Join our Agents for an Incomprehensible Commentary where our usually refined and thoughtful commentary is subsumed under wine and cocktails. It starts chaotic and goes off the rails while we watch and sometimes discuss 1985’s The Jewel of the Nile. The commentary is a final bonus episode to end our 2020 Virtual Vacation. It is the (probably inferior) sequel to our more sober Romancing the Stone discussion. If this kind of nonsense is your kind of nonsense, you can sign up to be an Incomparable member to get access to all our commentaries and more member extras at: https://www.theincomparable.com/members/.

Jewel of the Nile Movie Commentary

Annette Wierstra with Kelly Guimont, Brian Hamilton, Jean MacDonald and Moisés Chiullán

Drinking Game Rules

Drink Recipes

Kelly’s Mule of the Nile Cocktail

*Jean’s Not a Gin and Tonic *

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Join us in our final Virtual Vacation mission hiking through Columbia to rescue one of our own in Romancing the Stone (1984). Our Agents are relieved that this croc-laden 80’s adventure romance is more exciting than our last one. And ultimately, we acknowledge the greatness that is Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas (and their free-flowing hair). Our Agents use the internet to solve all our problems so we don’t have to go on an elaborate adventure due to the lack of a cell phone. Pack carefully because we’re tossing that luggage as soon as it becomes too much a bother to carry around.

Virtual Vacation: Romancing the Stone

Annette Wierstra with Deborah Stanish, Brian Hamilton, Kelly Guimont and Tiff Arment

Novelization of the Movie by “Joan Wilder:” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1771717.RomancingtheStone

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

In our Penultimate Virtual Vacation stop, we squeeze in a mission to Iceland and Edinburgh to watch 2020’s Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Our Agents discuss how comedy with heart is the best comedy and develop our spin-off movies and shows about Sigrid, Lars, Alexander, and Mita. Our resident Eurovision expert from Sweden, Julia, gives us the low down on how well this movie represents the Eurovision Song Contest and lots of Icelandic Elf lore. Warm-up your vocals, because there will be a song-a-long.

Virtual Vacation: Eurvision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

Annette Wierstra with Sage Young, Moisés Chiullán and Julia Skott

The Perfect Eurovision Performace, Love, Love, Peace, Peace: https://youtu.be/Cv6tgnx6jTQ

All the Winners of Eurovision: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21ORE7mkqSU

This is a Danish Viking from 2018. Does he seem familiar?

Icelandic 2020 contender and pre-COVID favourite to win: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFZNvj-HfBU

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

We’re in France for our Virtual Vacation! Drinking wine, eating cheese, taking the train across the country with French Kiss (1995). This classic Meg Ryan and Kevin Klein is a little bit rom-com and a little bit caper and comes together in Cannes for romantic hijinks. Will our Agents be swayed by Luc’s slightly greasy charm and Kate’s insistent quest to win back the man she loves? They definitely have opinions about French and Canadian accents. And about men who are like little boys who follow their whims without thought. Join us in France for a Sea Breeze by La Mer.

Virtual Vacation: French Kiss

Annette Wierstra with Erika Ensign, Shelly Brisbin and Julia Skott

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Our virtual vacation long weekend in Italy with Only You (1994) begins with controversy because our Agents are divided about the quality of this movie. Only You is a road trip through Italy with your BFF who knows how to pack your bag better than you do. It is jammed packed with people making bad decisions while Faith searches for the elusive Damon Bradley who may or may not be her Mr. Right. Will any of our Agents switch allegiances? Probably not, but join us for a passionate battle to win your heart over to this film or to get you run in the other direction.

Virtual Vacation: Only You

Annette Wierstra with Sage Young, Brian Hamilton and Julia Skott

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Our Agents are traipsing through Europe in this Virtual Vacation, trailing after the president’s daughter Anna in Chasing Liberty (2004). While we like the scenery (Hello Matthew Goode and Mandy Moore), we question whether Anna should be quite so careless with her wallet and her wellbeing. Follow us on this caper through the countryside with side trips into Canadian and Newfoundland accents, the Good Wife, and COVID era travel (or the lack of it). Our Agents offer valuable travel safety tips to keep you safe on your own romantic virtual vacation.

Virtual Vacation: Chasing Liberty

Annette Wierstra with Quinn Rose and Erika Ensign

Listen to our episode on Roman Holiday with the Lions, Towers & Shields podcast.

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Welcome to another crossover where Lions, Towers, and Shields podcast host, Shelly Brisbin, joins our agents for a timey-whimey road trip for our Virtual Vacation series. Our agents tease apart the five(?) timelines in Two for the Road (1967), starring Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney using the cars the characters drive. Join us as we criss-cross through ten years of time and space while road-tripping through France towards the Mediterranean coast. Sometimes it’s smooth sailing, sometimes it’s rocky, sometimes there are too many people in the car. Make sure you pack the sunscreen.

Virtual Vacation: Two for the Road

Annette Wierstra with Shelly Brisbin and Jean MacDonald

If you want to catch up on our other Lions, Towers, & Shields Crossover episode join us in Rome with Roman Holiday!

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

It’s time to visit Nairobi, Kenya on our Virtual Summer Vacation with 2018’s Rafiki. Our agents come away from this visit with a deep appreciation for the Afrobubblegum style of filmmaking and the beauty of the movie. The story of Kena and Ziki is set in the context of a community and country where being queer is banned and yet Rafiki portrays a confident and intimate love story. Our agents were both moved and hopeful for the story of these two young Kenyan women.

Virtual Summer Vacation: Rafiki

Annette Wierstra with Kathy Campbell, Sage Young and Suriya Veerappan

The article that Sage edited: Kenya’s Rafiki is a Joyful Coming Out Story from a Country where Homosexuality is Outlawed

Interview with the Film Director

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

This week on our virtual vacation we are staying at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in Jaipur, India. While this is a movie that provides beautiful images of India, our mission examines how its colonial lens affects the movie’s portrayal of the characters. Our Agents imagine bringing to life the romance and the stories that we see hiding in plain sight within the movie. This inevitably leads to someone deciding that this is a story that would be better told in a TV series. We have our brand, and it is always for more romance and more depth and diversity.

ISO: Romance novels about senior lovers.

Virtual Summer Vacation: Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Annette Wierstra with Jean MacDonald, Sandra Wong and Lynne M. Thomas

Keep watching for Uncanny Magazine’s upcoming Kickstarter here: https://uncannymagazine.com/

Guardian Article, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: an exercise in British wish-fulfilment by Nikita Lalwani.

We asked for and received some recommendations for Seasoned Romances novels featuring senior protagonists. Got more? Tweet them at us and we will share:

Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

We hope your suitcases are full of fancy gowns and designer shoes. No? That’s okay, we are overdue for a Makeover Montage! We’re heading to Singapore on our Virtual Vacation 2020 for a family wedding with Crazy Rich Asians. We continue our escapist mission travelling the globe through romance movies. This gorgeous movie is all glam with possibly the fanciest wedding movie ever conceived. Are the books better? Do we want to see the sequels brought to life? Find out in this mission. Perhaps not surprisingly, Annette is focused on dumplings so the Agents plan a dumpling party that you are all invited to.

VIrtual Summer Vacation: Crazy Rich Asians

Annette Wierstra with Moisés Chiullán, Sandra Wong, Tiff Arment and Kelly Guimont

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.