Agents of SMOOCH

Welcome to OcTOMber! Our two-part celebration of spooky romances starring Tom Hiddleston. We open with Only Lovers Left Alive, starring Tom, Tilda Swinton, and Mia Wasikowska as vampires. This is more of a melancholy installment in the vampire genre, but it is sexy and funny in a slow-burn kind of way. Our mission is stacked with lovers of this movie who are delighted to introduce it to our direct...

Did anyone ask for this? NO! But we did it anyway, first just for our members and now we release it to all our listeners. After we watched all the Twilight movies together, we had to do the Twilight FanFic come 50 Shades of Grey. This is definitely an NSFW and not safe for little ears episode of drinking, giggling, and entertaining each other when the movie fails to. There was pre-drinking. There...

Our Agents are taking a short vacation. In the meantime, you can revisit our very first mission. We start with little pre-episode reminiscing about the past 18 months of Agents of S.M.O.O.C.H and then return to our inaugural Valentine’s Day episode. We celebrated the holiday of love with a draft of our Special Agent’s favourite romance movies paired with a romantic dessert. Will we pick your favou...

It is time to close our Summer of Love with one last summer wedding with 2001’s Monsoon Wedding. It is a multi-generational family story of love and romance set at an Indian wedding. The story shows us a glimpse into the life of this family and household as they prepare for the wedding. Bringing together family members from far-flung reaches of the globe awakens the drama and ultimately brings us...

In our continuing Summer of Love, join our Agents as The Wedding Date. This 2005 film takes the classic pretend lovers trope and mixes in family drama and secrets. Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney lead the cast as the estranged sister of the bride and her hired escort. The Agents side track into a lament for the lack of modern, middle-brow romcoms in theatres (even in non-pandemic times). Join us...

Join us for our continuing Summer of Love series for a crossover episode with the Lions, Towers, and Shields podcast. We go back in time for the wedding movie The Philadelphia Story. It’s the best-loved of the four movies Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant made together, and the one that also stars Jimmy Steward. Another George Cukor production, this was Hepburn’s triumphant entry into MGM, and her...

Our summer of Love continues with a second ABBA laden movie. Join our Agents while they attend Muriel’s Wedding. Or is it Mariel’s Wedding? This is a movie full of bad decisions and terrible people, and yet we don’t hate them? Our agents discuss how the movie balances a line between tragedy and comedy. They explore their feelings about wedding bouquet and garter tosses. Does this 1994 wedding age...

For this episode in our Summer of Love wedding movie series, we are going to Greece for the musical joy and wonder of the Mammas Mia! movies. It’s a lovefest for this set of comfort films that set the standard for how musicals should be transformed into movies. There’s a lot of time math and we can’t make it add up, but we have a lot of fun and we don’t sing. Much. Annette Wierstra with Quinn Rose...

We continue our Summer of Love and wedding movies with Imagine Me and You. This 2005 movie was ahead of its time bringing together comfy fashion, flowers and the perfect chemistry of Piper Perabo and Lena Headly. It’s a comfort movie worth rewatching or watching for the first time if you’ve missed this one. Annette Wierstra with Riley Silverman and Sarah Hendrica Bickerton.

Do you hear the wedding bells? We are starting our Summer of Love with all wedding episodes. Our first mission is Bride and Prejudice which is a modern, Bollywood take on Pride and Prejudice and four weddings. Our Agents do a deep dive into the music and dancing, barely restraining themselves from breaking into song. We are having fun in this three-continent, cross-cultural retelling of Austen. An...

In this episode’s mission, our Agents return to the Netflix series, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before* to discuss the final movie in the trilogy, Always and Forever. This third story shows us Lara Jean at the moment before she jumps out of the nest into university. Our Agents discuss the concept of a “safety school” and how Dad must be loaded. Will Lara Jean and Peter survive always and forever? O...

Our mission today is to talk about office supplies and how can staplers be so sexy! It is time for our Agents to return to the world of kink—this time with more enthusiasm. We are discussing the 2002 movie Secretary starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader with our returning Special Agent and Kink expert Veronica Yanhs. Join our Agents in this discussion of why this movie makes us feel things i...

