Great Soundtrack, Shame About the Film episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 11, 2026 · 33 MIN

Great Soundtrack, Shame About the Film

from Kermode on Film

Recorded in the mosquito-infested fields of Latitude Festival, Mark and Jack dig into film music to mark the paperback release of Mark's book Surround Sound: The Stories of Movie Music, co-written with Jenny Nelson.They talk composer-director shorthand including John Williams and the "shark" scene from Jaws, Hans Zimmer and Christopher Nolan's one-page brief for Interstellar; they discuss the "great soundtrack, shame about the film" phenomenon referencing S. Darko, Cannibal Holocaust, Exorcist II: The Heretic; and how Jack worked with composer Benjamin Squires on his own short film The Second Time Around.Mark also talks about Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells and the eerie 15/8 time signature that makes The Exorcist's theme feel so wrong, and gives some hard-won advice on sticking with a creative career when nobody's paying you yet.Titles mentioned in this episode include:Spider-ManThe Social NetworkDriveInterstellarMan of SteelSupermanThe Lord of the RingsTinker Tailor Soldier SpyThe Wolfman (2010)Jennifer 8S. DarkoDonnie DarkoCannibal HolocaustExorcist II: The HereticThe ExorcistDon't Look NowE.T.JawsJurassic ParkYou Were Never Really HereThere Will Be BloodThe Zone of InterestWicked / Wicked: for GoodMary Poppins (Blunt-era)Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with MeBlade RunnerDrive My CarPsychoSuspiriaThe ShiningThe OdysseyThe Second Time Around (Jack Howard's brilliant short film, now available on Channel 4)This episode was produced by Hedda Lornie Archbold and Nicki Glossop, and edited by Jack Howard.  Recorded by Richard Gay.Kermode on Film and MK3D are HLA Agency productions.© HLA Agency Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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