Hey there. I'm Osman Farooqui and this is The Drop, a culture show from the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, where we dive into the latest in the world of pop culture and entertainment. I'm here with Thomas Mitchell and Mel Cambrai. Guys, spring is here. We're feeling good. The birds chirping.
I mean, I can't hear anything inside the studio, but I assume outside they are chirping and it has sprung its very nice day here today. So I'm enjoying that.
It is lovely, isn't it? We are spring loaded with pop culture to talk about, so let's.
Spring straight into it. How many can we.
We will spring into action.
Let's stop doing this. The seasons may have turned, but one thing that hasn't changed is the status of the Hollywood strike, which is still rolling on. And it's starting to bite like I'm noticing it in terms of movies being delayed and pushed back. And even the ones that have previously been announced or ready to go, there's just like not a lot of buzz about them because actors can't talk, writers can't talk. And so things have been
feeling grim. But then we sat down and we thought about it and we drew up a bit of a list and turns out there is stuff about to drop in the world of television and film, but also, you know, in niche interests of people's music. That's an interest. People have books. I've heard people read books.
Mel That is that true mean you guys never let me talk about them on the podcast. Well, this is your.
Time to shine, Mel, because even though we are in this relative dry patch, we are going to spend today's episode of The Drop talking about all the releases we're looking forward to across film, television, books and music. It's your time to shine.
I'm ready. I'm ready. I've been. I've been waiting for this moment. So hopefully I'll. I'll deliver.
So film festival season is in full swing. Venice is happening right now, so I thought we could start by unpacking some of the big releases that are still at this stage due to come out this year. Why? We're excited about them. I'm going to start with the movie that I'm the most hype about for this year. It is Martin Scorsese's latest movie, Killers of the Flower Moon, the one that, like Thomas, totally dissed 2 or 3
episodes ago. Oh, yeah, DeNiro's got something coming out. I really don't really know much about it.
Yeah, no big deal by some Scorsese guy.
Okay. Firstly, I still love De Niro, but like, this is the first movie in like five years where he hasn't played a grandpa.
A dirty one.
A dirty grandpa that's like lusting over Megan Fox or some kind of Megan Fox stand in. But yes, I am very excited about this. And obviously, you know, Osmond being a big Scorsese guy and also being a big Nolan guy is just kind of completing the full Incel package that we know here.
So this is Osmond's dream. As I was watching the trailer for this, I was like, This is everything.
You guys suck. This movie is like cool and woke. For the record, I read the book. This is based on also called Killers of the Flower Moon. When I was in holiday a couple of weeks ago. The book is an amazing piece of both investigative reporting and I'll have,
you know, narrative storytelling. It is about a series of murders of Osage Native Americans in America in the 1920s and what exactly happened to them, why it wasn't investigated and how the FBI, in a very nascent form at the time, came to basically be defined by its attempt to crack this case. The film stars De Niro, as we've mentioned, also Leo DiCaprio, Jesse Plemons. It looks fucking amazing. It is about an incredible story that has not been
brought to life in this way before. I'm genuinely excited. Jokes aside, you guys making fun of me, you love it, but you're also you're also into it, right?
Yeah, I am. I can't wait. And I also think it's going to be a really good one to see in cinemas because it just looks like it's going to be very striking visually as well. And I love Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio team ups The Wolf of Wall Street Gangs of New York. I'm excited to see them back on screen again. And I have read the guy who wrote Killers of the Flower Moon. Sorry, this isn't my even my section yet to talk about books, but I've.
Got five minutes.
Please. David Grann. I did read his the wager as well, which is about a mutiny. And then the kind of the the sailors end up on a on the coast of South America. And they've got completely different tale to the survivors about how they got there. I know that Scorsese and Leo have teamed up for that one as well.
Oh, wow. They're going to make that into a film as well.
Yeah, they are. So I think we've got a few great stories coming our way.
Yeah, I think the buzz has been big for ages. It's been delayed a few times, I think, hasn't it? Like it's supposed to come out a while. Yeah.
Premiered at I think con like earlier in the year and then there was supposed to be I think maybe those September release and then there was supposed to be advance releases in October. It's now scheduled in October 20th. The word on the street is like, that's not going to shift. Like there are interviews in the Cannes for that.
We've spoken to like the cast of publication and Scorsese like I think they're going to go big and they hope that this could be a big kind of tentpole thing before the end of the year.
And I do find it interesting the films that they've picked to push back versus what can what can continue on. And it's really the big dogs who can continue on or a lot of the big directors who already have established fan bases and fan bases that aren't necessarily on TikTok and social media and relying on that advertising to
to promote their films. So even though we were saying that there's, you know, quite a few films cut that have been pushed back, there's still some pretty impressive ones on the list for the rest of the year.
Yeah. And Marty has said that this is I mean, I guess he would say this because it's a great way to build hype. But he said it's the most important story he's ever told. But there are reports that he actually significantly re-edited or reworked the movie late in production where originally it was going to be this story of how the FBI came to be. But after spending so much time with with the Osage people, he was like, this is a story that needs to be told front
and center. And this is actually a story about what America did to its First Nations people. And I kind of I'm into that for Marty.
Can I ask a question like.
You may not.
Is is Marty like? Is that what he is? Commonly known?
This is what he introduces himself.
Oh, there you go. I've always treated him quite reverentially. Then I guess I'd call him Martin.
No, I only say that because of In The Sopranos. Christopher, like, sees Marty Scorsese, like a like a club or whatever. And he calls him Marty. He's like, Marty Love. Condon Great movie. Yeah. It's like, just.
So that's why you've adopted.
I grew up thinking he was Marty Scorsese.
Yeah, I think I think Marty is commonly accepted. I just hope that he'll be able to tell this important story in like less than ten hours. As with the Irishman, which some people are still watching.
Yeah, I'm not going to lie. A lot of the films you've got on your list to talk about us, I'm like there at. 4 or 5 hours long, each of them.
