Deep Cut: A Film Podcast Wilson, Ben, and Eli

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…

Share your favorite films of 2023 in our ⁠Discord server.⁠ Keep up with Deep Cut on ⁠Instagram⁠, Twitter, ⁠Facebook⁠, and ⁠Letterboxd⁠.

Alphabetical list of all films mentioned in our 2023 in Review and their directors:

A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang)
A Holy Family (Elvis Lu)
Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet)
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (Kelly Fremon Craig)
Barbie (Greta Gerwig)
Beau is Afraid (Ari Aster)
Blackberry (Matthew Johnson)
Blue Giant (Yuzuru Tachikawa)
Close (Lukas Dhont)
Closing Time (Russell Goldman)
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (Radu Jude)
Elegies (Ann Hui)
Evil Does Not Exist (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
How to Blow Up a Pipeline (Daniel Goldhaber)
Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese)
Knock at the Cabin (M. Night Shayamalan)
Kokomo City (D. Smith)
May December (Todd Haynes)
Menus-Plaisirs - Les Troisgros (Frederick Wiseman)
Monster (Hirokazu Kore-eda)
No Bears (Jafar Panahi)
Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan)
Passages (Ira Sachs)
Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)
Ponniyin Selvan: II (Mani Ratnam)
Return to Seoul (Davy Chou)
Rye Lane (Raine Allen Miller)
Showing Up (Kelly Reichardt)
Skinamarink (Kyle Edward Ball)
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson)
Sparta (Ulrich Seidl)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Jeff Rowe)
The Eight Mountains (Felix Van Groeningen, Charlotte Vandermeersch)
The Taste of Things (Tran Anh Hung)
The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
They Cloned Tyrone (Juel Taylor)
Tótem (Lila Aviles)

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.

Jessica Yeung's Review
Kore-eda Interview with Filmmaker Magazine (2009)
Ben's Video Essay on Still Walking (Spoilers!)

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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.

Are you a fan of Filipino cinema? Tell us on our discord⁠⁠!~

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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.

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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!

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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.



Ever had an unforgettable meal? Let us know on our #food channel on our discord⁠!~



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