Suggestible - The Last West Side Story

Episode Date: December 16, 2021

Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to. Hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.Sign up to Claire’s weekly bonus newsletters here – tontsnewsletterThis week���s Suggestibles:Suggestible and the CityUs (Series)The Last Duel (spoilers 15:00 to 16:00)West Side StorySend 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 bong, bing bing bong. Certainly is. Certainly is. Hello, welcome. It's suggestible time. I am It certainly is. It certainly is. Hello. Welcome. It's Suggestible Time.

I am Claire Tonti. James is here also. Hello. His name is James Clement. That's right. We are married. We refused to take each other's names when we got married. It was a standoff. We stood at the altar and we glared at each other, hoping the other one would fold, but

nobody did. In actual fact, I suggested we blend our names together and you said do whatever you want, but I'm not changing my name and I felt the exact same. Yep. So everyone do whatever they want. That makes sense. I mean, if you don't want to change your name. It's weird.

You know the thing that annoys me though now in hindsight is that our kids don't have my surname. That's true. And that really bothers me. Like it bothers me a lot and it's bothering me more as the years go by. Well, why don't you change them? Because that's confusing. You don't want to change kids' surnames.

Now, what you want to do, you want to change it every year up until you die. Good. That's the way to. Yeah, correct. That's all I want to do in my parenting, keep everyone guessing. I think it's worth noting up top that at this show, Suggestible, we suggest things every week. To watch, read and listen to.

Correct. We're going to cover Sex and the City, the new series, and just like that in this particular podcast feed. And the first episode is available where we talk about episodes one and two. We have, however, moved that over to its own podcast feed. Correct. It's called Suggestible in the City. And the City.

And the City. It's called And the City. If you just type in Suggestible into your podcast feed, it looks like this logo except it's pink. It's bright pink. Yeah. So we're just making that a separate thing for however many episodes it runs for and if it comes back for Season 2, we'll do it again.

We had a heck of a time over it. We had a heck of a time. I got some great emails from people too who had many feelings, as everyone seems to be having for good or bad. Everyone has many feelings about this show, which I feel like is a good thing. It was the biggest HBO Max debut ever, I believe. We'll talk about it tomorrow, I guess, when it goes out. Correct.

I'm so excited. So, yeah, if you are keen to follow along, please do so. Absolutely. And I also have a little written review that I'm going to be sending out tomorrow for Tom's, my newsletter. I know. So if you feel like reading, not listening and then just extending the experience and reading some words that I've written about it.

I do think that. Because I just had so many feelings about it. But I will save them all for the podcast. Please. So, yes, that's Suggestible and The City in an apple. And we're going to talk about other things now. Absolutely. I don't know.

I can't even conceive of what else I want to talk about. Do you want to kick it off? Do you want to tell us what's going on in the world? I certainly will. And by that I mean avoid all talk of politics. Oh, my God. And any kind of current events slash climate change, disasters that are occurring.

Can you even do that in 2021? I don't know. Exactly. And I'm just going to jump straight into a lovely BBC miniseries called Us. slash climate change disasters. Can you even do that in 2021? I don't know. Exactly correct. And I'm just going to jump straight into a lovely BBC miniseries called Us. Oh, yeah. So I would really recommend this. I just wanted to watch something kind of cosy and when I want to watch something cosy I always go British.

Don't know what that is about but that's what I do. And this one. The British are known for their warmth. I don't know. Got them. Got every single one of them. I love the humour. I think their sense of humour is very similar to Australian sensibility

in a lot of ways. Anyway, this show is based on the book by the same title and was adapted by the author of the book, David Nicholls. Okay. Yeah. Now, the drama follows Douglas Peterson, played wonderfully, Now, the drama follows Douglas Peterson, played wonderfully, neurotically and grumpily and just like dad joke-esque by the wonderful, kind-hearted Tom Hollander.

Oh, I thought you were going to say Tom Holland. This is a different Tom Hollander. It is. Tom Hollander. You might remember him. He is in About Time. He's kind of like the drunken kind of playwright. Oh, yeah, he's the playwright guy.

Yeah, I do know him. And he's so funny and sarcastic. Yeah, he's great. He's kind of like the drunken kind of playwright. Oh, yeah, he's the playwright guy. Yeah, I do know him. And he's so funny and sarcastic. Yeah, he's great. He's terrific. And in this he plays a guy who is very set in his ways. He's a scientist. He's got a very logical mind. He reminds me a lot of you in some ways.

I'm not a scientist. I'm not smart. But just that he likes things the way he likes them and he like doesn't really get art and he doesn't really get, you know. I get art. I look at a painting and I'm like, I get it. It's a building or whatever. I think like visual art.

I don't know. He likes what he likes. He doesn't like to change up a lot of things. Anyway, he's married and his wife Connie, who's played beautifully by Saskia Reeves, now they're both kind of in their 50s. Wakes up one morning and says to him, I want a divorce basically, but not in a way that's aggressive or it's not kind of like the breakdown of a marriage.

