Mark Kermode - Reviews Where He Was Right OR Mental

[Dr Rock]

Kermode has always been fairly open about not being a massive comedy fan, hasn't he?

It was his comedy reviews I concentrated on after realising this was a blind spot (and because this whole thing started because he gave the Brent movie a good review), and I can't say I've heard him exactly admit he's not much of a comedy fan. he should say that clearly every time he reviews a comedy, then hand the job over to someone else. It's tricky to find that many examples of him missing a genuinely great comedy film, because I think genuinely great comedy movies have become very rare. I am sure many people who follow his reviews are aware of the sort of movies he tends to like, and as I said, most of the time I find myself agreeing with his overall review, for what that's worth, but like with any long-term reviewer you can find examples of where they seem to have taken leave of their senses (or didn't see the movie and made up the review based on the trailer). The thread title isn't 'Mark Kermode Is A Fuckwit.' Occasionally he comes out with some right bollocks though.

[KennyMonster]

NEWSFLASH, BOZOS!! You can't trust any critics. There is no true critic out there who is going to agree with you on everything.

This thread is basically just examples of people going "hang on, Kermode disagreed with / ignore / didn't mention this thing I find important, surely any good critic would have agreed with / noticed / mentioned this thing I find important?" And it's like, well, that's what opinions are, innit. Different, and that.

Well that escalated quickly.

I will never again question if confirmation bias could lead to blinkered vision.

Also film critics are dea to me because of you called me a Bozo.

Please tell me what to see this weekend, unles you are one of THEM[nb]A Film critic![/nb]

[checkoutgirl]

This thread is basically just examples of people going "hang on, Kermode disagreed with / ignore / didn't mention this thing I find important, surely any good critic would have agreed with / noticed / mentioned this thing I find important?" And it's like, well, that's what opinions are, innit. Different, and that.

Nah, Twilight mate.

[Dr Rock]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqg_aGnVGEc

Laughed all the way through The Boat That Rocked. Mostly at the joke there was a character called 'Twatt.' That really made him chuckle every time. Realised he probably also liked it because he really likes Richard Curtis. But says he is quite aware of all its faults. His keen PC eye seems to have missed the fault that the movie says rape is a bit of a laugh though.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu_SCwh8ers

He doesn't notice how rapey Bond is in Skyfall either (despite mentioning Straw Dogs in his review), as he's too busy spotting an overarching 'Mommie Dearest,' 'twisted, oedipal', theme running through it, with Bond, the baddie & M. She is like their mummy, you see! Genius stuff.

The ending reminds him of Straw Dogs. It doesn't remind him of Home Alone like it did everyone else.

[KennyMonster]

[nb]New Labour anti Corbyn c*nt Jason Isaacs can fuck off though.[/nb]

Back from their summer hols and guess who today's guest is  :-(

[phes]

For some reason I decided to give this a go again after a few years. You'll be over the moon to hear that Kermode sat and watched all the Twilight movies back to back in his time off, which he mentioned directly before giving Life on the Road a glowing review, claiming it 'fell straight back into all the things that were good about it' (The Office) and was 'well put together'. Kind of the opposite of how I feel.

He's dead to me!

[checkoutgirl]

How would he know about the Office? I thought he famously never watched telly even including The Simpsons. There's another thing that rankles, how can any critic worth a frenchman's fuck completely avoid watching the Simpsons?

[Puce Moment]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqg_aGnVGEc

Laughed all the way through The Boat That Rocked. Mostly at the joke there was a character called 'Twatt.' That really made him chuckle every time. Realised he probably also liked it because he really likes Richard Curtis. But says he is quite aware of all its faults. His keen PC eye seems to have missed the fault that the movie says rape is a bit of a laugh though.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu_SCwh8ers

He doesn't notice how rapey Bond is in Skyfall either (despite mentioning Straw Dogs in his review), as he's too busy spotting an overarching 'Mommie Dearest,' 'twisted, oedipal', theme running through it, with Bond, the baddie & M. She is like their mummy, you see! Genius stuff.

The ending reminds him of Straw Dogs. It doesn't remind him of Home Alone like it did everyone else.

That is a perfect post about the problems of Kermode. If Skyfall is the one where he walks into the shower of the woman who is being held like a sex slave and fucks her, then I'm amazed he didn't raise it or notice it. Maybe his many years of watching exploitation films of the 70s and video nasties of the 80s has skewed his notion of what coercion and rape actually amounts to.

[Dr Rock]

How would he know about the Office? I thought he famously never watched telly even including The Simpsons.

He mentions Blackadder Goes Forth's running 'Darling' joke in that Boat that Rocked review.

[checkoutgirl]

He mentions Blackadder Goes Forth's running 'Darling' joke in that Boat that Rocked review.