I hate this. Like, sorry, Martin Scorsese, who's won a thousand or sorry, Marty, along with Leo and De Niro, is making you a movie that is so you don't want to see every second of this Footage is a gift. Okay. Should be very happy about having.
You know, I'm a big Scorsese. You guy, too. I didn't actually love the Irishman, and I do have high hopes for this, but particularly because I think around a lot of the main players, there is like an interesting discourse like away from the film. Like, I feel like since this movie has been announced, DiCaprio generally in the public eye has kind of copped a bit of a battering. And I think people are also curious about De Niro because, you know, he's got the he's having the baby with
this much younger woman. He's like 80. He hasn't made many good movies. Like I feel like are people are curious to see if this will be like a flop or if these guys who are at the top of their game are still like at the top of their game.
The top of the game dating younger, much younger women. But this is their moment.
No, that's fair. We're not we're not catching them in like a super hot streak necessarily. But by all accounts, it is good. And I think the performances will blow people away. Talking about people who are like very buzzy at the moment. Our guy, Paul Mescal and Ronan are teaming up for this sci fi thriller directed by Australian Garth Davis called FO. It's out in October is October 19th. Mel, your hype for this one. Talk to me about what's gotten you excited.
I mean, it looks extremely intense, doesn't it? Yeah, It looks like someone's going off to a different planet and she's staying here. She is staying here. She's getting a robot substitute for a husband. Paul. Mescal. That does.
Sound intense. That does sound.
Intense. Great.
It's like Sci-Fi on a farm, though.
Yeah, it's. I really liked when you watch the trailer, it starts off quite like it looks like it's a bit of a domestic serious domestic drama, and then it just slowly kind of spins off into sci fi ie madness. But I think it looks really good. Very, very gripping. Yeah.
I'm willing to put aside my dislike of Paul Mescal. We don't get along when I say we don't get along. He doesn't know who I am, but I don't love him. I think I'm just very jealous of him because he's very cool and handsome. And he was in Sydney when I was locked down in Melbourne, hanging out with all my friends at bars and beaches that I like to go to, but I'll put that aside to watch this movie.
Okay. Firstly, I love Paul Mescal.
You mean Paulie?
Paulie It's friends.
Who were invited to the to the Toronto. Yeah.
I think he is actually talking about hot streak. He is on a hot streak and I think Aftersun like I mean he was nominated for an Oscar, so it's hardly like, you know, underappreciated. But I don't know if that got as much like hype last year as other films. It kind of got swallowed in the everything everywhere, all at once Hype and Aftersun was a great movie, and particularly like not a lot happens in that movie and he was amazing in it. Probably one of the last
films I cried in, if I'm being honest. You guys seen it? Yeah, I love it.
It's a beautiful, ordinary.
I know. Like, you know, I've got my issues with him, whatever. But he's an amazing actor and I.
Think she's not real. And also.
The other thing that I love, because I got like a massive crush on Daisy Edgar-jones. Yeah. And so obviously there are normal people together. Yep. Love that for him. So yeah, I think, I think he's, he hasn't had like a bad film or serious.
Ronan Right. Like, she's incredible. Lady Bird, Little women. I think this is a moment. There's like a clip of her in the trailer with a bathrobe on dancing around with a glass of wine like always. Love that kind of scene in a film. So very relatable. I think she's going to be great. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right.
And he's and he's I think he started filming Gladiator two, which she's in as well, which is exciting.
Isn't that basically Napoleon?
Well, yeah. We'll get to Napoleon. We'll get to Napoleon.
Yeah, we're going to get to talk history with you. You know.
If you think I didn't Wikipedia Napoleon Bonaparte before this.
Chat, how tall was he?
Not tall enough.
So the other one that that I'm. It falls into the category of like one for the fellas I think as you would put it.
The boys boys.
Yeah, the boys. Dave Fincher. Our guy Gone Girl, The Social Network. He Zodiac. He's back with a movie called The Killer, starring Michael Fassbender. That's out on Netflix November 10th. I think it will have a limited cinema release. I mean, Fincher loves making movies about serial killers. He's very stylistic, very graphic.
I thought the same thing, but when I was reading, I was like, Is he getting lazy now? He can't even come up with a name of what the movies. He's just like, Yeah.
I kind of agree. This was looked a bit snooze to me. I'm not super excited.
Why do you think this is also a book adaptation as well? And I think I think they've been very light on plot details. But I believe this is about a hitman who sort of starts to have some moral qualms about his job. And I think I think. Fassbender's Pretty, pretty good. Pretty intense. Pretty brooding. The trailer looks pretty sick. I'm interested in this one. Not not so much.
Not so much. From what I've seen and read about it, it looks like very action packed. I love some of these other films. Fight Club Gone Girl seven. This one looks real, like kind of stock standard action just from what has been released.
I'm going to make a prediction on this one that I reckon when this movie comes out, you will think you'll admit you were wrong. I think you'd be like, Wow.
Out. Okay, I'm ready. I'm ready to be. I'm ready to be surprised. I don't need to stick to the plan, as they say, about 18 times in the trailer.
One movie that I do think you're excited about, Mel. And I'm interested to hear what your vibes are in this one. Thomas a girl, Emma Seligman, had this movie maybe a year or two ago called Shiva Baby, which was really, really fun. It was her debut. Rachel Sennett starred in it. She's gone on to have a lot of success with bodies, bodies, bodies and of course, the idol where she played Jocelyn's assistant.
Probably the only good thing about the show.
Absolutely. So the two of them have written this movie, Bottoms. It's a teen sex comedy. It also stars debris from the bear. Really, really excited for this one. It doesn't have an Australian release date yet, but surely it's coming like we are hyped for this, right?
Yeah, I cannot wait for this. So it's due out in the US in October and the early reviews have been great. I talk about Shiva baby.
Like once a week.
At least once a week. I have been begging Thomas to watch. It was one of my favorite films, so I'm very excited to see the two of them team up again for this one. I love high school kind of comedies. This is a got a queer element to it as well.
