the m0vie blog

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guest Aoife Martin, The 250 is a fortnightly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users.

This time, Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange.

Alex is a teenager growing up in a dystopian Britain with a taste for “the old ultraviolence.” However, when things go very wrong for the young delinquent, he finds himself offered an unlikely opportunity for redemption. He just has to volunteer for a highly controversial new therapy.

At time of recording, it was ranked the 104th best movie of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

Show Notes:

• Recorded 31st January 2021.
• Note: Due to the COVID-19 situation, this episode was recorded remotely. We suspect, going forward that a lot of our episodes will be until the crisis resolves.
• A Clockwork Orange at The Internet Movie Database.
• The IMDb Top 250 at time of recording.
• Follow Aoife on Twitter.
• Read Aoife’s articles at The Journal.
• Natali Lekka at Babbel Magazine discusses the origins and roots of Nadsat, August 2017.
• Jim Clarke at The Guardian discusses the joy of made-up languages, March 2016.
• Simon Brew at Den of Geek discusses the “myth” of the ban of A Clockwork Orange in the United Kingdom, December 2019.
• William E. Schmidt at The New York Times reports on efforts to screen A Clockwork Orange in the United Kingdom, February 1993.
• Philip Castle talks to The Guardian about designing the poster for A Clockwork Orange, July 2016.
• The BBC reports on the discovery of a manuscript follow-up to A Clockwork Orange among the estate of Anthony Burgess, April 2019.
• Ian Youngs at the BBC reports on the discovery on Anthony Burgess’ original script for A Clockwork Orange, May 2011.
• William Friedkin talks to The Hollywood Reporter about the challenges of getting The Exorcist certified, October 2015.
• Jeff Kaye at The Los Angeles Times reports on the “video nasty” scare in the United Kingdom, May 1994.
• Peter Bradshaw at The Guardian reports on the United Kingdom re-release of A Clockwork Orange following Stanley Kubrick’s death, March 2000.
• Ryan Faughnder at The Los Angeles Times discusses the recent cultural shift at Warner Brothers away from auteur-driven filmmaking, December 2020.
• Chris Lee at Vulture discusses the industry’s reaction to Warner Brothers’ shift away from being a creative-friendly studio, December 2020.
• Jude Dry at IndieWire reports on the ongoing controversy over Ken Russell’s vision of The Devils and Warner Brothers, March 2017.
• The Irish Times looks back on the life and career of Stanley Kubrick, March 1999.
• Gamze Kazakoglu discusses the question of free will in A Clockwork Orange for Yale Daily News, November 2020.
• Anthony Burgess reflects on A Clockwork Orange for The New Yorker, June 2012.
• Stanley Kubrick discusses free will and self-determination in A Clockwork Orange with The New York Times, January 1972.
• Vincent Lo Brutto discusses the production of A Clockwork Orange with The American Cinematographer, January 2018.
• Elena Lazic at The BFI looks at the fashion and design of A Clockwork Orange, April 2019.
• Malcolm McDowell talks to Collider about the making of A Clockwork Orange, May 2011.
• Malcolm McDowell discusses his life and career with The Irish Times, July 2020.
• Malcolm McDowell discusses his life and career with Den of Geek, May 2011.
• Malcolm McDowell talks to The Guardian about working with Stanley Kubrick on A Clockwork Orange, April 2019.
• Katherine Jane Lee discusses Andy Warhol’s adaptation of A Clockwork Orange as Vinyl at Little White Lies, April 2019.
• Will Carr at AnthonyBurgess.org reports on the famous story that Anthony Burgess wrote A Clockwork Orange in three weeks, January 2021.
• D.J. Taylor discusses the events that Anthony Burgess’ life that directly inspired A Clockwork Orange at The Independent, July 2013.
• Vincent Canby reviews A Clockwork Orange for The New York Times, January 1972.
• Bill Steigerwald at The Los Angeles Times reports on the controversy over Anthony Burgess’ original ending to A Clockwork Orange, March 1987.
• Michel Cement interviews Stanley Kubrick about A Clockwork Orange for Visual Memory, July 1981.
• John Coulth at johncoulthart.com discusses the use of the Chelsea Drug Store in A Clockwork Orange, April 2006.
• Keith Phipps at The Dissolve discusses the depiction of the vague and unspecified future in A Clockwork Orange, October 2013.
• Roger Ebert reviews A Clockwork Orange for The Chicago Sun Times, February 1972.
• Adam Nayman at The Ringer discusses A Clockwork Orange as both Kubrick’s best and worst impulses, March 2019.
• Pauline Kael reviews A Clockwork Orange for The New Yorker, January 1972.
• Clayton Riley at The New York Times discusses the moral panic around A Clockwork Orange, January 1972.
• Tony Ortega at The Village Voice looks back on the wave of ultraviolence in film coinciding with A Clockwork Orange, January 2011.
• Christian Anderson Ramshall at Film and Furniture discusses the production design of A Clockwork Orange, June 2015.
• Edward Rothstein at The New York Times discusses the use of classical music in the films of Stanley Kubrick, March 1999.
• Don Heckman at The New York Times discusses the use of Wendy Carlos’ score in A Clockwork Orange, August 1972.
• Rob Zombie talks to Directors Guild of America Quarterly about his abiding love for A Clockwork Orange, Autumn 2009.
• Nola Barackman at The Wrap looks at the trend towards blue and orange poster design, May 2019.
• David Prowse talks to The Big Issue about his life and career, November 2020.
• Graeme McMillan takes a look back at David Prowse’s other iconic role as “the Green Cross Code Man” for The Hollywood Reporter, November 2020.
• David Gritten at The Los Angeles Times reports on plans for U2 to write a musical based on A Clockwork Orange, February 1990.
• Julian Petley writes about the media coverage of the “copycat crimes” inspired by A Clockwork Orange in Index on Censorship, November 1995.
• Colin Marshall at Open Culture writes about Stanley Kubrick’s withdrawal of A Clockwork Orange from circulation, June 2019.
• Follow The 250 on Twitter.
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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: a clockwork orange, aoife martin, censorship, controversy, Malcolm McDowell, nadsat, stanley kubrick, The 250, ultraviolence, violence, Warner Brothers |