Connor Macgregor Reviews Thread

Good Review MM, I loved this film too. I agree it was one of his best. That soundtrack does rock. Hearing Johnny Cash's Tennessee Stud was a treat. I don't think Deniro underplayed it however, I think he nailed it perfectly--Louis was a zoned out loser with a sense of honor--I think it was just the character himself that lacked charisma. Best part was the mini-romance between Forster and Grier, that was sweet. Good stuff!

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thanks. Glad you liked it just as much as you.

Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Breakfast Club

Before seeing this, i thought this would be just another one of those funny teen films by John Hughes...but boy i was so wrong.

They were five students with nothing in common, faced with spending a Saturday detention together in their high school library. At 7 a.m., they had nothing to say, but by 4 p.m., they had bared their souls to each other and become good friends. To the outside world they were simply the Jock, the Brain, the Criminal, the Princess and the Kook, but to each other, they would always be the Breakfast Club.

Boy where do i begin with a masterpiece like this ? Firstly its a direct insight into not one but five lives of teenagers. Each have their own personality and way of live. Molly Ringwald is the spoilt rich kid who turns out to have a heart, Anthony Michael Hall is the geeky kid who wants to fit in, Emilo Estevez plays the jock whose a friendly guy but wants to choose a different course of life, Judd Nelson is the rebel who bullies people yet his life is as bad and complicated as the others and then there is Ally Sheedy who is the goth kid who has no direction in life and has no one to turn to. This is a great study into teen life and the fact that teens are not perfect and not damaged goods and have problems like grown adults do too. And they are all different but have something in common and are able to share their pain to each other.

Paul Gleeson and John Kapelos are both great as The Teacher and The Janitor. Great supporting roles and mirror how adults see teenagers in the real world. In the end, the viewer is left to ponder how the 5 lives will turn out. It makes you think and wonder where they are now, or if they still are here now.

Overall The Breakfast Is THE best Teen film ever made. Its a great study of teen life as well as John Hughes best film.

Rating - 100% - A+

have this in my collection watched it a few weeks ago and still enjoyed it

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Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
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its an underrated masterpiece that doesn't get as much acclaim from the critics and historians as other films do.

Connor Macgregor Reviews...Jurassic Park III

We're back here again people...Jurassic Park. It was the first film i did a review on and now i return two complete years later to review The third one in a trilogy. Will it hold up ? Lets Review Jurassic Park III.

Dr. Alan Grant is now a happy man with the previous incidents of Jurassic Park now behind him. Grant is that happy that he announce in public, that nothing on Earth can persuade him back onto the islands. Maybe nothing, except Paul Kirby. Kirby and his wife, Amanda want a plane to fly them over Isla Sorna, with Dr. Grant as their guide. But not everything Kirby says is true. When the plane lands, Dr. Grant realizes that there is another reason why they are there, that he doesn't know of. Now, Dr. Grant is stuck on an island he has never been on before, with what was a plane journey now turned into a search party.

For what it is, its entertaining by far, but holding it up with the first two is tricky, because it does have more noticeable flaws as well as some laughable bits. Plus it rushes very quickly. By the first 30 minutes, they are already on the island and have had two dinosaur attacks. But never the less, i did enjoy its flawed plot as well as its instinct of survival and the fact there was no security, it was just the characters and the unknown.

Sam Neil is still as stubborn as ever as Alan Grant where as William H Macy is great as Paul Kirby, the dad trying to find his son after he goes missing on the island. The Dinosaurs are not as groundbreaking and rely more on the animatronics than the special effects. It makes it more real than the first two, but there's something about it that doesn't feel right.

Overall, Jurassic Park III standalone is a good fun film to enjoy, but it doesn't hold up to the first two and ultimately has flawed moments. But regardless, check it out.

Rating - 75% - B+

Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Hitcher

Oh doesn't anyone love Sean Bean ? He has all the makings of playing great villians. And in this, he is the only thing worth watching...oh and well that girl from One Tree Hill is in her underwear.

