Deep Cut: A Film Podcast

“MURPH! MUUUURPH!” Join us on a journey through the wormhole along with filmmaker Isadora Neves Marques as we discuss Christopher Nolan’s intergalactic adventure, Interstellar . Is love calculable? How does this compare to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: a Space Odyssey? When does Nolan intercut TOO much? And is Matt Damon’s performance good? All will be revealed… if you listen, that is. Links: You can fi...

The seventh and final director interview Wilson conducted at this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival is with the legendary Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang. Wilson asks one of his cinematic heroes about the state of filmmaking today, his methods for working with actors, and his decades-long collaboration with Lee Kang-sheng. Kiss a melon in our FREE patreon, discord server, and our so...

The sixth of seven (6-7!!!) director interviews Wilson conducted at this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival is with the British, experimental director Ben Rivers, creator of the child-focused, post-apocalyptic exploration Mare’s Nest . Rivers speaks about giving child actors the freedom to be themselves onscreen, receiving Don Delillo’s blessing to stage his play The Word for Snow in the...

The fifth of seven director interviews Wilson conducted at this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival is with the thoughtfully impassioned Vladlena Sandu, director of the autobiographical drama Memory . Sandu shares her influences from Tarkovsky to Pajaranov, praises her collaborators on this film, how hypnotherapy helped her make this film, and her strong anti-war convictions. Remember our...

The fourth of seven director interviews Wilson conducted at this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival is with Edwin, director of the fantasy horror Sleep No More . Edwin shares his wide range of influences from Indonesian cinema history and beyond, speaks to his film’s commentary on labor rights, shares his own Deep Cut pick, and… shares a sing-along with Wilson?! Take a nap in our FRE...

The third of seven director interviews Wilson conducted at this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival is with the outgoing, reflective Ang Geck Geck, director of the semi-autobiographical childhood drama Ah Girl . Wilson connects with the Singaporean director over the long road to producing Ah Girl , the research with social workers that informed the script, the parts of her own childhood a...

The second of seven director interviews Wilson conducted at this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival is with the thoughtful, patient Ildikó Enyedi, director of the equally thoughtful and patient Silent Friend . Wilson connects with the Hungarian director over her pensive approach to the natural world, the special place that HKIFF holds in her experience as a filmmaker, and her admirat...

The first of 7 director interviews Wilson conducted at this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival. Mary Stephen is a legend in world cinema, having worked as an editor for Éric Rohmer and Ann Hui, and being a celebrated film director in her own right. Wilson chats with Mary about her latest film, the personal documentary PALIMPSEST: THE STORY OF A NAME — its twisty narrative structure,...

Let’s, uh, frickin LOOK BACK at Marina De Van’s 2009 psychological thriller / body horror flick, Don’t Look Back. Sophie Marceau turns into Monica Bellucci; meanwhile, Eli tries to piece together the puzzle of De Van’s obscure career, Wilson notices the special effects, and Ben makes comparisons to soap operas. Links: Night Vision: Seeing Ourselves Through Dark Moods by Mariana Alessandri Intervie...

Not for the faint of heart, Marina de Van’s film In My Skin challenges our stomachs, hearts and minds. While Wilson squirms, Ben gets to the heart of why Eli loves sicko mode movies. Can one of the most underrated New French Extremism films secretly be deeply empathetic? Links: The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning by Maggie Nelson “The Goon Squad” by Daniel Kolitz ( Harpers Magazine , 2025) Night Visio...

哈囉 from Hong Kong! Wilson recaps a busy edition of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, including meeting and interviewing the one and only Tony Leung Chiu Wai for SILENT FRIEND. Wilson also chats about the seven(!) soon to come director interviews he conducted for the podcast, and some interesting classic films shown at this year’s edition of HKIFF. The trio also discuss some exciting new...

“[Reichardt] makes you love these dicks.” – Wilson How on earth does she do that? Does she have the mind of a master? Join us as we find out how Reichardt’s idiosyncratic style in The Mastermind helps you love this one dick despite all the hairy situations he’s entangled in. We debate the film’s reception during the AMC secret screening debacle, Reichardt's constantly zagging career, and her p...

After an 8-year hiatus, Lynne Ramsay has returned with her latest feature, Die My Love, and we're here to keep up with the Scottish auteur! After an 8-year hiatus, Lynne Ramsay has returned with her latest feature, Die My Love , starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson. On this Deep Cut Upkeep episode, we find out if it was worth the wait and consider what’s next for the Scottish auteur. El...

