Deep Cut: A Film Podcast

Wilson comes on the podcast to talk about all the films he saw at the 49th edition of the Hong Kong International Film Festival. Come listen to us talk about the newest films from around the world, including Wang Bing’s Youth Trilogy, Lav Diaz’s Phantosmia, Andrea Arnold’s Bird, and many more. 

We’re back in West Wallaby Street to discuss the latest adventure in the Wallace and Gromit universe: Vengeance Most Fowl, directed by Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham! This time around, Wilson finally feels seen as the film tackles the inequality in the Wallace and Gromit relationship head-on. Ben argues that the film functions as a surprisingly relevant anti-AI fable and Eli explains a joke that has been decades in the making. 

Director Andrew Ahn is back for a three-peat with his new film The Wedding Banquet, a re-imagining of Ang Lee’s 1993 classic. 

We chat with Ahn about his updates to the original to capture the new nuances of queer lives today, get behind the scenes tidbits of his time working with his incredible AAvengers cast, and see how the original and his remake have shaped him on a personal level. 

The Wedding Banquet is currently premiering in the United States, get tickets in the cinema! 

We can’t believe it’s finally here! After much anticipation, we finally have creepers on screen, A Minecraft Movie, starring Jason Mamoa and Jack Black is easily the movie blockbuster release of the year— wait wait wait

Sorry, this is actually about the Robert Pattinson starring movie in which he plays the dual roles of Bruce Wayne / The Batman— wait wait wait

Sorry, this episode is about the other big Robert Pattinson blockbuster Mickey 17. 

We return for another hit of the Bong (Joon Ho) but some of us are not vibing! Ben and Eli take turns using the film, the script, the cinematography, and the direction as punching bags. Wilson is left to fight for his life (and the lives of Mickey 1-18). Who will come out on top? Is this movie worth watching? Listen to find out. 

Do you know how much of A Real Pain it is to keep the years straight with us straddling three different global release windows? We do! 

We got Caught by the Tides and are a little late with this one but nevertheless, join our Conclave for the fifth (!) time as we huddle around the Ghostlight to talk about the films of the last year! We cover award-winning films (Anora, The Brutalist, No Other Land), notable blockbusters (Dune: Part Two, Wicked), blitz through some honorable Challengers to our top picks, and then Look Back on our personal top fives. 

You know podcast favorite Luca Guadagnino is going to feature in Wilson’s favorite films… but how Queer will it be?? 

We’ve finally done it: all seven Edward Yang films discussed on Deep Cut. The only podcast to give Edward Yang the time and space he deserves as one of the all time greatest directors (and Wilson’s favorite director)!

We end our coverage on Yang with what is considered to be his magnum opus, 1991’s A Brighter Summer Day, an intimate epic of teenage angst, romance, and rebellion that also captures Taiwan in a specific era of political and social turbulence with incredible detail. Together, we discuss ABSD’s unique visual palette compared to Yang’s other non-period work, and go in depth into its thematic concerns regarding Taiwan on a scale both personal and national. Wilson highlights the virtuosic blocking in large crowd scenes, Eli makes a case for proper education as the salve for social ills, and Ben asks, can a film be “too perfect”?

We’re thrilled to be joined by Natalie Ng, a huge Edward Yang fan and friend of the podcast, to dive into Yang’s feature debut, That Day, On The Beach! Natalie, who works at the Asian Film Archive, tells us about AFA’s recent Edward Yang retrospective (complete with a physical exhibition) and shares her deep love for Yang’s work.

Together, we explore the film’s place in Yang’s filmography, its inventive narrative structure, and how it set the stage for his later masterpieces. Natalie highlights the agency of female characters in the film, while Ben argues that De-wei should have been hotter. Wilson leads us in discussing Christopher Doyle’s first feature work as a cinematographer and the stylistic choices of the film, and we very importantly discuss Sylvia Chang’s iconic perm, and whether girlbossing is an ideal ending for Yang’s female characters.

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We prepare for Edward Yang’s game of Mahjong and all we’re looking for is a fourth player (you!). The last of his works to get restored, and possibly his most cynical film, we find much to discuss with A Confucian Confusion’s evil twin in Yang’s filmography. Ben explores Yang’s depiction of sexual relationships, Eli expounds on Yang’s fascination with intergenerational misunderstandings, Wilson compares its heightened depiction of violence, and finally we answer the question… why’s it called Mahjong?

