:Mark Kermode

Kermode was born in the Royal Free Hospital in the London Borough of Camden.https://planetradio.co.uk/scala-radio/presenters/mark-kermode/ {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}} He was educated at the state-funded Church of England primary school St Mary's at Finchley,https://planetradio.co.uk/scala-radio/presenters/mark-kermode/ {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}} and was granted a Barnet-council-funded free place at The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Elstree, Hertfordshire under the Direct grant grammar school{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1965/jan/20/direct-grant-schools |title=Direct Grant Schools (Hansard, 20 January 1965)}} scheme in 1974, at the same time as actor Jason Isaacs.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/mar/11/jason-isaacs-i-want-to-punch-walls-monster-family |title=Jason Isaacs: 'I want to punch walls' |newspaper=The Observer |date=11 March 2018 |last=Cooke |first=Rachel}}{{cite news|first=Paul |last= Lester |title= JC Interview: Jason Isaacs. |url=http://www.thejc.com/home.aspx?ParentId=m12s28&SecId=28&AId=57814&ATypeId=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605002929/http://www.thejc.com/home.aspx?ParentId=m12s28&SecId=28&AId=57814&ATypeId=1 |archive-date=5 June 2008 |newspaper=The Jewish Chronicle |date=1 February 2008 |access-date=23 June 2008 |quote=Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School ... [produced] quite a vintage crop in [Isaacs'] time: fellow pupils included Sacha Baron Cohen, David Baddiel and Matt Lucas. 'I've seen Baddiel a few times', Isaacs says, and he sees the others occasionally at awards ceremonies. ... [N]ot all the Habs stars of the time were Jewish, though, and Isaacs has a lot of time for another alumnus, the BBC's film critic, Mark Kermode: 'He is always incredibly lovely and says hello on his Radio 5 podcasts, which I've listened to in Auschwitz and many other strange places. He's said I was too cool [at school], but he was at the epicentre of the in-crowd.'}}{{cite news |date=7 April 2022 |title=Jason Isaacs: 'Daniel Craig is more comfortable naked than with clothes on' |work=the Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/apr/07/jason-isaacs-daniel-craig-is-more-comfortable-naked-than-with-clothes-on |access-date=12 July 2023}}

Kermode's mother was a GP, who was born in Douglas, Isle of Man, and practised in Golders Green, north London. His father, the son of a travelling flour salesman, worked in the London Hospital in Whitechapel.https://planetradio.co.uk/scala-radio/presenters/mark-kermode/ {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}} His grandmother was Swiss German.{{cite podcast| url= https://open.spotify.com/episode/0pYrzANz5PbJpZqa7K8pKt?si=f76cb88827054af9| title= Gabriel Byrne, Dance First, How to Have Sex, Bottoms & The Killer| website= Spotify| publisher= Sony Music Entertainment| host= Mark Kermode & Simon Mayo| date= 3 November 2023| access-date= 3 November 2023}} He was raised as a Methodist, and later became a member of the Church of England.{{Cite news|first=Stephen |last= Dalton|author-link= Stephen Dalton |title=Mark Kermode: the new Jonathan Ross? |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article6997309.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615132737/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article6997309.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 June 2011 |newspaper=The Times|date=22 January 2010|access-date=15 December 2010 |location=London}} His parents divorced when he was in his early twenties, and he subsequently changed his surname to his Manx mother's maiden name by deed poll.{{cite news |first=Mark |last=Lawson |author-link=Mark Lawson |title=Drawn to the devil |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/apr/09/film-mark-kermode-interview |newspaper=The Guardian |date=9 April 2009 |access-date=9 April 2009 |location=London}} He earned his PhD in English at the University of Manchester in 1991, writing a thesis on horror fiction.

File:Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo recording a podcast.jpg at the Indigo O2 in 2022]]

Kermode began his film career as a print journalist, writing for Manchester's City Life, and then Time Out and NME in London. He has subsequently written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Observer, The Independent, Vox, Empire, Flicks, 20/20, Fangoria, Video Watchdog and Neon.[http://www.soton.ac.uk/english/profiles/kermode.html Mark Kermode], English Department teaching staff, University of Southampton, accessed 14 January 2008

Kermode began working as a film broadcaster on LBC in 1988, after which he moved to BBC Radio 5 (later rebranded as 5Live). Between February 1992 and October 1993, he was the resident film reviewer on BBC Radio 5's Morning Edition with Danny Baker. He became the film critic for BBC Radio 1 in 1993, on a regular Thursday night slot called Cult Film Corner on Mark Radcliffe's Graveyard Shift session.{{cite web |url=http://www.planetbods.org/markandlard/brew/others |title=Fancy a Brew? (Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley website) |access-date=23 April 2008}} He later moved to Simon Mayo's BBC Radio 1 morning show. He hosted a movie review show with Mary Anne Hobbs on Radio 1 on Tuesday nights called ClingFilm.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/radio1/maryannehobbs.shtml |title=Mary Anne Hobbs |publisher=BBC |access-date=20 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213135538/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/radio1/maryannehobbs.shtml |archive-date=13 December 2007}}

From 2001 until 2022, Kermode reviewed and debated new film releases with Mayo on the BBC Radio 5 Live show Kermode and Mayo's Film Review.{{cite web| title= BBC – Podcasts – Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo's Film Review | url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lvdrj| publisher= BBC Radio 5 Live | access-date=14 June 2011}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12151573 |title=BAFTA member Mark Kermode |publisher=BBC News |date=10 January 2011 |access-date=9 September 2011}} The programme won Gold in the Speech Award category at the 2009 Sony Radio Academy Awards on 11 May 2009.[http://www.radioawards.org/winners/?awid=159&awname=The+Speech+Award&year=2009 Speech Award 2009 citations] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515100223/http://www.radioawards.org/winners/?awid=159&awname=The%2BSpeech%2BAward&year=2009 |date=15 May 2009}} Sony Radio Academy official site On 11 March 2022, it was announced by Simon Mayo, at the start of Kermode and Mayo's Film Review, that the last episode would be broadcast on 1 April 2022.

Kermode and Mayo launched a non-BBC film and television podcast called Kermode & Mayo's Take in May 2022.

Kermode has worked on film-related documentaries including The Fear of God; 25 Years of The Exorcist,{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p07r5pwq/the-fear-of-god-twentyfive-years-of-the-exorcist |title=The Fear of God: Twenty-Five Years of the Exorcist}} Hell on Earth: The Desecration and Resurrection of Ken Russell's The Devils, Alien: Evolution,{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/31/mark-kermode-dvd-round-up |title=Mark Kermode's DVD round-up |work=The Observer |first=Mark |last=Kermode |date=31 October 2010 |access-date=4 October 2021}} On the Edge of Blade Runner,{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/05/blade-runner-final-cut-timeless-sci-fi-classic-review |title=Blade Runner: The Final Cut review – a timeless sci-fi classic |work=The Observer |first=Mark |last=Kermode |date=5 April 2015 |access-date=2 October 2021}} Mantrap: Straw Dogs – The Final Cut, Shawshank: The Redeeming Feature, The Poughkeepsie Shuffle: Tracing the French Connection, Salo: Fade to Black, The Real Linda Lovelace{{cite web | url=https://mubi.com/en/gb/films/the-real-linda-lovelace |title=The Real Linda Lovelace (2002)}} and The Cult of The Wicker Man.{{cite web |url=http://us.macmillan.com/theexorcist#biography |title=Biography |publisher=Macmillan |date=4 December 2009 |access-date=9 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523173325/http://us.macmillan.com/theexorcist#biography |archive-date=23 May 2009 |url-status=dead}}

From 2001 to 2005, Kermode reviewed films each week for the New Statesman.[http://www.newstatesman.com/writers/mark_kermode Mark Kermode], New Statesman, accessed 14 January 2008 Prior to becoming chief film critic in 2013, he wrote "Mark Kermode's DVD round-up" for The Observer, a weekly review of the latest releases.{{cite news |title=Mark Kermode's DVD round-up |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/series/mark-kermode-dvd-round-up |newspaper=The Observer |access-date=10 June 2011 |location=London |date=13 July 2009}} He also writes for the British Film Institute's Sight and Sound magazine.{{cite web |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk//people/mark-kermode|title=Mark Kermode|website=British Film Institute|access-date=30 October 2019}} From 1995 to 2001, Kermode was a film critic and presenter for Film4 and Channel 4, presenting the weekly Extreme Cinema strand. He has written and presented documentaries for Channel 4 and the BBC, and until 2023 appeared on The Film Review for BBC News at Five.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rk5j5|title=The Film Review|work=BBC Online|access-date=28 December 2015}} For BBC Two's The Culture Show, Kermode hosted an annual "Kermode Awards" episode, which presented statuettes to actors and directors not nominated for Academy Awards that year.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qypkc|title=BBC Two – The Culture Show, Forget the Oscars, Here Are the Kermodes: A Culture Show Special|work=BBC}}