It's just that she's kind of an artist and quite a free spirit it appears and she just feels like she's a bit sick of him and she loves him but she's like, I can't do, our son's about to go to college, I just can't do the rest of my life with you, mate. Like I love you but you're grumpy and you just like don't understand our son and you don't really understand me and thank you and I'm sorry. Thank you. Anyway, but it's just, it's sort of weirdly heartwarming.

Sounds like a look into my future. Am I bloody right, everybody? It actually does a really good sort of device of jumping back in time to when they first met and why they met each other. And the young Douglas is played by Ian de Kasteker and Connie is played, his wife is played by Gina Bramhill and it's kind of how they meet and marry and he's this kind of scientist, very steady kind of guy who's deep into research and she's kind

of this artist living in a kind of bohemian life and taking a lot of pills and just like being kind of loose and dating the wrong men and it sort of you can see how they kind of fall in love and they are good for each other. Right, right, okay. And then it follows the, and this is a little spoiler, the traumatic loss of their baby daughter very early in their marriage and the fallout of that and how that plays out.

So that's a really beautiful device. And then it jumps back in time or forward in time, I should say, and Connie and Douglas have decided that Douglas had planned this elaborate trip through Europe with their son Albie as like a last hurrah before he goes to college. And they almost don't go and then they decide to go. And that's one of the things that's so beautiful about the show. It's escapism because it's set before COVID.

It was even a little glint in a hand sanitizer's eye. And so it's just this beautiful like kind of landscape and the trains they're on and they wander through these art galleries and everyone's so free and easy and just sitting around in cafes and it just, it's a beautifully shot and set. So it's quite escapist in that way. But also what's really interesting is the relationship between teenage Albie, who's played wonderfully by Tom Taylor. Tom Taylor. I'm just looking up these names as I go.

The young him, he's from a Marvel show, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Oh, there you go. Well, he's very funny in it too. Tom Taylor, did you say? Yeah, Tom Taylor plays their teenage son. Comic book artist called Tom Taylor. Oh, well, there you go. Well, this guy plays it in this really beautiful way

where he's clearly very sincere and artistic and completely different to his dad whereas he's much more similar to his mum. So him and his mum are very close whereas Douglas just keeps putting his foot in it and he keeps trying to reach out and he just keeps stuffing it up royally and he has nothing to say to women. And a lot of it appears through the show that he doesn't come up very well as a dad in a lot of ways.

He's very critical of his son. He's very direct and no-nonsense in a way, I would say, and so he hasn't got a lot of social – he doesn't pick up on social cues very easily. So he just offends people by just saying what he really thinks, which is often quite funny. You can't do that anymore. No, but for his son who's this sort of artistic, kind of shy,

quiet sort of person who's also a free spirit, he just doesn't get his dad at all. And I think that's the strength of the show. Sorry, went down the wrong pipe. Drink drinks too fast. I don't. I'm drinking at the right pace. No, you drink them like someone is going to steal your beverages.

As I've mentioned before, that happens. No one is going to steal your beverages. That's because you've got the opposite. You know what the problem with your drinking is? You're too loose with your drinks. You take a sip of a drink and you'll put it on top of a cupboard and you'll leave it. You'll walk away.

Yeah, because I only like a little sip. I don't like a whole lot. That's why I would prefer to just try some of yours, but I can't because you drink it. Actually, I'm starting to come to terms. You know how I know that I'm living a comfortable lifestyle? When I used to go out for like a pub meal, I'd order one drink because I had no money.

Is this the whole thing that you and Mason have of like? I'm drink-willed, yes. Drink-willed. I'm not anymore, but I used to be. And the drink, because you know what they do? they bring the drink out first and then you wait like 10-15 minutes for your meal the idea is you drink your drink then the meal comes drink another drink but I would not drink the drink I was incredibly drink-willed and I could sit on that drink I was known for it I was known for it throughout the land. Anyways, please continue. That's what they said. Hear ye, hear ye.

There goes Sir James Clement of the Drinkwill Brigade. I could see the manager being like, oh, that guy. We thought we were going to get another $3.50 out of him. Oh, God, now drinks are like $8. Back in when drinks were free. I got a bottle of Coke the other day, like 500ml or whatever, 300ml, whatever Coke is, I don't know. Five bucks.

$5, Claire. Yeah, Coke is, I don't know, five bucks, five dollars, Claire. Yeah, what is the world coming to? Anyway, please continue. What were we talking about? Oh, drink wheel, you were choking. All right, let's move on. Anyway, so I just loved it. I think it's really funny. It's heartwarming.

It's also very heartbreaking. Yeah. And it does a really beautiful job of examining the relationships between a teenager and their parents, also the relationship between a man and a woman or like a couple and how the trajectory of their lives play out. And also it talks about themes of aging and what happens as you get older and that kind of realization of being an empty nester, the kids have gone and then you're staring down the barrel of hundreds of years with the same person.