Girl, so Confucian. We sit down to unpack Edward Yang’s dark horse masterpiece, 1994’s A Confucian Confusion. Eli talks about his first time watching this zany comedy and how it reminded him of a lot of college friend groups. Wilson explains why he thinks this is Yang’s true deep cut film, and doubles down on the film’s belief on ‘emotional work’. Ben discusses how Yang injects A Confucian Confusion with an easy relatability and argues that this is a great starting point to Yang’s filmography. Is this a comedy of errors, a biting critique of modern society, or both? Join us as we unravel the layers of Yang’s underappreciated classic.

The classic genres… horror, rom-com, monster film, bunny-comedy? In our preparation for the recently released Vengeance Most Fowl, join us as we cover Nick Park’s 2005 Wallace & Gromit feature, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, co-directed with Steve Box. Eli recounts the experience he had watching this in theaters as a kid. Wilson talks about why stop motion animation scares him. And Ben leads us into an interesting conversation about genre, and how comedy operates in this film and in our lives 

Tune in for a very special episode as Wilson chats with The People’s Joker director, writer, star and editor Vera Drew about her feature film debut! Vera Drew talks about getting into filmmaking, the incredibly collaborative process behind making The People’s Joker, as well as the tough road it took for the film to reach the public.  

Fancy a little cheese? We jump into the whimsical world of Wallace and Gromit created by Nick Park, and cover three early short films: A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, and A Close Shave. Eli talks about his childhood love for the series and gives the boys a lesson in stop motion animation. Ben goes existential and talks about how stop-motion brings inanimate objects to life, and we accompany Wilson as he discovers these characters for the very first time. 

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Qualley. Viswanathan. Coen. Cooke. In our second Co-Bros Upkeep, we floor it and review Ethan Coen's new road adventure-comedy, Drive Away Dolls. Find out what we think: does it stack up to Joel's solo outing, The Tragedy of Macbeth? Is Margaret Qualley's accent work tolerable? And is that a banana in your suitcase, or are you just happy to see us? 

Driveaway to our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com 

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Ben recently attended the 35th Singapore International Film Festival and watched a whole lot of films, and made a few new friends along the way. Listen in on his thoughts about the films, the festival programme’s overarching themes, and how beauty is a trap!!

This episode is generally spoiler-free, spoilers are marked with timestamps below!

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Join Wilson on this special episode of Deep Cut where he interviews Director Neo Sora about his new film, Happyend. Neo Sora discusses how his first narrative feature came about, his love of Edward Yang, as well as his ongoing pro-Palestine activism on the festival circuit, amongst a host of other things! 

SPOILER WARNING: We speak briefly about Happyend’s ending.  

Join us as we try to piece together Edward Yang’s most puzzling work, Terrorizers (恐怖分子) . Eli describes the harsher and more abrasive Yang in this 1986 film, Wilson recounts the transcendent feeling of watching a crucial sequence set to The Platter’s Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, and Ben makes links between this film’s ending and Godard’s Breathless. 

Join us as we delve deeper into our series on Taiwanese auteur Edward Yang, as we take a step back to explore one of his earliest features, "Taipei Story" (青梅竹馬) from 1985. In this film, Yang collaborates with his compatriot Hou Hsiao-hsien to portray a city undergoing monumental change.

Ben explores the social, cultural, and economic uniqueness of this period in East Asia. Eli draws intriguing parallels between this movie and the various renditions of A Star is Born. Wilson raises questions about Yang's choice to incorporate violence as a punctuation to his endings.

We hit our white whale and begin our series on one of the greatest directors of all time, Edward Yang, and one of the greatest films of all time, Yi Yi (一一）. Listen to how this genuine masterpiece has affected each of us as we’ve grown with it. Wilson brings nuggets of wisdom from watching the director’s commentary. Eli talks about how this movie has changed for him on this rewatch. Ben draws links from his own life to the Jian family at the center of this story. 

