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Mark Kermode

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Mark Kermode
Mark Kermode at the British Podcast Awards 2018 (May 2018)
Kermode in May 2018
Born
Mark James Patrick Fairey

(1963-07-02) 2 July 1963 (age 61)
Chipping Barnet, England
EducationHaberdashers' Aske's Boys' School
Alma materUniversity of Manchester
Occupation(s)Film critic, presenter, writer, musician
Employer(s)BBC
Scala Radio
The Observer
TelevisionThe Film Review
The Culture Show
Spouse
​
(m. 1991)​
[1]
Children2
Websitewww.markkermode.co.uk

Mark James Patrick Kermode (/ˈkɜːrˌmoʊd/, KUR-moh-d;[2] né Fairey;[3][4] born 2 July 1963)[5][6] is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter and podcaster. He is the chief film critic for The Observer, contributes to the magazine Sight & Sound, presents a weekly Scala Radio film music show and the BBC Four documentary series Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema, and is a co-presenter of the film-review podcast Kermode & Mayo's Take alongside long-time collaborator Simon Mayo.

Kermode previously co-presented the BBC Radio 5 Live show Kermode and Mayo's Film Review, and previously co-presented the BBC Two arts programme The Culture Show. He is a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and a founding member of the skiffle band the Dodge Brothers, for which he plays double bass.

Early life

Kermode was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire.[6] He was educated at The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, a private boys' school in Elstree, Hertfordshire, the same year as actor Jason Isaacs[7] and former Brexit Party Member of the European Parliament, Lance Forman.

He was raised as a Methodist, and later became a member of the Church of England.[8] His parents divorced when he was in his early 20s and he subsequently changed his surname to his mother's maiden name by deed poll.[9] He earned his PhD in English at the University of Manchester in 1991, writing a thesis on horror fiction.[6]

Film criticism

Kermode with Simon Mayo at the BFI Southbank.

Kermode began his film career as a print journalist, writing for Manchester's City Life, and then Time Out and NME in London. He has written for The Independent, Vox, Empire, Flicks, Fangoria and Neon.[10]

Kermode began working as a film reviewer for BBC Radio 1 in 1993, on a regular Thursday night slot called Cult Film Corner on Mark Radcliffe's Graveyard Shift session.[11] He later moved to Simon Mayo's BBC Radio 1 morning show. He hosted a movie review show with Mary Anne Hobbs on Radio 1 on Tuesday nights called Cling Film.[12] Between February 1992 and October 1993, he was the resident film reviewer on BBC Radio 5's Morning Edition with Danny Baker.

From 2001 until 2022, Kermode reviewed and debated new film releases with Mayo on the BBC Radio 5 Live show Kermode and Mayo's Film Review.[13][14] The programme won Gold in the Speech Award category at the 2009 Sony Radio Academy Awards on 11 May 2009.[15] On 11 March 2022, it was announced by Simon Mayo, at the start of the Kermode and Mayo Film Review, that the last Kermode and Mayo's Film Review will be broadcast on 1 April 2022.

Kermode and Mayo have announced their new non-BBC podcast "Kermode & Mayo's Take" is launching in May 2022 and they now have an official website, https://www.kermodeandmayo.com/

He has worked on film-related documentaries including The Fear of God; 25 Years of The Exorcist, Hell on Earth: The Desecration and Resurrection of Ken Russell's The Devils, Alien: Evolution,[16] On the Edge of Blade Runner,[17] and The Cult of The Wicker Man.[18]

Until September 2005, Kermode reviewed films each week for the New Statesman.[19] Since 2009 Kermode has written "Mark Kermode's DVD round-up" for The Observer, a weekly review of the latest releases.[20] He sometimes writes for the British Film Institute's Sight and Sound magazine.[21] Kermode is a film critic and presenter for Film4 and Channel 4, presenting the weekly Extreme Cinema strand. He writes and presents documentaries for Channel 4,[10] and appears on The Film Review for BBC News at Five.[22] For BBC Two's The Culture Show, Kermode hosted an annual "Kermode Awards" episode which presented statuettes to actors and directors not nominated for Academy Awards that year.[23]

In 2002, Kermode was critical of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), the censor for film in the UK, for its cuts to the 1972 film The Last House on the Left.[24] In 2008, the BBFC allowed the film to be re-released uncut.[25] He has stated that the BBFC do a good job in an impossible situation and expressed his approval of their decisions.[citation needed]

In a 2012 Sight & Sound poll of cinema's greatest films, Kermode indicated his ten favourites, a list later published in order of preference in his book Hatchet Job, as The Exorcist, A Matter of Life and Death, The Devils, It's a Wonderful Life, Don't Look Now, Pan's Labyrinth, Mary Poppins, Brazil, Eyes Without a Face and The Seventh Seal.[26]

In September 2013, Kermode became the chief film critic for The Observer.[27]

In 2018, he began to present his own documentary series Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema on BBC Four. A second series followed, as well as Disaster Movie, Christmas, and Oscar Winners specials.

