Hello friends,
I’ve been off with study/work commitments for the last month or so but I’ve been reading some interesting bits and pieces and watching a lot of films in between. Here’s a short review of a book I only finished last night and published on Goodreads.
Hope you’re all well on this first day of southern hemisphere winter 😀
The Good, the Bad and the Multiplex: What’s Wrong with Modern Movies? by Mark Kermode
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I’m a fan of Kermode and Mayo’s podcast and currently doing a major in Screen Studies at university. While I’ve read a lot of academic papers about the topics covered here (including the death of celluloid and projectionists, the rise of automated multiplex cinemas and 3D, the roles and functions of film critics and how bad is Michael Bay) it was great to read something less formal and more passionate about the current state of cinema.
Yes, Mark Kermode is incredibly opinionated and renowned for his on air rants but he seems to be well aware of his own shortcomings, which I find refreshing. (This is particularly well noted in the final section, “American Without Tears” about the constant English language remakes of perfectly fine foreign language films). His style is conversational, a little rambling, includes some language he can’t use on air, and quite often laugh-out-loud funny (passing Dr Kermode’s own “6 laugh test” he imposes on screen comedies).
If you are interested in film give this a try – it’s really good entry level fodder to screen studies and one man’s journey in film criticism. I loved it but as Kermode often says, “other opinions are available”!
Debra Manskey 