Deep Cut: A Film Podcast

Following his interview with Mary Stephen at the 50th Hong Kong International Film Festival, Wilson has invited the storied director to return to Deep Cut to discuss her new hybrid documentary feature and her work editing the films of Éric Rohmer. As Palimpsest: Story of a Name garners praise around the international film festival circuit for its sensitive, witty exploration of her family’s history, Stephen dives into a different side of her personal history with the French auteur. Listen in as we ask Stephen’s thoughts on Rohmer’s process with actors on set, the authority Stephen had over the edit, and how parents tell–– or, don’t tell–– stories to their children.

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Timestamps

00:00 Intro

03:51 Melvil Poupad: Hot or Not 

05:21 Rohmer’s personal and professional life

08:42 Working as a Rohmer collaborator

11:10 A Summer's Tale preproduction 

13:02 The Rohmerian Type of Woman

14:40 Blocking and editing in A Summer's Tale

21:06 Creative input as an editor 

25:10 Mary’s sense of time

27:52 An Autumn’s Tale

35:55 The themes of Palimpsest

38:19 The Ending of Palimpsest

45:29 Mary's Relationship with her father

51:11 Mary as a director

54:34 Advice for younger filmmakers and personal deep cut

Fall in love with three beautiful podcast hosts; fumble the bag with all three. To prepare for our upcoming interview with director Mary Stephen, we study her work editing Éric Rohmer’s A Summer’s Tale. Almost five years following our initial series on the French auteur, have our thoughts changed on his calm naturalism? We compare his work to more recent Deep Cut director Hong Sang-soo, discuss the structure of his scenes, and wonder about how Stephen helped sculpt time in this film. Most importantly: do we really find that pouty French twink hot?

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Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro

00:06:00 A Summer Tale context

00:10:38 General reactions

00:20:02 Film structure and opening

00:24:47 Gaspard’s conundrum 

00:30:48 Margot

00:36:08 What is the film trying to say?

00:38:15 Naturalism and conversations 

00:44:05 The passage of time 

00:46:15 The audience’s trust

00:50:17 Hong v Rohmer, closing tangents

Eli flies in from his foray into his favorite film fest, the 64th installation of the New York Film Festival. It’s a year full of delicate, considerate, humanistic films: Sandra Wollner’s Everytime, Ira Sachs’ The Man I Love, Jordan Firstman’s Club Kid, and Mike Leigh’s Tender Loving Care. Ben and Wilson share their thoughts on two more films in the lineup, Hong Sang-soo’s The Day She Returns, and William Greaves’ Once Upon a Time in Harlem. Also, just for the heck of it, hear what Wilson thinks about Kore-eda Hirokazu’s latest, Look Back.

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Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

06:40 Everytime (2026) dir. Sandra Wollner

13:05 The Man I Love (2026) dir. Ira Sachs

23:17 Club Kid (2026) dir. Jordan Firstman

27:31 Tender Loving Care (2026) dir. Mike Leigh

32:37 For The Moon (2026) dir. Eric Baudelaire

38:44 The Day She Returns (2026) dir. Hong Sang-soo

44:07 Once Upon a Time in Harlem (2026) dir. William Greaves, David Greaves

47:25 Look Back (2026) dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda

50:59: Upcoming festival coverage

Before Paul Verhoeven was Hollywood’s pervert-auteur of choice, he was making massive hits in Dutch cinema like this episode’s focus, Katie Tippel. Ben’s main question for this episode: what is Paul Verhoeven’s worldview? To answer, the Deep Cut trio explores the economic and sexual exploitation of Tippel’s world, the surprisingly modern-feeling period filmmaking, and lots of nudity.

Links:

Adam Nayman on Katie Tippel

Ben’s review of Mahjong

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Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro

00:03:51 Summary, context, and general reactions

00:19:08 Verhoeven's worldview

00:33:43 Prostitution and sexuality

00:48:47 Historical films and the feeling of modernity

01:04:00 Exploitation?

