Popzara Podcast: Recent Episodes
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And now we come to the end of the ride. After nearly twenty years of delivering a bazaar of culture and commentary, this will be the final post on Popzara.
Ever since I was sent the Toshiba Rice Cooker last year, I’ve been using it like crazy to not only cook rice, but also stews, cakes, and more. For the longest time, I’ve heard about the famed company Zojirushi and their top of the line rice cookers that professionals use, especially the hilarious YouTube personality Nigel Ng aka Uncle Roger that swears by their products.
I won’t deny it, the cutesy looking artwork on Kimono Cats drew me in to check it out, as I had no idea it had already been released on mobile devices last year. After playing it for a bit, it does remind me heavily of most mobile device games thanks to having small but fun mini games, collectables, and even some building and managing your town that’s perfect for passing the time whenever you need to.
I’ll start off by stating I’m a huge fan of the now classic 2012 PlayStation 3 game, Journey. It literally took me on a journey of emotions as I made my ways through different lands while having random online players helping off and on to reach the end of it.
Quality is a big deal when we're talking about gaming peripherals, but comfort's also important in its own way. If you’ve ever finished a multi-hour gaming session and taken off your headset with a sigh of relief, you've got a pretty good idea of what I'm talking about.
The Mafia series has always occupied a special place in the wide world of crime simulators. Compared to the satirical action of something like Grand Theft Auto or Saints Row, Mafia tends to be the more serious, cinematic alternative.
With jaw-dropping entries like The Wild Robot and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, DreamWorks continues to show us why it owns the crown in terms of American animation quality. While other studios keep trying to perfect the same digital animation style we’ve been seeing since the mid-‘90s, the Universal-owned studio has found a way to bridge the hand-drawn look of yesteryear with the sleekness of modern-day computer graphics.
Going through so many games that have released lately, I would often hear about Medieval Dynasty and how people enjoyed playing through its survival and building challenges to create a thriving town in ancient times. It only made sense for publisher Toplitz Productions to build upon this (pun intended) and release a feudal Japan version called Sengoku Dynasty.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast, where our in-house movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
For this extra-special episode the guys take a look back at 1973’s American Graffiti, George Lucas’ cinematic love letter to a bygone era that would redefine the word nostalgia and would become one of the most beloved films of all-time. Its impact on the culture would be profound, influencing everything from cars, music, fashion, and politics, and would introduce iconic talent that would dominate Hollywood for generations, especially writer/director George Lucas, Ron Howard, and Harrison Ford.
Among the most successful efforts of the ‘New Hollywood’ era, our hosts discuss the meaning of nostalgia itself, the surprising similarities between it and Lucas’ followup, Star Wars, perhaps the greatest soundtrack in film history, and why capturing the liminal space between yesterday and today continues to be so elusive.
More than anything, they discuss how American Graffiti (and films like it) prove that good storytelling can make us care about the troubles and concerns of another generation, about the universality of being human, and why the things that mattered can still matter long after the lights have gone off and memories are all that remain.
You've got a new console, and now you've got a problem: the second controller dilemma. You want to play with friends or family, but the thought of shelling out nearly a hundred dollars for another official gamepad is a tough pill to swallow, and this gets even more painful when you start thinking about having groups of friends over.
If you're a PC gamer, there's a point you might reach when you realize literally everything on your desk is glowing. Your mouse, your keyboard, your PC case, maybe even your mousepad - they’re all pulsing with rainbows of RGB lighting.
It’s hard to argue that Japanese developer M2 haven’t been great stewards of porting games from a certain era, and their relationship with Konami has been especially fruitful. Going back decades, it’s produced some of the best retrospective compilations of the developer’s best series, especially with their Contra and Castlevania Anniversary Collections.
Every gamer has a hierarchy of accessories, a sort of unspoken tier list of the stuff you love and the stuff everyone else gets to use. For instance, you’ve almost inevitably got your main controller, the one with the perfectly worn-in thumbsticks from hours of play with the tension that's just right.
There’s a certain subset of gaming hardware that serves as an announcement of intent. You don’t just casually end up with a high-end racing wheel or a HOTAS flight stick setup.
It’s rare for a long-delayed sequel to feel like it should exist - especially one so tied to a specific era. But Freakier Friday, the follow-up to Disney’s 2003 Freaky Friday, slips back into its body-swap chaos like a favorite old hoodie: familiar, comfortable, and surprisingly welcome.
It's interesting to observe the evolution of a genre over time. An initial foundation is one thing, but real gaming gems tend to arise when developers build on what came before.
It feels like we’re in the middle of a golden age for game development coming from China. Studios are producing absolute bangers that have been taking the world by storm, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the Souls-like genre.
To hear it described, Earthion probably isn’t for you. A side-scrolling shmup (shoot ‘em up) developed for a dead console that was discontinued 30+ years ago, it’s hardly cutting-edge.
I was already a happy camper late last year when I got my Apple Watch, as I finally got to see what all the hype was about with wearable tech. Just when I thought I couldn’t love my watch any more, here comes MAGEASY with not one, but two must have accessories for it with the MAGEASY Odyssey Apple Watch Case and Nappa Leather Apple Watch Band.
I’ve always wanted to pick up an Apple Pencil for my iPad Air, but that $130 price tag always kept me from buying one. I was more than excited when MAGEASY reached out to me to review the MAGEASY Instinct iPad Stylus Pencil that works just as well as the Apple Pencil while being much easier on your wallet.
Seems like it was just last year when I was a teenager trying to get my hands on any anime I could watch back in the mid-1990s. I remember finally getting my hands on the famed Grave of the Fireflies, a film focusing on two siblings caught near the end of World War II.
While going through many of the newest anime series out there, I kept hearing about one that would always rise to the top of the pile, Dan Da Dan. After smirking to myself about the title and its premise of dealing with UFOs and ghosts, I decided to give it a shot and it turned out to be one of the wildest, most fun shows I’ve seen.
Fourth time’s the charm - well, almost. Fantastic Four: First Steps is easily the best cinematic take on Marvel’s First Family to date, which is both a win.
There’s a certain kind of person who derives primal satisfaction from breaking things. I don’t mean in a malicious way; I mean that feeling you get from popping bubble wrap.
The year 2025 is looking like a renaissance for ninja games, especially those of a very particular lineage. While Ninja Five-O proved some relics should remain in the past, Ninja Hayate HD-Remaster was available if you craved 1980s anime with limited interaction.
One of my relatives was looking into picking up a dash cam for their SUV, and I remember reading on companies such as Garmin and Vantrue which produced some very good ones that I suggested. I would’ve never guess Vanture’s PR reached out to me about one of their latest products, the Vantrue E1 Pro 4K Mini Dash Cam that also looks to be one of their greatest cams as well.
After covering numerous Turtle Beach and SteelSeries headsets, the Audeze Maxwell Wireless Gaming Headset was a breath of fresh air with its balanced sound quality, a snug enough fit, and long battery life that really made it stand out from the rest. Audeze was kind enough to send over the Xbox version that features an embedded Dolby Atmos license to use with the console to make this the only wireless headset you need.
There are game developers, and then there’s Hideo Kojima. It’s a distinction you have to make, because few figures in the industry inspire such a mix of adoration and exasperation.
You know, sometimes I think about how much easier life would be if I could just transform into a giant, fire-breathing beast to deal with my daily annoyances. Imagine trying to get through rush hour traffic, and then poof, you're a dragon and suddenly the commute is a lot more.
