Back on July 29th, 2007, I reviewed what may very well be the worst movie of the year, Who’s Your Caddy?. In it, I refer to a scene from A Clockwork Orange and compare Alex’s forced viewing of various bits of violence to that of a film critic. The quote goes:
Imagine for a second that you’re Alex de Large in that scene from “”A Clockwork Orange” and you are strapped down to a chair. Your eyes are being held open with skinny metal clamps and a nurse tends to them every few seconds with moisture drops so your eyes don’t crust up...
Now, since Roger Ebert is back in full swing, I read his articles religiously. There was a giant hole in the world of criticism last year during his hiatus and one I am not looking forward to revisiting. I even wrote him a letter wishing him nothing but the best during his recovery.
I was reading his review for No End in Sight the other day when I noticed a pretty interesting similarity. The review was published on 8/10/2007 and begins with this quote:
Remember the scene in “A Clockwork Orange” where Alex has his eyes clamped open and is forced to watch a movie?
It’s interesting… I used that analogy to describe my experience as a film critic, compared to the horrorshow I was seeing on screen. It was my duty to look at every frame so that my criticism would be complete. Ebert on the other hand, used it to discuss the greater force behind the Iraq war. It’s amazing to me that, while Ebert is clearly the man all around, we think in similar ways.
Now, if only my writing craft was that top notch…
It’s good to see you writing again. I had thought that the blogs had been abandoned. Maybe I should try to join the Film Threat writing team.