With the short break from our originally planned episodes for the start of 2025 still ongoing, Steven & Sean have taken the opportunity to indulge in a little passion-project of theirs! Italian horror fans are in for a treat as we delve into the four early films of Michele Soavi. Starting with the Joe D'Amato produced 'StageFright' (1987), then the…

In a very last minute change to our December episode, Steven and Sean wrap up 2024 in cinema to discuss the highs and lows of the year. Including new movies, legacy re-releases and stand-out physical media releases of the year.Film Utopia

Still pumped from our summer series in which we covered the major subgenres of science fiction in cinema, Steven, Benjamin and Sean have decided to revisit the topic in this bonus episode! We'll each be picking a film that we believe exemplifies the traits of all the subgenres we discussed previously: Time Travel, Science Out of Control/Machine Ove…

We’re back for Part 2 of our Halloween Hellraiser Special! On this episode, Steven, Benjamin and Sean unpack the remaining movies in the Hellraiser series, including Rick Bota’s Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002), Hellraiser: Deader (2005) and Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005), followed by Victor Garcia’s Hellraiser: Revelations (2011), Gary J. Tunnicliffe’s…

Happy Halloween! Continuing with our usual horror franchise "Halloween Special" format, this year Sean has picked the long running Hellraiser series for us to have a good old yarn over, across two episodes! Starting with the original 1987 movie based on The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker and directed by the man himself, the film series has develop…

We're back for part 2 of our Kathryn Bigelow theatrical retrospective! Things get a little heated on this episode with divided opinions between Steven, Benjamin and Sean as we discuss a more drama-focused and historically themed selection of movies from our beloved Bigelow. Including; The Weight of Water (2000), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), The Hur…

It's Steven's choice for our latest director deep-dive and this time he has picked Kathryn Bigelow! With numerous accolades to her name, a filmography that runs the gamut from iconic cult horror to Oscar winning war drama, and one of the finest action directors of a generation, Bigelow has long been a high ranking filmmaker for the three of us at F…

Steven, Benjamin and Sean conclude their look at science fiction subgenres with an examination of the bizarre fascination with placing the noun ‘punk’ after various technological descriptors to create a subgenre within a subgenre for seemingly no other reason than superficial aesthetics. Yes, we're talking about Cyberpunk. And Steampunk. And Biopun…

For the second time this year, the Film Utopia Podcast breaks from its traditional show format of legacy movie coverage to discuss Alien: Romulus; the latest film in the long-running Alien franchise. Hot on the heels of an impressive opening weekend, the Fede Alvarez helmed entry is certainly making waves, both financially and critically. But opini…

On the penultimate episode of our science fiction subgenres series, we discuss all things alien invasion, contact with other worlds and alien abduction stories in movies; including some literary influences to the world of cinema. Join us as we talk our way through the early days of the genre in the 1950s and 1960s with the likes of The Day the Eart…

For part 5 of our Science Fiction Subgenres Series, Steven, Benjamin & Sean dive into the world of oppressive societies, shady governments and brutalist aesthetics with Dystopian set movies. We're calling it Utopia/Dystopia, though. Despite struggling to identify a utopian set narrative that isn't really just a dystopia in disguise! Join us as we t…

In part 4 of our Science Fiction sub-genres series, Steven Benjamin and Sean tackle the topic of "science out of control", or "machine over man", or "we've gone and created something for the betterment of mankind, and now it's going to kill us all"! Join us as we discuss our way through the tropes of the sub-genre and touch base with a wide variety…

In Part 3 of our Sci-fi sub-Genres in Film series, The FU trio dive into Space Opera – and spend much of the discussion debating precisely what defines the term, and what exactly constitutes a Space Opera in the first place! From influential sci-fi authors of the 1940s, 50s 60s and 70s such as Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Philip K Dick, to t…

Archive Episode! Originally recorded and published in 2015 for our old podcast, Filmwerk. Please excuse our less-than-stellar audio quality and editing efforts back then! Ahead of Mad Max: Fury Road, Steven, Benjamin & Sean dig deep into the George Miller created Mad Max movie franchise! From the trailblazing 1979 original, to the seminal sequel, M…

At the time of preparing our latest Sci-fi Subgenres episode, ‘Post Apocalypse’, George Miller released his recent Mad Max spin-off; Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. As we’re all big Miller and Mad Max fans here and also, as Furiosa is topical to our last main show episode, Benjamin & Steven decided to have a chat and share their ever-so-slightly divided r…

Steven, Benjamin & Sean continue their exploration of the many Science Fiction sub-genres with a discussion on Post Apocalyptic set movies – and have plenty of debate over what constitutes a Post Apocalypse Movie in the first place! From ‘Mad Max’ to ‘Children of Men’, with pitstops at ‘Akira’, ‘Wall-E’, ‘Waterworld’, the multiple ‘The Road Warrior…

Science Fiction! The Film Utopia Podcast summer project gets rolling with a wide look at the sub-genre and concepts of time travel in movies. From time machines to time loops, and paradoxes to alternative histories. Steven, Benjamin & Sean talk about some of their favourite time travel movies, as well as the ins and outs of time travel as a story t…

Steven, Benjamin & Sean conclude their deep-dive of iconic cult movie director Stuart Gordon with a thorough chin-wag about his latter filmography. From Castle Freak (1995) to Stuck (2007). The FU trio discover some hidden gems among these lesser known films and find themselves with differing opinions on others! Follow us on X Follow us on Instagra…

Between 1985 and 2007, a former theatre director named Stuart Gordon embarked on an iconic movie directing career which, in later years, catapulted his filmography to cult status. With the help of producer, Brian Yuzna – himself a H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe enthusiast – he directed the notorious, independently-produced ‘Re-Animator’ in 1985…

Steven & Sean discuss their way through the many UK, USA and Australian boutique DVD/Blu-ray/4K UHD disc distributors out there; going A-Z from Arrow to Vinegar Syndrome. We chat about our own collecting habits, our experiences and opinions of each label as well as some of our favourite discs we've owned over the years! Follow us on X Follow us on …

Special features, commentary tracks, cast & crew interviews and other bonus disc content have historically been a real selling point for movie fans. Nowadays, physical media collectors are even hungrier for additional material for their favourite films of yesteryear. On this episode, Steven, Benjamin and Sean recall some of their favourite physical…

On the third and final episode of our Denis Villeneuve retospective movie review series, Steven, Benjamin and Sean conclude their journey with a detailed look at Dune (2021) and the recently released Dune Part 2 (2024). Benjamin arrives with a solid knowledge of the Frank Herbert books and a fondness for the David Lynch movie from 1984, Sean is as …

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…

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 …

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…

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…

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-E…

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 ext…

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 t…

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…

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 nervo…

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 …

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 li…