Agents of SMOOCH
122 episodes - English - Latest episode: 23 days ago -A podcast that’s looking for love in all the right places. Join the Agents of SMOOCH as we delve into the romance of sweeping epics and classic romcoms. Our mission is to investigate the important questions: Should they or shouldn’t they? Is there such a thing as One True Love? Did that smooch have any chemistry? We might not have all the answers, but we know you had us at “Hello.”
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Episodes
71: You Could Kill Someone With That Scarf
December 03, 2021 09:19 - 1 hour - 29.7 MBOur Agents who knit and crochet convene for this mission about our favourite pop culture knitwear. Instead of talking about lovers, we are talking about something that we love. Join us as we discuss our fibre art origin stories and things that we like to knit or crochet. So often during missions, our agents end up talking about knitwear and wardrobe and whether or not Christmas sweaters are good sweaters. This mission is a grand experiment that lets us fawn over pictures of knitwear so we can...
70: One Might Say a Trinity
November 19, 2021 10:29 - 1 hour - 34.7 MBThe Agents who have gathered for this mission really like The Matrix. Like really like it. We even like the sequels like it. And they are all very excited for the fourth installment dropping this December. We’re here to decide if this trilogy is really is as smoochworthy as we remember. Is it our destiny to find The One in The Matrix? Be ready for wild speculation about numbers and the upcoming fourth movie. Forget blowing up helicopters and buildings, we blow our own minds.
69: Your Stupid Boyfriend
November 05, 2021 09:11 - 1 hour - 31 MBOur Agents are wrapped in flannel and grooving to grunge for this mission. Get your video dating profile ready because today we are all Singles. This beloved 90s romance classic from Cameron Crowe brings back fond memories of a bygone era. Our Agents delve into whether or not this movie is romantic even if it is packed with romance and whether or not that building actually has an elevator. Join us as we reflect on the technology of the past and speculate on what the modern-day sequel would lo...
68: Haunted AF
October 22, 2021 08:49 - 1 hour - 29.2 MBJoin our Agents for our second OcTOMber mission. This time we join Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska and Jessica Chastain in a haunted house story: Crimson Peak. This beautiful gothic horror, directed by Guillermo Del Toro, is full of tension and just enough scares to please our Agents. The Agents go on side missions about Burn Gorman and sink repair. They heroically save the dog through headcanon. Help us ponder burning questions such as: How do you pronounce “magnate?” What is Hiddlestuff? Is...
67: You Drank Ian
October 08, 2021 09:03 - 55 minutes - 25.3 MBWelcome 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 director. Be warned! They are ready to lure you into this world of lovers too.
66: We're Porn Friends Now
September 24, 2021 09:31 - 2 hours - 66.4 MBDid 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 will be much disdain. No one will actually know what is happening but when do we? Are we sorry...
65: Sniped Again
September 10, 2021 09:22 - 1 hour - 37.3 MBOur 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 favourite romance? Maybe Probably not. But we promise it will be delicious.
64: Eat the Marigolds
August 27, 2021 09:55 - 54 minutes - 25.2 MBIt 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 to our happy ending. We sidetrack into Indian weddings generally, all the beautiful wardrobe chan...
63: The Love Life We Want
August 13, 2021 09:38 - 1 hour - 28.8 MBIn 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 as we montage our way into our perfect wedding outfits as we try to answer the ultimate fashion ...
62: Filmed on Satin
July 30, 2021 09:37 - 1 hour - 31.7 MBJoin 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 middle finger to the “box office poison” label of the late 1930s. “Hullo, George!”
61: ABBAddiction
July 16, 2021 09:54 - 1 hour - 30.6 MBOur 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 well? Tune in to find out.
60: A Duology of Mammas Mia!
July 02, 2021 09:22 - 1 hour - 32.8 MBFor 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.
59: You're a Wanker #9
June 18, 2021 09:41 - 1 hour - 111 MBWe 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.
58: No Life Without Wife
June 04, 2021 08:53 - 1 hour - 39.9 MBDo 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.
