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3/5
<center><font size = 4>part 9</font></center>
<center><font color = darkblue size = 6>A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971)</font></center>
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Neither Singing In The Rain or a glass of milk will ever feel the same after watching Kubrick's follow-up to 2001. And it's no surprise by now that he once more went into a completely different direction. Based on Anthony Burgess' 1962 novella, A Clockwork Orange talks about violence and the even graver forms of violence that are applied as a reactionary therapy. It is as much a complaint against gang violence as it is a complaint against the System's policy concerning violence. But while gang violence is obvious and emphasised via extravagant fashion choices, the System and its politicians simply smile while destroying a person's life behind the scenes. In fact, perhaps it's easier to survive in this world with an aggressive temperament than it is when one shuns every single form of turmoil as well as sexual desire.
Leave it to Malcolm McDowell to commit the nastiest of crimes in the first half of the film, only to completely reverse our sympathies towards him in the second half. McDowell, a talented and versatile actor who would go on playing the incestuous Caligula in Penthouse's notorious film of the same name, as well as Nexus lover Tolian Soran in Star Trek Generations and many other characters in countless films, holds us firmly in his grip. You just can't take your eyes of him. His character, Alex, goes through various contradictory stages of character development and with each new persona we find new things to discover and love. And McDowell wasn't afraid to give it his all. He rapes a women whilst performing Singing In The Rain, enjoys a trio with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in the back and pets a snake. At the same time he feels so vulnerable when Patrick Magee asks him if he'd like "mooooore whiiiine?"
Psychology majors will find loads of material in this film to talk or write papers about. And it makes perfect sense in the end. Because despite the film being over forty years old, it hasn't lost much of its relevance yet. Kubrick intended Clockwork to be a dystopian vision of the future but I honestly think that the present has caught up with it. It feels like our violent mentality towards the violent nature of others has pretty much reached a peak nowadays and Clockwork slings it back in our face like a blood soaked towel we use to clean the floor after the sociably acceptable execution of a criminal.
Censors of course had a field day destroying the film. The UK is actually so civilised a country that it simply rejected the film's screenings because of some incident where the perpetrator had allegedly been inspired by Clockwork. It wasn't until the early 2000s (!) that Britain was allowed to distribute the uncut film. And of course we see female breasts and we all know how the 'orthodoxy' can't handle that devilish part of God's Creation. In the USA, The National Catholic Office for Motion Pictures rated it C ("Condemned") because of the sexual content. Wow! And even the official censors initially rated the film X and forced Kubrick to cut half a minute. To destroy such a culturally and socially significant film over a pair of breasts, a few phallic symbols and some pubic hair is downright offensive to intelligent viewers who have little difficulty putting everything in the right perspective. But hey, thanks to the MPAA, America is a country entirely free of crime, is it not? And the British Video Nasty movement was so effective not even a riot even occurred there, right? Forgive, for I'm clearly in Clockwork mode... I put a big blame on the System for how ineffective it tries to cope with something, for how the official reaction is worse than the subject at the centre of the debate. In a way, A Clockwork Orange professed this reaction, and the censors were smart enough to fulfil the prophecy.
A Clockwork Orange made money. It returned its budget tenfold and went on to become a cult favourite. Modern critics regard it as nothing less than a masterpiece of art, one of the highlights of Kubrick's career. Once you've seen it, you won't likely forget the film. It may still, even today, prove an uncomfortable experience the first time because it gets under your skin. Unlike many mainstream products which resort to fairly simple and superficial tricks in an attempt to elicit spine chilling reactions from its viewers, Clockwork needs to be processed by the brain first and foremost. And its ideas, possibly even more than its images, will forever remain printed on it. I myself hold the film in high regard. Some technical specs for those who care: 1.66 and colour. I recommend you watch the film but only when you feel like it. You will not easily put on a smiling face immediately after watching Clockwork, that is unless you failed to connect to the film as intended by maestro Kubrick.
