Secret In Their Eyes, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Dean Norris, Alfred Molina, Joe Cole, Michael Kelly, Zoe Graham, Patrick Davis, Eileen Fogarty, Lyndon Smith, Kim Yarborough, Mark Famiglietti, Amir Malaklou, Niko Nicotera, Dennis Keiffer, Don Harvey.

Remaking a film for an English speaking audience can be problematic, it can detract from the spectacle that originally played out or even lose some of the drive that first made the story a hit, thankfully the producers behind Secret In Their Eyes have kept the tension and effort of concentration in place and the final pay off is one that still catches the audience unawares.

Secret In Their Eyes, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(407 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Apparently He Died Alone.

Apparently he died alone.

The year which had taken greats and the loved,

by its own admission, Time had murdered

them all without malice,

with charm and pity, sad

for the sadness Time had caused

as it placed a hand over the faces

and blew out their waxen candles

one last time, celebrated, wailing

and tears, celebrity bringing its own

terminal end with a semblance of togetherness.

Yet he died alone, in a doorway,

February cold his warmth

as he shut his eyes and huddled closer,

Apparently He Died Alone. full post

(148 words, estimated 36 secs reading time)

The Classic Rock Show, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2016).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The mood is always infectious when certain classic Rock songs make an appearance on the public bar juke box, the anticipation of what track is going to appear next, what standard or anthem will have the crowd singling loudly and what will have the tear of regret and the memory of a particular moment forever seared into the brain. Music arguably has that ability to make the brain remember valuable recollections more so than any other art form and as the crescendo of The Classic Rock Show reached ever higher, as the Philharmonic Hall crowd were swayed and teased with greatness, so the memory of Time was played out to some of the unbeatable guitar riffs and unforgettable lyrics.

The Classic Rock Show, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2016). full post

(454 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Hamish Napier, The River. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Slow and meandering, wistful, peaceful, ally, hindrance, roaring with thunder or verging on the edge of destructive impulse, whichever way you look at the river that runs closest to your home, it can be argued that it influences you more than you realise. Just as those who are fortunate to live by the sea feel the calm reassurance of the tides and the crash of the waves as they skim off layer after layer of rock, so too does The River place its timeless majesty into the heart of the community and for Hamish Napier, The River is the subject of an album that has all the attributes needed to make the person think just that little bit more about what shapes their lives.

Hamish Napier, The River. Album Review. full post

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

Put On A Proper Suit.

Put on a proper suit,

do up your tie,

sing the National Anthem,

cut your hair, it’s a disgrace

stop biting your nails,

you go to Drama School?,

your only option lad

is to join the army,

make a man out of you,

pacifist, you’ll grow out of that lad

in the real world,

where’s your uniform,

where’s your tie,

you will have to wear one every day lad,

in the real world,

listen to proper music,

stop reading that type of book,

Put On A Proper Suit. full post

(243 words, estimated 58 secs reading time)

The Fireflys, The Illumination Of Everything. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Enlightenment comes in many forms, it can be deafening, it can be as silent as the ghost of a wind travelling up a river estuary, the only ripple that can be discerned is that as the breeze ruffles the ears of corn or disturbs the water; enlightenment may suggest itself at that point where even if you didn’t feel the gust then all around you certainly did.

The Fireflys, The Illumination Of Everything. Album Review. full post

(385 words, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)

Rob Clarke And The Wooltones, Iron Eyes Cody. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

History rarely makes itself known, it just appears. The signs may be there, the historian may point to certain moments in which the realisation of what is occurring is shaped and polished, whatever the reason for history, in whatever shape or form, whether it is of enormous consequence or of the subtlety of change, the change will arguably not register world-wide but to whom the earthquake tremor reaches the sensitive and the symbol chaser.

Rob Clarke And The Wooltones, Iron Eyes Cody. Single Review. full post

(334 words, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

Triple 9, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 5/10

Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Winslet, Woody Harrelson, Anthony Mackie, Clifton Collins Jr., Casey Affleck, Gal Gadot, Teresa Palmer, Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Michael Kenneth Williams, Michelle Ang, Luis Da Silva Jr.

Corruption is one in which no one can truly escape unless they have found a way to shelter from the storm of everyday and the lure of greed and fear; everybody has a weakness, everybody has a secret in which they can be pushed to the point of crossing their own line of decency. It is a decency that unfortunately is missing in the film Triple 9.

Triple 9, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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

She Thought, He Thought.

She always yearns to be free,

just to breathe, just to experience

a life of her own

and not one tucked away in his shadow,

a silhouette fighting in dusk

and whilst she knows he acknowledges her

existence, he was always sincere like that,

it was always in whispered tones

and the suggestion that she would never

see daylight, that she was the companion

who understand more than he ever could.

 

She desires, he desires, both always

on the losing side, for existence

She Thought, He Thought. full post

(155 words, estimated 37 secs reading time)

I Am Thomas, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: John Cobb, Charlie Folorunsho, Amanda Hadingue, Iain Johnstone, Myra McFadyen, Hannah McPake, Dominic Marsh, John Pfumojena.

The state sanctioned death of a person who argues or probes the idea that there is no God seems an abhorrence to modern day British society, after all the freedom to question is one that we rightly hang onto with dogged grip, that must never be allowed to slip through our fingers lest dark days revisit the land; the freedom to assert a position against a God, monarchy and ruling classes is something that a more enlightened age must strive to keep.

I Am Thomas, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(453 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)