Mark Kermode: 50 films every film fan should watch

The UK’s best-known film critic, Mark Kermode offers up 50 personal viewing recommendations, from great classics to overlooked gems.

28 April 2017

The Arbor (2010)

Director: Clio Barnard

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Artist Clio Barnard’s moving film about the late Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar (Rita, Sue and Bob Too) is no ordinary documentary. Mixing interviews with Dunbar’s family and friends (seen lip-synched by actors), scenes from her plays performed on the estate where she lived, and TV footage of her in the 1980s, the film makes intriguing, inventive play with fact, fiction and reminiscence.

Mark Kermode says: “Somehow the disparate elements form a strikingly cohesive whole, conjuring a portrait of the artist and her offspring that is both emotionally engaging, stylistically radical and utterly unforgettable.”

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Bad Timing (1980)

Director: Nicolas Roeg

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Seen in flashback through the prism of a woman’s attempted suicide, this fragmented portrait of a love affair expands into a labyrinthine enquiry into memory and guilt. One of director Nic Roeg’s finest films, starring Art Garfunkel, Theresa Russell and Harvey Keitel.

Mark Kermode says: “Roeg himself reported that a friend refused to talk to him for three years after seeing the film. Today, Bad Timing still divides audiences: monstrosity or masterpiece? Well, watch it and decide for yourself.”

La Belle et la Bête (1946)

Director: Jean Cocteau

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With its enchanted castle, home to fantastic living statuary, and director Jean Cocteau’s lover Jean Marais starring as a Beast who is at once brutal and gentle, rapacious and vulnerable, shamed and repelled by his own bloodlust, this remains a high point of the cinematic gothic imagination.

Mark Kermode says: “Personally I think Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro, the maestro of the modern screen fairytale, said it best when he declared La Belle et la Bête simply to be the most perfect cinematic fable ever told.”

Black Narcissus (1947)

Directors: Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell

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A group of nuns open a makeshift convent in the foothills of the Himalayas but soon find their vows challenged in this new, exotic environment. Deborah Kerr’s Sister Clodagh has a spiritual crisis, while a fellow nun, brilliantly played by Kathleen Byron, becomes erotically obsessed with a British agent, leading to an unforgettable ending.

Mark Kermode says: “Black Narcissus is a vividly sensual work, which looks unlike any other British film of the period. Oscar wins for Jack Cardiff’s cinematography and Alfred Junge for production design confirm it as a technical triumph, but it is still so much more than that. It is a work of extraordinary power and passion from Powell and Pressburger.”

Blithe Spirit (1945)

Director: David Lean

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When an eccentric spiritualist summons a man’s first wife, the ghost refuses to leave, much to his and his second wife’s frustration in this wonderful comedy based on one of Noël Coward’s most beloved plays. Rex Harrison and Constance Cummings are great as the husband and second wife, but the funniest turns come from Kay Hammond as the spoilt first wife and Margaret Rutherford as the batty medium.

Mark Kermode says: “A spicy screen comedy filmed in blushing technicolour… why Lean is still considered one of Britain’s greatest directors.”

Bullet Boy (2004)

Director: Saul Dibb

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Ashley Walters rose to fame as one of So Solid Crew but impresses here in his first lead acting role, anchoring Saul Dibb’s stark and compelling urban drama. When Ricky (Walters) is released from prison he soon finds himself drawn back into old ways, while trying protect his brother Curtis (Luke Fraser) from the advances of a local gang.

Mark Kermode says: “Both Dibb and Walters have travelled far since the days of Bullet Boy, but this urgent, low-budget British drama remains a defining moment in both of their diverse careers.”

Capricorn One (1977)

Director: Peter Hyams

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Peter Hyams’ stunning sci-fi thriller is steeped in post-Watergate paranoia. The world watches the first manned flight to Mars, unaware the mission is being faked. Forced to participate, the astronauts realise that when the hoax goes wrong, their existence threatens national security. In desperation, they escape…

Mark Kermode says: “After the Watergate scandal of the 1970s, it was easy for audiences to believe that governments were corrupt and recordings could be doctored – it is no wonder that so many people took Capricorn One at face value.”

Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974)

Director: Jacques Rivette

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Jacques Rivette’s biggest commercial hit is an exhilarating combination of the themes of theatricality, paranoia and ‘la vie parisienne’, all wrapped up in an extended and entrancing examination of the nature of filmmaking and film watching. Its freewheeling, playful spirit still captures the imagination of new audiences today.

Mark Kermode says: “A comparative commercial hit on its release, Céline and Julie Go Boating has since gone on to become a much sought after cult item and has influenced everyone from David Lynch to Susan Seidelman. It was also hailed as an influential female buddy movie by critic Jonathan Rosenbaum who wrote that many women consider it to be their favourite film about female friendship, and many men too.”

Un chien andalou (1929)

Director: Luis Buñuel

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“Seventeen minutes of pure, scandalous dream-imagery…reveals itself at each viewing to be richer and more indefinable, as the sensitivity of its shades of each mood become apparent.” (Raymond Durgnat). Buñuel and Dalí’s provocative first collaboration, a classic of surrealist cinema, is a scabrous study of desire, the subconscious and anti-clericalism.

Mark Kermode says: “Arguably the most celebrated work of surrealist cinema, a satirical gem which, when I first saw it at the Museum of the Moving Image as an unsuspecting young film fan, caused me to faint.”

The Company of Wolves (1984)

Director: Neil Jordan

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The gothic landscape of the imagination has rarely been filmed with such invention as it was in Neil Jordan’s second feature. Within lavish, expressive sets, the teenage heroine begins to discover her sexuality and its dark, unsettling power. Wolves become human, humans become wolves. The film’s elaborate structure offers tales within tales, but what really grips is the utterly lucid fantasy.

Mark Kermode says: “Pitched somewhere between arthouse tract and exploitation horror movie, The Company of Wolves drew mixed responses from some baffled critics, but proved an enduring audience favourite. Today, it has become a timeless classic, which is studied by film scholars and adored by film fans alike. If you like your fairy tales to have teeth, this is the film for you.”

Countess Dracula (1971)

Director: Peter Sasdy

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Public decency is breached with laudable regularity in Hammer’s 1971 tale, based on the legend of Elizabeth Báthory. Ingrid Pitt plays the widowed countess rejuvenated by virgins’ blood, and Nigel Green her accomplice and lover, Captain Dobi. Indignity is a theme and, for Pitt, a reality: her role was dubbed, and she never spoke to director Peter Sasdy again.

Mark Kermode says: “A bona fide screen icon, at the very height of her dark powers.”

The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)

Director: Val Guest

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When the USA and Russia simultaneously test atomic bombs, the Earth is knocked off its axis and set on a collision course with the sun. Peter Stenning (Edward Judd), a washed-up Daily Express reporter, breaks the story and sets about investigating the government cover-up. With strong performances (Leo McKern is a standout), a vivid depiction of the world of newspaper journalism and extensive location shooting on the streets of London, Val Guest delivers one of the best British sci-fi films.

Mark Kermode says: “Today, the film may seem almost quaint, but it’s as captivating as ever.” 

Dead Ringers (1988)

Director: David Cronenberg

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David Cronenberg’s multi-award-winning psychological thriller explores the bizarre lives of identical twins, Elliot and Beverly, both played by Jeremy Irons. World-renowned gynaecologists, the twins share everything from their clinic to their women, until they meet Claire (Geneviève Bujold). Beverly falls in love with her, and a schism develops between the brothers for the first time.

Mark Kermode says: “It’s not the visual effects that dazzle, the real magic is in the performances, with Jeremy Irons using the Alexander technique to give Elliot and Beverly different stances, different energy points… The result is overwhelming, at times horrifying, but mostly heartbreaking.” 

Distant Voices Still Lives (1988)

Director: Terence Davies

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Set in a world before Elvis, a Liverpool before the Beatles, Terence Davies’ debut feature is a remarkable evocation of working-class family life in the 1940s and 50s and a visionary exploration of memory. Davies’ poetic masterpiece has now acquired the status of a modern British classic.

Mark Kermode says: “Described at one point as ‘a forgotten masterpiece’, Distant Voices Still Lives has grown in stature over the years, and in 2011 it was voted the third best British film in a survey conducted by TimeOut magazine, beaten only by Nic Roeg’s Don’t Look Now and Carol Reed’s The Third Man.”

Dogtooth (2009)

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

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Yorgos Lanthimos’ frighteningly relevant but mordantly witty look at a dysfunctional Greek family offers a brilliant if deeply disturbing analysis of the power dynamics of parent-child relationships. Highly original and insightful in its narrative details, and directed with an impressively cool, almost mechanical precision, the film was greeted as a breakthrough in Greek filmmaking.

Mark Kermode says: “Balancing astute social commentary with absurd tragi-comedy, Dogtooth has been read as a dissection of Greek society, both personal and political. Lanthimos retains a Lynchian quality of refusing to discuss his work, saying that, ‘If I wanted to discuss social problems I would have become a writer, but I am a filmmaker it is all I can do’.”

The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982)

Director: Peter Greenaway

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Peter Greenaway became a director of international status with this witty, stylised and erotic country house murder mystery. In an apparently idyllic 17th-century Wiltshire, an ambitious draughtsman is commissioned by the wife of an aristocrat to produce 12 drawings of her husband’s estate and negotiates terms to include sexual favours from his employer. Extravagant costumes, a twisting plot, elegantly barbed dialogue and a mesmerising score by Michael Nyman make the film a treat for ear, eye and mind.

Mark Kermode says: “It is weirdly wonderful, from Nyman’s Purcell-influenced score to Sue Blane’s eye-catching costumes. Most importantly the film shows a unique talent getting to grips with narrative cinema that is as engaging and alluring as it is baffling and perplexing.”

The Elephant Man (1980)

Director: David Lynch

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John Hurt, unrecognisable beneath the makeup, delivers a tender performance as the severely deformed Joseph Merrick, rescued by Anthony Hopkins’ kindly surgeon from the hell of a circus sideshow to a more genteel world of scientific enquiry. David Lynch’s sensitive study of disability and difference was shot in lustrous black and white by veteran cinematographer and ex-Hammer director Freddie Francis.

Mark Kermode says: “There was nothing John Hurt couldn’t do, but it is a role in which his famous face was all but hidden and his mellifluous voice almost unrecognisable that ironically garnered some of his greatest reviews.”

Face (1997)

Director: Antonia Bird

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Robert Carlyle and Ray Winstone star in a stylish and exciting crime thriller from acclaimed director Antonia Bird (Safe, Priest). A close-knit gang of professional thieves plan an intricate heist but begin to turn on each other when things go wrong.

Mark Kermode says: “A cracking but often overlooked crime thriller from 1997, featuring a sharp script, a stellar cast, and a dynamite soundtrack. Directed by Antonia Bird, Face one of the UK ’s most versatile and sorely missed filmmakers, Face is an ace heist-gone-wrong thriller that was correctly hailed by London’s Time Out magazine as a ‘muscular, raw and aggressive slice of vividly authentic populist cinema.’”

Fear Eats the Soul (1974)

Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder

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Not a shot is wasted in this bold reworking of Douglas Sirk’s All That Heaven Allows (1955), which unfolds with gripping simplicity: one evening in Munich, an elderly cleaning lady (Brigitte Mira) escapes from the rain into a bar frequented by immigrants. To her surprise, the jukebox plays an old German tango and a handsome young Moroccan (El Hedi ben Salem) asks her to dance…

Mark Kermode says: “Sit back and experience a film that seems even more relevant today than it did in 1974.”

Fitzcarraldo (1981)

Director: Werner Herzog

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One of Werner Herzog’s most acclaimed and audacious films, Fitzcarraldo tells the incredible story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald (played by Herzog regular Klaus Kinski), an opera-loving fortune hunter who dreams of bringing opera (specifically Caruso) to a remote trading post on the heart of the Peruvian jungle.

Mark Kermode says: “‘I live my life or end my life with this project’, declared Herzog, and he wasn’t kidding. No wonder Fitzcarraldo remains such an overwhelming experience.”

Godzilla (1954)

Director: Ishiro Honda

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The original Godzilla is arguably the definitive monster movie – both a bold metaphor for the atomic age and a thrilling powerhouse of pioneering special effects. It stars Takashi Shimura as the revered palaeontologist who uncovers the horrible secret at the heart of the monster, a long dormant Jurassic beast awoken by the atom bomb. Don’t miss the film that instilled Japan – and the world – with an unquenchable appetite for destruction.

Mark Kermode says: “While the scenes of destruction viscerally recall the destruction of America’s nuclear strikes, the dialogue offers a surprisingly thoughtful meditation on the guilty responsibilities of scientific advancements… reveal in the mastery of this superb creature feature.”

Hadewijch (2009)

Director: Bruno Dumont

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Céline, a young novice nun, is rejected by her convent as is attracted by the conviction and charisma of a Muslim religious teacher and activist in this provocative drama from Bruno Dumont (Camille Claudel 1915). Recalling the work of Robert Bresson, Hadewijch is an uncompromising film with an ending that will provide much debate among viewers. Exploring the themes of city and country, faith and fanaticism, it’s a unique and powerful study.

Mark Kermode says: “Make no mistake, Hadewijch is not for everyone, but if you are looking for something different, it’s challenging, arresting and thought-provoking fare.”

