Talking SMAC: Superheroes, Movies, Animation & Comics

After years of delays, strikes and rewrites, we finally get to see Sam Wilson in action on the big screen as Captain America in Captain America: Brave New World . Intro (0:00) Josh was on The Cultworthy to discuss the movie About Time (1:39) Corrections: Josh mixed up Hyperion and The Sentry (5:09) Bob is Bob in Top Gun: Maverick. But Bob is also Bob in Thunderbolts* (7:42) No on 15 All-Cast promo...

The commercial breaks in the Superb Owl offer us a chance to see what's coming down the pipeline for blockbusters. Join Josh as he watches the trailers in real-time and give his impressions.  Intro (0:00) Movie Wire Promo (2:27) Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (2:42) Jurassic World: Rebirth (4:55) How to Train Your Dragon remake (12:35) Thunderbolts* (14:42) Fantastic Four: First Steps (...

Josh, Alex & Matt join up with Section 31 to take on the unenviable task of making sense of the Michelle Yeoh vehicle (star craft?) set in the Star Trek universe.  Intro (0:00) Game Club Pod promo (4:33) Why did we decide to review this movie? (It's Matt's fault) (5:38) Philippa Georgiou's Star Trek backstory shenanigans (7:35) Alex's feelings on Section 31 in the Star Trek universe (11:59) Le...

Josh, Alex & Matt do their favorite thing; talk about all the fun nerd things they're doing away from the pod! Intro! (0:00) Super Familiar w/the Wilsons promo (4:53) Josh can math (5:21) Josh speedruns his first batch of What'cha Doin's (6:31) Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir season 6 (7:23) Indiana Jones & the Great Circle (8:13) That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (8:38)...

Josh is joined by the star of the pod, Matt, along with the Lovely Dan from Casting Views to celebrate 15 years of Mass Effect 2 Greetings, Commander (0:00) What is Casting Views? (2:52) How hyped were we for ME2 upon original release? (4:37) The story of Mass Effect 2 (11:47) Preferred ME2 classes and play styles (18:55) The main plot of the game and building your crew (25:33) Favorite ME2 crew m...

Josh and Alex discuss Sony's announcements for the Ghost of Tsushima anime, Helldivers and Horizon: Zero Dawn movies, along with trying to figure out how Sony will not understand the assignment, and pitching their own version of what Sony will produce as a final product, along with some casting and directing choices.  Josh flubs introducing Alex (0:00) When the regional accent comes out in local c...

Josh flies solo as Alex is out sick, but we're looking ahead to our most notable movies, TV shows, video games, comics and more heading into 2025. Intro (0:00) Super Familiar with the Wilsons promo (0:38) 2025 Comics (1:06) 2025 Video Games (4:18) TV/Streaming shows (8:43) 2025 Movies (14:24) Game Club Pod thoughts on A Minecraft Movies (21:13) 2025 Moves cont'd (28:03) Social media plugs (35:58)...

Josh and Alex discuss their favorite and most disappointing movies, TV shows, games and performances of 2024 in our annual SMACademy Awards episode!  Happy New Year! (0:00) Sugar Coated Murder Promo (3:02) Best Movie (4:31) Best Animated Feature (10:25) Best TV/Streaming Show (15:22) Best Video Game (19:40) Favorite Comic (26:08) Favorite Live-Action Movie Character (29:32) Favorite Video Game Cha...

Josh took the family to see Disney’s Moana 2, Alex—who hasn’t seen the movie—asks Josh's thoughts on the animation, story, and music. The ravages of time (1:10) 2 Blokes from Blighty promo (3:49) The brilliance of Joey & Tim (4:40) What is time?! (5:31) Josh's tangents within tangents being! (6:45) Was the theatrical release the right call? (8:19) How was the animation? (9:14) Is Moana 2 a mus...

Josh, Alex and Matt discuss all the mysteries of the two biggest trailers of December. Are they hyped for a James Gunn Superman film? Do they like fast zombies? And what does Gremlins 2 have to do with this? Why does Alex bring up Planes, Trains & Automobiles? Sonic 3 vs Mufasa (1:20) Matt longs for a good parasocial relationship in his life (join the discord) (2:02) The Movie Wire Show podcas...

Josh and Alex breakdown their thoughts on Kraven the Hunter, and what was Sony thinking about a Spider-man free movie universe with Venom, Carnage, Morbin' time, Madame Web as their only hope. (0:22) Alex's Kraven cameo revealed (2:51) No on 15 promo (4:17) Kraven: what were they thinking + 28 Years Later trailer (8:22) What does Avi Arad actually do (20:20) Has Sony made a good film in the last f...

Josh and Alex's journey concludes. The Battle of the Five Armies closes out the Hobbit Trilogy and we will never have to talk about this again, right? Why did we do this to ourselves?  (1:38) War of the Rohirrim & animation styles (4:57) Gandalf was in the Desolation of Smaug, oh right. (7:22) I Hate It, Let's Watch it promo (8:12) Smaug smaugs the city and the good parts (9:50) Tonal whiplash...

