All Ratings for MacDara Conroy (MacDara)

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MacDara
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MacDara's Reviews
363 ratings
353 reviews
3.11 average
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Ratings Per Page: 25 | 50 | 100
Movie Rating Review Date   Your Rating Match
M*A*S*H (MASH) - PG (Watched Wed 14 Dec 2011) Second time I've seen this, now... simultaneously arresting and hopelessly meandering; it's like Altman decided to throw it all at the wall and see what stuck. Amazing in that it doesn't devolve into a complete mess, despite its faults. December 14, 2011  
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Brazil - R (Watched Sun 11 Dec 2011) That ending... Bryan Singer swiped it for the end of X-Men, didn't he? December 11, 2011  
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Moneyball - PG-13 (Watched Wed 07 Dec 2011) A bit too 'inside baseball' for audiences on this side of the pond, perhaps: references to elements of the sport such as walks, hits, balls, etc will surely fly over most people's heads, and the essence of the game, what makes it so special to Americans, will be lost on anyone else. But Moneyball nonetheless does a great job of bringing to the screen the parts that make the book so good, without getting mired in schmaltzy sentimentality. It's a career-topper for Brad Pitt, too: he's in virtually every scene, and carries the film well, not like a burden. December 7, 2011  
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The African Queen - Unrated (Watched Sun 04 Dec 2011) When it builds up a full head of steam, this is as thrilling an adventure as you're likely to get with Bogey involved. The rest of the time, though, it meanders like the long, long river of whimsy with no end port in sight. December 4, 2011  
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The Wizard of Oz - G (Watched Fri 10 Jun 2011) Much better than I expected for its age and genre. Some of the make-up effects, too, are way ahead of their time. November 29, 2011  
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Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure - PG (Rewatched Sat 19 Nov 2011) Still a cult classic, and packed full of charm - an element sorely missing from much of the dross being produced today for the same target market. November 20, 2011  
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Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - PG-13 (Watched Sun 20 Nov 2011) Visually, this is a near total success. The settings are perfect, the FX and concepts fitting, even the casting is spot-on. But story wise? There's simply too much to fit in a two-hour movie, even with cutting a few subplots. A mini-series would have been an apt format; as it is, it comes across as a trailer for something bigger and better. The film's missing that breathing/thinking space that the original books allow; it's too fast-moving even for one who's read them. And in any case it presupposes too much knowledge to really make sense for anyone coming in cold. (And if anyone who hasn't read the books says they love it, they're just lying to look cool.) November 20, 2011  
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Maniac Cop - R (Watched Sun 20 Nov 2011) I can't understand some of the other reviews this has got around here. Did they see the same film I did? I'm pretty sure I watched a fast-paced action thriller with a few nifty twists that confound expectations of the genre. November 20, 2011  
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The Dark Crystal - PG (Watched Sun 30 Oct 2011) It's a basic enough underdog-saves-the-world story, but it's not about the story: Jim Henson and Co set out to create a detailed world that seems as real as the one we live in, and succeeded in spades. If there can be only one argument for puppetry and animatronics over CGI, this is it. October 31, 2011  
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Trespass - R (Watched Sun 30 Oct 2011) Lazy, lazy, lazy. Schumacher and the writers - who should be embarrassed - take an interesting, if not exactly original, premise and proceed to bland the fuck out of it. Despite the threat of violence, there's no payoff. Suspense is jettisoned in favour of swerve-turn flashbacks, many of which had the audience at my screening howling with laughter (not the good kind). Even Nicholas Cage can't ham his way out of this one. Oh yeah, and Walter Hill called; he wants his title back. October 31, 2011  
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Spine Tingler: The William Castle Story - Unrated (Re-watched Mon 31 Oct 2011) Very entertaining documentary about a true movie pioneer, who's unfairly maligned as a cheap schlockmeister with bad gimmicks but without whom we'd never have had the game-changing late-career horrors of Alfred Hitchcock or the 'New Hollywood' heralding of Rosemary's Baby. Well, maybe we would, but not in the same way. October 31, 2011  
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The Silence of the Lambs - R (Watched Thu 27 Oct 2011) I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that, with the exception of maybe No Country for Old Men, this is the last film to truly deserve the Best Picture Oscar on its own merits. From the Ozu homages (who else does POV shots like that?) to the OMG cameos (Roger bloody Corman!), it's clearly more than just a horror movie. Kudos to Demme (and Foster and Hopkins) for making one of the all time greats. October 27, 2011  
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The Untouchables - R (Watched Sat 22 Oct 2011) It's not the best gangster movie ever made, but De Palma clearly had a field day with the noir stylings and callback set pieces. Can you believe I never saw how that 'Potemkin' scene ended till now? October 22, 2011  
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Cobra - R (Watched Wed 12 Oct 11) Really surprised at how entertaining this was; one of Stallone's best IMHO. Of course it helps being graced by the presence of Andrew (Garak!) Robinson and David (Sledge Hammer!) Rasche. October 16, 2011  
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Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - PG-13 (Watched Sat 09 Oct 2011) I can't believe John Turturro is in this crock of shit. I hope he got paid very well, 'cause that would be his only excuse. October 12, 2011  
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Return to Oz - PG (Watched Sun 31 Jul 2011) 'Dark' is an understatement; they just don't make movies like this anymore. August 2, 2011  
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Bobby Fischer Against The World - Unrated (Watched Tue 19 Jul 2011) It's hard to make a documentary about an individual who was distinguished by his aversion to the public eye, but this film does the job, painting a vivid picture of a troubled man who was more than just 'that anti-semite chess player'. July 21, 2011  
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Invaders from Mars - PG (Watched Wed 20 Jul 2011) I remember being scared shitless by the trailer for this when I was six. Now I've finally watched it! Starts off very ropey, but then loosens up with some brilliantly ridiculous dialogue. The Stan Winston effects are quite well done too. And that ending! July 20, 2011  
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Gerry - R (Watched Wed 20 Jul 2011) A meditative take on the road movie - this one putting Matt Damon and Casey Affleck on foot, lost in the desert. Overlong, but affecting, and an excellent soundtrack to boot. July 20, 2011  
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Street Trash - Unrated (Watched Fri 08 Jul 2011) Imagine a Troma movie made with real technical skill. That's Street Trash in a nutshell. One of the best shot trashy horrors ever. July 9, 2011  
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The Bride of Frank - Unrated (Watched Fri 08 Jul 2011) I thought A Serbian Film was the worst piece of shit I've seen in years, but I was wrong. July 9, 2011  
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Hobo With a Shotgun - Unrated (Watched Fri 08 Jul 2011) Completely demented over-the-top grindhouse fun. Very well executed, too (no pun intended). July 9, 2011  
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Trancers - PG-13 (Watched Wed 06 Jul 2011) Y'know, I'm usually a fan of these cheap schlocky sci-fi things, and being an Empire Pictures flick it should have something going for it in the cult department. But really, it's just shit. Forget the plot - the acting is atrocious and the direction is all over the place. It's not even inept in a funny way. What a big disappointment after reading about it for all these years. July 6, 2011  
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Akira - R (Watched Sun 26 Jun 2011) First saw this years ago, but I didn't 'get' it then. Now I do. June 28, 2011  
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Grindhouse - R (Watched Sat 25 Jun 2011) I've had second thoughts about Planet Terror now that I've seen the original Grindhouse double-bill. Compared with the dire Death Proof, it deserves at least four stars on its own. The three I give here are for sequencing Tarantino's insomnia cure (even in its shorter form) second in the lineup above Rodriguez's far superior effort. June 26, 2011  
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