Suggestible - A Plethora of Wonderful Things

Episode Date: July 22, 2020

Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to. Hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.This week's Suggestibles:Quitting Sex Was The Best Thing...  by Laura BogartRelic (Movie)Insane After Coronavirus? by Patricia LockwoodSnowpiercer (TV Series) & Snowpiercer (Movie)Body Scan Meditations on SpotifyIsolating with David O'Doherty (Podcast)Send your recommendations to [e-mail], we’d love to hear them.You can also follow the show on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook @suggestiblepod and join our ‘Planet Broadcasting Great Mates OFFICIAL’ Facebook Group. So many things. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey folks, it's Mark Maron from WTF. I travel all over North America doing stand-up and it's always good to know Airbnb is an option when I'm away from home. But if you're away from home, why not take your own place and Airbnb it? Airbnb your whole home to make some extra cash. Or if you have a spare room that's not in use, just Airbnb that. Whether you could use extra money to cover some bills or for something a little more fun, your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.ca slash host. Well, well, well, we're here again. How did this happen?

Yes, we're back. He knows me. No, I'll tell you how it happened. We got microphones back in the 90s, back in the 80s. In fact, a little boy was born. Microphone, what are you talking about? And his mother called him James. What is happening?

And then eventually he met a man called Nicholas Mason. And then eventually they started watching bad films together and talking about it. And eventually they got microphones and they started recording it. Eventually they made a podcast called The Weekly Planet. And then eventually it became somewhat successful. And then it all culminated in you marrying me. And then we got some more microphones and then eventually it became somewhat successful and then it all culminated in you marrying me and then we got some more microphones and then we started talking to each other.

That's right. And it ultimately led to the world's most successful podcast, Suggestible. Wow, that was a huge build-up and full of lies, but it's really good to be here. This is a podcast where we're married and we suggest things to you. Would you like to go first this week? Yes, I would. I'm Claire.

He's James over there. He's so grumpy. We would love you to subscribe. We also have a baby here and a dog. I might just grab her and hold her while we're doing this and see how that goes. I'll do it. Sure? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay, we're back. We've got baby in hand. We'll call it has baby in hand. Okay, so it's my turn to go first. Yay! Yahoo! Okay, so the first one I've got is, it is an article because at the moment I'm finding it really hard to get three books.

So articles. You've got to cut time out of your day to read, Claire. What's wrong with you? I know. You've got to make the effort. I am reading three books simultaneously at the moment. I read a book a day. You mean a picture book a day. You mean a picture book a day.

Yes, a picture book a day. Anyway, so this is an article which I think is, if you're like me, finding it hard to find the time, this is a really great one. It's written by Laura Bogart. It's on BuzzFeed. It's called Quitting Sex Was the Best Thing I Ever Did for Myself. And the tagline is, my sex life as a fat woman was a trickle of accumulated humiliations

and loneliness, so I decided to try enjoying my own company instead. So before you go quitting sex, hey, hmm, what's happening here? That's what I was thinking. This article is much more about her discovery of herself, really, and the relationship she has with herself. Because she was so disappointed and had so many failed kind of attempts at relationships. She spent so much time trying to fit herself into society's mold, trying to make herself appealing to men, going on all of the Tinder and dating apps and all of the things and

having very little success. And then when she did find a guy feeling like she was his consolation prize. And she also talks about how men would secretly be attracted to her but then in public not want to hold her hand or go on dates with her because they would be embarrassed. That's really horrible and mean also. Right. I know. It's so horrible and mean.

And so on one hand it's sort of a look at what it's like to be a woman of her size in a culture that we're living in at the moment. Well, and I think things have changed, but at the time when she first started to become celibate, it was before Lizzo. It was before women had kind of been empowered through shows like Girls and Lena Dunham's Body to kind of feel okay with being in all different shapes and sizes and we were all kind of hoping to be that kind of Kate Moss waif-like woman,

you know, or look like Cindy Crawford or whatever. Great 90s references. Correct. Thank you very much. Exactly. But I think we've moved so much further forward now. And by the end of the article she talks about how she wants her life, you know, by the end of the article she talks about how in finding joy in things that she loves like gardening

and cooking and the pleasures of, you know, spending time taking herself to the movies and to art galleries and really investing in her writing and her creativity because she's a writer and in falling in love with herself she feels almost ready now to put a toe in the water in the dating pool now because she feels like things have changed so much, which is so exciting for women in general, because there was such a narrow kind of room for us that we could all exist in. And most women, I think, of my age would say that so much of their energy and time goes into worrying about their weight and what they eat.