In 2002, Kermode challenged the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), the censor for film in the UK, about its cuts to the 1972 film The Last House on the Left.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/mark-kermode-on-censorship-what-are-they-scared-of-645952.html |title=Mark Kermode on censorship: What are they scared of? |last=Kermode |first=Mark |date=21 June 2002 |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=11 January 2009 |location=London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220141343/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/mark-kermode-on-censorship-what-are-they-scared-of-645952.html |archive-date=20 February 2009}} In 2008, the BBFC allowed the film to be re-released uncut.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/last-house-left |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130221003017/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/last-house-left |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 February 2013 |title=The Last House On The Left |access-date=6 June 2020 |publisher=British Board of Film Classification}} He has since stated that the BBFC do a good job in an impossible situation and expressed his approval of their decisions.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

In a 2012 Sight & Sound poll of cinema's greatest films, Kermode indicated his ten favourites, a list later published in order of preference in his book Hatchet Job, as The Exorcist, A Matter of Life and Death, The Devils, It's a Wonderful Life, Don't Look Now, Pan's Labyrinth, Mary Poppins, Brazil, Eyes Without a Face and The Seventh Seal.{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/voter.php?forename=Mark&surname=Kermode |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020818023952/http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/voter.php?forename=Mark&surname=Kermode |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 August 2002 |title=Sight and Sound |publisher=BFI |date=3 August 2011 |access-date=9 September 2011}}

From September 2013 to September 2023, Kermode was the chief film critic for The Observer.{{cite news|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23745900 | title= Mark Kermode is new Observer film critic | date= 18 August 2013 | publisher= BBC News| access-date=30 September 2013}}

In 2018, he began to present his own documentary series Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema on BBC Four. A second series followed, as well as disaster movie, Christmas, and Oscar winners specials.

Between 2019 and 2024, Kermode presented a soundtrack-themed show on classical radio station Scala Radio.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-46947959|title=Simon Mayo joins new classical station|date=21 January 2019|website=Bbc.co.uk|access-date=30 October 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bauermedia.co.uk/news/scala-radio-announces-more-targeted-music-curation-as-it-unveils-new-schedule/|title=Scala Radio announces more targeted music curation as it unveils new schedule|date=2024-02-17|access-date=2024-02-24}}{{Cite web|url=https://radiotoday.co.uk/2024/02/mark-forrest-mark-kermode-luci-holland-richard-allinson-and-sam-hughes-to-leave-scala-radio/|title=Mark Forrest, Mark Kermode, Luci Holland, Richard Allinson and Sam Hughes to leave Scala Radio|website=radiotoday.co.uk|date=2024-02-22|access-date=2024-02-24}}

Kermode produces an annual "best-of-the-year" and "worst-of-the-year" movie lists, thereby providing an overview of his critical preferences. His top choices were:

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• Hollywood: Sixty Great Years (1992), with Jack Lodge, John Russell Taylor, Adrian Turner, Douglas Jarvis, Adrian Castell
• BFI Modern Classics: The Exorcist (1997)
• BFI Modern Classics: The Shawshank Redemption (2003)
• It's Only a Movie: Reel Life Adventures of a Film Obsessive (2010)
• The Good, The Bad and The Multiplex: What's Wrong With Modern Movies? (2011)
• Hatchet Job: Love Movies, Hate Critics (2013)
• BFI Modern Classics: Silent Running (2014)
• The Movie Doctors (2015), with Simon Mayo
• How Does It Feel? A Life of Musical Misadventures (2018)
• Mark Kermode's Surround Sound (2025), with Jenny Nelson

