A renowned film critic offers a no-holds-barred account of all that is great and all that is terrible about cinema Outspoke...
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Feb 13, 2012
Paul
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Mark Kermode is a man with a big quiff like Eddie Cochran in 1957 & is probably Britain's foremost film critic which is a sorry situation. He's a grumpy old man and a great amount of this present volume is spent bleating and moaning about how terrible everything to do with movies is now from the ratios to the way tickets are sold to the decline and fall of the projectionist, the junk food concessions, the ghastly films they make nowadays and how much better everything was in 1955 which is where
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Feb 02, 2012
Steve
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Very entertaining. Mark Kermode captures the essence of the modern multiplex experience through a number of strands: Poor cinemagoer experience, poor Hollywood films, poor choice, and 97% irrelevant film critiques. Never less than vitriolic, cynical and suspicious of the motives of the modern cinema and blockbuster making film companies, Kermode harks back to the days of explosive reels of film, and the 'art' of projection, while trashing blockbusters and explaining very effectively why big film
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Sep 11, 2011
Becky
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I was sent this book by Random House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. I am a fan of movies and I love going to the cinema, although I don't get there nearly as much as I would like.
Mark Kermode is a film critic, he's been in this job for around 25 years and has seen a wide range of movies over the years. In this book he discusses how cinema has changed over the years, why modern movies are so bad, and what film critics are really for.
I love his sense of humour in this boo More...
Mark Kermode is a film critic, he's been in this job for around 25 years and has seen a wide range of movies over the years. In this book he discusses how cinema has changed over the years, why modern movies are so bad, and what film critics are really for.
I love his sense of humour in this boo More...
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Jan 25, 2012
Corey Atad
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I love me some Mark Kermode. LOVE HIM! For those of you who may not be familiar with The Good Doctor, Mark Kermode PhD is a film critic for BBC radio. His show is available on iTunes as a podcast called Kermode and Mayo Film Review. Go listen to it. It’s great.
Anyway, Mark Kermode is one of the most entertaining and erudite critics around. He also knows how to string a damn good sentence together. He’s passionate and loud and funny and loves to rant. Basically the perfect guy to write More...
Anyway, Mark Kermode is one of the most entertaining and erudite critics around. He also knows how to string a damn good sentence together. He’s passionate and loud and funny and loves to rant. Basically the perfect guy to write More...
Jan 21, 2012
Lisa
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Intelligent without being elitist, grouchy and rather funny, Kermode takes on the sorry state of modern movies.
Personally, I've not been going to the cinema half as much lately as I used to. Apart from it costing the best part of a tenner, without any add-ons like 'premium' seating, 3D and food, whenever I have ventured there I've either been wildly disappointed or flat out annoyed at the cinematic crap that's being served up. In the last year, the number of films I've truly enjoyed c More...
Personally, I've not been going to the cinema half as much lately as I used to. Apart from it costing the best part of a tenner, without any add-ons like 'premium' seating, 3D and food, whenever I have ventured there I've either been wildly disappointed or flat out annoyed at the cinematic crap that's being served up. In the last year, the number of films I've truly enjoyed c More...
Jan 03, 2012
Tyrone
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For those who are regular listeners of the Mayo and Kemode show on BBC Radio 5 or viewers of his video blog there is a comforting familiarity with what is contained between the pages of this book. In fact the only criticism that could be levelled at the author is that for his existing fans, there is nothing new here.
What we do have here is a manifesto about why our modern movie going is not the magical experience that we maybe remember from our youth. The case he makes is compelling More...
What we do have here is a manifesto about why our modern movie going is not the magical experience that we maybe remember from our youth. The case he makes is compelling More...
Dec 02, 2011
Mark
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The esteemed critic has a rant on a variety of subjects that are close to his heart - the soul-lessness of the modern multiplex, Michael Bay’s crimes against cinema, the art of the blockbuster, British film, digital projection rather than celluloid projectors and what critics are for - and, for the most part, it’s a very entertaining read. Especially if you share some of his pet hates, as I do - I haven’t been to a multiplex in ages (having gotten fed up with over-priced tickets, lack of ushers
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Nov 30, 2011
I skimmed this rather than abandoning it, but it would be cheating to say I'd actually read the whole thing, so onto the 'abandoned' shelf it goes. I really enjoy Mark Kermode's film criticism, and was interested to see what I'd make of the arguments presented here. I differ hugely from Kermode's standpoint in that I get all of my intellectual stimulation from things I read - books, newspapers, articles online - so when I do watch a film, it tends to be for the purposes of pure escapism, and for
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Oct 07, 2011
Nicola
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Released in early September, noted British film critic Mark Kermode followed up It's Only a Movie with another rant-filled tome entitled The Good, The Bad and The Multiplex. At Edinburgh International Book Festival, tour dates across the UK, and podcasts across the interwebs, Kermode has offered verbal versions of his prosthelytising about the lost art of film projection, the state of British cinema, American remakes of perfectly good foreign films, and more.
