Vintage Popeye in film recording that needs to be refined (5,3)
I believe the answer is:
crude oil
'in film recording that needs to be refined' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both substances as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'vintage popeye' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'vintage' could be 'cru' (e.g. grand cru) and 'cru' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for crude oil that I've seen before include "Unrefined petroleum" , "liquid asset" , "From which petrol is made" , "output from rig" , "Source of fuel" .)