177.1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

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 Character (34:34) Favorite Live-Action TV Character (35:36) That was this year?! (40:38) Biggest Disappointment (43:14) Favorite episode of Talking SMAC (48:08) Listener Comments (53:51) Social media plugs ( Please remember to check out the Sugar Coated Murder podcast, and let us know your favorite things from 2024 by joining our Discord and check out our merch store! 

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 must-see or pass? (11:11) Spoiler talk: Alex asks the big questions (11:42) What role do the Kakamora play? (13:03) What's the plot of Moana 2? (14:03) Where's Tamatoa?! (16:22) Where does the movie's story seams break? (16:46) Are there any good songs in Moana 2? (20:00) The Rock does 'Hamilton' (21:47) Is there sequel bait for a Moana 3? (24:49) How does it compare to Inside Out 2 as an unplanned and unexpected sequel? (26:27) The biggest spoiler for Moana 2 (27:07) Moana's parents still got it! (30:18) Final thoughts (31:13) Let's plug the socials! (33:10) Please remember to check out the 2 Blokes from Blighty podcast, join our Discord and check out our merch store! 

Josh, Alex and Matt discuss all the mysteries of the two biggest trailers of December. Are they hyped for a James Gunn superman? Do they like fast zombies? And what does Gremlins 2 have to do with this? Why does Alex bring up Planes, Trains & Automobiles? (1:20) Sonic 3 vs Mufasa (2:02) Matt longs for a good parasocial relationship in his life (join the discord) (6:59) The Movie Wire Show podcast promo (7:15) Ah Christmas. Such as The Star Wars Holiday Special (11:26) 28 Years Later trailer + props to Boots by Kudyard Kipling as performer by Taylor Holmes (22:07) Superman 2025 trailer + what does Superman mean to us (43:34) Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho (47:57) Superman portrayals in other films and shows and Matt gives us homework (1:04:57) Wrap up

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 five years? a breakdown of no, no they have not (28:03) Apple + is great (31:35) Morbius and the 90s Spider-Man the Animated Series (43:25) Not understanding Spider-man's journey or motto (51:16) Smac-Rating on Kraven the Hunter (52:25) The unmade Sony Spider-verse movies (1:01:07) wrap up Please remember to check out the No On 15! Allcast, join our Discord and check out our merch store! 

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, war flicks, and too much horror in The Hobbit (12:50) Josh hates the word 'Da'  (18:05) Drunk Galadriel (27:11) Thorin Oakenshield: Face-heel-face-heel-heel-face turn (34:00) The Hobbit is more hardcore than Lord of the Rings (41:04) Thranduil is a bad father (46:01) The good moments (54:11) final thoughts (1:01:00) Josh is proud of himself (1:04:39) Smac-rating and wrap up Please remember to check out the i Hate It. Let’s Watch It podcast, join our Discord and check out our merch store! 

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 endings (41:51) Smac-rating and wrap up Please remember to check out the I Hate It. Let's Watch It. podcast, join our Discord and check out our merch store! 

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 name quiz (19:25) The Shire prologue (21:00) The tonal whiplash (24:23) Radagast the Brown (29:12) Is Thorin likable? (39:09) Set ups and punchlines/When are prophecies made? (42:23) An Unexpected thesis statement (45:01) Gandalf’s bad at scheming (54:29) Please remember to check out the Casting Views podcast, join our Discord and check out our merch store! 

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) God bless Denzel Washington (33:00) Smac-Rating (34:19) Wicked review! Praise and cheers for Jon M. Cho, Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande (1:00:32) Jeff Goldblum love (1:02:11) Act One song frontloaded plays (1:12:13) Smac-Rating Please remember to check out the Super Familiar with the Wilsons podcast, join our Discord and check out our merch store! 

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) What'ca doin', Diana? Fanfiction of 9-1-1 franchise, Bones, and more (6:13) 'Sex lives of superheroes' inspiration and research (15:24) What stays in, what gets left out of the book and personal opinions on Captain America's virginity (29:35) Wolverine's immortal sperm body horror and Loki gives birth to a horse (36:10) What in the MCU do we not want to see adapted? Marvel Zombies, The Ultimates, Spider-Man: Reign, Hydra-Steve/Secret Empire, and vending machines (46:42) Surprises & fun while writing the book (52:22) DC comic/movie speculation, our love of Batman and which Robins we don't like.  (1:05:53) Wrap up Please remember to join our Discord and check out our merch store! 

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 filmography and achievements (17:14) *SPOILERS* How does Agatha All Along fit into the MCU?  (21:11) Please remember to check out the Movie Wire podcast, join our Discord and check out our merch store!