Josh and Alex are continuing their journey to "celebrate" the 10-year anniversary of the conclusion of the Hobbit Trilogy with The Desolation of Smaug.  (0:01) Spiders! (3:32) Cultworthy promo (3:52) 2013: Our lives when Smaug came (7:42) A deep dive into Smaug's smaugness (13:45) Broody Legolas (26:16) Pandering and callbacks (30:44) Are Orlando Bloom and Luke Evans the same person (39:15) Downer...

Josh and Alex are... Celebrating..? 10 years of the Hobbit trilogy releasing in theaters. First on the menu is inarguably the best of the Hobbit Trilogy: An Unexpected Journey. We feel older (1:09) Casting Views promo (5:15) How we felt about An Unexpected Journey in 2012 (5:45) How do we feel about An Unexpected Journey now? (16:20) The Prologue: The Fall of Erebor (19:03) Josh takes the Dwarf na...

Josh, Alex and Justin (FROM THE MOVIE WIRE PODCAST) discuss the legacy of Gladiator, the issues with Gladiator 2, our love of Denzel Washington, and fawn all over Wicked, while also discussing our love of theater in general (0:21) intro & theater experiences  (6:32) Super Familiar with the Wilson's promo  (7:02) Gladiator 2 & Padding in Peru teaser (9:21) Gladiator 2 full spoilers (13:02)...

Josh and Alex are privileged to chat with Diana McCallum, of the From Superheroes Network , about her new book Sex Lives of Superheroes . We dive into her witty exploration of superhero relationships, the behind-the-scenes stories that inspired the book, and how it offers a hilarious deep dive into the sex lives (or lack thereof) for some of our favorite superheroes. (0:27) Welcome to Diana (1:55)...

Get ready to close out spooky season with the surprising Wandavision spinoff Agatha All Along series on Disney+.  Josh gets a scam call (0:25) The tangents begin: Inside Man, an underrated heist movie (3:44) Introductions to the episode finally happen (4:48) Movie Wire promo (5:42) Agatha All Along; the show we didn't know we wanted (5:59) Skaar Wars (15:02) Kristen Anderson & Robert Lopez fil...

Josh & Matt break down Venom: The Last Dance, the last(?) chapter in the Sony's lone successful non-Spider-Man Spider-Man franchise. The guys discuss the the franchise as a whole, the impact of Knull in the movie and the fan service moments that stood out most. Is Venom 3 a must-see or pass? Hit that play button and find out!  Intro (0:00) I Hate It. Let's Watch It promo (3:58) Matt likes Rive...

Josh & Alex turn the dial back to the year 2014, a year packed with cinematic gems! From indie classics like Whiplash and Birdman to blockbuster hits like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The LEGO Movie, Guardians of the Galaxy and How to Train Your Dragon 2, we’ll dive into the films that defined the year and explore why 2014 remains a standout in modern cinema. You can find the YouTube v...

Alex & Justin discuss their views on how Hollywood may have learned the wrong lessons from the success of the John Wick franchise. We explore how studios have focused on replicating the stylized violence and action, while overlooking the importance of world-building, character depth, and storytelling that made the John Wick movies stand out.  (0:01) 3-year return of TalkingSmac! (1:38) Cultwor...

Continuing their retrospective on the stacked year in movies that was 2014, Josh & Alex discuss the 10-year anniversary of John Wick, the 2014 action thriller that reinvigorated Keanu Reeves' career. We break down the film's intense choreography, its world-building, and the legacy it created in action cinema. Tune in as we revisit the birth of an iconic franchise (0:01) John Wick returns to th...

Josh & Alex review The Wild Robot. The adaptation of the beloved children's book by Peter Brown. We explore its stunning animation, story of a robot's journey to survive in the wild, and the emotional themes of nature, technology, and self-discovery. Is it a must-see or pass? Let's find out!  (0:01) Terrible impressions and compound words (3:22) 2 Blokes from Blighty promo discussion (5:39) Th...

Josh is joined by two special guests; 7Ceez & Justin, to review Transformers One, the first fully animated Transformers feature film since the 1986 classic; Transformers: The Movie. We break down the film’s take on the rise of the Cybertron War, the voice performances, and visuals. Tune in for our thoughts on how it stacks up against previous Transformers movies and where it leaves the series...

On this episode, we discuss the 10-year anniversary of 'Edge of Tomorrow', the 2014 sci-fi classic starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. Or is it actually 'Live. Die. Repeat.'? We dive into its innovative action sequences, time-loop concept, and how the fanbase of the film has grown over the decade. Plus, we discuss the manga that influenced the movie and the possibility of a sequel. (1:36) Emily B...

Josh & Alex say Justin's name three times so he transports from The Movie Wire to discuss Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and just a bit of Johnny Dangerously (00:19) Welcome to the show (03:55) Josh will be on Back 2 the Balcony! (05:58) No On 15 promo (07:11) Non-spoilers, plot outline and feelings (08:15) Who is Justin Theroux? (09:54) Non-spoiler deeper impressions (32:20) SMAC-Ratings (36:12) Spo...