Tag Archives: Stephen Merchant

The Outlaws. Series Three. Television Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Rhianne Baretto, Darren Boyd, Gamba Cole, Jessica Gunning, Clare Perkins, Eleanor Tomlinson, Grace Calder, Stephen Merchant, Kojo Kamara, Charles Babalola, Christopher Walken, Tom Hanson, Ian McElhinney, Claes Bang, Rhys Yates, Patrick Robinson, Nicholas Rowe, Harry Trevaldwyn, Richard E. Grant, Matilda Ziegler.

If there is somebody to whom can bring a group of well-intentioned misfits be people that you want to be friends with, then Stephen Merchant is to be considered a master of the art.

The Outlaws. Series Three. Television Drama Review. full post

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

The Outlaws (Series Two). Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Rhianne Barreto, Darren Boyd, Gamba Cole, Charles Babalola, Jessica Gunning, Stephen Merchant, Clare Perkins, Eleanor Tomlinson, Christopher Walken, Grace Calder, Aiyana Goodfellow, Dolly Wells, Kojo Kamara, Tom Hanson, Ian McElhinney, Nina Wadia, Guillermo Bedward, Isla Gie, Gyuri Sarossy, Marcus Fraser, Lois Chimimba, Amanda Drew, Claes Bang, Joseph Passafaro, Chicho Tche, Jessica Boyde, Rufus Wright, Chloe Partridge, Rosa Robson, Julia Davis, Verity Blyth, Jonny Weldon, Gabrielle Sheppard.

The Outlaws (Series Two). Television Review. full post

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

The Outlaws. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Rhianne Barreto, Gambia Cole, Christopher Walken, Eleanor Tomlinson, Darren Boyd, Clare Perkins, Charles Babalola, Stephen Merchant, Isla Gie, Jessica Gunning, Grace Calder, James Nelson-Joyce, Guillermo Bedward, Aiyana Goodfellow, Ian McElhinney, Gyuri Sarossy, Dolly Wells, Marcus Fraser, Tom Hanson, Kojo Kamara, Sam Troughton, Inez Solomon, Evelyn Temple, Claes Bang, Hannah Brownlie, Josh Alexander, Leigh Williams, Michael Cochrane, Richard E. Grant.

The Outlaws. Television Review. full post

(586 words, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

Jojo Rabbit. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Roman Griffin Davis, Taika Waititi, Scarlett Johansson, Thomasin McKenzie, Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson, Alfie Allen, Stephen Merchant, Archie Yates, Luke Brandon Field, Sam Haygarth, Stanislav Callas, Joe Weintraub, Brian Caspe, Gabriel Andrews, Billy Raynor.

It is a startling and sober fact of life that there will always be people that will not only toe the party line, but actively and resolutely be so brainwashed by rhetoric that they cannot see the words used for what they are, lies, insidious and deceptive, full of fire and brimstone, but hollow, meaningless, insufferably filled with hate, consumed by madness.

Jojo Rabbit. Film Review. full post

(616 words, estimated 2:28 mins reading time)

Good Boys. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams, Brady Noon, Molly Gordon, Midori Francis, Izaac Wang, Millie Davis, Josh Caras, Will Forte, Mariessa Portlance, Lil Rel Howery, Retta, Michaela Watkins, Stephen Merchant, Christian Darrel Scott, Macie Juiles, Chance Hurstfield, Enid-Raye Adams, Craig Haas, Benita Ha, Alexander Calvert.

It is in the naivety and innocence of the young that we perhaps see the wisdom to come, and nothing really touches the experience of the one to whom youthful embarrassment and exuberance has been visited upon, for in that moment comes learning, of realisation that you cannot remain a child, or even a teenager, forever.

Good Boys. Film Review. full post

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

Fighting With My Family. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Florence Pugh, Nick Frost, Lena Headey, Jack Lowden, Vince Vaughn, Dwayne Johnson, Olivia Bernstone, Leah Harvey, Mohammed Amiri, Jack Gouldbourne, Elroy Powell, Hannah Rae, Julia Davis, Stephen Merchant, Ellie Gonsalves, Aqueela Zoll, Kim Matula, James Burrows, Thea Trinidad.

You must never be afraid to risk losing everything in the pursuit of the one goal you have always held in your heart, the price is extraordinarily high but the reward of satisfaction will always be worth it, even if it eventually takes you down a road to which you might never recover. Too high a price? Too much jeopardy involved? Nobody said it would be easy, nobody ever said it would be an easy fix, but sometimes wrestling with one’s own conscious is worth all and one that is captured with spirit and generosity of scope in the biggest sports arena of all, the ring.

Fighting With My Family. Film Review. full post

(769 words, estimated 3:05 mins reading time)

The Girl In The Spider’s Web. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: Claire Foy, Sverrir Gudnason, Lakeith Stanfield, Sylvia Hoeks, Stephen Merchant, Claes Bang, Synnove Macody Lund, Cameron Britton, Vicky Krieps, Andreja Pejic, Mikael Persbrandt, Paula Schramm, Volker Brich, Saskia Sophie Rosendahl, Pal Sverre Hagen.

In much the same way that many insist the James Bond franchise of films has run out space in which to turn, driving its Aston Martin series persona into a cul-de-sac of revenge and suggested toxic masculinity, so too does the character created by Stieg Larsson, Lisbeth Salander, facing her own accusations of misandry and brutality. An eye for an eye perhaps, a reflection of modern times and a heroine in which punches back harder than those who seek domination by sheer size and brute strength.

The Girl In The Spider’s Web. Film Review. full post

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

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

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Richard E. Grant, Eriq La Salle, Elise Neal, Quincy Fouse.

It is sometimes logical than the final instalment of any story is the one that makes you understand just how much you love the character that you have seen grow, that their life’s conclusion is paramount to everything that has happened before; it is only in the last blink towards the eternal camera that you realise just exactly they have brought to the world.

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

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