Join us as we reenter the lush and sensual world of Luca Guadagnino and discover “il costo dell'ecstasy” in his 2009 film I Am Love. Wilson savours the intentional mistakes in technique that feel like a part of the world of the film. Eli gives a brief lesson on editing, drawing parallels all the way back to the Eisenstein method of montage. Ben directs attention to the powerful scenes of melodramatic realisation across Guadagnino’s work. Why not dine with us?

Our very own Eli attended the 62nd New York Film Festival this autumn as a bona fide member of the press! Sit alongside Wilson and Ben as they salivate over Eli’s descriptions of waiting in line, chatting with fellow critics, and seeing the hottest upcoming films from Earth’s top directors at the legendary Walter Reade Theater. Daniel Craig, Mikey Madison, Vincent Cassel… wow! Can you guess his favorite of the festival?

Films discussed:

• Anora (dir. Sean Baker)
• Eephus (dir. Carson Lund)
• The Shrouds (dir. David Cronenberg)
• Queer (dir. Luca Guadagnino)

Buckle up Deep Cut fans! This week we have a special preview episode as Wilson got to sit down with director Ray Yeung to preview his new Berlinale premiering film All Shall Be Well, which is opening at Film Forum on September 20.

Ray discusses his jump from law to filmmaking, and returning to his native Hong Kong to make films about the lives of older gay and lesbian characters in Hong Kong. We dive in deep as we talk about Ray’s two features set in Hong Kong; Suk Suk and All Shall Be Well as well as talking about Ray’s own film influences.

Films/Directors Mentioned:

• Woody Allen
• Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1998)
• The Wedding Banquet (1993)
• Rouge (1987)
• The Way We Are (2008)
• Funeral Parade of Roses (1969)

In this final Kiyoshi Kurosawa episode, Wilson brings to the table one of the latest films from the Japanese auteur; the Uzbekistan set To the Ends of the Earth. Ben draws parallels between this film and the work of Kelly Reichardt, and gives us an education on the importance of Atsuko Maeda and idol group AKB48. Eli zeroes in on Kurosawa’s commentary on the camera in this film, as we go behind the scenes of a Japanese travelogue crew abroad. Wilson continues his trend of vibing out with a film as he recounts how this rewatch deeply affected how he felt after losing his wallet.

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In this episode, we’re laughing and crying to the sweet melodies of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 2008 film Tokyo Sonata, and its social commentary on the Japanese nuclear family in the midst of a financial crisis. 

We explore the film’s construction of a patriarchal nuclear family, discuss Kyoko Koizumi’s unique role as the mother of the family (taking care of all her boys), and go long on her wild narrative journey in the film’s second half with a surprising supporting actor… Eli finds parallels in Kurosawa’s choices with classic films like King Vidor’s The Crowd and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, Wilson highlights Kurosawa’s selective cinematographic change-ups, and Ben shares some behind the scenes discoveries of the film’s making.

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Unlock the forbidden recording room with Wilson, Ben and Eli as the trio unpack Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 2001 ghost film Pulse. Eli explains his love for his deep cut pick of a film that breaks its own rules and complicates its horror elements. Wilson zeroes in on his love for Kurosawa’s use of space and production design to bring on a feeling of despair for viewers. Ben heralds Kurosawa as a prophet of how computer usage makes us feel in our current era.

In the first of our deep cut picks for our Kiyoshi Kurosawa series, Ben introduces the others to Kurosawa’s License to Live (1998) because he really needed to talk to somebody after a stunning ending. Eli digs into the film’s comedic sensibilities, finding similarities with fellow Japanese director Takeshi Kitano, while Wilson finds himself “so sad” contending with Kurosawa’s trend of nihilism across his body of work. By the end of the episode we ask ourselves: what does it mean to have lived “enough”? 

Game. Set. Match. The boys tackle the hottest movie of the season and kick off a Luca Guadagnino series with our review of his latest film CHALLENGERS. This episode (recorded pre BRAT) sees Eli comparing Guadagnino to the iconic Charli XCX, Wilson explaining how all roads that lead to Challengers also lead to his own life, and Ben saying he wants to play tennis because “I love my bro and his wife”.

The Oscars may tell us Hollywood’s popular picks, but what about the… Deep Cut picks? Deep Cut’s 2023 in Review is ready to give the last word on yesteryear’s best in motion pictures. Tune in for debates on the year’s biggest hits and hot takes on the year’s shabbiest flops. It all culminates in Wilson, Ben, and Eli’s top three favorites of the year…

We go back to our Deep Cut roots with Kore-eda's latest, but don't call us Monster(s) for skipping out on the previously released Broker!

