Suggestible - The Bear, Bad Sisters & Shredder's Revenge

Episode Date: September 8, 2022

Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to. Hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.Visit bigsandwich.co for a bonus weekly show, exclusive movie commentaries, early stuff and ad-free podcast feeds for $9 per month.This week’s Suggestibles:01:03 Bad Sisters13:03 The Bear22:44 Wonderbly Books26:10 Ooly Chunkies Paint Sticks28:32 TMNT: Shredder's Revenge37:50 Taylor Hawkins Tribute Show41:40 Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith by Adam ChristopherSend 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.

Introducing Uber Teen Accounts, an Uber account for your teen with enhanced safety features. Your teen can request a ride with top-rated drivers, and you can track every trip on the live map in the Uber app. Uber Teen Accounts. Invite your teen to join your Uber account today. Available in select locations. See app for details. Bing-ba-dong, bing-ba-ding, bong-bong. It's suggestible time. It certainly is. It's suggestible time, everybody.

I hope everybody's geared up and they've got their own suggestibles ready Bum, bum, bum. It's suggestible time. It certainly is. It's suggestible time, everybody. I hope everybody's geared up and they've got their own suggestibles ready because we're going to be reading out one from each of you today. So I hope you've all done your homework. Zero pressure for the listeners. And prepared, as we mentioned last week, that we would be doing this. So I hope you all wrote in. Correct. Oh, no.

James is making fun of me because I never remember we need to record every week and every week it's a surprise because it's a new week to me because time is a construct. Yes, it is. I mean, it's not really a construct. It's also like a thing that happens, like it happens regardless of whether or not we're measuring it. I can't explain it to you other than I don't know how long 10 minutes is and I've never known.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I try to know but I don't. It's all right. You don't need to know that. But what you do need to know, Claire, is this is a show where me and you, we sit down and we go, hey, we're married and you're Claire and I'm James and we go, what are some things that we've been reading, watching or listening to this week that we can talk about perhaps?

Exactly. And I've got some fun, fun things. Great. Well, let's see your first fun, fun thing. All right. Well, we've watched this together. It's not quite finished but I feel like I'm ready to talk about it. Okay.

I want to talk about Bad Sisters. Oh, okay. Yeah. Oh, yum, yum, yum. Sharon Horgan, one of my favourites. Yum, yum. I love her. Everything she does, I just love her.

She's so charismatic. She just leaps off the screen at you. She does. And she's hilarious and funny and just great. And I just really enjoyed all the other things that she's made. I really enjoyed the show she made with Aisling Bea. Is it this way? The sisters one?

Yeah, this way up. This way up, that's the one, yeah. I haven't finished that. I've got to finish that. Oh, I loved it so much. Anyway, but this one is, again, sisters, but different sisters this time. Bad ones. Different sisters, yeah.

Murderous ones. Yeah. Justifiable, though, I feel. Correct, exactly. And it's actually created by Sharon Horgan and she's co-written it as well. But it's just, it's so good. It's with Apple TV+. It's set in Dublin.

It's based on the Flemish series Clan, which was created by Marlon Serra-Gossin. The series was filmed in Ireland and the first two episodes premiered on the 19th of August 2022. Do I know why I always say years like that? No, it's perfect. Thank you. You're perfect. Well, I don't know about that.

I'm joking. I love you. Anyway, so other than Sharon Horgan who plays Eva Garvey, the other sisters are played by Anne-Marie Duff as Grace Williams, Eva Berthesil as Ursula Flynn, Sarah Green as Bebe Garvey, Eve Hewson as Becca Garvey, and then Brian Gleeson plays Thomas Claffin. Yeah. Brian Gleeson, is he related to Brendan Gleeson?

Ah, good question. Do you know who Brendan Gleeson is? No, I do not. Yeah, he is and he's the brother of Domhnall Gleeson. Who is that? He was in About Time. He's the About Time guy. They're brothers.

They're brothers, Claire. Look. That's so cool. Look at them. They're brothers I never knew. And they do. He's really great in this. So he plays a struggling – so there's sort of this family of sisters

and he plays kind of the struggling insurance man. He owns a small company and it's passed on from his father and his wife is pregnant and clearly the whole thing is just going bust. And so the whole premise is there's a murder at the very beginning of one of the husbands of the sisters, which is not spoiling anything because it's literally in the first minute. And then he is curious about it because he cannot afford the big life insurance payout and so he spends the whole kind

of dynamic is flipping back forward in time while he tries to figure out how they murdered their husband. Yeah. And it's kind of following the plotting of the sisters to murder the husband, though it's never, we don't know yet whether they actually did murder him or whether he died of natural causes. Who knows?

But it sort of seems like he definitely did. They probably murdered him, yeah. Yeah, exactly. So it's kind of about the relationship between the sisters but also. Even if they didn't, if it turns out that they haven't done a big murder, they would still go to jail for attempting him to murder him other ways, which they've been doing over the course of the show. Yes, throughout the whole thing.

Yeah. Totally. What's really interesting too is the brother of Brian Gleeson's character is Matthew Claffin who's played by Darren McCormack and he's really great too. There's kind of a whole lot of chemistry going on. Ooh, there's so much chemistry. He's very sexy.

There's chemistry between one of the sisters and he's actually Darren McCormack starring in a show with Emma Thompson. Oh, really? It's a bit unclear but I think the dynamic is he's kind of like a gigolo. Oh, a gigolo. And she's a woman in her 50s who's newly single or divorced or something and he's kind of helping her explore her sexuality. Yeah.

Which you could see because, you know, he's great. What do you think of the guy Klaus Bang who plays John Paul Williams? So he's the guy that gets murdered. Yeah, he's the worst. And so like the whole thing you're just like just murder this guy. Like he's terrible. Every time he enters the scene you're like, oh, I hate this guy. He also played recent Dracula and there was a Dracula Stephen Moffat

TV series which we cleverly retitled, might I add, What If Dracula Had an iPad? There's a moment where he's locked up in the modern day and for some reason they give him an iPad and he like, so he like gets a lawyer online to come and release him and all of this and it's like, why would you give Dracula an iPad with internet access? You fucking idiot.

