movies
My Poem “Back to the Theatre”
Finally, I am back in the seat of a cinema, sitting in the dim light, and waiting patiently for the room to go dark and the film that I am here to see to start. It's been a long time since I was able to embrace my cinephile side and get back to where I always looked forward to returning to every so often... it's been a long time since anybody who loves the magic and the experience of seeing a film on the biggest screen there is has been able to go to the movies, to perhaps get some popcorn and a cold drink, sit in a comfortable seat, and switch off from the world at the same time that they are transported away to a place of fiction and fantasy, and embrace the gift and the opportunity of pure, unadulterated, escapism. I am a dreamer, I am an artist, and I am also someone who loves enjoying the labor of other people's imagination and creativity... since I was a child, I have always been someone who loves going to the cinema - because I have always understood the language and the power of visual and audiotory storytelling, and the way that subtleties in colour and sound can feed the mind, as well as revitalize and influence the thoughts, the feelings, and the emotions of people young and old far into the future. I don't see every film at the cinema, but when I see the trailer for an upcoming film that immediately grabs my attention, I try to make the time, when the film is finally released, to see it in a place where I can make the most of every moment of movie making poetry - which is why I am so happy, which is why I am so energized, and which is why I am so in awe to once again be back enjoying a movie projected upon the screen of a theatre.
The Mark Hastings Experience – Season 3, Episode #2: “Quentin Tarantino – A Tribute”
My Poem “Getting Ahead of Myself”
As a child, I always looked to the future…
as a child, when I imagined what would be,
I was always sure that things would turn out
like they were predicted to
in films and in television shows
that I watched which depicted
a world to come when anything
and everything was possible:
including vacations on the Moon,
underwater cities, and, of course, time-travel.
As a child, I was always hopeful
of a bright and inspirational tomorrow –
because looking immediately
for the positive of any situation
for me has always been in my nature…
as a child, I was like Luke Skywalker,
in the Star Wars movies:
always looking to the horizon
and always believing that anybody –
even someone as seemingly
bad as Darth Vader could be
redeemed and returned
from the dark side to the light.
As a child, fantasy worlds
drew me to them, because
what I saw and who I saw
had this magic to them
that had aspects to them
that were incredibly enthralling –
including: quests, adventures,
and other realities that seemed
wonderfully exciting.
As a child, real life was somewhere
where I interacted with my family,
where I hung out with my friends,
where I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner,
and where there wasn’t such things
as flying cars, teleporters,
jet-packs, and robots who
looked as human as anybody I knew –
but I knew that one day all those
things that the television showed me
would come true one day.
As an adult, when I look around
at the world of the present –
while simultaneously reflecting
back upon the past and at what I used
to believe would be a reality
when I was all grown-up –
there are times when I genuinely
have to ask myself,
in the words of Freddie Mercury:
“Is this the real life? Or is this just fantasy?”
As I have grown older
and as I have seen and experienced
even more of the world,
my instant impulse to imagine
possibilities before they happen
is still my immediate instinct –
and though there have indeed
been times in my life when my belief
that the world is innately hopeful
and optimistic has been tested,
I will never be convinced by
anything or by anybody
to stop reaching for that which
seemingly lies upon a higher shelf of life,
and I will never stop being someone
who naturally and occasionally
gets ahead of himself.
My Poem “Scary Movies”
As a child, I – like so many children do –
grew up watching so called
“scary movies”, “horror films”,
that truly scared me,
and I also watched thrilling
and occasionally comedic depictions
of fictional, supernatural and paranormal
events and characters
that made me jump, entertained me,
made my heart beat fast, made me smile,
and put me in a good mood…
films like ‘It’, ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’,
‘Jaws’, and ‘Alien’ initially effected me
on an emotional level –
however now I can appreciate
the “fright tactics” of the film-makers,
because what feeling they were
attempting to illicit in people
is what they succeeded in making
me feel quite profoundly…
I also watched such paranormal comedies,
like: ‘Ghostbusters’, ‘The Addams Family’,
‘The Munsters’, ‘Beetlejuice’ –
which were fun to watch,
enjoyable, and they did not
take their subject matter too seriously.
