Category Archives: Film

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

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Lou de Laâge, Agata Buzek, Agata Kulesza, Vincent Macaigne, Joanna Kulig, Eliza Rycembel, Katarzyna Dabrowska, Anna Próchniak, Helena Sujecka, Mira Maluszinska, Dorota Kuduk, Klara Bielawka, Pascal Elso, Thomas Coumans, Leon Latan-Paszek

Not every story from the despair of World War Two has been told, not every action and reaction has been explored; however The Innocents seeks to address part of that by showing a world far removed from Julie Andrews singing the joys of spring as she wanders the hillsides in Germany-annexed Austria. Not every story has been told but there are some that you cannot help but wonder how they stay hidden for so long and the barbarity of some actions live long in the shadow, the stain of humanity.

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

(406 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Colin Farrell, Katherine Waterston, Samantha Morton, Dan Fogler, John Voight, Alison Sodul, Ezra Miller, Ron Perlman, Faith Wood-Blagrove, Jenn Murray, Ronan Raftery, Corey Peterson, Peter Breitmayer, Josh Cowdery, Sam Redford, Zoë Kravitz, Johnny Depp.

It is impossible to ignore the magic, the film that will leave you spellbound and entranced, even without trying too hard it will leave you on the verge of feeling the slack jaw and the misty eyed, a memory of feeling the optimism with any story told when you were a child and seeing that tale run with the grace of imagination installed into it by the writing, the way it was told and the small details of the descriptions added into it by a cool parent.

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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

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

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Michael Stuhlbarg, Forest Whitaker, Tzi Ma.

Life boils down to communication, the willingness to talk about even the most inconsequential moments as well as the static, the shouts of indifference and the moans of love, terror and laughter; without being able to communicate in any form, without breaking the barriers that naturally occur between us in language or in our attitudes, we do not deserve to be considered reasonable, adept or functioning members of the planet.

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

(488 words, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

A Street Cat Named Bob, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Luke Treadaway, Ruta Gedmintas, Joanna Froggatt, Anthony Head, Beth Goddard, Darren Evans, Caroline Goodall, Ruth Sheen, Nina Wadia, Franc Ashman, Lorraine Ashbourne, Mark Behan, Daniel Fearn, Adam Riches, Nadine Marshall, John Henshaw.

It is a quirk that makes the British film industry such a magnificent beast at times, for every stunning spectacular that crowds the screen with its location, its effortless pandemonium like glee in producing stunt after stunt and the facility to host the filming of the big box office smash, that occasionally comes a film in which typifies the true spirit of film making, one that does not go down the route enjoyed by the likes of the insipid and distasteful, but is instead a story, a piece of living memory that could happen to any of us.

A Street Cat Named Bob, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T, Liverpool. full post

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

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

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Tambor, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Jean Smart, John Lithgow, Andy Umberger, Jason Davis, Robert C. Treveiler, Mary Kraft, Ron Prather, Susan Williams, Fernado Chien, Alex Collins.

Anybody can make a film it seems where the protagonist has a deep dark past, something in their history that has driven them to the point in which the audience joins them in the carnage, mayhem and resolution to come; anybody and everybody has made a film in which the leading role or the anti-hero has a quirk, a certain eccentricity that makes them stand out but rarely do they do it such a way that the characteristics of autism are made to be so dynamic and fully mapped out, explored in a way that the hero is anything but fulfilled and given absolute purpose.

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

(392 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Hacksaw Ridge, Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths, Vince Vaughn, Goran D. Kleut.

Much is made of the hero, the person who can look insanity in the face and treat it with kindness, who can see the horror of war and find the grace to be compassionate to those who perhaps don’t deserve it but give each soul the benefit of their own internal wisdom.

Hacksaw Ridge, Film Review. full post

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

Doctor Strange, Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Mads Mikkelson.

To corrupt the great Bard, there is more in the Universe than we can ever understand, and at times it feels like that when you immerse yourself into the world of the comic book Superhero, to many it just seems a waste of celluloid or its digital sister and yet under the surface, the latent power it fills others with is at least enough to further enhance their imagination, and for that alone films from the houses of D.C. and Marvel have a place that would leave the world slightly less colourful for their absence.

Doctor Strange, Film Review. full post

(406 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

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

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 5/10

Cast: Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, Ben Foster, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Ana Ularu, Irrfan Khan, Omar Sy, Ida Darvish.

If there was ever an example in the world of cinema of a truly superb idea being driven down the wrong street then unfortunately Inferno would have to be one of the most disappointing examples of them all.

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

(434 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

The Girl On The Train, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Édgar Ramírez, Laura Prepon, Allison Janney, Darren Goldstein, Lisa Kudrow, Cleta E. Ellington, Lana Young, Rachel Christopher, Fernando Medina, Gregory Morley, Mac Tavares, John Norris, Nathan Shapiro, Tamiel Paynes, Peter Mayer-Klepchick.

When you reach the bottom of the glass, perception is everything, it can define who you are because of what you see or what you fail to register; the comfort of the glass might be the great pain killer and momentary healer but it does nothing for your eyesight or your ability to think through a situation clearly.

The Girl On The Train, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(451 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Swiss Army Man, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Antonio Ribero, Timothy Eulich, Richard Gross, Marika Casteel, Andy Hull, Aaron Marshall, Shane Carruth, Jessica Harbeck.

There are moments on screen when you wonder who exactly gave the green light to a project that on the face of it seems so incredibly preposterous that it surely only exists in the minds of the wonderfully imaginative but creatively bonkers. A story that somehow really should not work at all on film; yet has the power at the closing credits to have you smiling as you walk towards your bus or contemplate catching your train, a smile that borders on the enticed and cinematically romanced.

Swiss Army Man, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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