The book offers much of the More...
The book offers much of the More...
Dec 16, 2011
Simon
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Typically amusing, impassioned and well argued. And, given Kermode's radio persona - the I'm-always-right bombast - there are moments of humility and self-mockery that come over, at least, as genuine. There are some lovely set pieces - like his attempt to enjoy a film at a multiplex notwithstanding the lack of a projectionist, the picture being off-kilter by about 3 inches, the popcorn munching and the insouciant disinterest of the slack-jawed staff - but like so much else in this book, Kermode
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Oct 15, 2011
Justin
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Like most people who pick up The Good, the Bad & the Multiplex, I'm a long time listener to Mayo & Kermode's film review show on 5-Live. For anyone who listens regularly, there is little to get excited about here. The rants about 3D, the plight of the projectionist, modern blockbusters, and so on, are so familiar they seem almost verbatim transcripts of the various occasions they've come up before. On the one hand, it's reassuring to know that Kermode isn't expounding wishy-washy opinion that ch
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Sep 14, 2011
Darren (Live Event Victim #3)
rated it:
Mark Kermode is the one film critic that I like to listen to. No, scratch that, he's the only one that I love to listen to. I never miss the Friday review show with Simon Mayo. And there's the rub. You see there's very little in this book that the great man hasn't already espoused at length on the radio show. If you're a regular listener then I'm afraid that you've heard it all before.
That said, there's a humorous tale of a poor visit to a multiplex that everyone can probably relate More...
That said, there's a humorous tale of a poor visit to a multiplex that everyone can probably relate More...
Nov 13, 2011
Murray
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Better than Kermode's previous book (which was mostly bits of biography), this book is a series of pretty much separable chapters, each on a subject Kermode is likely to go into one of his famous rants about. The first (on the lack of projectionists in modern multiplexes) is just comedy genius. The image of Dr Kermode smouldering away like some modern day Hancock simply trying but tickets (but NOT POPCORN) in a multiplex had me chuckling all the way through. In the following chapters, Kermode lo
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Sep 26, 2011
Simon
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If you are a regular listener to the show/podcast Mark Kermode does with Simon Mayo, much of this will feel familiar. But here at least Kermode get to lay out his entire manifesto in a clear and well-reasoned manner, without Mayo interrupting him everytime he twists his language to drop in references to William Gibson or Jaws. If you are a paid-up subscriber to all of Kermode's views then working your way through this polemic from start to end is a thoroughly enjoyable experience... but that is
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Sep 22, 2011
Marc
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Mr Kermode ranting at this spittle spraying best. Strong and critical opinions on the state of modern cinema but driven by a love of the medium. I got through it in a few days and thoroughly enjoyed it. If you rail against the digital multiplex you will be punching the air at his words, if, like me you see both good and bad in them you may find the one sided nature of arguments occasionally frustrating (e.g.. yes digital projection has reduced the role of the projectionist but it has also introd
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Nov 23, 2011
John
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Really enjoyable if you're a fan. Not that I'm complaining but it's very ranty. Starts off with a very frustrating experience in a modern multiplex and the having to deal with a useless lethargic teenager. Something we can all relate to but also struck me as a rant anyone could have written. Similarly, even you listen to the show, you probably don't want to hear the Sex in the City rant, and the 3D rant AGAIN! Almost felt like his publisher suggested he take every rant from the show in the last
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Sep 30, 2011
Sarah
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If you listen to Radio 5 every Friday afternoon from 2-4pm, and enjoy what you hear, then you will love this book. I don't claim to be any kind of film expert, I'm more of a casual cinema go-er, but if you fall in to either catergory then this book is a must read. This book documents the failure that is 3D and the summer blockbusters we are forced to enjoy, despite the ever declining quality, and relives the glory days of film when film was actually projected from physical film as opposed to mod
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Jan 28, 2012
Xanthi
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I listened to this one on audiobook, which was narrated by the author himself, which was great because he read the book with real passion.. He goes into impassioned rants about several movie related topics but keeps his sense of humour. Its all here in this book - ragesd against foreign films being remade into english spoken ones, the current re-craze of 3D, poor screening techniques used at multiplex cinemas, the horrors of 'blockbusters', etc. Seems this movie critic has had a long career thou
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Feb 19, 2012
Bookhuw
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I dare say that in the majority of cases, readers of this book will be preached to whilst firmly sat in the choir stalls. But reaffirmation is quite a nice sensation, so that's by no means a bad thing. There's a ropey chapter on a visit to a multiplex, which wouldn't be out of place on Grumpy Old Men, and a lengthy chapter on 3D which furnishes us with lots of facts, figures and historical context to tell us that 3D is largely rubbish, which most of us already know. Anyone with a passing and abo
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Sep 13, 2011
MacDara
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If you skip the first chapter - a clearly embellished (and largely annoying) screed in which Kermode plays the put-upon everyman impotent against the system - this is a pretty entertaining, chatty broadside against a Hollywood machine that seems determined to compromise not just quality moviemaking, but quality movie exhibition, in the quest for profit. Kermode's a little self-contradictory in places (one moment he can't stand digital cinema, the next he accepts its advantages) but there's no do
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Sep 14, 2011
Tienyin
rated it:
Not as good as his last book. This one is heavier on the preachiness and skimps on the anecdotes (my favorite parts of 'It's only a movie'). Arguably, this is a more important book about more important things, but A) Anyone who listens to the Friday film reviews already knows a lot of this stuff, and B) I like Kermode for entertainment and he's just not as entertaining. It's still a good read though, and you'll learn enough to play film snob at your next gathering of friends.