Hundreds of years. My goodness. Quick question. How did you find it? Was it a recommendation? Did you see it pop up? I just found it on ABC Ivy, which is often where I go to when I want to find things because they tend

to have the BBC stuff that I love. Do you, because I'll look at a show and if it's like 62% on Rotten Tomatoes, I'll be like, nah, or whatever, which I shouldn't do. I should just watch it. It should be like, oh, yeah, this seems right up my alley. Do you look up reviews or do you just launch into it? Sometimes I do. This one I saw it and thought I'm going to give this a go.

You saw who was in it and you went, oh. Yeah, and then I watched the first five minutes. I was like, I love this, and then I Googled it and I was like, oh, good. I'm committed. And I just really, it grabbed me from the beginning and it's only four episodes. Yeah, and then it's done. And I just kind of gobbled it up.

Yeah, and it's done. It's complete. So the book apparently is now something I want to find and is much more detailed and goes on for longer and delves more into their story. Is it also called Us? Correct, it is. Wow.

By the same guy that wrote the TV series. The other book that you said. David Nichols. Anyway, that's it. What have you got for us? Well, I've got a few things, Claire, and by that I mean I've got one thing. This is now on Disney Plus Australia or The Star. Do you know there's Star within Disney Plus?

Did you know about that? No, what's Star? There's like a more adult section of Disney Plus. It's behind a sexy curtain. Goodness. It's basically just everything that's, you know, just more like adult movies and stuff. Like it's not so much comic book movies and whatever.

Pornography is what you're saying. It's hardcore pornography, yes. Disney. Mickey Mouse having sex with many people. Yeah, it's crazy that they even put it on there. It's really weird. We can wait for clean water solutions. Or we can engineer access to clean water.

We can acknowledge indigenous cultures or we can learn from indigenous voices. We can demand more from the earth or we can demand more from ourselves. At York University, we work together to create positive change for a better tomorrow. Join us at yorku.ca slash write the future. But anyway, this is called, this is a movie called The Last Duel based on the book of the same name, which is based loosely on actual events. It was directed by Ridley Scott. You might know as the director of Alien, First Alien. You might know him as the director of the movie Gladiator. You might know him as the director of that Russell Crowe Robin Hood movie,

which nobody likes, including me. He's a terrific director. He did The Martian more recently. Ah, yes. Yeah. Anyways, it stars Matthew Damon, Jodie Comer, Adam Driver, Benjamin Affleck. This is a stellar line-up. It's an incredible cast.

My goodness. So here's what it's about. Jean, I won't say his last name, he's French, it's set in France. Jean is a respected knight who is known for his bravery and skill on the battlefield. Jacques is a squire whose intelligence and eloquence makes him one of the most admired nobles in court.

So what happens is one of them, basically, Adam Driver, he viciously assaults Matt Damon's wife, played by Jodie Comer, who then steps forward and accuses her attacker as an act of bravery and defiance that puts her life in jeopardy. And then Matt Damon's character basically challenges Adam Driver to a duel to the death. And then that's God deciding whether or not this thing happened or not. So, oh, also if Matt Damon loses, she gets burnt alive.

That's the story. That's how it goes. Jesus. Yeah. It's pretty terrible. So it's told from the three perspectives. It's told from Matt Damon's perspective, Jodie Comer's perspective, and Adam Driver's perspective, right? And it basically involves like a fairly or very graphic sexual assault which i

think which i they come they come back to twice which i think is kind of it's unnecessary you know i mean it's a bit kind of like do we do we really do we really kind of need to do this and it's interesting because it's not really about i mean it's not about it seems with matt damon's character it's not about her it's more about like his honor and what, how, how he looks and what he's lost and like he's been slighted. And she's well aware of that. She's like, you've done this thing, you've challenged him. And as a result of that, if you lose now, I'm going to die because you are doing this thing. And I didn't ask you to do this. And now, you know, everybody knows this is happening and whatever. And you've basically, you've probably killed me, essentially.

So it's not really about her. It's more about, in the eyes of these two men, it's about these two guys just being upset and in essentially like a nationwide known like pissing contest, essentially. These guys who started as friends and then over the years kind of all these little gripes kind of arise until this event happens. So, look, it is told very much from like the male perspective,

do you know what I mean, from these two guys. But there is also that other element of it, which I think considering the movie is directed by an 80-year-old man, it's amazing that he handles it at all really. So the fight that they have at the end, it all builds to that. It's like insane. It's like it starts with the horses and a joust and then it's on the ground and they've got swords and then they're just trying to knife each other.

It's like it's brutal. It's like it's very intense. But I will say this, like I found the ending to be, and not to spoil it, it's just very kind of it's a very satisfying conclusion. And is this something you're going to watch because I can just spoil it right now for you? It totally isn't. Okay.

I could not think of anything I would want to watch. Collings will put a time code below. Basically, Matt Damon wins. He kills Adam Driver so his wife lives and then you find out, which is apparently the true story, he dies in battle a few years later so she just lives out the rest of her life. She doesn't get married and she just lives on her estate and just kind of is happy essentially.

