Hello, world. I’m MacDara Conroy, and this is my blog.

Just fixed a minor but annoying CSS display bug on my blog and I am inordinately pleased with myself #aside

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Film review — Brats

Wasn’t feeling this one. Andrew McCarthy centres himself in a conversation about the consequences of the ‘Brat Pack’ label placed on that group of young ’80s Hollywood actors. Not unreasonably, he has his own bitterness and neuroses about the branding, some of which are shared by fellow brats but notably those who didn’t quite parlay their potential and notoriety into a high-profile career. More…

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What looks like three rainouts in 24 hours in the #T20WorldCup is frankly embarrassing for the ICC. A predictable situation that could have been completely avoided but nah... #aside

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Film review — I Saw the TV Glow

Has the distinct air of a short blown up to a feature — but making up for the absence of any additional plot or character development with stylish atmosphere, which only goes so far before it diffuses into nothing. The metaphors and more direct allusions (it’s far more text than subtext) are laid on too thick for my liking. But the overall sentiments are worth exploring. More…

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It’s 10 to midnight and there’s still a hint of light in the sky. That’s why summer is my favourite season #aside

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Bee had to turn off the South Africa vs Netherlands match (it was too cruel) so we’re watching England and Australia instead #T20WorldCup #aside

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Il Sogno del Marinaio on stage at The Grand Social. From left: Stefano Pilla, seated in jeans and T-shirt and playing guitar; Paulo Mongardi in overalls and on drums; Mike Watt in jeans and Chucks with yellow socks and anorak, playing his signature bass.

Popped down to Dublin last night after work to see Il Sogno del Marinaio, featuring the legendary Mike Watt. My third time seeing this band, but I’ve seen Watt a few other times too, since 2001. He’s 66 with a gammy knee but still jamming econo #image

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Got my vote on an hour ago. That was the longest I’ve ever spent in a voting booth; the choices up here leave a lot to be desired #aside

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Up is down, down is up, cats and dogs are living together, and the USA just beat Pakistan in the T20 World Cup #aside

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My red vinyl copy of NoMeansNo’s Wrong has finally arrived, only seven months after ordering. You might say I’d grown tired, tired, tired of waiting #aside

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Film review — Civil War

Alex Garland trolls us with a deliberate provocation that has nothing new or profound to say, and it’s proud of it. Is ‘war journalists are an odd bunch?’ a fascinating or unique observation? Not on this surface level, which leans into all the ‘adrenaline junkie one minute, dead-eyed and emotionless the next’ clichés. More…

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Watching last night’s #AEWCollision and I’m distracted by the person sitting ringside opposite the hard cam who looks like the Wario of Green Shirt Guy #aside

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Film review — The Zero Boys

A twist on the typical slasher with too many ideas for its own good (the killers are both too smart and too dumb to make any sense of them at all) but one hell of a parting shot. More…

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Film review — Hiruko the Goblin

The Tetsuo guy got studio backing for his follow-up flick, a sweaty teen adventure horror (adapted from a manga) that mashes up your favourite ’80s genre memories with Japanese folklore and results in something that’s much more my bag. Reportedly a troubled production where nobody wanted to work with a novice director, it’s a one-off in Shinya Tsukamoto’s oeuvre and it’s a shame he never revisited this kind of fare. More…

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Film review — Dante’s Peak

It’s Jaws if the shark were a volcano (there’s even a character named “Dreyfus”, for crying out loud) but Pierce Brosnan doesn’t get to blow up the volcano at the end. More…

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I’m wearing a blood pressure monitor for the next 24 hours and I’m not gonna get any sleep tonight, am I? #aside

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Film review — Brainiac: Transmissions After Zero

Going into this documentary, I knew very little about the subject other than that they were on Touch & Go and met a premature end in a similar vein to the Minutemen. The film did a nice job of selling me on the band and their regional importance, it’s a fitting tribute in that respect, but it also wants me to believe that an act with a sound as oddball and abrasive as theirs had any chance of breaking out in the mainstream. Even in the post-Nirvana gold rush of the ’90s that was never going to happen. And some of the talking heads feel decidedly out of place. (Is Melissa Auf der Maur really a Brainiac fan? Her ‘making up her homework on the spot’ energy suggests not.) More…

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Film review — Banned from Broadcast: The Movie – Saiko! The Large Family

Most recent reviews of this Japanese faux-documentary are from Gen Z-ers and younger Millennials who found it via a horror YouTuber’s recent video essay on the subject and hey, I’ll celebrate anything that gets young people to engage with media on a critical level, especially if it’s something beyond the Western-dominated mainstream. More…

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Some recent personal website housekeeping: I’ve re-styled some links, archived the old Wordle blog posts and added the time zone to the date-timestamps #aside

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A short documentary detailing the process of scoring a famed Balinese gamelan (the name refers the percussion ensemble and arrangement, as well as the genre) in MIDI notation, augmented with animated visual representation. I’ll be honest, the MIDI version lacks the resonance, both literal and figurative, that comes with a human performance. But I do appreciate this creator’s approach to finding a way into a music that’s often confounding to Western ears. [c/o MetaFilter] #video