57: Just Rose Tinted Enough
May 21, 2021 08:48 - 49 minutes - 22.5 MBIn 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? Our aged Agents are perhaps less optimistic than romantic but they wish these two teens well. Li...
56: Sexy Movie for Smart People
May 07, 2021 08:07 - 1 hour - 31.7 MBOur 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 in our hearts and some other parts. And yes. We do talk about 50 Shades of Grey again. Honestly,...
55: Excelsior!
April 23, 2021 08:32 - 55 minutes - 25.2 MBDear 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 of eclectic compatriots. The agents sigh a lot and wax poetic on the romantic tension in novels an...
54: Middle Aged Nirvana
April 09, 2021 08:35 - 55 minutes - 25.2 MBOur 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. Well… some of the time. Join our Agents as they celebrate friendship and love and fishbowl-sized...
53: Judas Ross!
March 26, 2021 10:30 - 1 hour - 36.2 MBOur 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 corsets and buckle your boots, we’re smouldering and shipping and hating on as much as we can in...
52: Harold, They're Lesbians!
March 12, 2021 09:27 - 1 hour - 31.7 MBJoin 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. Digressions include historical lesbians, Emily Dickinson, and the last movie we saw in the theatre...
51: The Bodyguard
February 26, 2021 09:52 - 1 hour - 29.5 MBThe 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 Shades” rating system. We start with a spoiler-free pitch for why you should watch and a bit of Royal...
50: International Waters
February 14, 2021 10:39 - 1 hour - 47.6 MBFor 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 choice. Together we find our North Star while singing sea shanties and folding towel art. Your Crui...
49: Preoccupation with Optics
February 05, 2021 09:33 - 1 hour - 36 MBDirector 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 opulent(3) adaptation of the E.M. Forster novel and 1985 movie “Room with a View(4). This modern ...
48: Sexually Literate
January 22, 2021 09:53 - 1 hour - 36.5 MBOur 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 Regency society. Content Warning: Sex, Sexual Assault
47: That's What the Floor's For
January 08, 2021 09:24 - 1 hour - 35.2 MBLet 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 that they are important to show a diversity of queer experiences. Put on your sparkly sneakers and ...
46: Day 12 of Love Actually
December 25, 2020 09:14 - 32 minutes - 14.7 MBHappy 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.
45: Day 11 of Love Actually
December 24, 2020 09:04 - 13 minutes - 5.98 MBWelcome to our 12 Days of Love Actually. Today’s mission is Sam, Joanna, and Daniel with Agents Kirsten Goruk and Kayti Burt.
44: Day 10 of Love Actually
December 23, 2020 09:36 - 14 minutes - 6.45 MBWelcome to our 12 Days of Love Actually. Today’s mission is Natalie and David with Agents Kathy Campbell, Moises Chuillan, and Brian Hamilton.
43: Day 9 of Love Actually
December 22, 2020 09:57 - 17 minutes - 7.9 MBWelcome to our 12 Days of Love Actually. Today’s mission is Harry and Karen with Agents Jean Macdonald and Sandra Wong.
42: Day 8 of Love Actually
December 21, 2020 09:21 - 9 minutesWelcome to our 12 Days of Love Actually. Today’s mission is Colin and the American Girls with Agents Kirsten Goruk and Kayti Burt.
41: Day 7 of Love Actually
December 20, 2020 09:03 - 13 minutes - 6.19 MBWelcome to our 12 Days of Love Actually. Today’s mission is Billy Mack and Joe with Agents Kathy Campbell, Moises Chuillan, and Brian Hamilton.
40: Day 6 of Love Actually
December 19, 2020 09:22 - 12 minutes - 5.8 MBWelcome to our 12 Days of Love Actually. Today’s mission is Juliet, Peter, and Mark with Agents Jean Macdonald and Sandra Wong.
39: Day 5 of Love Actually
December 18, 2020 09:09 - 5 minutes - 2.55 MBWelcome to our 12 Days of Love Actually. Today’s mission is John (My friends call me Jack) and Just Judy with Agents Kirsten Goruk and Kayti Burt.