Hands of the Ripper (1971)

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In Edwardian London, a series of gruesome murders match those of the Whitechapel Ripper, revealing an unlikely suspect. Hammer’s second stab at the Ripper (after 1949’s Room To Let) is an atmospheric curiosity anchored by its star. Angharad Rees gives depth and colour to the role of Anna, the young woman exploited by her twisted guardian (Dora Bryan), a medium haunted by visions of infamous Victorian killer. Peter Sasdy made this a particularly bloody affair, with results that still shock over four decades later.

Mark Kermode: “For all the film’s shortcomings, Sadsy brings a dash of Argento-esque style to the increasing splatter, ensuring that the hands of the Ripper continue to grip audiences even today.”

Highway Patrolman (1991)

Director: Alex Cox

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Highway Patrolman charts the harrowing transition from idealism to grim realism in an intense and brilliantly played character study that offers a fascinating and gritty insight into corruption and embittered disillusionment. Alex Cox’s Spanish-language film remains a high-point in an undervalued career, and it’s ahead of its time too, anticipating the wave of Mexican crime and corruption films that would follow in the 21st century.

Mark Kermode says: “A Mexican drama from British director Alex Cox, who made his name with the cult classic Repo Man, and cemented his reputation as the new rose of post-punk cinema with Sid & Nancy. It was described by the Los Angeles Times in 1991 as ‘Cox’s finest film to date.’”

Immoral Tales (1974)

Director: Walerian Borowczyk

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Walerian Borowczyk presents a history of sexual taboos, comprising four stories around unmentionable practices such as incest, bloodlust and bestiality that recur throughout history. Featuring historic characters such as Lucrezia Borgia and Erzsébet Báthory, Immoral Tales was considered an affront to decency upon its release, scandalising the London Film Festival in 1973 and becoming mired in censorship controversies for much of the decade.

Mark Kermode says: “Today it remains divisive, with scholars referring to it as Borowczyk’s least substantial work while others succumb to its bawdy pleasures. Art or exploitation? Watch it and decide for yourself.”

Interior. Leather Bar. (2013)

Directors: James Franco, Travis Mathews

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James Franco and Travis Mathews recreate explicit footage cut, and rumoured to be lost, from one of the most notorious features ever made – Cruising (1980), starring Al Pacino as a cop who goes undercover to hunt out a serial killer preying on New York’s homosexual S&M community. Inspired by the mythology of this controversial film, the directors explore the limits of sexual and creative freedom.

Mark Kermode says: “Interior. Leather Bar. is not for everyone, but for anyone fascinated by Friedkin’s cause celebre it is by turns infuriating, indulgent and intriguing.” 

The Ipcress File (1965)

Director: Sidney J. Furie

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Living a low-key life in a London bedsit, and happier whipping up an omelette than whipping out his pistol, Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) was altogether a new breed of secret agent – a million miles away from the elitist ethos of James Bond. In this splendidly understated 1960s spy thriller, with a terrific John Barry soundtrack, Palmer can’t trust anybody, as he tracks down a traitor within his own department.

Mark Kermode says: “By 1999, it was ranking at number 59 in the BFI ’s Top 100 list of Best British Films of the century, ahead of classics like The Dam Busters, Passport to Pimlico, Oliver, Hope and Glory, and The Wicker Man. Watch the film and see why.” 

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

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When an old woman (Dame May Whitty) goes missing on a train from Switzerland, a British girl (Margaret Lockwood) is convinced there has been foul play, but all the other passengers deny having ever seen her in Alfred Hitchcock’s hugely enjoyable comedy thriller. Director Francois Truffaut, a huge admirer of Hitchcock, named The Lady Vanishes as his favourite film by the master of suspense.

Mark Kermode says: “So successful was The Lady Vanishes that it persuaded the producer David O. Selznick to sign up the director for a seven-year contract, sending Hitchcock to Hollywood where he would make some of the most celebrated screen thrillers of all time.” 

The Lodger (1927)

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Alfred Hitchcock’s first thriller, about a man accused of being a serial killer, was a huge critical success upon its release in 1927, with trade journal Bioscope stating: “It is possible that this film is the finest British production ever made.” It boasts many staples of Hitchcock’s later work, including the themes of murder and suspicion, an obsession with blonde women and Hitchcock’s first ever cameo (as a newspaper editor).

Mark Kermode says: “The film offers early evidence of the director’s longstanding association between sex and murder, ecstasy and death, introducing fetishistic tropes that would become defining moves in Vertigo and Psycho.”

Maîtresse (1976)

Director: Barbet Schroeder

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A young innocent falls for a leather-clad dominatrix in Barbet Schroeder’s controversial film, at once a conventional love story and a dark study of fetishism. It stars Gerard Depardieu as Olivier, the young innocent who falls for the mysterious maitresse Ariane (Bulle Ogier). Only released at the time in a handful of club cinemas in 1981, the film was cut by almost five minutes and finally awarded an X certificate. This fully uncut version was first passed in 2003.

Mark Kermode says: “When the film first came before the BBFC in 1976 it was banned outright, with one examiner noting that, ‘this sort of depiction of sexual pathology goes way beyond what we can certificate for showing in a public cinema…’ Yet that same examining conceded that ‘the film is very well made, with good acting performances from two of France’s leading stars…’ but concluded ‘…opulent excrescence, for all its glitter, remains excrescence.’”

A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

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First mooted as a project to foster an improvement in Anglo-American relations, Powell & Pressburger’s A Matter of Life and Death emerged as a timeless romantic fantasy. David Niven plays Peter Carter, a young airman seemingly doomed before his time and trapped between life and death, between a Technicolor Earth and a monochrome heaven.

Mark Kermode says: “Breathtaking cinematography from Jack Cardiff, superb locations work at places like Saunton Sands in Devon, and an intriguing camera obscura subplot featuring the photophilic themes that would appear in Powell’s later film Peeping Tom, all combine to make this an utterly flawless classic.” 

Le Mépris (1963)

Director: Jean-Luc Godard

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Jean-Luc Godard’s sardonic look at the world of filmmaking boasts superb performances by Michel Piccoli as a compromised writer, Brigitte Bardot as his bored wife, Jack Palance as a manipulative producer and Fritz Lang as himself, about to film Homer’s Odyssey in Cinecittà and Capri. Raoul Coutard’s camerawork and Georges Delerue’s music enhance the beauty and poignancy.

Mark Kermode says: “A tale of artistic compromise and marital strife, Le Mépris is a playfully self-reflexive affair, the poster of which focused on the pillowy charms of Brigitte Bardot, but which in fact offered something altogether edgier, more angular and anarchic.”

Mother (2009)

Director: Bong Joon-ho

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A widow (Kim Hye-ja) resides with her mentally challenged son (Won Bin) in a small South Korean town, where she scrapes out a living selling medicinal herbs. Mother and son are plunged into a nightmare when the body of a murdered young girl is discovered. Circumstantial evidence indicates the son’s involvement, and he becomes the prime suspect during the sloppy police investigation. The fourth feature from cult director Bong Joon-ho (The Host, Snowpiercer) is a startlingly original account of maternal feelings in all their terrifying intensity; blackly comic and exquisitely shot.

Mark Kermode says: “Having scored Korea’s biggest box-office hit with The Host, Bong wanted to do something completely different for the follow-up. From the surreal opening – from which the fate, tragedy and madness of the subsequent narrative is subtly laid out – that difference is clear and present.”

Nosferatu (1979)

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Reconnecting German cinema with its Weimer forebears via Murnau’s iconic Nosferatu, Herzog’s vampire film references its 1922 predecessor but has a distinctive temperament. Nosferatu, played by the stunning Klaus Kinski, is modelled on the monster of the earlier film, yet his obsession with Isabelle Adjani’s character of Lucy Harker reveals a certain pathos, even as his army of rats brings plague and delirium to a prosperous small town.

Mark Kermode says: “‘It was clear that there would never be a vampire of his calibre again’, said Herzog some years later, insisting that in four centuries to come Kinski would remain the definitive embodiment of this mythical creature. Well, we may only be four decades away from Herzog’s Nosferatu, but so far Kinski still looks unsurpassable.”

Ordet (1955)

Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer

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Carl Theodor Dreyer’s beautifully photographed tale explores the religious intolerance and familial tensions within a Danish farming family. Based on a 1932 play by Danish playwright and Lutheran country priest Kaj Munk (1898-1944), Ordet is a tale of miraculous resurrection brought about by human love. Dreyer achieves its powerful effects in deceptively simple ways, and has produced, in its closing moments, one of the most extraordinary scenes in all cinema.

Mark Kermode says: “A hit with the public and the critics alike, Ordet won the Golden Lion at Venice, shared a Golden Globe for foreign language film and is one of the highlights of the Dreyer collection on BFI Player Plus.” 

Pasolini (2014)

Director: Abel Ferrara

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Written and directed by cult filmmaker Abel Ferrara (Driller Killer, Bad Lieutenant, Welcome to New York), this dark, daring drama tells the story of the fateful final days of the controversial filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. Starring Willem Dafoe (The Last Temptation of Christ) as the great auteur, Pasolini is a powerful and evocative look into the dark world of one of film’s most controversial figures, as seen through the eyes of one of modern cinema’s most surprising directors.

Mark Kermode says: “The blend of politics, religion and blow jobs is pure catnip for Ferrara, although those not versed in the controversy surrounding Sálo might want to do a little background reading to fully appreciate what is going on… This show belongs to Ferrara and Dafoe, both of who seem besotted with a bygone age, in which a filmmaker promoting his new movie could talk to the press about philosophy, poetry and politics and the whole world would listen.”

Peeping Tom (1960)

Director: Michael Powell

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Much criticised at the time of its release, Michael Powell’s psychological study of a shy camera technician, who films for his home movies the death throes of the women he kills, is now widely regarded as a dark classic. Less a straightforward serial-killer thriller than a Freudian meditation on how and why we watch movies, it is rich in its thematic resonance – and in in-jokes about the film world.

Mark Kermode says: “With its lurid Eastman coloured hues, and its daringly confrontational POV camera work, Peeping Tom remains a startling uncomfortable watch to this day. Watch, but be warned: to do so is dangerous.” 

Prick Up Your Ears (1987)

Director: Stephen Frears

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A celebration of outrageous British playwright Joe Orton’s irreverent and charismatic talent, starring Gary Oldman as Orton and Alfred Molina as his lover, Kenneth Halliwell. It is the controversial story of one of the young turks of the 1960s – from working class boy to national celebrity, from sexual innocent to grinning satyr, from penniless student to peer of the Beatles and icon of London’s swinging 60s. Orton made his success by mocking the rules of the establishment and lived his life ignoring them.

Mark Kermode says: “Having already earned plaudits for My Beautiful Laundrette, director Stephen Frears would go on to helm such hits as Dangerous Liaisons, Dirty Pretty Things, The Queen and Philomena. But this early hit remains one of his best works – rich, ribald and worthy of repeat viewing.” 

Radio On (1979)

Director: Chris Petit

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Chris Petit’s cult classic is one of the most striking feature debuts in British cinema – a haunting blend of edgy mystery story and existential road movie, crammed with eerie evocations of English landscape and weather. Stunningly photographed in monochrome by Wim Wenders’ assistant cameraman Martin Schäfer, Radio On is driven by a startling new wave soundtrack featuring David Bowie, Kraftwerk, Lene Lovich, Ian Dury, Wreckless Eric, Robert Fripp and Devo, and reveals an early screen performance by Sting.

Mark Kermode says: “Radio On is a genuine British classic, which perfectly captures the unsettling architecture both cultural and physical of country seen through the windscreen of a two-tone vintage Rover.”

Rashomon (1950)

Director: Akira Kurosawa

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Credited with bringing Japanese cinema to worldwide audiences, Akira Kurosawa’s breakthrough tells the story of a murder in the woods from four differing perspectives. With its snaking bolero-like score and poetic use of dappled forest light, Rashomon is a work of enduring ambiguity.

Mark Kermode says: “As the various stories unfold we come to question what is true and what is false, and whether darkness really does lurk at the heart of mankind, and whether honour may triumph over – or be defeated by – treachery.” 

Red Desert (1964)

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni

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Antonioni’s mid-career masterpiece – his first film in colour – tells the story of Giuliana (Monica Vitti), a young woman suffering a mental and emotional crisis and embarking tentatively on an affair. Red Desert is a stunning film from the great Italian auteur, a deserving winner of the Golden Lion at the 1965 Venice Film Festival and a high point of post-war European cinema.

Mark Kermode says: “With its evocative electronic music and its startling off-kilter vistas, there is a hint of science fiction about Red Desert, where Vitti becomes the woman who fell to earth… yes, this is a world of pollution and poison, both physical and emotional. But it is also a world of fable and fantasy, of imagination and hallucination – worldly and otherworldly. Or to put it another way, it is a film by Antonioni.”

Red Road (2006)

Director: Andrea Arnold

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Jackie (Kate Dickie) is a CCTV operator and gets a perverse satisfaction from observing the lives of others, until one day a man from her past appears on her monitors – one whom she never wanted to see again. Now she has no alternative but to confront both the man, and the demons inside herself. Andrea Arnold’s (Fish Tank, Wuthering Heights) superb debut feature was voted one of the best British films of the last 25 years in a poll conducted by The Observer’s Film Quarterly.

