Category Archives: Film

The Man From U.N.C.L.E, Film Review. Plaza Cinema, Waterloo.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, Luca Calvani, Hugh Grant, Sylvester Groth, Jared Harris, Christian Berkel, Misha Kuznetsov, Guy Williams, Marianna Di Matino, Simona Caparrini.

It’s almost impossible to dislike what Guy Ritchie brings to the world of film, he is at times the epitome of what great British cinema should be viewed as and his latest venture, a suave and sophisticated remake of the classic 1960s television programme The Man From U.N.C.L.E, is up there with RockNRolla, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and the excellent Robert Downey Jnr. versions of Sherlock Holmes in terms of high pace, intelligent, creative independence and stylish cinema.

Pixels, Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 3/10

Cast: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad, Matt Lintz, Brian Cox, Sean Bean, Jane Krakowski, Dan Aykroyd, Affion Crockett, Lainie Kazan, Ashley Benson, Denis Akiyama, Tom McCarthy.

It is funny how often you can be suckered into watching a film in which you know is going to give you the most amazing premise but somehow has less chance of delivering upon the promise of good times and stomach aching laughter than a President being so well adored that the American voters would allow them any indiscretion going. They wouldn’t even clamour for their impeachment if they were caught in bed playing an out of tune flute whilst whispering sweet nothings to the Russian Ambassador as they talked of handing back Sarah Palin and the state of Alaska back to Moscow.

The Diary Of A Teenage Girl, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgård, Kristen Wiig, Christopher Meloni, Margarita Levieva, Madeline Waters, Abby Wait, Quinn Nagle, Austin Lyon, Miranda Bailey, Giovanni Miller, Samantha Hyde, David Fine, Natalie Stephany Aguilar, Drew Benda, Davy Clements, Robert Cure, Abby Wait.

 

There are some films that get released that you can’t help but admire the spirit in which they were released, the sheer striking sense of inadequacy that they impose on the thought processes and the feeling of the damaging voyeuristic intent in which they serve up the drama.

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

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Javier Gutiérrez, Raúl Arévalo, María Varod, Perico Cervantes, Jesús Ortiz, Jesús Carroza, Salva Reina, Antonio de la Torre, Nerea Barros, Ana Tomeno, Paula Palacios, Claudia Ubreva, Lucía Arias, Chelo Castro, Jesús Castro.

Murder has always seen to be such a British fascination, the chance to play armchair detective is one that goes back before the days of the Penny Dreadfuls, before the days in which every lurid sensational aspect of the crime at hand was printed with salaticiousness and gore filled speculation and in which the art of the most despicable act grows with ever more standing in literature and art.

Fantastic Four (2015). Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 3/10

Cast: Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell, Reg E. Cathey, Tim Blake Nelson, Dan Castellaneta, Owen Judge, Evan Hannemann, Chet Hanks, Mary-Pat Green, Tim Heidecker, Mary Rachel Dudley.

 

Someone, somewhere owes many cinema goers and fans of the Fantastic Four one big apology for what can only be described as a detailed examination of how not to bring comic book heroes to life. If the apology isn’t forthcoming, it can only be down to the fact that many who were involved in the project will have conveniently forgotten their involvement very quickly.

Mission:Impossible-Rogue Nation. Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Livepool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, America Olivo, Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris, Hermione Corfield, Jingchu Zhang, Simon McBurney, Tom Hollander, Jens Hultén, Rachel Ritfeld, Anastasia Harrold, Jorge Leon Martinez, Nigel Barber, Jessica Williams, Wolfgang Stegemann.

When the last Mission: Impossible film was released there would arguably have been many that silently sobbed into their pillow throughout the night after having watched it and who would vow silent vengeance should the world see a fifth instalment of the seemingly well past, over worn, near threadbare series of films.

Southpaw, Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams, Forest Whitaker, Oona Laurence, 50 Cent, Naomie Harris, Victor Ortiz, Tyrese Gibson, Miguel Gomez, Beau Knapp, Rita Ora, Clare Foley, Dominic Colón, Jose Caraballo, Malcolm M. Mays, Aaron Quattrocchi, Lana Young, Danny Henriquez, Patsy Meck, Vito Grassi, Tony Weeks, Jimmy Lennon Jr., Charles Hoyes, Clare Foley, Mark Shrader, Adam Kroloff, Skylan Brooks, Patrick Jordan, Cedric D. Jones, Jim Lampley.

True Story, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Jonah Hill, James Franco, Felicity Jones, Maria Dizzia, Ethan Suplee, Conor Kikot, Charlotte Driscoll, Stella Rae Payne, Robert John Burke, Byron Jennings, Betty Gilpin, Seth Barrish, Robert Stanton, Michael Countryman, Steve Routman, Genevieve Angelson, Adam Mucci, David Wilson Barnes, William Jackson Harper, Sam Rosen, David Pittu, Auden Thornton, Edward James Hyland, Mara Hobel, Ngo Okafor, Maryann Plunket.

 

Ant-Man, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T.,Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Abby Ryder Fortson, Michael Peña, David Dastmalchian, T.I., Wood Harris, Hayley Atwell, John Slattery, Martin Donovan, Stan Lee.

 

Into every family remains one forgotten member, one who was there at the very beginning and saw some of the early stories, the heartaches and the extreme highs; every family has one and yet some have deserved to be amongst the biggest names.

Ted 2, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Mark Wahberg, Seth MacFarlane, Amanda Seyfried, Jessica Barth, Giovanni Ribisi, Morgan Freeman, Sam J. Jones, Patrick Warburton, Michael Dorn, Bill Smitrovitch, John Slattery, Cocoa Brown, John Carroll Lynch, Ron Canada, Liam Neeson, Dennis Haysbert, Patrick Stewart, Tom Brady, Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, Nana Visitor, Lexi Atkins, Craig Ricci Shaynak, Curtis Stigers, Alec Sulkin.