James Gunn’s Superman isn’t really a Superman movie - at least, not the one fans expected. It’s a James Gunn movie first and foremost, with the iconic hero buried under layers of quirky humor, bizarre characters, and a script that plays like leftover Guardians of the Galaxy bits stitched together.
I remember seeing the trailer for Amazon Prime Video’s Heads of State some time ago, and I’ll admit it grabbed my attention with it’s 80s and 90s buddy-action flick vibes with some comedic situations thrown in to bring the laughs. After watching it, it turned out just as I thought it would, a fast-paced and funny movie that’s perfect for watching with friends and family with food and snacks in tow.
Let’s get straight to it: if you’re just here for some basic dinosaur thrills, can tolerate a paper-thin story as long as it looks good, and find mediocre effects acceptable when the camera work is solid, then Jurassic World Rebirth might be exactly what you’re after - and I mean that sincerely. Some people just want dinosaurs on a big screen, and that’s fair enough.
In 1959, American International came out with Gidget, about a teenage girl who falls in love with surfing even though she doesn’t know the first thing about the aquatic sport. If we as an audience weren’t already privy to surfing, the titular protagonist’s enthusiasm would’ve been enough to at least pique our interest.
It's always nice when two great things are greater together. I tend to mention this when we talk about genre-blending games like Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, which has a little tower-defense, a little action and a whole lot of style to offer.
When I first saw the trailer to KPop Demon Hunters from Netflix, I didn’t know what to think or expect before sitting down to give it a shot. Thank goodness I took the plunge as it turned out to be a pleasant surprise filled with infectious KPop songs, and also a nice amount of demon fighting action that families are sure to watch again and again.
After loving the Bebird’s EarVision Complete Ear Cleaner I reviewed last year, I was more than excited when I learned about their latest product, the Bebird EarSight Plus Flexible Otoscope Camera Light. Not only did they improve on their eye cleaning tech, they’ve made it super easy, convenient thanks to a carry case, and dare I say, fun to use.
Everytime SteelSeries sends something my way, I always get excited as they have yet to let me down with any of their releases. While they released their Arctis GameBuds late last year, they stepped things up with their limited edition SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds Glorange Wireless Headphones.
Now we have The Calvin and Hobbes Portable Compendium Set 4, marking the middle of our journey with Bill Watterson’s beloved comic strip duo, the first time in many moons that it’s been republished with this much zeal. Some may scoff at the smaller form-factor of these new editions (this being the fourth volume of a planned seven), but there’s no denying these rectangular reprints are extremely well made, look fantastic, and contain some of the best and most creative comic strips ever made.
Since 2014’s Mr. Mercedes Stephen King has treated fans to an unexpected turn in his sizable oeuvre; sausage-factory fiction, the kind pumped out on the regular by literary superstars James Patterson, Michael Connelly, Lee Child and others, applying his gift for characters, dialogue, and Hail Mary horror to the rather predictable world of these soap opera serials.
Remember the Switch? The original console from 2017 that started a hybrid gaming revolution? Things are about to change: the Switch 2 is here and it's bringing a new era of less-questionable ports. One of the first that's going to blow your mind is Street Fighter 6: Years 1-2, the latest and most complete version of Capcom's hit fighter that launched in 2023.
When 28 Days Later hit theaters in 2002, it redefined the zombie genre. Danny Boyle’s gritty vision of an empty London, rage-infected citizens, and humanity on the edge created something raw, immediate, and unforgettable.
Retro game collections can serve two very important functions. First, they offer gamers something to play between droughts of new releases.
AMD took the opportunity to outshine Nvidia by doing one simple thing; make a mainstream gaming graphic card without ripping anybody off. That part didn’t take much effort, considering how much hate Nvidia received with their Blackwell-based GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs at the beginning of this year.
Eight years ago, an eternity in console gaming, Nintendo launched the original Switch, a hybrid mix of home and portable console that embodied everything that was unique and quirky about the company and would become one of the best-selling consoles of all-time. In very un-Nintendo like fashion, however, the house of Mario plays it safe with its successor, the Switch 2, the first direct console sequel and a marked improvement over the original in nearly every way.
Even if boxing isn’t your cup of tea, it’s difficult to deny how well-designed the sport is for building movies around. Few sports are as intimate or personal as a single person, vulnerable, giving his all against another.
Those who’ve followed Alison Bechdel’s career from cartoonist to cultural icon over the years (the term ‘Bechdel Test’ is named for her) knows the creator of the popular ‘Dykes to Watch Out For’ comic strip and several graphic novels knows how to tell a joke about even the most uncomfortable topics. With Spent the focus is on satire, blending reality within a progressive ideological wonderland so exaggerated it feels like a checklist of every liberal trope imaginable, and possibly some new ones created just for this book.
I’ve been a huge Predator fan since seeing the original 1987 classic when I was a kid, and I enjoy watching the famed alien hunters in all of their film entries, both good and bad. It seems like the right person has finally come along to save the franchise and push it to new heights with director Dan Trachtenberg, who brought us 2022’s Prey which placed a surprising and refreshing spin on the film series that it so desperately needed, and he's looking to do it again later this year with Predator: Badlands.
Doom: The Dark Ages, the third entry in Bethesda’s modern reboot of id Software’s iconic grandaddy FPS franchise, does something truly audacious. It takes the two most controversial elements from its predecessor, 2020’s Doom Eternal, i.
If I said Etgar Keret’s Autocorrect was slim, that wouldn’t come as a surprise to fans of the acclaimed Israeli author, nor would the fact that the stories collected inside are on the shorter side. The very shorter side.
Keeping your electronic devices clean can sometimes be a pain, especially when small crevices and vents are involved. Most times a can of compressed air is the go-to for keeping devices clean, but they can possibly be dangerous to use and are expensive.
Ever since I picked up an Apple Watch late last year, I’ve been in the market for a charging system that allows me to charge it as well as my iPhone at the same time if needed. Thanks to our friends at Scosche, I was able to check out their Scosche MagicMount Base Pro that more than fits the bill as it charges just about anything you have with cool features to spare.
There’s a new addition to Michael Connelly's literary family in Nightshade, Detective Sergeant Stilwell, a smart investigator who butted heads with the wrong brass and is now trying to rebuild his life - and career - miles away from the mean streets of Los Angeles. Unlike those of favorites like Harry (and, increasingly, his daughter Maddy) Bosh, Renée Ballard, and Mickey “Lincoln Lawyer” Haller, this adventure is laser-focused on the mystery itself, though Connelly brings the same focused intensity and eye for minute details that’s made him a favorite among crime fiction writers.
I’m not sure what people hate more, the Disney live-action remakes or the fact they even exist. What began as an eyebrow-raising experiment over a decade ago has now turned into what might seem to some as a masochistic craving for futility.
Let’s face it, life can be rough at times if not most times for us. With fear, stress and anxiety lurking around every corner of our lives, it’s always nice to find positive ways to escape those negative feelings whenever possible.
From the moment Ethan Hunt first dangled upside down, a cinematic icon was born - along with a franchise that’s defied gravity, logic, and expectations ever since. Now, after three decades of death-defying stunts and globe-trotting missions, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning brings the saga to a definitive close.
While Star Wars Outlaws had a rocky start when it was released last year, I have to give Ubisoft a ton of credit for taking the time to fix it up and making it fun for fans of the franchise and those of action-adventure titles. After releasing the Wild Card DLC late last year featuring the beloved Lando Calrissian, the second one, Star Wars Outlaws: A Pirate’s Fortune, has finally come and brings a lot of cool things to the Sabacc table to keep players busy long after the last mission is done.