I found a Guardian article from 2007 where he's given a load of TV to watch, the first of which is The Office.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/sep/23/television.features

I thought I'd set the bar high and start off with The Office, widely regarded as the most influential TV comedy of the last 10 years. It is, indeed, admirable stuff, clearly indebted to the work of Shearer's Tap-mate Christopher Guest, but demonstrably groundbreaking in its brand of painful docudrama pastiche. Yet as I embark upon 'The Complete First Series', I realise with a sense of mounting dread that I've heard so many people doing terrible impressions of these scenes that I can't shake off the sense of deja vu. It's like watching Monty Python after hearing your schoolmates reciting the parrot sketch in the playground. I realise, too late, that I've missed the bus. I'm depressed already. This is going to be tough.

[Pepotamo1985]

This thread is basically just examples of people going "hang on, Kermode disagreed with / ignore / didn't mention this thing I find important, surely any good critic would have agreed with / noticed / mentioned this thing I find important?" And it's like, well, that's what opinions are, innit. Different, and that.

Is that really your reading of the comments in this thread?

My beef with Kermode, as expressed in the Palindromes post, isn't that he dislikes a movie I like, but his weirdly childish, autistic criticisms of the movie based on who he thinks will like it and why - surely a bizarre and unprofessional way to critique a movie. It's the kind of criticism people use when they don't like something, but can't think of any substantive reasons why. It's juvenile. If a poster on here slagged off a movie on those bases, you'd think they were a twat. Probably.

Seriously, listen to the review. He offers no substantive criticisms of the film's content, doesn't even discuss what the film's about, and instead rants about imaginary people. It's weird and unprofessional. I welcome opposing takes on everything I like and don't like, but Kermode's take can't be engaged with. There's nothing there.

EDIT: I'd also like to add that the other example I posted, the Superbad review, doesn't irk me because he had a conflicting interpretation - it's that his analysis is so way off it seems likely he didn't even watch the movie.

[Dr Rock]

I found a Guardian article from 2007 where he's given a load of TV to watch, the first of which is The Office.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/sep/23/television.features

Maybe if he watched a bit more telly he would know there is nothing 'demonstrably groundbreaking' in The Office because Victoria Wood had done it decades before.

[Puce Moment]

NEWSFLASH, BOZOS!! You can't trust any critics. There is no true critic out there who is going to agree with you on everything.

This thread is basically just examples of people going "hang on, Kermode disagreed with / ignore / didn't mention this thing I find important, surely any good critic would have agreed with / noticed / mentioned this thing I find important?" And it's like, well, that's what opinions are, innit. Different, and that.

I'm just pleased that we managed to make it to p.4 before someone made a comment like this. I'm proud of you guys!

[BritishHobo]

Anyone watched the new video with Mark talking to Greg Proops? It's like he's been cloned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6YRHluM9TA

[popcorn]

And it's like, well, that's what opinions are, innit. Different, and that.

Is that really your reading of the comments in this thread?

I'm just pleased that we managed to make it to p.4 before someone made a comment like this. I'm proud of you guys!

Um. You know, on reflection, that was a really boring thing to say, and if someone else had said it ("ooh opinions are different!") while I was having a crack at someone else's poorly thought-out opinions I'd have walloped them. Apologies.

The thing I was jumping on - badly - is this idea of "trusting" critics. That don't make no sense. But yeah, obviously... opinions are different... and some opinions are shitter than others.

[Avril Lavigne]

The thing I was jumping on - badly - is this idea of "trusting" critics. That don't make no sense.

Obviously no critic is going to share your exact tastes, but it's nice to find one who really seems to be on your wavelength so you can use them as a fairly reliable source for recommendations.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

some opinions are shitter than others.

[Glebe]

Another thing I notice about Kermode is his kind of 'forlorn croakiness'.

That's another thing I've noticed.

[mobias]

Kermode really had it for the Pirates of the Caribbean films didn't he? They are pretty shit to be fair but I don't think they're as bad as he makes out. They were still enjoyable enough and had a good cast. He seemed oddly hysterical in how bad he thought they were. Depp's performance as Jack Sparrow was infinitely less annoying than the usual 'wacky' performances he puts in for Tim Burton.   

I do usually agree with his reviews but he really slated Cloud Atlas, which I thought was an incredible film. 

[popcorn]

I do usually agree with his reviews but he really slated Cloud Atlas, which I thought was an incredible film.

IIRC he has since come round to it, and has mentioned appreciating it much more on subsequent viewings.

Which is unfortunate AS IT'S RUBBISH MATE

[Dr Rock]

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/28/julieta-review-pedro-almodovar-five-star-kermode

His review of Almadovar's latest, Julieta, which I saw yesterday, is spot on.

edit - here too, from his Him & Mayo show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d40vsr6iSr8

[BritishHobo]

TURNCOAT

[Glebe]

Saw the Mark Kermode Appreciation Society on Facebook and said, "what the hey?" and signed up.