Mark Kermode

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Mark Kermode

Born Mark Fairey
July 2, 1963 (1963-07-02) (age 44)
Nationality British
Education PhD, University of Manchester
Occupation Film critic, presenter
Employers BBC, The Observer, Sight and Sound

Contents

Mark Kermode (born Mark Fairey,[1][2] 2 July 1963) is an English film critic who regularly writes for Sight and Sound magazine and The Observer newspaper. He reviews films on Simon Mayo's BBC Radio Five Live show on Friday afternoons, and is the resident movie critic for The Culture Show. He is also a critic on other branches of the arts for the BBC Two programme Newsnight Review, and appears regularly on BBC News.

In The Screen Directory's chart of best ever film critics, Kermode appears at number 10.[3]

[edit] Career

[edit] Print media

Kermode began his film career as a print journalist, writing for Manchester's City Life, and then Time Out and the NME in London. He has also written for The Independent, The Guardian, Vox, Empire, Flicks, Fangoria and Neon.[4] Until September 2005, Kermode reviewed films each week for the New Statesman.[5] He regularly writes for the British Film Institute's Sight and Sound magazine and The Observer newspaper.

[edit] Radio

Kermode began working at BBC Radio 1 on a slot called Cult Film Corner most Thursday nights on Mark Radcliffe's Graveyard Shift session.[6] He then moved to Simon Mayo's BBC Radio 1 morning show. Between February 1992 and October 1993, he was the resident film reviewer on BBC Radio 5's Morning Edition with Danny Baker.

He currently reviews and debates new film releases each Friday afternoon with Simon Mayo on Mayo's BBC Radio Five Live show, which is also available as a podcast and a vodcast.

[edit] Television

Kermode is currently a regular presenter on BBC Two's The Culture Show. On 19 May 2007 he was featured on the show playing with his skiffle band, The Dodge Brothers, in which he plays the double bass. He also appears regularly on Newsnight Review and Film 24 on BBC News.

Kermode is also a resident film critic and presenter for Film Four and Channel 4 television, presenting the weekly Extreme Cinema strand. He also writes, researches and presents documentaries for Channel 4.[4]

It was during a 2006 interview with Kermode for The Culture Show in Los Angeles that Werner Herzog was shot by a crazed fan wielding an air rifle. Herzog appeared unflustered, later stating "It was not a significant bullet. I am not afraid".[7][8].

As of April 2008, Kermode has started a video blog hosted on the BBC website, where he posts clips of himself talking about movies and telling anecdotes. In May 2008 he was sending back clips from France where he attended Cannes Film Festival. [9]

[edit] Other work

Kermode has recorded DVD audio commentaries for Tommy, The Ninth Configuration, The Wicker Man[10] and (with Peter O'Toole) Becket.[11]

[edit] Film reviews

[edit] Horror specialisation

Kermode is a visiting fellow at the University of Southampton, having gained a PhD at the University of Manchester in modern English and American horror fiction.[12] This, together with his former contributions to Fangoria, makes him something of a horror film expert, in particular on his favourite film The Exorcist.[13] He is considered one of the world's leading authorities on that film, having written two editions of BFI Modern Classics: The Exorcist and contributed to many other publications and documentaries about it.

Other cult films in his 2002 Top Ten list include Brazil, The Devils and Don't Look Now.[14]

[edit] Opinions

Kermode's appreciation of genre cinema is not always in line with popular taste: he has a personal dislike for all three Pirates of the Caribbean films[15] and the Star Wars films. [16] Kermode's emphasis on genre cinema has also meant he often expresses a liking for films panned by other critics, such as Basic Instinct 2[17] or Lassie[18] because they follow genre expectations. Kermode is critical of documentary makers Nick Broomfield and Michael Moore.[19][20] More recently he has been noted for his impressions of the major cast of Iron Man [21]

Kermode rarely watches television, calling it "trivial" and stating that "I have been doing my best to avoid [TV] for the last 20 years."[22] On being challenged by The Observer to watch TV, he admitted "if there's one thing I've learned from agreeing to take up the Observer's TV challenge this summer, it's that an awareness of what's going on in television is probably helpful to an understanding of movies. Worse, it may even be essential".[22]

[edit] Personal life

Kermode attended Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, an independent boys' school in Elstree, a few years ahead of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and in the same year as actor Jason Isaacs.[23] He obtained a PhD in English at Manchester University, writing a thesis on Horror Fiction.

Kermode has stated that "I was a revolutionary communist affiliate in the 80s", but that "none of us had any respect for Stalin".[24] He occasionally refers to this in his Radio 5 reviews. He now describes his politics as liberal.

He lives in Lymington and is married to Linda Ruth Williams, a professor who lectures on film at the University of Southampton and has written the book The Erotic Thriller in Contemporary Cinema.[25] In October-November 2004 they curated a History of the Horror Film season and exhibition at the National Film Theatre in London together.[25]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Norman, Matthew (24 January 2005). Matthew Norman's Media Diary. The Independent. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
  2. ^ Norman, Matthew (7 February 2005). Matthew Norman's Media Diary. The Independent. Retrieved on [[2008-01-14]].
  3. ^ The Screen Directory. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  4. ^ a b Mark Kermode, English Department teaching staff, University of Southampton, accessed 14 January 2008
  5. ^ Mark Kermode, New Statesman, accessed 14 January 2008
  6. ^ Fancy a Brew? (Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley website). Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
  7. ^ Herzog shot during interview, Hollywood.com, 3 February 2006, accessed 14 January 2008
  8. ^ Herzog on his latest film Grizzly Man, BBC News, accessed 14 January 2008
  9. ^ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/markkermode/ Kermode Video Blog
  10. ^ The Wicker Man review. dvdoutsider.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
  11. ^ Becket review. reel.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
  12. ^ Mark Kermode, BBC Newsnight Review, accessed 14 January 2008
  13. ^ The Exorcist - hype or horror?. BBC Entertainment. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
  14. ^ How the directors and critics voted. Sight & Sound. Retrieved on 2007-02-04.
  15. ^ Mark Kermode, Pirates of the Caribbean review. Guardian Film. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
  16. ^ Mark Kermode, Sunshine review. Guardian Film. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
  17. ^ "Basic Instinct 2 - comedy sensation of the year". The Guardian Online. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
  18. ^ Mark Kermode, Lassie review. BBC Online. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
  19. ^ Mark Kermode. "Truman Capote, you've got a lot to answer for", The Observer, 2006-01-15. Retrieved on 2008-04-30. 
  20. ^ Mark Kermode. "'Moore is shameless in feeding his own ego'", The Observer, 2004-06-27. Retrieved on 2008-04-30. }}
  21. ^ http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gIlMu2nFO7w
  22. ^ a b Mark Kermode. "Should a film purist find time for TV?", The Guardian arts blog, 2007-09-23. Retrieved on 2008-03-01. 
  23. ^ Jason Isaacs biography. Jason Isaacs Online. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
  24. ^ "Koba the Dread", BBC Newnight Review, 2002-09-10. Retrieved on 2008-04-04. 
  25. ^ a b Professor Linda Ruth Williams. University of Southampton. Retrieved on 2008-03-08.

[edit] External links

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