I love that. Yeah. Maybe I will watch it now. Yeah. I mean that's like the very, very end. But, yeah, look, it tanked like hard. Nobody saw it. Ridley Scott famously went out and was like,

kids are on their phones and Facebook. They're not watching movies anymore. He did this whole thing and whatever. famously went out and was like, kids are on their phones and Facebook. They're not watching movies anymore. He did this whole thing and whatever. But, look, if you like, you know, Gladiator and kind of, you know, medieval epic kind of Bravehearts or whatever, you know what I mean, this might be up your alley.

And, look, everybody in it because it's a fantastic cast. No, and that's what's selling me on it. It's very good. The cast is excellent. Yeah. I love Adam Driver and Matt Damon and Jodie Comer. She is brilliant in Killing Eve. Yeah, it's really amazing.

And I'm so glad that Adam Driver is famous because he just seems like super cool and he's really interesting. Yes, I do too. And I feel like he's someone that probably wouldn't have been famous 20 years ago. No, it's interesting because I think we're about the same age, I think. He's much better looking and more successful. But he went into the army after 9-11 and then after he left he started using,

well, he got into acting and he started using that with veterans to help them cope with like PTSD. He does a lot of this other stuff like behind the scenes, you know what I mean, and working with people and charities and he just seems like a really cool guy. Yeah, well, I mean he's excellent in Girls. He is my favourite thing about Girls. He's great.

He's like the best thing in everything he's in really. Yeah, I know. I mean I loved him in Star Wars too. He was really good in Star Wars. I really want to see House of Gucci. Yeah, me too. Lady Gaga, but it's not out here. I know.

So infuriating. Also directed by Ridley Scott, that one actually. Wow, he must love Adam Driver as much as we do. It seems like he does love Adam Driver. And you know who else is really good in this? Ben Affleck is in it. Wow. It's really quite strange.

Goodness gracious. Good old Ben Affleck who's making a comeback with J-Lo. And he's blonde, which is quite odd. But it's fun. She pops up in things. Okay, maybe I will watch it. I don't know. It's not fun, but, you know.

Yeah, maybe. I'm not sure. I haven't decided. It's certainly not a gentle miniseries about a slightly lovely older couple breaking down their marriage and talking to each other. It's awful men being awful to each other. Yeah, which I just don't really have the patience for at the moment. Yeah, fair enough.

I don't know. The world feels like that's basically why the world's burning. It's just like men dick swinging at each other. Oh, disagree. I think everything's great. Just like destroying the universe. Anyhoo, so let's not talk about that. Yay.

Let's talk about something else that I did this week. What did you watch? I went to the West Side Story premiere last night as you went to the Spider-Man premiere. I cannot talk about it. For anybody worrying, I will not be spoiling any of Spider-Man No Way Home. He has even said to me that I'm not

allowed to mention anything about it, so I will only say that he went there at a certain location. That is all. And that is all. That is it. Full stop. However, I am allowed to talk about this. So I saw West Side Story now. My goodness. For those who don't know, West Side Story is a – well,

it was a musical first on Broadway in the 1950s. And then it was adapted in 1961 to a musical romantic drama film directed by Robert Weiss and Jerome Robbins with a screenplay by Ernest Lehman. It's considered an absolute classic. It completely is and it was very groundbreaking at the time and our friend Stephen Sondheim, who I went on a giant journey about last week, was a part of working on the lyrics

and the music, which you can very much hear in this gorgeous retelling. So anyway, so now Steven Spielberg, Fast Water 2021, has decided to remake the classic film that won all these awards. Bold move. I know. Partly I think it's overdue because the film itself has some wonderful commentary and political commentary about racism and the kind of difficulties that were happening in the 1950s

and 60s in New York City with the Latino community. And I guess West Side Story, it's interesting because that was there and it was groundbreaking at the time. The music is also groundbreaking. However, there's a lot of problematic elements to the original script. Yes. So with that in mind, Tony Kushner was of problematic elements to the original script. Yes. So with that in mind, Tony Kushner was brought in to adapt it for this particular version.

Now I think this is interesting. I wanted to talk about the things that they've changed. Okay, yeah. So just beforehand I'll tell you a very quick synopsis. Basically West Side Story set in New York City in the 1950s. Yeah, exactly. And it's really about two rival gangs, the York City in the 1950s. Yeah, exactly. And it's really about two rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. Now the Jets come from very rough backgrounds.

