

Deep Cut: A Film Podcast
Wilson, Ben, and Eli
Deep Cut: A Film Podcast is a director-focused film podcast featuring deep-dive discussions about international, art-house, and independent cinema. Each episode we discuss either a director's most popular film or a "Deep Cut Pick": a personal favorite chosen by one of us. We've covered movies from filmmakers like Hirokazu Kore-eda, Agnes Varda, Éric Rohmer, Kelly Reichardt, Wong Kar-wai, S.S. Rajamouli, Bong Joon-ho, and more.
Looking for film recommendations off the beaten path? This is the pod to follow!
Links to our Discord and other socials here: https://deepcutpod.com
Looking for film recommendations off the beaten path? This is the pod to follow!
Links to our Discord and other socials here: https://deepcutpod.com
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 19, 2025 • 53min
091. Nick Park & Steve Box: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
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
Paul Santilli: Culture, Evil and Horror
Bunny hop over to our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com
Timestamps
(00:00) Intro
(06:49) Plot summary
(08:58) General reactions
(13:17) Types of humour
(20:55) Genre
(28:30) Payoffs
(35:30) Stop-motion and humanity
(41:42) Margin of safety
(45:35) Comedy and horror
(47:57) Childhood movies and tragedy
(51:27) Outro

Jan 9, 2025 • 33min
090. The People's Joker: Interview with Director Vera Drew
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.
The People’s Joker is streaming exclusively on Mubi.
Timestamps
(00:00) Intro
(03:29) Interview
(30:44) Outro
Our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com is for the people!

Jan 7, 2025 • 1h 6min
089. Nick Park: Wallace & Gromit - Original Shorts
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.
Links:
Children’s Media Conference Interview 2021
20 Questions with Nick Park (2009)
Blast off to our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com
Timestamps
(00:00) Intro
(02:15) Nick Park Introduction
(14:25) General Reactions
(19:45) Shorts Power Ranking
(20:30) A Grand Day Out
(33:25) The Wrong Trousers
(51:46) A Close Shave

Dec 21, 2024 • 36min
088. Ethan Coen: Drive-away Dolls
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
Links mentioned:
Devan Scott's Letterboxd review of DAD
krittikarc's Letterboxd review of DAD

Dec 13, 2024 • 1h 37min
087. SGIFF35 Dispatch (feat. No Other Land, An Unfinished Film, By The Stream, Viet and Nam, and MORE!)
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!
Links
DONATE to Singapore Red Cross Fundraising Campaign For Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza / Lebanon (campaign ends 31 Dec 2024)
I is another by Sasha Han
A Close Watch of Small Hours of the Night by Aditi Shivaramakrishnan
Ray Yeung Interview
Neo Sora Interview
Emerson Goo’s review of By The Stream
Ben's SGIFF Recap Part 1 , Part 2
Timestamps
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:05:14) Small Hours of the Night Directed by Daniel Hui
(00:15:40) No Other Land Directed by Basel Adra & Hamdan Ballal & Yuval Abraham & Rachel Szor
(00:21:14) Stars in Broad Daylight directed by Ossama Mohammed
(00:25:45) An Unfinished Film directed by Lou Ye
(00:30:32) Jafar Panahi Conversation
(00:34:36) Crimson Gold Directed by Jafar Panahi
(00:35:37) The Circle Directed by Jafar Panahi
(00:36:46) The Circle Spoiler
(00:38:10) Spoiler End
(00:39:13) Viet and Nam Directed by Truong Minh Quy; + small discussion on co-productions
(00:47:52) All Shall Be Well Directed by Ray Yeung
(00:50:20) All Shall Be Well Spoiler
(00:50:55) Spoiler End
(00:53:40) Happyend Directed by Neo Sora
(00:58:25) By The Stream Directed by Hong Sang-soo;+ Wilson’s love of Hong
(01:05:08) Vive l’amour Directed by Tsai Ming-liang
(01:09:27) Stranger Eyes Directed by Yeo Siew Hua
(01:13:54) Time to Be Strong Directed by Namkoong Sun
(01:17:32) Ben’s Festival Highlights
(01:18:48) Don’t Cry Butterfly Directed by Linh Duong
(01:21:19) Universal Language Directed by Matthew Rankin
(01:24:28) La Cocina Directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios
(01:25:20) Don’t You Let Me Go Directed by Leticia Gorge & Ana Guevara
(01:26:40) The Shrouds Directed by David Cronenberg; Our NYFF62 Dispatch episode where Eli watched it
(01:27:40) Familiar Touch Directed by Sarah Friedland; plus a very cool fact about the film’s production process
(01:30:55) April Directed by Dea Kulumbegashvili
(01:31:45) Brief spoiler for Kulumbegashvili’s first film, Beginning
(01:31:53) Spoiler end
(01:33:05) Closing Thoughts

Dec 6, 2024 • 1h 11min
086. Happyend: Interview with Director Neo Sora
In this engaging chat with Neo Sora, a talented Japanese-American filmmaker known for his Venice Film Festival premiere, Happyend, he shares insights on his filmmaking journey. He reflects on his admiration for Edward Yang and discusses the balance of friendship and activism within his work. The conversation dives into Japan's multicultural landscape, the impact of colonialism, and his passionate pro-Palestine advocacy during festival appearances. With humor woven into storytelling, Sora emphasizes the importance of connecting personal experiences with larger societal issues.

Nov 30, 2024 • 51min
085. Edward Yang: Terrorizers
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.
Ben’s Big Face Letterboxd list
Wilson’s Smoke Gets In Your Eyes Letterboxd list
Ben’s I Can Fix Her Letterboxd list
Vote on our poll to decide the next film we will cover!
Does Eli look like this man?
Terrorize us on our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com

Nov 17, 2024 • 1h
084. Edward Yang: Taipei Story
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.
Conversation with Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edmond Wong about Taipei Story
Play ball at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com

Nov 6, 2024 • 1h 26min
083. Edward Yang: Yi Yi
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. Our Patreon post about the podcast’s original format idea: First & LastHop a One and a Two over to our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.comP.S. Refreshed cover art design by Justina Yam!!

Oct 28, 2024 • 2min
Deep Cut: A Film Podcast Trailer
It’s about time, after 3 and a half years we got a brand spankin’ new trailer. If you’re new to Deep Cut, welcome! If you’re a long-time fan, share this with your friends!
Deep Cut: A Film Podcast is a director-focused film podcast featuring deep-dive discussions about international, art-house, and independent cinema. Each episode we discuss either a director's most popular film or a "Deep Cut Pick": a personal favorite chosen by one of us: Wilson Lai, Benjamin Yap, and Eli Sands.
We've covered movies from filmmakers like Hirokazu Kore-eda, Agnes Varda, Éric Rohmer, Kelly Reichardt, Wong Kar-wai, S.S. Rajamouli, Bong Joon-ho, and more!
Looking for film recommendations off the beaten path? This is the pod to follow! Available wherever you get your podcasts!
Find our FREE patreon, discord server, and all our socials @ http://www.deepcutpod.com