Film Utopia

It’s film composer retrospective time again! This time, Sean leads Steven and Benjamin into the brooding, hypnotic world of Clint Mansell; one of his favourite composers and one of modern cinema’s most distinctive musical voices.

We trace Mansell’s journey from the chaotic brilliance of Pop Will Eat Itself to his evolution into a master of bleak minimalism, tension-heavy soundscapes, and emotionally devastating motifs. We talk through his full filmography, celebrating the towering achievements of Requiem for a Dream, the cosmic heartbreak of The Fountain, the lunar loneliness of Moon, and the unsettling elegance of High-Rise. There's also a detour into his underrated game work, including Mass Effect 3, with all three of us wishing he’d dive into more video game scores.

Benjamin finally admits, begrudgingly but honestly, that Mansell’s work on Black Swan deserves far more recognition than “just an adaptation of Tchaikovsky,” and Sean happily accept this rare concession.

By the end, we all agree: Clint Mansell is one of the most fascinating and uncompromising composers working today. A musician who knows exactly how to make your soul ache, your nerves fray, and your cinematic world expand.

On this episode, The Film Utopia lads burst into spontaneous song (metaphorically… mostly) for an entirely off-the-cuff romp through the world of musicals, from the 1920s all the way up to the present.

We revisit the Musicals we grew up with, the ones we adore, and the ones we’d happily yeet into the orchestra pit. From Disney classics to Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Fiddler on the Roof, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Jazz Singer, Phantom of the Paradise, Little Shop of Horrors, Earth Girls Are Easy, Hairspray and the utterly bonkers Moonwalker, no era goes untouched. And of course, we unite in our absolute unwavering love of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

But the real showstopper? Steven casually drops the bombshell that he does not like The Wizard of Oz, sending shock waves through the recording and possibly rupturing a few Munchkins.

Sean’s director pick for this retrospective leads the FU trio through the shadowy, creature-cluttered corridors of Guillermo del Toro’s filmography, covering everything the Mexican film-maker has produced up to The Shape of Water. It’s a journey of fairy tales, clockwork horrors, comic-book demons… and some very divided opinions.

There’s unanimous love for Hellboy and the gloriously kinetic Blade II, and Sean professes his undying devotion to Pan’s Labyrinth. Steven, meanwhile, continues his long-standing vendetta against Pacific Rim. But all three of us unite in our mutual disdain for Crimson Peak, which Steven argues is the final straw in del Toro’s increasingly migraine inducing palette of red, green, and blue lighting.

We assess del Toro’s career highs and lows, note his stylistic kinship (and occasional overlap) with Tim Burton, and take The Shape of Water to task, raising eyebrows at its plot inconsistencies and question whether all those awards were truly deserved. By the end, a difficult question emerges: Has del Toro’s golden era come and gone, or is there still magic left in the machinery?

The Film Utopia complete Star Trek retrospective draws to a close with a look at Star Trek Picard; the legacy sequel, or follow on, to the events of the TNG era of Star Trek. While we applaud the franchise finally moving forward in time rather than endlessly destroying historical and beloved canon, unfortunately, the praise ends there. With terrible writing, awkward fan service, a fetch-quest plot, new characters we care nothing about but feel like we're supposed to, and legacy characters altered beyond recognition, for the Film Utopia boys, Picard is a case of DOA.

The Film Utopia Trekathon brings Steven, Benjamin, and Sean into unprotected contact with Alex Kurtzman’s ‘ST:D’.

Steven, Benjamin, and Sean take the 70s Animated Star Trek series for a re-spin before checking out the newly produced Lower Decks. There’s also time for a cheeky pit stop, randomly, into Futurama… we assure you, there’s a point.

Film Utopia go boldly back to a time before Kirk and revisit the short-lived series Star Trek: Enterprise. Sean is once again the torch carrier for this underappreciated series and is happy to report on just how well it has aged in the interim. Meanwhile, Benjamin is largely new to the series and pleasantly surprised by its better moments (Seasons 3 and 4), while Steven has had his fill of Trek and is mostly checked out.

Steven, Benjamin, and Sean get stranded in the Delta Quadrant and plot their 70,000 light year journey though the ups and downs of the second spin-off series in the next generation era; Star Trek: Voyager. For Sean, it’s a frustrating combination of some of the best of Trek along with some of the worst, for Steven it’s largely garbage, and for Benjamin it’s an improvement over DS9, but not a patch on TNG.

Film Utopia’s trek into the stars temporarily docks at Deep Space Nine and Steven, Benjamin, and Sean head into Quark’s Bar for a cup of Raktajino and a chat about the mid 90s TNG spin-off series. Coming off of the popularity of TNG was no easy task for any writer, and Steven and Benjamin certainly weren’t impressed with the lack of literal forward momentum of the show’s setting. However, for Sean, DS9 might just be his most favourite entry in the next generation era of shows and films, so he carries the rather unfortunate burden of guiding an uninitiated, Steven, and an uninterested, Benjamin, through the Wormhole in the hopeful search for The Orb of "STFU, Bellends, This Show is Great”.