What's the actual premise of this film?
Essentially, it seems like the unpopular, ostracized kids kind of getting revenge and winning over the popular kids.
So it sounds like you like it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
These are your people are. Leo These are mine.
Thomas And I don't relate to that narrative, actually.
Yeah, correct. I was just straight killing.
I know. What? We'll get you in there. Looks like there's a bit of a cameo from Kaia Gerber in there, as well as the. As the look.
At his face.
Light up.
Girl.
Yeah, I have heard very, very good things. And yet, I mean, I really want to watch Shiva, baby. It's almost become my, like, film version of Dave now. Like, I just I've been told too many times to watch it that I can't bring myself to watch it anymore. But yes, this looks great. I'm excited.
If I say the words Sofia Coppola to you guys, how do how do you react? How do you feel?
Favorite lover? Inspiration.
I just feel like a warmth. I love the whole Coppola family.
Yeah. Favorite Coppola by far. She's fantastic. What about Francis Ford? No, it's.
All I think she's better than Frankie.
Are you like, are.
You lost in translation and Marie Antoinette Virgin Suicides. What's your ideal virgin?
Suicides Lost in translation. But Marie Antoinette, even the Bling Ring like was pretty good. It was fun and then beguiled. I quite liked that as well. Strong female characters kind of pared back storytelling. It's not in your face. It's not super. Sometimes it is flashy, but not super flashy. Yeah, I think she's great. So I'm very excited. Yeah.
So we're not just talking about this. I'm not just talking about it for the sake of it. Actually has a movie. It's coming out. It's called Priscilla also doesn't have a have a release date in Australia, but we think it'll be in the next month or so. It's about Priscilla Presley. She played by Cailee Spaeny Jacob Elordi Australian fave, you know from Euphoria is playing Elvis. That's like interesting, two different kind of like young hunks playing Elvis in as many years. That's exciting.
I've seen they've obviously been doing like not press, but like he's been out and about for it.
Yeah they've got a waiver from SAG they to promote the film.
Okay because they've been everywhere everyone keeps mentioning like he's six foot five which is very tall.
Like he's a very.
Tall guy, way taller than Elvis. Yeah.
And the other thing that's got me excited about this, our other girl, Dagmar from Succession, who plays Caroline, she's in this she's playing someone called Anne Beaulieu. I don't know enough about that Presleys to know what that is, but she's got third billing, so this looks like a lot of fun. And from what I hear, it's like really leaning into the kind of anachronistic music vibe theme from Marie Antoinette, where it's a lot of contemporary pop
music soundtracking like very olden days stuff. So I think this could be pretty fun. Yeah.
But because what happened is the Presley, whatever they call it, the Presley Foundation did not back this film. Any music?
Yeah, but Priscilla very much has. She's one of the producers of the film and she was at Venice where it premiered, and apparently it was in the audience crying. It had a seven minute standing ovation.
Actually does a bit of crying these days. I don't know if Priscilla's tears are a good benchmark.
They've been the family's been through a lot of hard.
No, no.
I'm not saying she hasn't had like a bad run, but I just think she might cry a lot.
Did you like Baz Luhrmann's Elvis?
I did, but I did as well. But I'm a pretty like I'm pretty partial to baths. I really like baths. And I think I think it's really interesting that we'll have two movies about this family, both from like, directors that are known for very specific kind of stylistic approaches to things like these are not traditional biopics, really, and this one seems to be a bit darker, a bit more kind of like psychologically intense. I also yeah, like
we said at the start, we love Coppola. I'm really excited for this and I think Jacob Elordi seems to have been looking for his breakthrough moment for a while, and I think playing Elvis in a Sofia Coppola movie could be could be a big turning point for him.
Yeah, I just feel like I read this GQ profile with him and I didn't love his vibe. I almost feel like Austin Butler was so good. Austin Butler maybe should have been in the Coppola.
Elvis I think it was wasted in the bad Elvis kind of.
I feel like.
He's not going to have like Priscilla is going to be the star of this show. So maybe it doesn't have to like play the kind of extent that Austin Butler did in in Elvis, though, what I find interesting is apparently kind of glosses over the fact that Elvis was 24 and Priscilla was 14 when they met. And kind of.
Oh, that's right.
There was all this discourse when the trailer came out and it was like, Oh, you're endorsing this? Yeah, that was annoying discourse.
Yeah. Yeah. And apparently they kind of they do avoid that and tread the line. That was very chaste relationship.
Man Like people's ages are fluid and Julie Cooper's 80 and Marissa.
Six.
I mean I don't know you didn't extend that to to your mates from Killers of the Flower moon, did you?
Yeah, they're good. Yeah. Some of the OG guys.
A couple more to to talk about before we move to other areas of culture. So this one, I don't know if anyone else is excited for this except for me. And it may be to do with the fact that over the weekend I watched the 2006 remake of Miami Vice, directed by Michael Mann. That movie is good. That movie is good. And Michael Mann is a good director who knows how to make fun movies that involve lots of cars. So he's made Ferrari, which is a film about Enzo Ferrari.
Adam Driver clearly impressing everyone with his accent from House of Gucci is back Playing Enzo Far is very hard to tell what this movie is about. There's very little dialogue. He seems to be in a love triangle with Penelope Cruz and Shailene Woodley. That's, that's really all I can ascertain. But I'm. I think this should be fun. Like Adam drivers pretty good.
I think everyone loves Adam Driver. Like no one has a bad word to say. Yeah, I watched the trailer and I was like, He's got like one line in the trailer. He's like, my cars. They go fast.
Ferrari But we wanted more. We were left wanting more.
But yeah I was, I was also surprised that he's like, he's gone back. He's, he's like dove straight back into another Italian accented film after House of Gucci was like, Let's be honest, a complete fucking debacle. That film. Yeah.
Not a good film.
No. It was like they all just, like, ran into the wig closet and then just, like, ran back out. But yeah, it looks interesting. Like, yeah, I love driver Penelope Cruz anything, and Shailene Woodley is great. So.