38: Day 4 of Love Actually
December 17, 2020 09:06 - 15 minutes - 7.16 MBWelcome to our 12 Days of Love Actually. Today’s mission is Harry and Mia with Agents Kathy Campbell, Moises Chuillan, and Brian Hamilton.
37: Day 3 of Love Actually
December 16, 2020 09:19 - 16 minutes - 7.54 MBWelcome to our 12 Days of Love Actually. Today’s mission is Jamie and Aurelia with Agents Jean Macdonald and Sandra Wong.
36: Day 2 of Love Actually
December 15, 2020 09:18 - 13 minutes - 6.23 MBWelcome to our 12 Days of Love Actually. Today’s mission is Sarah and Karl with Agents Kirsten Goruk and Kayti Burt.
35: Day 1 of Love Actually
December 14, 2020 09:13 - 30 minutes - 13.8 MBWelcome to our 12 Days of Love Actually. Our Agents are taking on Love Actually one relationship at a time. From now until Christmas our mission is a deep dive on the holiday classic. We start by looking at our traditions for the movie and our initial thoughts about this movie. This special holiday advent mission is brought to you by an ensemble or our Agents of S.M.O.O.C.H.
34: Merry Christmas. Don't Mention It!
December 11, 2020 11:52 - 1 hour - 34.7 MBWe are jumping back in time with a Christmas crossover episode with Lions, Towers & Shield podcast. By popular demand among both members and panelists actual and potential, we explore this 1945 classic. Peter Godfrey (who?) directs Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan and a cast of delightful character actors in a holiday story about covering up lies with more lies on a farm in Connecticut on Christmas Eve. Holiday food and sleigh rides aplenty.
33: She Inspires Us to Be Better
November 27, 2020 12:34 - 47 minutes - 21.6 MBJoin our Agents as they travel to the Czech Republic with Queen Latifah in Last Holiday. On this mission, we find the joy of the season and of just being kind in the most glamorous of hotels. So throw that pashmina over your shoulders and meet us for an exquisite meal in the hotel restaurant or at least for a roast chicken in First Class.
32: It's Not His Personality, It's His Hair
November 13, 2020 11:20 - 57 minutes - 26.4 MBWe jump right into the holiday with a little international house swap movie called The Holiday (2006) starring Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, and Jack Black. Our Agents debate which storyline is more romantic and which actor is the weakest link. Our agents do deep dives in our various headcanon proving they’ve thought about these characters a lot. Sidetracks include: Who is taking care of the dog? Would Idris Elba be a good rom-com movie lead? Where will everyone live after the movie e...
31: Eggnog Makes Me Fighty
November 06, 2020 15:58 - 1 hour - 49.3 MBHere at the S.M.O.O.C.H. Agency, we like to jump fully into the Holiday spirit as soon as the Halloween decorations are put away. There is a Christmas Tree in every corner of the office. Christmas Sweaters are required Agent wear. And excessive tinsel is drifting through the air. We are starting our SMOOCHtastic holiday season with a BONUS! Incomprehensible Commentary for the beloved Christmas Classic The Christmas Prince (2017). Get out your cozy slippers, your eggnog, your whimsy, and your ...
30: Shaun's Had a Rough Day
October 30, 2020 10:52 - 1 hour - 27.7 MBOur SMOOCHtacular Halloween month is ending with the modern classic and original ZomRomCom: 2004 Shaun of the Dead. Join our Agents as they search for love triangles and zombies on this spoOoOooOOoky mission. This movie is every bit as much a romance as it is a horror-comedy and is halfway to a musical with its precise choreography. Agents also discuss the Cornetto trilogy and reminisce about early 2000s technology. Will we make it to the Winchester? We got you covered with our kitchen implem...