It's Dracula. I want to show you something because this is his Wikipedia page. Does it make you like him less or more? Yeah, less. I don't like him. Wait, it's this weird black and white kind of very serious kind of noir image. I don't know anything about him like in real life, but I do not like him at all. I know. He's probably perfectly nice, but I hate this guy. Look at his face.

Look at his face. Look at his stupid face. So Google him. It's C-L-A-E-S Bang, B-A-N-G, which what a name as well. If he's a wonderful man, what a talent. He's Danish as well. Yeah, he is, yeah. And he's probably lovely.

Who knows? But anyway, honestly. He couldn't be as bad as he is in the show. No, no. That would be impossible. Because he's like a villainous in every possible way but also they do a really good job. There's a scene where he's been preparing to go

on this long hikey walk thing and then he does it and he is terrible and he's like having a tantrum like a little child and like just being super grumpy and awful to be around. And that rang so true to me. Also the way he is in his workplace, he's like smarmy and gross and like full of himself but then also not very good at his job, surprisingly or unsurprisingly.

And he is just that classic bully that he's actually not only is he acting out and treating other people horribly and he's sort of evil, he's also like not very capable actually as a human being. And he's also like he's not liked. Like nobody likes him at all. No, by anyone. And the way he treats his wife, it's a real exploration in, I guess, emotional abuse and coercive control.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he has a teenage daughter as well in this and that breaks your heart, the way he's the weird kind of things. Like he gives her a pro-life pin on her birthday or something. I don't know. There's just a whole lot of things that are sort of. He's a terrible person. They wrote him very well and he performs it very well.

Yeah, which is why you immediately, because the whole premise that five intelligent, capable sisters would decide to murder their sister's husband, you sort of think on the outset, no, that doesn't seem like something people would, you know, genuinely do. But once you watch it, you go, oh, yes, of course they need to. Yeah, no, I would, yeah, if I could get away with this. Now apparently the secret to getting away with a big murder, and I think I saw Bill talking about this, is you can't tell anybody.

So if you tell one person, like it's a wrap. It's all done. Because they'll tell somebody or they'll crack or whatever at some point. Or the other thing, or you kill somebody you like that you don't know. Because it's always generally, not always, but it's somebody you know. Yeah, like your sister's husband. It's quite hard to get away with. Yeah.

So interesting, isn't it? Anyway, the chemistry between the sisters. Yeah, that's a great dynamic. It is a really great dynamic. The older the younger sisters and where they're all at in their lives is fascinating. Yeah, and also there's some romance in there too, which is lovely as well.

Sharon Hogan's character has a very flirty romance with a guy who is, I think he might be French. He looks very familiar and I couldn't work out what he's from, but that's a kind of lovely little fun romantic work fling that's kind of bubbling along. One of them has an eye patch and maybe he did it. Yeah, you get the feeling that we don't know yet. It's implied that like he did say he was actually the one who did it.

What do you think of the way they do the time jump where it's like film reel and they slide between? Yeah, that's fine. But I kind of don't want the jump. I kind of only like the planning of the murder more than the actual like. Than the fast forward in time. Yeah, the fast forward of finding out like them trying to sort of get away with it and who knows.

He's a French Moroccan actor. Yeah, what is he in? Assad Bouab. He was in. He looks so familiar. Call My Agent. Did you watch that? Yes, that's right.

Yes, because I have been watching Call My Agent and it's really excellent. Oh, there you go. Thank you. You've solved that for me. Wow. And I also. Actually, I just used the internet. That's all I did, which there you go. Thank you. You've solved that for me. And I also – Actually, I just used the internet. That's all I did, which is how I solve literally everything.

I just looked at the internet. Oh, the internet, you say. I've heard good things. God, I was – I find terrible things as well. I was recording yesterday with Mason. We do a show on Big Sandwich, which is our private subscription service cloud. I don't know if you're aware.

I don't know. But we do one called Time Crapshore where we pick a year in pop culture and we've pieced together all the things and interesting things and weird stuff that happens from that particular year and then we compare them to the other years and we find weird stuff. Like once there was a crow called Jimmy the Raven who was in like 1,000 films and we're like, what? Excuse me?

First of all, it's a crow but he's called Jimmy the Raven and he did 1,000 films? How is that possible? Anyway, and so just researching that, that takes me about an hour or a bit to kind of go through every, find everything. And just without the internet, impossible. Like I just couldn't be done. Would I go to the library and find a book and different books from different eras?

Impossible, Claire. Ridiculous, the internet. Anyway, sorry. What would you have done if you were born without the internet? You would have been screwed. I have no idea what I'd do. You would have been a chimney sweep because you're little. Anyway, sorry. What would you have done if you were born without the internet? You would have been screwed. I have no idea what I'd do. You would have been a chimney sweep because you're little. Yeah, I'd be little.

I'd be in a chimney as we speak. You and Mason would both make very great little chimney sweeps. We would. We'd be a little chimney sweep duo. He'd have a little hat and a little scarf thing. I'd also have a little hat, I just want to point out. I could really see him clicking his little heels. He'd make it look very fancy.

You'd be a bit all over the place. He'd have a great little outfit. He'd make it look very fancy. You'd be a bit all over the place. He'd have like a great little outfit. He would have a great little outfit. Yeah. I'd probably be in like white and he's like, what are you wearing white? You're going to go black as a chimney sweep because somebody's going to show up. And I'm like, I don't know, man.

I don't know. I'm tired. I'm only operating at like 40%. Yeah. Yeah. I've also, I've got like, I've obviously got lung cancer because I spend all my time in the chimney. And I'm a very sensitive little chubby.

