Chick Flick Fix: Recent Episodes
Julia Skott and AJ Knox
Love is a many splendored thing, but the stories about it aren’t always as splendid. AJ Knox and Julia Skott try to figure out if they can make chick flicks and romcoms better - or make them weird.
Is it possible that Julia takes some parts of this movie a little too seriously? Yes. Is that always a possibility? Yes. But let’s get festive and royal. (NB: It gets a little deep and sometimes dark.) Julia Skott and AJ Knox.
Everyone dreams of going back to high school, right?!? (This is one of those where we sometimes lose the ability to use words and just make emotive sounds.) Julia Skott and AJ Knox.
In this episode, Julia completely unironically uses the words “inane brilliance”. Also, there’s some deja vu. Julia Skott and AJ Knox.
(Queen Latifah, not Alec Guinness.) Yet another movie with incredible food footage! Also fabulous clothing, fascinating side characters, and LL Cool J as not LL Cool J. Julia Skott and AJ Knox.
More ABBA! We think of alternate titles and alternate dads, and try to refrain from singing along. Julia Skott and AJ Knox.
We do get a tiny bit sidetracked by things like the plural noun for nuns and whether or not they can own motorbikes - but mostly we and our special guest talk about high and low stakes, musical numbers, and saving the ice rink. Julia Skott and AJ Knox.
This movie has Dolly Parton, Queen Latifah, and montages - and it’s one heck of a roller coaster. Julia Skott and AJ Knox.
Orange is the new pink and it’s time to get Y2K to the max. Time for a star-studded movie with a great soundtrack. Julia Skott and AJ Knox.
Musical May! And it’s ABBA time with this many-faceted Australian bouquet. Julia Skott and AJ Knox.
For our pod-birthday, AJ watches this cult classic for the first time and hopes that people will stop yelling at him about it. Among the things that got cut for time: The history of snake oil, medieval superstitions about supernumerary fingers, and actual R.O.U.S-es. Julia Skott and AJ Knox.
Self-confessed Steve Martin aficionado AJ discovers a gem that he has somehow missed. Julia ponders picking up the tuba. Julia Skott and AJ Knox.
This movie made us happy - and hungry. (Seriously, there is quite a bit of deleted material that is just about restaurants and food.) We also talk a bit about the crap AAPI people have to deal with both in and out of Hollywod. Julia Skott and AJ Knox.
Julia confesses to having a butt for radio; AJ starts to wonder if he misses LA. Also, Janeane Garofalo is awesome. Julia Skott and AJ Knox.
Or “You made your bed, and now I’m going to eat crackers in it.” Time for a possibly subversive classic with a lot of layers. Julia Skott and AJ Knox.
Antony Johnston pops in for a discussion of a movie that is both darker and funnier than we maybe expected. (Accordingly, there is a generous amount of talk about illicit substances.) Julia Skott and AJ Knox with Antony Johnston.
Two young people meet, and bond over jazz and Shaw. Two slightly older people meet, and bond over a movie they both liked. Julia Skott and AJ Knox.
Why did Julia dub this movie “Flashdance in reverse”? Also: A lot of gender politics, not enough fun costumes, and quite a bit of not-family-friendly confusion and sputtering. Julia Skott and AJ Knox.
Glenn Fleishman came on to talk about a movie that is all over the place. And time. Julia Skott and AJ Knox with Glenn Fleishman.
Sometimes you don’t want to paint with just pink or blue. You need the whole rainbow. (This episode contains some frank discussion about some ways that society makes life horrible for queer and trans kids.) Julia Skott and AJ Knox.
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan reunite to meet and not meet and sort of meet in this secret pen pal romp. And we get super nostalgic about the internet of old. Julia Skott and AJ Knox.
Apoplectic rage, intergenerational beef, and Team Cat. This movie was not good for anyone’s blood pressure.
Going from the city that never sleeps, to the island where the sun never sets. And both AJ and Julia have things to say about eternal daytime. But also about a lot of other things.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back on Netflix, you get smacked with the worst cameo ever. (Yes, there should be an apostrophe in the title. There isn’t.)
Ah, the hubris to attempt to improve upon Nora Ephron. But we do our best - after we talk through Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan’s meandering road to love.
Three merry nerds set off on a somewhat muddled quest. Kathy Campbell joins us as we try to figure out what is going on and when. And where. And how.
Katie Mack joins us to talk about a movie that is so right in some ways and so wrong in many others.
We bring on a special guest to talk about Chekhov’s driver’s license, handknits, and manic pixie dream calendars.
Or, as AJ dubs it, “Redemption Arc: The Movie”. We discover that some 90s movies are way more fun to revisit than you might think!