They're ostensibly white American young men who are disenfranchised, can't get jobs for whatever reason and have become quite violent and angry. And they are fighting against the Puerto Ricans who are the sharks. And I think that in the original movie it was all just about turf, like we own this turf, no, we own this turf, and there's just like a war. So it's basically a Romeo and Juliet-esque kind of story. So Tony is a jet or a former jet who's trying to make good of his life

and Maria is a very innocent Puerto Rican young woman who's kind of just coming forth into the dance scene. It's a dance musical. So the original movie and the original stage play had all of the fight scenes that like in dance. Yeah. So, um, Steven Spielberg, that's one of the things he's changed is that he's actually had sort of real quite graphic

violent fight scenes. Oh, so do they do the bit where they tie their wrists together and they knife fight each other? Yeah. Heck yeah. It was a lot. It was a lot. And what was very interesting is when I went to the premiere,

it was basically just all theatre people, right? I could tell, like old theatre people, new theatre people. Theatre nerds. Just a lot of women just like loving hard on this very romantic kind of Romeo and Juliet-esque kind of story except that everyone was like visibly traumatised because this beautiful crowd was then watching these like really explicit violent scenes, which in the musical is all done in this beautiful dance sequence

where it's all very non-contact. Right, yeah. So I think everyone, like the girl next to me was losing her mind. Like she was dancing in all the dance scenes with their shoulders and then like crying and gasping. And then just like, looked like she'd been absolutely traumatized. She sounds like she's a fan. She sounds like she's a big fan. She was singing along every word. Anyway, so that's something that he's changed. Something else that I really enjoyed that

he's changed to this story is that they've kind of expanded the non-binary character that called Anybody's. And in the original, they are sort of on the periphery of the Jets. Yeah, right. Right. And so Steven Spielberg has cast a non-binary actor in the role, which is fantastic, called Ira Minas. And initially in the, they were sort of performed as a tomboy, but this has really moved away from that cis reading. And even though there was an original song called Kids Ain't that wasn't included in the musical that dealt with more

of the themes around their identity, Yes. They still do a really good job of exploring anybody's view of themselves and the Jets struggle to accept them, but they also have kind of a redemption arc in a way in the story and it's just a more complex, nuanced role that wasn't there before, which I think is really an excellent inclusion. So another really great thing I think that they changed is that Steven Spielberg was very aware that in the original most of the Puerto Rican cast were played by white people.

Yes, with some pretty heavy fake tan. Correct, exactly. Like Maria, for instance, was actually Russian. Really? Yeah, exactly, in the movie. I saw a very white high school production. Oh, yeah. That side story was.

We did and it was so bad. And it was just like teenage, white teenage boys trying to do dance routines. Oh, my God, I loved it. And it was just the best thing ever. And then also Maria, halfway through, her voice stopped working. Oh, yeah, she was sick. They switched the actor, which to be fair, incredible. Like the fill fair, incredible.

Like the fill in, amazing. How did she even do that? I don't know, but so good. Anyway, so yes, they have done a really good job of creating more of a backstory for the Puerto Rican cast for the Sharks and giving them more of a fully fleshed out storyline, I guess, and just world. I think he's done a really good job of building that world. He did things like included a lot more Puerto Rican language

and didn't include subtitles. So in that way then he said he wanted to do that for the Latino community in particular to highlight that there is a whole other language and culture that is so ingrained in the American sense of, you know, identity. Yeah. And he wanted to really respect that.

So I think that was quite a bold choice in some ways, but also really excellent. I totally respect that. Yeah, yeah. I also think like, not always, but a lot of the time you can get the gist of something. Oh, you completely can. Yeah. And in this you really can. And I think it actually, they sort of change in and out of English.

And I think it's done really, really well. So the other thing he's done is fleshed out some more of the female characters, which is really interesting. In particular, there's a beloved character of Doc who is kind of the guy who plays, you know in Romeo and Juliet there's that like priest friar figure who's kind of the one that's like trying to mediate the two and marries them. Yes.

And this is, Doc was kind of that character in this show. So Tony goes to him for advice because obviously he's trying to marry Maria because they just like fall head over heels for each other but no one wants them to. Because this is Romeo and Juliet really, isn't it? Correct, exactly. And so no one wants, you know, Maria to marry a white dude and the Jets don't want Tony to have anything to do with the Puerto Ricans

and then it creates like a huge fight scene at the end of the film. Anyway, Doc is replaced by his widow Valentina who's Puerto Rican and she's played by Rita Marino who was actually the original Anita in the original film. Oh, really? Okay. Yes, and I'll go through the list of the other characters too. That's really cool.

Yeah, exactly because Anita is a massive character. I think most people know the main song, I want to go to America. I want to go to America. Yeah, so America and Anita sings that song and she's this incredible dancer and in this film Anita is played by Ariana DeBose, who is just an incredible triple threat, singer, actor, dancer, steals the show, like just breathtaking.

From Rachel Zegler even, the lead. Yeah, hands down. Really? Yeah, Rachel Zegler's great. My goodness, Ariana DeBose, her ability to dance is just breathtaking to watch. Yeah, I get you. But also her character is super sassy and super strong. She has a real thing about wanting to make a goal of it in America

and the chemistry between her and Bernardo, who's played by David Alvarez, now is also really excellent. Now, Bernardo is Maria's brother and he also happens to be the leader of the Sharks. Oh, yes, I remember this. And he's like, Maria, you can't be marrying this guy. You're in the wrong community. Yeah, exactly.