I think you just look at the way that also men and women are represented in like the media, and I just mean the media landscape. Look at newsreaders. Look at what a man looks like compared to a woman. You know what I mean? Yeah. There's a big difference. Totally.

And men can be as fat and bald and ugly and old and whatever else as they want to be. And they still date. They still have wives. They still have exciting lives and are able to be. And they still date. They still have wives. They still have exciting lives and are able to be on national television and all those things. And women still often, particularly mainstream TV, have to fit into one particular cookie-cutter type of body.

And we're all different now. Bodies are all different. And I think what I've tried to do after having my baby as well now, because obviously I've got some more cushion for the pushing or something. It's a sex game. Yeah, this isn't it. Anyway, you know, I've still got, you know, my body's really different from where it was before.

You just had a baby two months ago, yeah. I know, exactly. And what I've tried to. Sorry, she's being really noisy when I'm speaking. Yeah, she is really noisy. You can probably hear her. Yeah, just like humming along. Oh, noisy when I'm speaking. Yeah, she is really noisy. I can probably hear her. Yeah, just like humming along.

Oh, God, I'm so sorry. So what I've really tried to do is focus on what my body can do and what I can enjoy rather than kind of this fixation on what my body looks like. And your body is amazing as well, like the things that you've been able to do and what it went through and now how far you've come in such a short amount of time I think is really incredible. Thanks, mate. You're welcome.

You're awesome. And that's the end of compliments on this show. Anyway, so I just think it's a really timely reminder that if we can, there's so much more to life than worrying about our weight and what we look like. Definitely. And there's so much more to enjoy. And if we just focus in on a woman's worth or any person's worth as just being how attractive they are to someone else, then they're missing out on a whole plethora of wonderful things.

Exactly. Plant some trees, go make some things. It's important to involve yourself in a plethora of wonderful things, including this next recommendation. Go forth. It's an Australian film by Australian director Natalie Erika, and it stars Emily Mortimer, Bella Heathcote, and Robin Nevin, and it's about three generations of women. It's a spooky horror movie of sorts, and it's set in a house in Kreswick,

which is near Ballarat, if you know where that is. It's so spooky. It's near Ishars. It's so spooky. Kreswick. Well, no, but just this whole movie. It is a spooky movie. So it starts with the grandma has gone missing.

So it's three generations. So her daughter and then granddaughter turn up to try and find her, make sense of what's going on, and then she mysteriously just reappears and they can't really make head or tail of where she's been. She's been gone quite a long time. But also now that she's shown up again, she's showing more and more signs of dementia. And also it's not just the dementia, it's not just the forgetting

and kind of the aggression. It also seems to be that she's maybe under the influence of some kind of demonic possession potentially, which also it seems to be also her mental state also affects the house around it. Wow. So it's like this, yeah. So it's scary but not in the, I don't think there's a single

jump scare in it. You've been with jump scares, right? When something jumps down and goes, ah. Yeah, I know I'm familiar with jump scares because at the start of our relationship that is all you would do to me on a constant basis. I can't do it anymore. Yeah. No, you can't.