The voyage continues as we tackle the powerhouse middle and late seasons of TNG, where the series continues going from strength to strength (apart from that mid season 7 run of shite episodes). But that doesn’t spoil it enough to stop the love train for all three of us as we continue to heap praise on the characters, the moral dilemmas, and the storytelling heights that cemented TNG as a sci-fi masterpiece.

Steven, Benjamin, and Sean “make it so” and engage at warp 9.8 into Star Trek: The Next Generation. A new crew, a new ship, and much love all round as all three of us are massive fans of this particular series!

We talk about the show’s rocky first steps, the gradual sharpening of its identity, and the characters who made the Enterprise-D feel like a top-heavy home. From the French Captain Jean-Luc Picard – played by possibly the most ‘English’ actor imaginable, Patrick Stewart – to Data’s curiosity, from Q’s chaos to Worf’s honour, we explore how the show evolved into a true TV landmark. Join as as we talk season’s 1 to 4.

Steven, Benjamin, and Sean beam back to the Original Series; the three seasons of Trek that started it all. It’s fond nostalgia overall, especially for the iconic brilliance of Seasons 1 and 2, where the stories hit warp speed, the ideas were truly “final-frontier-level,” and Shatner’s shirt seemed contractually obligated to be torn every third episode.

We dive into classic adventures, legendary characters, colourful alien encounters, and the utterly charming mix of philosophy, fistfights, and futurism that made TOS the blueprint for everything that came after. As for Season 3 though, let’s just say its dilithium crystals were running a bit low.

This week on Film Utopia, Steven, Benjamin, and Sean break the established rules of transportation range and lens-flare their way into the Kelvin Timeline movies. Starting with the J.J. Abrams helmed Star Trek (2009) and its follow up, Into (Shit) Darkness, and finally the Justin Lin directed Star Trek: Beyond. Strap yourself in because things get… testy.

There’s not a huge amount of love for J.J. Abrams or Alex Kurtzman, and Into Darkness draws particular fire for its disgraceful rehash of Wrath of Khan, right down to the emotionally hollow “KHAAAN!” inversion that still makes our collective souls curl up. Add in the awkwardly forced Spock/Uhura romance, and you’ve got plenty of fuel for rant engines.

But it’s not all photon torpedoes: we give credit where it’s due. Some casting is spot-on, with Karl Urban’s Bones and Zachary Quinto’s Spock getting and approving collective nod, and even the films’ harshest critics among us admit that—occasionally—the reboot got the spirit right.

On this episode of Film Utopia, Steven, Benjamin, and Sean set phasers to stun and warp into the Next Generation era of Star Trek movies, covering Generations to Nemesis; a run of films that ranges from sublime to “why did they write it like that?”

We tackle the saggy, pacing-challenged middle of Generations, mourn the disgracefully anticlimactic death of Captain Kirk, and collectively shake our heads at how the baton was (barely) passed to Picard. There’s plenty of Borg-infested joy as we celebrate First Contact, the one universally beloved TNG film and a shining example of how to do big-screen Trek properly. Unfortunately, the goodwill instantly evaporates with Insurrection, a cinematic nap disguised as a feature film. “Bore-fest” doesn’t quite cover it. Finally, we hit Nemesis, greeted with a mixture of bafflement, frustration, and the occasional guilty defence. Mostly, though, it’s a telepathic chorus of “Yeah… it’s bad.”

Welcome to the first episode of our giant summer retrospective! Yes! Goddammit, Jim! We’re doing Star Trek! All of Star Trek!

Join us as Steven, Benjamin, and Sean boldly go back and revisit the original cast movies, from The Motion Picture to The Undiscovered Country, with wildly different energy levels, varying degrees of patience, and one host (Sean) who is clearly not firing on all thrusters.

Benjamin almost—almost—convinces Sean that The Motion Picture deserves genuine Star Trek respect for its slower, cerebral sci-fi ambitions. Steven, however, stands firm in his belief that it is a beautifully lit bore-fest of cosmic proportions. Elsewhere, there’s pure, unfiltered love for Wrath of Khan, one of the best films of 1982 as well as one of James Horner’s finest scores, though that doesn’t stop us nitpicking it to death for entertainment value. Sean unexpectedly rediscovers The Search for Spock, sending the trio down a warp-speed rabbit hole of appreciation. Ben (as tradition demands) reminds us he saw every one of these films in the cinema at the time, meanwhile, Steven has no patience whatsoever for the comedy of The Voyage Home. We all gleefully eviscerate The Final Frontier, but harmony is finally restored as we celebrate The Undiscovered Country; a classy, heartfelt farewell to the original Enterprise crew.

