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    Unavailable
    It's Only a Movie: Reel Life Adventures of a Film Obsessive
    Unavailable
    It's Only a Movie: Reel Life Adventures of a Film Obsessive
    Unavailable
    It's Only a Movie: Reel Life Adventures of a Film Obsessive
    Audiobook7 hours

    It's Only a Movie: Reel Life Adventures of a Film Obsessive

    Published by Random House UK Audio

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    To avoid fainting, keep repeating

    It's only a move
    ..only a movie
    ..only a movie
    ..only a movie

    If you grew up believing that Planet of the Apes told you all you needed to know about politics, that Slade in Flame was a savage exposé of the pop world, and that The Exorcist revealed the meaning of life, then you probably spent far too many of your formative years at the cinema. Just as likely, you soon would have realised that there was only one career open to you - you'd have to become a film critic.

    In It's only a Movie, the incomparable Mark Kermode takes us into the weird world of a life lived in widescreen. Join him as he embarks on a gut-wrenching journey through the former Soviet Union on the trail of the low budget horror flick Dark Waters, cringe as he's handbagged by Helen Mirren at the Bafta awards ceremony, cheer as he gets thrown out of the Cannes film festival for heckling in very bad French, and don't forget to gasp as he's shot at while interviewing Werner Herzog in the Hollywood hills. Written with sardonic wit and wry good humour, this compelling cinematic memoir is genuinely 'inspired by real events'.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRandom House UK Audio
    Release dateFeb 4, 2010
    ISBN9781409062899
    Unavailable
    It's Only a Movie: Reel Life Adventures of a Film Obsessive

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    Reviews for It's Only a Movie

    3.5/5

    65 ratings7 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Not bad, a bit like the radio show - lots of anecdotes told in a rambling style. Somehow not quite as satisfying. Maybe he needs another voice to keep bringing him back on track as with Simon Mayo on the radio.
    • 3/5
      I absolutely love Kermode's film reviews on radio, and this is basically more of the same - a number of the themes and stories will already be familiar to regular listeners. Easy and entertaining to read, though I think the style works better orally than down on the page.
    • 4/5
      As an avid fan of Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo's weekly films review podcast from their radio show on BBC 5 Live, I was looking forward to reading this memoir very much. I enjoy Mark's ability on the radio to yammer on endlessly (and often without much time to catch his breath) about films while also making the listeners laugh with his descriptive sense of humour and ongoing bickerings with his co-host.Reading this book was an experience very similar to listening to the podcast (albeit with the absence of Simon Mayo) in the sense that Kermode writes pretty much exactly how he speaks - at length, ramblingly and often skipping from one tangent to another. I won't claim that this is the best written memoir ever, as in some sections this style doesn't work as well for reading as it does for listening and there are some parts which I did think dragged, but, especially if you're a fan, I think, it's good fun and fills in some gaps of Mark's career that he may have not yet covered on the podcast (I've only been listening for a couple of years) whilst also setting down some of the more well-known anecdotes in print.The book definitely passed Kermode's own "5 Laugh Rule," (whether intentionally or not) and had me chuckling along embarrassingly in my lunch breaks, similarly to the experience of listening to the podcasts on my train journeys. I'm not sure if non-listeners would find it as amusing, but I would hope it would at least encourage them to look up the show on iTunes (if not the live radio show on Fridays itself).
    • 5/5
       This is an autobiography of sorts from the BBC film critic. I say 'of sorts' because it isn't a thorough account of his life, but just the parts relating to his obsession with film and his career as a film critic, rather than his personal life. In the Prologue, he sets out how the story will be told as if he was making tv movie of his life, perparing the reader for the likelihood that there may be some artistic license with the narrative. Chapters cover his childhood and early obsessions with film, his days in Manchester writing for the student press and City Life magazine, his early film critic career at Time Out, time spent in LA, a disastrous trip to Russia, his radio career and a series of amusing ancedotes from his career. It is written in a style similar to his broadcasting which I think polarises opinion - I love his film reviews (I don't see the point in being a critic if you aren't going to be passionately opinionated) but I know some people don't like him, so this book would not be for them. On the whole it is a light read, full of self-deprecating humour, but also with some interesting thoughts on films and the film industry, particularly censorship.
    • 3/5
      I'm a big Mark Kermode fan, couldn't wait to read this one when I heard about it. The book was alternatively thoughtful and witty about the in's and out's of being a film critic and the industry itself. The author himself describes it as "the reading equivalent of a TV Movie of the Week," even sets it up as one, with actor Jason Isaacs in the role of Mark Kermode. I have to say I'm probably biased about this book since I am a fan of the author already and am therefore predisposed to like it, but other readers or film enthusiasts who enjoy alternating self-deprecating and self-aggrandizing humor amidst a background of cinema classics will find something to like in this one.
    • 5/5
      'You sub?' said Geoff, his interest marginally piqued.'Oh yes, I do everything. Subbing. Listings, driving the van. Or crashing the van ha ha ha - only joking. But what I really want to do is write and —— 'It was Geoff's turn to cut in.'You've done listings?''Oh yes. But I really want to write . . .''But you can do listings. You have experience?''Yes I have experience in listings. And Writing.''But listings?''Yes, listings. And writing''But listings?'With my highly trained super-perception journalist skills I had started to detect a subtle undercurrent in our conversation which may not have been obvious to the untrained ear. Through some uncanny sixth sense I began to divine that Geoff may have an interest in someone with skills in the area of listings'. Without realising it, he had unwittingly allowed me an entry into the otherwise impenetrable fortress of the Time Out Film Section which I would now subtly exploit to my own advantage.Mark Kermode begins by saying that this book should be read as if it is a movie as Mark 'inspired by real events', since some of the other people involved remember events quite differently. Oh, and to get into the spirit of things, you should imagine that Jason Isaacs is playing Mark. It is the story of his life with films, from childhood trips to the cinema, through his time at university in Manchester where he writes his first published reviews for a local magazine, and on to London as an adult where he somehow manages to blag a paying job at at Time Out.Some of the stories in this book that had me laughing out loud, such as the 'job interview' quoted above and Mark's first disastrous attempt at reviewing films on radio. I am a long time listener to the Kermode and Mayo film podcast and Mark's voice comes across loud and clear in this very enjoyable book.
    • 3/5
      i agree with most other reviewers have said it is written in the style of his ramblings on the Radio show. however that is no bad thing when his ramblings are as laugh out loud funny as this.Oh why oh why is he not the BBCs regular film critic on television he is so much better that the current double act of Winkleman and (that guy who no one can remember).
      I found it a fun and quick read written by someone whose obvious love of films shines through and the anecdotes of various incidents with movie stars and directors are often laugh out loud funny.
      I recommend this book to any film lover (to whom I also recomend the Radio Five podcasts.)