Why don't you do it anymore? I don't know. I think it's kind of horrible. Yeah. To have someone live on edge. So you become a nicer person. To have someone live on edge their entire life. Yeah, and also because I don't know if any of you probably don't know this

about me, listener, but I am terrible at being scared very easily and I really jump. In movies, if I go to see a horror movie, I really jump and sometimes I call things out loud and I don't mean to, but I just like, yeah, no! And I like scrunch and jump and twist and it's terrible. So, yeah, but it is, it's quite scary because it's quite unsettling. And it's also kind of, it's this relationship piece of these three generations of women

kind of coming to terms with, I know the different points that they are in their life, but it's also the whole thing is this amazing visual representation of cognitive decline and how that affects a family and relationships and things like that. And it is spooky and it culminates in like a spooky monster and all that kind of stuff. But it's also quite touching. And it's, I don't know, the core of the film, why it worked for me is not so much the horror stuff, which was very good because I'm not a huge horror movie person, but I really enjoyed the relationships and just seeing that, seeing how people are affected by these things, which is not uncommon. I'm sure everybody's got

a relative who's experienced something like this that can relate to. So yeah, it's, and it's also terrifying because it's also something that I guess we've all probably got to, you know, got in our future in one way or another, you know what I mean? Oh God, that is terrifying. Yeah, it's called Relic. It's on Stan Australia, but I know overseas it's in some theatres and you can rent it various platforms. But, yeah, it's well worth a look. I really liked it.

Okay, that sounds not up my alley but also something that I should watch, I think. Yeah, I think, yeah, I don't know. You don't have to. I mean, it's, you know, it's not really your thing but it's good. Yeah. I think, though, sometimes if I can watch a suspenseful or horror kind of film, if it's got a purpose or if I know that it's good yeah i think though sometimes if i can watch a suspenseful or horror kind of film if it's got a purpose or if i know that yeah this is definitely it's definitely

it's also real it's also i didn't mention this but the performances are terrific especially the grandma in it who's they're all good i you know i wouldn't yeah i want to name one in particular but yeah sorry that sounds awesome okay i will yeah because I don't like gore for gore's sake or horror for horror's sake. Oh, there is gore in this, definitely. Oh, really? Oh, no. All right. Well, I think I should still brave it.

Okay. I think I should. It's on Stan. We've got Stan. We do. Do you need the dummy? I'm going to try this a little bit. Actually, yeah, do you want to chuck it over?

What have you done? Good Lord, it's on the floor. I can already see a dummy. I'm looking at it right now. That's so mean. Thank you. There you go, little one. You want this?

Hey, folks. It's Mark Maron from WTF. I travel all over North America doing stand-up, and it's always good to know Airbnb is an option when I'm away from home. But if you're away from home, why not take your own place and Airbnb it? Airbnb your whole home to make some extra cash. Or if you have a spare room that's not in use, just Airbnb that. Whether you could use extra money to cover some bills or for something a little more fun,

your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.ca slash host. We try to time this when she's sleeping. It's the bloody worst. So in keeping with my theme of articles, I have another article. You've really done lazy work this week, Claire. No, this is a good one. This one was sent to me by my sister, which is really, really great.

And it's about COVID-19 and everything. Terrific. I know. That's quite topical right now, so this actually might be good. It's quite COVID-19 and everything. Terrific. I know. However. That's quite topical right now, so this actually might be good. It's quite topical. So the title is Insane After Coronavirus with an exclamation, with a question mark.

It's written by Patricia Lockwood, who I hadn't heard of before. Basically she writes a 3,000-word article about what it's like to contract coronavirus with her husband and her cats in her apartment. And she comes out of it the other side and she's okay. But it's quite, just the writing is hilarious. And I wanted to read a part of it to you because this is how I feel whenever you get sick, that you have man flu and I never believe you and I always think it's fake. So her husband's name is Jason. Jason's cough is fake. I secretly texted a friend from the bathtub where I couldn't be monitored. I don't think his cough is fake, she responded with the gentle tact of the healthy.

Oh, it's very, very fake, I countered and then further asserted the claim that he had something called man corona. The love of my life is now mine. You said man rona, but whatever. Oh. It doesn't matter. Sorry, go on. Oh. Ro-man-a? Doesn't matter. Sorry, go on.

Can I... Yes, yes, yes. I'm just trying to do jokes. Okay, man-corona, which I just love in itself. The love of my life is now my enemy. I thought to myself, crawling out of the bedroom on hands and knees to take one million milligrams of vitamin C because what the hell else was I supposed to do? Apply leeches?