Yeah, exactly. Anyway, I kind of want to live in that era. No, I don't. No. What are you talking about? I hate that shit. People are like, oh, I remember that. Yeah, it was great, wasn't it?

It was like one. Just shit in a house outside your house. If you were like not, exactly. If you were not one type of person, like you were dead or on the street or whatever, it was just, it was very awful. It was, correct. Any time between now, before now really. I will say something that I love about this show as well, Bad Sisters,

the scenery is really glorious. I could sit in an ocean town. Yeah, along the coastline in Ireland and it's just, it's lovely. It's really beautifully shot and they do kind of those sort of drone images as well. Just like lots of cool. People are loving drone images these days. They are. A lot of atmospheric kind of pub images as well. Just like lots of cool. People are loving drone images these days. They are.

A lot of atmospheric kind of pubs as well. I love that. But it's also very comedic. And there's a spot where the sisters go swimming a lot in the ocean, which I really think is great. And Sienna Miller's in it and I feel like I haven't seen her in a while. Yes, and she's so good. She's never not worked.

No, she was in that drama recently. Remember the court drama? Oh, the scandal thing and whatever? Yeah, which was really, she was in that drama recently. Remember the court drama? Oh, about the scandal thing and whatever? Yeah, which was really, she was excellent in that. She was actually excellent as the Baroness in G.I. Joe, The Rise of Cobra. Justice quality viewing. Yeah, I think so.

Correct. If you haven't watched, what is that Sharon Miller TV show? Let me Google it with the power of the internet that we now have. Oh, my God, I love it. I know. Claire, can you please just get off your computer for once and just look outside in the world, please? My goodness.

Anatomy of a Scandal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There we go. With Rupert Fiend. Correct. Yes, exactly. It was Rupert Fiend in that one, wasn't it? It was.

Or was it Friend? It was Friend. It says Friend on the internet. So, yeah. Friend? Friend. I feel that's definitely it. Terrific.

Anyway, Naomi Scott is in it as well. It's on Netflix. If you haven't watched it, that's a great little thriller series. But anyways, I feel like we're all over the show. What are we talking about? Anyway, Bad Sister. So I totally recommend. It's on Apple+.

There's still episodes coming out weekly, which is kind of frustrating to me. I just want to kind of binge it. But anyway, all good. Yeah, it's hard, isn't it? It's hard living this life where they're going back to a regular TV model. I also don't like it. Anyway, it's a dark comedy and a thriller. And if you like anything by Sharon Horgan,

like the COVID show that she also made that was really excellent. Oh, the movie that we watched with James McAvoy, his backhoe boy, yeah. Yeah, that was so good too. Anyway, loved it. All right, back to you. What's your next recommendation? Well, this is actually something we both liked and enjoyed

because we enjoy a fantasy environment, Claire. And I'm, of course, talking about The Bear, which was the FX series which came to Disney+. You thought I was going to say that Lord of the Rings show that you liked, Claire. We should talk about that one week. Anyway, it's created by Christopher Storer, who's a producer, director and writer.

He's worked on a bunch of the Bo Burnham specials. He worked on the TV show Dickinson, which is a show that is real and is on Apple and people like it, don't they? They do. Have you ever seen that? No, I have never seen it. It's always getting advertised. It's got Hayley Steinfeld.

I see. All right. Anyway, it stars Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edibairi, Ibon Moss Barak or is it Buck Rach? It might be Buck Rach. Anyways, here's what it's about, Claire. Okay, here he goes. Get ready.

I'm ready. A young chef from the world of fine dining comes home to Chicago to run his family's Italian beef sandwich shop after the suicide of his older brother who left behind debts, a dilapidated kitchen, and an unruly staff. So he was like doing high- class restaurant stuff like putting caviar on duck eggs on top of a different type of fancy egg or whatever. Yeah, on like aged plums.

Yeah, all that kind of shit. And white, white, white everywhere. Yes, which can be good, that kind of food, but it can also be annoying and small portions are too expensive. And like what is this? And like very technically difficult to do and it's probably taken like 15 people 20 hours of their lives but might not be that delicious. Yeah.

Yeah. Correct. Yeah. Or it's just too much. Sometimes it's amazing and often it's like this is a bit awake. What are we doing? Or it's just too, yeah, it's more, it's a kind of sometimes I feel like it's the difference between like classical music and say like, I don't know,

Billy Joel for instance. So classical music technically you can listen to it and some people just love it, are so absorbed in it, love the emotion of it and you can have brilliant classical performers, same with opera. However, often sometimes people enjoy it a lot because they really understand the technical aspects to it. So they're enjoying it from that perspective.

Whereas, say, like a Billy Joel or like your favourite neighbourhood restaurant, you might be enjoying that meatball sub because it's just by instinct delicious. And everybody loves Piano Man, the song. Yeah. It also tells a story and they love Billy Joel because that song is about how Billy Joel goes to a bar and everyone's like, we're awful, Billy Joel, but we're glad you're here, Billy Joel because that song is about how Billy Joel goes to a bar and everyone's like, we're awful, Billy Joel, but we're glad you're here, Billy Joel.

Anyway, I think I just made myself sound really stupid. You are really stupid, Claire, but we both are. But you know what I'm trying to say? Sometimes people who know a lot about music or about food will want to go to someplace like that because they don't want to be bored, they want to be wowed because they understand how much time has gone into creating that thing. And I can appreciate that, but I also hate it when somebody stands over you

and they explain the thing that they're handing to you. It was a piece. And it goes for like way too long. Over an age. Yeah, it's like a minute long and I'm like, just give me the food and go away. See, but I kind of sometimes love that. Give me the food and go away. But you're a bad example of this because you just want the food thrown at you

so you can be eating the last bite while you stand up and leave. Whereas I like ambiance. I can sit there for ages and stand. I love a good vibe but I don't go to restaurants with you that I really want to go to for a vibe because it's not pleasant. No. Because you ruin the vibe because you're like, when are we leaving? Yeah.

