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!

Steven, Benjamin and Sean conclude their epic John Carpenter retrospective with a discussion on the legendary filmmaker’s music score work. Having composed music for the majority of his own films, starting with Dark Star (1974), Carpenter has become as recognisable and prolific for his scores as he has his movies.

With absolutely iconic title themes from the likes of Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), Halloween (1978) and Escape From New York (1981), as well as a slew of incredibly underrated cues from scenes in films such as The Fog (1980), Big Trouble in Little China (1986) and Prince of Darkness (1987), this episode speculates on the particulars of Carpenters creative processes, technical practices and workflow as well as his collaboration with Alan Howarth, Ennio Morricone, Jim Long, Anthrax & many more across his career as a film composer.

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)

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).

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)!

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).

*NOTICE* There is a very slight delay between our three hosts' on this episode. Apologies in advance!

Steven, Benjamin and Sean conclude their review of Star Trek: Picard. With episodes continuing to go from strength to strength and the season ending as strongly as it began, the Film Utopia boys unanimously agree that Star Trek: Picard Season 3 shall be hence forth known as the last, fifth Star Trek: The Next Generation movie that we never got.

We never thought we would dare come back to Star Trek so soon, and certainly not to sing the praises of a season of Picard! But, as Sean says, "It always takes Trek three seasons before it gets good!" Star Trek: Picard certainly seems to follow this trend, with the Terry Metalas helmed season 3 delighting and moving us all! In part 1, we discuss episodes one to five.

Steven, Benjamin and Sean conclude their epic discussion of Brian De Palma’s filmography as well as ponder why so many legendary filmmakers end their careers with a series of such spectacular duds.

On Part 2, we examine The Untouchables (1987), Casualties of War (1989), The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), Raising Cain (1992), Carlito’s Way (1993), Mission Impossible (1996), Snake Eyes (1998), Mission to Mars (2000), Femme Fatale (2002), The Black Dahlia (2006), Redacted (2007), Passion (2012), and Domino (2019).

As Steven’s director pick this year, the Film Utopia boys dive deep into the directorial filmography of Brian De Palma. With a career spanning 50+ years and encompassing a broad genre palette, from Hitchcock and Italian genre cinema-inspired Suspense, Crime, and Psychological Thriller and Slasher/Horror to Musical, Gangster, Spy/Espionage, Science Fiction and Comedy, De Palma has dipped his toes in many waters. Sean is green, having seen only two or three De Palma movies previously, despite his love of many of De Palma’s clear influences, from Hitchcock to Argento. Whereas Steven and Ben both bring a storied appreciation of the filmmaker’s body of work.

On Part 1 we discuss Murder a la Mod (1968), The Wedding Party (1969), Greetings (1968), Hi, Mom! (1970), Dionysus in ‘69 (1970),` Get to Know Your Rabbit (1970), Sisters (1972), The Phantom of the Paradise (1974), Obsession (1976), Carrie (1976), The Fury (1978), Home Movies (1979), Dressed to Kill (1980), Blow Out (1981), Scarface (1983), Body Double (1984) and Wise Guys (1986).