Malcolm McDowell

Made films the shows talk about.

Counted as actor. The films the hosts said they acted in, which the two lists below run through too: A Clockwork Orange (1971); Blue Thunder (1983); The Player (1992); Gangster No. 1 (2000); Easy A (2010); Entourage (2015); Bombshell (2019); If (2024); Halloween (remakes); In Good Company; O Lucky Man!.

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Anthony Burgess: 2 lines

  1. unmapped (book vs film) · through A Clockwork Orange (1971), which they acted in: Anthony Burgess ⇒ A Clockwork Orange (the host's read). Reading the novel again, the speaker finds it almost the same as the film, dialogue and all.
    “The dialogue is, it's just unbelievable how little he changed”
    Blank Check — Patreon · A Clockwork Orange with Alex Ross Perry (Ad-Free) · 1:17:42 · Alex Ross Perry (0.80 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (adaptation) · through A Clockwork Orange (1971), which they acted in: Anthony Burgess ⇒ A Clockwork Orange (the host's read). The film adapts Burgess's novel, and Kubrick found he had to change very little.
    “Kubrick reads the book and is like, I didn't have to do much.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · A Clockwork Orange with Alex Ross Perry (Ad-Free) · 1:20:24 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): 1 line

  1. unmapped (self-reference) · through A Clockwork Orange (1971), which they acted in: 2001: A Space Odyssey ⇒ A Clockwork Orange (the host's read). The record store scene shows the 2001 soundtrack, which the speakers read as Kubrick nodding at his own movie.
    “but he's kind of like being like, guys, I made that movie.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · A Clockwork Orange with Alex Ross Perry (Ad-Free) · 1:44:54 · Alex Ross Perry (0.50 sure it was them)

Alfred Hitchcock: 1 line

  1. craft (craft) · through The Player (1992), which they acted in: Alfred Hitchcock ⇒ The Player (the host's read). Wesley notes the Hitchcock-like touches in the rattlesnake and police station scenes.
    “Little Hitchcock homage, I feel like.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:05:45 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Election (1999): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Easy A (2010), which they acted in: Election ⇒ Easy A (the host's read). Olive's unbothered, stronger-than-the-bully stance continues the Tracy Flick character through Book Smart's Beanie Feldstein.
    “the Tracy Flick character that we have seen just grow and grow all the way up to like the most recently book smart with Beanie Felsian's character.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Easy A’ With Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins, and Shea Serrano · 0:56:33 · Juliet Litman (0.50 sure it was them)

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Easy A (2010), which they acted in: Ferris Bueller's Day Off ⇒ Easy A (the maker said so). Director Will Gluck has said Ferris Bueller is his favorite movie, and Olive's Mohawk and guitar bits echo it.
    “I think the director, Will Gluck, has like talked about how Ferris Bueller is, I think, his favorite movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Easy A’ With Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins, and Shea Serrano · 0:12:38 · Amanda Dobbins (0.70 sure it was them)

John Hughes: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Easy A (2010), which they acted in: John Hughes ⇒ Easy A (the host's read). Easy A is in open dialogue with Hughes: Olive says her life is not a John Hughes movie and the finale has a Hughes montage.
    “But also she, like, literally says in the dialogue, my life isn't a John Hughes movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Easy A’ With Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins, and Shea Serrano · 0:12:55 · Amanda Dobbins (0.70 sure it was them)

Nashville (1975): 1 line

  1. craft (craft) · through The Player (1992), which they acted in: Nashville ⇒ The Player (the host's read). Wesley says the tricks Altman uses in The Player, like famous people dropping into a space, are ones he used in Nashville.
    “a lot of the tricks that he's using in the player, I mean, he uses in Nashville, right?”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:17:32 · Wesley Morris (0.85 sure it was them)

One Tree Hill: 1 line

  1. craft (craft) · through Easy A (2010), which they acted in: One Tree Hill ⇒ Easy A (the host's read). The webcam broadcasting echoes Peyton on One Tree Hill, so there was a precedent.
    “There's 2 pieces of this movie that have strong callbacks to one Tree Hill.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Easy A’ With Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins, and Shea Serrano · 0:47:17 · Juliet Litman (0.60 sure it was them)

Singin' in the Rain (1952): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through The Player (1992), which they acted in: Singin' in the Rain ⇒ The Player (the host's read). Sean says movies about movies go back long before The Player, e.g. Singin' in the Rain, but this one is far more inside the joke.
    “Going back to singing in the rain.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:04:08 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)

The Long Goodbye (1973): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through The Player (1992), which they acted in: The Long Goodbye ⇒ The Player (the host's read). Wesley reads Greta Scacchi's character as an echo of Nina van Pallandt's ice queen in The Long Goodbye, itself a riff on noir femmes fatales.
    “that character is a an echo of another Altman character, the Nina Van Palant character in the longabai”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:07:08 · Wesley Morris (0.80 sure it was them)

The Scarlet Letter (Demi Moore version): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Easy A (2010), which they acted in: The Scarlet Letter (Demi Moore version) ⇒ Easy A (the host's read). The movie nods to the Scarlet Letter and its puritanical heritage; Olive jokes about watching the Demi Moore version.
    “does its best or at least at times nods to the Scarlet letter and kind of like, you know, the puritanical heritage”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Easy A’ With Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins, and Shea Serrano · 0:52:04 · Amanda Dobbins (0.70 sure it was them)

