Mark The Poet - The Podcast

In this episode Mark talks about the 2020 American computer-animated fantasy comedy-drama Pixar film "Soul", directed by Pete Docter and co-directed by Kemp Powers - which follows a middle school music teacher named Joe Gardner, who seeks to reunite his soul with his body after they are accidentally separated, just before his big break as a Jazz musician. The film is funny and entertaining, and al...

In this episode Mark recites his Christmas themed short story "The Man in Red" from his 2018 book "Playing God" - which centres around a protagonist known for being a "man in black" and who is also known for helping as many people as he can, wherever he can, whenever he can, by using the gifts of a god and by being a source of hope and optimism wherever he goes.

In another Star Wars themed episode Mark talks about the 1983 epic science-fiction/fantasy film: "Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi" directed by Richard Marquand and written by Lawrence Kasdan George Lucas. The film is last film of the "Original Trilogy" of Star Wars films starring Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia, Peter Mayhew as Ch...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the epic 2000 historical drama film "Gladiator" directed by Ridley Scott and written by David Franzoni, John Logan, and William Nicholson. "Gladiator" stars Russell Crowe as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed when Commodus, played by Joaquin Phoenix - the ambitious son of Emporer Marcus Aurelius - murders his father...

In this episode Mark does a review of the Season Finale of "The Mandalorian" - Season 2, Episode 8: "The Rescue" - in which there is a rescue attempted to save Grogu (The Child) from Moff Gideon (played Giancarlo Espisito) by The Mandalorian, Din Jarin (played by Pedro Pascal), and a group of allies that he has assembled... and there is also the return of a Jedi who seeks to help Grogu in his own...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films and one of his favourite films to watch at Christmas: the 1990 American Christmas family comedy film "Home Alone" - which stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern as Harry and Marv (burglars the "Wet Bandits"), John Heard as Peter McCallister (Kevin's father), and Catherine O'Hara as Kate McCallister (Kevin's...

In this episode Mark talks about the 2011 Marvel Cinematic Universe film "Thor" directed by Kenneth Branaugh and starring Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and Anthony Hopkins as Odin. The film was one of the first to introduce the characters of Thor, Loki, and Odin to a wider audience - all of whom are live-action depictions of the same characters fr...

In this episode Mark talks about the 2015 film "Room" directed Lenny Abrahamsom and written by Emma Donoghue, based upon her novel of the same name. The film is about a 24-year-old woman, Joy Newsome (played by Brie Larson), who has been held captive for seven years and who has been forced to care for her 5-year-old son, Jack (played by Jacob Tremblay), who was born in captivity, and who struggles...

In this episode Mark does a review of the latest episode of "The Mandalorian" - Season 2, Episode 7: "The Believer", in which we follow Din Jarin (The Mandalorian) and his newly assembled team attempting to seek out a means to find the location of where Moff Gideon is holding Grogu (The Child/Baby Yoda) captive with the help on an ex-Imperial Officer, Mayfeld (Bill Burr), who The Mandalorian has a...

In another "Star Wars" themed episode Mark talks about one of his favourite "Star Wars" films: "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back" - directed by Irvin Kershner and written by Leigh Blackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas, which is set three years after the events of "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope" and centres around the Galactic Empire, led by Darth Vader,...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite TV shows: the American comedy-drama detective mystery television series "Monk", created by Andy Breckman, starring Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk who is a former homicide detective and a consultant for the San Francisco Police department who has an extreme case of OCD as well as many fears and phobias that he has to daily deal with. "Monk" ran fo...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 1979 science fiction horror film "Alien", directed by Ridley Scott. The premise of the film revolves around the crew of the commercial space tug 'Nostromo', who encounter the eponymous Alien - a deadly and aggressive extraterrestrial Xenomorph that gets set loose on the ship and subsequently terrorises and attempts to eliminate the c...

In this episode Mark talks about the Marvel Cinematic Universe film "Iron Man 2" - the 2010 sequel to the 2008 "Iron Man" - which once again stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man facing off against a new threat who wishes to enact revenge on him as result of his late father seemingly being betrayed by Tony Stark's father Howard Stark - while Tony struggles with his own ailing health. The...

In this episode Mark does a review of the latest episode of "The Mandalorian": Season 2, Episode 6: "The Tragedy" - in which a fan-favorite returns, The Child is put in mortal danger, everything is thrown in chaos, and new allegiances are made.

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 1998 American romantic fantasy "City of Angels", directed Brad Silberling and starring Nicholas Cage and Meg Ryan. Set in Los Angeles, California, the film is a loose remake of Wim Wenders' 1987 film "Wings of Desire". As with the original film "City of Angels" tells the story of an angel, Seth (played by Nicholas Cage), who falls in...

In this Star Wars themed episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films and the film that began the cultural phenomenon and franchise that is "Star Wars" immediately after it premiered on May 25th, 1977: "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope", which was written and directed by George Lucas. The film stars Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia,...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 1968 epic science fiction film "2001: A Space Odyssey" directed by Stanley Kubrick who also produced and co-wrote the screenplay of the film with Arthur C. Clarke. The story of the film was inspired by a number of short stories by Arthur C. Clarke, most notably his 1951 short story "The Sentinel" - which depicts humanities encounters...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 1982 science fiction film "Blade Runner", directed by Ridley Scott and written by Hampton Fancier and David Peoples, based upon the 1968 novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick. The film is set in a dystopian version of 2019, in which synthetic humans known as "replicants" are bio-engineered by the powerful Tyr...

In this episode Mark talks about the 2008 American superhero film "Iron Man", directed by Jon Favreau, based upon the Marvel comics character of the same name. "Iron Man" was the first film in what has over time become known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe - which is a continuously growing series of films and TV shows that are all interconnected with one another and which are all set in the same...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 1990 American crime film "Goodfellas", directed by Martin Scorsese - which is an adaptation of the 1985 non-fiction book "Wiseguy" by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay of "Goodfellas" with Scorsese. The premise of the film revolves around the rise and the fall of mob associate Henry Hill and his interactions with man...

In this episode Mark does a spoilery review of the new episode of The Mandalorian - Season 2, Episode 5: "The Jedi" - which sees The Mandalorian finally come face to face with a fan favourite character from the Star Wars universe who may be able to shed some light on who "Baby Yoda" really is.

In another Star Wars-themed episode Mark talks about the 2005 "Star Wars" film "Star Wars: Episode III - "Revenge of the Sith", written and directed by George Lucas. The conclusive film in the so called "Prequel Trilogy" of the Star Wars franchise of films, "Revenge of the Sith" centres upon the end of "The Clone War", the demise of the Jedi Order, the fall of Anakin Skywalker, aswell as the rise...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 1975 American thriller "Jaws", directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the 1974 novel of the same name by Peter Brenchley. In the film, a man-eating great white shark attacks beachgoers at a summer resort town which prompts police chief Martin Brody (played by Roy Schneider) to hunt it with the help of a marine biologist (played by...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite TV series: "Lucifer" - which is an American urban fantasy television series developed by Tom Kapinos based on the DC Comics character created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Keith, and Mike Dringenberg taken from the comic book series The Sandman and who was also the main protagonist of a spin-off comic book series published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint....

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the critically-aclaimed 1993 American science fiction adventure film "Jurassic Park", directed by Stephen Spielberg. "Jurassic Park" is a film adaptation of the 1990 novel of the same name, written by Michael Crichton - whose premise centres around the creation of a wildlife park of dinosaurs that have been brought to life by genetic sci...