But I love Maria Anita's character because he wants to marry her but she wants to build up her own clothing empire and be a seamstress and hire more seamstresses and that's what the American song is all about really. Ah, okay. build up her own clothing empire and being a seamstress and hire more seamstresses. And that's what the American song is all about really. Ah, okay. It's about her making a goal of it in America. Yep.

Which I think is really interesting anyway. So, yeah, the original lead out was played by Rita Moreno and Valentina is this new character who's Doc's widow and she just becomes this kind of wise, sage, funny character that people seek out and particularly looks after Tony and can see the good in him and sees that he's trying to better himself and take a step out of the life that he's been leading and that the Jets just want to pull him back in. Now, another guy that does a really great job is Mike Feist who plays Riff. Now Riff is the leader of the Jets.

Right. And he's Tony's best friend. He and Tony were leading the Jets and then Tony left. Oh, and he's like, I remember this. He's like, you can't believe you left me. Yeah, correct. We were brothers and whatever. And he's always trying to pull Tony back into that world

while Tony's trying to make something of himself. Yeah. And he's just kind of pull Tony back into that world while Tony's trying to make something of himself. Yeah. And he's just kind of the whole show kind of opens with him and he's just a brilliant actor and it's awesome. So I just would really recommend it. There's a few other stories that they change as well. They adapt Tony's backstory a little bit. They soften the edges and make the whole thing a lot more politically correct, I guess.

Right, okay, yeah, yeah. In a good way? Look, I think so. I think it's copped a lot of criticism and I'm not quite sure. I thought it was like quite beloved. I mean I know it hasn't done well but I thought critically it was like people seemed to be enjoying it. Yeah, look, I think so.

I think online it seemed divided. Okay. I think part of maybe criticism is the wrong word. It hasn't done well in the box office. The 1961 one, for example, won like all these awards. I mean I think it's like and look, I haven't seen it properly obviously but I think it's does anybody care about West Side Story? I hate to be like but like when you're getting like Hamilton,

do you know what I mean? Does anybody care about this like really? Look, I think the themes have aged well, but I think musically it probably has not. Again, I haven't seen it, but I don't. Yeah, I can see what you mean. I mean, so the music is by Leonard Bernstein and then the lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

And I think if you're a diehard musical theatre fan, then you love the arrangements in this and the cinematography in this and the dance sequences in this is just breathtaking and the complexity of the music in this, the difficulty of the songs is amazing. So it's kind of like watching a football game and enjoying it but then if you understand what it takes to get to the point where you can play that football game, you enjoy it at a whole different level.

I guess it's like you going to see Spider-Man. It's the same kind of thing. I haven't seen Spider-Man. I know, but you know what I mean. It's you going to see a film where you understand how much it takes you to get there. Yeah, totally. Look, I'm not trying to take away from it.

I'm just trying to think like why it hasn't landed. Done as well. And I think that's part of it. I also, I think part of it obviously is, yeah, we have Hamilton and that's fresher and newer because at the time in the 1960s, it was the Hamilton of the 1960s, you know, because it really showed New York and had a snapshot of what was really going on. I think something beautiful that I hadn't really heard before, a theme that really kind of stood out for me was this really kind of nuanced thing that I think it was Tony says

about how Riff and the Jets, even though ostensibly it seems like their attacks on the Puerto Ricans are based in racism and they're, you know, angry that they're there and they're telling them to go home, it actually comes from a place of poverty and lack of stability and resources because they didn't grow up with stable homes, whereas the Puerto Ricans may have come with nothing but the clothes on their backs, but they have so much rich culture and heritage and stable home lives and these family communities that are so interconnected and strong. And I think that's just a really interesting

observation about the immigrant experience. And I think maybe talks into some of what's happening in America at the moment. I think it's not just America, but I think, yeah, when people are disenfranchised, when people aren't getting paid properly, when people don't have like social safety nets. When their families are broken down through drug addiction. Exactly, when people don't have support then you. You breed anger and resentment. Yeah, which is completely understandable.

Yeah, and the easiest people to blame are the people that are different from you. Yeah, all the people who maybe some disingenuous news sources. Yeah, oh, yeah, exactly. And that's a whole different thing now, isn't it, right? Because now we have this big sort of media machine that's churning out all of this fake news. But I still thought that was a really sharp observation to make,

that this character of Riff seems like he's just kicking out these, you know, Puerto Rican guys because he doesn't like the colour of their skin. Yeah. When in actuality he may be jealous of what they have. Yeah. And there's a fear. Or worried about losing something. Yeah, and maybe because as well there's a level of skill

and education that they don't have, even though they may not speak very good English at that point in time, they've got the potential to because, as we talked about before, Brene Brown did a study on this, that often key marker of success is actually having a stable, loving home. Totally. And that gives you more than, you know, a lot of wealth even necessarily because it allows you. Both.

Exactly. But you know what I'm trying to say and I just think, anyway, I thought that was interesting. I don't know if anyone else will. So you would say go out and see it? Would you say wait? What would you say? I would say if you are a musical theatre fan, go and see it.

