Talking SMAC: Superheroes, Movies, Animation & Comics

204. Predator: Killer of Killers

Josh & Alex review the latest entry in the Predator franchise; the animated feature Predator: Killer of Killers
Intro (0:00)
Father's Day for Josh (0:54)
Sports: Steelers, Banana ball, playoff hockey (1:34)
How to Train Your Dragon (8:34)
The Movie Wire podcast promo (11:21)
Our 2025 Box Office predictions are terrible, allegedly (11:37)
Predator: Killer of Killers review (16:30)
The Shield: VIKINGS! (18:20)
The Shield: Samurai! (26:50)
Predator concept of honor is... off (32:14)
The Bullet: WW2 Dogfights! (38:02)
The finale: (41:58)
A lot of allegedly (50:50)
Terrible impressions (55:40)
SMAC-ratings (1:01:01)
Wrap up (1:05:44)
Please remember to check out the Movie Wire podcast, join our Discord and check out our merch store! 

203. Ballerina w/ Justin Henson

Alex & Justin from The Movie Wire discuss From The World of John Wick: Ballerina
(0:01) Intro
(3:05) Ballerina first impressions
(7:43) Gaming Views promo
(8:22) Non-spoiler review
(20:09) SMAC rating
(23:18) Spoiler discussion w/ things only Alex observes
(48:16) Wrap up
Don't forget to support Dan & Dan at Gaming Views!
Join our Discord and check out our merch store! 

Talking BAK: Fourth Wing

Ricki and Josh take you on a journey of their thoughts for the soon-to-be-adapted, smash hit novel Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros.
Join in on the conversation with Josh and Ricki on the Talking BAK discord subchannel and follow Ricki on Tome

202. Andor season 2 w/Gregg Beever

Josh is joined by Gregg Beever; 1/3 of the I Have Some Notes crew, to review and discuss the themes from season 2 of the Star Wars spin-off series from Tony Gilroy; Andor
*SPOILERS AHEAD!
Intro and chit chat with Gregg (0:00)
Game Club Pod promo (6:02)
Josh challenges the Game Club pod (6:46)
Andor season 2 discussion begins (8:18)
Andor introduces the BBY system to general audiences (10:49)
How did we feel about the four 3-episode arcs for the season? (12:30)
Favorite moments in the first 3 episodes (21:50)
The Ghorman occupation (26:40)
The Syrill and Dedra relationship (28:06)
So much great acting (34:08)
Did Bix and Cassian need to be in a romantic relationship? (36:13)
Star Wars canon is always subject to change (42:58)
The Emperor's presence and lack thereof (44:09)
 The Bail Organa recast (44:09)
Andor season 2 shows us how bad the Empire truly was prior to A New Hope (51:12)
Fandoms and corporations promoting the bad guys is kinda gross (56:44)
Can Star Wars expand beyond the Skywalker space opera stuff? (1:00:01)
A quick dissection of the sequel trilogy (1:03:06)
Give us the thing we didn't know we wanted (1:08:17)
Goodbyes & social media plugs (1:14:08)
Please remember to check out the Game Club Pod podcast, join our Discord and check out our merch store! 

201. Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning & Lilo & Stitch

Josh pulled a Stitchion Impossible and did a double feature of Lilo & Stitch, as well as Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (Alex only saw the later.)
Intro (0:00)
Lilo & Stitch (6:15)
Cultworthy promo (24:58)
Alex is mad and then we go down a bad Smurfs rabbit hole (25:40)
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (32:54)
Goodbyes and social media plugs (1:04:56)
Please remember to check out the Cultworthy podcast, join our Discord and check out our merch store! 