Mark Kermode says: “Despite diverse comparisons with the cruelty of Michael Haneke, the social realism of the Dardenne brothers and the visual poetry of Lynne Ramsay, Arnold’s style is distinctively her own and has continued to grow through her subsequent, critically acclaimed features, Fish Tank, Wuthering Heights and, most recently, American Honey.”  

The Red Shoes (1948)

Directors: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

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Described by Martin Scorsese as “the movie that plays in my heart”, and a direct influence on Kate Bush, who was attracted by its portrayal of crazed passion, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s film is a moving masterpiece. Moira Shearer stars as a ballerina torn between her love for her husband and the strenuous demands of her art. The extraordinary 15-minute performance of the Red Shoes ballet at the film’s climax is one of the most famous sequences in British cinema.

Mark Kermode says: “The Red Shoes is a dizzying blend of dazzling dance and daring darkness.” 

Rome, Open City (1945)

Director: Roberto Rossellini

living movie review mark kermode

A landmark of Italian neorealism often cited as one of the greatest films ever made, Roberto Rossellini’s portrait of life under the Nazi Occupation remains remarkable for its sheer immediacy, tension and power. Made in extraordinarily straitened circumstances immediately after the liberation of Rome, the film follows a partisan leader as he attempts to evade the Gestapo by enlisting the help of the the underground resistance.

Mark Kermode says: “Ubaldo Arata’s visceral cinematography blends the grit of reportage with the heart and soul of a drama as the people of Rome struggle with the constraints, compromises and collusion of life during wartime.” 

Symptoms (1974)

Director: José R. Larraz

living movie review mark kermode

The official British Palme d’Or entry at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival, Symptoms is a sophisticated modern gothic horror film exploring the themes of sexual repression and psychosis. José Ramón Larraz’s dark and stylish film tells of a young woman (Lorna Heilbron) who is invited by her girlfriend (Angela Pleasence) to stay at her remote English country mansion. Events take a disturbing turn when a menacing groundskeeper (Peter Vaughan) interrupts their time together, and a woman’s body is found in the mansion’s lake.

Mark Kermode says: “Symptoms opened to rave reviews but quickly became a cult oddity rarely seen in cinemas or on TV . Only when the title flagged up as one of the BFI ’s Most Wanted was the negative located by Deluxe, providing the source of a new digital transfer.” 

That Sinking Feeling (1979)

Director: Bill Forsyth

living movie review mark kermode

Before Gregory’s Girl, Bill Forsyth made this equally hilarious caper about a group of unemployed teenagers who hatch a plan to steal a job lot of stainless steel sinks. Forsyth’s authentic depiction of 1970s Glasgow youth culture makes for an unfairly neglected slice of British cinema.

Mark Kermode says: “A British comedy with more urban grit and whimsical wit than anything else that was around at the time. When it played the Edinburgh Film Festival in 1979, That Sinking Feeling became the toast of the town.”

This Filthy Earth (2001)

Director: Andrew Kötting

living movie review mark kermode

This Filthy Earth is the story of sisters Kath and Francine, whose lives are disrupted by two men – a brutal villager greedy for the girls’ land and a gentle stranger who offers the possibility of escape. This Filthy Earth is the second feature from Andrew Kötting, whose debut film, Gallivant, won him Channel 4’s best new director award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 1996.

Mark Kermode says: “Epic and untamable, Kötting’s films have rarely obtained commercial success. Despite early rave reviews, he has shown no interest in working within the mainstream, preferring instead to plough his own field. Thank God, as This Filthy Earth demonstrates that cinema needs more filmmakers cut from Kötting’s uncompromising cloth.” 

Underground (1928)

Director: Anthony Asquith

living movie review mark kermode

Underground tells the story of the lives and loves of four young working people in 1920s London. Parallels with life in the metropolis today are poignant, and it is fascinating to see the locations – the pubs, shops and underground – in which the drama unfolds. It’s assured filmmaking with the occasional impressive flourish – a trademark of Anthony Asquith’s directorial style.

Mark Kermode says: “This is a film that I want you to watch with your ears, an early 20th-century silent, with a superb 21st-century score by the incomparable Neil Brand.” 

Unrelated (2007)

Director: Joanna Hogg

living movie review mark kermode

On a Tuscan break a fortysomething woman finds herself unable to socialise with her adult peers and is instead drawn to the company of a group of partying teens, including a young Tom Hiddleston (in one of his earliest roles). But after discovering she can never really be part of either group, she undergoes a deep existential crisis. With its unusual and unapologetic focus on the lives of the middle classes, the debut film from Joanna Hogg (Archipelago, Exhibition) heralded the arrival of a major new British talent.

Mark Kermode says: “With just three films in a decade, Hogg is hardly prolific, but her style is acute, incisive, so utterly distinctive that all her features are worth the wait.”

La Vallée (Obscured by Clouds) (1972)

living movie review mark kermode

When Viviane (Bulle Ogier), a chic young diplomat’s wife, meets an intriguing adventurer (Michael Gothard) and his hippy friends in the wilds of Papua New Guinea, different worlds collide. Barbet Schroeder’s striking second feature explores the limits of experience and freedom, journeying into the Great Unknown accompanied by Pink Floyd’s especially composed soundtrack, later released as the album Obscured By Clouds. The film is an authentic tribute to the liberating spirit of adventure.

Mark Kermode says: “It has a far more cynical attitude towards its colonial adventures than some critics give it credit for. Watch the film for yourself and ask yourself, ‘Can you see the valley?’”

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Mark Kermode

Mark Kermode

Movies reviews only.

Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo: ‘I’ve never heard us described as an island of joy before!’

Ahead of their new film and TV podcast, radio’s odd couple take questions from actors, directors and Observer readers about optimism, the films they disagree on – and biscuits

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Mark Kermode (film critic) and Simon Mayo (audio host) appear simultaneously on video link in appropriately themed rooms. Mayo’s is his spare bedroom, which boasts some excellent wallpaper featuring graphic versions of 7in singles. “Every single record label and band and identifying mark has been removed,” he notes. “But if you’re a veteran like I am, you can spot a Fontana single or a CPS or Epic…” Kermode is in a teeny room in a house he moved into only yesterday. Unsurprisingly, his is not a fabulous backdrop (unpacked boxes and what looks like a bunk bed) but somehow, he’s managed to make his computer camera reveal him in moody black and white. “Oh God, how did I do that? I can’t switch it off now,” he says. “Very Bait ,” comments Mayo, dryly.

Teasing and bickering with a film (and, often, music) theme is what Kermode and Mayo do, and have done since the 1990s, when Kermode first appeared in a film review slot on Mayo’s Radio 1 morning show. When Mayo decamped, first to 5 Live and then to Radio 2, their on-air relationship continued as Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review , a two-hour 5 Live Friday afternoon radio show and podcast. Even after Mayo’s rather tetchy 2018 departure from Radio 2 (he was put into a difficult co-hosting position with Jo Whiley; he left after six months), Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review remained exactly where it was, providing informed, jolly, “what to go and see this weekend” entertainment. Or “wittertainment”, as the show’s fans have it.

And there are many, many fans. (We received hundreds of questions for this feature.) One of the BBC’s first ever podcasts, Kermode and Mayo … has long been one of its most popular. It won Listeners’ Choice at the British podcast awards in 2017 and 2018, and has avid, communicative listeners as well as an impressive interviewee list of high-profile directors and actors, many of whom have returned to the show several times. All respond to the wit, honesty and knowledge of the hosts. Mayo does the celebrity interviews (excellent: light but informed); Kermode provides the critical opinions (likewise, but more passionate: they occasionally turn into rants). No prying into famous people’s personal lives: the chat is entirely work-based, though this often morphs into running jokes, about cinema etiquette, or Jason Isaacs, or anything else film-esque they alight on for a time. The key to the show is: both men love film and they get on with each other.

Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review seemed utterly embedded, part of the BBC’s fixtures and fittings, until March this year, when the pair announced their departure. Perhaps it was always coming, given the way that Mayo had been treated. “We both had a very nice email from the director general, thanking us for our service, and how much he’d enjoyed the programme, and I’m in the process of working out what to say in reply, which is basically, ‘Thanks very much,’” Mayo says, diplomatically. So they’ve left, and have taken a few weeks off, and when they return, on Friday, it will be in podcast form, as Kermode & Mayo’s Take . This will come out twice a week, and there’ll also be a spin-off show, Take 2 , for paying subscribers (which sounds like more of the same, but with no celebs and more listener contributions).

So what can we expect from these new podcasts?

“Well, you catch us in the interregnum between the BBC and the glorious new future,” says Mayo, “and we haven’t actually done anything yet. It’s hard to say too much, other than, essentially, although there will be exciting differences, it’s Mark and me talking about films, and talking to actors and directors, and reading emails. We only have one way of operating.”

The big difference appears to be that they will be reviewing TV shows as well as films, but, insists Kermode, this isn’t a major new feature. “To be clear, I’m a film critic who’ll happen to be watching some television,” he says. “Neither of us are pretending to step on the very great shoes of the people who review TV professionally.”

“Ten years ago,” says Mayo, “there was cinema and there was television. And now, there’s so much cross-fertilisation that the TV shows will be obvious, I think. The ones that our audience would hope that we will tackle. Not, say, a new EastEnders story.” If they’d been on recently, they would have discussed The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe , or Ron Howard’s documentary about Paradise in California. They’ll definitely be all over Danny Boyle’s Sex Pistols series: “Clearly he’s a fascinating guest and the Sex Pistols are a fascinating subject,” says Mayo. “And it means I can sing Danny Boyle to the tune of Danny Boy , ” says Kermode.

It does seem that, despite the podcasts being a new venture, much will stay the same. Kermode, naturally more passionate, will still be effusing and dismissing; Mayo, more acerbic, but also more reasonable, will continue to present more mainstream opinion. Plus they’re bringing their 5 Live production team with them, and they’ll record together, in the same room, which they much prefer to Zooming, as they did during lockdown.

“It lasted for about a year,” says Kermode. “And the minute we got back in the studio together, it was so much easier. The way you talk to each other is completely different. So much of the communication is to do with me looking at him and him not looking at me…”

Of course, they have other jobs: Mayo’s radio hosting sees him on air six days a week, for Scala and Greatest Hits Radio; Kermode writes reviews for this paper and talks film for various outlets. But you get the sense that being together, discussing movies every week, is an anchor for them. Or maybe a seesaw – a toy that doesn’t work without the other being there.

“It’s true,” says Kermode. “Wherever we are, whatever we’re doing, we’ll be two old blokes in a room talking, with some films in between.”

Thandiwe Newton , a ctor

Who are your favourite three female directors, each?

Mark Kermode : Current female directors? Carol Morley, because her films are brilliantly adventurous. I’ve had so much pleasure watching her films, and marvelling at all the many things that are going on. I’ve watched Out of Blue three times back to back, and every time I watched it I saw new things in it. My favourite female director currently working is Céline Sciamma . Girlhood was so brilliant, and not only did she have those great performances and that great milieu that you believed in, but the film landed at exactly the right moment when everyone was going: “Oh, wow, it’s raising all these issues.” And I love Petite Maman , my favourite film of last year, just perfect. Then Julia Ducournau, because I thought Raw , followed by Titane was…

Simon Mayo : She has sex with a car, Mark. Come on…

MK : When I saw Raw , I remember finishing my review saying: “The world is her oyster, watch her swallow it whole.” And then Titane came along, and it was like, boom. That rush of excitement and energy, you can feel her getting her fingernails dirty. I’d also add Joanna Hogg . I love her films.

SM : She didn’t have sex in a car, she had sex with a car… I would add Kathryn Bigelow . What Mark says, plus Kathryn Bigelow.

How did you meet and what were your first impressions of each other? Hazel, Dublin

SM : I had just moved off breakfast to do mornings on Radio 1. And Matthew Bannister had taken over as controller, and I remember saying to him: “I think film reviews would be a good part of the show.” He said: “Well, Mark’s doing this for Mark and Lard. Why don’t you try him out?” So we had a rehearsal and it all went splendidly. When it comes to first impressions, I just thought it was a very good five minutes of radio.

MK : I remember going: “That’s Simon Mayo off Top of the Pops !”

Jason Isaacs, actor

Your show is an island of joy in increasingly dark times. I know that both of you are avid consumers of news and politics, so how do you manage to find ways to project optimism?

SM : I’ve never heard us described as an island of joy before! Speaking for myself, I’d say there’s an element of performance in most radio. And it is a pretty dark time, but you don’t want an entertainment show to make you feel even worse. Which is not to say that we don’t deal with some very serious topics, either ones that come out of the movies’ subject material, or the stuff people write to us about, which is births, marriages, deaths, the final words that their father said to them before he died. But I think we have an obligation to give people an entertaining couple of hours.

MK : The genius thing about the show is, I talk to Simon, and Simon talks to the audience. The joy and the optimism, that all comes from Simon. I don’t really understand how it works. I just say the first thing that comes into my head. A lot of the time they have to birdsong it.

Are you continuing the birdsong in the new show? SM : I think the editorial line will stay the same as it has always been. Cursing will get birdsong. The political bias from the Trot over the way, that will get birdsong. It is, and it will always be, a programme that you can listen to with your kids and with your grandpa.

