Tag Archives: Emma Thompson

Cruella. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, John McCrea, Emily Beecham, Mark Strong, Kayvan Novak, Kirby Howell-Baptiste Jamie Demetriou, Leo Bill, Tipper Seifert-Cleveland.

For all the great characters that the Disney studios have created or adapted in their time as one of the influential film makers of the last 100 years, it is perhaps the incredible villain Cruella de Vil who stands out alongside the likes of Captain Hook and The Evil Queen as ones who give children and adults alike their glimpse of how the twisted nature of humanity can be taken down a road of self-indulgence, possessed by want, and turned ugly within by their greed.

Cruella. Film Review. full post

(467 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

Years And Years. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Rory Kinnear, Jessica Hynes, Ruth Madeley, Russell Tovey, Emma Thompson, Maxim Baldry, Anne Reid, T’Nia Miller, Lydia West, Arran Ansari, Jade Alleyne, Dino Fetscher, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Rachel Logan, Callum Woolford, George Bukhari, Zita Sattar, Kieran O’Brien, Pauline Fleming, Ellie Haddington,  Jodie Prenger, Dan Starkey, John McGrellis.

Years And Years. Television Review. full post

(559 words, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)

Men In Black International. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Kumail Nanjiani, Rebecca Ferguson, Rafe Spall, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Laurent Bourgeois, Larry Bourgeois, Kayvan Novak, Spencer Wilding, Mercy Harriell, Inny Clemins.

The accusation of the redundant and superfluous has long been strewn across the floor of films that have failed to keep the momentum going in terms of adventure and the single continuous thread which sees the same returning characters always at the heart of the story; it is an allegation that in many cases is unfounded, and yet for some the denunciation is deserved, fully and without concern.

Men In Black International. Film Review. full post

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

Johnny English Strikes Again. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 5/10

Cast: Rowan Atkinson, Olga Kurylenko, Emma Thompson, Jake Lacey, Charles Dance, Ben Miller, Miranda Hennessy, Adam James, Irena Tyshna, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Adam Greaves-Neal.

Rowan Atkinson will always be considered one of the finest pursuers of comedy truth that the U.K. has been blessed with nurturing, supporting and enjoying, of that simple fact there can be no doubt, no argument and yet as time goes on it is possible to wish he would concentrate his considerable talents on the straight television drama, or theatrical endeavour. As his time occupying the role of Inspector Maigret has proved, his talent for empathy, for the understanding of what drives certain men in the periods they live in is just as keenly honed as his notable characters of Edmund Blackadder, Mr. Bean, and the inept but ultimately decent Johnny English have been explored.

Johnny English Strikes Again. Film Review. full post

(499 words, estimated 2:0 mins reading time)

King Lear. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Emily Watson, Jim Broadbent, Florence Pugh, Jim Carter, Andrew Scott, John Macmillan, Tobias Menzies, Anthony Calf, Karl Johnson, Christopher Eccleston, John Standing, Simon Manyonda, Chukwudi Iwuji, Samuel Valentine, Arinze Kene, Sharon Watts, Kaye Brown, Raphael Desprez, Peter Forbes, Sam Redford, Liam McKenna, Paul Tinto, Eric Kofi-Abrefa.

King Lear. Television Review. full post

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

Upstart Crow: 2017 Christmas Special.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: David Mitchell, Liza Tarbuck, Emma Thompson, Gemma Whelen, Paula Wilcox, Harry Enfield, Rosanna Beacock, Dominic Coleman, Tim Downie, Mark Heap, Spencer Jones, Helen Monks, Rob Rouse, Steve Speirs, Joe Willis.

“Be not afraid of greatness”, words to live by and words in which there stands the golden possibility that Ben Elton’s Upstart Crow will gather the same attention bestowed upon the realm of Blackadder, for in the wit and humour of the show stands that greatness, a passion for the bard that never seems to fall out of favour and why should it, for in the greatest of them all lives much to pluck a juicy Christmas tender joint from.

Upstart Crow: 2017 Christmas Special. full post

(465 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

Beauty And The Beast. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, Hattie Morahan, Haydn Gwynne, Gerard Horan, Ray Fearon, Ewan McGregor, Ian Mckellen, Emma Thompson, Nathan Mack, Audra McDonald, Stanley Cadenza, Clive Rowe, Adrian Schiller.

 

Heralded as one of the great Disney classics of all time, Beauty and the Beast is a scintillating tale of compassion over anger, of love over objectivity and quite rightly has become engrained in the heart of those who have taken its message of purity and simplicity against force and prejudice to its true place in the psyche; love conquers all they say and yet sometimes love is not quite enough to warrant taking a much loved animated film and turning into a live action feature, sometimes love just isn’t enough.

Beauty And The Beast. Film Review. full post

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

Burnt, Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Daniel Bruhl, Ricardo Scamarcio, Omar Sy, Sarn Keeley, Henri Goodman, Matthew Rhys, Stephen Campbell Moore, Emma Thompson, Uma Thurman, Lexi Benbow-Hart, Alicia Vikander, Lily James.

Like films about sporting events, it can be hard to catch a piece of art when confining it to the kitchen, when allowing the furnace like quality, the cauldron of temper to infiltrate celluloid, for like an orchestra, every interpretation of the moves and subtle dance within a restaurant kitchen is open up for debate and explanation.

Burnt, Film Review. full post

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

A Walk In The Woods, Film Review. Picturehouse@ F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, Mary Steenburgen, Nick Offerman, Kristen Schaal, R.K. Harris, Randall Newsome, Hayley Lovitt, Susan McPhail, John Kap, Alex Van.

Bill Bryson is arguably one of the leading exponents of dramatic and comedic travel writing in the last 50 years, his books have sold millions and they are told as if being let in on series of amusing anecdotes, they veer from the dull and professionally accurate descriptions of a life with a map book in one hand and the inevitable pseudo-snobbish that comes with some of the craft and instead what they become is essential stories of a life well travelled. This is never more perfect than in his best- selling book A Walk In The Woods.

A Walk In The Woods, Film Review. Picturehouse@ F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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

Men, Women And Children, Film Review. Picturehouse@ F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Gardner, Rosemarie Dewitt, Judy Greer, Dean Norris, Emma Thompson, J.K. Simmons, Timothée Chalamet, Olivia Crocicchia, Kaitlyn Dever, Ansel Elgort, Katherine C. Hughes, Elena Kampouris, Will Peltz, Travis Tope, David Denman, Dennis Haysbert, Tina Parker, Shane Lynch, Phil LaMarr, Jason Douglas.

Men, Women And Children, Film Review. Picturehouse@ F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(706 words, estimated 2:49 mins reading time)