Dear Listeners, it’s time for another Book Club meeting. Our mission today is to persuade you to fall in love with the Veronica Speedwell series by Deanna Raybourne. Our Director frequently admits to having a penchant for the mystery/romance genre and this series ranks high on her list of faves. Join our Speedwellian agents for a spoiler-light discussion about Veronica and her growing collection o...

Our Agents were feeling a little housebound, so we packed our culottes and curlers and met up with Barb and Star in Vista Del Mar. This movie starring Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo, and Jamie Dornan in a colourful and joyful spy romcom that exactly hits the spot for a quick getaway. It’s a movie about romance, but most importantly about that best friend who has always got your back. Most of the time....

Our Agents travelling back in time on this mission to explore all five seasons of Poldark. The BBC historical drama provides our Agents with plenty of personal and political drama to fill several episodes, especially with side trips into Outlander and historical drama fandoms. We discuss how truly historical a historical romance is and how modern viewpoints always shape these stories. Lace up your...

Join our Agents in our discussion about the 2015 film Carol starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. Everything about this movie makes our Agents happy: Cate Blanchett, the story, the music, the cinematography, the wardrobe. Did we mention Cate Blanchett? We are just here to celebrate a historical lesbian film with a happy ending and to introduce our Director to memes just a few years too late. Di...

The Agents get soapy in this mission with a look at The Royals. The scandalous series about an alternate universe Royal British family that has almost as much drama as the actual family. Our Agents were lured into this mission with a promise of hotness and romance, and they were not disappointed. It’s another installment of “Stories where people keep more clothes on and yet are hotter than 50 Shad...

For our very first anniversary and our 50th episode, join us for our Valentine’s Day party! It’s part draft, part improv storytelling, part limes, and all ridiculousness. A large cast of our Agents has gathered to make the movie of our collective dreams. With no storyboards, no scripts, and no plans, we jump into the international waters of our imagination, each Agent bringing an actor of their ch...

Director Annette Wierstra (University of Alberta, MacEwan University, Royal Roads University) is joined by Agent Jean MacDonald (Beacon Hill, St. Lawrence, North Miami Beach Sr. High, University of North Carolina, Princeton) and Agent Sandra Wong (University of Alberta, Shizuoka National University) in this discussion about Kevin Kwan’s(1) (Crazy Rich Asians(2)) novel “Sex and Vanity.” This is an...

Our Agents are on the mission of Bridgerton and ready to love and critique this new series that has taken romance by storm. We’ve got a lot to say about the adaptation from the Julia Quinn book series, how inclusive casting affects the story and characters, sex, speculation about what’s to come, and yes, even warp drives. Don your best frocks and suits, it is time to step out into a new kind of Re...

Let our Agents take you to Prom! We’ve gathered for this first mission of the New Year to think about musicals, adaptations, and how much we just like singing and dancing. The mission may start with some of our less favourite parts but then we celebrate that with the Prom movie is a joyful lesbian love story that hits us in the feels. Our Agents discuss how we need even more LGBTQ2+ stories and th...

Happy Holidays! Welcome to our final installment of 12 Days of Love Actually. For today’s mission, our full ensemble of Agents come together to discuss the Red Nose Day Actually reunion video from 2017 and reflect on how Love Actually holds up in 2020. Annette Wierstra with Kirsten Goruk, Kayti Burt, Jean MacDonald, Sandra Wong, Kathy Campbell, Moisés Chiullán and Brian Hamilton.

Welcome to our 12 Days of Love Actually. Today’s mission is Sam, Joanna, and Daniel with Agents Kirsten Goruk and Kayti Burt. Annette Wierstra with Kirsten Goruk and Kayti Burt.

Welcome to our 12 Days of Love Actually. Today’s mission is Natalie and David with Agents Kathy Campbell, Moisés Chuillan, and Brian Hamilton. Annette Wierstra with Kathy Campbell, Moisés Chiullán and Brian Hamilton.

Welcome to our 12 Days of Love Actually. Today’s mission is Harry and Karen with Agents Jean Macdonald and Sandra Wong. Annette Wierstra with Sandra Wong and Jean MacDonald.