In February 2010, Random House released his autobiography, It's Only a Movie, which he describes as being "inspired by real events".{{cite news |url=http://www.thebookseller.com/news/76846-kermode-to-random-house.html |title=Kermode to Random House |last=Gallagher |first=Victoria |date=10 February 2009 |work=The Bookseller |access-date=11 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101026123331/http://www.thebookseller.com/news/76846-kermode-to-random-house.html |archive-date=26 October 2010}} Its publication was accompanied by a UK tour.{{cite web |url=http://www.onlyamovie.co.uk/ |title=It's Only a Movie |publisher=Random House |access-date=21 July 2010}} In September 2011, he released a follow-up book entitled The Good, the Bad and the Multiplex, in which he expresses his opinions on the good and bad of modern films, and vehemently criticizes the modern multiplex experience and the 3D film craze that had grown in the years immediately preceding the book's publication.{{cite news |last=Kermode |first=Mark |title=How to make an intelligent blockbuster and not alienate people |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/aug/28/mark-kermode-multiplex-blockbuster |access-date=28 December 2011 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=28 August 2011 |location=London}} In 2013, Picador published Hatchet Job: Love Movies, Hate Critics in which he examines whether professional "traditional" film critics still have a role in a culture of ever increasing numbers of online bloggers and amateur critics.{{cite web |url=http://www.picador.com/markkermode |title=Picador – Mark Kermode |publisher=Picador |access-date=16 June 2014}}

In 2017, he collaborated with his idol William Friedkin on the feature documentary The Devil and Father Amorth, as a writer. The film had its first showing at the Venice Film Festival on 31 August 2017.{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/williamfriedkin/status/890611025518534656 |title=William Friedkin on Twitter |website=Twitter |access-date=30 October 2019}}

Kermode was a regular presenter on BBC Two's The Culture Show and appeared regularly on Newsnight Review. During a 2006 interview with Kermode for The Culture Show in Los Angeles, Werner Herzog was shot with an air rifle. Herzog appeared unflustered, later stating: "It was not a significant bullet. I am not afraid".[https://web.archive.org/web/20130129033733/http://www.hollywood.com/news/Herzog_Shot_During_Interview_/3478770 Herzog shot during interview], Hollywood.com, 3 February 2006, accessed 29 January 2013[http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_4680000/newsid_4681000/bb_rm_4681050.stm Herzog on his latest film Grizzly Man], BBC News, accessed 14 January 2008

Kermode co-hosted an early 1990s afternoon magazine show on BBC Radio 5 called A Game of Two Halves, alongside former Blue Peter presenter Caron Keating.{{cite book|title=It's Only a Movie: Reel Life Adventures of a Film Obsessive| first=Mark|last=Kermode| year=2010|location=London |publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1-84794-602-7|page={{Page needed|date=September 2010}}}}

Kermode appeared in a cameo role as himself in the revival of the BBC's Absolutely Fabulous on 1 January 2012.{{cite web|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/episode/n44cm/absolutely-fabulous--job |title=Absolutely Fabulous |series=6 – 2. Job |publisher=Radio Times |access-date=8 October 2012}}

In April 2008, Kermode started a twice-weekly video blog hosted on the BBC website, in which he discussed films and recounts anecdotes. He retired the podcast for its tenth anniversary at the close of 2018, with special episodes on his most and least favourite movies of the previous decade.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/markkermode/ |title=Kermode Video Blog from the BBC's Blog Network website |publisher=BBC |access-date=9 September 2011}}