You know, movies like Heat, they're really made for you, Heat and Thief, they're right up your alley. How do you feel about Michael Mann and Ferrari?
I mean, I'm looking forward to it. Bigger big Formula One fan these days. Um, I think it looks good. I mean, it looks like it's obviously much more about the, the kind of personal side of things than the car racing. So I'll go and see this one.
The lost one. She would not.
See the film. This is a very simple response.
The last film we're going to talk about sorry, I should have said that Ferrari comes out November 30th. This movie comes out a week earlier. We mentioned it at the top of the conversation. Ridley Scott is back with another historical epic. This time it's Joaquin Phoenix playing Napoleon. Kind of weird that we haven't had a big epic Napoleon movie before. I just feels like we would have had like ten of these in the 80s and the 90s. It looks like good. It looks like pretty standard, sort of.
Ridley Scott Joaquin Fair Gladiator sort of vibes. It seems to focus a lot on his relationship with Josephine and, you know, some of the issues that they had while he was like conquering and then struggling with the the weight of the crown of the French empire. I think this is probably like an Oscar movie. They'll probably be conversations about Joaquin in that best actor role.
Yeah, you like kind of you crushed it earlier on when you said I would be excited about this one. I think it looks so, so good. And I think the kind of scenes of the eve of the French Revolution party I love kind of like 18th, 19th century party scenes where everyone's in costume getting drunk. I think it looks really fun and will be an epic.
Yeah, I mean, Ridley Scott has such a speed, doesn't he? And I mean, I'm like a big whacking fan. I think he really makes a bad film.
Well, it's funny, we mentioned House of Gucci. Like that was Ridley as well. That was like a rare miss from him.
Yeah, that was actually. But then like I rewatched Gladiator maybe like a month ago, that is such a good movie and Joaquin is so menacing in it. And I mean, we all know he's had like a bit of a weird journey. But yeah, I think he'll be perfect in this. And even in the trailer, he seems like so charming. And I guess, you know, as we all obviously big Napoleon heads, no, he was quite the charming man. And as he ascertained his way to the throne and became Emperor of France.
And unlike Jacob Elordi, he was not six foot five.
No, he was like.
How tall was he?
65cm.
Well, apparently people say that the thing about him being short is like it was like English propaganda to make the English feel like, well, we're going to get conquered by this, like, short bloke, like, this is outrageous. Let's go and fight this war or whatever. That's, that's what I've heard, at least like.
Trump with the tiny hand.
Exactly like Trump. Apparently he was 1.68m. So not that taller than me.
Yeah. There you go. Not that tall, though.
Not not as tall as Jacob Elordi. Definitely not.
Okay, so that's quite a list of pretty, pretty good movies to watch before Christmas time. I'm going to hand the baton over to you, Thomas, my TV guy. Talk us through what is around the corner in TV land.
Yes. Well, look, it's interesting time in TV land, obviously, because the strike feels like stuff is kind of disappearing from the schedule or getting pushed back. You know, over in the US, they're talking about this winter of discontent. But I'm here to talk about the spring of discontent.
Oh, oh, oh.
How long had you just thought.
About when we came in? And I've been.
Really just that. Wow.
We can cut that.
Anyway, so that's the breakout clip we're going to put up on TikTok. Yeah.
I was actually pretty proud of it. But no, there actually are some good shows. Like I do feel like you have to look for them. There's some pretty exciting stuff coming up, including some homegrown ones. So the first one we'll start with is very timely as it begins today on ABC iView. Now that's star struck from Rose Matafeo, the New Zealand comedian. So this is the third and
final season. Now, look, obviously, as I always say with these types of shows, if you haven't seen the first two seasons, especially with this one, go and watch it. It is so funny. I'm pretty sure you guys are both across.
I'm across how good it is. I've not seen it though, but I know that us critics like love it. Like some of the critics I respect the most say it's one of the best shows of the last couple of years.
I agree. It is so good and the seasons aren't particularly long either after this episode, so you can watch it kind of in a week or two. Yeah.
And she's a big, you know, all the kind of like, like Vulture and like all the websites in the States. Like, absolutely Love Rose. She's she's blowing up off the back of this show basically. I guess the premise of the show is that on New Year's Eve, she has a one night stand with someone who turns out to be a very famous actor and the first two seasons kind
of follow their relationship. We have a time jump in season three so they jump forward two years and like, I won't give away too much, but you know, like the thing I really like about starstruck is it's very much a romantic comedy. Even what's happening in season three is, you know, like the main character is 33. Her friends are kind of like getting married, having kids. This is all stuff we've seen a million times before. But Rose
is such a clever writer. She's so good at like absolutely packaging up those real life moments and putting them on screen. So even though it's ground we've seen before, the show is very, very funny. That starts on Wednesday on ABC. I think you guys would both love it.
Yeah, it's a good time to catch up. Awesome. Good shot.
So that's one I think that's worth talking about. Now. This is another one coming from Australia. So this arrives September 28th on Stan. I think we've all been discussing it a bit. So it's called the New Kick Gary series.
But it's like sort of spelt like Mash where there's like an asterisks between each letter, which is interesting.
It's funny, this show has been like in the works for a while because pretty early on they were basically like, Sean Penn is going to be in this Australian show, which is a great way to like send an email to a writer, Oh my God, Sean Penn is going to be an Australian. Oh, worked for you.
You've written like ten stories about.
It, correct? I was like, I love Sean Penn. Like, I get the feeling Sean Penn's like, not in it a whole lot. They've also since added Susan Sarandon to the cast, so it's like pretty stacked, but basically it's mostly an Australian cast. We've got Brian Brown, Travis Fimmel, Lincoln Nunez, Alexander Englund, Ben O'Toole, your boy, Faisal Baz's in it. Rebecca Breeds. And basically it's kind of like a it's like a wartime drama, but really it's like a comedy.
Have you seen any of the previews for I haven't.
Seen the previews yet, but I know what the first episode is about. Essentially, it's like these guys, can you can.