I’ll just say it: Capcom Fighting Collection 2 is my favorite arcade versus compilation so far, and it’s not even a contest. While last year’s Marvel vs.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast, where our in-house movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
On deck are two blockbusters directed by Steven Spielberg that are as much science-fiction spectacle as they are family dramas, and whose success and innovative film-making would help reshape the movie industry forever.
First is 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Spielberg’s follow-up to 1975’s Jaws that proved the shark’s success was no fluke. By not making the aliens malevolent but benevolent, it was a revelation at the box-office, bested only by George Lucas’ Star Wars. Next is 1982’s E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, the heartfelt story of an alien lost on Earth who befriends a young boy that quickly became the most successful movie in history (a title is kept for 11 years until it was dethroned by Spielberg’s own Jurassic Park).
Our hosts examine the relatable inspirations for both films, realizing their continued success owes as much to nostalgia as groundbreaking cinematic storytelling. Listen as they discuss the surprising connections between Spielberg’s films and George Lucas’ Star Wars (did you know E.T.’s species has an official name?), how E.T. inspired a hit Neil Diamond song, and speculate if Spielberg’s 2022 autobiographical The Fablemans can be considered a thematic followup to both films. All this and more when you listen today!
Recent efforts to localize classic Japanese manga have struck a comfortable balance between entertainment and education, especially imports of underground cult classics from the 1960s through the mid 1970s originating in the magazine Garo. The originators of the term ‘gekiga’, or manga designed for more mature audiences, we’ve seen a huge influx of freshly translated work from the likes of Shigeru Mizuki, Yoshiharu Tsuge, Saito Nazuna, Yamada Murasaki and others.
Once I saw the trailer to Maliki: Poison of the Past, I knew I had to give it a chance as the cool looking anime-like vibe pulled me in (the characters are clearly based on the late, great Akira Toriyama’s style), as well it’s unique turn-based RPG battles that keeps things fun and interesting. Based on a French manga series (which explains the anime look), the plot places you into the life of a young lady named Sand.
Back when I was just getting into gaming on PC, I remember hearing about comic artist Benoît Sokal jumping into the gaming world with Amerzone: The Explorer’s Legacy in 1999 on PC and the original PlayStation. I also remember how he continued teaming with game developer and publisher Microids with the famed Syberia titles that made him and the company legendary.
After years of overstuffed narratives, forgettable villains, and an overreliance on the multiverse to generate excitement, Thunderbolts* arrives as a much-needed reset for Marvel. It’s a sharp, character-first film that favors substance over spectacle.
In today’s contentious social climate, it’s undoubtedly difficult to urge an audience to be sympathetic towards a select group of people without being accused of making those people feel helpless in the process. As though pity has become a bad word.
Free at last, free at last, Thank God almighty, Ryan Coogler (Creed, Black Panther) is free at last! From languishing in the corporatized big-budget prison known as IP, one of Hollywood's few fresh black faces has delivered an original story as timely as it desperately needed. Sinners is a beautiful, stylish, fun genre film that feels like a breath of fresh air against the stale franchise fare usually taking up the time slots for your local IMAX.
Few genres of game have been through the wringer of public opinion quite so much as the humble Japanese RPG, or JRPG, if you prefer. It wasn't that long ago when a game could expect to lose a fair chunk of Metacritic score if it featured turn-based combat or - horror of horrors - had an anime aesthetic.
There are films that entertain, and then there are films that stay with you - Sinners is the latter. Ryan Coogler’s latest is bold, haunting, and deeply human.
Lunar: The Silver Star is a cornerstone of my gaming life, as it’s the first RPG that I fully committed to back in early 1994 on my Sega CD. Everything about it made me so glad I had Sega’s infamous add-on, from the cool looking anime artwork, to the amazing soundtrack and voice acting, it’ll always have a special place in my heart and mind.
When I first saw Rusty Rabbit and the cute but grizzled main character named Stamp, I didn’t know what to think. At first I thought it was going to be some Animal Crossing wannabe title, but was completely wrong once I saw him leaping into a mecha-like suit and drilling and dashing his way through levels.
I’m a pretty big fan of action-platform games, especially some of the classics such as Donkey Kong Country, Crash Bandicoot, and others. The game developers at VEA Games feel the same way as they’ve made a personal love letter to those titles with the release of Nikoderiko: The Magical World - Director's Cut.
26 years is how long the SNK faithful have been waiting for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves to finally arrive, the follow-up to 1999’s Garou: Mark of the Wolves. Obviously, comparisons will be made but Fatal Fury has since become a staple that endures in a charming old-school way that contemporary Street Fighter and Tekken entries no longer possess.
Arcades in the early 1980s enjoyed an explosion of popularity as the new art form swept the world and collected millions of quarters in the process. Kids love them.
Arcades in the early 1980s enjoyed an explosion of popularity as the new art form swept the world and collected millions of quarters in the process. Kids love them.
Ever since the glory days of construction paper and glue, I've been absolutely hopeless at crafting. Sorry, world, but you're not going to get any fantastic handiwork out of me.
SteelSeries continues to knock their awesome lineup of products out of the park with one of their latest releases, the SteelSeries QCK Performance Mouse Pad. Going back to the drawing board on their original QCK pads and reworking them to be better in every way, they’ve come up with a perfect variety of new ones to fit any kind of PC gaming style.
If I’ve learned one thing as a parent, it’s that kids love Jack Black. They loved him as the evil Bowser in The Super Mario Bros.
A Minecraft Movie is a loud, chaotic rollercoaster built for one specific crowd: TikTok-savvy teens and gamers fluent in Minecraft-speak. If you’re not part of that world, buckle up - this movie doesn’t ease you in.
Milestone has been handling the official Supercross game releases for quite some time now. While some of them have been hits, a few of the later entries haven’t hit pay dirt like they should.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Listen as hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The Biggest Games of April 2025The biggest games of the month include: South of Midnight, Steel Hunters, The Talos Principle: Reawakened, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 2, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero, and Tempest Rising
Other notables include: Blue Prince, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (PS5), The Last of Us Part II Remastered (PC), Days Gone Remastered (PC, PS5), Forza Horizon 5 (PS5), Monument Valley (1+2 Switch), Ninja Hayate HD and Time Gal HD Remaster, Lunar Remastered Collection, Commandos: Origins, and Promise Mascot Agency.
Everything ElseBut there’s more! Nintendo makes the Switch 2 official! It’s powerful! It’s expensive! It’s coming June 5! The Last of Us Season 2 returns this month! A Minecraft Movie breaks box-office records! And speaking of movies, the Death Stranding movie finds its writer and director in Michael Sarnoski (Pig, A Quiet Place: Day One).
Unless you’re a student of photography or heavily interested in animation, chances are your only exposure to the name Eadweard Muybridge in recent pop-culture has been the brief mentions he gets in Jordan Peele’s 2022 release Nope, where Keke Palmer's character describes a two-second clip of a galloping horse being shown as the first example of a ‘motion picture’. It’s actually from a later effort, "Plate Number 626", in which the horse, Annie, is named while the jockey riding her is not.
There are two ways to talk about Rendering Ranger: R2, a hybrid run ‘n gun platformer and shmup (shoot ‘em up) from German developers Rainbow Arts released only for the Japanese Super Famicom back in 1995. The first would be to discuss the game on its merits, specifically how Rainbow Arts attempted to push Nintendo’s 16-bit hardware further than most in a time when the switch to newer 32-bit consoles was well underway.
