Film Utopia

70. Denis Villeneuve Part 2 - 2016 to 2017

With the release of Dune Part Two in theatres now, this is the second episode of our Denis Villeneuve retospective movie review series. In this episode, Steven, Benjamin and Sean continue discussing the Canadian director's filmography, from Arrival (2016) to Blade Runner 2049 (2017).

Having not participated in previous coverage of Blade Runner 2049 on our former podcast, Benjamin and Sean take full advantage of the fact and hijack almost three quarters of this episode's runtime to wax lyrical about Villeneuve's 2017 follow up to Ridley Scott's 1982 masterpiece, Blade Runner. Much to Steven's chagrin!

Follow us on X

Follow us on Instagram

Follow us on Facebook

69. Denis Villeneuve Part 1 - 1998 to 2015

Steven, Benjamin and Sean begin a detailed retrospective review series on the directorial filmography of French-Canadian filmmaker; Denis Villeneuve. 

In this episode, we cover August 32nd on Earth (1998), Maelström (2000), Polytechnique (2009), Incendies (2010), Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2013), and Sicario (2015).

Please follow us:

Film Utopia on X

Film Utopia on Instagram

Film Utopia on Facebook

68. Physical Media Formats

Physical Media is in danger of going extinct, thanks in no small part to streaming. But do we also have an issue with the buyers themselves? Have people become complacent with digital products, and are they aware of what is being sacrificed as a result?

In this episode, Steven and Sean rope Benjamin in for a long discussion about their journey with Physical Media Formats in their lives and talk about their experiences as consumers of multiple mediums, from Betamax and VHS all the way through to Blu-ray 4K UHD.

67. 1989 in Film

1989! A year of many team-ups, buddy comedies, underwater sci-fi fiascos, and of course; the summer show-down of the mega blockbuster!

What with Batman, Lethal Weapon 2, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, License to Kill, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Back to the Future Part II, Dead Poets Society, Look Who's Talking and Ghostbusters II, the Hollywood machine was in full force this year!

Join us as we discuss the highs and lows of 1989 in cinema, where we were, what we saw, what we loved and what we loathed!

66. Friday the 13th Part 3 - 1993 to 2009

Sadly, the franchise that made Jason Voorhees famous couldn't quite live up to its name; both by losing the 'Friday 13th' moniker of the series, and also not making it to a 13th movie entry! The good news is that not all of the movies at the tail-end of the long running horror series are that bad, so it'd be unfair to title this episode "The Arse-End of Friday the 13th"!

On this episode, Steven, Benjamin and Sean unpack Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993), Jason X (2001), Freddy vs Jason (2003), and the 12th movie (to date), Friday the 13th (2009).

65. Friday the 13th Part 2 - 1985 to 1989

We are back for our second instalment of our Friday the 13th saga (Huh? huh? Saga?!) coverage to discuss Friday the 13th Pat V: A New Beginning (1985), Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986), Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) and Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989).

The three of us are pretty shocked by the extreme highs and lows on offer among this selection, including many fans' favourite and least favourite entries to the series. Enjoy! (We largely didn’t! (Especially Ben) (who chose to do this series) (Thanks Ben!)).

64. Friday the 13th Part 1 - 1980 to 1984

It's Ben's turn to choose our Halloween special this year, and he has seen fit to inflict the Friday the 13th franchise on us! However, he ended up just as quickly regretting it upon watching the films! Thankfully, Sean and Steven are old hats at this sort of crap; so there is plenty cheerful discussion to be had. So much so, that we have divided this up into three parts!

In part 1 we discuss the first four movies, from the Sean S. Cunningham original; Friday the 13th (1980), through to the rather inaccurately - and unfortunately - titled Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984). Enjoy!   

63. Top 10 Brad Pitt Performances

Hi there movie lovers!

On this episode, Benjamin nominates award winning, mega-star actor William Bradley Pitt for another 'top 10 performances' discussion. Joining Benjamin is a woefully unprepared Sean and a patience-tested Steven as we discuss a bunch of Pitt's film (and TV) appearances over the years, highlighting each of our personal favourite performances from the man himself.

Expect to hear the likes of Thelma & Louise (1991), Kalifornia (1993), Se7en (1995), 12 Monkeys (1996), Meet Joe Black (1998) and Inglorious Basterds (2009) plus many more, including a few surprises!

The banter flies a little harder than usual in this episode, so we'd be remise not to declare a 'NSFW' notification. You have been warned!

62. More Guilty Pleasures!

Steven, Benjamin and Sean revisit a topic from way back in our first year of the Film Utopia Podcast to bring you another assortment of their go-to guilty pleasure movies. Apparently, there are a lot more embarrassing admissions than we all realised as there’s some right steaming tosh in this episode!