Final score: 9/10
DD's Stanley Kubrick retrospective score card:
2001: A Space Odyssey: 11/10
Dr. Strangelove: 9,5/10
A Clockwork Orange: 9/10
Lolita: 9/10
Paths Of Glory: 9/10
Spartacus: 8,5/10
The Killing: 8,5/10
Killer's Kiss: 6,5/10
Fear And Desire: 5/10
DD's Michael Mann retrospective score card:
HEAT: 10/10
The Insider: 9/10
Thief: 9/10
Collateral: 8,5/10
Miami Vice: 8/10
Manhunter: 8/10
Public Enemies: 7,5/10
Ali: 7/10
The Last Of The Mohicans: 7/10
The Keep: 5,5/10
DD's David Fincher retrospective score card:
Seven: 9,5/10
The Social Network: 9,5/10
Zodiac: 8,5/10
The Game: 8/10
Panic Room: 8/10
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: 8/10
Alien³: 7,5/10
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button: 7,5/10
Fight Club: 7/10
Currently watching Sam Raimis first Spiderman movie. Have the same problem with it as always find Mary Jane intolerable, not the weakest of the series and Defoe is excellent as Green Goblin best villain in the Spiderman movies thus far for me.
Charles Bronson plays a Russian spy sent after Pleasence who is activating soviet Sleeper Agents by calling them and saying a code word. The sleeper agents once activated go on suicide bombing runs in the US. Pretty good movie. I'm currently watching every Charles Bronson movie I can as he is my new favorite actor. :)
9/10
Reunited once again since the The great Escape. Not sure if i have seen Telephon. Many Bronsan films i should probably revisit.
Initially I had dismissed this film as a loud, braindead, Transformers rip off. I couldn't have been more wrong. Pacific Rim pure excitement and jaw dropping visuals, with still more heart and intelligence than one would expect from a movie of this sort. Guillermo del Toro's attention to detail and passion for the genre really shows on screen. Charlie Hunnam was adequate as the generic "troubled hero" Raleigh Becket, but the star for me (besides the Jaegers and the Kaiju) was Rinko Kikuchi. Bravo to all those involved in making this movie, I can't wait for the sequel.
4/5
An astonishingly silly, distinctly average sequel to the original film. Liam Neeson has a couple of good fight scenes but other than that he seems to be completely phoning in his performance. There's little of the tension and suspence of the original, and the 'dumb' level seems to have been turned up even higher than it was before. People go on about the "grenade" scene but for me the most proposterous sequence was the daughter who has failed her driving test twice suddenly turning into a professional stunt driver on the streets of Istanbul.
4/10
It's pretty good. Even though he doesn't attempt a Russian accent in the film, he's still pretty good. It was pretty classic Bondian at times. Bronson would have made a fantastic Bond Ally or Villain.
Last house on the left 4.5/6 , not as graphic as I thought it would be...thank goodness lol (Maniac was a bit too hard core for my taste)
Imagine a movie with Bronson/Clint Eastwood or Bronson/John Wayne. Ohhh the missed opportunities..
Like Connery, Bronson is exempt from attempting accents. Love 70s cinema for its grittyness, Dirty Harry, French connection for example. Certainly a genre of movie i need to revisit. The mechanic is the film that often stands out for me, co starring Jan michael vincent. Not seen the remake. Bronson starred in one of my favourite movies of all time, Once upon a time in the west. Harmonica a brilliant character.
You won't be disappointed its a masterpiece.
I haven't seen 'Planet Terror' since I did the double feature 'Grindhouse' in theaters. I've seen 'Death Proof' quite a few times since then, and while QT says it's probably his worst movie, I still enjoy it. Russell is great in it.
I agree. Death proof was boring. It's only worth watching for Russell and the Car Chase finale. I love how at the end...
I liked Death Proof, it is what it is a homage to Russ Meyers exploitation pics. It does drag in parts with QT usual overly long dialog sequences. The second part has some pretty decent action and a good reversal of the first part. Watching Planet Terror kind of made me think of what was sorely lacking in Snyders Sucker Punch.
Good film that's worth a rental. It got horrible reviews that I don't fully agree with. It does drag on in parts but not enough for me to give it a bad review.
I like Tina Fey, I like Paul Rudd, but I don't like this movie; it's not even worth a rental. It tried to be funny, dramatic, and romantic and it failed.
Haven't seen this film since it was in theaters. I love this version of Judge Dredd. Great film with awesome action and I love the realistic and dark feel of this movie. Hope a sequel gets made.
How did it compare to Shaun of the dead and Hot Fuzz?
I was worried after 20mins that I wasn't going to like it but it got better and better as it went on. Not as good as Shaun and I'll need to see it a couple more times before I know if it's better than Fuzz
Love the first two films in the labelled Cornetto trilogy, will certainly watch it. thanks