29: To the Moon and Back
October 23, 2020 10:20 - 59 minutes - 27.3 MBJoin our Agents for a bonus mission to the Back of the Moon. This film is part of the upcoming online Canadian South African Film festival and we got a sneak preview. We follow the gangster Bra Max on the last day in 1958, in Sophiatown, a black community just at the edge of Johannesburg. Our agents look at the local gang battle set within the greater story of Apartheid in South Africa. And within these threads sits the romance of Max and the singer Eve Msomi who get one night to explore thei...
28: Calling the Phone Tree Coven
October 16, 2020 10:19 - 50 minutes - 23.2 MBWe are continuing our SMOOCHtacular October of spooooky romances with the classic Practical Magic. We stan the sisters Gillian and Sally and their perfectly witchy aunts in this movie that is a romance and so much more. Get out your broom as we discuss all the Halloweeny, witchy things and multiple generations of powerful women who come together to cast a spell on us.
27: Love in the Female Gaze
October 02, 2020 09:46 - 1 hour - 58.1 MBWe are starting our SMOOCHtacular October with a mummy and a boy with a pretty epic treehouse. It’s time for a Brendan Fraser double feature! In this mission, we look at how *The Mummy *and *George of the Jungle *focus on the female gaze. And not just because both these movies have particularly pretty casts. We head into the jungle and the desert to look search for treasure, battle enemies, woo the handsome hero, and find out why these movies are still enticing us all off on adventures.
26: Two Robots Crying on Cue
September 18, 2020 10:43 - 1 hour - 32 MBMix two hot actors, a sexy red room, and a lot of sex and nudity, and you’d think you’d have sexy movie magic. But our Agents find the movie Fifty Shades of Grey lacking in chemistry and rather mechanical. We bring a new Agent with kink expertise on this mission to help us discuss our feelings about the book series, movie, and what we wish it could be. What do we want? More fun and humour and joy in the film’s portrayal of sex and romance. And montages. Sexy, sexy montages. The real question ...
25: Danny Sous Vido
September 14, 2020 00:30 - 1 hour - 53.9 MBJoin our Agents for an Incomprehensible Commentary where our usually refined and thoughtful commentary is subsumed under wine and cocktails. It starts chaotic and goes off the rails while we watch and sometimes discuss 1985’s The Jewel of the Nile. The commentary is a final bonus episode to end our 2020 Virtual Vacation. It is the (probably inferior) sequel to our more sober Romancing the Stone discussion. If this kind of nonsense is your kind of nonsense, you can sign up to be an Incomparabl...
24: Thank God for Tiny Wheels
September 11, 2020 10:43 - 51 minutes - 23.6 MBJoin us in our final Virtual Vacation mission hiking through Columbia to rescue one of our own in Romancing the Stone (1984). Our Agents are relieved that this croc-laden 80’s adventure romance is more exciting than our last one. And ultimately, we acknowledge the greatness that is Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas (and their free-flowing hair). Our Agents use the internet to solve all our problems so we don’t have to go on an elaborate adventure due to the lack of a cell phone. Pack carefu...
23: No Guilt. All Pleasure.
September 04, 2020 10:24 - 56 minutes - 26.1 MBIn our Penultimate Virtual Vacation stop, we squeeze in a mission to Iceland and Edinburgh to watch 2020’s Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Our Agents discuss how comedy with heart is the best comedy and develop our spin-off movies and shows about Sigrid, Lars, Alexander, and Mita. Our resident Eurovision expert from Sweden, Julia, gives us the low down on how well this movie represents the Eurovision Song Contest and lots of Icelandic Elf lore. Warm-up your vocals, because th...
22: 452 Kinds of Cheese
August 28, 2020 10:47 - 56 minutes - 25.7 MBWe’re in France for our Virtual Vacation! Drinking wine, eating cheese, taking the train across the country with French Kiss (1995). This classic Meg Ryan and Kevin Klein is a little bit rom-com and a little bit caper and comes together in Cannes for romantic hijinks. Will our Agents be swayed by Luc’s slightly greasy charm and Kate’s insistent quest to win back the man she loves? They definitely have opinions about French and Canadian accents. And about men who are like little boys who follo...