Expect cringe, hesitant declarations, and nervous laughter as the trio own up to a fondness for the likes of: The Three Musketeers (1993), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), Wayne’s World 2 (2003), Clash of the Titans (2010) and Dune – no, not THAT ‘Dune’, the earlier one – (1984) and a whole host more!

61. Comedy Picks - Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Jim Carrey, Michael Palin, Gene Wilder & John Candy!

Upon realising the shocking lack of Comedy coverage on The Film Utopia Podcast, Steven, Benjamin and Sean go some way to amend this glaring omission with an epic 160 minute episode about a slew of the films that tickle us the most!

The three of us each bring two comedic actor legends to the discussion; Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy, Jim Carrey and Michael Palin, and Gene Wilder and John Candy, and have each picked a favourite film starring them, for a total of 18 films' worth of discussion (and excessive laughing and quoting).

But that’s not all! We’ve included some bonus comedy movie sub-genre picks to discuss, including a movie each for Black Comedy, Spoof Comedy, Romantic Comedy (for some atrocious reason) and Miscellaneous Comedy.

 

Expect to hear the likes of Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), Uncle Buck (1989), Coming to America (1988), Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979), Young Frankenstein (1974), American Psycho (2000), Airplane! (1980), The Wedding Singer (1998), Clue (1985) and an absolute shed-load more!

59. John Carpenter Part 4 - 1996 to 2010

Steven, Benjamin and Sean close out their John Carpenter filmography retrospective with a look at the latter movies of his career and share their disappointment with the rather unfortunate diminishing returns on offer. With much of what made Carpenter’s earlier works awesome to behold now absent, and instead replaced with derivative stories and lacklustre film making, it’s a shame to end our retrospective on a sour note. But not all is lost, Film Utopia will be back next time with a look at Carpenter’s incredible music score work from the mid 70s right up till today!

On this episode, we discuss Escape From L.A. (1996), Vampires (1998), Ghosts of Mars (2001), and The Ward (2010)

58. John Carpenter Part 3 - 1988 to 1995

With the 1980s coming to an end and during the start of the 1990s, John Carpenter’s output makes a few left field turns in terms of quality compared to the tour-de-force of previous years. But the unmistakable and magical vibe of Carpenter’s idiosyncrasies are still very evident among this mixed bag, and there’s plenty for the Film Utopia hosts to unpack and disagree on!

In this episode, Steven, Benjamin and Sean discuss the cult classic They Live! (1988), the job-for-hire Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992), the under-seen (and under-appreciated) In The Mouth of Madness (1994), and the missed opportunity Village of the Damned (1995).

57. John Carpenter Part 2 - 1982 to 1987

Welcome to Part 2 of our John Carpenter retrospective review series!

In this episode, we unpack and discuss the movies made during period of Carpenter’s filmography that most consider his absolute peak – and we completely agree! With one film in particular ranking tops among Carpenter’s work for all three of us, and for Sean in particular; his favourite film of all time.

In this episode, we discuss pressing matters like:

• If you’re a ‘Thing’, do you you know you’re a ‘Thing’?

• What happened to Fuchs?

• So, just who did get to Blair?

• Sweden.

• Why does it take over an hour for anyone to die in the horror film Christine?

• Where’s all the gore? I thought this was a horror film!

• Why is Dean Cundey such an incredible Cinematographer?

• Could you have done without seeing Jeff Bridges’ bare backside?

• Why is the character of Jack Burton so bloody funny?

• Big Trouble in Little China’s finest moments of sheer brilliance.

• What the hell was wrong with movie critics in the early 1980s?

• Aren’t those blokes a bit too old to be college students?

• A radio to talk with the future? The devil is a vat of green goo? Say what, now?

• Damn, is that Alice Cooper? I thought it was Harry Dean Stanton!

 

Yes sir! We’re absolutely over the moon to be talking The Thing (1982), Christine (1983), Starman (1984), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), and Prince of Darkness (1987)!

56. John Carpenter Part 1 - 1974 to 1981

Ahoy there, fellow film fanatics!

If you were to ask each of us for a list of our top 5 directors, all three of us would include John Carpenter! So, it doesn’t really matter that he is Sean’s pick for our latest multi-part director retrospective series, as Steven and Benjamin were both more than ready to dive in to a full filmography rewatch and likely would have picked John Carpenter anyway!

In Part 1, Steven, Benjamin and Sean have a natter about their mutual long-standing Carpenter addiction and discuss the early theatrical works of the influential filmmaker and ‘Master of Horror, including Dark Star (1974), Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), Halloween (1978) The Fog (1980) and Escape From New York (1981).