Lichfield Garrick
Mark Kermode
The Good, The Bad and
The Multiplex
If, like me, (to I’m sure, the horror of many in the room)
you had never heard of Mark Kermode previously and had only for the sake of
research read his Wikipedia page, you may have felt slightly daunted and
intimidated before entering the show. Indeed, I expected to be told every
opinion I’d ever had on film was wrong and should be burned. But this was not the
case.
Mark Kermode opened the show with an anecdote- about two
people he had met here before the show- immediately giving a sense of inclusion
that continued throughout the 70 minutes we got to enjoy his company. It was
clear that a majority of the audience were long-time fans, many of which were
spotted clutching his book (he did a signing afterward), adding to the unified
feeling in the room, although every so often the phrase “as you probably know”
was overused.
The main themes of Kermode’s talk centred around the (in his
view, unfortunate) rise of 3D cinema and how he believes cinema can be returned
back to its glory days. While immensely funny, “we can make films good…or
pointy”, it was also highly educational, explaining how old 3D cinema is and how
unpopular it has always been, this is clearly a man who knows his stuff and who
put his points across with such charm and justification you found it hard to
argue with him and simply joined the waves of heads nodding along in agreement.
Even his slightly more controversial ideas, such as simultaneous release of
films on all platforms in order to eradicate piracy were so well put across you
couldn’t really fault the idea and Kermode kept the pace light throughout,
dotting his opinions with amusing anecdotes so at no time did you feel attacked
or left out.
While at times it did feel as though Kermode was indulging
his own ego slightly in quoting Danny Dyer’s belief Kermode as a critic has
damaged Dyer’s career, you could forgive him for it due to his own amusement at
the idea. He also, in his defence, explained well how critics have very little
influence over box office takings and stated the ironic fact that if a critic
pans a film, people will go and see it for themselves to see how bad it really
is!
He concluded his talk in a moment of seriousness concisely
and with real balance of opinion (although they’re wrong and we’re right)
expressing his true wish for cinema to go back to a theatrical experience it
used to be in order to attract back those driven away from theatres. And
though, at this point it did feel like a very well-rehearsed essay, I would
have given him top marks for it.
Kermode then moved onto audience questions, which allowed
for the variety of topics that may have felt lacking in the main talk to be
discussed, such as the future of the British Film Industry and physical special
effects V.S CGI, the opinions expressed of which I am happy to admit changed a
few of my own. Kermode also gladly indulged an audience member by reading out a
Facebook page intended to raise awareness to restore The Regal Cinema in
Lichfield and we all got to say hello to Jason Issacs.
Overall it was a highly enjoyable evening, and every
audience member came out gabbling furiously about some film topic or another. Kermode’s
work was done; he’d made us all talk about film.
Rating: 4 ½ / 5 Stars
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