What is your respective home-viewing setup? Ephraim Muller, via Twitter

MK : I’ve got a fairly big flat television with a soundbar with a subwoofer.

SM : More or less the same, but I haven’t got a soundbar or a subwoofer.

What about your sofas? Because that’s important.

MK : I sit on an armchair, because there is an armchair, and I don’t know how this happened, but it became Dad’s armchair. Even if I’m in on my own, and there is a lovely sofa that I could enjoy, I’m in the armchair. The dog’s allowed on the sofa, but I’m not.

SM : I’m in the armchair, but mine is a chair without arms. It has a supportive cushion.

Kenneth Branagh, actor and directo r

Which are the films on which you have passionately disagreed?

MK : I can answer this. When I left Radio 1, at my leaving do, I did a screening of Dougal and the Blue Cat , one of my favourite films of all time. Mayo came along, and you have never seen somebody hate a film so much. We’ve also disagreed about two films that he has never seen, and that he will never see, which is The Exorcist , which Simon won’t see because it’s my favourite film of all time, and he thinks it gets funnier every year that he won’t see it. And Jeremy , the film that I first fell in love with, because he once heard the theme tune and thought it was terrible, and therefore on principle won’t watch it.

SM : I’m very happy to see The Exorcist , but it seems to be more useful as a running joke… The film that absolutely fell right into this is the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, which I enjoyed and Mark hated. And for about a year, it was a running joke that we’d ask every guest: “Did you like Pirates of the Caribbean ?” Most people liked it.

MK : I’d like to point out, the people who thought they liked it, didn’t like it. They just thought they liked it until I explained to them why they didn’t. And therein is the role of a critic.

SM : No, that’s the role of a Marxist.

MK : I’m not a Marxist. I’m a bleeding heart, middle-class liberal.

What would be your Mastermind specialist subjects if you couldn’t choose film or music? Mike Searle, Surrey

MK : I want to say absolutely solidly, that I would never do Mastermind . Stuart Maconie did Mastermind , and he was brilliant. Not just amazing general knowledge, but amazing general knowledge available to him in the moment . If I said: “OK, my specialist subject will be Elvis, or The Exorcist,” and they asked me who wrote The Exorcist , or what was Elvis’s middle name, I’d blank. I would be unable to remember my own name.

SM : I have refused to be on Mastermind for the same reasons. But in the spirit of the question, I would choose either Edmund Burke’s Theory of Revolution, which is what I did at university, or the War of 1812, which I studied a lot when I wrote a book a couple of years ago.

Ashley Walters, actor

What is the formula for a great movie?

MK : So I would say, as a critic – and bear in mind critics do not know how to make films, they only know how to watch them – the only thing that works is the thing that I didn’t see coming. I go to screenings on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday every week, and it’s like, 10 o’clock, one o’clock, three o’clock starts. I don’t know anything about the films I’m seeing, because I tend not to read stuff in advance. Sometimes I don’t even know the name of the film. I turn up, and I have no idea what it is, then it turns out to be film of the week. Because it surprises you.

SM : My honest starting point is, there is no formula. Obviously, it helps if there’s a great script, and your actors can act. But that’s sometimes not enough. So I don’t know what the answer is, and I suspect that a lot of directors might say the same.

MK : Can I add one thing to this, which is: I would always rather watch a film aim high and fail on its own terms, than succeed in some botched way. Maybe, if there is a formula, it’s that. It’s why films like Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me , which crashed and burned when it opened, is now considered to be Lynch’s best work, because it is what it is.

Which actor do you think has produced the greatest quality of work across their career? Ben Hoeksma, Windsor

MK : Kate Dickie . She is the most consistently brilliant actor I can think of. I’ve seen her in every manner of film, and I have never, ever seen her give less than 100%. When you look at her filmography, it’s astonishing. I think Kate Dickie’s screen career is the thing that you could hold up in front of movie actors and go: “That is doing the job properly.” And yet you can watch three Kate Dickie films in succession on the same day and not realise you’re watching the same person. She is the very definition of the thing that in America they call “character actors”. And here we call “actors”.

SM : I remember interviewing Pete Postlethwaite a few years ago, and looking at his filmography, which was just astonishing. He was in everything, he was in almost every film that came out in one particular year. And two people who have appeared on the show a lot: Eddie Marsan , first. If Eddie is in it, whether the film is great or not, he is going to be great. And Toby Jones . In terms of a body of work, both of those you would go, extraordinary.

MK : Eddie Marsan told me that the day after he finished Happy-Go-Lucky he went to America to do Hancock . Literally one minute he was going “Enraha!” in the street with Mike Leigh [from a much-quoted scene of Marsan playing an angry driving instructor], the next day he was trying to kill Will Smith with a rocket launcher.

Edgar Wright, director

I am passionate to the point of being evangelical about the benefits of seeing films on the big screen. How do you feel about the big-screen experience today? And what’s your best experience of seeing a film with an audience?

MK : I feel very positive about the big-screen experience. Even if something is available for somebody to watch on their television, a good number of people will still go and watch it in a cinema. Look at the number of people that went to see that Russell Crowe-in-a-truck film , because, “Hey, cinemas are open and Russell Crowe’s in a truck!” As for the best experience of seeing things with an audience, when we saw Gaspar Noé’s Irréversible at the Edinburgh film festival, the guy in front of me fainted and I had to carry him out of the auditorium. I was so thrilled! And somebody fainted when one of the Chapman brothers and I did a screening of Possession , the Andrzej Żuławski film. And then, of course, a very good friend of mine fainted when I saw The Exorcist at the Barnet Odeon in the 80s.

You just want to be in some darkened room with people passing out. MK : With people being so overwhelmed by the film, that they literally leave their body.

SM : I have no desire to see those films. But I entirely agree about the big-screen experience. There are some movies that you just have to see in the cinema, like a new James Bond. The answer to the second part is seeing One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at Warwick University film society, in a science lecture theatre. Like being in a Methodist chapel: hard surfaces, no confectionery, no alcohol consumed. But at the end of the movie, not only did it get applause from everybody, some people stood up and applauded.

Can Mark tell his Harvey Keitel story? Luke, Stockport

MK : OK, so the Harvey Keitel story doesn’t exist. It was just nothing that became something through repetition. I said at one point: “Oh, it’s so libellous that you couldn’t possibly repeat it, but if you stop me in the street, I’ll tell it to you.” And then people did stop me in the street. And then I said: “OK, there isn’t a story. But if somebody asks you, tell them ‘I couldn’t possibly repeat it.’” It does cut to something at the heart of the show, which is, we always struggle to remember where the running jokes came from.

Which film would world leaders most benefit from seeing and learning the messages from? Leigh, China

MK : Mary Poppins , because it’s a good film about goodness.

SM : Well, if Putin is in the audience, The Great Dictator would be a good place to start, and then we could all turn around and look at him and go: “That’s you.”

SM : And then when he was emotionally vulnerable, play A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood , which is about goodness and cardigans. Rather than being topless on a horse.

If you were a biscuit, what sort would you be and why? Lady_Geoffery, Bristol

SM : I would like to think that I’m a chocolate digestive, but I suspect I’m just a digestive. Sort of reassuringly wholesome.

MK : I’m a ginger snap. Because they’re familiar, but they break in an unpleasant way.

Carol Morley , d irector

It’s not possible you’ve collaborated this long and never had a dream about each other. So what’s the best dream you’ve had about the other?

SM : I don’t think I’ve had one.

MK : I don’t think I’ve ever had a dream about you, and now I’m actually feeling guilty about that. But if Carol wants to make a film about the dreams we have about each other, I’d happily watch it.

I read Simon’s book Knife Edge , and I thought it would make a good movie. Who would Simon cast in the lead role of Famie Madden ? Who would Mark have direct i t? Jonny Cole, New Forest

SM : It was just a person who I was imagining when I wrote it, but the answer is Gemma Arterton. Although Famie is slightly older than Gemma. I would definitely cast her.

MK : For director, I’d say somebody like Aneil Karia , because I remember when The Long Goodbye came out and Simon said: “You have to see this thing, it’s just amazing.” And then they just won an Oscar , which got lost in all the nonsense.

SM : Actually, Aneil was slated to direct Mad Blood Stirring [another Mayo book], and then he wrote to me explaining why he couldn’t do it… If it ends up anywhere, it will be television, the rights have been bought.

Clio Barnard, director

Which film changed your life?

MK : Krakatoa, East of Java . It was the film that I remember seeing first in the cinema. My mother took me. And though I remember very little about it other than a massive volcano, and a song-and-dance number on a boat, honestly, that was the thing that made me think I want to spend the rest of my life in the cinema. I was absolutely overwhelmed. I only ever saw it once. I’d like to put Clio in my list of my favourite female film-makers too, incidentally.

SM : In terms of that rocket fuel moment Mark is talking about... seeing Mary Poppins , the first movie I saw in a cinema when I was, like, six. We got the timings wrong, so I saw the second half first, and then we stayed, because it was on a continuous loop, so I saw the first half after that, out of sync. In terms of change: movies don’t change your life.

MK : They do.

SM : They don’t.

Mark, do you think that in your relative old age, you’re becoming slightly softer and more forgiving of bad films? Or do you feel there’s always a chance of another Entourage rant around the corner? Graham Hollingsworth, London

MK : Nobody ever believes this, but I never, ever plan to rant about anything. Quite often, afterwards, I feel a bit… ugh, you know? I think I’ve become more open-minded about what a film is trying to do, and more admiring of somebody trying to do something interesting. And less tolerant of films that aren’t even trying. A rant can always come.

SM : And the films that you’re talking about are always films that aren’t bad, they are offensive. The last time I interviewed Daniel Craig, the first thing he said was: “That Entourage review went well, then?” It was already like two years old or something. He said he was on a set and everyone gathered around and watched it, because it was a great piece of performance. In fact, Mark’s performance in the review of Entourage …

MK : …was better than any of the performances in the film, boom tish.

Asif Kapadia, director

Who are your top five people that you’ve interviewed on your 5 Live show ?

MK : Simon does the interviews, so shoot.

SM : Asif is always a fantastic guest, by the way. He manages to engage you. If you’re not interested in football, you’ll still watch his Maradona doc... Off the top of my head, Tom Hanks . There is nobody who can sell a movie like Tom Hanks. Nobody. There should be a documentary made and shown to lesser actors. “This is how you do promotion. Make the person you’re talking to feel as though they’re the only person that you’re going to talk to, and give a little bit more than they’re expecting.” One time I was interviewing him, and I said to him: “What are you working on next?” And he said: “Well, it’s funny, the other day I was on the phone to Clint Eastwood…” and then he did a Clint Eastwood impression to round off the interview. So I would put Tom Hanks at one, two and three. Then the previously mentioned Sir Kenneth Branagh has to be in there, because he came in, live on the show…

MK : And chuckled.

SM : Which is where Chuckles comes from, a nickname that he only has when he’s on our show. He has the Hanksian gift. Whatever the merits of what he’s talking about, you just feel genial towards him. So I’m going to go Tom Hanks one, two and three, Ken Branagh four, and Chadwick Boseman at number five. The last time we spoke to him was for 21 Bridges . And he gave an astonishing answer to a question about Martin Scorsese , who was perceived as being slightly rude about Marvel films. It was like a soliloquy, an extraordinary speech about believing in what he did, and believing in the uniqueness of Marvel and Black Panther specifically. It was so wonderful that when he died , we played that answer again as a tribute. I’m aware there are no women in that answer.

MK : Amma Asante would be in that list. I hadn’t met Amma when you interviewed her for Belle , and I sat there thinking: “This is the smartest film-maker I’ve ever heard.” Answers that were thought out and engaged, in beautifully formed whole sentences, with that incredible, almost broadcaster voice that she has.

SM : So let’s kick out one of the Hanks.

MK : And then at number five, Charlie Kaufman .

Amma Asante …

…is our next questioner, weirdly, and she asks: Which film character would each of you say most typifies the other?

SM : I’d cast him in the Nick Lowe story in the title role.

MK : Well, you’d be A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood , wouldn’t you? You’d be Hanks doing Mr Rogers. You’d be him. You’d be the guy who’d go: “Hello, everybody.”

SM : I’ve got a cardigan, look.

But Simon has an anger underneath there …

MK : Well, there’s an absolutely great scene in that film, in which Mr Rogers is angry about something, something has got under his skin, and you just see him take a moment. A tiny little gesture that speaks volumes. And the character was a brilliant broadcaster and Simon is a brilliant broadcaster.

What’s the closest you’ve come to a proper falling out? Gerald Browne, Wetherby

MK : The worst that’s ever happened would be that you’ll say: “I need to do this on Wednesday.” I go: “OK, that’s going to be very complicated. Can we not do it on Tuesday?” Then some very polite text messages about which day it would be better to record a show on. When we go into that polite mode, that’s as bad as it gets.

SM : I think it comes down to having very clearly defined roles on the programme. So in matters of films, I defer to Mark, because he’s the critic. I’m the host, so I can give you a proper answer about who’s been a good guest to interview on the show. There’s no jostling for the limelight.

You have been very professional and diplomatic in what you have not said about the BBC, but from your lengthy experience working for the corporation, what one change would you make to sustain it for the future? Nick Taylor, Culcheth, Warrington

SM: [ Sighs, looks at the ceiling ] We’re just presenters, I don’t know. The BBC gets enough advice.