You read out this description you've written? Because it sounds insane. I would love you to read this out, please.
After the Australian Minister of Defence takes a secret file to the Princess of Behati Prinsloo, a small island nation, he sends four Australian soldiers into the war torn country on a secret mission to retrieve the file mistaken for Americans. They are captured by freedom fighters and produce a hostage video that goes viral. When the soldiers reach celebrity status on social media, they realize that being caught might just be the best thing that could have happened to them.
They're about to make search history.
Yeah, I'm not sure about this one. There's been so much hype. I watched the trailer. I think it could be either really fantastic or just not work at all. Like, can't quite pick which way it's going to go yet. Like, it seems very over the top, I think.
I think it's like shamelessly over the top and it's going to be a bit like, I mean, the perfect example is that they're dropping all episodes in one, so they don't expect you to wait around for this. It's like smash it out. It'll be quite funny. Yeah, very big cast.
They're hoping you'll be caught by it straight away.
Exactly.
It looks fun. It's nice to see like, interesting out of the box. Australian productions trying to take some swings. I'm looking forward to this one.
Yes. So that's one that I think is worth checking out now. The next one I want to talk about has a lot of buzz now. And to me this, if I said to you both without looking, who were the four major supermodels of the 90s, could you tell me off the top of your head?
Naomi Campbell Correct. Cindy Crawford.
Correct.
They're the two that I would say.
As I put Kate Moss on there. But I think I know where you're going with this and I don't think she's in it. I guess she's not. Maybe she's a supermodel.
Yeah, she is, but she's not one of the four. So this is like this is evangelist stuff. Yes. Correct. Oh, you're so close.
I don't know. I can't think of the last one.
The last one is Christy Turlington.
Oh, yeah.
So this series is coming to Apple on the 20th of September. It's a four part Apple documentary. And basically, so you know how these four women, they essentially like created the supermodel in like 80s and 90s. The supermodel, as we know you know the construct now the the Victoria's Secret level like that insane cover of Vogue where.
They were more than models they kind of became public figures and celebrities in their own rights.
Yeah and and became this kind of like commodity and so essentially this series is like taking us back and it features like I think each episode is based on one of the four and it features like first person interviews with all of them and talking about that era kind of at the same time where, you know, magazines and like Conde Nast was just basically running print media
over in New York. And it kind of looks at the rise of these women and how it was like this perfect marriage in time of like their fashion and their look and the need we had for them. And then, of course, it all comes kind of crashing down. So yeah, I think like people love that type of stuff and I've heard lots of good things, so I'm quite keen for that one. If you guys are on board.
Yeah, I am on board. I like anything reflecting on the 90s and I think that all probably have pretty interesting stories to tell. Hopefully. My only concern is that I hope it's not too polish like I hope they do get good stuff out.
I think Naomi Campbell is famously she's a pretty she'll say whatever she wants to say.
I do. I do like this era like we saw with the Britney stuff, like re interrogating, like what was actually going on there. Like what it meant to be a woman in this ecosystem of like intense pressure, of intense exploitation or whatever. I think if the show, you know, goes into that and like it's Apple TV, I think, which like makes pretty good high quality stuff in this space, it's not the kind of like more trashy Netflix documentary style. I think it could be pretty sharp. Yeah.
Yes, That's one I think that's worth keeping an eye on. And then now this. This one's coming mid-October.
Oh, hang on. Thomas. Thomas.
I hear the blues are calling.
Keep going. Keep going.
So salad and scrambled eggs. They're calling again.
Well, do we have.
To sing on every podcast from now on?
Look.
And I've said.
The phrase The Frasier reboot arrives on Paramount+ October 12th.
Ali discovered this like a week ago. I did not realize this was in the works. I'd missed this totally.
Yes. So it's been 30 years since Frasier and Niles and the rest of the Crane family flew off our screens. And like I loved Frasier, I told Osbourne a story on the weekend about. Do you remember this? Do you remember this about my. Well, I didn't tell it. My brother taped over our family memories on VHS so you could take the Frasier Marathon on TV, one on Foxtel. We were a big Frasier family.
This is how TV used to work, by the way, in the olden days. So people listening to this, you didn't have everything on streaming. You had to watch cable networks that just had marathons and you have to get a little VHS tape that had Thomas growing up, you know, from the edges of 1 to 14 and you'd tape over it. That was the only way you could watch iconic shows like Frasier.
And so like my lost years, especially 8 to 14, when I was straight killing it, I just had.
Those blonde tips you're always telling us about the show necklace, correct? All gone.
A party shirt? Yeah. So anyway, Frasier's back like, you know, it's got the most Emmy wins for comedy series ever. It's like Frasier is untouchable in the TV landscape. It's up there with, like, Seinfeld and Mad About You and Sex and the City is those, like, iconic series. I mean, we've seen what like, a reboot has done to the Sex and the City brand with and just like that, which I would say on the whole possibly not a
positive thing. And I think the thing about Frasier, it's got even more kind of like original cred than Sex and the City. Like people really love the show and I just don't know what this is going to be like. The kind of logline for the show is radio psychiatrist Frasier Crane has moved the action from Seattle to Boston. He's living in an Ivy League campus and, like, has
a reunion with his college dropout son, Freddie. So he's no longer on the radio like taking audience calls as a psychiatrist, Kelsey Grammer as an actor and person has also become a bit of a strange cat.
Yeah, he's like a super Republican. I was pretty right wing guy.
Yeah.
And like, he and also, he's just like his private life. There's a lot going on there. I just don't know. And, you know, like, Niles has not come back for the show.
Niles is not in the show.
No. So, like, there's a few things. A few, like ducks in a row that make me think, oh, I wonder if Paramount's just funded this because they know it'll be a hit, but it's going to be a stinker. But yeah, anyway, that's back in October 12th.
It will be interesting to see because in some way Sex in the City was easier to bring today than Frasier, which had like a laugh track or a live audience. Sitcoms like that aren't really a thing anymore, so it will be interesting to see how they kind of managed to keep the charm of the original but make it relevant to a new audience. Yeah.