200! Talking SMACdowns vol. 6

We celebrate 200 episodes of Talking SMAC with a special live recording at our favorite hometown nerd shop: Cataclysm Games and Collectibles!
Intro (0:00)
Let's meet Doug from Cataclysm Games & Collectibles! (1:32)
Hemanstarfox joins the group! (5:14)
Kicking things off with an AMA question (6:20)
Rocket Racoon vs Legolas (7:01)
Marvel Rivals tangent about Jeff the Landshark (8:29)
Back to Rocket Racoon vs Legolas (10:50)
Lara Croft vs Aloy - One Bow, One Shot battle (15:20)
AMA: Joey Fitz question (19:06)
Goku vs Omni Man (23:49)*
Homer Simpson vs Fred Flintston vs Peter Griffin (27:00)
Dennis Nedry (Jurassic Park) vs Boris Grishenko (GoldenEye) - Hacker off (28:18)
Engineer-Xeno Hybrid from Alien Romulus vs Human-Xeno Hybrid from Alien Resurrection (32:42)
AMA: Slade question (36:11)
The Rookie vs Malcolm Reynolds vs Rick Castle vs Guy Gardner - Nathan Fillion character fight (43:10)
Xenomorph vs The Death Angel from A Quiet Place (45:27)
Stuart Little vs Remy (52:40)
Purrgil vs Chitauri Leviathans (Space Whale battle) (55:46)
Batman (from Batman Begins) vs V (V for Vendetta movie) (1:04:28)
Heel John Cena vs Ruthless Aggression Era John Cena (1:10:21)
Did Hemanstarfox lied about his backstory?! (1:13:26)
Goodbyes and social media plugs (1:15:38)
Please join our Discord and check out our merch store!
Special thank yous to Ricki for running our mixer for the live recording. 
Also, special shoutouts to our friends who have supported us and teamed up with us throughout the years:
Luis, Scotti, Matt and Bepbo (Talking SMAC OGs who helped kick off the podcast)
Derek, the creator of our original logo
Dan at Casting Views
Antonio at The Cultworthy
Joey, Tim & Alex at the Game Club Pod
Justin at the Movie Wire
Cesar at the No on 15 All-Cast
Karen and Ann at the Sugar Coated Murder
Josh and Amanda at Super Familiar with The Wilsons
Liam, Scott and Gregg at I Have Some Notes
Slade at Driveway Studios
We truly could not have made it this far without your support and friendship. Thank you all, so much! 
*Omni Man vs Thanos was suggested in Episode 150, Goku vs Invincible was suggested in episode 74

199. Talking Pitch Meetings

Josh and Alex bring dream pitches for projects they'd love to bring to life if they had the means
Intro (0:00)
Casting Views Promo (7:13)
*Pitch Meeting disclaimer (8:05)
Josh forgot a big nitpick from last week’s review (10:25)
Alex pitches a ‘House of Leaves’ adaptation (11:37)
Josh has questions about Alex's pitch (24:58)
Casting options? (27:50)
Josh pitches his 'Inheritance Cycle' adaptation (32:36)
Who would Josh want to animate his series? (42:39)
Josh pitches his showrunner if it's not him (46:16)
Josh lays out his dream casting (46:58)
Social media plugs and good byes (1:07:16)
Please remember to check out the Casting Views podcast, join our Discord and check out our merch store! 

198. Thunderbolts* / New Avengers Review

The MCU machine churns on. Now it's time to see what Marvel's reinterpretation of the Thunderbolts team looks like within their connected universe. 
Intro (0:00)
2 Blokes from Blighty promo (7:28)
The trailers in front of Thunderbolts* are all over the place (9:19)
I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) looks dumb for all the wrong reasons (10:04)
Back to the trailers (13:14)
Non-spoiler 'Thunderbolts*' time! (15:08)
Josh's issues with US Agent (24:31)
Non-spoiler resolution (26:20)
Is 'Thunderbolts*' a Must-See or Pass? (27:40)
Spoiler Discussion (31:42)
Jeremy Renner's revelation about why no Hawkeye season 2 (1:10:48)
Goodbyes and social media plugs (1:17:45)
Please remember to check out the 2 Blokes from Blighty podcast, join our Discord and check out our merch store!