How much should you leave up to fate? And once you’ve done that, how hard should you try and steer fate? We have Thoughts.
All is fair in love and romantic comedies. (If you take a drink every time we don’t know something about sports, you will be passed out halfway through this episode.)
Julia has a field day and a lot of head canon, AJ has an epiphany, and everyone has margaritas.
Gonzo journalism, homeopathy, plural nouns, and so much more in this discussion of a bloodsucker classic. One of us is way too invested in the science of the supernatural and it is not AJ.
Are we the weirdos? We are the weirdos. Get ready for questionable CGI and a lot of witchy stuff as we take on the four corners. Content note: There is some discussion about suicide and self harm around the twelve-minute mark.
We have a very special very passionate guest on, to talk about very sparkly vampires. Does Julia accidentally use the words “immortal boner”? Absolutely.
Enjoy a special bonus crossover episode! The Agents of Smooch did a travel series this summer and one of the places they visited was Iceland, for Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga.
Does the world, in fact, owe you a Snickers? Are you team Troy or team Michael? And what movie did AJ think we were talking about?
Sometimes, you just need a really nice movie. Rachael Leigh Cook and Damon Wayans Jr are really nice people in a really nice movie. Is that so bad?
Angela Bassett is an international treasure - but maybe, surprisingly, not the best thing about this movie. Also: Is this actually just a remake of Hook? And is Hey There Delilah about Whoopi Goldberg?
There’s no crying in baseball, but there is a lot of crying on the couch. Two people who know extremely little about sports but a LOT about montages talk about one of the best sports movies of all time.
It’s a trip down so many memory lanes. The quotes. The dance sequence. The cast! Along the way we learn things about speaker systems, AJ’s childhood, and a very special script doctor.
We dive into a (Buddha’s) delight and take detours to declare our love for Adam Schlesinger and Kristen Johnston. Find out why AJ calls this the best meet-cute ever, and why Julia has been playing the soundtrack for over ten years.
A white knight in a white limo - or a pretty grim love story, even with the friendlier final script? We hang out with Vivian and Edward but mostly with Hector Elizondo.
A modern classic? Quite possibly. We discuss a lovely coming-out and coming-of-age story.
A Greek chorus and a Swiss watch are obviously things that come up when you talk about one of the greatest movies of all time, right? Spoiler: One of us had never seen Dirty Dancing before.
Aca-awesome, you guys. We discover some unexpected personal connections to this competition-movie staple - and neither of us sings, we promise.
Schmaltz! But it has to be good schmaltz. We go looking for the wind beneath our wings and some truly wonderful art direction.
Also NOT known as My Big Fat Greek Vacation. But it could be. We take a fantasy vacation to explore ruins and romance. And souvlaki.
A wardrobe montage! A jukebox sing-along! Judy Greer! Witty quips! This movie has all the components for a great romcom, but does it make the most of them? Spoiler: This episode contains quite a bit of sighing and grumbling.
When a special girlfriend, meets a special girlfriend… Julia is worried that this favorite from her teens will not have aged well. Has it? And what scene still gives her goosebumps just talking about it?
Rapid-fire dialogue, very big hats, and a LOT of plot. Is “It’s In The Blood” a better title? Who does Julia think deserves a kick in the nads? And what does this classic screwball comedy have in common with Sleepless in Seattle? We dive into one of the greats.
But who IS the Mary, and who’s the Rhoda? We go back to the nineties - and the eighties - to see how well this technicolor romp holds up. (The explicit rating here is primarily because of some word choices in a BLM statement before the start of the show.)
Eddy Murphy is a horndog, men and women are hilariously different, and Eartha Kitt and Grace Jones are divine blessings. (Heads up for some explicit language here, so if you don’t want your kids to ask you for instance what an O face is, maybe use head phones.)
Let’s go back to Wealthy White People High and hang out with Andie, Ducky, and Blaine. You won’t want to miss the expert fashion research!
Fake relationships, precocious meddling pre-teens, and ski-trips. It’s a classic recipe for a teen rom com, and we have a big bite and discuss the results.
(Content note: We discuss issues of magic and consent, but nothing too graphic. And this may be my favorite content note ever.) Sandra Bullock and Tate Donovan are simply irresistible, thanks to Madame Ruth. Yes, it’s based way too closely on the song. Or not closely enough? We wish for more cop kissing and less sorority crashing.
“You don’t want to be in love. You want to be in love in a movie.” We take on one of the great classics, Nora Ephron’s Sleepless in Seattle. Is it what we remember - and does it need fixing? (And then, of course, we make it WEIRD.)