My least controversial prediction of this episode will be this show will suck and it will totally tank. I just can't see how it could work for all those reasons you guys just described.
Yeah, yeah, I have low expectations also, but you know.
But at least we got to sing the song.
I got to sing.
Great theme song though. It was a great theme song.
And Thomas, your last show was one that you are actually watching, like you've seen this one. You can tell us about it.
Yes. Yes. I'm also halfway through this one. Very, very good. And I didn't really think I would like it. So it's all the light we cannot see which arrives November two on Netflix. Of course, that's the best selling. Here we go. Mill one for you. Best selling.
Book. This is.
My Turf.
Yes. By Anthony Doerr, Anthony Dore, the best selling book by Anthony Dua, sold 50 million copies. Essentially, it's like a World War two novel set in a small kind of French town. It follows this kind of unusual friendship between a blind girl that's living in the town. As the Americans are doing their bombing, raiding, and the war is wrapping up. And a young Nazi soldier who's like a radio expert and they kind of have this friendship, I turned it on because there wasn't much on it
was in my like, Netflix media preview slot. And I clicked on it and had Mark Ruffalo, which is basically enough to get me to watch anything. Yeah. And yeah, first three episodes like really, really into it. Mark Ruffalo is amazing. It's also got Hugh Laurie in a really unusual role and I'm always here for him. But anyway, this this one's really good and it's kind of like
it is your typical Netflix. Like it's almost got that Emily in Paris effect where like you see like these small Parisian towns in the war, but everything looks like it's set.
It looks very melodramatic and there's a lot of sweeping kind of drone shots which worry it isn't.
Like it's not a gritty World War two drama, but it's it's quite like a.
Lot of strings in the Sound Nice Watch soundtrack. Yeah, I got it.
But it's worth checking out. So that's November 2nd on Netflix.
Thanks for doing that.
Digging. Oh, sorry. There's one more and I have to get this in because I think it could be one of the best shows of the latter half of the year. That's The Changeling that comes on Apple TV on Friday. The first three apps drop all at once. This one is like big Osmond Farooqui Vibes, so it's directed by Melina Matsoukas. You know her? Yeah, she's Greek. She directed the formation videos and she did Queen Slim, which was like a great film. This is like a very unsettling
kind of like horror. It starts as like a really these like meet cute, these guy and girl meet in a library and then it quickly becomes this like really fucked up love story. I don't want to give too much away but basically, like if you like Beyonce videos or you've seen Queen and Slim or you like Horrors set in New York, watch the changes in Friday, 8th September on Apple.
This looks so good. Next to my list.
Apple TV is like eating this spring. There's a lot of good I was going to say.
A lot of apple like. Yeah overrepresented.
Okay. And Mel, you've been annoying me the entire time we've had this podcast to talk about literature. I know what I'm saying. This like I hate books, I love books. I read many of them. You know, one thing I do think about books, though, I find them hard to talk about with other people because they're not visual. You can't really describe certain bits. And it's hard to talk about like out loud the quality of writing. I think without people who haven't read it, sort of getting, you know, bored.
But this is your challenge. This is your little backdoor pilot for a book podcast. Talk to us about some of the big book releases coming out internationally and in Australia and why we should care about it and make it as exciting and as engaging and as enthralling as you can go.
Oh my God, the French.
Country, Thousands of people hit pause on This.
Is absolutely on everyone review this podcast and say, You want five stars and you want more book content. Let's make this happen.
Loving that book content.
Meg Okay. I also Thomas, I think has a bit of a beanies bonnet as a published author.
Yeah, the only published author on this podcast. Thank you very.
Much. I have to say, Thomas has Thomas write a book of essays a few years ago.
Essays is generous.
I haven't fully got round to reading them all yet, so every birthday Thomas will give me a new copy of the book, but.
It is still actually available online and.
Maybe we'll review it. I will also flag that I've been told to cut this down. I had less books than TV, but anyway, here we go.
You had like 15 books. You had more books than we had television shows and movies.
I know that people need a book podcast. Anyway, let's start with Zadie Smith. Are you guys fans or.
I'm a big fan of Zadie Smith, not just her books, but I got to see us speak at a festival in Melbourne a couple of years ago. It was one of the best talks at a writers festival I've ever seen. She is amazing. So you're off to a good start.
Okay, good. Thomas Well, yes.
She opened the Sydney Writers Festival this year. We went together. That was before we started going to films together and she was amazing. She was my favorite speaker, along with Ben Lau, who we obviously know and love. But yes, I'm excited.
Friend of the pod. Yes. She has a new book, The Fraud. It's coming out on September 13th now. It's been seven years since she released her last novel. Obviously, she kind of rose to prominence off the back of white teeth in 2000 when she was very young. She's written quite a few novels since, but she's taken a bit of a break and now she's back. And this is her first foray into historical fiction. At least that's how they're billing it, because we know that history is
always very present in her novels. This one is set in the 1870s, and it's based on the real life trial of a man who claimed to be the heir to the Roger Tishman empire. So it was this kind of huge case in the Victorian era about this man. Was he a baronet? Was he a butcher? Who knows? And that was what the trial was about. So her story is told through the eyes of a Scottish housekeeper
who becomes obsessed with this trial. And in particular, one of the main witnesses, Andrew Bogle, who grew up enslaved in Jamaica. So, I mean, even if that kind of historical setup doesn't get you I have read this and it's just so well done. And I think it is her at her height of her powers, the.
Historical set up totally got me that sounded really great. And White Teeth is one of my favorite books ever. This sounds really good.
Yeah, I was going to say that seven years is a very long time. Do you reckon it was at like a like a head noise thing that she was like, Oh God, I can't back it up? Or was it just like.