In the day and age where sci-fi introspections on working class exploitation like Severance are all the rage, Bong Joon Ho (Parasite, Snowpiercer) seems primed to deliver his own eccentric critique of capitalistic exploitation that would fit snugly into his previous lexicon, only this time with his biggest budget ever. It’s unfortunate that Mickey 17 is a surprising misstep in an otherwise stellar record of insightful and timely works.
Since its groundbreaking debut in 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has stood as the cornerstone of Disney’s animation legacy, setting the gold standard for fairy tale adaptations. As the first full-length animated feature, it not only changed the industry but also captivated generations with its timeless story and unforgettable characters.
Fans of the site won't be surprised to hear that I'm something of a Japanophile. I've visited the Land of the Rising Sun before, will be heading that way again soon, and am not sure I'm ever going to get over my love affair with the Far East.
Deception is a core theme of spy films, where the tension between truth and lies drives the narrative. Steven Soderbergh's Black Bag takes this concept and places it within the more intimate confines of marriage.
It's not easy to make it as a writer! You've got to play video games all the time, write what you think about them, eat delicious snacks while you do it..
Yarrr! It's a pirate's life for me, matey! Hop aboard the good ship Popzara and let's go on a journey full of scurvy, sea lice and vermin! Wow, when I put it that way, the pirate's life actually doesn't seem for me at all. Scurvy's awful, I really don't like bugs, seasickness is a thing and it's pretty gross.
As popular as the Looney Tunes franchise is, it’s hard to believe there’s never been a theatrical film release of it that’s solely animated (sorry but Space Jam, it’s sequel, and Looney Tunes: Back in Action don’t count). Thankfully we have the first with The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie that blends classic slapstick comedy with some modern twists that’ll have you laughing to the moon and back.
I’m always down for checking out family friendly films, especially those featuring animals going on crazy misadventures like the recent Paddington in Peru I reviewed. When I first learned about Night of the Zoopocalypse last year, it grabbed my attention right away when the creators said it was like Madagascar meets The Walking Dead.
If you're looking to shake up your life with an exhilarating experience, it's hard to beat a little bit of travel! The world's a big place and there's no shortage of amazing things to see and do out there. If the real world isn't enough for you, the world of gaming has plenty to offer as well! Capcom's Monster Hunter games really drive this home with their variety of settings, each packed with totally docile and not-at-all-murderous wildlife, and the majestic Eastlands of Monster Hunter: Wilds are no exception.
When it comes to visual novels, there are few publishers I trust more than PQube. While they definitely have their misses (looking at you, Celestia: Chain of Fate) they’ve put out some great titles like Bustafellows and Arcade Spirits.
As noted in my review for the volume one of The Liminal Zone, first published in English back in 2022, fans of Junji Ito can expect two types of collections these days: freshly translated work from his seemingly bottomless well of content, and brand-new stories. It was firmly in the latter camp, created exclusively for the LINE manga app (which is way more popular than you’d think).
The strange journey of Hudson Soft’s Ninja Five-O (or Ninja Cop, as it’s known in some areas) from obscurity to cult status is a strange one, but it makes sense when you look at the game in content. Originally released in 2003 for the Gameboy Advance, it was a game that already looked, sounded, and played like an ancient throwback even at the time.
One of the nice things about living in the modern age, at least if you're a video game fan, is that practically everything gets localized. Anything that isn't localized probably gets a fan translation.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast…for the year of 2024! And what a year, especially when it comes to the movies we loved, liked, and loathed. Regular hosts Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans are joined by editors Susana Bojorquez and (making his podcast debut) Brian Kwayi in a spectacular, extra-long episode overstuffed and ready to explode with everything that made this year in cinema what it was.
Did your best/worst make the list? Ours included The Wild Robot, Joker: Folie à Deux, A Different Man, Dune: Part II, The Substance, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, The Fall Guy, Anora, A Real Pain, Nosferatu, Deadpool & Wolverine, Thelma, Civil War, Blink Twice, Godzilla x Kong The New Empire, Ricky Stanicky, Saturday Night, Gladiator II, The Bikeriders, Sing Sing, Juror #2, Alien: Romulus, The Beekeeper, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Red One, Challengers, Sasquatch Sunset, Rebel Ridge, Transformers One, and many, many others. Listen now!
Countless authors have written about death, even their own, but few have been able to document their almost deaths as publicly as Salmon Rushdie, who in August 2022 survived an assassination attempt at New York's Chautauqua Institution (ironically, just as he was about to deliver a speech about the creation of safe spaces for writers in America from elsewhere). Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder gives the impression the acclaimed writer is almost disappointed by the mediocrity of his would-be assassin, a young man radicalized not so much by what Rushie had written, but what had been written about him.
Time flies, doesn’t it? As SEGA’s acclaimed Virtua Fighter series celebrates its 30th anniversary, it’s almost hard to believe that nearly 2/3 of that time has been tied to the fifth iteration back when it originally hit the arcades in 2006. At that time, Virtua Fighter 5 was lauded as a next-gen marvel and served as a glimpse of what gaming hardware and the fighting game genre could be, if technical quality alone could carry a title.
I remember some time ago back in the early 90s when I rented a book from the library about classic monster films, and seeing the famed Nosferatu creature from the 1922 movie that creeped me out and still does. We now come to the latest take on this classic tale with Robert Eggers version of Nosferatu that’s filled with an amazing and eerie atmosphere that draws viewers in, but some may turn away from the long run time and slow burn it brings.
Fans of classic shooters (or shmups, if you’re cool like that) were spoiled for choice in the late 80s and early 90s, though not equally. For US and Japanese gamers consoles ruled the roost, though in Europe the popularity of cheaper home computers helped created a world where Japanese-led productions weren’t the only game in town (pun certainly intended).
Growing up with the British Paddington shorts from the early 80s, I’ve always been a big fan of the character and his many (and often comedic) adventures. Needless to say I absolutely loved the 2014 film as it captured what fans love about the famous bear perfectly.
Orcs Must Die! is one of those unusual franchises that's stuck around for long enough to have run into multiple industry-spanning trends and survived to tell the tale. The first two games, Orcs Must Die! and its sequel, were hybrid tower-defense and third-person shooters at a time when tower defense was the thing to be.
It won’t take long, maybe a few pages, before ardent Haruki Murakami fans experience a sense of deja vu reading The City and Its Uncertain Walls, as if they’ve visited this place before. Which should be expected as his latest novel reworks not just 1985’s ‘Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World’, but also ‘The Town and Its Uncertain Wall’, a 1980 novella that remains untranslated from the original Japanese (and likely will, given Murakami’s dissatisfaction with it).
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is the type of game where you’ll destroy a floating air fortress loaded with missile-launching robo-ninjas after sparring with your demonic arch-nemesis, then escape to safety with a scantily dressed rocket launcher-toting femme fatale while piloting a motorcycle onto a snowy tundra where you’ll face off against a gigantic meteor-spewing turtle kaiju. And that’s just halfway through the adventure.
We've seen this story before, and plenty of us love it: ancient China has entered into an age of conflict. War rages across the land, laying low peasant and noble alike, and three kingdoms vie for supremacy over the nation.
Dreo is one of those companies where I’m always looking forward to what they’re coming out with next, as they continue to make awesome products even better year after year. A perfect example is their Solaris Max Heater they sent over back in 2022 that was already a great device, then the OH310 Radiator Heater last year that was even better.