While driving through the New Mexico Desert during a rainy night, the college students Jim Halsey and his girlfriend Grace Andrews give a ride to the hitchhiker John Ryder. While in their car, the stranger proves to be a psychopath threatening the young couple with a knife, but Jim succeeds to throw him out of the car on the road. On the next morning, the young couple sees John in another car with a family, and while trying to advise the driver that the man is dangerous, they have an accident. While walking on the road, they find the whole family stabbed in the car, and John sees that the driver is still alive. He drives to a restaurant seeking for help, but the police blame Jim and Grace to the murder and send them to the police station. However, John kills the policemen and pursues the couple, playing a tragic and violent mouse and cat game with Grace and Jim.

I'll say this, if you like fun cheesy films like this, your in for a good night, but other than that, not really. Its too cheesy and too goofy and in the end, spins off into stupid territory. The Ending is rushed and not much development into the characters as well as the killer is given. Why does Sean Bean's character want to kill those people ? No reason.

Overall, Fun but stupid at the same time.

Rating - 48% - C+

Do like a cheesy movie when I am tired and don't want to think much

well there you go.

Connor Macgregor Reviews...Limitless

Saw this about a few weeks ago and thought i finally post my thoughts on it.

An action-thriller about a writer who takes an experimental drug that allows him to use 100 percent of his mind. As one man evolves into the perfect version of himself, forces more corrupt than he can imagine mark him for assassination. Out-of-work writer Eddie Morra's (Cooper) rejection by girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) confirms his belief that he has zero future. That all vanishes the day an old friend introduces Eddie to NZT, a designer pharmaceutical that makes him laser focused and more confident than any man alive. Now on an NZT-fueled odyssey, everything Eddie's read, heard or seen is instantly organized and available to him. As the former nobody rises to the top of the financial world, he draws the attention of business mogul Carl Van Loon (De Niro), who sees this enhanced version of Eddie as the tool to make billions. But brutal side effects jeopardize his meteoric ascent. With a dwindling stash and hit men who will eliminate him to get the NZT...

What i like about this film is how trippy it can be. I feel disorientated when Cooper's character takes the drug. You see these weird effects and his sight goes funny which swings your head around slightly. Performances are average. Cooper doesn't bring out anything oscar worthy and neither does Abbie Cornish, and of course De Niro is just ok. The Story however is good, but not fantastic by any means.

Overall, not great but just a good film to keep us intrigued until summer comes along.

Rating - 81% - A-

Please, if you've not already, watch the original version of The Hitcher. It's absolutely brilliant, IMO.

haven't seen that yet, but thanks for the recommendation.

Connor Macgregor Reviews...Superbad

I hadn't seen this at all. I didn't even see it in the cinema, but it was on sale in my local DVD store, so i thought why not. And boy was i in for a treat tonight.

Seth and Evan are best friends, inseparable, navigating the last weeks of high school. Usually shunned by the popular kids, Seth and Evan luck into an invitation to a party, and spend a long day, with the help of their nerdy friend Fogell, trying to score enough alcohol to lubricate the party and inebriate two girls, Jules and Becca, so they can kick-start their sex lives and go off to college with a summer full of experience and new skills. Their quest is complicated by Fogell's falling in with two inept cops who both slow and assist the plan. If they do get the liquor to the party, what then? Is sex the only rite of passage at hand?

Well for starters, this film is funny as i laughed at it more than 3 times at comedic sequences. Its not the funniest film ever made, but its one that takes a common teen situation and takes that one step too far that really works. Jonah Hill & Michael Cera play off each other very well and Christopher Mintz Plasse is funny as well. Seth Rogan & Bill Hader play two cops who don't really act like cops, but keep up the comedic banter in this film. The three girls are also ver good. Emma Stone (AKA Goddess Of Cinema) doesn't have a comedic role but she is still great to watch. Aviva who plays McLovin's love interest doesn't have much to say, but she is hot. And then there is Martha MacIssac (Who is 24 and married already) who plays Michael Cera's love interest who has a funny sequence in the film in which i won't spoil.

Overall, Superbad is a film that is both funny and good fun to watch. I Recommend it to anyone who gets a good kick out of Teen Films.

Rating - 85% - A-

Connor Macgregor Reviews...Taken

An Action film with a pretty simple plot that made sort of a big impact in the film world and gave Liam Nesson a new image. This is Taken.

