[atlantaprog] Re: A Clockwork Orange

wow, thanks tons Nick!  I do appreciate all that and I will NOT let my kids 
read the book OR see the movie! sheesh...but I have to say...I usually don't 
watch movies myself that I can't let my kids watch...but thats just me...;)  (I 
don't mean all of them..but at least my teenager).  Anyway..thanks for all the 
info. guys..I think I'm going for the book and probably totally skipping the 
movie on this one. :-)

PEACE
Beth
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: nick douglas 
  To: atlantaprog@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2004 1:51 AM
  Subject: [atlantaprog] Re: A Clockwork Orange


  Beth,
  Since you seem much more bibliophile than cinemaphile, that's probably wise.  
Reading the book is much safer, but the film is a classic.  The Wendy Carlos 
soundtrack seems to be in print still.  You can listen to that without having 
your perception of the music contaminated by remembered associations with the 
film's emotional impact.  FWIW, I didn't like that album very much and haven't 
thought about it in years, probably because parts of it evoked memories of the 
movie too vividly.  Do *not* let your kids see this film.

  Having read the book makes the film less shocking as far as the plot goes, 
but it still doesn't prepare one for the visceral impact of the film.  It 
really was a masterpiece of cinematography.  Somehow Kubrick can make the sight 
and sound go straight to viewers' emotions, bypassing rational comprehension 
along the way.  A Clockwork Orange is scarey.  It is likely to trigger a 
fight-or-flight reaction including a full adrenalin dump and the resulting 
clumsiness, tunnel-vision, racing heartbeat and elevated blood pressure.  It is 
likely to make you temporarily antisocial.  It *will* give you nightmares.

  It is also likely to forever warp your appreciation of certain pieces of 
music.  Imagine the incomprehensible surreal beauty of Kubrick's 2001, plus the 
dark feel of the first Batman film, plus the psychotic unreality of One Flew 
Over The Coocoo's Next and Psycho and Brazil, plus the violence of the most 
twisted slasher and gangster films (emphasis on twisted), plus a big dose of 
Big Brother.  With most Kubrick films, the gestalt is much more than the sum of 
its parts, and this is probably his most powerful.

  Just my $0.02
  Nick            rambling way too late

  P.S, according to Amazon, people who bought this book also bought
  SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut
  Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
  One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey 
  Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  Animal Farm by George Orwell

  and people who bought this movie also bought
  2001 - A Space Odyssey
  The Shining
  Full Metal Jacket
  Requiem for a Dream
  (all but the last were by Kubrick)
  and people who bought this CD also bought other Wendy Carlos CDs.

  Beth wrote:
  >   I'd rather have a good book  ANYDAY over a movie..so yeah..thats a great
  >idea Allen!  :-)     yuck!   PEACE Beth

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