Category Archives: Film

Captain America: Civil War, Film Review. Picturehouse, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, Tom Holland, Daniel Brühl, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, Martin Freeman, Marisa Tomei, John Kani, John Slattery, Hope Davis, Alfre Woodard, Gene Farber, Stan Lee.

The world hangs in a deadly balance, the world’s mightiest heroes are being reined in by their own kind and their friends and divisions and sides are being forged and broken; the world is used to such fun and games, countries routinely flip in their pursuit of self interest and government greed but to do this to those charged with protecting the planet, it all gets very murky indeed.

Captain America: Civil War, Film Review. Picturehouse, Liverpool. full post

(511 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

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

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Chris Cooper, Judah Lewis, C.J. Wilson, Polly Draper, Malachy Cleary, Debra Monk, Heather Lind, Wass Stevens, Blaire Brooks, Gregory Haney.

Grief is a peculiar beast; it affects people in different ways. Some will look at it as a time of reflection, some will plough themselves into their work till they become ill and others will find themselves finding a very different approach to dealing with the hurt, pain and absolute heartache of losing someone they love. The heart will grieve regardless and it is the moment of final deconstruction that most will come through the other side and find a reason to smile again.

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

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

Jane’s Got A Gun, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton, Ewan McGregor, Noah Emmerich, Boyd Holbrook, Rodrigo Santoro, James Burnett, Sam Quinn, Maisie McMaster, Jenny Gabrielle, Alex Manette, Piper Sheets, Celia Kessler, Linda Martin.

It seems the old west is becoming more flavoursome once more, it certainly has had a lot of time to find its niche market again and thankfully move away from the tired and almost disgraceful, fetish like voyeurism of the 1950s and 60s in which generations of cinema goers were treated to the version of events that depicted the wars and slaughter of native Americans and their European invaders. The old west now seems to venture into more realistic territory and yet occasionally it can blow its own trumpet too hard and offer a film that just doesn’t fit in either camp; it is neither truly awful nor astonishingly good but nevertheless it still is a piece of artistic interpretation worth exploring.

Jane’s Got A Gun, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(485 words, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

Michael Schenker’s Temple Of Rock: On A Mission-Live In Madrid. DVD Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Michael Schenker’s contribution to the world of rock is such that it doesn’t bear thinking about what might have been had the young man not joined The Scorpions or U.F.O., what the world would have missed out on in the last few years with the outstanding Temple of Rock. The brain of the Rock fan, one that is always cerebral and contemplative due to the sheer cool of the genre, would go into meltdown if Michael Schenker had gone on to sit in a bank or become an estate agent; the waste of exciting and guitar brutal talent would just be too much too cope with.

Michael Schenker’s Temple Of Rock: On A Mission-Live In Madrid. DVD Review. full post

(535 words, 1 image, estimated 2:08 mins reading time)

Kicking Off, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Warren Brown, Greg McHugh, Alistair Petrie, Danielle Bux, Mark Bright, Geoff Hurst, Tim Major, Bailey Patrick, Jon-Paul Gates, Robbie Savage.

To many, football is a religion, it is the reason they get up in the morning, it is the devouring of knowledge, the talking point during the day and the bonding across the social strata, football is the motivation and the rationale but when it goes wrong, when the suffering of relegation is experienced, the humiliation of being the worst team possible, some might curse their own personal favourite deity; some might even consider ill will to the man in the middle who may have been the cause of the downfall of the gods, it might lead to the fan Kicking Off.

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

(493 words, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)

Miles Ahead, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Don Cheadle, Ewan McGregor, Michael Stuhlbarg, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Keith Stanfield, Christina Karis, Nina milow, Austin Lyon, Theron Brown, Jeffrey Grover, Joshua Jessen.

Maverick, genius, individual, eccentric and a rebel to the point of sheer musical indulgence; there are many touched by such unconventional thought but few perhaps that typify the very human nature that circles within us all as Miles Davis.

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

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

Louder Than Bombs, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Gabriel Byrne, Isabelle Huppert, Jesse Eisenberg, Devin Druid, Amy Ryan, Ruby Jerins, Megan Ketch, David Strathairn, Rachel Brosnahan, Russell Posner.

All we are looking for is a connection, a reason to hold onto certain memories and recollections about our lives and those we hold dear to our lives. When that reason to have and hold is taken away in the blink of an eye, when Time reminds us with no quarter given, that all can be lost and shattered as easily as bones in an accident, then connection is frustrated and we have to make our own way, unguided and censured; the only companion is silence and it is one that is Louder than Bombs, more destructive than loneliness.

Louder Than Bombs, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(440 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

The Jungle Book (2016), Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Neel Sethi, Ritesh Rajan, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o, Giancarlo Esposito, Christopher Walken, Garry Shandling, Brighton Rose, Jon Favreau, Sam Raimi, Russell Peters, Madeline Favreau.

There are remakes of films in which the audience should always ask the question, why did they do this, what point does it serve, what on Earth did they do that was any different? The feeling of a sacred bond between cinema and film lover being shattered by the gnawing pain that it comes down to money and conceit, never an easy feeling to shake off; however, in the live action remake of one of Disney’s finest films, The Jungle Book is a film of absolute beauty and fine film craft and much of it comes down to Jon Favreau direction and flag waving cause.

The Jungle Book (2016), Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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

Eye In The Sky, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman, Richard McCabe, Barkhad Abdi, Jeremy Northam, Monica Dolan, Iain Glen, Babou Ceesay, Phoebe Fox, Aaron Paul, Faisa Hassan, Aisha Takow, Armaan Haggio, Gavin Hood, Ebby Weyime, Lex King, Andrew Ahula, Ali Mohamed.

There are many reasons in which to take Eye In The Sky for a simple film about choice, its after effects and the consequences of decision; there are many reasons in which to understand that sometimes the greater good is served by the action of several bad and potentially evil people being taken out and one good person losing their life because of it; what it doesn’t prepare you for is the harrowing nature in which some decisions are formed.

Eye In The Sky, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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

The Huntsman: Winter’s War. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, Charlize Theron, Nick Frost, Sheridan Smith, Alexandra Roach, Rob Brydon, Sam Hazeldine, Robert Portal, Sope Dirisu, Annabelle Dowler, Colin Morgan, Ralph Ineson, Liam Neeson.

Winter is always coming; it just depends on how far you are willing to go in which to protect yourself against the savagery of war that plunges mortal beings into the ways of the warrior. Frost calls and the Huntsmen go in search of more lands to steal; it might not sound like a fairy tale but The Huntsman: Winter’s War is no story in which to consult The Brother’s Grimm over, this is a made up sequel of its own creation.

The Huntsman: Winter’s War. Film Review. full post

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