
Hosted by Talking SMAC: Superheroes, Movies, Animation & Comics · EN

Alex and Justin Henson of The Movie Wire fame, discuss Curry Barker's Obsession and the rise of the Youtube horror writer/directors. As well as subtext and nuance within the dating world and how Obsession gave them feelings. Don't worry, we don't do ending spoilers, just some theme spoilers. Josh is off to Pittsburgh! (0:00) Nerd Ranks promo (1:36) The rise of YouTube horror directors: Parker Finn, Mike Flanagan, Kane Parsons, Curry Barker (2:40) Praise for Obsession (mild spoilers, no ending spoilers) (6:29) Character motivations and what we see versus what we don't (11:45) Story beats, dating pains and love, hope, lust and failures (16:14) What is love.... baby don't hurt me... (29:00) The one issue Justin has with the movie & dating sucks (32:40) Our hope for the horror genre going forward (43:45) Thank you and goodbye (49:00) Please remember to check out the Nerd Ranks podcast, and join our Discord!

Is this truly the way? Josh & Alex discuss The Mandalorian & Grogu and its place in the Star Wars lineage of films. Hey there, hi there, hello there A quick intro? Is this going to be a short episode? (0:00) Movie Wire promo (1:23) Initial thoughts and feelings on The Mandalorian & Grogu (1:48) How do we feel about face actors being cast in Star Wars properties? (19:24) Josh pivots to vent about Dave Filoni inserting himself via cameos (21:25) Sigourney Weaver as Col. Ward (25:44) Jeremy Allen White as Rotta the Hutt (31:59) Plot breakdown (34:26) One of the best easter eggs in the film (37:27) More plot summary (39:39) More praise for the VFX team (45:42) The voice for the Anzelians is Moaning Myrtle (47:39) The low point of the film (49:39) Are we okay with the New Republic committing war crimes? (58:40) A cut plot thread from the trailers (1:00:12) The future of Star Wars projects? (1:06:07) Goodbyes and social media plugs (1:12:02) Please remember to check out the Movie Wire podcast, and join our Discord! *The sound clip at the end of the episode is from The Bad Lip Reading YouTube channel. We do not own the rights to this song and we do not receive any monetary compensation for this episode.

It’s that time again, where we ask our most important question: What’cha Doin’? Hey there, hi there, hello there (0:00) I Have Some Notes promo (3:17) Innocuous Bond conversations (3:48) Innocuous The Batman 2 casting conversation (8:37) Alex: Balatro (11:44) Matt: Vampire Crawlers (19:10) Josh: Maul: Shadow Lord (28:09) Alex: Hulk Hogan: American Made (37:56) Matt: Mixtape (47:33) Josh: Off Campus (52:33) *TRIGGER WARNING FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Alex: The Boys (57:41) Goodbyes and social media plugs (1:09:09) Please remember to check out I Have Some Notes, join our Discord!

Josh and Alex discuss the most important part of Mother's Day weekend: Mortal Kombat 2. Stay for the review, but listen for their Ryan George Pitch Meeting predictions Hey there, hi there, hello there (0:00) Swedish pancakes, Ope!, doggie collars, & kitty convict collars (1:25) Garfield and Friends, Peanuts and newspaper comics (7:25) Gaming Views promo (10:23) Mortal Kombat, Soulcalibur & fighting games as a genre (11:02) Opening weekend numbers, previous Mortal Kombat movies, The Hangover movies... (13:56) Did we like it? & Ludi Lin is jacked, and other story beats (21:50) Does fight choreography make a movie? (28:22) Yes, we figure out how to talk about Power Rangers in this (32:08) Hiroyuki Sanada returns as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion (34:46) Johnny Cage as the new lead, cheating in tournaments, and movie fanservice and easter eggs (36:21) Choosing the right release date... and Ryan George Pitch Meeting predictions (46:56) Final ratings and goodbyes (55:21) Please remember to check out Gaming Views, join our Discord and check out our merch store!