Well, she did short stories and she did. She wrote a play and she was over living in the US and did essays as well? I think so. No, I think she is one of those others that just takes a fair amount of time between books and yeah, this is like this has the links to the present are so obvious and they're not overworked. It's kind of about power, celebrity, money, class. It's a ripper of a raid. And we'll come back and discuss how you felt about it.
Thomas Look forward to it.
And it's out like next week.
It is. It is out on Instagram.
And will cover. Is it going to be one of those books that I see like suddenly on all the different like little chicks I follow? Yeah, yeah.
It's like bright and sparkly. Tell us more about all the magpie.
That's separate pod.
What else have you got for Continue?
Okay, continue on. Okay, here we go. Here's one I think you guys will get excited about. Britney Spears has a memoir coming out, The Woman in Me, October 24th. She was reportedly paid $15 million for the Tell-all, which is one of the biggest deals of all time behind the Obamas.
How's that compared to yours, Thomas?
It's it's you probably papering.
In the tax brackets. It's not that different.
Yeah, I'm still waiting.
I ended up making a lot on the back end of my. Please buy it.
I can't believe you have turned this book section by, like, one moment into a promotion. Yes. I think this is going to be great. Obviously, Britney's a lot in the news at the moment. She promises to cover her fame, her mental health crisis, the conservatorship, the Freebritney movement. The publishers call it a brave and astonishingly moving story. Can't tell if there's a ghostwriter involved yet.
I mean, I think if you go on her Instagram, you can tell.
Yeah, there's the ghostwriter involved. Mel, sorry to break it.
To you, but do you guys also think, like all jokes aside, I think there's been a lot of chat about Britney, like post conservatorship and like how she's like she's obviously her marriage is just broken down or her engagement or whatever. And like, obviously, we don't know what's going on, but like seeing her on social media and
how she acts like. Could potentially be seen as like a little bit alarming or troubling, Like, do you think this book now coming out and she's probably have to do a wave of publicity around it like do you think this is just like you guys concerned?
I honestly think if she just removed her eye makeup better, a.
Lot of the.
Concerns would be mitigated. I actually don't. Yeah, it's a good question. And I don't know if she'll do publicity around this.
I think the one thing about a book is like theoretically, like she has agency over it, like she gets to decide and, you know, she's making a bag and like, fair enough, good on her. But I do feel like since Harry's spare, I don't know if you've seen a book like this, and I think it'll be the same sort of thing where people will, like take photos of the pages and sections of it will go viral. It'll be interesting to see whether she like Harry, like reads
the audiobook version. Like, that'd be pretty interesting. Like I think people might want to listen to that, but she might also just say, That's a lot of work. Someone else can do it.
Yeah, it'll be it will. The story of this story I think, is pretty interesting. There hasn't been much. Yeah. About how the deal was made, who brokered it for her, The kind of ghostwriting or the process. It will be interesting to find that out. And it's been under lock and key. Like we probably won't get it till the day of the release. So yeah, highly anticipated.
Yeah. Actually I'm like, I will definitely either read the book or like read those, you know, like five things you must Know from the Britney Spears biography.
Maybe we'll even write that story.
Perhaps I will.
Okay, so what about closer to home? Any any good old fashioned Aussie books that we should be keeping our eye open to?
Yeah, absolutely. So there's heaps because they all kind of get released around this time of the year or during spring in the lead up to Christmas sales, which is the big moment for books apart from Father's Day. And obviously this is a brief list.
But it's just taking ten minutes to get through it.
If you stopped talking about like the meta narrative around this list, just talk about the books. We probably could have squeezed in more books.
Now, that's funny thing about Christmas.
And Father's Day, I was actually still talking. She's like.
You're allowed to just you're allowed to stutter on. Okay. One of the favorites that I have read already, Charlotte Wood. Sonya, you don't have.
To talk quickly.
Now. That's not.
Okay. We're keeping all of this in.
By the way, this. No. Yes.
This is my dress, Rose.
So am I.
Yeah. Charlotte Wood. We know her from the natural way of things. Which one? The stellar prize. And also from the Weekend, which was her latest book. I like that. Yeah, that was a very kind of. That was much more commercial book for her about kind of three women in their 70s reuniting this new one stone yard devotional out October 3rd is really restrained. It's a really interesting setup.
It's about a woman who abandons her life as an environmental activist in Sydney, and she seeks refuge in a community of nuns who live in a rural community where she grew up. And, you know, it's very quiet and it's the rhythms of monastic life, and they're kind of unsettled by there's this mouse plague, there's an unexpected visitor. There's the repatriation of a former nuns body. So in one part it's very quiet. But there's all this kind
of settlement just below the surface. It's a really interesting read. I'm speaking to her next week for Spectrum, so it'll be interesting to hear the story behind it because it does feel like a kind of different work from her.
Yeah, interesting.
Yeah, nice. And then I'll pick out a debut, which is another Australian debut, The Modern by Anna Kate Blair, which is out in September. I think we've talked before about how there's quite a lot of are being named sad girl novels out at the moment, which I'm always kind of I say in quotation marks because I'm hesitant to kind of like dismiss this whole kind of portion of people writing work because it's so easy to dismiss young women in their feelings. But I.
Mean, I wish it was easy.
To exhibit things out.
Here. Anyway, this.
One.
This one stands apart. It's really interesting. It kind of is about a woman who works in an art gallery and she has been proposed to her by her boyfriend and she's trying to understand what marriage means to her or what it means to her identity through the frame of the art that she's working with. So it's just kind of a really unique book and not kind of one that I've encountered before. So yeah.
You gave me this one a while ago and it's sitting on my bedside table. Yes, I love the cover. The cover is really cool. And I do think not to go back to this, but I do think it will be one that, like you do see on social media because it looks really cool. Like it's kind of got like a bit of a Sally Rooney type vibe to it. So that's like next on my list.
Yeah, yeah, do it. I love writing books about art. So this hit a lot of boxes for me. Yes.
So because I love the Museum of Modern Art by Heather Rose about that Marina Abramovic like weird exhibition. There's just something about, I think, an art gallery that lends itself to the novel framework and that you can kind of go in and out and I can always like muse on the art where I'm using about their feelings, and it just works really well. So I'm very excited for this one.
