Mark Kermode 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. He is a regular contributor to The Observer, for which he was chief film critic between September 2013 and September 2023.
Kermode at the 2018 BFI London Film Festival
Kermode with Simon Mayo at the Indigo O2 in 2022
Kermode performing with The Dodge Brothers in 2013 at the 100 Club
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findings and essays in books and journals, and general journalistic criticism that appears regularly in press newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets. Academic film criticism rarely takes the form of a review; instead it is more likely to analyse the film and its place in the history of its genre, the industry and film history as a whole.
Chicago critic Roger Ebert (right) with director Russ Meyer