Film critic Mark Kermode: ‘My stag night consisted of going to see The Exorcist on my own’

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Mark Kermode was born in 1963 and grew up in East Finchley. He started his career as a print journalist flexing his pen at Manchester’s City Life, Time Out and the NME, and in the subsequent 40 years has risen to become one of the UK’s most prolific film critics. He was the Observer’s chief film critic for exactly a decade, until 2023. Mark has also been broadcasting about film since the late 80s. Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review - alongside long-time collaborator Simon Mayo - ran for more than 20 years on BBC Radio 5 Live. The pair continue to bicker about movies on their podcast - Kermode and Mayo’s Take. He’s done all this while moonlighting as a musician; Mark played double bass for a rockabilly band called the Railtown Bottlers in the early 1990s.