Sex, violence, and metanarrative critiques of the audience! Our series on the films of Dutch auteur Paul Verhoeven begins with several bangs in 1992's Basic Instinct. After getting to know the thrilling perv, Wilson gets grossed out by Michael Douglas, Ben gets enthralled by Sharon Stone, and Eli gets confused about the ending. What big ideas lie beneath this spectacular erotic thriller? Listen on…

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Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro

00:01:50 Introducing Paul Verhoeven

00:10:00 Moral complexity 

00:17:08 Context on Verhoeven

00:27:15 Introducing Basic Instinct

00:33:00 Nick as the protagonist; Michael Douglas as an actor

00:41:25 The interrogation scene

00:52:30 The end of the movie 

01:02:29 Car chases and murder

01:06:15 Themes and big ideas 

01:14:30 Closing thoughts

Following his conversation with Film at Lincoln Center programmer Maddie Whittle, Eli returns from watching the series she programmed, Scary Movies XIV, to tell Ben and Wilson about fright, fear, thrill, chill… you get it. Stay tuned for Eli’s thoughts on new films Buddy (dir. Casper Kelly) and Something Real (dir. Evar Anvelt) and revival screenings of Cam (dir. Daniel Goldhaber), Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (dir. John McNaughton), and Wendigo (dir. Larry Fessenden), plus exclusive insights from directors during their Q&A sessions.

Links:

The full slate of films at Scary Movies XIV

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Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:42 Festival intro

09:30 General horror discussion

12:13 Buddy (2026) dir. Casper Kelly

17:00 Something Real (2026) dir. Evar Anvelt

21:09 Revivals

21:34 Cam (2018) dir. Daniel Goldhaber

34:31 Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) dir. John McNaughton

42:56 Wendigo (2001) dir. Larry Fessenden

50:31 Wrap-up

Eli sits down with programmer Madeline Whittle to chat about this year’s edition of SCARY MOVIES, which showcases the latest offerings in horror from all around the world. Maddie talks about her relationship with horror films, the process of selecting films for SCARY MOVIES XIV, and previews some of the offerings at the festival! SCARY MOVIES XIV will run from August 12 - 20 at New York City’s Film at Lincoln Center.

Links:

Film at Lincoln Center: Scary Movies XIV

Maddie’s Twitter

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Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

00:45 Maddie’s relationship with horror films and the festival

05:54 Programming the Scary Movies festival

09:25 Festival highlights 

15:27 Why do we watch scary movies?

19:12 Maddie’s Deep Cut Pick

The Deep Cut team reaches a major milestone as Ben and Eli interview Deep Cut canon director Kiyoshi Kurosawa! The Japanese auteur generously answers questions about his latest film, The Samurai and the Prisoner: how does Chiyoho in this film link to Akiko in Cloud? Are the comedic moments intentional? And Eli finally gets to ask his most burning Kurosawa question: WHY ALL THE PLASTIC SHEETS?

Special thank you to Ryanne Gordon, Benkei Golden, and Amaka Nwokocha from Divergent PR and translator, filmmaker, and artist Monika Uchiyama for making this episode possible.

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Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

03:18 Interview begins

04:13 Social structures and Murashige

05:47 Chiyoho in a man’s world

07:33 Plastic sheet

09:41 Long takes and blocking

12:47 Cinematic influences

15:18 Comedic aspects

17:02 Closing thoughts

Deep Cut director Kiyoshi Kurosawa is back with a sharp left turn in The Samurai and the Prisoner: Silence of the Lambs by way of Seven Samurai! On this Deep Cut Upkeep episode, we return to the director of Cure and Pulse to look for the director’s unnerving tone, restrained direction, societal interrogation, and… matcha-making techniques?

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Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro

00:06:48 General reactions

00:15:20 Kurosawaisms in The Samurai and the Prisoner

00:20:55 Comedy

00:31:05 Chiyoho’s version of Buddhist ideology

00:36:00 Murashige’s mysterious motivations

00:42:38 Kurosawa and tone

00:49:20 Brainstorming questions for Kurosawa

00:53:28 Our feelings on Kurosawa now

Fresh off the opening weekend of Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster, the Deep Cut trio welcome friend of the pod Koh Zhi Hao to talk about The Odyssey. Listen to us break down the differences in Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s poem, discuss who gave a bad performance in this, and finally answer the question; Does Chris Nolan make movies for stupid people? 

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Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro

00:02:40 Introducing film and Zhi Hao

00:09:59 Formats we saw and general reactions

00:40:35 Context and favorite moments

00:55:12 Favorite technical aspects

01:08:46 Phaeacia, Helen, and other details

01:19:54 The gods' influence on characters

01:30:37 Nolan's influence

01:34:48 Odyssey viewing formats

01:44:10 Closing