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 director. Be warned! They are ready to lure you into this world of lovers too. Annette Wierstra with Sandra Wong, Kirsten Goruk, Moisés Chiullan, Aaron Allan and Heather Berberet.

Agents of SMOOCH

67: You Drank Ian

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 will be much disdain. No one will actually know what is happening but when do we? Are we sorry we did this? Maybe. Will we do the rest of the movies? No. Not even for you, dear listeners. Annette Wierstra with Kathy Campbell, Tiff Arment, Jean MacDonald and Moisés Chiullan.

66: We're Porn Friends Now

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 favourite romance? Maybe Probably not. But we promise it will be delicious. Annette Wierstra with Quinn Rose, Moisés Chiullan, Kathy Campbell and Jean MacDonald.

65: Sniped Again

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 to our happy ending. We sidetrack into Indian weddings generally, all the beautiful wardrobe changes, and just missing weddings generally. *Trigger warning: Sexual assault, 26:00-31:30 when we discuss Ria’s storyline. * Annette Wierstra with Shelly Brisbin and Trisha Sarker.

64: Eat the Marigolds

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 as we montage our way into our perfect wedding outfits as we try to answer the ultimate fashion question: who should change when your outfits are too matchy matchy? Annette Wierstra with Kathy Campbell, Jean MacDonald and Shelly Brisbin.

63: The Love Life We Want

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 middle finger to the “box office poison” label of the late 1930s. “Hullo, George!” Annette Wierstra with Annette Wierstra, Paul Sabourin, Micheline Maynard and Judy Samelson.

62: Filmed on Satin

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 well? Tune in to find out. Annette Wierstra with Jean MacDonald and Sarah Hendrica Bickerton.

61: ABBAddiction

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, Riley Silverman, Kirsten Goruk, Jean MacDonald and Moisés Chiullan.

60: A Duology of Mammas Mia!

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.

59: You're a Wanker #9

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. Annette Wierstra with Amanda-Rae Prescott, Trisha Sarker and Sarah Hendrica Bickerton.

58: No Life Without Wife

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? Our aged Agents are perhaps less optimistic than romantic but they wish these two teens well. Listen to our episode about the first two To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before go to Episode 4: Back to Hot Dad Annette Wierstra with Quinn Rose and Trisha Sarker.

57: Just Rose Tinted Enough

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 in our hearts and some other parts. And yes. We do talk about 50 Shades of Grey again. Honestly, if Agents of S.M.O.O.C.H. has an arch-nemesis, 50 Shades is it. *Warning! * We talk about sex and kink and sometimes we swear. This episode is not safe for work or kids. *Content Warning: *Self-harm Annette Wierstra with Veronica Yanhs, Tiff Arment, Kathy Campbell and James Thomson.

56: Sexy Movie for Smart People

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 of eclectic compatriots. The agents sigh a lot and wax poetic on the romantic tension in novels and their book crushes on Veronica and “Stoker” Templeton Vane. Bonus side trips into sibling relationships, fan-casting our dream TV series, lepidoptery, and the not-so-secret terrors of our Director. Annette Wierstra with Sandra Wong and Kirsten Goruk.

55: Excelsior!

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 Wig, Annie Mumolo, and Jamie Dornan is 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 cocktails in the Florida sunshine. Comparisons to 50 Shades are inevitable, but brief. We promise. Annette Wierstra with Moisés Chiullan, Kathy Campbell, Kirsten Goruk and Jean MacDonald.

54: Middle Aged Nirvana

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 corsets and buckle your boots, we’re smouldering and shipping and hating on as much as we can in our allotted time for this mission. Tigger warning Discussion of sexual assault in period dramas. Annette Wierstra with Amanda-Rae Prescott, Aleen Simms and Moisés Chiullan.

53: Judas Ross!

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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Agents of SMOOCH

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