Steven Spielberg

Mark Kermode's rule on director Steven Spielberg is this: the less significant Spielberg thinks the film is, the better it is. So Jurassic Park is better than Schindler's List, ET: The Extra Terrestrial is better than Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, and War Of The Worlds is better than Munich.

Spielberg has won two Best Director Oscars, one for Schindler's List and the other for Saving Private Ryan.

Mark once apologised to Spielberg for getting AI: Artificial Intelligence wrong, after being corrected by the Good Lady Professor Her Indoors.

While working for The Culture Show, Mark put together a piece celebrating Spielberg's 60th birthday. During this, Mark interviewed Spielberg, who told him that he would only make Indiana Jones 4 - if he could make it "a double helping of butter popcorn with extra frosting on the top." Mark then repeated this quote every single time any reference to Indiana Jones came up. Time ultimately proved Spielberg incapable of delivering on the promise.

It was also while recording this 60th birthday piece that Mark secured a long interview with George Lucas. Lucas agreed with Mark's view that Spielberg is overly sentimental and that the end of Schindler's List was "really overdoing it." Mark resisted the temptation to point out that Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith were also somewhat overdoing it too.