Deep Cut: A Film Podcast

We continue our series on Akerman with a double-bill of personal documentaries about her mother, and of home. News from Home immediately follows her seminal Jeanne Dielman, and No Home Movie is the final film of Akerman’s filmography. In this episode, we thread the throughline across Akerman’s career in comparing both films, see the influence of structural and slow cinema, and marvel at her capacity for personal artmaking.Links:Celine Sciamma on Chantal AkermanI Don’t Belong Anywhere: The Cinema of Chantal Akerman (No Home Movie BTS footage)Go home to our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com Timestamps:00:00 Intro05:32 Plot summaries and Reactions17:15 2015 critical reactions to No Home Movie21:00 Structural films and emotional responses27:07 Power of the cut33:41 Akerman and her mother40:33 Comparing Akerman with Varda44:36 Private artmaking48:33 Akerman's career arc52:13 Preview for next eps

It’s about time. We tackle Chantal Akerman’s Sight and Sound topping Jeanne Dielman, and begin our series on her singular career. Ben introduces Akerman’s career, spotlighting her fierce conviction and crystalline vision, Eli loops in a melodramatic reading, and Wilson zeroes in on an ending that explosively caps off a 3.5h opus. And if you’re struggling with how to approach this film, as entertainment or as art, just remember: it’s about time.Links:Behinds the scenes of Jeanne DielmanSlant magazine interview Article on Akerman Wilson’s Letterboxd reviewStephen Gillespie’s Letterboxd reviewAngelica Jade Bastien on LonglegsMake coffee at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com

After a rocky relationship between Deep Cut and Mr. Pablo Larrain, we come back to the final film in Larrain’s “important 20th century white women” trilogy (as Ben describes it). Will Larrain redeem himself with a portrait of the final days of Maria Callas’ life? Or will he and Stephen Knight sh*t the bed again? Wilson praises Angelina Jolie’s comeback performance, Ben praises how pretty the film is, and Eli praises the prop glasses, but is all that enough to get the film over the line? Listen to find out. Links:Thomas Flight: Do Musical Biopics Have a Fatal Flaw?Sing our praises at our free patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.comTimestamps:00:00 Intro03:33 General reactions10:05 Saving graces of the film14:10 Narrative22:33 The Mandrax of it all24:53 Supporting characters27:36 Flashbacks and musical biopics30:50 We pitch Maria Callas biopics33:01 Pablo Larrain power ranking38:18 Outro

We are joined by Asian Film Archive programmer Alexander Lee for our second installment in our Hong Sang-soo series! Alex talks to the guys about pairing Hong Sang-soo deep cuts with Eric Rohmer classics, and specifically the pairing of Night and Day with Love in the Afternoon. Eli chats about the narrative motifs that are on display in this film, Wilson tries to unlock the secret of Hong’s use of zooms, and Ben contends with the slimy protagonist of this film. Singaporean listeners to Deep Cut you can catch Night and Day on July 13th at the Oldham Theatre. Buy tickets here!Links:Hong Sang-soo Notarized: Night and DayGet drunk on soju at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.comTimestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:01:17 Alex introduces Twin Tales00:06:45 Film Context00:10:21 General Reactions00:20:58 Hong’s big stylistic choices00:23:22 Narrative Motifs00:28:30 Yoo-Jung00:31:55 Sung-nam00:33:14 Odd patterns00:37:22 Night and Day vs. Love in the Afternoon00:40:41 Tech and sex of the 00s00:42:42 The male mess of Hong00:45:52 Dream sequences00:50:54 The look of the film00:56:18 Being married?00:59:16 Hong notarized01:00:40 Opening of the film and Hill of Freedom01:02:43 Music01:04:30 More on zooms01:05:35 Paris01:07:52 Other small odd things01:09:24 Preview of Twin Tales01:13:11 Outro

Deep Cut partners with Asian Film Archive which is presenting Twin Tales: Éric Rohmer and Hong Sang-soo, a special programme featuring six pairings of films by French New Wave director Éric Rohmer and prolific Korean filmmaker Hong Sang-soo. Buy tickets here!We’ve teased this for YEARS! And it’s finally here. The DC Trio break the ice by introducing notorious Korean director Hong Sang-soo to the canon by talking about a 2006 deep cut, Woman on the Beach. We talk about the pairing with Rohmer’s The Green Ray (our ep. 24), discuss why this feels odd in Hong’s filmography, and debate on what shape this movie looks like. Join us for a lively first foray into the work of Hong Sang-soo.Links:Film at Lincoln Center: Hong Sangsoo on Woman on the BeachThe New Yorker: Hong Interview with Dennis Lim Hong Sang-soo Notarized: Woman on the Beach by Ryan SwenGet drunk on soju at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.comTimestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:02:13 Twin Tales: Hong x Rohmer00:05:00 Our journeys with Hong00:15:34 Hong Sang-soo Overview00:24:02 Woman on the Beach Summary and Reactions00:31:40 Notarized Hong00:34:03 Whose story is this?00:41:31 Men vs Women00:43:09 Some scenes00:45:06 Characterizations00:47:28 Comparison with The Green Ray, and others00:54:38 Cinematography00:57:21 Diagrams01:00:54 Restaurant scene01:02:32 Triangulation01:05:58 The Ending01:10:36 Outro