MK : I’m still at the BBC, I’m still doing Screenshot on Radio 4 and I’m still doing the News Channel film review, and there’s an outside possibility that there’ll be another Secrets of Cinema . The only thing that I would say is, trust programme-makers a little bit more. In my experience, people who make programmes actually tend to know what they’re doing, and why they’re doing it. And they thrive with as little interference from on high as possible.

SM : I would say probably the BBC has to do less, and to do the things that it does, better. Staff programmes properly. Don’t make them scrimp and save and get them to work all the hours God sends just because the budget has been cut again. And that will mean there’ll be some areas that the BBC has to decide not to do. If I was still on 5 Live, and the director general had come on, I always had this question in mind: “How many orchestras does the BBC need?”

Mike Leigh, director

What’s the worst truly bad film that you love? And what’s the best truly great film you hate?

MK : Oh, wow. There are loads of bad films that I love. I would say probably the worst, truly bad in every version I’ve seen, is Caligula . Because I still have it in my head that somewhere in the ether, there is a version of Caligula that makes sense, and isn’t just an absolute car crash. I love Malcolm McDowell in that film, his portrayal of Caligula is brilliant. The scenes with him and Helen Mirren are just… So, Caligula .

SM : The bad movie I really like is Patch Adams . And the entire reason for that is it’s the only time I got to interview Robin Williams. And the apparently great film I don’t like is definitely The Piano , which everyone tells me is sensational and is just rain in New Zealand.

MK : I’d say the film I hate that other people love is Lars von Trier’s The Idiots . I got thrown out of the screening at Cannes for heckling it. I shouted: “ Il est merde! Il est le plus merde dans le monde entier ,” which is apparently not grammatically correct. I’ve actually loved other Von Trier stuff, Antichrist , and Melancholia . And I’ve interviewed him, and I said: “I have to tell you, I hated Breaking the Waves , and I hated The Idiots .” And he said: “OK, but did you really hate them?” And I said: “Yes, I really hated them. And he said: “But did you really hate them?” I said: “Yes, I really hated them.” And he said: “Good. Then we can get on.”

Simon – favourite ever Spurs player? Mark – favourite bass player? Chris Moody, via Twitter

SM : Osvaldo Ardiles. Going back to a time when footballers from abroad were very exciting, when Ricardo Villa and Osvaldo Ardiles from Argentina came to Spurs, it was front page of the Daily Mirror and their headline was Spurs Coup the World. It’s the kind of thing you remember. He was this wizard, brilliant genius in the midfield.

MK : My favourite bassist is Jim Lea from Slade, because he was the first time I was aware of hearing the bass carrying the tune. He is an incredibly melodic bass player. One of my favourite rock films is Slade in Flame , which has got How Does It Feel as the theme tune. And the bass line just breaks my heart every time I hear it.

SM : If I’m allowed a vote, I’d like to chip in with Jean-Jacques Burnel from the Stranglers.

MK : Well then, I’m going to do my favourite Spurs player, which was Pat Jennings.

SM : Good call. Biggest hands in football.

Mark Strong , actor

Please explain the “With, And, But” game. Will it now be consigned to history?

SM : OK, well, the “With, And, But” game is Mark Strong’s idea. So that’s rich coming from him. It was [actor]Tom Wilkinson who explained that you get your agent to ask for the “and” at the end of a list of actors in a film, so that it’s “Big Star, Big Star, and Respected Star”. But it was Mark Strong’s belief that sometimes these actors should have a “but” before their name.

MK : It’s amazing how well it works. And, of course, now there are different “ands”: “with the special appearance of”, “including the involvement of”…

SM : To be honest, we haven’t done it for ages. But like all of these things, it will come around again, particularly as Mark thought of it, and we love Mark Strong.

Do you ever fear that thinking so deeply about films actually detracts from the basic emotional experience of watching them? Jazmin Saville, London

MK : No. The idea that if you unpack something… there’s a lovely quote from Billy Bragg, out of Must I Paint You a Picture? I’m slightly misquoting it. “The temptation/ To take the precious things we have apart/ To see how they work/ Must be resisted for they never fit together again.” It’s a lovely idea that if you take something apart you can’t put it back together again, but I’ve actually never found that with a film.

SM : Overanalysing people or a relationship, that can be done, but a physical thing like a book or a film…

MK : Everyone knows how much I obsess about The Exorcist . I spent decades taking that film apart to see how it works. I know how every single shot of that film was created. I can tell you the day on which every single shot was created. I can tell you who was in the room when it was created. And then you play it, and it just works. It doesn’t make any difference.

Will everything be all right in the end? Hannah Young, London

SM : OK, so this is from the line: “Will everything be all right in the end?” followed by “Yes, if it’s not all right, it’s not the end.” That line turned up again recently, in The Split . We established on the show, after exhaustive research, it comes from Best Marigold , doesn’t it, Mark?

MK : It has many sources, but what we turned out to be quoting was Best Marigold, yes.

SM : This taps right back into Jason Isaac’s question about being an island of positivity. Because there is no doubt that when Mark said that line in the show for the first time, it really, really struck a chord with a lot of people. And when we mentioned it to Tom Hanks, Tom Hanks absolutely loved it… Of course, when you take it out and analyse it as a statement, it doesn’t really hold any water.

MK : But as a mission statement, it’s a good one.

SM : I’ll go along with it as a mission statement.

Kermode & Mayo’s Take launches on Friday on all major podcast providers

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living movie review mark kermode

Mark Kermode

Outspoken, opinionated and never lost for words, mark kermode is the uk's leading film critic. , he is chief film critic for the observer and on the  bbc news channel film review ; he hosts his own podcast  kermode on film , and has a soundtrack movie soundtrack show on scala radio. he co-hosts  kermode & mayo's film review  on bbc radio 5 live, presents  mark kermode's secrets of cinema  on bbc2 and a has a monthly live show at the bfi southbank,  mark kermode live in 3d., hailed by stephen fry as 'the finest film critic in britain' he is the author of several books about film, most recently his memoir  how does it feel a life of musical misadventures. , he plays double-bass and harmonica in the  dodge brothers , the award-winning skiffle-and-blues band who also accompany silent movies with neil brand. he holds two sony awards for his radio programmes, and the dodge brothers album  the sun set  was voted blues album of the year 2013 by the roots music magazine spiral earth. with his wife linda he co-curates the shetland film festival., hello to jason isaacs.

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Mark Kermode: 50 films every film fan should watch

The UK’s best-known film critic, Mark Kermode offers up 50 personal viewing recommendations, from great classics to overlooked gems. The reviews presented below are the words of Mark Kermode.

  • Movies or TV
  • IMDb Rating
  • In Theaters
  • Release Year

1. The Arbor (2010)

Unrated | 94 min | Documentary, Biography, Drama

Portrayal of the late Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar.

Director: Clio Barnard | Stars: Manjinder Virk , Christine Bottomley , Natalie Gavin , Parvani Lingiah

Votes: 2,128 | Gross: $0.02M

Somehow the disparate elements form a strikingly cohesive whole, conjuring a portrait of the artist and her offspring that is both emotionally engaging, stylistically radical and utterly unforgettable.

2. Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession (1980)

R | 123 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

A psychiatrist, living in Vienna, enters a torrid relationship with a married woman. When she ends up in the hospital from an overdose, an inspector becomes set on discovering the demise of their affair.

Director: Nicolas Roeg | Stars: Art Garfunkel , Theresa Russell , Harvey Keitel , Denholm Elliott

Votes: 9,580

Seen in flashback through the prism of a woman’s attempted suicide, this fragmented portrait of a love affair expands into a labyrinthine enquiry into memory and guilt. One of director Nic Roeg’s finest films. Roeg himself reported that a friend refused to talk to him for three years after seeing the film. Today, Bad Timing still divides audiences: monstrosity or masterpiece? Well, watch it and decide for yourself.

3. Beauty and the Beast (1946)

Not Rated | 93 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance

A beautiful young woman takes her father's place as the prisoner of a mysterious beast, who wishes to marry her.

Directors: Jean Cocteau , René Clément | Stars: Jean Marais , Josette Day , Mila Parély , Nane Germon

Votes: 27,969 | Gross: $0.30M

Personally I think Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro, the maestro of the modern screen fairytale, said it best when he declared La Belle et la Bête simply to be the most perfect cinematic fable ever told.

4. Black Narcissus (1947)

Not Rated | 101 min | Drama

A group of nuns struggle to establish a convent in the Himalayas, while isolation, extreme weather, altitude, and culture clashes all conspire to drive the well-intentioned missionaries mad.

Directors: Michael Powell , Emeric Pressburger | Stars: Deborah Kerr , David Farrar , Flora Robson , Jenny Laird

Votes: 27,478

Black Narcissus is a vividly sensual work, which looks unlike any other British film of the period. Oscar wins for Jack Cardiff’s cinematography and Alfred Junge for production design confirm it as a technical triumph, but it is still so much more than that. It is a work of extraordinary power and passion from Powell and Pressburger.

5. Blithe Spirit (1945)

96 min | Comedy, Fantasy

A man and his second wife are haunted by the ghost of his first wife.

Director: David Lean | Stars: Rex Harrison , Constance Cummings , Kay Hammond , Margaret Rutherford

Votes: 7,914

A spicy screen comedy filmed in blushing technicolour…, why David Lean is still considered one of Britain’s greatest directors.

6. Bullet Boy (2004)

R | 89 min | Drama

In one of East London's most volatile neighborhoods, pride, rivalry and revenge are the only codes on the street. Touted as a British Boyz in the Hood, Bullet Boy is a gripping and ... See full summary  »

Director: Saul Dibb | Stars: Ashley Walters , Luke Fraser , Leon Black , Clare Perkins

Votes: 2,735

Ashley Walters rose to fame as one of So Solid Crew but impresses here in his first lead acting role, anchoring Saul Dibb’s stark and compelling urban drama. Both Dibb and Walters have travelled far since the days of Bullet Boy, but this urgent, low-budget British drama remains a defining moment in both of their diverse careers.

7. Capricorn One (1977)

PG | 123 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

When the first manned flight to Mars is deemed unsafe and scrubbed on the launch pad, anxious authorities must scramble to save face and retain their funding - and so an unthinkable plot to fake the mission is hatched.

Director: Peter Hyams | Stars: Elliott Gould , James Brolin , Brenda Vaccaro , Sam Waterston

Votes: 24,548

After the Watergate scandal of the 1970s, it was easy for audiences to believe that governments were corrupt and recordings could be doctored – it is no wonder that so many people took Capricorn One at face value.

8. Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974)

Unrated | 193 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

A mysteriously linked pair of young women find their daily lives preempted by a strange boudoir melodrama that plays itself out in a hallucinatory parallel reality.

Director: Jacques Rivette | Stars: Juliet Berto , Dominique Labourier , Bulle Ogier , Marie-France Pisier

Votes: 6,309 | Gross: $0.03M

A comparative commercial hit on its release, Céline and Julie Go Boating has since gone on to become a much sought after cult item and has influenced everyone from David Lynch to Susan Seidelman. It was also hailed as an influential female buddy movie by critic Jonathan Rosenbaum who wrote that many women consider it to be their favourite film about female friendship, and many men too.

9. An Andalusian Dog (1929)

Not Rated | 16 min | Short, Fantasy, Horror

Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí present 16 minutes of bizarre, surreal imagery.

Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Pierre Batcheff , Simone Mareuil , Luis Buñuel , Pancho Cossío

Votes: 53,543

Arguably the most celebrated work of surrealist cinema, a satirical gem which, when I first saw it at the Museum of the Moving Image as an unsuspecting young film fan, caused me to faint.

10. The Company of Wolves (1984)

R | 95 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror

A teenage girl in a country manor falls asleep while reading a magazine, and has a disturbing dream involving wolves prowling the woods below her bedroom window.

Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Sarah Patterson , Angela Lansbury , David Warner , Graham Crowden

Votes: 18,291 | Gross: $4.39M

Pitched somewhere between arthouse tract and exploitation horror movie, The Company of Wolves drew mixed responses from some baffled critics, but proved an enduring audience favourite. Today, it has become a timeless classic, which is studied by film scholars and adored by film fans alike. If you like your fairy tales to have teeth, this is the film for you.

11. Countess Dracula (1971)

PG | 93 min | Horror

In 17th-century Hungary, elderly widow Countess Elisabeth Nádasdy maintains her misleading youthful appearance by bathing in the blood of virgins regularly supplied to her by faithful servant Captain Dobi.

Director: Peter Sasdy | Stars: Ingrid Pitt , Nigel Green , Sandor Elès , Maurice Denham

Votes: 4,777

Public decency is breached with laudable regularity in Hammer’s 1971 tale, based on the legend of Elizabeth Báthory. Ingrid Pitt plays the widowed countess rejuvenated by virgins’ blood, and Nigel Green her accomplice and lover, Captain Dobi. A bona fide screen icon, at the very height of her dark powers.

12. The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)

Unrated | 99 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi

When the U.S. and Russia unwittingly test atomic bombs at the same time, it alters the nutation (axis of rotation) of the Earth.

Director: Val Guest | Stars: Edward Judd , Janet Munro , Leo McKern , Michael Goodliffe

Votes: 6,144

When the USA and Russia simultaneously test atomic bombs, the Earth is knocked off its axis and set on a collision course with the sun. Today, the film may seem almost quaint, but it’s as captivating as ever.

