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Chapter 5 - Good Film Critics Entertain

Chapter 1 - MK’s ire-inducing experience in a multiplex to watch ‘Charlie St. Cloud’ with his daughter
Chapter 2 - the low risk of mindless big-budget Blockbusters
Chapter 3 - the rise of 3D

Such an intriguing and enjoyable read as a film-buff, I’m not always agreeing with mark kermode but I am enjoying his insight .

Too many blockbuster movies nowadays seem to be made by people who hate cinema, who have seen too few movies and who have nothing but contempt for the audiences who pay their grotesquely over-inflated salaries.

Reading this book, I can't help but hear it in the tone of an extended Kermodian rant, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that a lot of the content is quite familiar to me.

Mark utilises his wit to deliver a fun mixture of life experiences, film anecdotes, and his personal opinions. So far, a great read from the good Doctor.

So far as polemical and indeed enjoyable as I'd hoped

A re-thread of the BBC5 material and lacks the autobiographical thread of the previous novel. That said still a fascinating read for all cine-philes.

It would be more convincing if a) it had something a bit more nuanced or intelligent to say (it's merely erudite); b) the bloke could write for toffee. Comes off like a loud ranty blog. God knows how this bloke gets to be on telly.

Japanese horror: 'A Tale of Poenies and Lanterns'; Kwaidan; Kenji Mizoguchi's 'Ugetsu monogatari'; 'Tokaidi Yotsuya kaidan'

'Dark Water' Nakata: Japanese original

Ringu. Japanese.

'Let the Right One In' Tomas Alfredson

'Of Gods and Men' Xavier Beauvois

The Wind That Shakes The Barley: Ken Loach/ Lynne Ramsay's Ratcatcher.

Another film to watch: United 93 by Paul Greengrass

70s sci-fi tear-jerker 'Silent Running'- Douglas Trumbull

I'm going to be making a list of films to watch as a result of reading this (and can instantly see the benefit of reading this electronically and simply highlighting the text rather than doing this. Hey ho.) Films to watch: Dead Man by Jim Jarmusch - Johnny Depp In Our Name- Brian Welsh On Tour- Mathieu Amalric Route Irish- Ken Loach - Iraq War

After the emotional trauma of reading 'The Island', it's wonderful to be laughing out loud at the words on the page.I love listening to Kermode and Mayo's Film reviews on BBC radio5, and this book is more of the same sardonic meanderings around the theme of the cinema industry.

Mark's extreme hatred of Sex and the City 2, and his decrying of it as capitalist propaganda warms my little leftie feminist heart.

Mark's hatred for 3D gives me life.

Got a hankering for a Kermodian rant. Doesn't work quite as well on the written page but the rambling rant has its moments, especially when Mark's talking about problems at the cinema. For full effect, read it in Mark's voice then imagine Simon in the corner rolling his eyes.

It's not proving as rant-filled as I'd hoped.

I really need to find time to read - not enough hours in the day!

"We were somewhere near Lookout Mountain, on the outskirts of LA, when Werner Herzog's trousers exploded." This is a good sentence to start a book with.

Loving it already

The good doctor opinionated and hilarious as always! A quick history of the art of projection, an all too familiar and frustrating trip to a multiplex and an examination of what stinks about Hollywood blockbusters. Why 3D is not the future of cinema next...can't wait!

Just read a brilliant chapter on the purpose of film critics...belly-laughed my way through it!

This book is really dragging, it got off to a good start but now it's just things that I have heard him say on his radio show. Still, I never stop reading a book half way through so I must battle on.

In the 3D chapter. Given I've never seen a 3 D film outside Disney parks I can't really be that involved in his argument