Film critic Mark Kermode is an interviewer's dream. Point the owner of an impeccably coiffured quiff in the direction of one of his pet peeves, and you are guaranteed a rant familiar to fans of the show he hosts on Radio 5, with presenter Simon Mayo.
Fortunately for us, Kermode’s new book The Good, The Bad and the Multiplex is a series of essays focusing on the ills of modern day cinema, and the 48-year-old is not shy of voicing an opinion or two.
High on his list of irritations is the sidelining of skilled projectionists, the prevalence of 3D films and the quality of modern blockbusters.
“I really do think that this book came out of people writing to the show, saying they had had enough, this was not what we want, the multiplex's did this because we allowed them to do it," said Mark. “People have got fed up of bad films badly projected in unmanned auditoriums. People want a proper cinema experience.”
Despite James Cameron's Avatar breaking box office records and leading a host of industry experts to proclaim 3D to be the future of filmmaking, Kermode has refused to buy into the hype criticising the loss of light, pointlessness of some of the 3D and 'retro-fitting' of some films originally shot in 2D to a new format.
“3D is dying on its feet," he told the Journal. "In fact, when I started writing this book one of my worries was that by the time the book arrived on the shelf it would be yesterday's news already. People have got fed up of 3D and although Inception is not going to change the world on its own, it does demonstrate that the theory expensive movies have to be rubbish is absolute bunk.”
Christopher Nolan's smash hit Inception, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is Kermode's favourite example of a big, expensive, gripping film with an intelligent script that proves to him directors of blockbusters could, and should, do better.
But despite his gripes, the man who firmly believes The Exorcist to be the greatest movies ever made is still hopeful our film-watching future may be in independent cinemas, not the multiplex.
“If you are lucky enough to live in an area with both a multiplex and an arthouse cinema, patronise the arthouse whenever you can,” he encouraged. “If the only place near you is a multiplex, demand better service. Not all of them suck. Some of the do a good job. Get used to the idea its not normal for an auditorium to have no projectionist or ushers."
The Good, The Bad and the Multiplex is out now.