13. Dead Ringers (1988)

R | 116 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller

Twin gynecologists take full advantage of the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman.

Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jeremy Irons , Geneviève Bujold , Heidi von Palleske , Barbara Gordon

Votes: 53,217 | Gross: $9.13M

It’s not the visual effects that dazzle, the real magic is in the performances, with Jeremy Irons using the Alexander technique to give Elliot and Beverly different stances, different energy points… The result is overwhelming, at times horrifying, but mostly heartbreaking.

14. Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988)

PG-13 | 84 min | Drama, Music

The lives of an English working-class family are told out of order in a free-associative manner. The first part, "Distant Voices", focuses on the father's role in the family. The second part, "Still Lives", focuses on his children.

Director: Terence Davies | Stars: Pete Postlethwaite , Freda Dowie , Angela Walsh , Dean Williams

Votes: 5,112 | Gross: $0.69M

Described at one point as ‘a forgotten masterpiece’, Distant Voices Still Lives has grown in stature over the years, and in 2011 it was voted the third best British film in a survey conducted by TimeOut magazine, beaten only by Nic Roeg’s Don’t Look Now and Carol Reed’s The Third Man.

15. Dogtooth (2009)

Not Rated | 97 min | Drama, Thriller

A controlling, manipulative father locks his three adult offsprings in a state of perpetual childhood by keeping them prisoner within the sprawling family compound.

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos | Stars: Christos Stergioglou , Michele Valley , Angeliki Papoulia , Christos Passalis

Votes: 109,039 | Gross: $0.11M

Balancing astute social commentary with absurd tragi-comedy, Dogtooth has been read as a dissection of Greek society, both personal and political. Lanthimos retains a Lynchian quality of refusing to discuss his work, saying that, ‘If I wanted to discuss social problems I would have become a writer, but I am a filmmaker it is all I can do’.

16. The Draughtsman's Contract (1982)

R | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery

A young artist is commissioned by the wife of a wealthy landowner to make a series of drawings of the estate while her husband is away.

Director: Peter Greenaway | Stars: Anthony Higgins , Janet Suzman , Anne-Louise Lambert , Hugh Fraser

Votes: 11,004

It is weirdly wonderful, from Nyman’s Purcell-influenced score to Sue Blane’s eye-catching costumes. Most importantly the film shows a unique talent getting to grips with narrative cinema that is as engaging and alluring as it is baffling and perplexing.

17. The Elephant Man (1980)

PG | 124 min | Biography, Drama

A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of kindness, intelligence and sophistication.

Director: David Lynch | Stars: Anthony Hopkins , John Hurt , Anne Bancroft , John Gielgud

Votes: 257,208

There was nothing John Hurt couldn’t do, but it is a role in which his famous face was all but hidden and his mellifluous voice almost unrecognisable that ironically garnered some of his greatest reviews.

18. Face (I) (1997)

R | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

In the face of demise in his values, a socialist in England decides to form a gang and rob banks for a living.

Director: Antonia Bird | Stars: Robert Carlyle , Ray Winstone , Steve Sweeney , Gerry Conlon

Votes: 4,772

A cracking but often overlooked crime thriller from 1997, featuring a sharp script, a stellar cast, and a dynamite soundtrack. Directed by Antonia Bird, Face one of the UK’s most versatile and sorely missed filmmakers, Face is an ace heist-gone-wrong thriller that was correctly hailed by London’s Time Out magazine as a ‘muscular, raw and aggressive slice of vividly authentic populist cinema.’

19. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)

Not Rated | 92 min | Drama, Romance

A lonely widow meets a much younger Moroccan worker in a bar during a rainstorm. They fall in love, to their own surprise and to the outright shock of their families, colleagues, and drinking buddies.

Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Brigitte Mira , El Hedi ben Salem , Barbara Valentin , Irm Hermann

Votes: 23,692

Sit back and experience a film that seems even more relevant today than it did in 1974.

20. Fitzcarraldo (1982)

PG | 158 min | Adventure, Drama

The story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an extremely determined man who intends to build an opera house in the middle of a jungle.

Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Klaus Kinski , Claudia Cardinale , José Lewgoy , Miguel Ángel Fuentes

Votes: 38,321

I live my life or end my life with this project’, declared Herzog, and he wasn’t kidding. No wonder Fitzcarraldo remains such an overwhelming experience.

21. Godzilla (1954)

Not Rated | 96 min | Horror, Sci-Fi

American nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable dinosaur-like beast.

Director: Ishirô Honda | Stars: Takashi Shimura , Akihiko Hirata , Akira Takarada , Momoko Kôchi

Votes: 38,992 | Gross: $2.42M

While the scenes of destruction viscerally recall the destruction of America’s nuclear strikes, the dialogue offers a surprisingly thoughtful meditation on the guilty responsibilities of scientific advancements… reveal in the mastery of this superb creature feature.

23. Hands of the Ripper (1971)

R | 85 min | Horror

As a young child Jack the Ripper's daughter witnesses him kill her mother. As a young woman she carries on the murderous reign of her father. A psychiatrist tries to cure her with tragic consequences.

Director: Peter Sasdy | Stars: Eric Porter , Angharad Rees , Jane Merrow , Keith Bell

Votes: 3,008

For all the film’s shortcomings, Sadsy brings a dash of Argento-esque style to the increasing splatter, ensuring that the hands of the Ripper continue to grip audiences even today.

24. Highway Patrolman (1991)

Not Rated | 104 min | Crime, Drama

Against his father's wishes, Pedro, a naive kid from Mexico City, joins the Federal Highway Patrol. His simple desire to do good rapidly comes into conflict with the reality of police work.

Director: Alex Cox | Stars: Roberto Sosa , Bruno Bichir , Vanessa Bauche , Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez

A Mexican drama from British director Alex Cox, who made his name with the cult classic Repo Man, and cemented his reputation as the new rose of post-punk cinema with Sid & Nancy. It was described by the Los Angeles Times in 1991 as ‘Cox’s finest film to date.’

25. Immoral Tales (1973)

Not Rated | 103 min | Drama, Romance

An erotic collection of short stories, an anthology comprised of tantalizing tales about sexual desire and its diverse manifestations.

Director: Walerian Borowczyk | Stars: Lise Danvers , Fabrice Luchini , Charlotte Alexandra , Paloma Picasso

Votes: 5,416

Today it remains divisive, with scholars referring to it as Borowczyk’s least substantial work while others succumb to its bawdy pleasures. Art or exploitation? Watch it and decide for yourself.

26. Interior. Leather Bar. (2013)

Not Rated | 60 min | Drama

Filmmakers James Franco and Travis Mathews re-imagine the lost 40 minutes from Cruising (1980) as a starting point to a broader exploration of sexual and creative freedom.

Directors: James Franco , Travis Mathews | Stars: Val Lauren , Christian Patrick , James Franco , Travis Mathews

Votes: 2,701 | Gross: $0.04M

Interior. Leather Bar. is not for everyone, but for anyone fascinated by Friedkin’s cause celebre it is by turns infuriating, indulgent and intriguing.

27. The Ipcress File (1965)

Passed | 109 min | Drama, Thriller

In London, a wisecracking spy investigates the kidnapping and brainwashing of British scientists while dealing with the constraints of his agency's bureaucracy.

Director: Sidney J. Furie | Stars: Michael Caine , Nigel Green , Guy Doleman , Sue Lloyd

Votes: 17,497

By 1999, it was ranking at number 59 in the BFI’s Top 100 list of Best British Films of the century, ahead of classics like The Dam Busters, Passport to Pimlico, Oliver, Hope and Glory, and The Wicker Man. Watch the film and see why.

28. The Lady Vanishes (1938)

Not Rated | 96 min | Mystery, Thriller

While travelling in continental Europe, a rich young playgirl realizes that an elderly lady seems to have disappeared from the train.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Margaret Lockwood , Michael Redgrave , Paul Lukas , May Whitty

Votes: 56,865

So successful was The Lady Vanishes that it persuaded the producer David O. Selznick to sign up the director for a seven-year contract, sending Hitchcock to Hollywood where he would make some of the most celebrated screen thrillers of all time.

29. The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)

Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

A landlady suspects that her new lodger is the madman killing women in London.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: June Tripp , Ivor Novello , Marie Ault , Arthur Chesney

Votes: 13,296

Alfred Hitchcock’s first thriller, about a man accused of being a serial killer. The film offers early evidence of the director’s longstanding association between sex and murder, ecstasy and death, introducing fetishistic tropes that would become defining moves in Vertigo and Psycho.

30. Mistress (1976)

Not Rated | 112 min | Drama, Romance

A common thief (Depardieu) breaks into the house of a professional dominatrix (Ogier), and begins to help her "train" her clients. Though this world is alien to his experience, he finds ... See full summary  »

Director: Barbet Schroeder | Stars: Gérard Depardieu , Bulle Ogier , André Rouyer , Nathalie Keryan

Votes: 2,410

When the film first came before the BBFC in 1976 it was banned outright, with one examiner noting that, ‘this sort of depiction of sexual pathology goes way beyond what we can certificate for showing in a public cinema…’ Yet that same examining conceded that ‘the film is very well made, with good acting performances from two of France’s leading stars…’ but concluded ‘…opulent excrescence, for all its glitter, remains excrescence.’

31. A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

PG | 104 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance

A British wartime aviator who cheats death must argue for his life before a celestial court, hoping to prolong his fledgling romance with an American girl.

Directors: Michael Powell , Emeric Pressburger | Stars: David Niven , Kim Hunter , Robert Coote , Kathleen Byron

Votes: 24,580

Breathtaking cinematography from Jack Cardiff, superb locations work at places like Saunton Sands in Devon, and an intriguing camera obscura subplot featuring the photophilic themes that would appear in Powell’s later film Peeping Tom, all combine to make this an utterly flawless classic.

32. Contempt (1963)

Not Rated | 102 min | Drama, Romance

Screenwriter Paul Javal's marriage to his wife Camille disintegrates during movie production as she spends time with the producer. Layered conflicts between art and business ensue.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Brigitte Bardot , Jack Palance , Michel Piccoli , Giorgia Moll

Votes: 35,869 | Gross: $0.04M

A tale of artistic compromise and marital strife, Le Mépris is a playfully self-reflexive affair, the poster of which focused on the pillowy charms of Brigitte Bardot, but which in fact offered something altogether edgier, more angular and anarchic.

33. Mother (2009)

R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

A mother desperately searches for the killer who framed her son for a girl's horrific murder.

Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Kim Hye-ja , Won Bin , Jin Goo , Yun Je-mun

Votes: 71,171 | Gross: $0.55M

Having scored Korea’s biggest box-office hit with The Host, Bong wanted to do something completely different for the follow-up. From the surreal opening – from which the fate, tragedy and madness of the subsequent narrative is subtly laid out – that difference is clear and present.

34. Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)

PG | 107 min | Drama, Horror

Count Dracula moves from Transylvania to Wismar, spreading the Black Plague across the land. Only a woman pure of heart can bring an end to his reign of horror.

Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Klaus Kinski , Isabelle Adjani , Bruno Ganz , Roland Topor

Votes: 40,231

It was clear that there would never be a vampire of his calibre again’, said Herzog some years later, insisting that in four centuries to come Kinski would remain the definitive embodiment of this mythical creature. Well, we may only be four decades away from Herzog’s Nosferatu, but so far Kinski still looks unsurpassable.

35. Ordet (1955)

Not Rated | 126 min | Drama

Follows the lives of the Borgen family, as they deal with inner conflict, as well as religious conflict with each other, and the rest of the town.

Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer | Stars: Henrik Malberg , Emil Hass Christensen , Preben Lerdorff Rye , Hanne Aagesen

Votes: 17,298

Carl Theodor Dreyer’s beautifully photographed tale explores the religious intolerance and familial tensions within a Danish farming family. A hit with the public and the critics alike, Ordet won the Golden Lion at Venice and shared a Golden Globe for foreign language film.

36. Pasolini (2014)

18+ | 84 min | Biography, Drama

A kaleidoscopic look at the last day of Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini in 1975.

Director: Abel Ferrara | Stars: Willem Dafoe , Ninetto Davoli , Riccardo Scamarcio , Valerio Mastandrea

Votes: 4,528 | Gross: $0.03M

The blend of politics, religion and blow jobs is pure catnip for Ferrara, although those not versed in the controversy surrounding Sálo might want to do a little background reading to fully appreciate what is going on… This show belongs to Ferrara and Dafoe, both of who seem besotted with a bygone age, in which a filmmaker promoting his new movie could talk to the press about philosophy, poetry and politics and the whole world would listen.

37. Peeping Tom (1960)

Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller

A young man murders women, using a movie camera to film their dying expressions of terror.

Director: Michael Powell | Stars: Karlheinz Böhm , Anna Massey , Moira Shearer , Maxine Audley

Votes: 38,935 | Gross: $0.08M

With its lurid Eastman coloured hues, and its daringly confrontational POV camera work, Peeping Tom remains a startling uncomfortable watch to this day. Watch, but be warned: to do so is dangerous.

38. Prick Up Your Ears (1987)

R | 105 min | Biography, Drama

Biographer John Lahr is writing a book about playwright Joe Orton. Joe and Kenneth meet at drama school and live together for ten years as lovers and collaborators. Both want to be writers, but only one of them is successful.