I get a bad vibe. And I'm like, what do you mean? We just got here. I've got an outfit on. I'm having a little glass. I go with a friend like Glanny, a lovely friend, Glanny, who loves a vibe and she could be in a vibe all day. I'm bringing a bad vibe, if anything. That's what I said.

You're ruining the whole vibe. It depends what it is. You should run a restaurant chain that's just like bad vibe. It's weird and hoity-toity and like quiet. It's not fun. It's boring. May I say something? What?

May I say something extra? It doesn't matter because I've been with you to restaurants where it's been lovely ambience great relaxed delicious food and you are still like last bite okay when are we going no sometimes you'll be like you're gonna eat that i'm like i'm already i'm just i'm enjoying my meal i'm enjoying it no get away from me with your fork just because you finished eating and you want us to leave i'm only doing that claire because i like annoying you yeah well that's that's another thing. I know you're going to eat it, but I like throwing off your vibe with my bad vibes.

Yeah, well, you're always just like I can already feel your energy. You're like, all right, we've done this. Anyway, but that's okay. That's how you enjoy things. I enjoy things differently. That's right. We do. Anyways, it takes a look because he was doing high-class dining

and now he's at a sandwich shop and it's a mess. So it's like the stress and the fun but mostly like the dangers and the time constraints and the debt and just how working in this environment just eats up every aspect of your waking and sleeping life. Like it's even like infiltrating his dreams and all he does is kind of like punch darts and cook food. That's his entire life.

And it also has like, you know, really funny moments, but mostly it's just stressful. Like it's a stressful show to watch. He's just like sweating over a counter and he's cutting something really fast and you're like, is he going to cut one of his fingers off? But it's not really that kind of show where a person like falls into a vat of hot oil. It's not like that.

Even though you feel like it could happen at any point. I have to keep checking with you. I'm like, he's not going to go to speaker up because, you know, I'm trying to watch Not Stressed with These. Because I've finished it now actually. Oh, our daughter has woken up. It's really terrific. It's eight episodes.

Season two has been confirmed. I really like the way the first season wraps up. I really like the way that everybody interacts, especially like the relationship. There's a younger chef who comes and works with him and he's obviously very experienced. And she's also not, doesn't have the experience, but obviously is very, very talented and they compliment each other.

But he also has this cousin. Well, the whole kitchen dynamic is great and really funny, but he's got this cousin and they're just like, they're like brothers. They just like add each other the entire time. And the cousin guy is really funny and their dynamics. And he's just, he's awful also. Like he's just an awful cousin, but he's sort of sometimes right, but he's mostly just like aggressive and awful the entire time.

He reminds me of some of your friends. Yeah, totally. Yeah, he's just, there are some lines that he has that are just so funny and great. That moment where they've got a brother-in-law who falls asleep and they're just talking about how they just want to punch him in the face even though he's asleep. Because he's just like a really lovely guy.

He's like too nice or something. I don't even know why it's so funny. Or they accidentally put a whole room of kids to sleep with Xanax and they think you're going to be really in trouble and instead the guy's like, thank you. I'll have a hug with this. That's all right. It's fine.

But you know what's interesting that you say all of that because actually what I've loved so much is the character that comes in as sort of the sous chef that starts off as just kind of almost work experience. Yeah, that's who I'm talking about, the youngest chef who comes in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I said that, Claire. Oh, sorry. I blanked talking about, the youngest chef who comes in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I said that, Claire. Sorry, I blanked because I heard our daughter.

Anyway, okay. Stop trying to parent. Stay in the moment. Anyway, I love that dynamic. I think that's so brilliant and fun. And also the way they shoot the food is so great. It also makes me not want to work in a kitchen ever. Oh, I know.

I don't think I ever have. I mean, I'd like to stand out the front and maybe make coffees. That's it. I don't want to work in a kitchen ever. Oh, I know. I don't think I ever have. It's so stressful. I mean, I'd like to stand out the front and maybe make coffees. That's it. I don't want to own anything. We've talked about that for years. Yeah, I love that. We've both known people who work in kitchens.

I used to teach with a woman who came from this world and she moved into teaching. And the story she used to say was just like that's just the overtime and the lack of pay and the horrible bosses and all of that. It just sounds terrible. Yeah. And I know it's probably obviously not all like that, but it's a very stressful environment and life.

Oh, my gosh. And hours and. Well, even the way that that head chef, when he's working in the fancy restaurant, the head chef, all the things the head chef says to him is so awful. Just rattling off insults. So awful and just degrading. And it reminded me of the environment that I've heard surgeons talk about where the idea

is you cut someone down to their very core and if they can hack it, then they deserve to be there. Yeah, that's normal. But you just basically try and break someone's human spirit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which I just think is not conducive to teaching the best possible way. But the high pressure stakes, it does feel a little like surgery in some ways. It is.

There's that precision and prep. Yeah, yeah. And like the shaking hand. Oh, my God. Anyway, yeah, it's really excellent. And I'm loving it. I love it. Also, I love something where like somebody's really into a thing

that I don't understand and it's like this is a real insight into this world. And apparently this is a very realistic depiction of a kitchen, even down to like you'll notice when they're drinking, they drink out of plastic cups because you don't like just big plastic containers because if you're in a kitchen, you're moving around constantly. You're not going to have like a glass. You're not drinking from glass because it's a danger.

It's a hazard. Yeah, totally. Even the coloured tape and the band-aids and the gloves. And that guy who's really into desserts. Yeah, yeah. I love him so much. I totally – and he's sleeping there in the kitchen because he needs to get up that early to kind of prep everything.

