Agents of SMOOCH

This week on our virtual vacation we are staying at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in Jaipur, India. While this is a movie that provides beautiful images of India, our mission examines how its colonial lens affects the movie’s portrayal of the characters. Our Agents imagine bringing to life the romance and the stories that we see hiding in plain sight within the movie. This inevitably leads to som...

We hope your suitcases are full of fancy gowns and designer shoes. No? That’s okay, we are overdue for a Makeover Montage! We’re heading to Singapore on our Virtual Vacation 2020 for a family wedding with Crazy Rich Asians. We continue our escapist mission travelling the globe through romance movies. This gorgeous movie is all glam with possibly the fanciest wedding movie ever conceived. Are the b...

Our Virtual Vacation continues with this bonus episode! Join us on our second Crossover Mission with Julia Skott and AJ Knox and their Chick Flick Fix Podcast. My Life in Ruins also NOT known as My Big Fat Greek Vacation. But it could be. We take a fantasy vacation to explore ruins and romance. And souvlaki. Julia Skott and AJ Knox.

Our Special Agents discuss virtual vacation logistics on this Hong Kong stop for our mission about the 2015 movie, Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong. It’s a movie that gives you a front seat on an almost, kind of, sort of date that wanders through Hong Kong’s nightlife. Prepare to get hungry because we talk about spicy crab and dim sum. A lot. We tease the ending repeatedly because our Agents really w...

Our Virtual Vacation continues with this bonus episode! Join us on our first Crossover Mission with Shelly Brisbin and her Lions, Towers & Shields Podcast. We offer you a summer movie set in Rome. Directed by William Wyler, and starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, Roman Holiday tells the story of an American newspaper reporter who meets a princess and liberates her from the confinement of her...

Our Virtual Vacation continues with a stop in Australia for 1986’s Crocodile Dundee with Paul Hogan. It’s always risky when you revisit the hits of 35 years ago. We remembered the heady of days of being a reporter with a seemingly bottomless budget. And how the movie inspired all of us to put Australia on our travel lists. Did it age well? Were we pleasantly surprised? At least when you travel bac...

Join our Agents on the first stop of our Virtual Vacation 2020! While we are all stuck at or close to home during the COVID-19 pandemic, our mission is to travel the globe through romance movies. We start our vacation in Beechwood Downs, New Zealand with Falling Inn Love. This movie is a gentle rom-com that shows off the scenic country while leading us through Netflix’s take on a Hallmark movie. I...

Time for Mission Double Feature and Chill! It’s an Austen adaptation mashup with Clueless and Bridget Jone’s Diary. At least two decades later do these classic romcoms hold up? Can modern Austen heroes and heroines give us the vapours? Ultimately our Agents just want you to know that despite your silly mother, your bad driving, your blue omelets and green gunge, your refusal to listen to The Cranb...

Our Agents of S.M.O.O.C.H. are drinking on the job. Is this a good idea? Probably. Not. After discussing the creepy romanticness of the Twilight movie, we present our first tipsy commentary. This commentary expands on our regular Twilight discussion with immediate reactions to the movie through red wine tinted glasses. Which doesn’t make this movie any less blue. If chaotic commentary is your thin...

It’s our first Heart Surgery mission where we pick apart a movie that is much maligned and decide what our hearts really feel. The surgery candidate: Twilight the movie, the book, the TV show that we expect will inevitably appear. Is this movie your “Great Shame” or do you love it unabashedly? Is Edward smelling a skunk or is he swoon-worthy? Do you like all the baseball or is it too much baseball...

Forget superheroes! Our special agents are on a mission of love in the pages of comic books and graphic novels. To do this topic justice we’ve brought in some specialized agents including Danica Le Blanc, an owner of a local comic book store (LCBS), and Paul Cornell, a comic book writer. Our team has recommendations for teen romance, queer romance, and erotic romance proving that everyone can find...

Listen to our agents on this swoon-worthy mission for the Canadian comedy Schitt’s Creek. If you are wondering if this show is for you, the agents open with a spoiler light pitch for why you will want to join this fandom. Then, with a focus on the Rose family’s romantic relationships, they reminisce over all six seasons of the show. The agents declare that we’re all a little bit Alexis before spon...

Welcome to our First Jane Austen Mission! Our Special Agents of S.M.O.O.C.H. discuss the newest Emma adaptation directed by Autumn de Wilde. They explore their feelings around Austen, adaptations, and how Austen always presents us with so much more than romance. It’s hard to stop so our Agents are already plotting more Regency related missions. Annette Wierstra with Jean MacDonald, Sage Young and...

Join our Special Agents on their first double feature. We examine the first two installments of the Netflix trilogy: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, the teen rom-com centred on Lara Jean Covey. Inevitably we discuss which romance team we are on and the trials and tribulations of a high school romance. It’s a roller coaster of emotions where we propose multiple spin-offs and toss about wild spec...

Join our agents as they melt over the first installment of our Merchant/Ivory Club: A Room with a View. This classic movie from 1985 is packed full of stars who present a love story with humour, a sweeping classical soundtrack, and a kiss that weakens the knees. A love story this rich and fulfilling deserves to be savoured. Annette Wierstra with Moisés Chiullán and Jean MacDonald.

Join the S.M.O.O.C.H. Organization Mission #2: In which we delve into the romances of Little Women. Will Jo meet her match? Will Amy win our hearts? Will Meg find happiness? Follow our agents as we celebrate the latest spin on this classic by Greta Gerwig. And we spontaneously present the first ever SMOOCHIE Award. Annette Wierstra with Jean MacDonald, Sage Young and Moisés Chiullán.

Happy Valentine’s Day Agents! Welcome to our inaugural episode from the S.M.O.O.C.H. Organization. We’re celebrating the holiday of love with a draft of our Special Agent’s favourite romance movies paired with a romantic dessert. Will we pick your favourite romance? Maybe Probably not. But we promise it will be delicious. Annette Wierstra with Quinn Rose, Moisés Chiullán, Kathy Campbell and Jean M...

You are invited to join SMOOCH. Become part of an organization dedicated to searching out romance and celebrating all the things that make you swoon. Before we launch our inaugural mission on Valentine’s Day, we want you to meet some of our special agents and learn why we are excited to be part of SMOOCH. Annette Wierstra with Erika Ensign, Quinn Rose, Moisés Chiullán, Sage Young, Kirsten Goruk, J...