Tag Archives: Liverpool

Spiderman: Homecoming, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Jacob Batalon, Tony Revolori, Laura Harrier, Tyne Daly, Chris Evans.

It is easy to see why Spiderman is amongst the favourites of all the super heroes that have come and gone since the much heralded Golden Age of the genre; funny, wisecracking, prone to teenage angst, the fine line between the big picture and the tiniest detail always shown as brightly as possible, a young lad protecting his neighbourhood rather than taking on the world. Since his first appearance in comic book and on screen, through Saturday morning cartoon and posters on the wall, any young person and any adult who remembers the feeling, will always be entranced by Peter Parker and Spiderman.

Spiderman: Homecoming, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(605 words, estimated 2:25 mins reading time)

Another Story From Another Place, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Lucy Fiori, Austin Hewitt.

The art of entertaining children, let alone an audience, is one that is vastly underrated. The minds of the young crave knowledge and yet they will not allow themselves to put up with the half baked or the condescending; for them a tale worth telling is a tale worth telling well, it is after all how we as a society get them to appreciate their imagination and treat it with respect and sanctity.

Another Story From Another Place, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Baby Driver, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Ansel Elgort, Jon Hamm, Eiza González, Micah Howard, Lily James, Morgan Brown, Kevin Spacey, Morse Diggs, CJ Jones, Sky Ferreira, Lance Palmer, Hudson Meek, Viviana Chavez, Hal Whiteside, Flea, Lanny Joon, Jamie Foxx, Clay Donahue Fontenot.

 

The heist, a cinematic idea that has stood the test of time and sometimes patience, a theme that still produces a feeling of warmth for many to whom cinema is the true meaning of escapism, the expression of being part of against the system but not getting your hands dirty.

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

(494 words, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

Roger McGough/ Royal Philharmonic 10/10 Ensemble. Summer With Monika. Music Rooms, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Poetry and music give the same sense of hope and beauty to which arguably nothing else made by our own minds and creative souls, save an artist’s delicate touch or an actor’s soliloquy, can stand up to in comparison. Combine them, join them at the hip and something truly magical happens, it can feel like seeing the stars for the first time, watching a waterfall cascade over thousands of years of rocks and rubble which have been shaped by time and patience or even the wide eyed wonder of a child realise that the world is there to be explored. In nature the moment is forever, in the words of one of Britain’s finest poets of the last one hundred years, it is a spectacle that makes your heart glow.

Roger McGough/ Royal Philharmonic 10/10 Ensemble. Summer With Monika. Music Rooms, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

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

Pippin, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Chris Walsh, Pete Fendall, Matthew Sheffield, Tom Loughlin, Steph Scrutton, Heather Burns, Eilish Mulvihill, Thomas Wiggins, Eugene Chong, Megan Key, Andrew Abrahamson, Kate Rugen, Andy Walker, Lizzie Paes, Charlotte Wilson, Steph Longmuir, Lily Maketansky.

Musicians: Josie Conti, Mark Newberry, Amy Fazakerley, Holly Burrows, Abigail Morris, Chloe Farrington, Tom Crowley, Xana Davies, Joe Barnes, Laura Copestake, Ben Dyer, Jonny Knight, Luke Thomas.

Pippin, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(516 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

In The Millennial Dome, Theatre Review. Fredericks, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Alex Ferguson, Geraint R. Williams.

Much is made of the Millennial, to some this group of people who have come into the world after the nihilism and cynicism of Generation X are to be seen with a sneer and not so positive attitude or recommendation appearing on the corners of the mouths of those who came after the end World War Two, the so called Baby Boomers, and those to whom the Counter Culture was not just grasped for but willingly so. However, rather than the strident pessimism of the Generation X and the awkward suspicion of the baby boomer, for those immersed in the unhinged times of the 21st Century, being In The Millennial Dome is perhaps the hardest times of all, and those who fight within should be applauded rather than condemned.

In The Millennial Dome, Theatre Review. Fredericks, Liverpool. full post

(516 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

Cartoonopolis, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Lewis Bray.

To compare the same play by the same performer two years apart is to open yourself up to folly and yet as audience member rose in appreciation at the end of Lewis Bray’s magical return of his play Cartoonopolis, as they revelled as one in the life of boy to whom cartoons are a special friend, there can be no doubt that this is one of the most exceptional plays crowds are likely to see this year.

Cartoonopolis, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Abichan, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Abichan at Studio 2, Liverpool. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Studio 2 in Liverpool has had the distinction of hosting bands that were to be seen as encapsulating a moment, of living in and outside of the framework of what was perhaps expected, and finally going beyond the call of duty; that a group can do this is to be seen as proof just how vibrant, how exciting the music is and even when the forces of destruction invariably start sinking their teeth into anything that is seen as not part of the high finance image they wish to portray, there is still the energy of those not willing to be pushed aside which carries the day into one of total groove and spirited beauty.

Abichan, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool. full post

(423 words, 1 image, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

The Mono LPs, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Seeing any one of Liverpool’s enjoyable and talented bands on the multitude of stages that hug the city is to be surely viewed as a mixture of honour and pleasure.

To be able to see the raw, the passionate and the creative mood in which is a source of life blood for The Mersey, is to know that the world still turns, that despite all the fury that government can reign down on the planet, there will always be groups and solo artists that stick their hands in the air and ask if the powers that be can cope with what’s coming next. The storm as it were fighting back with a smile, and that’s what you have in the sense of The Mono LPs, four musicians who make you sweat with anticipation and pure heart, who seriously pound the strings and the skin with venom and absolute assurance.

The Mono LPs, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool. full post

(422 words, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

Penny Mob, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Penny Mob at Studio 2, Liverpool. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

They have travelled up from London to Liverpool before and gave the audience at District House a taste, a bountiful and very pleasing taste, of just exactly what they can achieve whilst on the stage and in a city which enjoys and respects musicians who give all they have to give from their soul, coming back to enjoy a second bite of the cherry in the form of Penny Mob was just the savoury trimming required.

Penny Mob, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool. full post

(405 words, 1 image, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)