Deep Cut: A Film Podcast

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? Once again we are asking you to join the Church of Ratnam in our free Patreon, discord server, and all our links @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.deepcutpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Thanmye on ⁠Letterboxd⁠ and ⁠Twitter⁠. Read his essay on PS2 here.

As part of his coverage for HKIFF 2023, Wilson interviews Japanese director Daishi Matsunaga, a day after the Hong Kong premiere of his new film, Egoist. Director Matsunaga talks about the film's moving story, the specific visual language he uses, his thoughts on iPhone footage, and so much more. A massive thank you to dear friend of the pod Fumiko Nago for helping interpret this interview. Films discussed in the interview: Egoist - dir. Daishi Matsunaga Hanalei Bay - dir. Daishi Matsunaga Call Me By Your Name - dir. Luca Guadagnino The Son - dir. Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne Sweating the Small Stuff - dir. Ryutaro Ninomiya Find our free Patreon, discord server, and all our links @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.deepcutpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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. Check out Wilson's full HKIFF list here. What festival should we cover next? Let us know in our free Patreon, discord server, and all our links @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.deepcutpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Films/Sections Previewed: A City of Sadness (4K Restoration) - dir. Hou Hsiao Hsien Plan 75 - dir. Chie Hayakawa Juzo Itami Retrospective New Blood - dir. Soi Cheang Egoist - dir. Daishi Matsunaga Stars at Noon - dir. Claire Denis Sparta - dir. Ulrich Seidl Our Body - dir. Claire Simon Saint Omer - dir. Alice Diop A Still Small Voice - dir. Luke Lorentzen A Holy Family - dir. Elvis Lu in water - dir. Hong Sang Soo Tótem - dir. Lila Avilés Dust of Angels (4K Restoration) - dir. Hsu Hsiao-ming

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. Read Ritesh Babu’s writeup on RRR. Read Wang Bing’s State of Cinema 2022 writeup: Join our ⁠DiscoRRRd⁠⁠⁠⁠ server⁠! Find our free Patreon, discord server, and all our links @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.deepcutpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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…  Dunk on the Oscars with us in our free Patreon, discord server, and all our links @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.deepcutpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Movies discussed on this episode:Aftersun (dir. Charlotte Wells)Ambulance (dir. Michael Bay)Armageddon Time (dir. James Gray)Autobiography (dir. Makbul Mubarak)Avatar the Way of Water (dir. James Cameron)Babylon (dir. Damien Chazelle)Banshees of Inisherin (dir. Martin McDonagh)Bardo, False Chronicles of a Handful of Truths (dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu)The Batman (dir. Matt Reeves)Benediction (dir. Terrence Davies)Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (dir. Ryan Coogler)Bones and All (dir. Luca Guadagnino)Broker (dir. Kore-eda Hirokazu) - Listen to our Kore-eda episode here.The Cathedral (dir. Ricky D’Ambrose)A Couple (dir. Frederick Wiseman) - Find our episode on this here, and our interview with Wiseman here!Crimes of the Future (dir. David Cronenberg)Decision to Leave (dir. Park Chan-wook)Deep Water (dir. Adrian Lyne)Everything Everywhere All At Once (dir. Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, a.k.a. The Daniels)The Fabelmans (dir. Steven Spielberg)Fire Island (dir. Andrew Ahn) - Find our episode on this here. Girl Picture (dir. Alli Haapasalo) Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (dir. Rian Johnson) Hit the Road (dir. Panah Panahi) Il Buco (dir. Michelangelo Frammartino) Joyland (dir. Saim Sadiq) Leila’s Brothers (dir. Saeed Roustayi) Low Tide: A Newly Restored Work by Thomas Wright (dir. George Matthews) Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (dir. Dean Fleischer Camp) Memoria (dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul) The Menu (dir. Mark Mylod) No Bears (dir. Jafar Panahi) Nope (dir. Jordan Peele)The Northman (dir. Robert Eggers) The Novelist’s Film (dir. Hong Sang-soo)Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (dir. Guillermo del Toro & Mark Gustafson)Ponniyan Selvan Part 1 (dir. Mani Ratnam) - Find our episode on this here.Return to Sender (dir. Russell Goldman) - Watch Russell's short here!Return to Seoul (dir. Davy Chau)RRR (dir. S. S. Rajamouli) - Our extended coverage on this here!Small, Slow But Steady (dir. Sho Miyake)Tár (dir. Todd Field)Teenage Emotions (dir. Frédérick Da)The Territory (dir. Alex Pritz)To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self (dir. Mabel Cheung & William Kwok Wai-Lun)Top Gun Maverick (dir. Joseph Kosinski)Trenque Lauquen (dir. Laura Citarella)Triangle of Sadness (dir. Ruben Östland)Under the Fig Trees (dir. Erige Sehiri)The Whale (dir. Darren Aronofsky)When the Waves Are Gone (dir. Lav Diaz)White Noise (dir. Noah Baumbach)The Worst Person in the World (dir. Joachim Trier) 2022 TV Mentions:Better Call Saul (created by Vince Gilligan & Peter Gould)Irma Vep (created by Olivier Assayas) The Rehearsal (created by Nathan Fielder)

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. See the future in our free Patreon, discord server, and all our links @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.deepcutpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

))><((  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.   Find connection on our free Patreon, discord server, and all our links @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.deepcutpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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.  Get riled up in our free Patreon, discord server, and all our links @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.deepcutpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Wilson, Ben, and Eli are once again joined by director and friend of the podcast Russell Goldman to talk about his experience and the best movies he saw at this year’s Sundance Film Festival! We get a chance to preview this year in independent American and international cinema, talk about the state of Sundance in its first in person year, and dig into some Letterboxd discourse. You can check out Russell’s work at: https://www.russellgoldman.com/    Films Previewed:   Birth/Rebirth - dir. Laura Moss  Bad Behaviour - dir. Alice Englert   Passages - dir. Ira Sachs  Infinity Pool - dir. Brandon Cronenberg  A Little Prayer - dir. Angus MacLachlan  Drift - dir. Anthony Chen  Fremont - dir. Babak Jalali  Shortcomings - dir. Randall Park Did you catch any Sundance films this year? Let us know on the Discord server. Find our free Patreon, discord server, and all our links @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.deepcutpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Check out the letterboxd video we talked about here.

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. It was an honor for us to speak with the revered filmmaker, and we would like to thank everyone at Zipporah Films for helping to make this happen. Check out our most recent episode on A Couple, and our introduction to Wiseman’s filmography with our older episode on Titicut Follies (1967), In Jackson Heights (2015), and City Hall (2020). What question would you ask Wiseman? Tell us on our free Patreon, discord server, and all our links @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.deepcutpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