Letter to myself about review

Dear Dan of the past,
Your review of A Clockwork Orange sucks. I read three other reviews and they were much better. You explain too much in your review, as you do in a lot of your writing. Don’t explain, show. In addition, you should use “we,” “us,” and “you,” more to bridge the gap between you and the audience.

You went from beginning to end with hardly any comments or criticisms. You could have commented on why the movie, though bizarre, kept your attention, by showing scenes, such as when Alex beats Mr. Alexander and rapes his wife, all while he sang, “Singin’ in the rain.” You could have used dialogue to support your points, rather than it coming directly from your mouth.

You could have commented on Kubrick. You could have compared this to his other films or other directors of similar films. You could have said whether certain things worked in the film, such as the nudity. You could have analyzed Kubrick’s style: cinematography, lighting, etc., perhaps they were used as a metaphor for the film’s theme. The classical music could have been discussed in relation to the film’s structure and whether or not it was effective. Use as an example when analyzing style.

You could have analyzed the main character, Alex, and described scenes which show why you thought he was a character to root for even though he was a sadistic murderer. You could have analyzed the actor’s performance of this character as well.

The next time you write a review, you should do less explaining and more analyzing. The introductory paragraphs should include the setting, and that it was adapted from Anthony Burgess’ novel. In addition, these paragraphs should summarize the plot in a few sentences. Use scenes to explain your point. You may also want to begin your critique with the film’s inciting incident, in this case, when Alex is jailed.





(Establish whether or not you like film or not and structure review around that)