenn Murray, Lochlann O’ Mearáin, Sophie Radermacher, Chloë Sevigny, Stephen Fry, Xavier Samuel, Emma Greenwell, Justin Edwards, Kelly Campbell, Jemma Redgrave, James Fleet.

Playing the action hero for so long can lead to unexpected issues within cinema. For many the sight of an actor in anything other than the expected, the fight scenes, the tense muscles quivering under the spandex or leather a precursor to the belief that in anything else you would not get the merit you deserve. It happens to so many and yet the trend does occasionally get bucked, it does bend and snap and what emerges is nothing short of fantastic.

Love & Friendship, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(413 words, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

Alice Through The Looking Glass, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathway, Sacha Baron Cohen, Rhys Ifans, Matt Lucas, Lindsay Duncan, Leo Bill, Geraldine James, Andrew Scott, Richard Armitage, Ed Speleers, Timothy Spall, Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Barbara Windsor, Michael Sheen, Paul Hunter, Siobhan Redmond, Paul Whitehouse.

Alice Through The Looking Glass, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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

Read This At Your Peril (A Poetic Health Warning).

It might appear to be a suggestion

but even in the most dire distress

do not take exceed the stated dose,

the small print on the packet

which can stop

your day turning…well turning.

 

When the Senakot packet

cautions do not take more than two

of these little pills, then for your own

sake, pay heed as you would

a big scary sign, admonishing

the feeding of squirrels, birds,

furry creatures or even hippos

on park property…take heed.

 

When the notice all the way round

Read This At Your Peril (A Poetic Health Warning). full post

(289 words, estimated 1:09 mins reading time)

No Sinner, Old Habits Die Hard. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

A sound can change, it can evolve and become even bigger, even more alluring to the careful listener than what it started out as, for Colleen Renison, the sound, the beauty of the individual’s voice is heightened by the band’s almost new approach to writing and it is one that sends a clear and unambiguous message to the world; No Sinner are back with bite, vengeance and maturity by their side.

No Sinner, Old Habits Die Hard. Album Review. full post

(380 words, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

E-Mail (One).

Her E-Mail was polite

but damningly self shaming,

as she flattered herself into believing

that the world was alright,

perfect blue on the horizon

and not a rain drop

in sight to spoil her view.

 

I don’t know why we ever stopped

talking, she wrote with several

emoticons displaying insincerity

in her thoughts but to whom

the coy yellow smile sensed an opportunity

to gloss over the past, to paint

herself in a glowing light of reconciliation.

 

She signed it off with that annoying letter t

E-Mail (One). full post

(188 words, estimated 45 secs reading time)

Sound

I wish I could capture the sound

that is playing just out of reach,

over my shoulder and delicate,

I can hear it,

flowing and full of crescendo,

full of vigour

and then in one sweeping gesture

it changes to the most beautiful

resonance of melancholic desire

and moody day;

I hear it and it gestures love to me,

I wish the other noises

were as kind.

 

Ian D. Hall 2016

Permanent link to this post (74 words, estimated 18 secs reading time)

Mungo Jerry, Rewind. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

When it comes to remembering when time was a little less awkward, when the sun glasses caught the sight of the rose coloured memories and the hue of recollection with astonishing foresight, then the early seventies, the hangover from the 60s glory and the children of the revolution was one in which the reverie never actually died or faded. Unlike the beige to come, the un-dramatic and undemocratic staleness that was force fed down the throats of the populace of the time, the early 70s were awash with vividness and at the forefront of that could be found the awareness of Ray Dorset and the superb band Mungo Jerry.

Mungo Jerry, Rewind. Album Review. full post

(434 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

The Love Dimension, Freakquency Space Mind Continuum. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Forget that Time and space exists within one of the dimensions that humanity is trapped within, the finest dimension beyond those that only travellers with a mad man with a blue box can discover is that of The Love Dimension; after they truly so speak volumes to the adoring nature of music fans and those to whom the straight jacketed bombastic look down upon as freaks and peculiar. Yet each one who gravitates towards the unusual, who are attracted to the uncommon are normally rewarded with a trip into the fantastic and extraordinary.

The Love Dimension, Freakquency Space Mind Continuum. Album Review. full post

(379 words, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)