Mark The Poet - The Podcast

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...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the inspirational 1976 American sports drama film "Rocky" directed by John G. Avildsen, which was written and stars Sylvester Stallone. The premise of the film is the "rags to riches" story of Rocky Balboa: a working class Italian-American boxer, who works works as a debt collector for a loan shark in the slums of Philidelphia, who gets...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite TV shows: the American psychological horror-thriller "Hannibal" developed by Excutive Producer and writer Bryan Fuller based on characters and elements from Thomas Harris' novels featuring one of literature and cinema's most iconic characters: Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The compelling and visually stunning series focuses on the relationship between F...

In this episode Mark talks about the 2020 American disaster film "Greenland" directed by Richard Roman Waugh. The film was produced by and stars Gerard Butler as John Garrity, a structural engineer living in Atlanta, Georgia, who along with his estranged wife Allison (played by Morena Baccarin) and their diabetic son, Nathan, as well as the entire population of the world, find themselves in an ard...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite TV shows: the American science fiction drama television series "The X-Files" created by Chris Carter. The series mainly revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agents Fox Mulder (played by David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (played by Gillian Anderson) who investigate so called "X-Files": which are usually unsolved cases invo...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 1968 American science fiction film "Planet of the Apes" directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and written by Michael Wilson and Rod Serling. Loosely based upon the 1963 French novel 'La Planète des Singes' by Pierre Boulle, the premise of the film revolves around an astronaut by the name of George Taylor (played by Charlton Heston) who c...

In another Marvel Cinematic Universe themed episode Mark does a review of the 2013 American superhero film "Iron Man 3" directed by Shane Black. A sequel to "Iron Man" and "Iron Man 2", the premise of the film revolves around Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr) wrestling with the ramifications of the events of "The Avengers" film - during which Tony Stark/Iron Man was instrumental in ending th...

In this episode Mark recites three of the most recent poems that he has written: "Naturally Reflective", "Every New Someone", "Loyal Companion", and he reflects upon who he is, what he misses, and why life and the time that we all have is so precious and should not be wasted.

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films, the 1994 American superhero film "The Crow" directed by Alex Proyas, and Mark also pays tribute to the sadly missed Brandon Lee. Brandon Lee plays the character Eric Draven, a rock musician who is revived by a supernatural crow to avenge his own death as well as the death of his fiancé, Shelly. Based upon the comic book of the same name...