A once booming port that saw the world pass through its docks, Liverpool was fashioned by the working classes. The romanticism of Liverpool formed a community stronger than any other, a community that would produce some of the world’s biggest stars.
In the face of privatisation, Thatcherism and Hillsborough, Liverpool stood strong. The industrious residents of the city refused to be shaken by tragedy; they wanted to be defined by so much more. Kicking and screaming against everything it was told not to do, Liverpool lashed out with beautiful, soulful creativity. Liverpool is a city bursting with culture; a city of stars.
The release of Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, on digital download from 11th March, and Blu-ray and DVD from 19th March, perfectly demonstrates the juxtaposition between stardom and the working classes in Liverpool through the unlikely love story of real-life 1950s Hollywood starlet, Gloria Grahame (played by Annette Bening) and Liverpool lad and budding actor, Peter Turner (Jamie Bell).
To celebrate the film’s home entertainment release, we take a look at the illustrious stars that transformed Liverpool from a city famous for its industry into a cultural powerhouse.
The Beatles
Who else? A band so inextricably linked with the city, ‘Beatles’ may as well be a synonym for ‘Liverpool’. They are its biggest export. It is perhaps, a little cliché to even talk about the two in the same sentence, let alone mention that the Cavern Club is one of Liverpool’s top destinations, but it is an unavoidable fact that they are one and the same.
What doesn’t get talked about as much is the fact The Beatles had their roots in Skiffle; a working class genre of music that started because people couldn’t afford instruments. They were all from humble beginnings, conquered the world and influenced the world of music forever.
The McCartney dynasty continues to rage on and with it, Liverpool’s pride of its favourite export. Also, special mention to Ringo. No-one ever mentions Ringo.
College is a time for students to try out new things and have different experiences in life. You will find students are most often busy with their studies they hardly ever get time to do anything else. But once in a while, it is often advised to let loose as work without play makes Jack a dull boy. Netflix could be your solution as it is God’s gift to college students because it’s way cheaper than cable. A study even shows that a whopping92% of college students have access to Netflix!
Below are 10 must watch Netflix shows to add to your list:
House of Cards
It’s a sleek political drama series set in Washington, D.C. The show deals with themes of manipulation, power, pragmatism, and ruthlessness. It is a story of Congressman Frank Underwood, a Democrat from South Carolina district and House Majority Whip. He hopes to be appointed the secretary of state. When he is passed over, he plans to attain power aided by his wife. It is a breathtakingly good series.
Stranger Things
Stranger Things is one of the must watch Netflix shows. It’s a science fiction horror series that was created by The Duffer Brothers. They also direct, write and co-executive produce the show. Its plot centres on the disappearance of a young boy, Will Byers, whose abduction sets in motion a series of events throughout the series. It’s set in the rural town of Hawkins in Indiana in the 1980s. A research laboratory is contracted by the United States Department of Energy to look for other forms of energy. In secret, however, the facility is experimenting on human test subjects to learn about supernatural and paranormal activities. They end up creating an alternate dimension, the “Upside Down.” This creation brings about adverse effects and strange happenings to the people of Hawkins town including the disappearance of Will. A policeman, his mother, friends and a young lady who has escaped from the laboratory embark on a mission to find Myers.
David Lynch… a big name with a filmography that’s somewhat divisive; some love his work and others loathe it but whatever your feelings on his oeuvre it’s impossible to deny that it’s intriguing, mind-opening and thought-provoking stuff. Perhaps film critic Barry Norman best summed it up like this: “The thing about David Lynch is that never mind how often he makes you want to bash his head against the wall, he’s a very original film maker. And since there are few of those about we ought perhaps to give him the benefit of the doubt and indulge him a little.”
One of the recurring concerns of Lynch is sex in its more unusual forms, whether that’s in a plush velvet bed frame or less savoury locations. In Blue Velvet, through the character Frank Booth, he explores among other things sadomasochism. With Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me the prequel to the Twin Peaks TV series, Lynch created a psychological horror that centres on the murder of a teenage prostitute. Though some might not find Lynch to be quite their cup of tea, what he does is nonetheless very important….
Doctor!
All too often now society suffers from medicalisation. This tendency to regard everything as a medical condition, particularly psychological matters, brings with it a worldview in which there is a very firm belief in such a thing as “normality”. What happens is that any deviation from societal norms is termed “unhealthy” whilst in contrast a life lived in accordance with societal norms is termed “healthy”. This means that it’s “unhealthy” to spend too much time alone daydreaming, whereas it’s perfectly “healthy” to romp about aggressively for hours in the mud playing something referred to as rugby.
In other words then, the medical profession ends up straying into the territory of philosophy and theology, often without realising it. Doctors and psychiatrists become just as dogmatic as certain representatives of religions without being aware that their creed is a creed at all. A “healthy lifestyle” is after all merely an idea, a particular programme to follow in order to live for 75-100 years in the approved manner of 21st Century Western democracy. That’s not really a question of health at all, but it is thought of as one.
Salvador Dali
Artists such as David Lynch remind us of the peculiar nature of Life (“It’s a strange world, isn’t it?” is the question that ends the trailer for the re-release of Blue Velvet) and the importance of not trying to go around putting everything in a neat little box and making a facile value-judgement. His films startle us and arouse us from our stupor. Just like other great artists such as Picasso and Dali, Lynch makes us re-assess and stops us becoming entrenched in the status quo. He reminds us that a painting isn’t just decoration and a film just a piece of entertainment to while away an evening on which one has nothing else to do. Art is profound thought, not mere escapism, and the likes of Lynch ensure we don’t forget it.
It’s safe to assume if you visit this site you must at least be interested in film. Maybe even borderline obsessed. Our new YouTube show, BRWC SitDown is for the filmaholics.
