Arty nonsense

"For the overwhelming majority of the people listening who have no intention of going to see Antichrist, tell us about the new Sandra Bullock romcom" - Simon Mayo, BBC Radio 5 Live

"Arty nonsense" is a term used by Simon Mayo to describe some of Mark Kermode's selections for Movie of the Week, specifically when the title goes to a small independent film in a foreign language, whereas a large mainstream release that has been received positively misses out.

From Simon's point of view, he is performing his choric role on behalf of listeners nationwide unlikely to be able to watch something only being shown in one cinema in London (such as Bug), and therefore it is worth mentioning a movie people might actually be able to go out and see; from Mark's perspective, it is about championing wonderful small films to the public that otherwise could be overlooked - if his glowing review made one person see Black And White Documentary About Liverpool, for example, he feels his job as a critic is worth it.

Jason Isaacs emailed to point out that Simon kept doing this, and Simon initially was taken aback, threatening legal action at one point - until at the end of that week's releases, when Mark made Waltz With Bashir his Movie of the Week and Simon said it should be Body Of Lies. "From your own mouth are you condemned," Mark said.