What kind of man would fake a cough while his wife was in the next room perishing? Hadn't he discouraged me from going to the hospital? At the beginning of lockdown, had he not thrown away the empty detergent bottle I set aside for use as an apocalypse bidet, telling me I was being a lunatic? Look at him, I thought to myself, evilly, fit as a fiddle, playing video games all day. Though later, of course, it turned out that he was also delirious and had been playing the same 20 minutes of Skyrim over and over without ever progressing. When he checked later, he saw he had saved 130 games

and that all of the characters he had so painstakingly created had ripped abs, leather outfits and huge cat heads. In between these feline excitations, he lay on the couch trying to summon the energy to make a will so that I would have access to all of our financial information when he died. That sounds familiar. Correct. Every now and then you're like, I'm dying. Here's where the will is. I'm like, all right, settle down. I do do that. I know when I get sick. Anyway, I just thought that was so funny because I also feel like that is the kind of scenario that would happen to us if we both ended up with corona in the house.

Oh, yeah. Let's not get it. Let's not get it. And also look after yourselves, guys. But it is a very funny article and it's written, there's just so many funny lines in it. It made me giggle and also kind of gives an insight into what it's like to get corona and that you definitely don't want it. No. But I just think, I don't know what it is about you being sick

that makes me irritated when you have a cough. I'm like, he's pretending. I don't even get sick that often. When I get sick, like I get like proper sick. Yeah, or when you get sick, it's like the world is ending. Get out of here. I get sick like maybe once a year, maybe. Yeah, I know. And it's like the world is ending. Get out of here. I get sick like maybe once a year, maybe. Yeah, I know, and then you think the world is ending.

Like when you got your gallbladder out and it was like the world's biggest deal. Oh, I'm sorry, my surgery inconvenienced you, Claire, and now they put a big fucking tube in my side and left it in there for a couple of days. Compare the size of your gallbladder to the size of a baby. Your gallbladder is like the size of a golf ball. I'm not saying that they're obviously not comparable, but I had surgery, Claire, and they put a tube up my nose

and then down into my stomach. I know. It was awful. And I was there for you for the whole thing and I really felt for you. And I also really appreciated how afterwards you were like, you gave birth to a baby that's so much bigger than a gallbladder. The best part about that whole experience was how impressed the doctor was with how fit I was.

That was really nice. I feel like that happens to you quite a lot, like for your best friend's wedding when you got dressed in that suit and the guy was like, you have the body of an Italian greyhound. That's what he said, which also is not a compliment because he's like, yeah, you've got like a thin waist but like a wide chest but like a grey – so you think I'm like a tiny greyhound. Thanks, man.

That's really cool. Also, that fucking suit was tiny. I couldn't move in it. He put me in this tiny little suit and I must have gained like half a kilo because on the day of the wedding I couldn't lift my arms. Which is awkward because he had – He like sewed me into this suit. He had many best man duties.

I did. It was so good. Oh, fuck that guy, man. All right. Anyway. Oh, God, that was so funny. My friends still call me the Italian greyhound. Yeah, they do.

Hey, I like you. I think you'd make a great greyhound. Also, I work hard, man. I sweat every day busting my ass people like yeah just one of those people who just you just naturally think i'm not i barely eat anything i exercise every fucking day it's exhausting i hate it i feel worse for it anyway well yeah you are really committed and i it's because i don't want to die that's why why. Anyway. All right. Snowpiercer. I've been watching the TV show Snowpiercer. Oh, it's your turn, is it?

All right. It's my turn. That's all right. Okay, excellent. Go for it. Unless you're finished. Have you finished? I've finished.

Okay, yeah. So it's based off the 2013 Bong Joon-ho movie. Have you seen that with Chris Evans? No. It's fantastic. Oh, no, I have. On the train. On the train.

Amazing. It's got Tilda Swinton. It's really good. That is amazing. And it's also based off the 1982 French graphic novel, which the original movie is based off. You know, the director of that movie went on to make Parasite, the 2013 one. Oh, which is excellent. It's amazing. And it's also based off the 1982 French graphic novel, which the original movie is based off. You know, the director of that movie went on to make Parasite, the 2013 one. Oh, which is excellent.

