Tag Archives: Liverpool

Black Mass, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Kevin Bacon, Peter Sarsgaard, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane, David Harbour, Adam Scott, Corey Stoll, Julianne Nicholson, Juno Temple, W. Earl Brown, Bill Camp, Mark Mahoney, Brad Carter, Scott Anderson, Lonnie Farmer, Erica McDermott, Owen Burke, Lewis D. Wheeler.

There are films which have the audience hanging on the edge of their seats and usually they are for their sheer scope and vision they offer the cinematic screen. They do not normally have the truth of America’s dirty laundry being aired in public or the realisation that somewhere in the U.K. or any other country the underworld is not just in bed with law and order but the relationship is consensual and without the use of protection.

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

(509 words, estimated 2:02 mins reading time)

Andreya Triana, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Andreya Triana at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool. November 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There are perhaps fewer things in life, especially within the artistic range, more daunting than opening up for a woman who it is agreed almost universally to be a star of unrivalled quality. Nobody would ever blame a support act for feeling the slight unhinging trepidation which passes as they walk across the stage with a couple of thousand eyes baring down before them, nobody would truly bat an eye lid if the sound of their heart was audibly so loud that it drowned out the polite applause that greeted the performer. Yet as Andreya Triana made her way past the boards that have held a million feet, there was arguably no sense of the nerves showing at all, only wonderfully composed respect for the audience’s time.

Andreya Triana, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(397 words, 1 image, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

The Dressmaker, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Kate Winslet, Liam Hemsworth, Hugo Weaving, Sarah Snook, Judy Davies, Caroline Goodall, Kerry Fox, Rebecca Gibney, Gyton Grantley, Shane Bourne, Barry Otto, Sacha Horler, Julia Blake, Shane Jacobson, Hayley Magnus, Alison Whyte, Geneviève Lemon, Terry Norris, Amanda Woodhams, Olivia Sprague, Mark Leonard Winter, Rachael Lorenz, Darcey Wilson, Rory Potter, Tracy Harvey, Roy Barker, Gregory Quinn, Simon Maiden, Grace Rosebirch, Lucy Moir, Jordan Mifsud, Sage Barreda.

There is nothing like watching elegant revenge on the big screen to stir the soul into believing that those who were mistreated by society will ultimately walk away with their heads held high and in fashionable taste.

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

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

Steve Jobs, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslett, Seth Rogan, Jeff Daniels, Michael Stuhlbarg, Katherine Waterston, Perla Haney-Jardine, Sarah Snook, John Ortiz, Adam Shapiro, John Steen, Stan Roth, Mihran Slougian, Robert Anthony Peters, Noreen Lee, Gail Fenton.

There is no doubt that Steve Jobs was magnetic personality, that the brains behind some of the ideas of personal computing of the last 40 years have his own indelible stamp upon them and that whilst being deeply flawed, as all reasonable people are apt to be, Danny Boyle’s biopic of the man behind Apple somehow manages to leave the casual viewer feeling aloof and disconnected from the subject at hand.

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

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

The Waterboys, Gig Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Mike Scott offers so much of himself on stage that the decency of the man shines through with the glow of warm African sunset and the truth of a great Scottish artist.

Returning to Liverpool as part of their latest tour and to what should be considered a natural home for The Waterboys, the band played a set that was both outrageously enjoyable but also deeply conscious of the audiences wishes to be entertained and informed, to not just be the type of gig in which the flickering neon lights glaze the eyes but instead offer a type of natural absolution to the day, the warmth of that deep African sunset illuminating the thoughts with effortless wisdom.

The Waterboys, Gig Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(416 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

The Winter’s Tale, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Conrad Nelson, Russell Richardson, Andy Cryer, Jack Lord, Hannah Barrie, Vanessa Schofield, Lauryn Redding, Andrew Whitehead, Jordan Kemp, Adam Barlow, Ruth Alexander Rubin, Mike Hugo, Jessica Dyas.

You can always trust Time to deliver a verdict that reconciles the world when it is damaged just as you can trust Time to play with the misfortunes of men when it suits to teach them a lesson for the insanity and jealous ravings.

The Winter’s Tale, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(475 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Blake Remixed By Testament, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound & Vision Rating: * * * *

Cast: Testament, DJ Woody

Blake Remixed is beatboxer and rapper Testament’s first theatre show and looks at how relevant the poetry and art of William Blake still is today. An early influence in Testaments life, this show explores the relevance that Blake’s work and themes can still have on our culture. He compares today’s society to the time of Blake’s and asks if social justice, religious and racial tolerance is any different. Testament takes on Blake’s poetry and puts his own unique stamp on 18th century themes.

Blake Remixed By Testament, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Steve Harley, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Steve Harley at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, November 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There are moments in life where the delicate, sometimes unseen hairs on the back of the hand and those that reside in the nape of the neck, rise with clear conscious at the sound of humanity doing what it does best, singing with unashamed passion from the same song book and with beauty in their hearts.

Steve Harley, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(613 words, 1 image, estimated 2:27 mins reading time)

Go West And Nik Kershaw, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Go West and Nik Kershaw at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. November 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Whoever thought of putting together two of the big names of their generation, not only on the same bill, but as some sort of 80s super-group, for a tour deserves to be given their own office, an unlimited budget and the phone numbers of all the bands of the last great decade for singles and the 45s.

Go West And Nik Kershaw, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(501 words, 1 image, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

Carol Decker (T’Pau), Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Carol Decker at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. November 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is a temptation to feel sorry for Carol Decker, the lynch pin of the band T’Pau, it is persuasion of ever increasing spirit to find a way to get radio stations to look beyond what she and the band did three decades ago and take a listen to how the sound is to be perceived now. The temptation is there but also is the realisation that Ms. Decker has strength of will on her side and a resolute determination that requires no sympathy, just the ability to listen to someone with the humour firmly still in place and the stage presence to enrich many lives.

Carol Decker (T’Pau), Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(421 words, 1 image, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)