Seventeen year-old Kim is the pride and joy of her father Bryan Mills. Bryan is a retired agent who left the Central Intelligence Agency to be near Kim in California. Kim lives with her mother Lenore and her wealthy stepfather Stuart. Kim manages to convince her reluctant father to allow her to travel to Paris with her friend Amanda. When the girls arrive in Paris they share a cab with a stranger named Peter, and Amanda lets it slip that they are alone in Paris. Using this information an Albanian gang of human traffickers kidnaps the girls. Kim barely has time to call her father and give him information. Her father gets to speak briefly to one of the kidnappers and he promises to kill the kidnappers if they do not let his daughter go free. The kidnapper wishes him "good luck," so Bryan Mills travels to Paris to search for his daughter and her friend.

First of all, this is a great action film with all the great action cliches that make action films work. A good supply of action sequences, an interesting plot and a great supplement of entertainment. Liam Nesson is painted in a new image and boy he does well to pull it off as an action star. The Story is dark and makes you care about Nesson's character who just wants to get her daughter back by any means possible. The Villians however aren't well developed, because its meant to be a ring of bad guys, so there is not definate bad guy. Never the less, they take a realisitic subject and make some sides of it realistic.

This also tackles an issue that is happening in the world today. People get kidnapped every day and sold for sex and will most likely never see their family again. This film is good fun, but i couldn't help thinking that not that this will happen...only IT COULD happen.

Rating - 84% - A-

Connor Macgregor Reviews...Source Code

I went in not expecting much from this film, but i came out pleasantly surprised. Source Code is An action thriller centered on a soldier who wakes up in the body of an unknown man and discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.

Many things i enjoyed about this film. Firstly is that its very original. There are hints of other films in this like Groundhog Day and others, but like Inception, it takes an idea and gives an original spin to it and makes the film exciting and interesting. The Story is intriguing to watch and like Inception, you have to work out some of the story to understand what is going on.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan are both really good in this as well as Vera Farmiga & Jeffrey Wright. Solid Performances, but its more the story and not the acting that keeps us entertained. Although the acting does help in keeping the story flow along.

The Ending brings up a lot of questions, but i won't spoil it.

Overall, Source Code is something you should see as its a great thrill of a film that follows in the lights of Inception & The Adjustment Bureau in that Audiences are ready for more challenging intelligent Films.

Rating - 92% - A

Must see Source code

Connor Macgregor Reviews...Batman Begins

Ah Batman...everyone cannot stop about Batman. So i thought to myself, i'm going to start reviewing All The Batman films and i mean ALL The Batman films...so i thought i start with The Nolan films. Batman Begins being the first one.

When his parents were killed, millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne relocates to Asia when he is mentored by Henri Ducard and Ra's Al Ghul in how to fight evil. When learning about the plan to wipe out evil in Gotham City by Ducard, Bruce prevents this plan from getting any further and heads back to his home. Back in his original surroundings, Bruce adapts the image of a bat to strike fear into the criminals and the corrupt as the icon known as 'Batman'. But it doesn't stay quiet for long.

I personally see this film slightly underrated. I have seen this film many times before, but this is really the first time i understood fully what the plot was about, as well as the connections it had to its sequel. I think the acting in this also is really good, especially Bale, Murphy & Neeson. Oldman doesn't hit his strive until the next one. Katie Holmes i also enjoyed more than i had seen her before. I know she hasn't picked that many great roles (I Wonder Why ???) but in this, she is really good.

The Atmosphere in this film is dark and reminds me of films like Blade Runner and certain other films with that dark technoir tone. Nolan's direction is great, but the action scenes were all over the place and didn't fit in very well.

Overall, Fantastic Film this is and recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen this yet as it is great fun as well as dark and gritty.

Rating - 97% - A

Connor Macgregor Reviews...Catwoman

We reviewed a Batman film, so here comes a real **** spiller for you. Halle Belly in her lowest form yet...Catwoman!!!

Catwoman is the story of shy, sensitive artist Patience Philips, a woman who can't seem to stop apologizing for her own existence. She works as a graphic designer for Hedare Beauty, a mammoth cosmetics company on the verge of releasing a revolutionary anti-aging product. When Patience inadvertently happens upon a dark secret her employer is hiding, she finds herself in the middle of a corporate conspiracy. What happens next changes Patience forever. In a mystical twist of fate, she is transformed into a woman with the strength, speed, agility and ultra-keen senses of a cat. With her newfound prowess and feline intuition, Patience becomes Catwoman, a sleek and stealthy creature balancing on the thin line between good and bad. Like any wildcat, she's dangerous, elusive and untamed. Her adventures are complicated by a burgeoning relationship with Tom Lone, a cop who has fallen for Patience but cannot shake his fascination with the mysterious Catwoman...

