Jupiter Ascending, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *

Cast: Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth, Tuppence Middleton, Christina Cole, Nicholas A. Newman, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Ramon Tikaram, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tim Pigott-Smith, James D’Arcy, Jeremy Swift, Vanessa Kirby, Samuel Barnett, Terry Gilliam.

There is no doubting the scale of imagination of the Wachowskis. Other, arguably more highly regarded and even phenomenally charged films such as The Matrix trilogy and the exceptional V for Vendetta, will however be remembered with more fondness than the latest film to escape Andy and Lana’s burgeoning net, the visually stunning but poorly delivered Jupiter Ascending.

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

(595 words, estimated 2:23 mins reading time)

A Sonnet For Those That Wish You Ill.

I would write a sonnet just for you,

something comparing roses to your sweet breath

or the clouds in the sky, anything to hide a solitary clue

of how you wish me nothing but ill-fortune and possible death.

 

I hold a candle for you at all times of the day and night.

The wax cascading down, tear by tear

and soon snuffing out eventually your guiding eternal light

as the days turn to months and finally a goodbye to the year.

 

Oh I wish I could say I still miss the way you were

A Sonnet For Those That Wish You Ill. full post

(149 words, estimated 36 secs reading time)

Broadchurch, Television Review. Series Two, Episode Six.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: David Tennant, Olivia Coleman, Andrew Buchan, Jodie Whittaker, Arthur Darvill, Eve Myles, Charlotte Beaumont, Lucy Cohu, Joe Sims, Carolyn Pickles, Jonathan Bailey, Tanya Franks, Simone McAullay, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, James D’Arcy, Charlotte Rampling, Meera Syal, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, William Andrews, Matthew Gravelle, Adam Wilson, Shaun Dooley, Amanda Drew, Eliza Bennett, Hollie Burgess.

At some point the healing process has to begin, it must be seen to mend and restore; however before it does, like a scab that you cannot help but pick at, the blood-letting must continue and at times it may feel like the hurting will never stop.

Broadchurch, Television Review. Series Two, Episode Six. full post

(463 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

Grim Fandango: Remastered (PS4), Game Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Grim Fandango: Remastered is a story driven third-person adventure puzzle game available for download from the PlayStation Store for the PS4 and PS Vita. The game is an enhanced version of the cult classic point and click adventure which was originally released in October 1998 and is known as one of LucasArts’ best games amongst many big name classics such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Grim Fandango was met with mass critical acclaim upon release with many awards in 1998 such as Adventure Game of the Year from PC Gamer, IGN, Game Critics Awards and Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences as well as an entire range of GameSpot awards with a lot of recognition for the quality the game possessed. Tim Schafer who is known for his work on other such classic games as Day of the Tentacle and Psychonauts was the project lead on the original release of Grim Fandango which he stated cost around $3 million to develop and he also lead the project of remastering the game with Double Fine Productions.

Grim Fandango: Remastered (PS4), Game Review. full post

(2185 words, estimated 8:44 mins reading time)

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

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Wilkinson, Giovanni Ribisi, Tim Roth, Clay Chappell, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Andre Holland, Colman Domingo, Omar J. Dorsey, Common, Tessa Thompson, David Dwyer, David Morizot, Dylan Baker, Wendell Pierce, Trai Byers, Keith Stanfield, Stan Houston, Nigel Thatch, Tara Ochs, Cuba Gooding Jr., Michael Shikany, Martin Sheen.

 

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

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

Dinosaur Deniers.

The dinosaur presented to you this evening

has had the most awful of press.

Uncaring, even abusive towards its young,

beast like, carnivorous and rotten I stress;

A constant whimper in the Universe and one that destroyed

its home and yet was capable of inspiring us to greater thought

and to whom even now after all scientific data has been agreed upon

sees Dinosaur deniers take paleontologists  to court.

 

“We shouldn’t teach our young about these absurd creatures” they decry

they try to denounce the dinosaur as an evil spread by science

Dinosaur Deniers. full post

(264 words, estimated 1:03 mins reading time)

And Then There Were None, Theatre Review. Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Paul Nicholas, Colin Buchanan, Susan Penhaligon, Mark Curry, Verity Rushworth, Frazer Hines, Ben Nealon, Eric Carte, Judith Rae, Paul Hassall, Jan Knightley.

Justice, it should be seen as being above all. The knowledge that justice must not only be done but seen to be done is the overriding factor in any democratic society. What happens when justice is served by an unhinged mind? The reasons of impartiality become skewed and twisted and whilst it gets the job of retribution done, the voyeuristic viewer becomes entangled in the right of death debate too closely.

And Then There Were None, Theatre Review. Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton. full post

(529 words, estimated 2:07 mins reading time)

36 Crazyfists, Time And Trauma. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Everything in life comes down to two subjects, sex and death. For the witty, taxes comes into the equation as a means of pointing out that everything alive between finding a lover and the point of ultimate demise is just basically because everybody is out to take advantage of you. In amongst it all though is the somehow forgotten entity of Time.  Sex and death may be the two romantic visions that a poet will surreptitiously weave into a new sonnet and mentally ask their readers to gouge out the sentiments tied up within, but Time is ever present and demands more than the other state of affairs put together.

36 Crazyfists, Time And Trauma. Album Review. full post

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

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Sunday Supplement, An Interview With Angela Simms. (2015).

Angela Simms has come so far in what seems such a short space of time. Undoubtedly one of the bright young things of Liverpool theatre comedy, her performances in productions such as in the superb If The Shoe Fits, Ladies Day, Special Measures, The Hitchhikers Guide To Fazakerley and The Rainbow Connection, have had audiences flocking to see more of this talented and approachable Liverpool actor.

From working with the gifted Donna Lesley Price and Richie Grice in the superb If The Shoe Fits, to performing at the Royal Court Theatre, Angela Simms has captivated audiences with a seamless elegance intertwined an a great aptitude to her craft and boundless energy.

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Sunday Supplement, An Interview With Angela Simms. (2015). full post

(1286 words, estimated 5:09 mins reading time)

Sentenced To Life.

You were the thrill of a childhood wrapped in sickness.

Months of endless childhood complaint

in which the hero and heroine captivated me and in which an adventure

was of my own undertaking.

A bout of Bronchitis, battled on one side like a punch bag

with its stuffing flowing out onto the cold gymnasium floor,

the victor raising his hands in mocking tones

high above my head and placing the sickly taste of camphor oil

on harsh felt pillow and scratchy woollen blankets and taunting me

with the knowledge that as I grew older I would not

Sentenced To Life. full post

(359 words, estimated 1:26 mins reading time)