Not Going Out. Christmas Special 2023. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Lee Mack, Sally Breton, Hugh Dennis, Abigail Cruttenden, Deborah Grant, Geoffrey Whitehead, Richard Syms, Francesca Newman, Max Pattison, Finlay Southby, David Hargreaves, Delroy Atkinson, Angela McHale, Ketorah Williams.

To get a British comedy series to a hundred episodes is no mean feat, it is rare, it takes perseverance, and a following that almost pleads with the makers to continue the story line of a much-loved character and those who are family, friends, and the recipients of the farce that often ensues.

Not Going Out. Christmas Special 2023. Television Review. full post

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

Spiderman: Across The Spider-Verse. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Jake Johnson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Daniel Kaluuya, Karen Soni, Shea Whigham, Greta Lee, Mahershala Ali, Amandla Stenberg, Jharrel Jerome, Andy Samberg, Jack Quaid, Rachel Dratch, Ziggy Marley, Jorma Taccone, J.K. Simmons, Donald Glover, Elizabeth Perkins, Kathryn Hahn, Ayo Edebiri, Nicola Delaney, Nina Lentini, Atsuko Okatsuka, Peter Sohn, Melissa Sturm, Lorraine Velez, Nic Novicki, Taran Killam, Metro Boomin, Josh Keaton, Sofia Barclay, Danielle Perez, Yuri Lowenthal.

There are cinematic events that deserve nothing finer than the glory of the largest screen available.

Spiderman: Across The Spider-Verse. Film Review. full post

(505 words, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

Invitation To A Murder. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *

Cast: Mischa Barton, Chris Browning, Bianca A. Santos, Giles Matthey, Grace Lynn Kung, Seamus Dever, James Urbaniak, Amy Sloan, Alex Hyde-White, Clark Carmichael, Rae Gray, Liz Pazik, Curtis Edward Jackson, Q’Ira.

There are some invitations that should be returned to the sender with the decline option fully enforceable and expected. For in the rush to entertain the public we allow a multitude of dramas to occupy our time that in all honesty are far from the stocking filler treat that is demanded, the thrill ride and the belief in the intelligence of collective humanity that we frame when presented eagerly to the world of the armchair detective.

Invitation To A Murder. Film Review. full post

(436 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Aquaman 2: Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 3/10

Cast: Jason Momoa, Patrick Wilson, Yayha Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Kidman, Randall Park, Temuera Morrison, Dolph Lundgren, Martin Short, Jani Zhao, Indya Moore, Vincent Regan, Jay McDonald, Amber Heard.

Film appreciation is in part understanding the chaos that is suffered during production, it is the point where the audience or the casual onlooker can be informed of the trials and tribulations behind the scenes, and where it might lead to understanding that the cracked porcelain vase of celluloid has been neglected or undergone what could arguably be described as a form of sabotage or cinematic early death.

Aquaman 2: Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom. Film Review. full post

(428 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

Doctor Who: Time War- Volume Four. Big Finish Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Paul McGann, Rakhee Thakrar, Terry Malloy, Adèle Anderson, Isla Blair, Ken Bones, Nicholas Briggs, Chris Jarman, Julia McKenzie, Suzanne Proctor, Jemima Rooper.

The Daleks may well be the ultimate embodiment of what it means to think of an enemy that is relentless, unfeeling, without emotion, and whilst you know that they will never understand compassion or empathy, they are but dust when the fan comes to think of their creator, when Davros enters the narrative, for in just one being you have a fictional character that can be seen in the most evil of men that have ever walked the Earth; that this creature who first locked intellect with the Doctor in Genesis of the Daleks, is in every way the master of genocide, of propaganda and lies, and to whom the viewer associates completely with the malevolent wickedness of Fascism.

Doctor Who: Time War- Volume Four. Big Finish Audio Drama Review. full post

(659 words, estimated 2:38 mins reading time)

Doctor Who: Time War -Volume Three. Big Finish Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Paul McGann, Rakhee Thakrar, Michael Jayston, Nicholas Briggs, Adèle Anderson, Wendy Craig, Andrew Fettes, Raj Ghatak, Natalie Gumede, Anjli Mohindra, Jamie Newall, Jude Owusu, John Scougall, Venice Van Someren, Nina Wadia, Tracey Wiles.

If ever there was an arc of stories that deserved to be told for television within the Doctor Who universe, then The Time War would surely be the set that the fandom would overwhelmingly clamour, would petition in their droves to have given precedence over all others.

Doctor Who: Time War -Volume Three. Big Finish Audio Drama Review. full post

(692 words, estimated 2:46 mins reading time)

Chris Wragg And Greg Copeland: The Last Sundown. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Do we ever really contemplate what it would mean to witness our final experience of dusk, that The Last Sundown we see with our own eyes is not one of mystery, of appreciating the majesty of the Universe, of even hoping to observe one final emergence of what was once considered a god peek over the horizon, but one that is shrouded by a shrug of indifference as we assume that all we have will be repeated the next day, and the one after that for time immemorial.

Chris Wragg And Greg Copeland: The Last Sundown. Album Review. full post

(467 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

Colin Macduff: Seperations. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There is only one thing in our life that is remembered more than an enduring love, and that is the break up that came before it, the moment when your heart and soul is crushed under the weight of the delusion that you have suffered that one person could have been the one, and little regard they felt for your state of mind as they leave you in pieces; the Separations of spirit are not just the acceptance of the bleak, but the catalyst to be better as you reflect on all that took place.

Colin Macduff: Seperations. Album Review. full post

(471 words, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

A Murder At The End of The World. Television Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Emma Corrin, Brit Marling, Clive Owen, Harris Dickinson, Alice Braga, Joan Chen, Raúl Esparza, Jermaine Fowler, Ryan J. Haddad, Pegah Ferydoni, Javed Khan, Louis Cancelmi, Edoardo Ballerini, Christopher Gurr, Britian Seibert, Kellan Tetlow, Neal Huff, Daniel Olson, Annette Wright.

The rise of the internet podcast has seen the amateur armchair detective morph into an investigator capable of holding court over a local case that has perplexed them and have at least a small following that are willing to delve into their possible outlandish theories and suspicions, for every mystery, every possible homicide can now leave a mark on the world wide web that could be the next big thing, the next sensation.

A Murder At The End of The World. Television Drama Review. full post

(588 words, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

Vigil. Series Two. Television Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Suranne Jones, Rose Leslie, Gary Lewis, Orla Russell, Dougray Scott, Romola Garai, Chris Jenks, Oscar Salem, Dominic Mafham, Nebras Jamali, Amir El-Masry, Steven Elder, Kim Allan, Rebecca Banatvala, Naomi Stirrat, Kamal Mustaffai, Anders Hayward, Armin Karima, Khalid Laith, Alastair Mackenzie, Martin Bell, Tania Rodrigues.

From death under water, to death from the skies, the second series of the initial smash hit Vigil once more hits the ground running as it pushes Detectives Amy Silva and Kirsten Longacre to the limit of their emotions and deductive powers as a routine demonstration of military hardwire suddenly turns into an horrendous murder scene and slaughter.

Vigil. Series Two. Television Drama Review. full post

(467 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)