No, it's just – it's really excellent and I couldn't reckon more. What streaming service is it? It's on Disney Plus but it started on FX. I think it's now Disney+, the world over. Well, it's in Australia and other places. It's actually on a subdivision of Disney+, within the app called Star. Okay. Which is like Disney+, but rude.

You might see a bus if you're lucky. Oh, goodness gracious me, a bus. Anyways, I guess we should finish this later. Yes. For people listening to this, you don't have to finish it later. A bus. Yeah. Anyways, I guess we should finish this later. Yes. For people listening to this, you don't have to finish it later. This will just continue. But we will. Because time is linear.

Despite what Claire tells you, time is linear. It's a construct. It's a construct. It's all made up. It's consumerism and capitalism. Don't try. Don't throw that at me. That's your jam.

That's your jam. All right. It's hockey season, and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost almost anything. So no, you can't get an ice rink on Uber Eats. But iced tea, ice cream, or just

plain old ice? Yes, we deliver those. Gold tenders? No. But chicken tenders? Yes. Because those are groceries, and we deliver those too. Along with your favorite restaurant food, alcohol, and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age.

Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. All right, we're back. We never left, Claire. We never left, and we'll never die. We never left, and we'll never die. So you just finished recommending The Bear.

I know. It just happened, Claire. I know. We are the short little angry muscly man. It's very much a narrative of someone similar to you. Yes. Yes, I do too. I really like him a lot and it's great. So is it my turn again? Yes, I think it is. Excellent. Alright,

James, I'm going to surprise you. I'm going to surprise you. I've got, here we go. I'm going to surprise you. I've got a little box. Are you ready? What? Yes. I don't like this. I got you a little present.

What? Why? I'm immediately suspicious. What? Why? What is this? It was supposed to come for Father's Day, but it didn't come in time. Oh, okay.

And it's a recommendation. It's from a company called Wonderbly. Wonderbly? Wonderbly, yes. Did you see this on Instagram? Possibly. Instagram knows me very well for good or evil. Oh, this is great.

Yeah. Is this a custom book? It is a custom book and I was always quite suspicious of these. But this one had really great reviews. I was going to read it out but it's got the names of our kids in it. Yeah, so just do like you can make some names up. Oh, my God, and it looks like them. It looks exactly like them, I know.

And you can do a little personalised message at the start of it but it's also a hardcover. Oh, my God. I know. What do you think? This is amazing. It's really beautiful, isn't it? It looks just like them because you can choose the characters

and the colours and their ages and also the pages. And their hair? Yeah, the hair and their watercolour as well. Did they custom draw this or is this like a digital? No, no. It just happened to be this one in particular had particular options that were a lot like our kids. Oh, my God.

And the one that. Look at that. Yes, I know. Even the mannerisms. We should post a picture of this. Yeah, even like I wanted to show you the end of it as well. So the blurb, so I'll read the back of it. From when we are small to when we are grown,

we'll do things together and never alone. A lyrical tale of two siblings as they learn, explore, and grow up together. So Wonderbly has a lot of different books. Like it's been around for a long time. It also has a lot of different languages that you can order the books in. And it's custom made so it says, I don't know a lot of different languages that you can order the books in and it's custom made.

So it says, I don't know, let's make up some names. Laura's big brother, Sam, but it could be anyone. I can't believe you said our actual kids names. I know. And then, but at the end, have you seen this page? Yeah. Where they're older. They're older.

Oh my gosh. I can't explain to them what you're saying. They're grown up and they're like sitting together with their arm around their shoulders and whatnot. Claire, you're breaking my heart. What are you doing? Breaking my heart. I know. Anyway, happy Father's Day.

Yeah. Thank you. That's really nice. That's really sweet. Yeah, and I thought it would be a nice one to read with them together. But, yeah, it's a beautiful gift. It would be a great gift for kids as well. There's lots of options.

So it's WONDER, W-O-N-D-E-R, B-L-Y, but it's really beautiful quality too. A lyrical tale of two siblings as they learn, explore and grow up together. Yeah, I did just read that but cool. I know. I'm just reading it to myself, Claire. But the illustrations really, really got me. I just kind of had thought that maybe those kind of packaged books would be quite generic.

You never know when you order something like this, you know. No, you really don't. So I was really blown away by it. Yeah. That just arrived today, right? Yeah, it just arrived today. Yeah, it was absolutely gorgeous. So that's one of these.

I would recommend that if you're looking for a personalised book. Very gorgeous and quite a great gift. Great. And because I'm recommending some things for kids, I also thought I would quickly talk about these Chunky's paint sticks. Oh, they're delicious. They're so great and I know this might sound funny, so tune out if you don't have kids.

I will. But painting with kids is a freaking nightmare. It is. I hate it. I hate setting it up. I hate the clean up. And one of the things that is the worst about it is that usually when you're doing this it's when your kids are like two to four

and they have the attention span of a goldfish. So you set it all up and then they do it for maybe ten minutes and then they're like, we're done, and suddenly they've got art smocks everywhere and water and it's smushy and messy and gross. Yeah. Whereas these I got recommended to me when I went into a newsagents and the chunkies are called sort of paint sticks that you just kind of twist up and then you can twist them back down again.

They're nice and thick so they're a good size for little fingers. The lid goes back on. They last, well, these have lasted us for I would say a year. Yeah, they're amazing. They're amazing and they also do kind of smoosh like paint but without the mess. They're smooth, quick drying and they don't smudge. And there's also a little website where you can go on and have a look.

It's ooly.com is the brand, O-O-L-Y.com, and you can watch little videos of ideas that your kids might want to do with them. We just kind of have them out and our daughter ever so often will be like, woo, painting, and then she does it and it's so easy and fun and there's no clean up plus it dries so quickly. So fun.