Touch of Evil (1958): 1 line

  1. craft (craft) · through The Player (1992), which they acted in: Touch of Evil ⇒ The Player (the host's read). The Player's opening nods to Touch of Evil's tracking shot by having Fred Ward's character talk about it, then reveal he never watches foreign films.
    “Fred Ward talking about the tracking shot and touch of evil, but then revealing that he never watches foreign films.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:35:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

Emma Stone: 1 line

  1. verdict (verdict) · through Easy A (2010), which they acted in: Easy A ⇒ Emma Stone (the host's read). Easy A isn't Stone's peak, but she doesn't reach it without this movie.
    “it's not technically her Apex Mountain, but she doesn't get to her Apex Mountain without this movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Easy A’ With Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins, and Shea Serrano · 1:26:57 · Amanda Dobbins (0.70 sure it was them)

Her Smell (2018): 1 line

  1. lineage (inspiration) · through A Clockwork Orange (1971), which they acted in: A Clockwork Orange ⇒ Her Smell (the maker said so: Alex Ross Perry, the writer of Her Smell, speaking on this episode). The speaker says the film's five-act structure was a huge inspiration while writing Her Smell.
    “This movie, I think, and this was a huge inspiration in when I was writing her smell.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · A Clockwork Orange with Alex Ross Perry (Ad-Free) · 1:28:51 · Alex Ross Perry (0.80 sure it was them)

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (2026): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through A Clockwork Orange (1971), which they acted in: A Clockwork Orange ⇒ Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (the host's read). The contrapuntal needle drop descends from Singin' in the Rain in Clockwork Orange and Stuck in the Middle with You in Reservoir Dogs.
    “all the way back to singing in the rain in Clockwork Orange or stuck in the middle with you in, in, in, in Reservoir dogs.”
    The Big Picture · The Final Girl Film Canon and ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ With Gillian Anderson, Hannah Einbinder, and Jane Schoenbrun! · 0:22:08 · Adam Nayman (0.55 sure it was them)

The Larry Sanders Show (1992): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through The Player (1992), which they acted in: The Player ⇒ The Larry Sanders Show (the host's read). Bill asks whether The Player is ground zero for the meta-Hollywood strain that runs through Larry Sanders and Curb.
    “Larry Sanders and Curb your enthusiasm and all these different things we've had over the 30 years.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:03:46 · Bill Simmons (0.95 sure it was them)

The Simpsons (TV): 1 line

  1. unmapped (parodied) · through A Clockwork Orange (1971), which they acted in: A Clockwork Orange ⇒ The Simpsons (TV) (the host's read). The Simpsons reference this film a lot.
    “But the Simpsons reference is clockwork orange. a lot.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · A Clockwork Orange with Alex Ross Perry (Ad-Free) · 2:29:53 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Acting (14) everyone in acting

Other (1) everyone in other

What was said about them, by kind

career (3)

  1. career (career): Malcolm McDowell → A Clockwork Orange. Juliet's definitive Malcolm McDowell role is A Clockwork Orange, while Amanda thinks Entourage.
    “Um, A clockwork orange?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Easy A’ With Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins, and Shea Serrano · 1:09:20 · Juliet Litman (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. career (career): Malcolm McDowell → Entourage. Amanda always thinks of Malcolm McDowell as Terrence from Entourage because of the glasses.
    “I always think of Terrence from entourage for some reason.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Easy A’ With Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins, and Shea Serrano · 1:09:30 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60 sure it was them)
  3. career (career type): Malcolm McDowell → Eric Roberts. McDowell's IMDb is compared to Eric Roberts: endless work, still capable of a real performance.
    “he is in that weird Eric Roberts zone where it's like, he does so much schlock.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · A Clockwork Orange with Alex Ross Perry (Ad-Free) · 1:24:32 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

people (1)

  1. people (live-wire actors): Malcolm McDowell → Jack Nicholson. Both are called insane live-wire actors, chaos Kubrick knew how to control.
    “But like, McDowell and Nicholson are both like insane live wire behavioral uncontrollable actors.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · A Clockwork Orange with Alex Ross Perry (Ad-Free) · 0:38:43 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)

unmapped (3)

  1. unmapped (star vehicle): Malcolm McDowell → Lindsay Anderson. McDowell became a cultural avatar across the Lindsay Anderson movies of 67 to 73.
    “where he becomes like sort of a cultural avatar. across like the Lindsey Anderson movies in this, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · A Clockwork Orange with Alex Ross Perry (Ad-Free) · 0:02:40 · Alex Ross Perry (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (role inheritance): Malcolm McDowell → Donald Pleasence. McDowell as Dr. Loomis in the remakes is called a valid inheritor of Pleasence.
    “He's a valid inheritor of the Donald Pleasance mantle.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · A Clockwork Orange with Alex Ross Perry (Ad-Free) · 1:25:07 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. unmapped (improvised use): Malcolm McDowell → Singin' in the Rain. McDowell says he began singing the song when Kubrick asked if he could dance, and Kubrick bought the rights at once.
    “And so I began to sing a singing in the rain, and Stanley burst out laughing.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · A Clockwork Orange with Alex Ross Perry (Ad-Free) · 1:35:37 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

what-if (1)

  1. what-if (casting what-if): Malcolm McDowell → Brian Cox. The speakers wonder whether X2 called McDowell after Cox said no.
    “They must have called Malcolm for X2.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · A Clockwork Orange with Alex Ross Perry (Ad-Free) · 0:04:06 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about Malcolm McDowell: That Guy award: Shea won't pick the principal because he's too famous, and asks why he's here at all.
    “why is Malcolm McDowell the principal in this movie?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Easy A’ With Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins, and Shea Serrano · 1:09:06 · Shea Serrano (0.50 sure it was them)