Awarded the Queer Palm at Cannes in 2023, Monster is a return to form (and Japan) for Kore-eda, igniting a sprawling conversation about the film and its connections to his larger ouevre. We debate the film's visual treatment, the limits of its Rashomon-esque structure, and share our thoughts on what kind of story the ending is really trying to tell.

Join us for a Deep Cut episode on the exceptional 1982 film Moral from director Marilou Diaz-Abaya. The trio are blown away by the intricate script work and editing within the film, and they finally help coin the acronym GFWTM (Go Fucking Watch This Movie) for Wilson to use in the future. Eli and Ben discuss how Diaz-Abaya and screenwriter Ricky Lee can achieve an impactful broader perspective in this web of life film. Will Ben ever add this film to his Best Friend Film Canon letterboxd list? Listen in to find out.

Join us as we SHOW UP for Kelly Reichardt’s latest work: Showing Up. Reichardt teams up again with regular collaborator Michelle Williams in their portrait of a grumpy artist. Wilson analyzes the performances of Michelle Williams and Hong Chau, Eli appreciates the film’s humor and subtlety, and Ben is fascinated by the film’s focus on the ordinary. Together, we also reflect on what it means to live a life of art-making.

May you join us this December for a Deep Cutversation on May Deepcutber? Wait, this is confusing... what's NOT confusing is the moral clarity of American director Todd Haynes' latest pressure-cooker drama about the evils of our time. While Eli sees horror lurking beneath the pleasant cinematography of Christopher Blauvelt, Ben ponders the omission of a cathartic ending from Samy Burch's script, and Wilson lauds the core performances of Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, and Charles Melton. Don't be naïve–– tune in!

Bon appetit! The DC Trio are in for a treat this week as we savor Frederick Wiseman’s latest documentary, MENUS PLAISIRS - LES TROIGROS, a scrumptious looking film about three French restaurants, and the family that runs it. From the bustling kitchen to the tense moments shared between members of the Troigros dynasty, the trio immerses themselves in this four-hour culinary exploration. Ben and Eli ponder the central question of the work and Wilson finds a strong appreciation of Wiseman’s perspective on the food industry.

MENUS PLAISIRS - LES TROIGROS is out now in theaters. A big thank you to the folks at Zipporah Films for helping make this happen.

The DC Trio takes a plunge into a new director and dives into the works of Marilou Diaz-Abaya, one of the leading figures of the second golden age of Filipino cinema. In the first episode, Wilson shares his love for a national cinema that is deeply tied to his roots. What better way to be introduced to Pinoy cinema than through a biopic of one of the nation's most infamous historical figures? Eli's intrigue in José Rizal's life and his choices add to the discussion, while Ben brings his own perspectives with nostalgic "watched this in class" vibes from the flick.

With special guest and friend Thanmye Lagudu we come together to crown a new king. Mani Ratnam completes his magnum opus with Ponniyin Selvan: Part II and we're back in the theatre again for more palace intrigue, romantic entanglements, and some of that signature Ratnam flair. Can Ratnam one-up himself with part two? We discuss PS2's visual glow-up, the challenges of adapting a literary classic, and bicker about who put in a better performance: Vikram or Aishwarya Rai Bachchan?

As Cannes wraps up in the South of France, we bring you a dispatch from another festival halfway across the world. An exhausted Wilson joined Ben and Eli in the middle of his festival marathon to dish about the movies he saw at this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival, and talk about the experience of officially covering a festival for the podcast for the first time! Includes interviews with top Hong Kong directors Soi Cheang and Ann Hui.

Rise. Roar. Revolt. Review. Here it is. Our long awaited Deep Cut Upkeep episode on the S.S. Rajamouli worldwide phenom RRR, and it’s a doozy. Hear the Deep Cut Trio talk about why Rajamouli’s brand of action filmmaking has entranced audiences, and why Ben and Wilson have this film at the top of their 2022 year end lists, while Eli explains why he prefers Rajamouli’s previous outings. Most importantly, they discuss the important and dangerous imagery and narrative co-opting that Rajamouli deploys in this film, and how it is used to fuel the fire of right wing Hindu nationalists in India.