Ten out of ten. Mel, well done. I don't think that'll be the last time we talk about books on the show.
No, I'm not.
Yeah, probably this year.
Oh, well, it won't be the last.
Time we're talking about Thomas.
That's all.
And you've got another category to step us through music. We dedicated all of last week to country music, which was a lot of fun. But you've got a few other big records coming up that you think are worth people being across. Talk us through.
Them. I mean, we've got a highlight. Olivia Rodrigo's guts out September 8th. Are you guys fans?
I'm a huge fan. I loved that first record. I love Vampire That I think, which is the first single from this one. And bad idea, right? Like, I I'm really into Olivia Rodrigo. And I think the fact that she like is doing a sophomore follow up so soon that actually sounds fun and interesting and like an evolution is really exciting. This is a really good show.
Yeah, I can't wait. I put that idea right is so fun. Vampire kind of really kicks you in the guts.
Are used to think I was smart. But you made me look so nice. See? It took me.
It's sucker fame fucker. Let me try like a goddamn vampire.
I find her music so fun. Like I just love the Gen Z kind of vibe of it. I love that she's talking about driver's license in Deja Vu from This is from her Sour album. There's a song where she's like, You're the one who showed her Billy Joel and taught her how to sing Uptown Girl. Like I just I love the references and the kind of big feelings condensed into this pop rock language.
You go so hard, man. Just just like an anthem.
Yeah.
And also, there's obviously a lot of kind of scandals externally to her as well at the moment with news of a rift between Olivia and Taylor over claims of plagiarism and copyright, I do think.
Taylor would be like probably not worried about anyone in the current pop landscape, but definitely keeping an eye on someone like Olivia Rodrigo because they're very similar and Olivia seems to have that like the edge that Taylor maybe has. Like Taylor's kind of like smoothened out a bit. She's not got that same, you know, like she's, she's the world's biggest pop star. She doesn't need to have that
same excitement about her. But whereas, like, Olivia maybe has what Taylor used, like I can I can imagine she's a bit worried about Olivia.
Rodrigo I think it's really disappointing. You guys are pitting young women in the music community against each other. But I do think on that point, Mel, about the plagiarism claims, I think a little bit of that has been like over egged, like there was this dispute on sour. From what I understand, it was resolved pretty amicably. But to your point. Thomas Yeah, I mean, I don't think and I think Olivia's not quite there yet, but she's this kind of blend between Taylor and Billie Eilish, like she
could take the throne. I think she's got the ingredients to really do it. So I think she I think this album is one to watch because if it's good, if it's as good as sour and as popular and as critically acclaimed, like there's no reason why in ten years time Olivia Rodrigo isn't selling out huge stadiums around the world.
Yeah, absolutely. I kind of think she would probably be able to do it now anyway. The other artist also falling into the kind of pop category, Troye Sivan has got something to give each other. October 13. Now, you may remember him from the Idol.
He was the other good bit of that show. He was good in.
The idol, apart from.
When he was like colored and shocked.
I didn't. I think in terms of like how he came out of it, he had pretty good acting chops, I thought.
Yeah. And it was actually that that got me more interested in him. I've never been heaps into his music.
It was definitely the best musician acting in that show.
Yeah, that's very fair. Brutal to the weekend.
But yeah.
Like it's a no.
Brainer. Yeah, I've never. I don't know about you guys. Never been heaps into his music like my, my my and Bloom from his earlier album kind of didn't excite me much.
Are you a fan of Rush, like the first single?
I am a fan of Rush.
I feel the rush.
To rush into other for. So good of you.
Why would you sing Now Podcast?
Not only do.
I think Ross shows a level of sophistication that he hasn't shown before. I also heard him being interviewed on Dua Lipa's podcast and he was talking about all how he's in his clubbing era. And so I think this album sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun.
And you know, one bit of Goss I heard around the traps is that the single Rush and the album were supposed to come out a little bit earlier, and the idea was they were hoping that the Idol and Troy like that would be a big thing. And people like, Oh, you like this show? You like Troye Sivan will go by and stream his album and the negative reaction to the show pushed things down the track a little bit. So there's a little bit of gossip for you.
Yeah, I think we spoke about at the time that he because he's got like a crazy amount of Instagram followers and he like really stopped posting about that show pretty early. Like beforehand it was all like massive hype post idol, blah, blah, blah like. And then as soon as maybe after the first episode, he just like, really
noticeably stopped posting. Like, Yeah, it's funny how that works because like once you get the feeling that the public hates it, suddenly you're like, okay, I'll stop like flogging this on my Instagram. But yeah, I mean, we all love Troy and he's like homegrown talent. One of those Australian musicians who's like, doesn't really talk about being Australian very much, which I respect.
You know, lives in Melbourne.
Is he taking you out?
Oz So he lives in Carlton in a very like everyone sort of knows where he lives. Ever since the Architectural Digest video tour of his place and he gets coffee from like a hip coffee shop and he goes to like hip bars. I do believe that we have a big like, good weekend story coming up with Troye Sivan. I don't want to say more details because I don't want to like jeopardise things and I'm not sure what the embargoes are, but there is a big a big
project with Troy happening at our publication. So stay tuned. All right. With that, that was a great, great run through of some pretty amazing things to look forward to. It made me feel more excited and more positive about the year. I think the strike, I think for us, we report on it, we think about this stuff. It's easy to get kind of down and in the dumps when movies like June 2nd are delayed, but there's heaps to look forward to. Thank you, Thomas and Mel for talking us all through it.
Yeah, well, you know, it's over there. It's the winter of discontent. But right now.
Spring has sprung.
That's the spring of discontent.
I was not going to say that.
This episode of The Drop was produced by Cheong. If you enjoyed listening to today's episode of The Drop, make sure to follow us in your favorite podcast app. Leave us a review or better yet, share it with a friend. I'm Osmond Fergie. See you next week.