God this film was a borefest. I'll start with the story. Rubbish through and through. Second is the poor dated Special Effects that are only 6 years old. Its pathetic and unrealistic. They look like something Ed Wood would have directed. Halle Berry's performance is dull and not interesting at all. She makes the Catwoman character very 1 dimensional and bland as well as the supporting characters which are blink and you miss them personalities.

Direction and Writing both suck as well as the whole film generally. How this they think can be superior to Batman i don't know. Overall, dull film that shouldn't be enjoyed and just forgotten so a decent version can be released within the next few years.

Rating - 12% - D+

Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Dark Knight

Almost 3 Years ago, We had a film released that redefined Comic Book Films and Films itself in a artistic way. That film...The Dark Knight.

Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as The Joker.

The more i see The Dark Knight and a Christopher Nolan film in general, i appreciate why we don't have more great directors like Christopher Nolan working at the top. The Dark Knight has done many things for Comic Book Films. It has established the genre as a proper genre that tells proper stories. You don't have stupid ridiculous stories that are cartoonish and silly and make the film not appealing. What we have is a world that was once corrupt has now seen a ray of fortune and has put all their hope in this figure who plans to pass on his protection of the city to a more realistic hero played by Aaron Eckhart. Its the most realistic setting probably in film and really draws you in to this murky setting full of Cops & Mobsters.

Let's talk performances. Bale is great but he was better in the first film because the story was centered on him. Ledger is seen as the best performer, but its hard to say because of all the different performances clashing in the film. Oldman is great and a step up from Batman Begins mainly because his role is of more importance. Gyllenhaal isn't as good as Holmes in the role of Rachel, but convincing enough to watch. Freeman & Caine are great supporting characters. But truely the best performance of the film was Aaron Eckhart because the story really centers around him, much like the people of Gotham depend on him to rid Gotham of the mobsters. Like a greek tragedy, he is a character who starts off fighting for good, but ultimately sees the appeal of the dark side as many other heroes have fallen for in the past (Anakin Skywalker, Norman Bates, etc)

This gives me more anticipation for DKR, mainly because this will be the final proof that Nolan is the future of the business, regardless of what you think of him. He has proved twice already that he can make money while being fresh and original. He did it with The Dark Knight in 2008 and again with Inception last year and so come 2012, Christopher Nolan will 99.99% do it again and Hollywood may be heading to a new direction.

Overall, A Classic Film with a great narrative, well developed characteras and a wonder to watch again and again.

Rating - 100% - A+

Connor Macgregor Reviews...Ray

I went in not expecting much...I came out amazed.

Ray Charles has the distinction of being both a national treasure and an international phenomenon. By the early 1960's Ray Charles had accomplished his dream. He'd come of age musically. He'd made it to Carnegie Hall. The hit records "Georgia," "Born to Lose" successively kept climbing to the top of the charts. He'd made his first triumphant European concert tour in 1960 (a feat which, except for 1965, he's repeated at least once a year ever since). He had taken virtually every form of popular music and broken through its boundaries with such awe inspiring achievements as the LP's "Genius Plus Soul Equals Jazz" and "Modern Sounds in Country & Western." Rhythm & blues (or "race music" as it had been called) became universally respectable through his efforts. Jazz found a mainstream audience it had never previously enjoyed. And country & western music began to chart an unexpected course to general acceptance.

Ray is quite possibly the best biopic film made. That's something bold to say when you haven't seen every biopic film made, but this film is really impressive and captures the atmosphere and scenery its trying to envision. Its about The Black Community making their way in the music scene. Jamie Foxx's performance is by all means amazing and you actually think at times its actually Ray Charles. Its all in the smile really, it just resembles Ray Charles in many ways and also proves that Jamie Foxx isn't just a blockbuster actor, he can do the realist side of things.

The Songs like all great biopics mirror the original material, in fact at times they resemble them so well, that you mistake the songs for the originals. That's how good they are. The Cinematography is also fabulous as well as costumes and its creative use of editing too.

Overall, Ray is a masterful film chronicling a great life and the work he left behind for future generations. Its A Must See!!!

Rating - 100% - A+