Another year has wrapped production, and the production assistants are here to clean up! Just in time for the 2023 Oscars, Ben, Wilson, and Eli mop up the mess left by superheroes and conductors, stop motion shells and Na’vi, interdimensional travelers and cannibals, mourners and partiers. By breaking down the year’s big trends–– directors fictionalizing their autobiographies, Marvel sinking slowly, rich filmmakers attempting to pillory wealth inequality–– the Deep Cut trio gets a handle on what made 2022 so weird. The boys get personal, too, talking about the movies and moments from last year that shaped who they are as moviegoers and friends. Finally, each co-host’s coveted top 3 films of the year are revealed… 

We conclude our series on Miranda July's filmography with her divisive sophomore feature, The Future. Tune in for a feisty episode where Ben tries desperately to defend his deep cut choice while Eli and Wilson have their limits tested by July's storytelling tendencies.

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We continue our journey through Miranda July's filmography with her debut feature, Me and You and Everyone We Know. With a large cast of supporting characters, Ben finds the thematic ties across the film's vignettes, Eli praises its winning child performances, and Wilson investigates the film's place within the realm of the "web-of-life" film.  

Deep Cut returns to regularly scheduled programming with the decidedly irregular films of American independent director/writer/actor/multi-hyphenate Miranda July. You might even call them quirky.  We begin our series by learning about her long list of artistic endeavours and discuss the connotations of "quirk" in the context of July's films before diving in to her most recent and most critically acclaimed work yet: Kajillionaire. Ben highlights Evan Rachel Wood's physically specific performance as "Old Dolio", Wilson celebrates Emile Mossieri's emotionally vibrant soundtrack to July's little "heist of the heart," while Eli tries his best to understand what makes the movie so special to his fellow co-hosts. 

Listen up Wiseman-heads, oh do we have a treat for you! The Deep Cut trio are joined by the man himself, Frederick Wiseman, to talk about his new film A Couple (2022) and his expansive documentary filmography. The discussion topics include Nathalie Boutefeu’s arresting performance as Sophia Tolstoy, the secret meaning behind filming in a garden, and Fred’s views on life and death.

Can you say "Deep Cut Upkeep A Couple" ten times fast?? Legendary, prolific American documentarian Frederick Wiseman has returned with one of only 3 fiction films  in his 55 year career. A Couple finds Nathalie Boutefeu performing monologues from the letters of Sophia Tolstoy in the beautiful Brittany coast. 

The DC Three admit defeat to the literary gods for not having read a Tolstoy novel, but instead reflect on the nuanced simplicity of Wiseman’s stylistic techniques, along with the multi-layered performance Wiseman and his star / co-writer balance. 

In a long-awaited bonus set of episodes, Ben, Wilson, and Eli go over their 2022 movie-watching summers, where each of our co-hosts maintained an audio diary of all the films we saw over the summer. Come along on our summer movie adventure, as we cover watching highlights from Kiyoshi Kurosawa, to Jurassic World Dominion.

List of films (and TV) discussed in this roundup:

Ben: Donkey Skin (Demy), We Are Lady Parts (TV), Cure (Kurosawa), The Last Days of Disco (Stillman), Jurassic World Dominion (Trevorrow), Heat (Mann), Poetry (Lee)

Wilson: Mass (Kranz), Fast & Feel Love (Thamrongrattanarit), Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Tsai), The Adventures of Rosette (Rosette, Rohmer), Keep Rolling (Man), Katatsumori (Kawase), Love Massacre (Tam)

Eli: Pulse (Kurosawa), Fast & Feel Love (Thamrongrattanarit), Memoria (Weerasethakul), O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization (Szulkin), Court (Tamhane), Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (Park)

Welcome to Eli's summer film watching audio diary!  Over the summer of 2022 each of us recorded little audio snippets reviewing every film that we watched, and these are Eli's! You can listen to our combined discussion of our summer movie watching in our roundup episode. We recommend you start there!  

Welcome to Ben's summer film watching audio diary!

Over the summer of 2022 each of us recorded little audio snippets reviewing every film that we watched, and these are Ben's! You can listen to our combined discussion of our summer movie watching in our roundup episode. We recommend you start there!