I am a musical theatre fan. If you are not so into musicals, I would give this one a miss. Go and see James' Fighty Fight Fight one. Just Fighty Fight Fight, Claire. The cinematography is beautiful. Ansel Egott plays Tony and he plays. What, Heart and Spider-Man? No way.

I can't say anything. Okay. Spoilers. I mean, look, I also think if you're a big Steven Spielberg fan, this film is very close to his heart. It was one of his dad's favourite films. Oh, was it? And he's dedicated the whole film to his father.

So I feel like there's a lot of reasons to go and see this movie. I think also to get a deeper understanding of the Puerto Rican culture from that time as well. Yeah, because was Steven Spielberg's dad, was he Puerto Rican or did he hate Puerto Ricans? Which one was he? I have no idea. He was so annoying.

I'm sure he was. Anyway, his dad died at like over 100. Did he really? Super early. Apparently this is the only film. Wait, he was over 100? sure he was. Anyway, his dad died at like over 100. Did he really? Super elderly. Apparently this is the only film. Wait, he was over 100? When he died. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Apparently this is the only film that Steven Spielberg's father never actually came to set of because he was too elderly and he couldn't fly out from LA. So did he get to see it? No. Oh, boo. I know.

He did see the shorts of it. He got sent images of it through on his iPad. Yeah. But he never actually got to the set and he died before it was finished. Oh, boo. I know. He did see the shorts of it. He got sent images of it through on his iPad. Yeah. But he never actually got to the set and he died before it was finished. Oh, that sucks. I know, which is heartbreaking. Oh, well, he probably got to see Jurassic Park. That's a pretty good movie.

It's a pretty good movie to see Jurassic Park. I guess. He did go on the set of Schindler's List apparently. That's a pretty good movie too. It's a pretty good movie. Yeah. So, look, yeah, there's lots of reasons to see it and I think going in thinking it's not going to be like Tick, Tick, Boom that I recommended

last week is much more accessible I think in some ways because it's just fresher. The music is catchy for want of a better word. Like there are classic songs like Somewhere is just the most beautiful song, sung by Valentina. Tonight is also a classic. America obviously is a classic. So there's some beautiful songs in there but a lot of the music is also a little more inaccessible in some ways.

But then that's also a cultural thing, right, I think? And so I think maybe, you know, it's a great film to go and see to broaden your cultural horizons. Well, I don't want that. I only want to watch Spider-Man punch the lizard. And maybe that's, I don't know. I don't know if I'm saying this correctly, but I do think that there's some real joy to be had in this movie.

Okay. Well, do you know what? I think there's some real joy to be had in reviewing a podcast. Jackson has, but what if an ex wrote this review? You can do it in app. Did you know that? I didn't. Jackson said, but what if an ex wrote this review? You can do it in app. Did you know that? It's as easy as this. Jackson said, just do it.

I'll admit after hearing about this podcast from James' more successful podcast multiple times, I didn't think much of it. That is until I heard Claire on the A Quiet Place but More Quiet and this time with water and found her absolutely hilarious. Great podcast. Thank you for coming across, Jackson. We're going to have to get you back on as a guest, Claire, sometime soon. Yes, I know.

Do you want to come on to talk about Spider-Man? I haven't seen it. You're not allowed to talk about Spider-Man. You're not allowed to talk about anything. This is a Mason and James exclusive podcast. Are you done? I am. Have you got any email this week?

I do have email now. I have a few emails about the old Suggestible and the City. Do we want to save those? Should I save those? Yeah, let's save those. Yeah, and they're hilarious, let me tell you. I was laughing at the kitchen table and you said, stop laughing. I said, what are you laughing at over there?

You're laughing at me? No joy in this old house. Are you making fun of me, I said? Correct. Anyway, so instead, I've got a lovely email from Wyatt Langle. Now, hey folks, Wyatt here from Alberta, Canada. Canada?

Yeah, Canada. Canada. Canada. Canada. Canada. Canada. Anyway, Canada. I wanted to share a recipe for an Albertan holiday treat,

nuts and bolts, a salty and savoury combination of all your favourite crunchy snacks similar to a party mix. I know nuts and bolts. Do you? Yes, please read it out a party mix. I know nuts and bolts. Do you? Yes. Please read it out. I might know a different nuts and bolts. Let's find out.

It seems like every family has a different recipe because it's super easy to tweak to your liking. It is one of the most unhealthy things you can eat but hates the holidays and the diet always starts in Jan. This recipe makes a large batch and it freezes very well. So in Wyatt's version, we have 20 cups of your favourite crunchy snack like pretzels, Cheetos, corn chips, mixed nuts, sesame crackers and Cheerios, one cup of unsalted butter.

Oh, yeah. Quarter of a cup of Worcestershire sauce. I love that stuff. One tablespoon each of seasoning salt, garlic salt, celery salt and onion pepper. Celery salt? Onion powder. salt, celery salt and onion pepper. Celery salt? Onion powder. Yes, celery salt.