Even to this day, I still occasionally
watch scary movies –
and I would have to highlight
the films that take place in the
“Conjuring Universe”, that feature
fictional depictions of real-life
paranormal investigators
Ed and Lorraine Warren,
based upon documented
supernatural experiences
that occurred around the world,
as being some of the scariest,
the most thrilling, the most heart-racing,
and the most believable of any
and all of the scary movies
that I have seen recently
and the experiences that I had
of seeing them in a cinema
will forever stay with me.
If could pick just one
so called “scary movie”,
or a particular supernatural thriller,
that I believe is my favourite
of all that have been made,
I would have to choose
‘The Shining’, directed by Stanley Kubrick,
based upon the book of the same name
by the one and only “master of horror”,
Stephen King – because to me
‘The Shining’ is a masterpiece
of both storytelling and film-making
that entances you from the first
camera shot and from the first
note of music of the film’s soundtrack –
just as the original ‘Jaws’ does;
and, in my opinion, the ability
of movie-makers to be able to
take a viewer on a roller-coaster
ride of emotions, thoughts,
and feelings, while watching
something “otherworldly”,
by using all the magic of
movie-making at their disposal,
in a truly collaborative effort,
is what contributes to what makes
the most thrilling and the most scary
of thrilling and scary movies.
Happy Halloween! 🎃
My Poem “It’s good to be back”
Back in the seat, back in the theatre,
back to an experience that I have not
had in what seems like years…
back to where I always enjoy returning to…
back to the place with sparkles on the floor,
back to where the lights are always bright,
back to where there is always the smell
of sweetness in the air,
back to where there are always
refreshments to be had that sometimes
enhance the movie-going
and movie-watching entertainment show
that anybody and everybody who has
ever gone to the cinema is used to…
back to looking at a film
being projected onto a big screen…
back to seeing the illuminated pink and blue
kiosk logo for Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream…
back to the darkness where the power
of imagination always comes alive…
back to the giant room of surround sound…
back to the place where I have on occasion
felt like I were floating in space,
traveling at the speed of light,
or on a voyage to the moon and back…
back to a place that sometimes
feels like we have been found…
back to the place where I like to be
shown something I have never seen before…
back to the past, back to the present,
back to the future – it’s good to be back
enjoying a new motion picture
back at the cinema.
My Poem “In A Galaxy Far, Far Away” (A Star Wars Poem)
*POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR STAR WARS: EPISODES I-IX*
A long time ago
in a galaxy far, far away…
a young farm boy looked to the horizon,
to Light of the twin sunsets of his home world
of humble beginnings,
with a dream of going on an adventure
throughout the stars,
however unaware that he was already
a vital part of an epic story
and a saga that would one day
impact upon the lives, the dreams,
and the hopes of an entire universe
of people all looking to find
a purpose that would help them
decide what side of the Force of life
that binds the fate of everything
and everyone to embrace.
A long time ago, and every day since,
a reverential group of followers
of a tale of good versus evil
have diligently paid close attention
to every episode that chronicled
every twist and turn of a saga
that revolved around a “Phantom Menace”:
a Dark Lord’s insidious corruption
of the democracy of a Republic
and their rise to power
by becoming a tyrannical Emperor
who instilled fear into their subjects
and their manipulation and temptation
to the “Dark Side” of a family
with a powerful connection
to the energy field that binds
and flows through all living things
by the name of “Skywalker”,
and the many battles that comprise
the epic “Star Wars” that has defined
an entire generation and will never
stop influencing and inspiring
everyone who has lived through them.
A long time ago, X-wing starfighters
piloted by an alliance of Rebels hoping
to overthrow a tyrannical Empire
destroyed a moon-sized super-weapon –
a “Death Star” of phenomenal power
that had the potential to change
the face and the fate of this
“Star Wars galaxy” forever,
had it not been stopped…
a long time ago, a vessel by the name
of the “Millennium Falcon”
traveled through hyper-space,
beyond the speed of light,
from one side of the galaxy to the other,
and was responsible for
delivering the return of a New Hope
to counter the revengeful resurgence
of the zealots of darkness and fear
and restore peace and balance
to a galaxy and to a universe
that established from it’s very beginning –
with compelling characters, places, vehicles,
laser battles, and Lightsaber duels –
that it would never be forgotten,
even though the events that transpired within it
as stated from the outset,
all happened a long time ago,
in a galaxy far, far away.
May The Force Be With You Always
Mark The Poet 