Director: Stephen Frears | Stars: Gary Oldman , Alfred Molina , Vanessa Redgrave , Wallace Shawn

Votes: 6,509 | Gross: $1.65M

Having already earned plaudits for My Beautiful Laundrette, director Stephen Frears would go on to helm such hits as Dangerous Liaisons, Dirty Pretty Things, The Queen and Philomena. But this early hit remains one of his best works – rich, ribald and worthy of repeat viewing.

39. Radio On (1979)

104 min | Drama, Music, Mystery

In 1970s Britain, a man drives from London to Bristol to investigate his brother's death, and the purpose of his trip is offset by his encounters with a series of odd people.

Director: Christopher Petit | Stars: David Beames , Lisa Kreuzer , Sandy Ratcliff , Andrew Byatt

Votes: 1,160

Radio On is a genuine British classic, which perfectly captures the unsettling architecture both cultural and physical of country seen through the windscreen of a two-tone vintage Rover.

40. Rashomon (1950)

Not Rated | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

The rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband are recalled from the perspectives of a bandit, the bride, the samurai's ghost and a woodcutter.

Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune , Machiko Kyô , Masayuki Mori , Takashi Shimura

Votes: 179,440 | Gross: $0.10M

As the various stories unfold we come to question what is true and what is false, and whether darkness really does lurk at the heart of mankind, and whether honour may triumph over – or be defeated by – treachery.

41. Red Desert (1964)

Not Rated | 117 min | Drama

In an industrial area, unstable Giuliana attempts to cope with life by starting an affair with a co-worker at the plant her husband manages.

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: Monica Vitti , Richard Harris , Carlo Chionetti , Xenia Valderi

Votes: 17,491

With its evocative electronic music and its startling off-kilter vistas, there is a hint of science fiction about Red Desert, where Vitti becomes the woman who fell to earth… yes, this is a world of pollution and poison, both physical and emotional. But it is also a world of fable and fantasy, of imagination and hallucination – worldly and otherworldly. Or to put it another way, it is a film by Antonioni.

42. Red Road (2006)

Not Rated | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Jackie works as a CCTV operator. Each day she watches over a small part of the world, protecting the people living their lives under her gaze. One day a man appears on her monitor, a man she thought she would never see again, a man she never wanted to see again. Now she has no choice, she is compelled to confront him.

Director: Andrea Arnold | Stars: Kate Dickie , Tony Curran , Martin Compston , Natalie Press

Votes: 13,581 | Gross: $0.15M

Despite diverse comparisons with the cruelty of Michael Haneke, the social realism of the Dardenne brothers and the visual poetry of Lynne Ramsay, Arnold’s style is distinctively her own and has continued to grow through her subsequent, critically acclaimed features, Fish Tank, Wuthering Heights and, most recently, American Honey.

43. The Red Shoes (1948)

Not Rated | 135 min | Drama, Music, Romance

A young ballet dancer is torn between the man she loves and her pursuit to become a prima ballerina.

Directors: Michael Powell , Emeric Pressburger | Stars: Anton Walbrook , Marius Goring , Moira Shearer , Robert Helpmann

Votes: 38,891 | Gross: $10.90M

The Red Shoes is a dizzying blend of dazzling dance and daring darkness.

44. Rome, Open City (1945)

Not Rated | 103 min | Drama, Thriller, War

During the Nazi occupation of Rome in 1944, the Resistance leader, Giorgio Manfredi, is chased by the Nazis as he seeks refuge and a way to escape.

Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Anna Magnani , Aldo Fabrizi , Marcello Pagliero , Vito Annichiarico

Votes: 28,793

Ubaldo Arata’s visceral cinematography blends the grit of reportage with the heart and soul of a drama as the people of Rome struggle with the constraints, compromises and collusion of life during wartime.

45. Symptoms (1974)

R | 92 min | Horror

A young woman is invited by her girlfriend, who lives in an English country mansion, to stay there with her. The estate, however, isn't quite what it seems--and neither is the friend who issued the invitation.

Director: José Ramón Larraz | Stars: Angela Pleasence , Peter Vaughan , Lorna Heilbron , Nancy Nevinson

Votes: 1,725

Symptoms opened to rave reviews but quickly became a cult oddity rarely seen in cinemas or on TV. Only when the title flagged up as one of the BFI’s Most Wanted was the negative located by Deluxe, providing the source of a new digital transfer.

46. That Sinking Feeling (1979)

PG | 93 min | Comedy, Crime

Ronnie, Wal, Andy and Vic are four bored, unemployed teens in dreary, rainy Glasgow. Ronnie comes up with a great idea. He has noticed that stainless steel sinks are worth a lot of money ... See full summary  »

Director: Bill Forsyth | Stars: Tom Mannion , Eddie Burt , Richard Demarco , Alex Mackenzie

Votes: 1,274

A British comedy with more urban grit and whimsical wit than anything else that was around at the time. When it played the Edinburgh Film Festival in 1979, That Sinking Feeling became the toast of the town.

47. This Filthy Earth (2001)

111 min | Drama

The tragic story of two sisters whose lives are disrupted by two men. Amidst a landscape of rural hardship and a community consumed with superstition, events unfurl which threaten their sibling bond.

Director: Andrew Kotting | Stars: Rebecca Palmer , Shane Attwooll , Demelza Randall , Xavier Tchili

Epic and untamable, Kötting’s films have rarely obtained commercial success. Despite early rave reviews, he has shown no interest in working within the mainstream, preferring instead to plough his own field. Thank God, as This Filthy Earth demonstrates that cinema needs more filmmakers cut from Kötting’s uncompromising cloth.

48. Underground (1928)

84 min | Drama, Romance

A working-class love story set in and around the London Underground of the 1920s. Two men, gentle Bill and brash Bert, meet and are attracted to the same woman on the same day at the same ... See full summary  »

Director: Anthony Asquith | Stars: Brian Aherne , Elissa Landi , Cyril McLaglen , Norah Baring

This is a film that I want you to watch with your ears, an early 20th-century silent, with a superb 21st-century score by the incomparable Neil Brand.

49. Unrelated (2007)

Not Rated | 100 min | Drama

A woman in an unhappy relationship takes refuge with a friend's family on holiday in Tuscany.

Director: Joanna Hogg | Stars: Kathryn Worth , Harry Kershaw , Emma Hiddleston , Henry Lloyd-Hughes

Votes: 2,906

With just three films in a decade, Hogg is hardly prolific, but her style is acute, incisive, so utterly distinctive that all her features are worth the wait.

50. The Valley (Obscured by Clouds) (1972)

101 min | Drama

Consul's wife, Viviane took part in an expedition to New Guinea. She falls in love with Gaetan, the leader of a group of explorers, whose objective is to reach a mysterious valley.

Director: Barbet Schroeder | Stars: Bulle Ogier , Jean-Pierre Kalfon , Michael Gothard , Valérie Lagrange

Votes: 1,436

It has a far more cynical attitude towards its colonial adventures than some critics give it credit for. Watch the film for yourself and ask yourself, ‘Can you see the valley?’

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Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, mark kermode reviews "life itself".

living movie review mark kermode

LIFE ITSELF opened in London and all over the United Kingdom this past weekend. Acclaimed British film critic, Mark Kermode, penned a four-star review of Steve James' documentary about Roger Ebert for The Guardian . On the BBC Radio program, "Kermode and Mayo's Film Review," Kermode also delivered a wonderful  five-minute analysis  of the film while naming Ebert as "the great American humanist film critic." 

In his written review, Kermode calls " Life Itself ," "a lovely, insightful film" that's "a splendidly watchable tribute to a truly cinematic life. I laughed, I cried; I was inspired and uplifted. Thumbs Up!" He also calls Roger's wife, Chaz, "a magnificent presence – an example of the best in human nature, a subject to which Ebert returned compulsively in his writing." The radio review delves much deeper into the precise reasons why Kermode holds Ebert in such high esteem, praising him for his ability to merge his expertise on film with his cumulative life experience, making each review a work of personal and expressive art unto itself. 

For a full list of venues currently screening "Life Itself" in the U.K. click here . For a list of venues in the U.S. screening the film, click here .

View the full radio review below.

Matt Fagerholm

Matt Fagerholm

Matt Fagerholm is the Literary Editor at RogerEbert.com and is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. 

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300 episodes

Mark Kermode joins Simon Mayo to give his verdict on the week's movies

Kermode and Mayo's Film Review BBC Radio 5 Live

  • Society & Culture
  • 4.7 • 675 Ratings
  • APR 1, 2022

Daniel Radcliffe and Sandra Bullock talk about The Lost City. Plus reviews of The Bad Guys, Morbius, True Things & Sonic 2.

Daniel Radcliffe and Sandra Bullock talk about The Lost City. Plus Mark reviews Morbius, which features show favourite Jared Leto as Biochemist Michael Morbius; True Things, Harry Wootliff’s drama starring Ruth Wilson as a young woman living on the fringes of society; Sonic the Hedgehog 2 with Jim Carrey; animation The Bad Guys, about several reformed yet misunderstood criminal animals who attempt to become good; and The Novice, about a college freshman’s obsessive physical and psychological journey to make it in rowing, no matter the cost. And we have a very fine pair of special guests. Plus Simon and Mark talk through all the films on current release in the UK box office top 10. Download our podcast from the Baby Sea Clowns app.

  • MAR 25, 2022

Jake Gyllenhaal & Yahya Abdul Matten II, Ambulance, The Worst Person in the World, Chopper, Master and Escape from Mogadishu

Jake Gyllenhaal & Yahya Abdul Matten II talk about their roles in Michael Bay’s latest, Ambulance about two robbers who steal an ambulance after a heist. Plus Mark reviews Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World, which chronicles four years in the life of Julie, a young woman navigating the troubled waters of her love life and struggling to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is, plus new Amazon film Master, horror The Spine of the Night, Chopper and Escape from Mogadishu. Plus Simon and Mark talk through all the films on current release in the UK box office top 10. Send us your sub 20 second instant reaction to any film attached to an email to [email protected] for our feature ‘Lobby Correspondents’. Download our podcast from the Baby Sea Clowns app. We welcome your contributions: Email: [email protected] Twitter: @wittertainment 00:00:00 PODCAST STARTS 00:24:33 BOX OFFICE TOP TEN 00:44:07 Master review 00:48:29 Jake and Yahya interview 01:03:54 Ambulance review 01:11:27 Oscars chat 01:15:20 WTF 1 01:17:18 The Worst Person in the World 01:24:00 TV Movie 01:27:37 Escape from Mogadishu 01:35:50 The Spine of Night 01:42:58 Chopper 01:53:50 DVD of the Week

  • 1 hr 59 min
  • MAR 18, 2022

Simon Farnaby, The Phantom of the Open, Paris 13th District, Master, X, Deep Water and Three Floors

Simon Farnaby talks about his new film The Phantom of the Open, about Maurice Flitcroft, who managed to gain entry to The British Open Golf Championship Qualifying in 1976 and subsequently shot the worst round in Open history, becoming a folk hero in the process. Mark also reviews Paris 13th District, starring Noémie Merlant in Jacques Audiard’s latest; Amazon Prime’s Master, starring Regina Hall, about two African American women who begin to share disturbing experiences at a predominantly white college in New England; Ti West’s X, about a group of young filmmakers in 1979 who set out to make an adult film in rural Texas; Deep Water, about a well-to-do husband, played by Ben Affleck, who allows his wife, played by Ana de Armas, to have affairs in order to avoid a divorce and becomes a prime suspect in the disappearance of her lovers; and Nanni Moretti’s Three Floors, the story of three families living in three apartments in the same development. Plus Simon and Mark talk through all the films on current release. Send us your sub 20 second instant reaction to any film attached to an email to [email protected] for our feature ‘Lobby Correspondents’. . Download our podcast from the Baby Sea Clowns app. We welcome your contributions: Email: [email protected] Twitter: @wittertainment 00:00:00 Pod starts 00:06:36 WTF 1 00:26:50 X Review 00:34:36 TV Movie 00:38:52 Three Floors review 00:42:45 WTF 2 00:46:36 Deep Water 00:58:30 Live show begins 01:20:30 Paris 13th District 01:23:10 Simon Farnaby 01:38:00 Phantom of the Open 01:43:30 DVD of the Week

  • 1 hr 49 min
  • MAR 11, 2022

Sean Baker, Red Rocket, Turning Red, Wolf, Feast, The Seed, Great Freedom and The Adam Project

Director Sean Baker talks about his new film Red Rocket, about a washed-up adult film actor who returns to his small Texas hometown, Mark will also review Feast, about the infamous 2007 HIV incident in the Dutch city of Groningen, Turning Red, the latest animation from Disney, about a 13-year-old girl who turns into a giant red panda whenever she gets too excited; new horror The Seed, about a girls’ weekend away in the Mojave desert which becomes a tale of horror, death and alien invasion; Great Freedom, set in post-war Germany, when homosexuality was still criminal; The Adam Project, which stars Jennifer Garner, Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, and Walker Scobell in a story about a time-travelling fighter pilot who teams up with his 12-year-old self on a mission to save the future and Sideshow, about two inept criminals who break into the home of a washed-up psychic in search of hidden loot, and ‘get a lot more than they bargained for’, and Wolf, a drama about a boy who believes he is a wolf, starring Gorgeous George MacKay. Plus Simon and Mark talk through all the films on current release. Send us your sub 20 second instant reaction to any film attached to an email to [email protected] for our feature ‘Lobby Correspondents’. Download our podcast from the Baby Sea Clowns app. We welcome your contributions: Email: [email protected] Twitter: @wittertainment 00:00:00 Podcast starts 00:23:20 Simon announces that the show will be ending on April 1st 00:27:00 Top Ten 00:51:30 The Seed 00:54:30 Sean Baker interview 01:08:10 Red Rocket interview 01:13:27 WTF1 01:15:12 Turning Red 01:21:20 TV Movies 01:27:38 The Adam Project 01:31:48 Great Freedom