They're called Chunkies from Uli. I've got the set of 12 and the colours are great. Often you put out as well, you mentioned this, but like a bunch of paint and it dries weirdly and then like, you know what I mean, or it's like bad. It's like that weird watercolour kind of like kids don't really enjoy because you've got to put it in the water and the thing. And also it can be quite wasteful because you pour little pots of paint

and then they don't use half of it. And they don't use every colour. Yeah, exactly. They're like paint textures. Yeah, they are. Or paint crayons. Yeah, but they're much sort of – they're juicier in a way than crayons. They're paint.

And they're less messy. Glue sticks but paint. How about that? Is that better? Yes, correct. You nailed it. But they're less – you know, what are those How about that? Is that better? Yes, great. You nailed it. But they're less, you know, what are those ones that pastels? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Pastels are too small for their little fingers. They snap and they're also a lot messier so they're much easier to use than pastels. I never liked pastels. I've never learned how to use them in a way. I'm sure artists know how to use them in a way that's really effective. Well, I've never learned so I don't like them. That's you all over.

All right, over to you. What's your last recommendation? My last recommendation, and this has probably been edited out by Collings, but he's been coming in and out of the studio to get this working properly. Not a fault of the game itself, but it's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Shredder's Revenge. Collings has been coming in and out. You mean our little son.

Didn't I mean that? Didn't I say that? I know. I thought you just, the way you phrased it made it sound like Collins was coming in and out being like, can you fix the Ninja Turtles? He doesn't even live in Australia. And he would know how to fix it. If anything, I'd ask him how to fix the Ninja Turtles.

Correct. Exactly. Anyway, this is developed by Tribute Games and it's on multiple platforms. If you've got a platform of your choice, it might be a PlayStation. It might be a personal computer. It might be a Nintendo on Switch. They're on all of these things. Now, Claire, I know you're a big fan of these,

but it's a new game, as mentioned, developed by Tribute Games, but it harkens back to the TMNT beat-em-ups of old. See, I know you know this, Claire. One of the biggest properties of the 90s was the TMNT, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, right? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. That's right. Arizona Half-Turtle Power.

It also was called the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in the UK because of certain laws around using the word ninja. They thought it was dangerous and kids were going to get out there and start ninja kicking each other in the head. Anyway, so what they've done, they've taken the same voice cast from the original series except for the guy who played Shredder who also played Uncle Phil who is dead. They are back.

They've basically done a similar gameplay but updated it to modern standards. The graphics, again, they're of that era but they've been updated as well using modern flourishes. You mentioned the theme song. It's actually been sung this time by Mike Patton from Faith No More, which is an excellent get. And so it's a side-scrolling beat-em-up. You go through like multiple levels.

It's probably the longest game of this kind in the Ninja Turtles franchise. There's so many different like levels and locations and villains and callbacks and characters that you run into. And if you're a fan of the series, you'll recognise a bunch of it and there's also a whole lot of deep cuts as well to things from various movies. You even come up against Super Shredder Claire, who you might remember as one of the key villains

from the second Ninja Turtles movie. Now, has he got like a separate brain? No, that's Krang. You're talking about Krang Claire. I get so confused. So which one is Shredder? Shredder's the ninja who's got the steel mask on. He's got the claws.

Oh, yes, yes, yes. Okay, I'm with you now. Back to it. So basically the first time we played through it, my son and I, we went yes, yes. Okay, I'm with you now. Back to it. Yes, yes. So basically the first time we played through it, my son and I, we went through it together. It's actually six player because they've got the four Ninja Turtles you can play as including April and Casey Jones, which you couldn't do in the original ones, Claire.

They wouldn't often put April in as a playable character because you know how it was in the 90s, you know what I mean? You know what I mean, Claire? Yes, I do. Because you love sexism. You're always talking. You're always banging on about it. You're always like, I love sexism. I want to go back to the 90s where there was more sexism, you said. Yes, yes. Yum, Claire? Yes, I do. Because you love sexism. You're always talking. You're always banging on about it. You're always like, I love sexism.

I want to go back to the 90s where there was more sexism, you said. Yes, yes. Yum, yum. Please, please. It's very replayable as well because I think there's a lot of hidden stuff if you are so inclined to find them and look about. It's also got a really cool soundtrack in general. And the campaign, as mentioned, it's quite long.

You'll get a fair bit of use out of it. There is a new Ninja Turtles game which repackages all the old ones in one which I'm looking forward to getting also. But my son and me have really enjoyed playing through it multiple times and finding all the little things in it. It's really cool. It's a super cool game. If you like those games of that era, you will like,

you will 100% like this because it's better than all of those. It looks cool. Yeah, it is. It's all of those things that you – it's like how you remember a game was. Does that make sense? Yes. Like how you remember it in your mind.

It's how they've made it. Oh, which is so good because often it's disappointing, right, when you revisit those kind of games. And also the Ninja Turtles I loved, not to the depth of love that you loved them. Huge fan. But I really enjoyed them and they're cool. They are cool.

They're funny and it's like really action packed. It's great. I think they're great characters. Do you know about their origin, their real origin, Claire? Didn't they when they turtles and they got taken over by a sewerage or something? Yes, yes, yes, all of those things and whatever. Not sewerage.

No, Claire. Or was it like radioactive waste? It was mutagen. But anyway, what happened was though originally they're actually a spin on. Hang on, mutagen? Yes, yes, because they mutagen. But anyway, what happened was though originally they're actually a spin-off. Hang on, mutagen? Yes, yes, because they mutate. They're a parody of Daredevil. So Daredevil got toxic waste spilt on him and got Daredevil powers.

And in Ninja Turtles it's implied that that same waste dropped into the sewers and went on the Ninja Turtles. So the other thing is the Daredevil's villains that he goes up against are a ninja clan called The Hand and in Ninja Turtles they're called The Foot. Daredevil's master is called Stick. Their master is called Splinter. The whole basis of the Ninja Turtles is it started

as a parody of Daredevil. Okay, here's my problem. I don't think there are turtles in the sewers. Well, no, because if you remember anything about them, they were store-bought Ninja Turtle pets. Oh. And they were in the sewer. They didn't live there.

