Mark The Poet - The Podcast

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 2003 American martial arts film "Kill Bill: Volume 1" written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The film stars Uma Thurman as "the Bride", the former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, who is attacked on the day of her wedding rehearsal and left for dead by her former colleagues and fellow assassins. Four years later, a...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 2000 American survival drama film "Cast Away" directed by Robert Zemeckis. The film stars Tom Hanks as Chuck Noland, a time-obsessed systems analyst executive, who travels around the world to resolve productivity problems at FedEx depots, who becomes stranded on an uninhabited island after his plane crashes in the South Pacific. Thro...

In this episode Mark talks about "Zack Snyder's Justice League", the four hour long, 2021 directors cut of the 2017 American superhero film "Justice League" - featuring the DC Comics superhero team the Justice League, which consists of Batman/Bruce Wayne (played by Ben Affleck), Superman/Clark Kent (played by Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman/Diana Prince (played by Gal Gadot), Cyborg/Victor Stone (play...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 2010 science fiction action film "Inception" written and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Dominick "Dom" Cobb, a professional thief who specialises in industrial espionage, capable of extracting information from the minds of their targets using experimental military technology that allows them to inf...

In this episode Mark talks about the 2009 American romantic comedy-drama film "500 Days of Summer" directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. The story of the film, as told in a nonlinear narrative structure, revolves around the recollections and the memories of Tom Hansen (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a trained architect who works as a writer at a greeti...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 1997 American drama film "Good Will Hunting" directed by Gus Van Sant. Written and starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, the film follows 20-year-old Will Hunting (played by Matt Damon) who while working as a janitor at MIT is discovered to be a self-taught genius after he anonymously solves a difficult mathematical problem posted by...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 1991 American action adventure film "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" directed by Kevin Reynolds, based on the English folk tale Robin Hood. Set during the 12th Century, the story follows Robin of Locksley (played by Kevin Costner) - a nobleman who chose to follow Richard the Lionheart, King of England, during their Third Crusade to th...

In this episode Mark talks about the 2014 Marvel Cinematic Universe film "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. The sequel to the 2011 film "Captain America: The First Avenger", the plot of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" centres on Steve Rogers/Captain America (played by Chris Evans) as he continues to adjust to living in a world he does not understand, nor...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite TV series: the British comedy-drama television series "Derek" starring, written by, and directed by Ricky Gervais. The premise of this heart-warming series that consists of 14 episodes revolves around Derek Noakes (played by Ricky Gervais), a 50 year-old care worker at Broad Hill home for the elderly, who is described by all who him as someone...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 1995 American submarine film "Crimson Tide" directed by Tony Scott and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. The premise of the film concerns the clash of wills between the new executive officer and the commanding officer of a U.S. nuclear missile submarine at a time of political turmoil in the Russian Federation in which ul...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 2011 American science fiction romantic thriller "The Adjustment Bureau" written and directed by George Nolfi, based on the 1954 Philip K. Dick short story "Adjustment Team". The premise of the film tells the story of a United States congressman, David Norris (played by Matt Damon), who accidentally discovers that events that appear t...

In this episode Mark talks about the 2021 American television miniseries "WandaVision" created by Jac Schaeffer for the Disney+ streaming service. Set within the continuity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the series features Marvel Comics characters Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (played by Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (played by Paul Bettany). Taking place after the events of the 2019 film "Avenge...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: "Good Morning, Vietnam", which is a 1987 American war comedy-drama film written by Mitch Markowitz and directed by Barry Levinson. Set in Saigon in 1965, during the Vietnam War, the film stars Robert Williams as Airman Second Class Adrian Cronauer, a radio DJ for the Armed Forces Radio Service, who arrives in Vietnam to host a radio show...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 2014 science fiction psychological thriller "Ex Machina" written and directed by Alex Garland. The premise of the film revolves around Caleb Smith (played by Domhnall Gleeson), a programmer at a search engine company called Blue Book, who wins an office contest for a one-week visit to the luxurious home of the CEO of the company, Nat...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite TV series: the award-winning 2003-2009 American military science fiction television series "Battlestar Galactica". A re-imagining of the 1978 "Battlestar Galactica" TV series by Glen A. Larson, the show was developed by and Executively Produced by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, beginning as a three-hour miniseries before being followed by four...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 2014 American action-thriller "John Wick" directed by Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, and written by Derek Kolstad. The first chapter of a successful film franchise, "John Wick" stars Keanu Reeves as a retired professional hitman, who is grieving the loss of his wife who has recently died of a terminal illness, who is drawn out of r...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite Star Wars films: the 2016 film "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" directed by Gareth Edwards - with extensive reshoots undertaken by Tony Gilroy, who cowrote the screenplay with Chris Weltz. The first anthology film set within the Star Wars universe, the film is both a sequel to "Star Wars: Episode III - "Revenge of the Sith", which came out in 200...

In another Marvel Cinematic Universe themed episode, Mark talks about the 2013 American superhero film "Thor: The Dark World" directed by Alan Taylor. The sequel to the 2011 film "Thor" and the 2012 "The Avengers", the premise of the film concerns the Marvel character Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth) and his struggle to defend and protect his love interest, astrophysicist Jane Foster (played by Na...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 2014 American biographical comedy-drama "Big Eyes" directed by Tim Burton. The story of the film depicts the life of American artist Margaret Keane (played in the film by Amy Adams) - who is famous for painting portraits of people with big eyes - and how in the 1960s her then husband, Walter Keane (played in the film by Christoph Wal...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 2014 American drama film "Whiplash", written and directed by Damien Chazelle, about the relationship between an ambitious and talented jazz drummer, Andrew Neiman (played by Miles Teller) - a first year student at the prestigious Schaffer Conservatory in New York City - and the perfectionist Conservatory Studio bandleader, Terence Fl...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the inspirational 2015 science fiction film "The Martian" directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon. Adapted by Drew Goddard from the 2011 novel "The Martian" by Andy Weir, the premise of the film depicts an astronaut, Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon), in the year 2035, who becomes stranded on the surface of Mars when his fellow...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite TV shows: the American crime drama television series "Better Call Saul" created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Both a spin-off of, as well as a prequel to, the successful TV series "Breaking Bad", created by Vince Gilligan, the series revolves around the character of Jimmy McGill - an earnest lawyer and former con-man - and his series-long...

In this episode Mark talks about the charming 2021 American science fiction romantic comedy-drama film "The Map of Tiny Perfect Things" directed by Ian Samuels, from a screenplay and short story by Lev Grossman. The premise of the film revolves around Mark (Kyle Allen) and Margaret (Kathryn Newton) who are constantly reliving the same day over and again - so much so that they can anticipate when c...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the hilarious, family favourite, 1989 American comedy film "Uncle Buck" written and directed by John Hughes. The film stars John Candy as the unemployed, bachelor, and all-round slob, Buck Russell, who lives in the city of Chicago, who babysits his middle-class brother Bob and sister-in-law Cindy's three children - including one rebellio...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite TV shows that he has been watching since he was a child: the British science fiction television series "Doctor Who". First premiering on November 23, 1963, with its pilot episode "An Unearthly Child", the premise of the show revolves around the adventures of a rogue Time Lord who calls themselves "The Doctor" - who fled the planet of Gallifrey...