Josh & Alex walk down the runway for the legasequel event of the season; The Devil Wears Prada 2 Intro (0:00) Game Club Pod promo (6:37) Why no SMACdowns?! / Devil Wears Prada 2 review (8:16) Thank you for your support through 250 episodes, Goodbyes and social media plugs (1:02:04) Please remember to check out the Game Club Pod podcast, join our Discord

Let's take a break from timely reviews and talk about some big trailers that have recently dropped ahead of some big releases! Intro/Josh's new dream guest for the podcast/Josh & Alex workshop a bad sports comedy (0:00) Cultworthy promo (7:53) Street Fighter (11:33) Dune: Part Three (18:27) Coyote vs Acme (29:31) Spider Noir (37:25) Clayface (43:57) Spider-Man: Brand New Day (52:12) Goodbyes and social media plugs (1:06:06) Please remember to check out the Cultworthy podcast, join our Discord

Josh and Alex watch another movie and talk over it. This time, we're... celebrating..? 25 years of 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.' You can watch Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001,) too and suffer with us. Please... Or you can listen and laugh at our pain. *This is the recommended method Please remember to check out the 2 Blokes from Blighty podcast, join our Discord

This week, the fellas are joined by author D.L. Taylor to discuss their two YA Romantacy books: The Beasts We Bury and The Beasts We Raise Intro (0:00) How Alex met DL Taylor (2:27) DL Taylor, what'cha doin'? (5:32) How does DL read 7 different books at a time?! (6:57) *Spoilers for the IT novel (13:03) Are there plans for future installments of the Beasts books? (18:28) What are the lengths DL will go to immerse the fantasy world? (23:54) Alex has a bad friend (27:19) Does the author of the book get to have input on the audiobook narrator(s)? (38:26) What was the journey from pitch to publishing the book? (49:10) Josh get’s lawyer’d by a lawyer about Phoenix Wright (58:29) Was there a push to make the books more adult? (59:58) A crash course in the Sex Criminals comic (1:02:09) What sequel plans came were pre-planned? (1:04:07) Do fantasy stories have to have British accents? (1:11:00) How does DL acknowledge tropes in her writing? (1:13:13) Goodbyes and social media plugs (1:22:17) Be sure to check out D.L.'s books using the links above. And please remember to join our Discord!

Possibly the most highly-anticipated movie of the year, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has hit screens this last weekend. It's time to see if this sequel elevates one of the safest movies in recent memories, or does it hold the line, while continuing to be a fan-servicey sugar high? Intro (0:00) Josh forgot his water bottle! (1:22) The real reason why Josh missed last week's episode (2:34) Mario & Luigi look weird without their gloves and hats (5:51) Sugar Coated Murder promo (7:24) A bad & unpaid plug for Riverside.FM (7:55) The Super Mario Galaxy Movie review *Full Spoilers (8:57) The good and the bad of the new voice cast (17:48) But is there a story? (22:37) How's Bowser in the movie? (29:03) What do we think the ripple effect of the very safe Mario movies will be? (43:50) Goodbyes and social media plugs (55:52) Check out Josh's appearance on I Have Some Notes where they punch up the Super Mario Bros Movie Please remember to check out the Sugar Coated Murder podcast, and don't forget to join our Discord

Josh got caught by a clever girl, so Alex interviews Chris and Dr K from Tales from the v01d and its companion podcast v01d Transmission. Read Tales from the Void comics Join the patreon:Tales from the Void Patreon Follow Chris Sagers Submit your idea to the Void Follow Aardnor Minis Where's Josh? (0:00) Intro (1:45) Chris, Dr. K, what'cha doin'? (3:37): Silent Hill, Pink Foam Brigade, teaching and more Inspirations and the anthology format (9:25) Constraints of small publishing (23:28) What is Dr. K's role as the editor? (30:22) Dr. K writes smut?! (48:48) Josh didn't edit this out, Alex ;) (54:08) Chris, what is the meaning of The Transcription?! (59:14) What's the plan for the remainder of 2026? (1:10:05) Goodbyes and social media plugs (1:16:02) Please remember to join our Discord!