I thought they were like, you know how there are rats, like, you know, because Splinter's a rat. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was assuming that they were just like creatures that lived in the sewers and they'd like assumed that there were turtles in there. But I don't think there will be. But that makes sense. There wouldn't be unless they fall down into the sewer.

Unless they fell into the sewer. I think depending on the version, like a kid drops his pet turtles down there. Four turtles. That's pretty bold for a parent to buy. I would only buy one. They take a long time to live and they need a big tank, as our friend showed. They take a long time to live. As always, Claire, you are nailing the concept of time.

As I told you, it's a construct. Anyway, as is death. Who knows? No, it's not. Death is real. Everyone dies eventually. It started. But like our friends Joe and Gladys learnt, they have a big tank.

They had to have a very big tank for Terrence, their turtle, that they had for a long time because he kept getting bigger and bigger. Imagine if you had four. You need like a tank that fit your whole lounge room. Yeah, that's true. You're better to have your radioactive waste and turn them into ninjas. I completely agree. This is the first image ever drawn of a ninja turtle.

Again, it's obviously a joke. Eastman and Laird did it. He thought it would be funny. That's so funny. Like what's the funniest creature that would be a ninja? It's so true because they're so slow. It's a turtle. And like they're so like not ninja-y at all.

Now that I think about it, that's a hilarious concept. Man, those original comics, if you've ever read them, just wild, really violent, really good. And there's like kids' versions of them as well obviously. Anyway, I've gone down a bit of a ninjater's rabbit hole at the moment because our son's really into it at the moment. Yeah, which I love because you love them so much too. But I get why they're so cool.

There's so many layers to it, right? Yeah. And I love the origin story. I love a good origin story. I love how an idea becomes, you know, something that we just accept as being in reality around everywhere and very famous. But at some point someone just has to be like, you know what would be funny?

Ninja as a turtle. Yeah. And then it's a billion-. Yeah. And then it. And then it's a billion dollar property. And then it's a billion dollar property. And both those guys made a billion dollars. What? And then sold it to Nickelodeon.

You've probably already answered this, but why do you think that is? Like why this particular concept? I have no idea. I can't tell. Well, a big part of it was that it became a very popular cartoon. Like it was already kind of popular-ish, but it was more underground. But kids got onto it because of the cartoon, which the original creators don't even really love because it's very silly

and goofy. I think it's great. Like it's not great. You know, it's like a classic kid's cartoon. I loved it. Yeah, me too. The humour is perfect. It's perfectly placed.

Yeah, because it feels adult enough that you think you're cool. As an adult watching it, you're like, well, it's not really adult. But it feels like slightly more like elevated or something. I don't know if that makes sense. It also works like there are different like levels of like darkness and depth depending on where you come at it. I think it's like Star Wars in that way. Like you've got the kid stuff but you've also got the really,

like the original Ninja Turtles comic, they defeat Shredder by they throw like a thermite grenade at him and he explodes. Oh, my God. They kill him in the first. That's very intense. Or he drops one. I can't remember. And in the original movie, the dark one, Splinter throws him

into a garbage truck and they squash him. Oh, God. I mean he doesn't really die because it's a sequel but whatever. But, yeah. But you can do that or you can do like the funny, silly kind of stuff. It's like everywhere in between. Do you think it's also that idea, I always loved the idea that they're very childlike and it feels like there's no parents around

or very rarely. Sometimes Splinter is a little bit parenty so you feel kind of safe but you're also there just eating pizza, mucking around, telling jokes with your mates and it feels like a world that you would want to be in as a kid. Yeah, and they're teenagers. They're like kids as well. Yeah, yeah.

So they're like watching TV and like making stupid jokes and making fun of each other. And it's also that idea of that being in a team and that friendship that I think really draws you into it as well. I also loved April. Cool character. Amazing yellow jumpsuit. Did you enjoy the Megan Fox interpretation of the character

in the modern Michael Bay produced movies? There were two movies. No, I don't. You definitely didn't see them. No, I definitely didn't. I was thinking in my head in my brain palace that's fairly empty. Like I don't even kind of think. It's just someone being like, no, what?

What? What are you looking for? It's probably not here. This is like a tumbleweed. It happens to me so regularly. And then like two weeks later my brain will go, oh, that was the thing. It's like some hurried woman with frizzy hair runs out like, oh, this is what you wanted.

And I'm like, no, it's too late. I don't need that anymore. Hayley, go back. Go lie down, Hayley. Go have a lie down. Give yourself a couple of Panadol, get a heat pack, lie down. That's who lives in my – you've got like an encyclopedia in there. Anyway, that sounds cool.

Also on just a note before we finish, have you watched the Taylor Hawkins tribute show? I have. Oh, not the whole thing. I've watched the one, the clip of his son. Oh, yes. And I know, I'm sure a lot of people are big Foo Fighter fans who listen to this podcast.

Everyone likes a Foo Fighter. No, I mean the Foo Fighter. And honestly, Dave Grohl, amazing. That man has been through so much really when you think. I mean we all have but really lost some really, really Grohl, amazing. That man has been through so much really when you think. I mean we all have but really. Lost some really, really important people to him. And losing Hawkins just breaks your heart. So he was the drummer of the Foo Fighters and they worked together for so long.

So that tribute concert though is spectacular. It's your show thing. Yeah, it's just. Did he sound play the whole time? No, just there goes my hero. Yeah, because that's a real popular. It's a real thing. Yeah, it's just. Did he sound play the whole time? No, just there goes my hero. Yeah, because that's a lot. And the way he's 16 and just the level of depth of emotion that they all put into it to make that concert.