The people like you and me that wish their friends and family wanted to discuss films as much as they did. It’s for those 5-10 minutes you have to kill waiting for your loved one to get ready (which you always end up waiting). Well, now you have finally found that special friend.
Every episode we will be discussing a recent topic in the film industry, film in general or reviewing an interesting piece of film. Now you too can discuss with us either in the comments section or by messaging us in the links below. You can also let us know what topics you’d like to discuss in the next video!
Regular content at 2-3 times a week will be coming your way so don’t worry if you don’t feel like we have covered everything you had wanted to discuss.
Finally, you can rest assured you have found people just as passionate and interested in film as you are who are willing to talk about film all day long. That’s no exaggeration. All that’s left to be said, is sit back, relax, hit the subscribe button, grab a tasty snack and enjoy your 10-minute break from everything.
Wow, so this was an intense one. I was squirming in my seat through the end of the movie just hoping that it would stop. By no means is that a bad thing, it was just a little hard to watch the excruciating pain that was being dealt. I enjoyed this movie a lot. It had all the makings of a slow, Cold War, espionage thriller, just with way more sex and violence. Jennifer Lawrence does a great job at playing the ballet dancer turned seductress spy, and is joined by a few familiar faces along the way. The plot is a little hard to follow at times, but overall I would say that the ending wraps things up nicely.
The movie begins with Dominika Egorova (Lawrence) suffering a tragic ballet accident that ends her career. In order to continue supporting herself and her ailing mother, she accepts an offer from her uncle, Vanya Egorov (Matthias Schoenaerts), a known member of the government, on an intelligence mission. Before long, Egorova is sucked into the world of Russian spies where she attends their “Sparrow” school, which essentially teaches them how to be seductive agents. After showing promise she graduates early and is sent on a mission to try and figure out who a mole in their government is by getting close to a CIA agent, Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton), that pops up on their radar. Before long the two of them are entangled in a relationship, but it’s hard to tell if it’s all strictly a ploy as Egorova seems to have a hidden agenda that even her government might not know about.
That overview really leaves a lot out, but there was also a ton going on. What I left out is to be aware of the rape, violence and torture that you endure through this movie. Let me tell ya, director Francis Lawrence does NOT hold back. My god. There were a few points in the movie where I felt uneasy in my chair. Kudos to Jennifer Lawrence for giving such a very convincing performance of how brutal it all was too. Side note, I’ve got to imagine that Russians are going to hate watching this movie, because it paints them in a terrible light. They are shown as cruel, merciless people, in a shitty, cold country. I’m not saying that’s accurate in real life, but that’s the impression I got.
I think my main gripe of the movie is that when they send Lawrence to Sparrow school, all they focus on is how to overcome awkward sexual situations. I was really hoping to see a bunch of cool spy training and see how she turns into this super-agent, but that is not at all what you get. They learn how to pick a lock, watch porn, and get pimped out? I understand the concept behind that and the necessity of seduction and gaining trust, but I don’t think the movie really did justice depicting that in their training.
It’s used as an opportunity to have Lawrence strip down and hope that the audience glazes over. Nice try! It would’ve been more acceptable had they actually shown her being some wild seductress throughout the film, and then I would’ve thought “Hey, that training they gave her was pretty valuable.” Since that isn’t the case it almost felt more like cheap T&A to please the audience than something that was actually necessary to the development of the film. My other gripe is that she is done with the training in 3 months, and essentially is already a full blown secret agent ready to attempt undermining the CIA.
I don’t buy that. It’s not like she did anything major that would lead you to believe she was field ready. All-in-all, I think the insight that the audience gains in the training should be the focal point of a movie like this, similar to The Recruit or Spy Game, but it wasn’t the case. Not a huge issue to the film, probably more so something I’m being picky about.
Ok, I really didn’t mean for this to turn into me airing my gripes about a movie that I did actually enjoy. Jennifer Lawrence is fantastic. She fully dives into her character, and does a phenomenal job keeping you guessing throughout about which side she’s on. Her character is also a total badass. She’s a killer, no doubt about it, but she’s also smart and deceiving. The entire time she’s playing the game to perfection and has everyone wrapped into her web of lies. I enjoyed Joel Edgerton’s performance quite a bit as well, but I’m also a huge fan of his in general.
Truthfully, he just plays a likeable character. He’s a by the book CIA agent who falls for Lawrence, all the while protecting an asset that he was working with in Russia. The movie is clearly Lawrence’s with Edgertonas a focal point, and asides from those two you get some solid performances from Ciaran Hinds, Jeremy Irons, Schoenaerts, Bill Camp, Mary Louise Parker, and Charlotte Rampling playing the more than hate-able, Nurse Ratchett-esque, Matron.
I think the one thing that I had a deep appreciation for was how Francis Lawrence made this feel like a true Cold War, espionage thriller. The key to these types of movies, for me, is to have a slow developing plot that manages to keep the audience’s attention. The pace of the film needs to take its time introducing characters and really building the backstory. Throw in a few surprises here and there with some subtle action throughout, and then climax with a huge twist that the audience doesn’t see coming. I don’t think Red Sparrow follows that to perfection, but I thought the overall pace of the movie was pretty spot on. The movie was probably a little too long and should’ve been closer to the two hour mark, but I don’t think most people will find that overly bothersome.
I enjoyed this movie, and I don’t think it’s just because I have a general obsession with the spy genre. For instance, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy didn’t do it for me, despite having a RIDICULOUS cast. I might have to re-watch it now, but the first time I screened it I thought it was boring and hard to follow. Red Sparrow, on the other hand, kept my attention throughout. I’m not going to label this as a must see or even one that you need to see in the theatre unless you have MoviePass, but definitely watch it once it’s released on DVD.