In 2019 Kermode presented a movie soundtrack themed show on classical radio station Scala Radio.[28]

Kermode produces an annual "best-of-the-year" movie list, thereby providing an overview of his critical preferences. His top choices were:

Other writing

In February 2010, Random House released his autobiography, It's Only a Movie, which he describes as being "inspired by real events".[54] Its publication was accompanied by a UK tour.[55] In September 2011 he released a follow-up book entitled The Good, the Bad and the Multiplex, in which he puts forth his opinion on the good and bad of modern films, and vehemently criticizes the modern multiplex experience and the 3D film craze that had grown in the years immediately preceding the book's publication.[56] In 2013 Picador published "Hatchet Job: Love Movies, Hate Critics" in which he examines the need for professional "traditional" film critics in a culture of ever increasing online bloggers and amateur critics.[57]

In 2017, he collaborated with his idol William Friedkin on the feature documentary The Devil and Father Amorth, as a writer. The film had its first showing at the Venice Film Festival on 31 August 2017.[58]

Other work

Kermode was a regular presenter on BBC Two's The Culture Show and appeared regularly on Newsnight Review. It was during a 2006 interview with Kermode for The Culture Show in Los Angeles that Werner Herzog was shot with an air rifle. Herzog appeared unflustered, later stating "It was not a significant bullet. I am not afraid".[59][60]

Kermode co-hosted an early 1990s afternoon magazine show on BBC Radio 5 called A Game of Two Halves alongside former Blue Peter presenter Caron Keating.[61]

Kermode appeared in a cameo role as himself in the revival of the BBC's Absolutely Fabulous on 1 January 2012.[62]

In April 2008, Kermode started a twice-weekly video blog hosted on the BBC website, in which he discussed films and recounts anecdotes. He retired the podcast for its 10th anniversary at the close of 2018, with special episodes on his most and least favourite movies of the previous decade.[63]

Kermode has recorded DVD audio commentaries for Tommy, The Devils, The Ninth Configuration, The Wicker Man[64] and (with Peter O'Toole) Becket.[65] He appears in the DVD extras of Lost in La Mancha, interviewing Terry Gilliam and Pan's Labyrinth where he interviews Guillermo del Toro about the film, which he has called a masterpiece. Kermode has written books, published by the BFI in its Modern Classics series, on The Exorcist[66] and The Shawshank Redemption[67][68] and his documentary for Channel 4, Shawshank: The Redeeming Feature, is on the film's 10th anniversary special edition DVD.[69]

Kermode's family connections with the Isle of Man have led to him playing a role in Manx culture and the arts. This has seen him host various talks on the island including; An Evening with Mark Kermode at the Ballakermeen High School.[70] He is involved with the annual Isle of Man Film Festival.[71]

Kermode became patron of the Sir John Hurt Film Trust in November 2019.[72] He is a visiting fellow at the University of Southampton.[73]

Music

Kermode performing with The Dodge Brothers in 2010

Kermode played double bass for a skiffle/rockabilly band called The Railtown Bottlers in the early 1990s. The Railtown Bottlers were the house band on the BBC show Danny Baker After All for a series, starting in 1993,[74][75] where he performed with Madness lead singer, Suggs.[citation needed] In 2001 he formed The Dodge Brothers, playing double bass in the skiffle quartet.[75]

Personal life

Kermode is married to Linda Ruth Williams, a professor who lectures on film at the University of Exeter. From October to November 2004, they jointly curated a History of the Horror Film season and exhibition at the National Film Theatre in London.[76] Kermode and Williams have two children.[9]

Kermode has been described as "a feminist, a near vegetarian (he eats fish), a churchgoer and a straight-arrow spouse who just happens to enjoy seeing people's heads explode across a cinema screen".[77]

In the mid-1980s, Kermode was an "affiliate" of the Revolutionary Communist Group (RCG) and was involved in the Viraj Mendis Defence Campaign, against the deportation of one of the group's members to Sri Lanka.[78] This developed into a high-profile national campaign involving people from left-wing groups such as the RCG, local residents of Manchester, and extending to church leaders and Labour Party Members of Parliament.[79] Kermode describes himself in this period as "a red-flag waving bolshie bore with a subscription to Fight Racism Fight Imperialism and no sense of humour."[77]

Awards and honours

Year Ceremony Award Result
2010 Sony Radio Academy Awards Best Specialist Contributor of the Year Gold [80]
2009 Sony Radio Academy Awards Speech Award Gold [81]

