Film Utopia

Steven, Benjamin, Sean, and Max return for Part 2 of our AvPvRvT franchise free for all, this time diving head first into the cold, corporate dystopia of Robocop and the time-shredding chaos of The Terminator.

Expectedly, there’s unanimous love for Verhoeven’s Robocop, but the debate gets spicy regarding the Director’s Cut extra splatter – especially Murphy’s gloriously excessive death scene. Max champions Robocop 2 for its Rob Bottin/Phil Tippett effects wizardry, while Sean tears into the film’s plot like a malfunctioning ED-209. Universal disdain rains down on Robocop 3, but Max has some good things to say about the 2014 remake.

Jumping over to the Skynet mainframe, Steven relishes revealing his waning affection for Terminator 2, and we all give Genysis the kicking it deserves while ultimately pondering the state of the franchise post-Cameron.

Steven, Benjamin, and Sean are joined by returning guest Max for a monster mash of metal, mandibles, xenomorph goo, and time-travel tantrums. It’s Alien vs Predator vs Robocop vs Terminator – and absolutely nothing is sacred.

In Part 1, we dive claw-first into the Alien and Predator franchises, plus the disappointing AvP double bill. While the holy classics of Alien and Aliens are lifelong favourites for all of us, we gleefully pick at the their seams anyway, because that’s half the fun.

Expect divided opinions on Prometheus and Covenant (with Steven bravely waving the flag for the latter), a lot of laughter, a lot of nonsense, and plenty of creature-feature hot takes as we warm up for the two metal titans still to come.

Time to raid the closet for those movie skeletons! Steven, Benjamin, and Sean come clean on a few embarrassing film choices that they find enjoyment in while others would rather do anything else than rewatch.

Steven, Benjamin, and Sean discuss all things sequels. The good, the bad, and the pointless. There’s far too many to mention, but we certainly try to mention as many as possible, especially from our ‘era’.

Steven, Benjamin, and Sean are joined by practical FX wizard Max to offer some insight into the goo-soaked, latex-stretched, animatronic madness of Rob Bottin’s legendary career.

From the creeping dread of The Fog and the transformative nightmares of The Howling, to The Thing’s still-unmatched body-horror masterclass. We chart Bottin’s rise as one of cinema’s greatest ever special makeup effects artists. We go spelunking through Explorers, marvel at the dark fairytale beauty of Legend, salute the mechanical mayhem of Robocop and Total Recall, and swing by the grim subtleties of Se7en’s horrifying crime scenes.

Max brings the industry insight, the rest of us bring enthusiasm for gore, and Bottin brings the nightmares. It’s a celebration of practical effects at their gnarliest, bravest, and most unforgettable.

Before we went any further with our Film Utopia mission, we felt it right to reveal our very own ‘film utopias’. Steven, Benjamin, and Sean each deliver their top 10 movies of all time with, surprisingly, almost zero crossover. Steven’s penchant for ranking things and making lists in his spare time makes the task easy, whereas Benjamin and Sean struggle with the levels of OCD required to undertake the monumental task of picking and ranking their all-time ten favourite movies!

Steven, Benjamin, and Sean finally deep-dive the directorial filmography of Canadian auteur film maker David Cronenberg. A master of psychological intensity, body horror, and the patron saint of psychosexual science fiction, Cronenberg’s filmograpy runs the gamut from head-popping, stomach-churning horror to supernatural thriller with pit stops at biographical history, comic book adaptations, and mind bending science fiction. He’s a director who won’t just get under your skin; he’ll rewire your whole nervous system while he’s there, and then make that the point of the film.

With Sean the resident Cronenberg fanatic, and Benjamin already (largely) a fan, Steven is, for once, the newcomer here having previously only seen a handful of Cronenberg’s movies. Join us as we run through the theatrical filmography in non-chronological order from Shivers to Maps to the Stars.

Steven, Ben and Sean return to the 80s once more to take a look at the year in film for 1987 – and are dumbstruck at how many classics reside there!

Predator, Lethal Weapon, and Robocop all started in 1987, we also got horror classics Evil Dead 2 and Hellraiser as well as two of the best Vampire films made to date in The Lost Boys and Near Dark.

But there were plenty of laughs too from Steve Martin, Rob Reiner and the Coen brothers. We also spot a lot of over-worked actors who had several movies out this year – in particular Steve Guttenberg with 5!

So relax and let us do the talking as we re-explore fond memories and great films including Predator, Robocop, The Running Man, The Lost Boys, Near Dark, Hellraiser, Evil Dead 2, The Princess Bride, The Untouchables, Lethal Weapon, Full Metal Jacket, Good Morning Vietnam, Raising Arizona, Planes, Trains and Automobiles and many more!

Welcome to The Film Utopia Podcast!

Steven, Benjamin, and Sean kick things off with a retrospective on one of their favourite years in cinema history, 1982. A year teaming with some of the most important and groundbreaking science fiction films ever created; The Thing, Blade Runner, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Mad Max 2 (The Road Warrior), Tron, and E.T. – and that’s just one genre!

Strap in and join us for a couple of hours of nostalgic memories as we celebrate many old favourites, along with some newfound experiences as we catch up with a few we missed back in the day.