Radiation gets a bad rap. Sure, it causes cellular damage, hair loss and weird mutations, but.
The Consumer Electronics Show for 2025 is behind us, yet the memories of tomorrow’s tech remain. On deck for this CES recap are Popzara’s Senior Tech Editor Herman Exum and techie noob Nate Evans to take listeners through this year’s bits and bytes of what the future possibly holds for us. Sadly, while our favorite tech guest, Computer America’s Ben Crossman may have been absent physically, but he was ever-present in spirit.
While this year’s extravaganza may have been more iterative than innovative, there was still plenty to see and chat about now that the (digital) dust has settled. AI may have dominated the showroom floor (and headlines), but that’s not all! Crazy laptops, VR/AR headsets, faster monitors, stretchable screens, robot companions, cuddle bots, e-car updates, gaming handhelds, next-gen GPUs from Nvidia and AMD, cat accessories, salty spoons, and enough solar powered-goodness for everyone.
Remakes and remasters are interesting and quirky things. Many hope to capitalize on the desire for nostalgia.
Whenever analyzing a musical film, I stop to think if the movie would be good — though not necessarily as good — without the music at all. Musical numbers should certainly enhance the filmgoing experience but they should never be the only reason why we enjoy it.
Got a spaceship in need of a quick fix? Just drop by Uncle Chop's Rocket Shop! It's the premier* repair station that'll help your ship get back to being literally ship-shape. You'll play the role of Wilbur, a new employee of Uncle Chop's doing his best to fix up ships and make R.
The market for desktop GPUs has changed considerably over the last few years, though not always in the best interests for consumers. In a market dominated by two companies, AMD and Nvidia, Intel has been called a much-needed alternative to the entrenched duopoly with the introduction of their Arc graphics cards.
Remaking a beloved classic is always risky, but remaking a cornerstone of horror like Nosferatu is especially challenging. Horror remakes often fail to honor the source material while offering little new.
Oba Electroplating Factory is the fourth collection of Yoshiharu Tsuge’s manga to be handsomely collected (and painstakingly researched and translated by Ryan Holmberg) by Drawn & Quarterly, but it’s more than just another anthology of comics from one of the most consequential pioneers of Japan’s post-war underground comics scene. Few artists from Tsuge’s era are responsible for bodies of work that have remained as compelling, or as vital, as his.
I’m probably one of the biggest fans of the original 1994 The Lion King, as I knew it was going to be one of the best films Disney ever made after seeing the trailer. Like most fans, I wasn’t too thrilled or impressed with the 2019 live-action version, nor was I looking forward to the unnecessary prequel, Mufasa: The Lion King.
I’ll admit that I’ll always be a kid at heart, and so it goes without saying that anytime I get a chance to review toys and the like, I’m always down to do so. One of the latest and coolest items to come my way is NSI’s Siren Blink Foam Dart Blaster, which outpowers and out shoots any rapid fire dart blaster you’ve played with by a string of long shots.
I’ll admit that I’ll always be a kid at heart, and so it goes without saying that anytime I get a chance to review toys and the like, I’m always down to do so. One of the latest and coolest items to come my way is NSI’s Siren Maulr Foam Dart Blaster, which outpowers and out shoots any dart blaster gun you’ve played with by a long shot (sorry, I couldn’t resist).
Once again, the release of a newly translated book from Keigo Higashino, perhaps the most popular living writer in Japan, is released within the same window as the most celebrated Japanese writer outside of Japan, Haruki Murakami. I’m not implying a rivalry between the two, but Invisible Helix, the latest in Higashino’s Detective Galileo series, arrives just weeks after Murakami’s The City and Its Uncertain Walls.
What happens when the way we see ourselves doesn’t align with how others see us? Aaron Schimberg's A Different Man explores this, questioning whether dramatically changing your appearance could ever truly change your perception of yourself. In a world obsessed with outward appearances, the film probes whether becoming the version of yourself you imagine would bring happiness or if it’s simply an illusion.
Indie soft rock is a genre I'm not afraid to admit I’ve had little experience or knowledge in, especially regarding Grenada’s indie rock scene during the 90s. However, that makes it all the more intriguing that a story about the trials and tribulations of an indie rock band on the cusp of stardom so accurately ensconced me away into this cigarette and hard drug-fueled scene.
We now come to The Calvin and Hobbes Portable Compendium Set 3, practically the halfway point of seven planned sets from Andrews McMeel aiming to reprint the entire run of Bill Watterson’s iconic comic strip, albeit in miniature form. Once again, I’d recommend going back in time and reading (or re-reading?) my review of the first set, if only because the history of Watterson’s battles with his syndicate helps put both his beloved strip - and these new editions - in some context.
It’s taken a little longer than expected, but fans of Japanese developer Taito’s legacy of classic games have reason to celebrate with Taito Milestones 3, a third helping of emulated arcade blasts from the past. I hope you like big, sweaty muscles and gameplay dripping with machismo and doused in testosterone, because that’s exactly what you’ll be getting with this collection.
Paronomasiacs, rejoice! Pearls Gets Put in the Pokey is the 14th Treasury of Pearls Before Swine comic strips, collecting both daily and Sunday funnies originally published in newspapers and online between October 11, 2021 through April 9, 2023. How can I say this with such chronological specificity? Because a helpful note says just that in the opening legalese, that’s why.
It’s been over two decades since Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (2000) burst onto the screen, delivering a gripping tale of revenge, honor, and sacrifice that defined the modern historical epic. The original not only entertained but left audiences pondering its timeless themes of power and redemption.
Crabbily Ever After, the 29th collection of Jim Toomey’s Sherman’s Lagoon comic strips, proves there’s plenty of aquatic antics left for his anthropomorphic undersea troupe of fish, sharks, and crustaceans, at least in print. For a strip now well into its 30th (!) decade, few cartoonists have made success look as effortlessly as Toomey, or comics so purchasable as they collections.
I suppose we should expect to get a few real stinkers every year, especially around the holidays, but that doesn’t take the sting of having to suffer through them. After years of solo efforts (some successful, others not so much) the Farrelly Brothers reunite for Dear Santa, a comedy of errors about a dyslexic boy who accidentally addresses a letter to Satan instead of Santa.
There was a time, not long ago, that Apple’s Mac mini desktop computer was the cheapest way to gain entry into the world of MacOS, one that didn’t sacrifice power or the company’s iconic chic appeal. It also seemed that Apple, and its users, seemed to enjoy their secondary status as the platform for serious creators and artistic types, loyal enthusiasts content to create content as Windows users dominated the Wild West of unpredictable hardware.
After only two feature films, writer-director Megan Park already displays some unique hallmarks with her projects. Both her 2022 debut The Fallout and her latest effort My Old Ass follow Gen-Z teenagers who must wrangle their own self-absorption in order to find some level of fulfillment by the end.
Jackie Chan has long since passed the precipice of a worldwide icon, and the obligatory movie in which famous actors play themselves was bound to come along eventually. But where films like Being John Malkovich (1999) and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022) used this meta-plot narrative to tell reflective and, in the case of the former, groundbreaking additions to the medium, the movie where Jackie Chan adopts a poorly CGI-ed panda is far from either of these things.