I want to podcast with you. Without speaking. On this episode of Deep Cut Upkeep we step into 1950s Mexico City and dive into the lush world of Luca Guadagnino’s Queer. Wilson expands more on his love for the film and why it topped his 2024 film list. Eli talks about the narrative constraints of this (bio)pic about William S. Burroughs. Ben draws links between Queer and Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Together, we talk about performance, Guadagnino’s eye for style, debate that Ayahuasca sequence, and end the episode with a quick round of Luca Guadagnino power rankings. Links:Natalie’s letterboxd review of QueerNYFF panel of Queer Take a TRIP to our free patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.comTimestamps:00:00 Intro02:50 General reactions08:26 Spoiler warning09:31 Production context12:50 Narrative structure16:30 Craig's performance as Lee19:12 Blocking and eyelines21:03 First meeting between Lee and Allerton25:09 Act 227:35 Yagé29:28 The relationship36:40 Comparison with In The Mood for Love40:32 The trip47:15 The ending50:55 Comparison to other Guadagnino58:33 Outro

As voted for on our Patreon, we return to Kelly Reichardt with her 2010 Western, Meek’s Cutoff. Ben argues that no discussion of the American Western is complete without Reichardt’s film, Wilson highlights the film’s fraught production that miraculously led to its poetic ending, and Eli frames the film within the larger context of America’s problematic Manifest Destiny. We get serious, analytical and near-academic with Reichardt’s masterwork… all the way until you hear us try on our best impressions of Bruce Greenwood’s Stephen Meek as Wallace from Wallace and Gromit. (?????)Get lost at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.comLinks:Kelly Reichardt on WTF with Marc MaronSundance interviewLast of the BuffaloAmerican ProgressTimestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:04:42 Plot Summary00:05:54 General reactions00:09:22 Eli loves the ending00:13:24 The film as a Western00:15:53 Production context00:18:20 How she got that ending00:22:10 The Western is distinctly American00:24:20 American mythology00:28:21 As "feminist" Western00:30:59 Stephen Meek00:33:15 Not your typical Western00:37:39 Chaos and destruction00:39:41 Actors00:40:36 Mishandling of Reichardt's releases00:45:25 Cinematography00:50:47 Why 4:300:56:33 What's in store for Reichardt01:00:02 Outro

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. Join our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.comTimestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:03:17 Festival as a whole00:08:44 Baby00:10:25 Youth Trilogy00:15:47 Bel Ami00:17:50 Drug War00:20:09 Bird00:21:54 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre00:24:46 Man’s Castle00:27:58 Việt and Nam 00:31:24 Yalla Parkour00:36:09 Harvest00:38:55 Never Too Late00:40:04 Fire of Wind00:42:15 To Kill a Mongolian Horse00:44:10 Santosh00:45:41 I’m Still Here00:49:21 Bona00:53:08 Dreams (Sex Love)00:56:40 Misericordia00:58:38 The Botanist01:00:17 Seeds 01:02:05 Blue Sun Palace 01:04:58 On Becoming a Guinea Fowl01:06:22 Separated 01:09:04 Phantosmia 01:13:15 Outro

Released as an exclusive Patreon post at the end of 2024, we’re now releasing this video podcast to publicly to commemorate ONE HUNDRED EPISODES! What a milestone. See you at 1000!  The summer of 2024 saw Ben, Wilson, and Eli all together in the same place for the first time in six years! To mark the momentous reunion, we recorded a special video episode. It's time to go all the way back to the start by revisiting the work of the podcast's first director, Hirokazu Kore-eda, with 2008's Still Walking. Learn about our history together, hear our musings on the complications of family, and watch as Wilson gets six pounds of blueberries.LinksBen’s video essay on Still WalkingWe’re still walking over at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.comTimestamps00:00:00 Intro00:05:50 Plot summary00:07:25 General thoughts00:14:10 Gifting interlude00:24:53 Still Walking continued00:27:43 Story and characters00:37:01 Deliberate cinematography, use of space00:42:36 Food00:47:43 Non-judgmental filmmaking00:50:23 Melodrama?00:52:22 Yoshio scene00:54:15 Atsushi01:01:06 Blue Light Yokohama01:04:35 Tokyo Sonata comparisons01:06:10 Stealthy emotional narratives01:12:02 What does Kore-eda not show us?01:16:58 Best food, best outfit01:19:57 Closing thoughts01:25:29 Longest outro ever

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. CHICKEN run to our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.comTimestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:03:05 General reactions00:11:34 The Wallace and Gromit relationship00:12:53 Favorite joke00:14:47 Themes of the film00:19:08 Feathers McGraw00:20:21 Technology and CGI use00:23:00 Visual gags vs word play00:24:58 Future prospects00:27:04 Genres00:29:18 Favorite sequences00:32:00 The pace of humor00:35:19 Young and old audiences00:38:48 Dog talk00:39:49 Outro