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The Good, The Bad and The Multiplex
 
 
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The Good, The Bad and The Multiplex [Kindle Edition]

Mark Kermode (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews) |
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Review

'Very angry and very funny' --Empire

'Expertly written, funny and fascinating' --Shortlist

`As impressive as it is entertaining ... Takes a wrecking ball to the studio chicanery' --Word

`Frankly alarming' --Metro

`[A] laugh-out-loud account that will tickle the funny bone of any film fanatic' --Star

`Entertaining and insightful' --Shetland News Shetland News

'Kermode has nutsy-boltsy knowledge, fierce and idiosyncratic enthusiasms ... and some very interesting things to say'
--Guardian Guardian

`A spectacularly well-researched and vehement argument' --Sunday Times

Review

""Breezy, entertaining . . . he's spot on in pretty much all his critical opinions." --"Independent "on" It's Only a Movie
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 44 people found the following review helpful
By P. G. Harris TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
... is one of the few regular features from Mark Kermode's weekly film review with Simon Mayo on Five Live which doesn't appear in this amusingly polemical book. Very simply it is a rant from start to finish. If you want an extremely funny, highly opinionated broadside fired at everything the author sees as wrong with modern cinema, you'll love this.

What you get is Kermode targetting the modern multiplex experience (as exemplified in a comedically kafka-esque account of attempting to watch a Zac Efron movie in a multi-screen cinema), an attack on brainless blockbusters when it is possible to make intelligent mass appeal films (here the good doctor, repeats his broadcast praise for Christopher Nolan's Inception) a rubbishing of 3-D movies, an analysis of the role of the film critic, a consideration of what the British film industry actually is, and a cry for films other than those in (American) English to gain an audience.

To my mind this is a superior work to Kermode's previous book, being much more of a coherent whole, rather than a magpie collection of anecdotes; and while the trick of virtually repeating one of his reviews (in this case the execrable Sex and the City 2, rather than Mama Mia) is reproduced, it is much more in context this time

The book is, as I say, a polemic, and Dr K is a self-confessed ranting ex-trot and as such it is unlikely that you will agree with everything he has to say. For me Kermode is too much of a luddite, frequently blaming the medium and the technology (particularly digital cinema) rather than its use. However the fact that you will at times disagree with the writing shouldn't matter one jot. If you want a well written, heartfelt, laugh out loud funny call to be given something more in the cinema than purely commercially driven, narratively bereft, pap while being fed overpriced rubbish, then this is the book for you.

Thoroughly recommended, with one slight warning - it is a very tiring read.
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
The Good the Bad and the Multiplex is Film Critic Mark Kermode's plea to the nation to "wise up" about the state of cinema. For those of us who follow his highly entertaining and (usually) 100% accurate criticisms of Movies on BBC radio then much of the book is as we would expect. His long standing arguements about the dumbing down of cinema, the latest Hollywood craze for "3D" films (Which I can't abide give me 2D anyday,)The Hollywood obsession with remaking fantastic foreign movies and completely ruining them, the death of narrative cinema etc. are well known. Here he expands on his arguements and makes a coherent and passionate plea to us,the audience,to expect and demand better.

His chapter on Hollywood blockbusters and how mind-numbingly dull they have become recently (hello Michael Bay)and how they could be brilliant given to an intelligent director who gives the audience credit fot having some intelligence (hello Chris Nolan) is just simply exactly how I have felt for some years now.

I don't expect Hollywood executives, 14-18 year old schoolboys (at whom most movies seemed aimed at these days) or Danny Dyer are going to read this book and change their ways,but they should,and if they did we might have a new "golden age" of cinema where we don't need gimmicks, re-makes and endless sequels to attract people to the "pictures".(N.B. number crunchers, the movies would make money see Inception for details.)

I highly recommend this book to any serious movie fan who likes a damned good laugh(the section about his 11 year old self going to see Blazing Saddles is hilarious) while having something serious to say about the medium we all love but is under-fire some people who make movies and don't seem to care.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
Mark Kermode for me was always the BBC movie critic that kept popping up and I always wondered why he never got the big Film XX gig where the likes Jonathan Ross and Barry Norman commanded for so many years. Now I realize, he's just too intellectual for that sort of format.