How do you tell a 90-minute mess in just 90 minutes? Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night tells the tale of SNL’s infamous debut tape night, when it was still a giant question mark in the programming lineup, only to be a game-time decision by executive David Tebet. The evening was filled with mythology, inhabited by personalities that are just as mythological — Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Jim Henson, and Andy Kaufman, just to name a few (these four in particular are treated with a welcomed level of reverence in this film over most of the others being depicted).
Who is Emilia Pérez? I honestly couldn’t tell you. Despite being the supposed heart of Jacques Audiard's film, her character is buried beneath a mountain of half-baked ideas and a nonsensical narrative.
Tetris has long been called “the perfect game” by many, a designation I wouldn’t argue against, and there’s no denying its staying power. Since first being developed in communist Russia on the evening of the collapse of the Soviet Union (some say the game helped end the Cold War, right up there with Rocky IV) we’ve seen Tetris become a cultural juggernaut with endless iterations, spin-offs, reimaginings, books, more books, and chicken nuggets.
With the holidays right around the corner, it’s always good to have tech to make cooking easier for yourself and any family and friends you have over. The latest to come our way is the Midea Dual Zone Air Fryer Oven, which gives you not one, but two spaces to cook in to help get those multi course meals out with ease.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Listen as hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The biggest games of the month include: Metal Slug Tactics, Tetris Forever, Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival, Mario and Luigi: Brothership, Slitterhead, Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, Lego Horizon Adventures, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl.
Other notables include: Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection (Physical), Genshin Impact (Xbox)Irem Collection Vol 2, and Nine Sols.
But there’s more! Nintendo updates their Nintendo Music app! Did you get your Alarmo clock yet? Nintendo also confirms the highly-anticipated (and still unnamed) Switch 2 will be fully backwards-compatible with its predecessor! Speaking of Nintendo, fans of their Super Nintendo World amusement park can look forward to Donkey Kong Country additions in the near future! Valve announces a special edition Steam Deck OLED: White! Halo 2 turns 20! Sony’s PlayStation 5 is here! Apple’s Mac Mini (2024) is also here!
Retro collections are all the rage these days, and it’s not hard to see why. With so many huge budget blockbusters failing to grab the zeitgeist, micro-transactions galore, and an shocking lack of memorable new franchises being created it’s no wonder many gamers - including many who never stepped foot in a real arcade - would be turning to classic games from a bygone era.
When watching musicals, you have to buy into a certain level of delusion on screen, otherwise you’ll just be scratching your head for two hours. Likewise, if musicals were absolutely literal, it would be preposterous for any sane character to sit there without questioning why everyone around them knows the words and dance moves to a brand new song that’s never been heard before.
My earliest awareness of Pharrell Williams’ music came circa 2004, but in the most obscure way possible. Despite producing some of my favorite tracks from the likes of Usher, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, and No Doubt, Pharrell, along with his production team The Neptunes, wasn’t the name I had attached to these zeitgeisty songs.
I’ve been a fan of The Smurfs ever since I saw The Smurfs and the Magic Flute as a kid in the early 1980s. While there’s been plenty of Smurfs games released on all sorts of platforms, most of them have been duds until recently with hits such as Smurfs Kart and even last year’s The Smurfs 2: The Prisoner of the Green Stone.
Once again, Amazon has waited a full three years to update their flagship Kindle Paperwhite e-Reader with a host of improvements that improve the experience over the still-incredible 2021 model. I’m sure even the most diehard book enthusiasts would be amazed at just how competitive - and innovative! - the world of E Ink e-Readers has become in recent years, and we’ve started to see industry-leader Amazon finally take notice.
One thing longtime Michael Connelly fans should know before diving into The Waiting, which is being marketed as a Ballard and Bosch adventure, is that the “Bosch” could mean one of two characters; retired LA detective Harry Bosch, easily the writer’s most popular character, or his daughter, Maddy Bosch, now working as a patrol officer in the LAPD but dreams of following in her (in)famous dad’s grizzled footsteps. Last year’s Resurrection Walk, which heavily focused on Harry Bosch and Mickey “Lincoln Lawyer” Haller, left little room for Ballard (minus an extended cameo), but here the Connellyverse continues to coalesce around Renée Ballard as its new center, functioning as a dual “passing of the touch” for both the series’ lead as well as the expected generational transition from father to daughter.
BenQ is back at it with their MOBIUZ EX321UX Gaming Monitor, an updated follow up from the prior EX3210U model I covered a while ago and called one of the best premium PC game displays at the time. Upon first glance, I thought there was a mistake with shipping because it almost looks identical, but the similarities are only skin deep as this dedicated single-player monitor has been elevated to the next level.
After reviewing the Reolink Battery Doorbell, I couldn’t wait to see what other security devices the company would come up with next. I didn’t have to wait long as our friends there sent over the Reolink Altas PT Ultra 4K Wireless Security Camera that makes watching over your property as easy as possible.
PC power supplies (PSU) are often an overlooked component that practically does all the heavy lifting for your system, basically it’s the heart of any desktop computer whether you’re building something essential or a raw gaming beast with multiple GPUs attached. Enter Super Flower, a brand that you probably never knew by themselves but is actually a manufacturer that discreetly works behind the scenes as an OEM supplier for other recognized companies known to charge a premium for their labels.
PC power supplies (PSU) are often an overlooked component that practically does all the heavy lifting for your system, basically it’s the heart of any desktop computer whether you’re building something essential or a raw gaming beast with multiple GPUs attached. Enter Super Flower, a brand that you probably never heard of by themselves but is actually a manufacturer that works behind the scenes as an OEM supplies for other companies known to charge a premium for their labels.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Halloween Spooktacular!, our yearly dose of creepy movie mayhem to help make the holidays extra sweet and double-dangerous. The theme for this year’s ghoulish goulash of frightful fun is Terrifying Tots!, i.e. films meant for kids that were unintentionally (or intentionally) scary, leaving impressions for all the wrong reasons.
Our regular hosts “Embalmed” Ethan Brehm and “Nasty” Nate Evans are joined by “Sadistic” Susana Bojorquez for an extended look at a batch of terrifying titles that left kiddos cinematically scarred, but satisfied. A special intro from Hollywood legend Malcolm McDowell helps make this spoonful of salty sugar go down just a little easier.
Films diabolically discussed on this episode include: Sleeping Beauty (1959), Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (1971), Shelley Duvall's Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme (1989), Labyrinth (1986), Return to Oz (1985), and Coraline (2009).
For a series titled the Legend of Zelda, we don’t typically see much of the titular princess. Our hero has always been Link, with Zelda working behind the scenes in one way or another.
Blood, guts, and Christmas-themed horror rarely end with a worthwhile combination, and unfortunately, in the case of Terrifier 3, the tinsel-draped streak continues. It’s a jolly, corpse-filled romp with little to say and, if we’re being honest, not much care in saying it.
Ever since one of my cousins showed me her Ring doorbell where you could always see what’s in front of her place, I’ve always wanted to grab a doorbell camera for myself. Thanks to our friends at Reolink, I was given the opportunity to check out the Reolink Battery Doorbell.
It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year since Diablo IV came on the scene and gave players the power to slay demons and explore the land of Sanctuary with their buddies. As with Diablo III, it was only a matter of time before an expansion would come along, which brings us to Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred.
The Switch! It's old! Games that have to include it in their development tend to be worse from a graphical and performance standpoint because of its lack of power! I've said it a billion times and, alas, I'm probably going to have to say it a billion more. That said, at least this makes for a great surprise whenever a previously Switch-locked game makes it to a platform with a little more open space to roam.