Kermode has recorded DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD audio commentaries for Tommy (with Ken Russell), The Devils (with Ken Russell and Mike Bradsell), The Ninth Configuration (with William Peter Blatty), The Wicker Man{{cite web |url=http://www.dvdoutsider.co.uk/dvd/reviews/w/wicker_man.html |title=The Wicker Man review |website=Dvdoutsider.com |access-date=23 April 2008}} (with Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee and Robin Hardy), Gregory's Girl, Cruising{{cite web |url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/cruising-blu-ray-review-william-friedkin-arrow/ |title=Blu-ray Review: William Friedkin's Cruising on Arrow Video |website=Slant Magazine |date=22 August 2019}} (with William Friedkin), Bait,{{cite web | url=https://shop.bfi.org.uk/bait-dual-format-edition.html |title=Bait (Dual Format Edition)}} Enys Men{{cite web |url=https://shop.bfi.org.uk/enys-men-dual-format-edition.html |title=Enys Men (Dual Format Edition)}} (both with Mark Jenkin) and (with Peter O'Toole) Becket.{{cite web |url=http://www.reel.com/movie.asp?MID=2337&PID=10117483&buy=closed&Tab=reviews&CID=18 |title=Becket review |website=Reel.com |access-date=23 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205142958/http://www.reel.com/movie.asp?MID=2337&PID=10117483&buy=closed&Tab=reviews&CID=18 |archive-date=5 December 2008}} He appears in the DVD extras of Lost in La Mancha, interviewing Terry Gilliam, and Pan's Labyrinth, in which he interviews Guillermo del Toro about the film, which he has called a masterpiece. Kermode has written books, published by the BFI in its Modern Classics series, on The Exorcist,{{cite book |last=Kermode |first=Mark |title=The Exorcist |publisher=BFI Publishing |location=London |year=2003 |edition=2nd |isbn=978-0-85170-967-3}} Silent Running{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/silent-running-9781844578320/ |title=Silent Running}} and The Shawshank Redemption{{cite book |last=Kermode |first=Mark |title=The Shawshank Redemption |publisher=BFI Publishing|location=London |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-85170-968-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/shawshankredempt0000kerm}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2004/aug/22/film |title=Hope springs eternal|last=Kermode |first=Mark |date=22 August 2004 |newspaper=The Observer |access-date=28 December 2009 |location=London}} and his documentary for Channel 4, Shawshank: The Redeeming Feature, is on the film's tenth anniversary special edition DVD.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2004/09/08/the_shawshank_redemption_2004_dvd_review.shtml |title=The Shawshank Redemption 10th Anniversary SE DVD (1994) |last=Papamichael|first=Stella |date=8 September 2004 |publisher=BBC Movies|access-date=28 December 2009}}

Kermode's family connections with the Isle of Man have led to him playing a role in Manx culture and the arts. This has seen him host various talks on the island.{{cite web |title=Mark Kermode opening event celebrates island culture 2014 |url=https://www.gov.im/categories/leisure-and-entertainment/arts-council/news/?altTemplate%3DViewCategorisedNews%26id%3D20352 |access-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925093035/https://www.gov.im/categories/leisure-and-entertainment/arts-council/news/?altTemplate=ViewCategorisedNews&id=20352 |archive-date=25 September 2015}} He has also been involved with the annual Isle of Man Film Festival.{{cite web |url=http://www.isleofmanfilmfestival.com/iomff2015/ |title=IOMFF2015 |work=Isle of Man Film Festival |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925121751/http://www.isleofmanfilmfestival.com/iomff2015/ |archive-date=25 September 2015}}

Kermode became patron of the Sir John Hurt Film Trust in November 2019.{{cite web |url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/sir-john-hurt-film-trust-based-in-cinema-city-1-6370194 |title=Mark Kermode to Be Patron of Norfolk's New Sir John Hurt Film Trust |publisher=Eastern Daily Press |date=11 November 2019 |access-date=23 January 2020}} He is a visiting fellow at the University of Southampton.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/review/3128773.stm Kermode on BBC Newsnight Review], accessed 14 January 2008

File:The Dodge Brothers at the 100 Club.jpg in 2013 at the 100 Club]]

Kermode played double bass for a skiffle/rockabilly band called the Railtown Bottlers in the early 1990s. They were the house band on the BBC show Danny Baker After All for a series, starting in 1993,{{cite news |title=Critically speaking |url=http://archive.thisishampshire.net/2002/4/13/65700.html |newspaper=Southampton Echo |date=13 April 2002 |access-date=28 December 2009}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}{{cite news |last=Kermode |first=Mark |title=My 20-year love affair with the joy of skiffle |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/jun/01/popandrock2 |newspaper=The Observer |location=London |date=1 June 2008 |access-date=28 December 2009}} in which he performed with the Madness lead singer Suggs, Nick Heyward, Alison Moyet, Aimee Mann, Nanci Griffith, Tim Finn and Squeeze.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} In 2001 he formed skiffle quartet the Dodge Brothers, playing double bass.

