Heres how it went… And both you and your mother do not recall that it was your finest hour.
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Its a really interesting question.
And she says no its not.
She says in the age of the internet, no its not, everything is permanent.
At least you’re able to find stuff much easier.
You are being gliberal.
Youre excusing her for all the wrong reasons.
That way, madness lies.
So, is it harder now for somebody starting out, because automatically youre part of the debate?
I dont think thats what makes it harder.
By the time I had a review printed inCity Lifemagazine, Id been writing reviews for a long time.
But I dont think its a bad thing that its opened up the conversation.
And if youre going to just listen to everything, youre probably not going to do yourself many favours.
And thats fine, its a difference of opinion.
Also as I said in the book some people said dont take cheap swipes atStar Warsjust because you likeTwilight.
Other people just ranted, and I just ignored them, because I dont care what those people think.
A lot of your book though talks about how criticism has evolved, and the medium has evolved.
But I also think the audience for criticism has changed.
I absolutely agree with that.
[Silence]
Youre glaring at the voice recorder!
I have no interest!
And in the scheme of things, youre the big, famous critic, and were not!
They ride it out.
What Im interested in with the internet is having a conversation.
Yeah, but the Argo thing is interesting.
IfHatchet Jobis anything, its an argument saying thats not true.
But in the case ofArgo, they didnt need to harvest Twitter quotes.
There was already enough evidence that the critics liked the movie from very early on.
People like it as well.
But as you know, those reviews are not worth the paper theyre not written on.
But firstly: how do you know?
Secondly: who are those people?
It turns out that you may not someone whose opinion Id want to take seriously.
So would you buy the argument that film criticism is more interesting after the film has been released?
Its something you touch on in the book.
I do talk about it, yes, and it was something I learned very late in the day.
I always used to believe that film criticism came first, and everything else came second.
Theyre there to talk about film.
But I dont think theres a huge difference between those two things.
The great thing is: fine.
In many ways, maybe thats the best way to do it.
Even a full-time critic can no longer cover every film on UKrelease.
The question about championing… heres the reason I would approach it slightly carefully.
My take has always been that critics cant kill a film, and I stand by that.
It doesnt matter whether you like a film or dont like a film.
If talking about a smaller film raises its profile, then of course it helps.
Thats something that hes done quite regularly, and thats admirable.
There have been films that I have raised the flag for,Good Vibrationsbeing one example.
Actually, probably thats the thing that Im the most interested in finding.
A smaller film, that I hope people do see.
You talk, in not positive terms, about the ongoing race to have the first review of something.
But then Ive read full first reviews of films 45 minutes after a films credits have rolled.
It bothers me more and more.
Ive never really understood the difference between Tweeting and an online review it is the same thing.
The general point for me is that I dont think the rush to speedy decisions is good for criticism.
In a way, thats what I try and do with the Kermode Uncut blog.
I was trying to express on that blog that you better let things settle.
There are some people for whom that settling process is very fast.
And the compromise is that you wait until the film is out, and then you review it.
Then if you should probably go back and reassess it, dont be embarrassed to do so.
I talk aboutA.I.,and getting that wrong the first time around.
And I do use the word wrong: I was wrong about it.
But by the nature of film criticism, were you?
Your review is your reaction and thoughts on material youd seen.
Surely, then, you werent wrong?
Your opinion just changed?
I saw the film from beginning to end and I responded honestly to it.
And he was right.
Part of my brain was going thats the cold Kubrick thing and thats the sentimental Spielberg thing.
And the big transition for me was to go I like sentimentality!
Was that the transition though?
Thats different then, isnt it?
That doesnt make either one of your reactions to it not legitimate.
But thats all you could do.
And over time, of course your opinions will change.
It was just one of those cases… isnt a right and wrong in terms of your opinions.
How old you are, whether youre a parent, where you were in a funny mood that day…
I remember sitting, and I dont say this flippantly, in a screening ofAlien: Resurrection.
It must be the basketball.
You know that was a real shot too?
She did it in two takes didnt she?
Anyway, as this was happening, what I thought was theres a perfect example.
This film is all over the place, but for some reason its hit something in this person.
And in the end, its all like that.
What you find funny, what you find scary… Ramsey Campbell always gives that lovely example.
You want to know whats scary?
Hell show you theRupert The Bearannual, with a picture of the tree walking on its roots.
And he says that everything he ever wrote in horror fiction comes back to that image.
You want to scare Ramsey Campbell, write a story about a walking tree!
Well I lovedAll Stars.So yes.
Movie critics are just filmgoers, thats all they are.
Theyre people who go to the movies a lot.
I dont know why anyone would take against it, its lovely.
I choseAll Starsas an example because I spoke to its director, Ben Gregor, afterwards.
Its like saying2001,oh, that wouldnt happen!
Breathing in space, whats all that about?
I watched an online panel discussion a week or two back that featured Noel Clarke on it.
And Noel has had his battles with critics.
Do you think theres an age limitation on how long critics should do this for?
So: should someone tell a critic to stop?
I hope that if I get to that point, someone will just take me out.
I dont think Philip French ever got to the point.
and you think you know, you just need to stop.
The minute you fall out of love with it, you better stop.
I dont think its to do with age.
I think its to do with enthusiasm.
And if I can make what sounds like a really ridiculous comparison, Elton John is 125 years old.
Everybody says that he listens to everything…
He writes to new artists doesnt he?
I know people who do the same thing in cinema.
I dont think you hit a certain age and have to stop doing something.
I think that some people just fall out of love with it, and it just becomes a job.
Should they stop then?
No, because its a job.
So its a music book next?
Im doing this thing now.
Writing about that film for me was the most important thing in that book.
Writing about something that I love that much.
As I was writing, I was thinking that I want to write about things that I love.
OrTake Me High,in which Cliff Richard is on a barge.
Because thats what the British pop movie looked like.
On the other hand you havePerformance, which is incredibly dark and really strange and really nasty.
And then you have Nic Roeg makingThe Man Who Fell To Earth,the great David Bowie film.
And all these things came out of a very British sensibility about pop.
I love those films, and thats what I want to write about.
Lets finish withJeremy, then.
For me, I do screenings and introduce films, and I get asked what I want to show.
Theres a 35mm print ofJeremy.
Wow: one of the reasons I chose that was that I hadnt seen a 35mm print ofJeremysince 1974.
Film academia tends much more to look back.
The best thing to happen to me in my life was Linda [Marks wife].
Hatchet Jobby Mark Kermode is available now in bookstores, published by Picador.