  • 1 hr 51 min
  • MAR 4, 2022

Clio Barnard talks about Ali and Ava. Plus reviews of The Batman, The Weekend Away, Against the Ice and The Sanctity Of Space

Director Clio Barnard talks about her new film Ali and Ava, which stars Adeel Akhtar and Claire Rushbrook as the titular characters. Mark will also review The Batman, which stars Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz as Batman and Catwoman in Matt Reeves’s new story featuring the Bob Kane and Bill Finger-created superhero; documentary Rebel Dread about the filmmaker, DJ, musician and commentator, Don Letts; The Weekend Away, about a weekend getaway to Croatia which goes quite badly wrong; Against the Ice, which stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in the story of two explorers fighting to survive after they're left behind while on a Denmark expedition in ice-covered Greenland and The Sanctity Of Space, a documentary recording the long push to cross a series of Alaskan mountains, and the geographer who first charted them. Plus Simon and Mark talk through all the films on current release. Send us your sub 20 second instant reaction to any film attached to an email to [email protected] for our feature ‘Lobby Correspondents’. Download our podcast from the Baby Sea Clowns app. We welcome your contributions: Email: [email protected] Twitter: @wittertainment 00:00:00 Podcast starts 00:22:00 Live show recording starts 00:44:21 The Weekend Away 00:48:00 Clio Barnard 01:00:26 Ali and Ava 01:10:18 WTF1 01:12:50 The Batman 01:25:30 Against the Ice 01:28:39 TV Movies 01:31:32 Rebel Dread 01:38:31 Sanctity of Space 01:46:50 DVD of the Week

  • FEB 25, 2022

Dave Grohl talks about Studio 666, plus Cyrano, The Duke, Gangubai Kathiawadi, Hellbender and The Godfather

Dave Grohl talks about his role in Studio 666, about Foo Fighters moving into an Encino mansion steeped in grisly rock and roll history to record their much anticipated 10th album. Mark reviews Cyrano, Joe Wright’s adaptation of the play; The Duke, about Kempton Bunton, a 60 year old taxi driver who steals Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London; Gangubai Kathiawadi, about a woman who becomes a powerful underworld figure; the re-release of The Godfather, about the ageing patriarch of an organised crime dynasty in postwar New York City who transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant youngest son; and new horror Hellbender, about a lonely teenager who discovers her family's ties to witchcraft. Plus Simon and Mark talk through all the films on current release. Send us your sub 20 second instant reaction to any film attached to an email to [email protected] for our feature ‘Lobby Correspondents’. Download our podcast from the Baby Sea Clowns app. We welcome your contributions: Email: [email protected] Twitter: @wittertainment 00:00:00 POD STARTS 00:30:40 Celebrating Cinema 00:37:58 Top Ten 01:01:30 The Duke 01:09:17 Dave Grohl 01:34:10 WTF 1 01:36:25 Gangubai Kathiawadi 01:41:12 TV Movies 01:47:40 Cyrano 01:57:35 WTF 2 02:00:48 HELLBENDER 02:09:10 The Godfather 02:18:18 DVD of the Week

  • 2 hr 22 min
  • © (C) BBC 2022

Customer Reviews

675 Ratings

I want my “stinky pants, poo-poo” back!

The show, er programme is always exquisitely detailed classy review of all things cinema: present, trendy, indy, past, obscure, streaming, in Cinema halls, Drive ins, bedroom TVs, only on DVD or VHS, 16mm, only in your imagination. Excellent reviews submitted by listeners or just people hanging around movie theatres. It’s all there in the title! Okay April fools is over.
Please come back in any reincarnation. You are great. Good luck with everything!

The gold standard.

I wonder if the incels complaining that the show is too political notice it’s categorized under Society and Culture. That might overlap with politics sometimes big fella. For the adults in the room, this is a fantastic show about movies (including how they might be digested by other people outside of ones own pea sized narcissistic brain). Thoughtful, funny, incisive, and brilliant.

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‘Arthur the King’ Review: Dog Days With Mark Wahlberg

Wahlberg stars in this drama directed by Simon Cellan Jones, based on the true story of a Swedish adventure racer and his beloved adopted dog.

  • Share full article

A dog runs down a path followed by four people running behind him.

By Beatrice Loayza

“Arthur the King” — part gooey dog drama, part survivalist joyride — stars Mark Wahlberg as Michael, an American version of the Swedish adventure racer Mikael Lindnord.

In 2014, Lindnord was competing in the Adventure Racing World Championships in Ecuador when a stray dog, whom he named Arthur, decided to tag along. That meant trekking through the jungle, up mountains, and across rivers, surviving on rationed meatballs and gulps of water.

The film, directed by Simon Cellan Jones, is a Wahlberg production through and through: Expect some brawny athleticism and a hotheaded family man on a quest for redemption.

The movie begins with Michael acting like a hypercompetitive jerk; his arrogance costs his team a big race. Three years later, Michael’s gone domestic — but a “racer’s gotta race,” he tells his wife and former teammate, Helena (Juliet Rylance). The motto inadvertently recalls the satire of “Talladega Nights,” but “Arthur” plays it mostly straight, with his teammate Leo (Simu Liu), an Instagram celebrity, as the movie’s source of comic charisma.

As Michael continues to recruit the members of his new team for another big race — the expert climber Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel), the seasoned navigator Chik (Ali Suliman) — we see Arthur roaming the streets of Santo Domingo (the film was shot in the Dominican Republic), fending off bullies, and generally looking miserable. The dog and his future master don’t join forces until nearly halfway through the film, at which point Michael and his team have already braved several obstacles, including a bracing zip-line malfunction that leaves Olivia, and two bikes, dangling from Michael’s harness.

Sure, the film plays like a tourism ad for the Dominican Republic, but at least the action is palpable. And the story is typical paint-by-numbers inspirational — some bids at emotion feel awfully forced. Still, Wahlberg and company manage to hold your attention, and not just because there’s a cute dog in the frame.

Arthur the King Rated PG-13 for athletic suspense and dog injuries. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. In theaters.

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Spaceman review – Adam Sandler is adrift in outer space with a comfort spider

Red island review – cocktails, colonialism and comics in 70s madagascar, ‘the slap’, protests and tears: what makes a memorable oscar speech, mark kermode on… director wes craven, who made horror ‘a positive force in a world filled with fear’, ‘women have libidos too’: ethan coen and wife tricia cooke on their raunchy new lesbian road movie, dune: part two review – sci-fi sequel is immense, breathtaking wonder.

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  1. Living review

    Living review - Kazuo Ishiguro elegantly adapts 1950s mortality tale. Mark Kermode, Observer film critic. Sun 6 Nov 2022 03.00 EST. S entiment and understatement meet in this beautifully ...

  2. Mark Kermode reviews Living

    #MarkKermode #SimonMayo #FilmReviewsAn English-language adaptation of the script of "Ikiru" (1952), set in London in the 1950s.To hear more, follow Kermode a...

  3. Living movie review & film summary (2022)

    Living. Bill Nighy is a fun, uninhibited actor, but there's an abashed, melancholy quality to him that hasn't been fully explored until "Living," a drama about a senior citizen reckoning with his life. Nighy became an unlikely star playing a dissolute, clownish old rocker in "Love, Actually," and he's been aces in a series of character parts ...

  4. Living

    LIVING is the story of an ordinary man, reduced by years of oppressive office routine to a shadow existence, who at the eleventh hour makes a supreme effort to turn his dull life into something ...

  5. Mark Kermode: 50 films every film fan should watch

    Mark Kermode says: "By 1999, it was ranking at number 59 in the BFI 's Top 100 list of Best British Films of the century, ahead of classics like The Dam Busters, Passport to Pimlico, Oliver, Hope and Glory, and The Wicker Man. Watch the film and see why.".

  6. Mark Kermode reviews Poor Things

    #MarkKermode #SimonMayo #FilmReviewsThe incredible tale about the fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter; a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant ...

  7. Mark Kermode Movie Reviews & Previews

    38%. Don't Worry Darling (2022) It is less than the sum of Florence Pugh's performance. - Kermode and Mayo's Take (YouTube) Read More | Posted Dec 21, 2023. Read Movie and TV reviews from Mark ...

  8. Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo: 'I've never heard us described as an

    Mark wakes someone from a coma. In 2010, another Kermode rant, about Ron Howard's adaptation of Angels & Demons - "stupid in ways you could not possibly imagine" - had an unexpected consequence. An email from a listener revealed that her friend Andrew, in a coma following a cardiac arrest, was brought back to consciousness after ...

  9. Mark Kermode

    Mark Kermode (/ ˈ k ɜːr ˌ m oʊ d /, KUR-moh-d; né Fairey; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter, author and podcaster.He is the co-presenter, with Ellen E. Jones, of the BBC Radio 4 programme Screenshot and co-presenter of the film-review podcast Kermode & Mayo's Take alongside long-time collaborator Simon Mayo.

  10. Kermode

    Outspoken, opinionated and never lost for words, Mark Kermode is the UK's leading film critic. He is Chief Film Critic for the Observer and on the BBC News Channel Film Review; he hosts his own podcast Kermode On Film, and has a soundtrack movie soundtrack show on Scala radio.He co-hosts Kermode & Mayo's Film Review on BBC Radio 5 Live, presents Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema on BBC2 and a ...

  11. Mark Kermode reviews You, the Living (2007)

    "A collection of vignettes that pierce to the heart of the human condition, with a unique blend of humour and pathos." Watch You, the Living on BFI Player (U...

  12. BBC News

    Magazines & Reviews. Watch live. 19:30 GMT. The World Today with Maryam Moshiri. Home. Schedules. Contact Us. Mark Kermode's unique take on the best and worst of the week's film and DVD releases.

  13. ‎Kermode & Mayo's Take on Apple Podcasts

    The new home of Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo. They're back, and it's bigger, and better and larger-er and more-er. Film reviews, TV reviews, and all your conversation around movie and non-movie related stuff. Plus a whole bunch of recommendations to watch in cinemas, on all streaming services and on physical media.

  14. Mark Kermode: 50 films every film fan should watch

    A psychiatrist, living in Vienna, enters a torrid relationship with a married woman. When she ends up in the hospital from an overdose, an inspector becomes set on discovering the demise of their affair. Director: Nicolas Roeg | Stars: Art Garfunkel, Theresa Russell, Harvey Keitel, Denholm Elliott. Votes: 9,574.

  15. Mark Kermode Reviews "Life Itself"

    LIFE ITSELF opened in London and all over the United Kingdom this past weekend. Acclaimed British film critic, Mark Kermode, penned a four-star review of Steve James' documentary about Roger Ebert for The Guardian.. On the BBC Radio program, "Kermode and Mayo's Film Review," Kermode also delivered a wonderful five-minute analysis of the film while naming Ebert as "the great American humanist ...

  16. ‎Kermode and Mayo's Film Review on Apple Podcasts

    Daniel Radcliffe and Sandra Bullock talk about The Lost City. Plus Mark reviews Morbius, which features show favourite Jared Leto as Biochemist Michael Morbius; True Things, Harry Wootliff's drama starring Ruth Wilson as a young woman living on the fringes of society; Sonic the Hedgehog 2 with Jim Carrey; animation The Bad Guys, about several reformed yet misunderstood criminal animals who ...

  17. Everything Everywhere All at Once review

    Mark Kermode's film of the week Science fiction and fantasy films. ... and declaring that although she is currently living "the worst you", ... The same is true of this movie, which delights ...

  18. Mark Kermode reviews Knock at the Cabin

    #MarkKermode #SimonMayo #FilmReviewsWhile vacationing, a girl and her parents are taken hostage by armed strangers who demand that the family make a choice t...

  19. Ryan Gosling Performs 'I'm Just Ken' at the Oscars

    Ryan Gosling Delivers a 'Just Ken' Spectacle at the Oscars. In one of the evening's most anticipated performances, Gosling and dozens of dancers went over the top and even brought out Slash ...

  20. 'Arthur the King' Review: Dog Days With Mark Wahlberg

    The movie begins with Michael acting like a hypercompetitive jerk; his arrogance costs his team a big race. Three years later, Michael's gone domestic — but a "racer's gotta race," he ...

  21. Imaginary review

    Imaginary, teased by an audio-first, cinema-only trailer far smarter than the movie itself, is a shameless grab bag of stolen parts clumsily stitched together with such carelessness, it's a ...

  22. Movies

    Red Island review - cocktails, colonialism and comics in 70s Madagascar 4 out of 5 stars. Mark Kermode on… director Wes Craven, who made horror 'a positive force in a world filled with fear'