Kermode is a patron of the charitable trust of the Phoenix Cinema in North London,[82] which was his favourite cinema during his childhood in East Finchley.[83] The tenth anniversary episode of Kermode and Mayo's Film Review was broadcast from the venue as part of its relaunch celebrations in 2010.[84]

In 2013, Kermode was appointed an Island of Culture Patron by the Isle of Man Arts Council.[70]

In 2016, Kermode was made an honorary Doctor of Letters at the University of Winchester.[85]

In 2018, Kermode was appointed Honorary Professor in the Film Studies Department at the University of Exeter.[86]

References

  1. ^ "26 years ago today, and still seems like yesterday. @lindaruth1 x". Twitter. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  2. ^ "The Film Review". BBC iPlayer. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  3. ^ Norman, Matthew (24 January 2005). "Matthew Norman's Media Diary". The Independent. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  4. ^ Norman, Matthew (7 February 2005). "Matthew Norman's Media Diary". The Independent. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2008.
  5. ^ "Birthdays". The Guardian. 2 July 2009. p. 35.
  6. ^ a b c "Film critic honoured by University of Manchester". University of Manchester. 14 December 2009. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
  7. ^ Lester, Paul (1 February 2008). "JC Interview: Jason Isaacs". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2008. Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School ... [produced] quite a vintage crop in [Isaacs'] time: fellow pupils included Sacha Baron Cohen, David Baddiel and Matt Lucas. 'I've seen Baddiel a few times', Isaacs says, and he sees the others occasionally at awards ceremonies. ... [N]ot all the Habs stars of the time were Jewish, though, and Isaacs has a lot of time for another alumnus, the BBC's film critic, Mark Kermode: 'He is always incredibly lovely and says hello on his Radio 5 podcasts, which I've listened to in Auschwitz and many other strange places. He's said I was too cool [at school], but he was at the epicentre of the in-crowd.'
  8. ^ Dalton, Stephen (22 January 2010). "Mark Kermode: the new Jonathan Ross?". The Times. London. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  9. ^ a b Lawson, Mark (9 April 2009). "Drawn to the devil". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  10. ^ a b Mark Kermode, English Department teaching staff, University of Southampton, accessed 14 January 2008
  11. ^ "Fancy a Brew? (Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley website)". Retrieved 23 April 2008.
  12. ^ "Mary Anne Hobbs". BBC. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  13. ^ "BBC - Podcasts - Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo's Film Review". BBC Radio 5 Live. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
  14. ^ "BAFTA member Mark Kermode". BBC News. 10 January 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  15. ^ Speech Award 2009 citations Archived 15 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine Sony Radio Academy official site
  16. ^ Kermode, Mark (31 October 2010). "Mark Kermode's DVD round-up". The Observer. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  17. ^ Kermode, Mark (5 April 2015). "Blade Runner: The Final Cut review – a timeless sci-fi classic". The Observer. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  18. ^ "Biography". Macmillan. 4 December 2009. Archived from the original on 23 May 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  19. ^ Mark Kermode, New Statesman, accessed 14 January 2008
  20. ^ "Mark Kermode's DVD round-up". The Observer. London: Guardian.co.uk. 13 July 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  21. ^ "Mark Kermode". British Film Institute. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  22. ^ "The Film Review". BBC Online. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  23. ^ "BBC Two - The Culture Show, Forget the Oscars, Here Are the Kermodes: A Culture Show Special". BBC.
  24. ^ Kermode, Mark (21 June 2002). "Mark Kermode on censorship: What are they scared of?". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 20 February 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
  25. ^ "The Last House On The Left". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  26. ^ "Sight and Sound". BFI. 3 August 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  27. ^ "Mark Kermode is new Observer film critic". BBC News. 18 August 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  28. ^ "Simon Mayo joins new classical station". Bbc.co.uk. 21 January 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  29. ^ a b c d e f Kermode, Mark (2011). The Good, the Bad and the Multiplex.
  30. ^ "Kermode Uncut: My Cronenberg Top Five - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021.
  31. ^ "Mark Kermode reviews Festen (1998)". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021.
  32. ^ "Mark Kermode reviews Audition". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021.
  33. ^ "#79: Steven Soderbergh Special - Mark and Jack Howard choose their favourite Soderbergh movies" – via play.acast.com.
  34. ^ "Mark Kermode reviews Ghost World (2001)". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021.
  35. ^ "Kermode Uncut: Punch-Drunk Love - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021.
  36. ^ "Metacritic: 2006 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. 13 December 2007. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  37. ^ "Review: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford". The Guardian. 30 March 2008.