I’ve been wanting and meaning to pick up a rice cooker for quite some time now, but could never find a solid one without paying hundreds of dollars for it. Well it looks like Toshiba has finally answered the call for a budget friendly device that’s reliable with their Toshiba Electric Rice Cooker.
For most of the English speaking (and reading) world, 2022’s Talk to My Back was likely the first time they experienced the comics of Yamada Murasaki, a manga artist few had read (even in Japan) known for her work in the style known as gekiga, or manga designed for mature readers. Like Offshore Lightning, Saito Nazuna’s short story manga released last year, it was an important work that helped introduce a genre of manga that had been criminally underrepresented in English until now.
I recently got back from my first trip to Tokyo, and boy, are my arms tired. Wait, that's not how that joke goes, is it? Well, regardless, it was a fantastic experience that I'd recommend to anyone.
The Joker is one of the most iconic and complex villains in comic book history. From Cesar Romero’s campy portrayal to Heath Ledger’s chilling performance, we've seen many interpretations of the Clown Prince of Crime.
As much as I like Lilo & Stitch, something about the 2002 Disney movie always feels a bit off to me. Sure, it has a very non-Disney sense of irreverence that I can appreciate but it’s also a bit difficult to warm up to the blue alien serving as one-half of the title duo.
Your Popzara Pals celebrate 40 years of Autobots and Decepticons waging war across the galaxy - and our imaginations - as our own Cybertronian warriors Nate Evans, Chris Mitchell, and editor-in-disguise Sebastian Stoddard assemble in epic cybernetic roundtable chat about two animated features that perfectly everything we love about Optimus Prime, Megatron, and the rest: 1986’s Transformers: The Movie and 2024’s Transformers One.
Listen as the gang discusses how Hasbro and Marvel were able to (literally) transform a product designed to sell toys to children into one of the most beloved and resilient franchises in history - and how it took veterans from Pixar to restore luster to a premise that was starting to feel a little rusty.
Listen further as they explore how Transformers has upended expectations for decades, how a generation of latchkey kids came to accept death and loss, Orson Welles’ journey from Rosebud to Unicron, what the Michael Bay films got right, how Chris Hemswoth honors Peter Cullen, possibly the most quintessentially 1980s soundtrack ever, the surprising connections between Transformers and Sylvester Stallone, the genius of AOR King (and Popzara fan) Stan Bush, and more. It's an episode beyond good, beyond evil, and beyond your wildest imagination.
Metroid? Castlevania? Mash them together and you’ve got Metroidvania, two great tastes that taste great together with a name that lets you know exactly the type of adventure you’re about to have. But is there a word for the ever-growing world of Contra clones that attempt to capture the magic of Konami’s run ‘n gun platformer? We’ve got Roguelikes, Soulslikes, how about Contralike? Nah, but considering how closely most of them stick to the formula, maybe Contra Clone is enough.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast, where our in-house movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
On deck for this episode are two entries in Terry Gilliam’s “Trilogy of Imagination”, the other being 1985’s Brazil, that showcase what happens when absolute imagination is met with absolute ambition, a surefire recipe for disaster - and often something wonderful.
First up is 1981’s Time Bandits, which has the distinction of being the only “children’s film” with executions, severed limbs, exploding parents (and exploding dogs). Gilliam presents an entirely original time-traveling comedy with inspired performances, dazzling effects, and just a touch of classic Monty Python humor that appeals to kids and adults alike, despite a fractured narrative with more holes in it than any map of the universe.
Next is 1988’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, a lavishly produced spectacle of fever dream storytelling just as famous for its off-screen spectacle as it has for what’s on screen. A triumph of visual and aural absurdity, Gilliam’s adaptation of the beloved German fable featuring perhaps the most unreliable narrator in literature can finally be viewed on its own considerable merits. And what lovely merits they are!
Our hosts tackle both films with aplomb, discussing how sometimes style does triumph over substance, how Terry Gilliam may be the living embodiment of Auteur Theory, how both films skilly hide their megastar cameos (Sean Connery and Robin Williams), favorable comparisons to both 1939’s Wizard of Oz and Spielberg’s Hook, and the sad reality of how Hollywood has been replacing talented dwarf actors with CGI effects instead of hiring the real thing.
For many fans of games, comics, and games mixed with comics Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics won't need much of an introduction for this review.
You’ve most likely seen the many Transformers related reviews I’ve posted on here, and I’ll never get tired of talking about them as I’m forever a fan of the franchise. So it goes without saying I had to check out the latest film entry, Transformers One, which really was more than meets the eye as it’s surprisingly dark and violent, but still has plenty of humor and heart for all.
As someone who does a fair amount of walking and bike riding, I’m always looking for the perfect clothes to suit everyday wear as well as double for any walking and biking I do. So when the chance came along to check out these Coalatree Trailhead Pants, I couldn’t pass it up as they’re a nice pair that’s perfect for everyday wear and any adventures that come your way.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, a shockingly good name with not-so-pleasant implications for the franchises’ future, is a passable but ultimately route rehashing of another IP better left in the 80s. Finally free from the depths of the animated picture grind, Tim Burton (Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Alice in Wonderland) attempts to return to his original roots of off-kilter, humorously macabre projects through the resurrection of one of his classics.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Listen as hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The biggest games of the month include: Reynatis, Astro Bot, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, The Casting of Frank Stone, BAKERU, Marvel Vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics, and Wild Bastards.
Other notables include: Final Fantasy 16 (PC), God of War Ragnarok (PC), Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, Fitness Boxing Featuring Hatsune Miku, Yars Rising, Age of Mythology: Retold, Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, and Lollipop Chainsaw RePop.
But there’s more! Sony finally makes the PlayStation 5 Pro official! And it’s gonna cost you! Happy 21st birthday to Valve’s Steam, which revolutionized how people buy and enjoy PC gaming! Speaking of celebrating, happy 25th anniversary to Sega’s Dreamcast, gone but never forgotten (the old console even got name-checked in the 2024 Presidential election).
Did you know one of our co-hosts recorded this episode in Japan? If you aren’t insanely jealous, listen today to hear this special dispatch from the Land of the Rising Sun! Akihabara, here we come!
BAKERU is a game all about the feels. It feels like what you’d get if you mashed Super Mario Bros, Kirby, and Sonic into a single package inspired by Konami’s great Mystical Ninja games from the 1990s, resulting in a 3D platformer that is aggressively and delightfully more Japanese than just about any game I’ve ever seen published outside of, well, Japan.
It’s amazing how Turtle Beach keeps releasing gaming tech left and right, while also topping what they’ve released before. The latest series of tech they’ve gone back and made better is their Kone II lineup of gaming mice, consisting of the Kone II and Kone II Air.
It’s amazing how Turtle Beach keeps releasing gaming tech left and right, while also topping what they’ve released before. The latest series of tech they’ve gone back and made better is their Kone II lineup of gaming mice, consisting of the Kone II and Kone II Air.
There are two ways to look at a package like Over Horizon X Steel Empire, a collection of classic shooter (shmup) games for modern platforms. One is exploitative, given these are older titles that haven’t been remastered in any way, a barebones package with nothing to pad things out - minus the games, of course.
Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things, The Favourite) has blazed his own off-kilter path throughout Hollywood’s landscape since he first hit the scene in 2015 with The Lobster. His dry and dark sensibilities, combined with his unique insight into the stranger side of the human condition, have left lasting impacts on critics and audiences alike, clearly shown through his numerous Oscar wins and universal acclaim over the past decade.