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Anywho, I just went to the Spindizzy site and ordered the (delayed) 20th anniversary reissue of …Burn, Piano Island, Burn because I cannot help myself #aside

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I see The Blood Brothers are reuniting for a tour to mark the 20th anniversary of Crimes. I was such a mark for them after getting March On Electric Children based in the artwork alone, and I finally saw them on the Crimes tour… when they played to 30 people tops at the Temple Bar Music Centre #aside

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Back from my eye test. Turns out, my last prescription was a bit too strong, hence my left eye twitching the last couple of months. Anyway, will be picking up my new specs in a week or two #aside

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Mike Monteiro: How to fix the internet

“We got an internet that reflects both the horror and the beauty of who we are as human beings. We got the internet that reflects who we are.” Mike’s thoughts are more optimistic than that might read, I swear. #link

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Here’s an interesting question from Ask MetaFilter for any philosophical Gaeilgeoirí that follow me > ask.metafilter.com #aside

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Fare thee well, Roger Corman, the linchpin of modern American cinema #aside

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No aurora tonight (it’s a bit cloudy anyway) but I did get off a few test shots with my DSLR and prime lens on a tripod and without getting into the weeds of manual settings, it’s surprisingly decent #aside

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Film review — Running Out of Time

A downtrodden police detective finds himself in a battle of wits with a terminally ill master criminal in a thriller that never really rises above being a jolly good time but that’s OK, because sometimes a jolly good time is all you need. More…

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Streaks of magenta and green in the night sky from the aurora borealis over Dundalk, Ireland

Never thought I’d get to see the #aurora borealis here, but here it is. This is closer to how it looked to the naked eye than other shots I’ve seen; I didn’t change the settings of my iPhone camera at all #image

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Aurora borealis is right over our house! It’s pretty faint but it’s there #aside

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Fucking hell, Steve Albini #aside

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Film review — Rolling Thunder

The Mike Baldwin of Knots Landing goes ham on the outlaws who murdered his wife and son in a sweltering setting that makes me feel clammy just looking at it. The sombre character study of the first half is deeply affecting, but there’s some grade-A squib work here, too. I think we can all agree the cops in First Blood should’ve watched this one before deciding to pick on poor John Rambo. More…

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The other day Duolingo taught me that the French for ‘kitten’ is ‘chaton’. Presumably because if you have one you’ll find it’s chaton everything #aside

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Thanks to Phil Freeman for the hot tip that Bad Brains’ iconic I Against I is getting a remastered reissue this summer > badbrainsrecords.com #aside

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If you were in that protest in Dublin city centre today, you’re a fucking bigot. Shove your ‘legitimate concerns’ up your hole #aside

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Film review — A Goofy Movie

The animators should be very proud of the river rapids sequence; that hand-crafted, roughly hewn look to the rippling waves and rushing water is up there with Ghibli’s finest. If only the story were as finely crafted. More…

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Film review — Winter Evening in Gagry

I admit I only half paid attention this one (the second film of Important Cinema Club’s 24-Hour Musical Movie Mind Melter on Twitch) as I was struck by a sudden headache and reading subtitles was out of the question. It’s a tale as old as showbiz: a star tap-dancer in his day is, decades later, largely forgotten but for the interest of one passionate upstart who seeks his mentorship. So far, so clichéd but it’s rendered with genuine feeling, not to mention that very Russian melancholy and end-of-the-Soviet-era sociopolitical subtext. More…

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There goes Gary Floyd of the Dicks, Sister Double Happiness and other bands you probably haven’t heard but should’ve. RIP to a real one #aside

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Three things about this story: they got the name of the road wrong (it’s Watermill Drive, it even says so in the image at the top); drivers know there’s a stop there and will pick up and drop off regardless; and this is not the first time this has happened > thejournal.ie #aside

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Finally upgraded my personal MacBook to Sonoma and in the process I figured out how to turn off that annoying ‘clicking on the desktop moves all the windows’ thing so I can change that on my work MacBook tomorrow #aside

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Seeing the headline ‘Darby Allin hit by bus’ and I’m like well, that’s just Darby being Darby, isn’t it? But then finding out it happened while he was on the way to see a Broadway show with Raymond Pettibon? Doesn’t get more perfect than that #aside

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Film review — Prisoners of the Lost Universe

An inept trash fantasy, shot in apartheid South Africa and starring a dubbed-over John Saxon who’s trying way too hard, the other one from Battlestar Galactica and a wrestler who supposedly faced off with both a pre-Nailz Kevin Wacholz and a pre-Undertaker Mark Calaway on cultural boycott-breaking tours. More…

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Film review — Immaculate

I had this occult/nunsploitation/body horror pegged as being wildly unhinged from the way people were talking about it. So imagine my disappointment… Don’t get me wrong, it’s fine for what it is, but if only it had leaned into its pulpier urges. More…

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