  38. ^ "BBC - Mark Kermode's film blog: Annual Report: The Best of 2008, a Fine Vintage". BBC. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  39. ^ "Kermode's Top Ten Movies Of 2009 - Part Two - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021.
  40. ^ "BBC - Mark Kermode's film blog: Eleven from Eleven". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  41. ^ "BBC Radio 5 live - Kermode and Mayo's Film Review, Best of 2012". BBC. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  42. ^ "12 Years a Slave – review". The Guardian. 12 January 2014.
  43. ^ "My Top Ten Films of 2014 - Part 2". BBC. 30 December 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  44. ^ "Kermode Uncut: My Top Ten Films Of 2015 Part Two - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021.
  45. ^ "Kermode Uncut: My Top Ten Films of 2016 - Part Two - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021.
  46. ^ "Mark Kermode's best films of 2017". The Guardian. 10 December 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  47. ^ "Mark Kermode's best films of 2018". The Guardian. 30 December 2018.
  48. ^ "Mark Kermode's best films of 2019". The Guardian. 29 December 2019.
  49. ^ "Film: Mark Kermode's 10 best of 2020". The Guardian. 26 December 2020.
  50. ^ "Film: Mark Kermode's best films of 2021". The Guardian. 26 December 2021.
  51. ^ "Mark Kermode reviews Ken Loach's Land and Freedom". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021.
  52. ^ "Mark Kermode | BFI". www2.bfi.org.uk.
  53. ^ "#63: The Top Ten Films of the Decade" – via play.acast.com.
  54. ^ Gallagher, Victoria (10 February 2009). "Kermode to Random House". The Bookseller. Archived from the original on 26 October 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
  55. ^ "It's Only a Movie". Random House. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  56. ^ Kermode, Mark (28 August 2011). "How to make an intelligent blockbuster and not alienate people". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  57. ^ "Picador - Mark Kermode". Picador. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  58. ^ "William Friedkin on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  59. ^ Herzog shot during interview, Hollywood.com, 3 February 2006, accessed 29 January 2013
  60. ^ Herzog on his latest film Grizzly Man, BBC News, accessed 14 January 2008
  61. ^ Kermode, Mark (2010). It's Only a Movie: Reel Life Adventures of a Film Obsessive. London: Random House. p. [page needed]. ISBN 978-1-84794-602-7.
  62. ^ "Absolutely Fabulous | Series 6 - 2. Job". Radio Times. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  63. ^ "Kermode Video Blog from the BBC's Blog Network website". BBC. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  64. ^ "The Wicker Man review". Dvdoutsider.com. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
  65. ^ "Becket review". Reel.com. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
  66. ^ Kermode, Mark (2003). The Exorcist (2nd ed.). London: BFI Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85170-967-3.
  67. ^ Kermode, Mark (2003). The Shawshank Redemption. London: BFI Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85170-968-0.
  68. ^ Kermode, Mark (22 August 2004). "Hope springs eternal". The Observer. London. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
  69. ^ Papamichael, Stella (8 September 2004). "The Shawshank Redemption 10th Anniversary SE DVD (1994)". BBC Movies. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
  70. ^ a b "Mark Kermode opening event celebrates island culture 2014". Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  71. ^ "IOMFF2015". Isle of Man Film Festival. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015.
  72. ^ "Mark Kermode to Be Patron of Norfolk's New Sir John Hurt Film Trust". Eastern Daily Press. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  73. ^ Kermode on BBC Newsnight Review, accessed 14 January 2008
  74. ^ "Critically speaking". Southampton Echo. 13 April 2002. Retrieved 28 December 2009.[permanent dead link‍]
  75. ^ a b Kermode, Mark (1 June 2008). "My 20-year love affair with the joy of skiffle". The Observer. London. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
  76. ^ "Professor Linda Ruth Williams". University of Southampton. Archived from the original on 3 April 2008. Retrieved 8 March 2008.
  77. ^ a b Randall, Lee (7 February 2010). "Interview: Mark Kermode, film critic". The Scotsman Magazine. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  78. ^ Kermode & Mayo. "Mark Kermode - The Baader Meinhof Complex". YouTube. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  79. ^ Viraj Mendis Defence Campaign. Viraj Mendis Will Stay!. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2014 – via YouTube.
  80. ^ "Radio Specialist of the Year Award". Radioawards.org. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  81. ^ "The Speech Radio Award". Archived from the original on 15 May 2009. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  82. ^ "Mark Kermode". Phoenix Cinema. 15 February 2010. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  83. ^ Kermode, Mark (2011). It's Only a Movie: Reel Life Adventures of a Film Obsessive. Random House. p. 26. ISBN 9780099543480.
  84. ^ "Press Office - Kermode and Mayo Film Review live at Phoenix Cinema". BBC. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  85. ^ Mark Kermode receives honorary degree from the University of Winchester. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2019 – via YouTube.
  86. ^ "Influential film critic Mark Kermode appointed Honorary Professor". University of Exeter. 26 October 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
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