Oct 13, 2011
Jim
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A classic Kermodian rantathon in written form. The Good Doctor rails against 3D, the death of the projectionist's craft, fast food in cinemas, queueing for tickets, Michael Bay, the Hollywood blockbuster, Sex in the City 2, etc. etc. etc. Along the way, Kermode leavens the jeremiads with anecdotes of adolescent filmgoing exploits, the technicalities of screen ratios, fatal fires in the early picture-houses, and a bicycle-powered film festival. Yes, really.
Highly entertaining and inform More...
Highly entertaining and inform More...
Sep 09, 2011
Sophie
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A great starting point for anyone unfamiliar yet interested in learning more about the film industry. For someone who has studied (or indeed, worked) within the industry Mark Kermode's book is a little on the basic side and offers only a starting overview (albeit an interesting one) concerning what is wrong with cinema today.
Nov 21, 2011
Camille
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I am biased because I simply adore the Good Doctor, and was thrilled to get over 300 pages of his unadultered fist-waving, jowly frowning, head-banging critique of the direction modern moviemaking is going. A lot of his opinions (down with 3-D, hatred of Michael Bay, projectionists get no respect) will come as nothing new to regular Wittertainment listeners and people who keep a sharp eye on the Uncut blog, but oh there is so much more, most notably a lot of really incredible information about t
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Oct 10, 2011
Nicola
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After what was quite a promising start with a hilarious trip to the cinema to see Zac Efron's Charlie St Cloud, this book went downhill for me. It turned into what we have already heard Mark Kermode rant about on his radio show.
If you listen to his BBC film reviews, you will have already heard his rants against The Sex and the City 2, Michael Bay, Danny Dyer and 3D films. For me, this book lacked new material. What new material there was though was great.
Overall, it was More...
If you listen to his BBC film reviews, you will have already heard his rants against The Sex and the City 2, Michael Bay, Danny Dyer and 3D films. For me, this book lacked new material. What new material there was though was great.
Overall, it was More...
Feb 05, 2012
Markus
rated it:
Worth of admission...reading if only for Chapter 3 'The Inevitable Decline of 3-D', which says everything that's needs to be said why current 3-D hype is just stupid money-making scheme, nothing more, and i can hope will die away soon as possible. Book itself is 313 pages long (funny) rant what's wrong with modern movies. If you find Kermode annoying on radio/tv you probably won't like this so much. But for me who likes Mike Kermode's reviews (and thinks that all great movies were made back in 8
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Jan 13, 2012
ian
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An entertaining look into the crimes of modern films and multiplexes with some great anecdotes to illustrate his point of view, the book successfully captures and expands upon most of the topics he has ranted about on BBC Radio 5 Live for the past few years, of which revisiting and expanding on his opinions on Sex and the City 2 was great fun to read.
Oct 19, 2011
Peter
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The first chapter was a bit grumpy old men. But after that I thought Mark had a lot of interesting stuff to say on the fad of 3D and blockbusters.
Oct 26, 2011
Valda
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Despite really loving Mark Kermode and his famous rants, I was pretty disappointed in the audiobook. Read by Mark himself, it is his take on Cinema today. Ranging from 3D to trying to book tickets over the phone, the lack of projectionists, ignorant staff and ignorant cinema goers.
Inthis book he has a tendency to go off on a tangent, and more or less start a history lesson. This is not what I was interested in hearing, and I tended to drift off and stop listening or, fast forward a b More...
Inthis book he has a tendency to go off on a tangent, and more or less start a history lesson. This is not what I was interested in hearing, and I tended to drift off and stop listening or, fast forward a b More...
Sep 16, 2011
Stephen
rated it:
Basically his opinions from the radio show without Simon interrupting. Entertaining nonetheless.
