I like Clayton, but he seems to represent this new trend of film journalism which implies that you don’t necessarily need a firm grasp of movie history to write about it. How do you pursue a living as a film writer, and predicting the Oscars, without having seen “Casablanca”? Some think it’s not an issue, others most definitely do. I’m not trying to judge here, no, really, I’m not, I have met countless millennial film critics who have never even seen “Citizen Kane,” and/or “Vertigo,” so there are plenty of Clayton Davis’ out there and maybe that’s a problem. It’s not like seeing any of these films should be seen as an actual legitimate commitment problem. TCM manages to squeeze in airings of these three classics on a monthly basis. Then again, how can you live as a film writer without the memory of Bogart, Bergman, Henreid, Rains, Lorre, and Greenstreet hanging at Rick’s Cafe? Suffice to say, it takes a lot of chutzpah for a Variety columnist to say “I’ve never seen “Casablanca.” At least Davis isn’t hiding it. Kudos.

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