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The Good, the Bad and the Multiplex: What's Wrong with Modern Movies?
by
Mark Kermode
A renowned film critic offersa no-holds-barred account of all that is great and all that is terrible about cinema
Outspoken, opinionated, and hilariously funny, the critic who carved out a career in print, radio, and television based entirely on the belief that The Exorcist is the greatest movie ever made and that the Pirates of the Caribbean films should be buried in a ver...more
Outspoken, opinionated, and hilariously funny, the critic who carved out a career in print, radio, and television based entirely on the belief that The Exorcist is the greatest movie ever made and that the Pirates of the Caribbean films should be buried in a ver...more
Paperback, 328 pages
Published
August 31st 2011
by Random House UK
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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 wh...more
A worth of admission...reading if only for the Chapter 3 'The Inevitable Decline of 3-D', which says everything that's needs to be said why current 3-D hype is just a 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 the modern movies. If you find Kermode annoying on a radio/tv you probably won't like this so much. But for me who likes Mike Kermodes reviews (and thinks that all great movies were m...more
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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...more
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 book, he has a...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 book, he has a...more
For anyone who has ever spent more than five minutes listening to Radio 5's flagship film show (or the podcast version) knows, Dr Kermode has opinions. Lots of opinions. Most of them about film. And he's nearly always right.
In fact, I've only ever known him be seriously wrong once (a faintly positive review of Elfie Hopkins, easily the worst film of the year, if not the decade).
But it's not a desire to be right, or an academic zeal born of the fact he knows he's right (which he often is, if not...more
In fact, I've only ever known him be seriously wrong once (a faintly positive review of Elfie Hopkins, easily the worst film of the year, if not the decade).
But it's not a desire to be right, or an academic zeal born of the fact he knows he's right (which he often is, if not...more
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 a book abo...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 a book abo...more
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 can be coun...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 can be coun...more
I read this rather quickly, which of course is a testament to Mr Kermode's writing; but I am also thinking that I might be a preferrer of non-fiction to fiction (sometimes). The fiction feeds the soul, but I find it hard work. The non-fiction feeds the brain and can be good fun.
Firstly, Mr Kermode made me laugh. Which was something I'd forgotten that a good book can do. So three cheers for MK!
Secondly, he is very informative. Now I know that he expounds on topics that are dear to his heart tha...more
Firstly, Mr Kermode made me laugh. Which was something I'd forgotten that a good book can do. So three cheers for MK!
Secondly, he is very informative. Now I know that he expounds on topics that are dear to his heart tha...more
My brother, an avid film fan, recommended Kermode's 'The Good, The Bad and The Multiplex', and I have to say I am glad he did so. I rate this book as a solid 3.5/5.
Regardless of the fact that I myself am not a serious filmgoer, lack any knowledge of the history of cinema and am largely unaware of the current condition of UK film industry, I was still able to easily follow Kermode’s story and even appreciate references I’d never even heard of. Kermode’s passion for the true cinematic experience...more
Regardless of the fact that I myself am not a serious filmgoer, lack any knowledge of the history of cinema and am largely unaware of the current condition of UK film industry, I was still able to easily follow Kermode’s story and even appreciate references I’d never even heard of. Kermode’s passion for the true cinematic experience...more
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 saying it is...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 saying it is...more
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...more
If you've heard Mark Kermode on the radio with Simon Mayo then you'll know exactly what to expect from this book. Details of the cynical nature of Hollywood film making, how major financial film flops are increasingly rare and the downfall of the cinema going experience all make an appearance and are suitably backed up with a combination of fact and anecdotal evidence.
In fact, if you have heard Kermode rant before then you will probably have heard some of the arguments before. While it seems unf...more
In fact, if you have heard Kermode rant before then you will probably have heard some of the arguments before. While it seems unf...more
Nov 30, 2011
Blair
marked it as abandoned
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...more
Of course as a long time Podcast listener I have already heard all this stuff from the horse's mouth and very funny it is too when I'm jogging through the dark lanes around Oakford. The book itself is a tad disappointing, perhaps because the bequiffed one's rants are not tempered here by the interjections and good sense of Simon Mayo, whose ability to goad Mark Kermode into apoplexy through faux naivety, feigned lack of interest and refusal to take the critic as seriously as he does himself is s...more
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 same, act...more
The book offers much of the same, act...more
1 like · like · see review
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...more
I'm a big fan of Mark Kermode and feel that he talks a lot of sense about films and the surrounding industry so I was keen to read this book, but found that I didn't enjoy it as much as his more personal "It's Only A Movie" or as much as his BFI-published books on The Shawshank Redemption and The Exorcist.
Reading this was like being subjected to a 10-hour Kermodian rant - funny and acute at first,but after a little while tiring and a tad annoying. The answer may be to read this book in short bur...more
Reading this was like being subjected to a 10-hour Kermodian rant - funny and acute at first,but after a little while tiring and a tad annoying. The answer may be to read this book in short bur...more
Anyone who follows film criticism knows that Mark Kermode is perhaps the finest, most accessible movie critic Britain has to offer; he's grumpy, acerbic, florid in his language and brilliantly entertaining, as his terrific radio show with Simon Mayo frequently demonstrates. And 9/10 he's absolutely right about what he vaunts and disparages; hence why seeing such love and bile spill out in The Good, The Bad and the Multiplex is so enjoyable to digest.
The great thing about Kermode is that he doesn...more
The great thing about Kermode is that he doesn...more
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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...more
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 to starting...more
That said, there's a humorous tale of a poor visit to a multiplex that everyone can probably relate to starting...more
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...more
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...more
At some point in time, I decided I didn't like Mark Kermode. I have a memory of watching his enthusiastic introduction to The Exorcist and subsequently watching the film and just not getting it. A similar experience took place with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. His reviews can be tough and he probably disliked something I loved and so I got it into my head that he wasn't a critic I cared for.
Yet I picked up The Good, the Bad and the Multiplex, having been intrigued by the blurb when I encountered...more
Yet I picked up The Good, the Bad and the Multiplex, having been intrigued by the blurb when I encountered...more
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...more
A great book for film fans, about the state of modern filmmaking and distribution. Very funny, very well written and very persuasive, it has a wonderful description of the frustrations of watching films in a badly run multiplex, a chapter on how 3D has been trying and failing to be the future of cinema for more than a century, and a lot of very personal opinions about Mark Kermode’s favourite and least favourite films. He criticises, very knowledgably and persuasively, the system which strangles...more
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...more
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...more
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...more
As somebody who loves good films, I find myself in the strange position of not wanting to go to the cinema that often due to the small selection of mostly mediocre films on offer at my local cinemas - and that same selection being duplicated at every other cinema I can get to at the same time, giving me a very small selection and no variety. As well as the lack of choice, the experience at the cinema gets worse and worse as time goes by. It's a lot of money to spend to be disappointed and annoye...more
A brilliant, pithy, scathing account of what is wrong with soulless multiplexes and industry fads like 3-D. Kermode takes no prisoners in condemning with such wit, panache and humour, the very worst and most cringeworthy of modern cinema i.e. the output of Michael Bay. However, this book is also a passionate defence of cinema's capacity to charm and beguile by a true cineaste; and Kermode also makes important points about defending independent cinemas as essential repositories for foreign and in...more
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Of course, I waited until the end to see the music and legal cred...more
Feb 25, 2012 09:21am