I didn't know. I've never heard of the celery salt. What does that taste like? Nothing? Yes. I don't know. Delicious probably. In a small saucepan, melt the butter,

wishy-washy sauce and spices together until heated and fragrant but not to the boil. Mix the assorted snacks in a large roasting pan, coat with the butter mixture, bake at 250 Fahrenheit for two hours, uncovered, tossing every 20 minutes, and then freeze as well if you need to. You can also add other spices such as smoked paprika, dill, chili flakes, hot sauce, or anything you're hard to size really. I haven't thought about nuts and bolts in 40 years and I'm not 40 yet.

So who makes nuts and bolts? My mum used to do it. Oh, I see. Like a pretzel-y kind of thing. Yum. I think she might have even used like nutrigrain. Oh, God. I might have met.

Well, it's kind of, I don't know, it was like a mixture of stuff. I can't really remember to be honest. I'd have to ask her. Man, I never had that. Yeah. It sounds gross. That one sounds better. Yeah, this one sounds delicious.

Thank you so much, Wyatt. If you too have a suggestion for a Christmas snack. Man, my brain just like, you hit like a part of my brain that I haven't used in a very long time. That's funny. You know what does it for me? Devil's on horseback. What is that? Oh, mate. It's prunes wrapped in bacon. Oh, okay. I didn't think I'd ever have that. And it's actually kind of delicious. No, I think I'd like that combination. You would. It's fruity and salty. We used to always have it with toothpicks through it

and it would always be for my parents' parties, specifically my dad. And you can also eat it with a toothpick, can't you? You can swallow that whole. You can. You've had cream horns? Yes, yes, definitely. Incredible.

Only because your mum always used to make them. Those people don't know. And I really enjoyed them. It's like a strip of pastry, probably about an inch wide, and you wrap it around so it becomes like a small cone, like a little ice cream cone, and then you bake it so it like puffs up and then you just put jam and cream in it and that's it, in that order. And then you just do like a dusting of like icing sugar.

Fucking incredible. Incredible. The one that my dad always used to do, which I really love but sounds odd, is tinned lychee with macadamia nut inside, whipped cream on top and a slice of strawberry. That's very good. It is good, isn't it? That was what my dad always used to do.

Oh, it's going to make me cry. Yeah, every time we had a party or an event or anything. Anyway, my dad passed away seven years ago and I miss him a lot. He used to make really good punch. And then there was that time because he would cook in a fury. I've talked about this before. Like he would cook like it was the end of the world. Like someone would steal his meal after the end.

He'd finished it. And he made two pavlovas and then tripped over and they both got completely., just fell on the floor. He spent so long making them. It's really funny and awful. Just those little things. Anyway, I miss my dad every day. And if you too have someone that you miss and Christmas makes it

especially hard, sending you a bit of love out there. I'm not, just so you know. I'm not thinking of you at all. I'm thinking of myself. No, that's not true. Christmas can be tough, you know. It really can. Like it's, I know there's like, I love it for the glitz and all the lights

and I love the sentimentality because that's me to a T. But it's also hard. And especially if you're going through stuff, it makes it harder around this time, depending on your family circumstances or friends or whatever. So if we're your friends in your ears, that's good. We're going to do our Christmas special.

We'll drop it for you on Christmas. Are we? Is that next week? Yeah. That's what we always do. We drop it on Christmas. Well, that will be a couple of days before Christmas. Oh, yeah.

It'll be on the 23rd. Didn't we used to drop it on Christmas? I think it just depends on when Christmas is. All right. We can. We can delay it a couple of days if you want. But I think it's good to drop it a few days before so that people can, like, listen to whatever they want leading up.

You know what I mean? Yeah. Like Mason and I, for example, have done a diehard commentary over at BigSandwich.co and that's going to go up on Sunday there if people, you know, want to check it out. I'm into that. Cool. I can't wait.

I've already been queuing up some of my Christmas specials. I stupidly, that year that we started this podcast, got all, I've just put, chocked full that episode of all the things I love about Christmas. It's true. Not thinking that we would be doing it two years later. I've got to think of some more horrendous things to recommend. Anyway, we've got to get out of here.

We've got to get a very long episode today. All right. Thank you so much, as always, to Roar Collings for editing this week's episode. Unless he didn't because he's doing Hawkeye. And then I'm not thanking you. Fair enough. No, I will. I thank you every goddamn day.

Goodbye. Goodbye. I'm off to make nuts and bolts. Oh, my God. This podcast is part of the Planet Broadcasting Network. Visit planetbroadcasting.com for more podcasts from our great mates. I mean, if you want. It's up to you.

We can wait for clean water solutions. Or we can engineer access to clean water. We can acknowledge Indigenous cultures. Or we can learn from indigenous voices. We can demand more from the earth. Or we can demand more from ourselves. At York University, we work together to create positive change for a better tomorrow. Join us at yorku.ca slash write the future.