Secondary infection

Simon Mayo's theory that the films that really, really, really upset Mark Kermode are those that aren't just bad, but are also morally reprehensible. A film can be "just awful", such as - say - Three And Out, but it won't trigger a Kermodian rant (and indeed, sometimes listeners are disappointed that what they had expected to be a thorough kicking for complete drivel turns out to be a sigh and a shrug of a review). But when poor film-making is coupled with an approach to its characters, subject and theme that Mark finds appalling, the secondary infection kicks in and the full-on anger is triggered. Examples include not only the famous Entourage rage, but the "morally offensive" Green Street; the "morally repugnant" Rambo and Wolves At The Door; the "morally bankrupt" Sex And The City; and The Last Kiss, which left him "morally angry".