Mark The Poet - The Podcast

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 1977 American science fiction film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", written and directed by Steven Spielberg. The premise of the film revolves around the character of Roy Neary (played by Richard Dreyfuss), an electrician from Indiana in the U.S., whose life is changed following an encounter with an unidentified flying object (U...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 1993 American fantasy comedy film "Groundhog Day" directed by Harold Ramis and starring Bill Murray as the character Phil Connors, a cynical and egotistical weatherman, who after covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, becomes trapped in a time loop which forces him to repeat the same February 2 over an...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 2013 American science-fiction romantic drama film "Her" - written, directed and produced by Spike Jonze. The film follows Theodore Twombly (played by Joaquin Phoenix), a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (played by Scarlett Johansson), an artificially intelligent virtual assistant personified through a female voice. The f...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 1984 American science fiction film "The Terminator" directed by James Cameron. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as an advanced cyborg assassin called a "Terminator" who is sent back in time from the year 2029 to the year 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (played by Linda Hamilton) whose son, John Connor, will one day become the leader of the H...

In this episode Mark reads three of his most recent poems: "It's A Boy!", "Frozen Tears", and "Always". Mark also attempts to share a message of hope for those who like most of the world are struggling with living their life as best as they can during the challenging times the people of the world are currently facing.

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films and the first film that he remembers seeing in a cinema as a child: the 1989 film "Batman" directed by Tim Burton. Based upon the DC Comics character of the same name, "Batman" redefined not only the superhero genre of films but its depiction of the "Dark Knight" refined how people interpreted who the character is and it also examined the...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 1978 superhero film "Superman: The Movie" directed by Richard Donner - written by Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman, and Robert Benton - based upon the DC Comics character of the same name. The film stars an ensemble cast of phenomenonal actors, including: Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, Jackie Co...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 1986 coming-of-age film "Stand by Me" directed by Rob Reiner, based on Stephen King's 1982 novella 'The Body'. Starring Wil Wheaton as Gordie LaChance (aged 12), River Phoenix as Chris Chambers, Corey Feldman as Teddy Duchamp, Jerry O'connell as Vern Tessio, and Keifer Sutherland as John 'Ace' Merrill, the story of "Stand by Me" revo...

In this Marvel Cinematic Universe themed episode Mark talks about the 2012 American superhero film "The Avengers" (also known as "Avengers Assemble" in the UK) - written and directed by Joss Whedon. In this ensemble film, which was the first to feature many prominent Marvel characters from other Marvel films who also featured within the pages of Marvel Comics over the decades, "The Avengers" bring...

In this episode Mark talks about the British dystopian science fiction anthology TV series "Black Mirror" created by Charlie Brooker. Made up of standalone episodes (which are alluded to all take part within the same fictional narrative universe) each of which examine humanities ever-evolving and over-dependant relationship with ever more advanced forms of technology, and dramatises questions such...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films of the last few years: the 2019 comedy-drama film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Set in 1969 Los Angeles, the film follows the fading career of character actor Rick Dalton (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt double Cliff Booth (played by Brad Pitt) as they navigate the changing film indu...

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: 2010 American psychological horror thriller film "Black Swan" directed by Darren Aronofsky. Starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, and Winona Ryder - the film revolves a production of Tchaikovsky's 'Swan Lake' ballet by the New York City Ballet company, and it shows the psychological and physical trauma th...

In this Marvel themed episode Mark talks about the 2011 American Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) superhero film "Captain America: The First Avenger" directed by Joe Johnston and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, starring Chris Evans the title character Captain America/Steve Rogers. Set during World War II, the film is an origin story for the title character as well as the starting...

In this episode Mark talks about the 2020 American coming-of-age period drama "The Queen's Gambit" created for Netflix by Scott Frank and Allan Scott, based on the 1983 novel of the same name by Walter Trevis. Set in the late-1950s to the late-1960s, the miniseries of 7 episodes stars Anna Taylor-Joy as Beth Harmon - an orphaned chess prodigy with exceptional visualisation skills who rises to the...

In this episode Mark talks about one of the most acclaimed trilogies in motion picture history: "The Godfather trilogy", directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Split into three individual Parts, "The Godfather" series follows the trials and the tribulations of the fictional American Corleone mafia family, depicting both the rise of the patriarch of the family, Vito Corleone (played by Marlon Brando), a...

In this episode Mark does a review of the third season of the exceptional American martial arts comedy drama television series "Cobra Kai" and he highlights some of the events that take place within the 10 episodes of Season 3 and the great character defining moments that occur - including some prominent cameos from some memorable characters from "The Karate Kid" film series.

In this episode Mark talks about one of his favourite films: the 1982 science fiction film "E.T. - the Extra-Terrestrial" produced and directed by Steven Spielberg - which tells the story of Elliot, a 10 year-old boy, who befriends an extraterrestrial, dubbed "E.T.", who is stranded on Earth after their spacecraft accidentally leaves them while they are conducting a secret botanical specimen missi...

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...