Mark Kermode

Rjd2 · 30-05-2007 12:34pm #1

I know this chap is quite popular in the UK due to his excellent radio reviews and his appearances on stuff such as Newsnight and The Culture show. Kermode is probably the only critic I have quite a bit of respect for, it doesn’t matter if a film is an Indy darling if Mark will still tear it to shreds, for example Babel and Closer were murdered by him. His rants are wonderfully entertaining for proof just listen to him again rip through Kiera Knighley and Orlando Bloom in the latest Pirates thing on the BBC Radio5 site. He also thinks the Exorcist is the greatest film ever made and was thrown out of Cannes for going mental with critics who were orgasming over the film the Idiots! And of course recently irritated Leo Di Caprio by stating at the start of the interview “I have forgiven you for Titantic” Leo was not amused!
Anyways anyone else got an opinion on the chap?

Crucifix · 30-05-2007 12:40pm

Ahh, Kermode's great. I often enjoy movies he slams, and dislike movies he praises, but he's always entertaining and insightful.
His referral to Orlando Bloom as "Orloomdo Bland" had me cracking up recently.

Petey2006 · 30-05-2007 12:48pm

He's the only critic out there worth listening to (except for yours truly, of course!

) When he goes on a rant, it's a joy to listen to. Examples-

The problem with 'Sex Lives of the Potato Men' is it is absolutely, indescribably horrible, vulgar, stupid, tawdry, depressing, embarassing, filthy, vile, stinky, repugnant, slimy, unclean, nasty, degenerative and mind-numbing.

If you pay money to go see 'Pirates of the Caribbean' it's your own fault, and you're bringing down the collapse of Western Civilization.

[Little Man is] the most retrograde, horrible, nauseating, inward-looking, smug, repulsive, grotesque, ill-advised, badly-judged film. And if you go see it, shame on you. SHAME ON YOU.

irishash · 30-05-2007 1:03pm

i remember him doing a star wars show around about the time the last movie came out (ep 3 - may 2005) and it was about how he never liked the movies but could understand how others did and invited 6 people to try and convert him. needless to say they failed. but it is a measure of the man that he will take other opinions on board and at least give a good reason as to why he does not like something, unlike wossy who will not like a flim based on the fact that he saw it early in the morning !!!

Dont be at yourself · 30-05-2007 1:26pm

I frequently disagree with him, (Pirates 2 was not 'the death of narrative cinema'...) but he is compelling listening. Well argued, passionate opinions, a fair bit of humour and a depth of knowledge. I love the presenter on his podcast who always winds him up.

Rjd2 · 30-05-2007 1:45pm

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

I frequently disagree with him, (Pirates 2 was not 'the death of narrative cinema'...) but he is compelling listening. Well argued, passionate opinions, a fair bit of humour and a depth of knowledge. I love the presenter on his podcast who always winds him up.

Thats Simon Mayo.I really have to dig up his star wars review when I get home it was top class. He also seems to dislike Quentin Tarantino big time at the moment.

Moussdog · 30-05-2007 2:06pm

Is that the guy who used to (or maybe still does) introduce films on Channel 4. He seemed fairly intense but thoroughly entertaining.

Did Channel 4 therefore only screen films he liked?

irishash · 30-05-2007 2:11pm

i am sure he has been on channel 4 in the past but i cant seem to remember him introducing movies on there recently. he is a tall guy with slicked back black hair (going a bit gray) and is always dressed very smartly. he usually works for the BBC on tv and radio.

he also plays the double bass and loves skiffle music.

Karl Hungus · 30-05-2007 2:20pm

To be honest, I find him far, far too superfluous in his rantings to take seriously as a film critic.

Yes, the fall of western civilization... Death of narrative... Blah blah blah. :rolleyes:

His can be entertaining though.

30-05-2007 2:38pm

He does go over the top at times, and I rarely take his reviews seriously but in comparision to Jonathan Ross he's leagues ahead. Ross is like his brother Paul Ross, both are poster whores who it seems will do anything to get on a poster and if they can't they just slam the film, just look at Woss's review of Clerks 2.

RuggieBear · 30-05-2007 3:02pm

he's great. Completely over the top sometimes but his pithy oneliners for the top 10 are hilarious.

lodgepole · 30-05-2007 5:32pm

One of the most intelligent and well read film critics out there, although his podcast can get bogged down in the need to get a new "Kermode rant" out there. For evidence of his credentials watch any of the documentaries he's been involved with (such as the excellent one available on the Shawshank Redemption DVD), listen to one of his audio commentaries or read his newspaper articles (google "kermode observer").

Driver 8 · 30-05-2007 6:17pm

Kermode's ok, but I did nearly cry laughing when I heard the report of someone writing in to tell him that he disagreed with his review of the Da Vinci Code. The guy said he enjoyed the film for what it was, light entertainment, but then again, that he had a job that challenged him and didn't need his intellectual stimulation to come merely from films.

Also, shouldn't he branch out into music criticism, given that he's based his hairstyle and dress sense seemingly entirely on Morrissey?

adonis · 31-05-2007 2:51pm

kermode is very good and completly over the top.
vast knowledge of cinema in its various guises.
You just need to take him with a pinch of salt. normally very much on the ball though

Robbo · 01-06-2007 7:31pm

Karl Hungus wrote:

To be honest, I find him far, far too superfluous in his rantings to take seriously as a film critic.

Supercilious surely?

Karl Hungus · 01-06-2007 7:49pm

Robbo wrote:

Supercilious surely?

No, superfluous. As in his gross exaggerations, eg 'Death of narrative'. Although supercilious is probably relevant too.