It's amazing. Every one of his movies is amazing. So this reboot on Netflix stars Jennifer Connelly and people, you know her from The Labyrinth but also other things that she's been in other than The Labyrinth because she's been around for a long time. And David Diggs who's in Hamilton, which you still haven't watched yet but you'll see him in Hamilton. I can't wait to watch it.

We just need like the time to sit down and watch it. I mean, I've already seen it, but yes, in a live stage production. So the idea is, for those who don't know, it's the end of the world and because of that somebody has created this train where like a bunch of people can go into and the train has to constantly loop the earth and it's run by this dude called Mr. Layton. There's 1,001 carriages and there's different classes so it's a class system so in the very back in the tail end you've got kind of the really poor and downtrodden the cold and they're eating cockroaches and all those kinds of things and the further you got the train you know it gets

richer and richer until it's like this decadent kind of situation up the top and there's different you know carriages there's like a cattle carriage and a and an ocean carriage and all these different types of things uh so jennifer connelly plays the train liaison and she's that she's uh the voice between mr layton who invented the train and runs the train and everybody else so she seems to be passing on his um all the things that he kind of wants to happen and what happens is a murder in first class. So they bring up somebody, David. It's spelled D-A-V-E-E-D. Is that David? I don't know.

Yeah. Anyway, so they bring him out of the back carriage because also the world's frozen. That's why they're all on a train. The world is completely frozen because there was global warming and then they tried to fix it but they went too far the other way. So basically they're all on a train now instead. They're all on a train.

It doesn't make any sense. It's more of a metaphor than anything else. But they bring him up to solve this murder because he was a former detective before all of this happened and he's also kind of the leader of the people in the back. So the movie's better. I just want to say that up top. This is potentially, this gets better as it goes and becomes more intriguing,

but it is missing some of the elements that the movie had. And I think the movie also benefited from being like a two-hour story and it's done. Starring your BF, Chris Evans. BF, Chris Evans. But the idea behind that movie is also like it's pretty limited in premise because it's about an uprising, but you're on a train. There's only so many carriages.

I think that's why they did 1,001. So they're like, well, we'll do 1,001 carriages because then we can do this potentially for a really long time. So it is about this kind of rebellion, but it does very much at the start feel like, for the lack of a better word, it feels like it's on rails. You know what I mean? Like there's only kind of a certain direction you can go. And it's people walking up and down the train and talking to each other

and it does open up more as it kind of goes. But it would, I think, benefit, and I think the second season is going to do this more, by taking it back to before and exploring other ideas and other characters because it's such a – it's like I've heard this said about sci-fi movies. I think it was Danny Boyle in Sunshine, which is one of my favourite movies, where if you do a movie set in space, you can't just go and get something. Everything has to make sense within the world and everything that you need

has to be already on that ship and have a reason to be there. I think this also suffers from that. So you can't just be like, well, we need this, you know what I mean, because you don't have that. You're on a train, you know what I mean? Yes, yeah, correct. That being said, I do enjoy it and I've watched it. It's been happening every week for the past 10 or 12 weeks,

however many episodes there are. So I have been watching it consistently and I think the performances are really good. It's a really good core idea. I think it gets better and I think it's going to get better because they just wrapped up the first season. So it's not like you have to go and see this, but I still one of those things where it's better than most things

on television and I've been really enjoying it. Yeah all right that sounds really good I have one last thing let's do it I found it today uh because of all of the things we'd like we're back in lockdown now yeah we love it it's been amazing at least for six weeks god knows how long for um I've been trying to find ways to look after the old noggin, the old mental health health. Yeah, I know. And this is a great playlist that I found on Spotify. I'm not always a big fan of meditations, just sitting and being one with your thoughts.

Smell your breathing. Smell your breathing. What does your breath smell like? Focus on what's around you. Oh, Lord. I don't have a chair and some walls. Fuck, mate. Anyway, you could benefit from some around you. Oh, Lord. I don't have a chair and some walls. Fuck me. Anyway, you could benefit from some guided meditation over there, my friend.