Wilson takes a trip to Peng Chau to visit Ariel and Pearl of Kani Releasing, a North American film distribution company specializing in Asian cinema, to chat about their work, the films in their catalog and the changing film landscape for theatrical/physical media distribution. Wilson takes a trip to Peng Chau to visit Ariel and Pearl of Kani Releasing, a North American film distribution company s...

Flowers bloom at night… it’s not scary. With our first of presumably many Deep Cut Upkeeps on prolific South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo, we explore What Does That Nature Say to You? We flesh out our theory of how Hong achieves authenticity and immediacy while eliding simple meaning, unpack the latest Hong male lead, and catch Hong’s reference to 6-7. Bow at our grandmothers’ trees at our FREE pat...

Film critic and Events Chair of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Ryan Swen joins us to discuss his Hong Sang-soo Deep Cut Pick, Hill of Freedom . Swen has had a huge hand in shaping our Hong series through his ongoing criticism project, Hong Sang-soo Notarized . We all take a look at the non-chronological narrative of Hong’s meditation on misogyny, Japan and Korea, and the unsurprising con...

Writer, film curator, and leading Hong Sang-soo scholar Dennis Lim brings a personal favorite from Hong’s oeuvre–– 2022’s The Novelist’s Film –– to Deep Cut . As the DC trio and their esteemed guest enjoy the luxuriate in Hong’s complex, joyous depiction of collaborating artists-in-exile, Dennis shares his background with Hong, this film’s shape, and the model Hong sets for young, independent film...

Sorry Baby , but it’s One Battle After Another , as we clash and debate our favorite films of 2025! We’re covering obligatory mentions of the biggest films of the year and picking up our Weapons to dunk on some that we’re Regretting You watched.  Which of these films will we look back on with strong Sentimental Value, 28 Years Later ? Which are winners, which are Sinners ?  I’m afraid you’re going...

In this episode, we get into Ben’s favorite Hong film of all time, Yourself and Yours. If On The Beach At Night Alone is Hong’s first reflection on the scandalized reception to the reveal of his relationship with Kim Min-hee, Ben shares the theory that Yourself and Yours is secretly the one about its beginning.  In our discussion, we try to pin down Minjung’s slippery personas, pick apart the film...

What do Inception , Tim Robinson, Luis Buñuel, Woody Allen, and Chantal Akerman have in common? They all get compared to Hong Sang-soo’s On the Beach at Night Alone in this episode of Deep Cut ! Listen on as we unpack the movie that’s loosely about Hong’s and Kim Min-hee’s career-changing relationship, digest more awkward dinner scenes, and discuss the merits of going to the beach in the winter. L...

Is traveling through Europe too expensive? Then hop aboard a train with the Deep Cut trio and Chantal Akerman for another sensitive, lightly autobiographical story of a surrogate character experiencing ennui and/or despair. Along the road trip, there’s sex, ‘70s outfits, and… windows. Ultimately, we struggle to decide: how well can we know Akerman through her work (or, for that matter, anyone)? Me...

We are joined by none other than friend of the pod and the artist behind all of our DC covers, Justina Yam! Justina comes on the podcast to take us back to the works of Chantal Akerman, with her first feature Je Tu Il Elle . Justina talks about her personal connection to Akerman’s films, and discusses how she continues to play with time in her filmography. Wilson and Eli talk about expressions thr...

Ben got a chance to interview director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke for his film A Useful Ghost (2025) that played at the 36th Singapore International Film Festival, where it also won the Special Mention Prize for the Asian Feature Film Competition.  Learn about Boonbunchachoke’s creative process, how he developed the story, and his approach to filmmaking as a whole that tends towards artificiality,...

Another festival coverage episode? We’re back to back with Asian film festivals and Ben returns to Singapore to cover the hottest films from the festival circuit and the region for the 36th Singapore International Film Festival. Our film coverage spans the most hotly contested tickets ( Silent Friend, Girl, Resurrection, Sentimental Value), cinema classics ( Matador, Water, Bye Bye Love), and prom...

While attending the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival, Ben was able to interview director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang and lead actress Bella Boonsang for their film Morte Cucina. Morte Cucina follows Sao as she takes an unconventional path toward revenge against a man who has wronged her. Listen in to hear about Ratanaruang’s candid thoughts on his approach to filmmaking, Boonsang’s initial trepidatio...