And I think it was something like 88,000 people were in attendance. Oh, wow, really, yeah. And it's just, it was mind-blowing. And if you haven't watched it, even if you're not really big into the Foo Fighters, go and watch these clips. They're everywhere, all over social media and TikTok and everything because I was just. You must have liked one of the Foo Fighters songs.

I love the Foo Fighters. Not you, I mean like somebody listening. Yeah, like Times Like These. When Dave Grohl sings Times Like These and he can't get through it, he's just so devastated. It just reminded me of what great art and what great music does for the artist and for the people listening to it and how you can write a song like times like these or There Goes My Hero and it can mean a thousand different things.

And even for an artist, it can mean something very different to the time that they wrote it. Oh, absolutely. Which I just find incredibly moving, which is why this idea that artists and musicians should only be young and that if you haven't got there or whatever when you're young, well then, you know, why are you doing it? It's so ridiculous and laughable because actually watching artists develop over a long period of time, of course the more they spend time doing it,

the better their art gets. Yeah, of course. It doesn't always ring true but so often and then you're watching masters of their craft. Anyway, I could rave about it for ages but do yourself a favour, go have a watch. It's absolutely beautiful. Fine, I will.

Cool. All right, Claire, now I know you've reviewed the show, I hope you have at least, because you you can actually do it in-app. I've forgotten. Time is contract. I will one day in the future. But you can do it in-app. Or the past.

Some people do it. They like to do it. This person is from Zach McClay who says, gave us five stars. Thank you so much. He wrote, love, Claire. Oh, thanks, mate. It might be love, Claire. I don't know.

Every other week I tend to ask myself, does Claire really hate men? After a few minutes into each podcast, Claire never fails to let me know that she hates me and every single man around the world. I love it. Fuck minions and them kids. So there you go. Oh, and I have to say because there's been a few little messages around floating the traps, I do hate all men. That's what I thought.

No, I really don't. I love men and I love humans and I think that's why I get so angry about it because it's not all men at all on any level. No, I know. And I think most people know that. It's like if you're saying like I hate this particular aspect, like it's not like directed at you specifically unless it is. No, no, it's more just, yeah, it's the societal structures.

I hate the patriarchy is probably a more apt phrase and the power structures that exist currently. Don't get me wrong, I probably do hate some men. Sure. But overall, yeah, I think humans are humans and, you know, anyway, I hope people don't take it the wrong way. I hope they do take it. Or do way. I hope they do take it. Or do they?

I hope they do take it the wrong way. Anyway, there are so many men in my life that I feel very grateful. Name 10. Now we don't have time. Claire, why don't you tell me if you've got a review, no, a letter for this week. All right, okay. I have an email which you can write into successfulpod.gmail.com

with your reviews or your comments or your diatribes. No, don't send your reviews via email oh no don't do that please don't put them in and if you ever emailed us with all the things

that you love about us that's wonderful but can you also put them as a review it really helps anyway Ellie Darling has written in

a darling I should say greetings James and Claire from Barnsley, England hello governor don't do that they don't like that

okay sorry it's like this. Hello. It's more like that. You've got to be more authentic. I'm Tom Collins or whatever you say. Long time listener. You say who am I?

Say that again. No. Who was it? Tom Collins. Tom Collins, yes. Famous Spider-Man actor, Tom Collins. Who, what's his name? Tom Collins.

Oh, see, there's my empty brain palace. Like Hayley's in there flailing around being like, what was the name that they make the joke all the time? She can't remember. Anyway, Hales is all right. Okay, back to it. Long time listener. First time writing in.

Big fan of everything you folks do. Yeah. I'm glad. Now I'm committed to it. I'm glad to hear everyone on the team had a relaxing break. I especially enjoyed hearing to you talk. Oh, my God. To you, hearing you talk about reading on holiday.

Me and my now wife just returned from our honeymoon. Congratulations. Oh, congratulations. I'm sorry. I just don't want to make fun of you. And we both did nothing but read, eat, drink, and relax on the beautiful island of Kos. Nice.

Sounds so good. Whilst I was away, drink and relax on the beautiful island of Kos. Nice. Sounds so good. Whilst I was away, I took the time to read some Star Wars novels from the new canon, including my recommendation show, Shadow of the Sith by Adam Christopher. Oh, this is the new, I know this one. Yeah, this has got Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian on a little adventure together. Lovely.

It is a great in-betweenquel. Oh, I love that word. That bridges the gap between the original and sequel trilogy and once read, it even improves The Rise of Skywalker. And that's saying a lot because that is a terrible film. I love that there are dedicated storytellers and creators who go to great lengths to improve the universe that they so clearly love. The Clone Wars went a great way to retroactively improve the prequels

and I hope that the same can happen for their sequels. Have you ever read any of the new Disney Star Wars novels? If anyone is interested alongside Shadow of the Sith, I'd recommend Light of the Jedi, Bloodline and Brotherhood. They're all great books and they are a great starting point. Thanks again for such a great podcast. Me and my wife both love listening. Ellie and Kia. I've read some of those Star Wars books but I can't remember which one. Eli? Would it be Eli?

Eli? Yeah. Could be either. Well, Ellie or Eli, thank you so much for writing in. That's right. We really appreciate you. Cool. All right.

Excellent. That's it for this week. If you've got a suggestible something, something, something, something. All right. Bye, everybody. You know what we mean. It's just a podcast. Thank you as always to Royal Coll something, something, something, something. All right. Bye, everybody. I know. It means just a podcast. Thank you, as always, to Royal Collings for editing this week's episode.

You can find all the recommendations in the show notes. We will see you back here Thursdays. Bye. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Introducing Uber Teen Accounts, an Uber account for your teen with enhanced safety features. Your teen can request a ride with top-rated drivers, and you can track every trip on the live map in the Uber app. UberTeenAccounts, invite your teen to join your Uber account today.

Available in select locations. See app for details.