Mark Kermode - Böcker

In It's Only a Movie, the incomparable Mark Kermode takes us into the weird world of a life lived in widescreen. Join him as he gets lost in Russia on the trail of a low-budget horror flick, gasp as he's shot at in Hollywood while interviewing Bavarian director Werner Herzog, cheer as he gets thrown out of the Cannes film festival for heckling in very bad French, and cringe as he's handbagged by Helen Mirren at London's glitzy BAFTA Awards. Written with sardonic wit and wry good humour, this compelling cinematic memoir is genuinely 'inspired by real events'.

If blockbusters make money no matter how bad they are, then why not make a good one for a change?How can 3-D be the future of cinema when it's been giving audiences a headache for over a hundred years? Why pay to watch films in cinemas that don't have a projectionist but do have a fast-food stand? And, in a world where Sex and the City 2 was a hit, what are film critics even for? Outspoken, opinionated and hilariously funny, The Good, The Bad and The Multiplex is a must for anyone who has ever sat in an undermanned, overpriced cinema and wondered: 'How the hell did things get to be this terrible?'

The finest film critic in Britain at the absolute top of his form' Stephen Fry'Entertainingly incendiary stuff' EmpireA hatchet job isn't just a bad review, it's a total trashing. Mark Kermode is famous for them - Pirates of the Caribbean, Sex and the City 2, the complete works of Michael Bay.Beginning with his favourite hatchet job ever, Mark tells us about the best bad reviews in history, why you have to be willing to tell a director face-to-face their movie sucks, and about the time he apologized to Steven Spielberg for badmouthing his work.But why do we love really bad reviews? Is it so much harder to be positive? And is the Internet ruining how we talk about cinema? The UK's most trusted film critic answers all these questions and more in this hilarious, fascinating and argumentative new book.'A wry, robust and developed defence of accountable critical voices' Total Film'Very accessible, entertaining and relevant . . . warmly recommended' Den of Geek

'Brims with enthusiasm and joyful insight' – Richard Ayoade'Witty and wise . . . an entertaining and assorted history' – EmpireHow can a film score make you cheer, shiver, cry or punch the air?How do directors communicate their musical vision to composers?And when does a soundtrack take on a life of its own?Award-winning film critic Mark Kermode and radio producer Jenny Nelson embark on a full-throttle trip down the glorious rabbit hole of film composition to answer these questions and more.Celebrating the emotional connection that audiences form with film music, exploring the evolution of film scoring from silent films to the present day, and examining how what we hear has an impact on what we see, Mark talks to some of his favourite composers and delves into the movie music he loves.Including interviews with extraordinary talents from Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood to Oscar-winning composers Rachel Portman and Howard Shore, and the stories behind iconic soundtracks such as Jocelyn Pook’s Eyes Wide Shut, Michael Kamen’s Brazil and Vangelis’s Blade Runner, Mark Kermode’s Surround Sound is a thrilling take on how great scores are brought to life on the silver screen.------------Jenny Nelson is an award-winning audio producer and writer. She produced Mark Kermode’s film music show at Scala Radio from 2019-24, and in her previous role as Executive Producer at Classic FM she wrote a book about creative collaborations between film directors and composers. Jenny has hosted panels about screen music at London's Southbank Centre and Abbey Road, and is a former trustee at the Cambridge Film Festival. Mark Kermode's Surround Sound is her second book.

‘Brims with enthusiasm and joyful insight’ - Richard Ayoade‘Witty and wise . . . an entertaining and assorted history’ - EmpireHow can a film score make you cheer, shiver, cry or punch the air? How do directors communicate their musical vision to composers? And when does a soundtrack take on a life of its own?Award-winning film critic Mark Kermode and radio producer Jenny Nelson embark on a full-throttle trip down the glorious rabbit hole of film composition to answer these questions and more.Celebrating the emotional connection that audiences form with film music, exploring the evolution of film scoring from silent films to the present day, and examining how what we hear has an impact on what we see, Mark talks to some of his favourite composers and delves into the movie music he loves.Including interviews with extraordinary talents from Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood to Oscar-winning composers Rachel Portman and Howard Shore, and the stories behind iconic soundtracks such as Jocelyn Pook’s Eyes Wide Shut, Michael Kamen’s Brazil, and Vangelis’s Blade Runner, Mark Kermode’s Surround Sound is a thrilling take on how great scores are brought to life on the silver screen.

'Wonderful - such a terrific read. Brilliantly captures the passion, commitment, searing self-knowledge and dizzy happiness that comes with loving music. An enchanting book' STEPHEN FRY***Following a formative encounter with the British pop movie Slade in Flame in 1975, Mark Kermode decided that musical superstardom was totally attainable. And so, armed with a homemade electric guitar and very little talent, he embarked on an alternative career - a chaotic journey which would take him from the halls and youth clubs of North London to the stages of Glastonbury, the London Palladium and The Royal Albert Hall. Hilarious and blissfully nostalgic, this is a riotous account of a bedroom dreamer's attempts to conquer the world armed with nothing more than a chancer's enthusiasm and a simple philosophy: how hard can it be? *** 'At the heart of this entertaining memoir is a little boy in his back garden in Finchley, banging out a rhythm on saucepans with a couple of wooden spoons' Daily Mail'A rocking whirlwind of a tale' DANNY BAKER'Wonderful . . . will increase your zest for life' RICHARD AYOADE'Entertaining . . . what comes through every anecdote is the author's genuine enthusiasm for music' Spectator

Inspired by an alleged real case of demonic possession in 1949, The Exorcist became an international phenomenon on its release in 1973. A blockbusting adaptation of a best-selling novel, it was praised as ‘deeply spiritual’ by some sections of the Catholic Church while being picketed by the Festival of Light and branded ‘Satanic’ by the evangelist Billy Graham. Banned on video in the UK for nearly fifteen years, the film still retains an extraordinary power to shock and startle. Mark Kermode’s compelling study of this horror classic was originally published in 1997, and then extensively updated and expanded in 2003 to incorporate the discovery of new material. This revised edition documents the deletion and reinstatement of key scenes that have now been integrated into the film to create The Exorcist: The Version You’ve Never Seen. Candid interviews with director William Friedkin and writer/producer William Peter Blatty reveal the behind the-scenes battles which took place during the production. In addition, exclusive stills reveal the truth about the legendary ‘subliminal images’ allegedly lurking within the celluloid.

How did a low-key prison drama which was considered a box-office flop on its original release become one of the most popular movies of all time?Mark Kermode traces the history of this unexpected audience favourite, from its source in Stephen King's novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, through the icy corridors of Ohio's Mansfield Reformatory (whose imposing gothic architecture dominates the film), to the television and video screens on which The Shawshank Redemption became a phenomenon. Kermode's account includes insights from writer/director Frank Darabont and leading players Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. He also explores the near-religious fervour that the film continues to inspire its huge number of devoted fans.This new edition, published to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Shawshank's release, includes a new foreword by Mark Kermode re-assessing the film's impact and legacy.