A lively mix of affection, nitpicking, nostalgia, and friendly mutiny, because no Star Trek discussion is complete without a little chaos on the bridge.

Steven, Benjamin, and Sean crawl through the air vents of action cinema to break down the Die Hard formula, where it came from, and hopefully mention every last “Die Hard on a…” clone that followed.

We talk about the films that honoured the blueprint, the ones that shamelessly photocopied it, and the ones that looked at John McClane’s shoes and thought, “Bare feet? Easy.”

Expect Skyscrapers, boats, trains, planes, hockey rinks, battleships, prisons, schools, Christmas parties, and at least one rogue mountain. If Die Hard did it first, someone else did it louder, stupider, or with Steven Seagal whisper-growling through a ponytail.

Join us as we reboot, reload, and re-laugh our way through the greatest (and lowest) moments of the Die Hard Clone Era.

Steven, Benjamin, and Sean strap in for a cinematic panic attack as we dive head-first into the bleak, obsessive, beautifully unhinged world of Darren Aronofsky. From the head-drilling mathematical madness of Pi, to the operatic nightmare of Requiem For a Dream – the cinematic equivalent of being run over by a train made of violins and bad decisions – continuing through the cosmic grief of The Fountain to the broken bodies of The Wrestler and Black Swan, all the way to the allegorical chaos of Mother!

We talk intensity, we talk craft, we talk about films that make you want to lie down in a dark room after being exposed to them. Along the way, we compare notes on Aronofsky’s obsessions; spirals, self destruction, devotion, bodily harm, and the kind of sound design that makes your teeth clench.

Is he a genius? A madman? A prophet of doom? Or all three in a hoodie? Join us as we pick apart the artistry, the agony, and the adrenaline of one of modern cinema’s most intense filmmakers.

Steven and Benjamin are joined by special guest Max for a general chat on Martial Arts action stars and movies. From early memories of David Carradine in Kung Fu to Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies on video rental, through the action explosion of the 80s with Cannon Films mainstay Chuck Norris and beyond to the 90s DTV nonsense. Expect detours into Hong Kong cinema, the usual suspects of Van Damme and a look at the current state of fighting cinema with modern action stars such as Scott Adkins.

Following on from last year’s MCU & DCEU episodes, Steven and Benjamin catch up with the latest releases from each studio to mostly share a collective ‘WTF?’. Expect candid reactions to Wandavision, Wonder Woman 1984, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and last but not least, Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

Film Utopia kick off the new year by winding back the cinema clock to 1994 for an in depth look at what floated our boats back then, and what still does now.

A year of certified bangers to be sure, including Ace Ventura, Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption, Forest Gump, Four Weddings and a Funeral. But also, bizarrely, a tonne of ‘twin’ movies: Skydiving? There’s Terminal Velocity and Drop Zone. Thrillers with bombs plots? Speed and Blown Away. Future-set prison movies? Fortress and No Escape? Wyatt Earp? Tombstone and, err, Wyatt Earp.

Grab a snack, fire up the projector, sit back back and join Steven, Benjamin, and Sean as we look back on what made 1994 in film awesome! (And sometimes, shit).

Steven, Benjamin, and Sean dive into the dynamic, bombastic, time-travelling, jungle-thundering, motion-captured musical universe of Alan Silvestri.

We cover his entire theatrical composer filmography, from cult curios and early oddities, through the Spielberg/Zemeckis collaborations, all the way to the modern mega-franchises. It’s hard not to dwell on the heavy-hitters, so naturally, we spend ample time on Back to the Future, Predator, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Abyss, and The Avengers.

We celebrate his instantly recognisable melodies, his heroic brass blasts, his emotional precision, and his uncanny ability to make even the quiet moments feel monumental!

Steven, Benjamin, and Sean spend some long overdue time paying tribute to the late, great Bill Paxton – one of our favourite character actors. With undeniable energy and some of the most memorable performances in cinema history, Paxton really delivered the goods for the three of us throughout our collective cinema-going history. Terminator, Aliens, Near Dark, True Lies, Titanic, Twister, The Dark Backward, One False Move, Predator 2, Navy Seals, Tombstone, Frailty, Hatfields & McCoys, Big Love, Next of Kin, Nightcrawler and so many more!

Steven, Benjamin, and Sean take a breezy stroll through the first three phases of the MCU, from the spark of Iron Man to the finishing blow of Endgame. It’s a loose, lively chat packed with fond memories, strong opinions, and the occasional nerd detour.

There’s unanimous love for Civil War, plenty of admiration for the early world-building magic of phase 1, and a healthy back-and-forth on the hits, misses, crossovers, and cosmic chaos that shaped the Infinity Saga. The trio wrap things up by pondering what the future of the MCU might (or might not) hold.

The FU lads strap themselves in for a rather strong worded chat about the DCEU; Every movie up to this point, from Man of Steel to Birds of Prey. Expect mixed opinions at the start, followed by unanimous lambasting as we talk through the films.