Anyway, I found one that I actually really like. It's called Body Scan for Relaxation by Michelle DeVale. I like it because it's just simple. You can just sit on a chair. It's not too long. I like her voice. Sometimes her voices are too like, I know. Yeah, it bothers me.

They annoy me. And I find hers is good. You're doing a great job. Am I recorded voice? Shut up. Anyway, I just really liked this guided meditation I did today. It made me feel good. And it's just, it can be done anywhere when you've got a cheeky 15 minutes, maybe while your pets are asleep or your kids or your husband stopped bothering you for five goddamn minutes and you can have a break. I am a little concerned that we're just stuck in this house together forever. What's going to happen, James? We're in a better situation than most. Our house is like decently sized.

Yeah, we're really lucky. We're quite lucky. We're super lucky. And sending love to you out there. Go watch something excellent and maybe do a guided meditation because it can help with your moody mood. That's right. And look, you know what can help our mood?

You can very much rate and review the show. Thank you. I'm very good at it now. And you can do it in app. You can open up your app and go, hey, I'd love to give these guys five stars or a different ranking. We'd really appreciate it because Matthew0027 has done that. He said you might learn something.

He said on an episode where they talked about the birth of a new child, Claire, compared to getting Caesarian to like being the last little toothpaste out of a tube. You've read that one. Have I? I did this one already. You did. Oh, no.

I know, but it is a good review. That's right. Well, I did that, no, two weeks ago, I think, yeah. Hang on, I've got another one. No problem. Don't even worry about it. It says this one is. Get it together, boy.

I will. Good Lord. Don't even worry about it. It says this one is. Get it together, boy. I will. Good Lord. A Top Notch What to Watch by M. Roboski. Oh, good title. Or read or listen to. I love Claire and James, what they have to offer. It's fun to listen to people who understand each other, their preferences, and don't mind poking fun while discussing

their newfound must-sees of the week. Thank you so much. Oh, excellent. I really appreciate it. All right. And if you would like to send us a suggestible, which we would love you to do so that we don't bloody have to keep finding things to suggest, we have got an email address, not an episode.

What day is it? What time is it? I don't know. I'm struggling. I'm on struggle street. Anyway, so this is an email that you can email suggesttoapod.gmail.com, just like Kieran Spillane did. Hey, guys, I really love the pod.

My wife and I really love the recommendations. It makes it so much easier to decide what to watch or read next because that's all I want in life. This is not Kieran saying this is me. All I want in life is someone to tell me what to watch, read, and listen to and eat. Anyway, back to K kieran's email i have a recommendation for you two in the episode entitled life you mentioned the comedian david o'doherty one of our faves since the start of the covid 19 lockdown here in ireland david has been doing a podcast i didn't know this from

the remote island of akil where he is isolating with his parents he does an episode every day two free episodes and the rest available for patreons it is hilarious wacky and a great relief from all that's going on at the moment it can be found at secondcaptains.com forward slash isolating or wherever you get your podcasts under the second captains podcast banner hope you enjoy the recommendation guys and congratulations on the new baby. Thank you very much. Aw, thanks, Kieran. Great.

So this week, this week is this week, but next week will be a different week. And the week after, we will still be stuck in this goddamn forsaken house. Kill me and everyone I know. But don't do that. We love you guys. Don't kill us. We need to live. We'll be fine.

Everything's fine. That's right. Sort of, maybe. I guess. All right, we'll see you guys next week. And thank you for listening. I hope you guys are doing all right out there. Thank you.

We've been suggestible. And remember, just like those voices tell you in the, whatever they're called in the meditation. Relax. You're doing great. You're doing really well. Don't even stress. Let your worries, just tell them to fuck off.

Be like, worries, fuck off. Come on, get happy. You've got to chase your fears away. Would you like me to do a guided meditation where I just sing songs that I don't really know the words to? Is that a guided meditation? Rain on my parade. Or is that just living with you?

That is the joy. That is Claire Tonti, my friend. It certainly is. I'm a barrel of laughs, a bundle of energy, a joy to behold, a wonder to wonder at. Okay, we've got to go. All right, see you guys. Bye.

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