Talking about playing the chromatic harmonica with an orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, he said: "Somehow I got away with it. You can listen to it. It's not terrible, it's not brilliant, but it's fine." Kermode says that sheer persistence is the key to his musical success: "I'd rate enthusiasm and persistence over talent. And that's been a guiding light, that you shouldn't be put off by being unprepared or technically inept. I have managed to surround myself with other people who can play. And actually that's the trick."{{cite web |last=Read |first=4 Min |date=28 May 2020 |title=Interview: Mark Kermode |url=https://thebathmagazine.co.uk/interview-mark-kermode/ |access-date=8 December 2022 |website=The Bath Magazine |language=en-GB}}

Kermode is married to Linda Ruth Williams, a professor who lectures on film at the University of Exeter. From October to November 2004, they jointly curated a History of the Horror Film season and exhibition at the National Film Theatre in London.{{cite web|url=http://www.southampton.ac.uk/film/profiles/williams.html|title=Professor Linda Ruth Williams|publisher=University of Southampton|access-date=8 March 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080403125551/http://www.southampton.ac.uk/film/profiles/williams.html|archive-date=3 April 2008}} Kermode and Williams have two children.

Kermode has been described as "a feminist, a near vegetarian (he eats fish), a churchgoer and a straight-arrow spouse who just happens to enjoy seeing people's heads explode across a cinema screen".{{Cite news|url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/interview-mark-kermode-film-critic-2461582|title=Interview: Mark Kermode, film critic|first= Lee| last= Randall| work=The Scotsman Magazine|date=7 February 2010|access-date=21 July 2010}}

In the mid-1980s, Kermode was an "affiliate" of the Revolutionary Communist Group (RCG) and was involved in the Viraj Mendis Defence Campaign, against the deportation of one of the group's members to Sri Lanka.{{cite web|last=Kermode & Mayo|title=Mark Kermode – The Baader Meinhof Complex|website=YouTube|date=27 March 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YzOQHG_1P4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/8YzOQHG_1P4| archive-date=12 December 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=8 May 2016}}{{cbignore}} This developed into a high-profile national campaign involving people from left-wing groups such as the RCG, local residents of Manchester and extending to church leaders and Labour Party Members of Parliament.{{cite AV media|last=Viraj Mendis Defence Campaign|title=Viraj Mendis Will Stay!|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mxTPnEdEsg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/_mxTPnEdEsg| archive-date=12 December 2021 |url-status=live |via=YouTube |access-date=17 April 2014}}{{cbignore}} Kermode describes himself in this period as "a red-flag waving bolshie bore with a subscription to Fight Racism Fight Imperialism and no sense of humour."

Kermode is a patron of the charitable trust of the Phoenix Cinema in North London,{{cite web|url=http://www.phoenixcinema.co.uk/news/2010/02/mark-kermode/ |title=Mark Kermode |publisher=Phoenix Cinema |date=15 February 2010 |access-date=17 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927183117/http://www.phoenixcinema.co.uk/news/2010/02/mark-kermode/ |archive-date=27 September 2011}} which was his favourite cinema during his childhood in East Finchley.{{cite book |last=Kermode |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Kermode |title=It's Only a Movie: Reel Life Adventures of a Film Obsessive |publisher=Random House |year=2011 |page=26 |isbn=9780099543480}} The tenth-anniversary episode of Kermode and Mayo's Film Review was broadcast from the venue as part of its relaunch celebrations in 2010.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/09_september/29/film.shtml |title=Press Office – Kermode and Mayo Film Review live at Phoenix Cinema |publisher=BBC |access-date=8 October 2012}}

In 2013, Kermode was appointed an Island of Culture Patron by the Isle of Man Arts Council.

In 2016, Kermode was made an honorary Doctor of Letters at the University of Winchester.{{cite AV media |title=Mark Kermode receives honorary degree from the University of Winchester |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZgjth8T9BE |url-status=live |access-date=30 October 2019 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/lZgjth8T9BE |archive-date=12 December 2021 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

In 2018, Kermode was appointed Honorary Professor in the Film Studies Department at the University of Exeter.{{cite web|url=https://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/film/news/title_689761_en.html |title=Influential film critic Mark Kermode appointed Honorary Professor |publisher=University of Exeter |date=26 October 2018 |access-date=4 November 2018}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{IMDb name|0449417}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20240528084344/https://markkermode.co.uk/ Official website] (archived)
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00121bv Screenshot] at BBC Radio 4
• [https://www.theguardian.com/profile/markkermode Mark Kermode] at The Guardian
• [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/critic/mark-kermode Mark Kermode] at Rotten Tomatoes
• [https://www.kermodeandmayo.com/ Kermode and Mayo's Take] podcast
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bbn5pt Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema] on BBC Four
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160110065253/http://www.southampton.ac.uk/english/about/staff/kermode.page Mark Kermode] at University of Southampton (archived)

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kermode, Mark}}

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