I recently discovered his podcast with Simon Mayo and for the last 6months, we've been enjoying his rants and insight. He's spot with a lot of the view points that I hold, including liking HudsonHawk and dissing all the Pirate movies. Though, I will concede the first Pirates movie was actually not bad.

This book I read from start to finish in one sitting. The opening pain felt about multiplexes I too feel, having 3 young boys, an outing there requires a visit to my financial adviser to ensure we can indeed afford it. The 4000% markup on popcorn that Mark highlights is just ridiculous and I for one, stay clear of the multiplexes as much as possible.

His discussion on 3D is not just a rant, but full of technical analysis on why its such a poor technology; for example 30% light loss. I wasn't aware 3D technology was around in the late 1800's and has been peddled every so often when the movie studios need a new reason to get us back into the cinema.

I felt his writing style was perfect and completely in tone to his mannerisms on the radio. This was the real Mark Kermode, and I burst out laughing (much to the amusement of my fellow flight passengers) at the Avatar : Dances with Smurfs remark.

The chapter on why blockbusters rarely never lose money was again insightful and educational.

My only complaint was that the book was not long enough. It needed a couple of more chapters. He glossed over internet piracy but I think he could have given us a much greater input as to whether or not the movie industry needs the cinema/multiplex or not. A chapter dedicated to that would have been fascinating. He does discuss at length the problems associated when Hollywood remakes foreign films in english, but I feel he could have dedicated a chapter to Hollywood remakes period. Are we running out of good stores so that we have to keep peddling the same ones again and again.

Overall, a great read and whether or not you are a fan of his style of wit and insight, he's thoroughly well researched and presents a strong argument.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Absolutely Brilliant
Whether or not you're a fan of Mark Kermode and his show on FiveLive, I can highly recommend this book. Read more
Published 25 days ago by Ghost_Fan_Joe
Lightweight, but still very funny and worthwhile reading!
Ok, so if you have ever worked in the cinema industry, or know anything about the industry, then many of Mark's rants will segue into your own. Read more
Published 1 month ago by PoochJD
Tilting at Windmills,
A huge entertaining, splenetic rant from a contradictory and often risible critic. It perfectly captures what it's like to be a fan of anything. There's no balance. Read more
Published 2 months ago by nelson viper
Great addition to the Kermode mythology
As a long time listener to the Wittertainment podcast, I have always held Mark Kermode's opinions in high esteem; However the problem is that as a long time listener I feel like... Read more
Published 2 months ago by WellMax81
a good read
very quickly delivered, good book to read if you are into cinema kind of stuff, nice to recommend or offer to someone. Cat
Published 3 months ago by Cat
A fistfull of tedium
Mark Kermode has worthwhile points to make about the dire state of multiplex cinema. The problem is he makes them over and over again. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. Jd Moore
Witty, passionette, well argued.
This book is a great read for anyone who hates everything that Michael Bay stands for in movies. Much of it is very funny and Kermode puts foward his arguments really well and with... Read more
Published 4 months ago by M. Bazell
Ego to the fore, and dodgy anecdotes
I regularly listen to Kermode on 5 live, as I am a regular cinema-goer and am interested in his reviews ( also, he is about the only reviewer around who is easy to "access"... Read more
Published 4 months ago by M. Garvey
Rant-o-rama... but still fun
Mark Kermode is an intelligent,passionate and idiosynchratic film critic. His radio five show with simon Mayo is both entertaining and highly respected, rightly so. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Karen Russell
Good value
Was a present for my brother and he loved it. It was an interesting and entertaining read and would definitely recommend it.
Published 4 months ago by Nik Nok
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film criticism, if it is done properly, should involve opinion, description, contextualisation, analysis and (if youre lucky) entertainment. &quote;
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As a film critic, an important part of my job is explaining to people why they havent actually enjoyed a movie even if they think they have. &quote;
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We turned our living rooms into cinemas and our cinemas into living rooms, &quote;
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