Running Bing · 01-06-2007 8:40pm

Rjd2 wrote:

I know this chap is quite popular in the UK due to his excellent radio reviews and his appearances on stuff such as Newsnight and The Culture show. Kermode is probably the only critic I have quite a bit of respect for, it doesn’t matter if a film is an Indy darling if Mark will still tear it to shreds, for example Babel and Closer were murdered by him. His rants are wonderfully entertaining for proof just listen to him again rip through Kiera Knighley and Orlando Bloom in the latest Pirates thing on the BBC Radio5 site. He also thinks the Exorcist is the greatest film ever made and was thrown out of Cannes for going mental with critics who were orgasming over the film the Idiots! And of course recently irritated Leo Di Caprio by stating at the start of the interview “I have forgiven you for Titantic” Leo was not amused!
Anyways anyone else got an opinion on the chap?

He's spot on too, a film so far up it's own arse it can smell hair gel.

Pigman II · 01-06-2007 9:15pm

Crucifix wrote:

His referral to Orlando Bloom as "Orloomdo Bland" had me cracking up recently.

Rich him joking about peoples names considering his is similar to that of a portable toilet.

faceman · 01-06-2007 11:16pm

i like kermode. he's one of those critics he's prob great to have a few beers with where your indepth conversation about lawrence of arabia being o'toole's best performance and the exorcist being more a social movement than a horror film soon falls fall to "would you give kate beckinsale one if you were married to halle berry?"

seriously tho, i enjoy his reviews, although i dont always agree. and lets be honest, his jibe at di caprio was not out of place!

philstar · 04-06-2007 12:58am

yes kermode the guy with the rockabilly quiff...

i had respect for him until he revealed that the exorcist was his favorite movie of all time...i mean surely the guy can't be serious!!:cool:

Pigman II · 19-07-2008 2:21pm

I'd like a thread where we can discuss his views on new releases.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61UolzFTVPI

Dudess · 19-07-2008 7:50pm

philstar wrote: »

yes kermode the guy with the rockabilly quiff

Very similar style, hair colour and interest in rockabilly/skiffle as another Mark who works for the Beeb - Lamarr.

Anyway, yeah I like Kermode. Before he became a regular contributor on BBC, he did mostly print reviews and he presented one-off documentaries, such as ones on The Exorcist, The Wickerman, Blade Runner and A Clockwork Orange. He also regularly contributes to those top 100 whatever shows, as does his wife, a professor of film studies. Imagine having one of those jobs and your spouse having the other - spoilt bastards!

nyarlothothep · 19-07-2008 8:05pm

He's one of the few critics I take half seriously. On newsnight his opinions are more informed and reflective as opposed to being prejudiced and snooty which is the preserve of a lot of critics.

CliffHuxtabel · 20-07-2008 3:59am

Mark Kermode is the kind of critic people who know nothing about cinema think is good.

Try David Thomson or Maitland Mcdonagh

stereoroid · 20-07-2008 2:25pm

CliffHuxtabel wrote: »

Mark Kermode is the kind of critic people who know nothing about cinema think is good.

Try David Thomson or Maitland Mcdonald

If, by "know nothing about cinema" you mean "don't study cinema full-time", then you may have a point - otherwise you're needlessly insulting 2/3 of the people who have posted in this thread. You could say the same about Roger Ebert, who sometimes teaches film criticism (as Kermode does), yet still tries to speak to the non-cineastes out there.

Besides: if you're referring to the David Thomson who ranks Blue Velvet alongside Citizen Kane, and who wrote that creepy book about Nicole Kidman, then you're quite welcome to him. :rolleyes:

Dudess · 20-07-2008 5:36pm

In fairness, Kermode would probably rank Blue Velvet alongside Citizen Kane. He loves that film, although when it was released, he hated it. I would rank Blue Velvet alongside Citizen Kane...

CliffHuxtabel wrote: »

Maitland Mcdonald

It's McDonagh. I normally wouldn't do that kind of thing but your comment was seriously unwarranted.

faceman · 20-07-2008 9:04pm

Dudess wrote: »

Very similar style, hair colour and interest in rockabilly/skiffle as another Mark who works for the Beeb - Lamarr.

Anyway, yeah I like Kermode. Before he became a regular contributor on BBC, he did mostly print reviews and he presented one-off documentaries, such as ones on The Exorcist, The Wickerman, Blade Runner and A Clockwork Orange. He also regularly contributes to those top 100 whatever shows, as does his wife, a professor of film studies. Imagine having one of those jobs and your spouse having the other - spoilt bastards!

He was one of the reasons why the Exorcist got a re-release.

Pigman II · 20-07-2008 11:57pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6Q5FESHol0

I don't think I dislike any movie as much as he seems to dislike POTC3

21-07-2008 1:18am

Pigman II wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6Q5FESHol0

I don't think I dislike any movie as much as he seems to dislike POTC3

He does seem to hate all three films in the franchise. Got to love Simon Mayo's reaction. Figure he's sat through Kermode's PotC speech before.

Goodshape · 21-07-2008 1:21am

Been watching some of his reviews on YouTube and haven't disagreed with him yet tbh

He's obviously a bit over-opinionated, but that just works well on TV/Radio.

...haven't seen Pirates3, but the second one was certainly a load of crap (first one I enjoyed) and 'Orlando Bland' sums up my thoughts on that eejit perfectly.

MrGump · 21-07-2008 1:38pm

I listen, cause he entertains me. But I have serious issue with his review of films for kids. He reviews them as a parent. I wouldn't have expected that to be his demographic; but than I guess its the bbc...

Plus he takes too many holidays; i was eagerly waiting for his Sex and the City rantview - instead i had to deal with Andrew Collins...

Not good enough.

Mark Kermode

Comments