If you’ve been keeping up with my headset and headphone reviews, you already know I can’t get enough testing them to find the best ones out there. Just when I thought I was done looking after the numerous Turtle Beach and SteelSeries ones I was sent, here comes another challenger with the Audeze Maxwell Wireless Gaming Headset that’s hands down one of the best I’ve used.
There are videogame remakes and there are videogame reimaginings, and it’s clear Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn falls into the latter, triumphantly so. Released back in 1990 on the NES, the original Shadow of the Ninja played like a cross between Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden and Konami’s Castlevania, a straightforward action platform with heavy emphasis on precise attacks and jumping.
In today’s landscape of tired, rehashed IP slop that seems to dominate the market for the better part of the last decade, it’s rare to see a film rise above the low-hanging fruit of nostalgia bait and fanservice callbacks. Alien: Romulus, despite being a brighter spot in the long-running sci-fi horror franchise’s tumultuous and inconsistent history, unfortunately never seems interested in building an identity outside what has already been accomplished.
Paul Feig’s Jackpot! asks a strange question: what if a film combined the maddash comedy of 1963’s It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World with the gory dystopian free-for-all premise of The Purge? You’d get a weird action-comedy that’s more of a vehicle for Awkwafina and John Cena that’s occasionally very funny, until it’s not. I couldn’t help but think that a few years back, something like this might have had a chance of becoming a minor hit in theaters.
As the great philosopher-musician Beck once said: in the time of chimpanzees, I was a monkey. And why wouldn't I be? Monkeys represent the heart and soul of the human experience.
I think I speak for most people when I say keeping your ears clean is something we don’t like to talk about or get into discussing too much, but we all know it needs to be done. This is especially the case for me as I have sensitive hearing and tend to produce cerumen aka ear wax more than the average person.
Given the iconic status of the "Alien" franchise, Alien: Romulus had a lot to prove. As the newest entry in a series that's been terrifying audiences since 1979, the pressure was on to deliver a film that could stand alongside the classics.
For as long as they’ve been available, I’ve always wanted to check out some Bluetooth speakers but never got around to picking any of them up. It's true good things come to those who wait, as one of the best Bluetooth speakers came to me in the form of the Fender x Teufel Rockster Go 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker, which is small but powerful and one of the best you can get.
Since I’m usually pretty mobile when I’m out and about walking or riding my bike, I’m always in the market for some solid headphones that can play my tunes and allow me to answer calls. The Creative Outlier Go Wireless Headphones are the latest to come my way and are perfect for those wanting great sound while still being able to hear around them.
It’s impossible to look at a game like World of Goo 2 and not think about just how important its predecessor was, both in terms of unique game design as well as its unique creation and how it was made available to gamers. We live in a world where anyone with a laptop, a modicum of creativity (or worse, a complete lack of ethics and willingness to steal) can create, publish, and profit from a game they put together, sharing their interactive vision with the world and seeing what the world thinks.
It’s safe to say that videogames have been around long enough to produce what I like to call “forever games”, those specific titles that have survived their original release, re-releases, and every attempt to make them “better” by modernizing their visuals, updating gameplay, etc, etc. That’s not to say newer games can't become iconic, but there's something special about knowing a specific title has managed to survive (and in some cases, thrive) decades of modernization attempts, only to revert back to its original intent.
M Night Shyamalan has done it again, tricking audiences into seeing a film with a logline that’s a much better selling point than anything put on the screen. Trap, a name all too ironic in what it represents to the potential moviegoer, is arguably one of Shyamalan’s most uninspired films, with wonky dialogue and stilted performances up there with the likes of some of his most infamous projects like The Happening (2008) or Old (2021).
It seems almost impossible that the Despicable Me franchise could have transcended the highly-specific premise of its first film — in which a super villain turns good after adopting three orphan girls — to become one of the most successful and longest-running series in animation history. Now six films in (including a pair of prequels), the Gruniverse also happens to be one of the most consistent franchises we have, animated or otherwise.
I’ll admit to being a really big fan of Supergiant’s Hades. I gave it quite the glowing review back in 2020, even calling it my personal choice for Game of the Year.
It seems like not long ago when Apple TV Plus was just getting started, and one of its hit shows, Ted Lasso, became the talk of the internet as everyone seemed to agree on it being one of the best TV series of all time. Those who don’t have access to the streaming service can finally see what the talk is about with the Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way Blu-ray set, which contains three seasons of laughs and touching drama that scores big.
When I first saw the front cover to Human 2.0: A Celebration of Human Bionics, the simple yet colorful illustration from Samuel Rodriguez of a child with certain disabilities being enhanced by technology made me want to look closer into the book.
There's a reason I could never join the military and defend our homeworld against all threats, and it's this: I'm unsure the planet is actually round. How can invaders attack? We'll just push them off the size of the world! They'll fall into the cosmos for all eternity! Who needs soldiers when we could just use a bulldozer?! Anyway, let's pretend the Earth is round - really stretch our disbelief a little - and take a look at Earth Defense Force 6, the latest in a long-running series about defending that blue ball amongst the stars.
I’ve noticed that a lot of the reviews for The Fall Guy fail to mention that it’s based off the hit 80s series starring Lee Majors (who has a nice cameo at the end of the film). Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, this fun reboot of the show has plenty of action, laughs and romance that anyone can enjoy.
I’ve dabbled with a few point and click adventures throughout my gaming travels, from Discworld to Monkey Island, and even Day of the Tentacle. So when I received an early demo of developer imaginarylab’s Whirlight - No Time To Trip, I had to check it out and talk about it.
I’ve been a fan of Deadpool since he first appeared in comics back in 1991, as how can you not like a guy that looks like Spider-Man crossed with a ninja? So needless to say I love everything he’s in, and when the Deadpool films came along, I was in movie heaven. Now we’ve come to the third entry of the “merc with a mouth” in Deadpool & Wolverine, which takes it’s hard R rating and pacing all over the place, but it’s still the summer blockbuster fans and movie lovers have been waiting for.
The Catholic horror genre boasts some genuine classics among its ranks with the likes of The Conjuring, The Omen, and one of the greatest horror films of all time, The Exorcist. Delivering haunting depictions of demons, the devil, and other beings of pure evil, these films have long captured American audiences' attention and fears for decades.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Listen as hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak, The First Descendant, Darkest Dungeon 2, Earth Defense Force 6, Once Human, and Zenless Zone Zero.
Other notables include: SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, Ace Combat 7 (Switch), Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance, and TMNT: Splintered Fate.
But there’s more! Xbox Cloud Gaming now on (Select) Amazon Fire Devices! Speaking of Xbox Game Pass, Call of Duty is now available on the subscription service - but you’ll probably have to pay a little more to play it! The Halo TV series has been canceled after two seasons! But at least Sega’s Like a Dragon: Yakuza is getting its own series, courtesy of Amazon! And don’t forget about those sexy Deadpool & Wolverine “cheeky” controllers!
The history of the arcade fighting game is just as rough and tumble as the games themselves, and few examples of this are more impactful than the rivalry between Capcom and SNK. Most are probably familiar with Capcom's legacy, but for those who don't know, SNK is beloved by fans of classic arcade and fighting games alike for their amazing string of original fighting game classics whose characters would ultimately merge into the King of Fighters series, an iconic roster that begged to be paired against its chief quarter-munching rival.
What defines a summer blockbuster? Is it the heart-pounding action, stunning special effects, or an exhilarating story? Twisters answers this question by delivering a truly memorable example. This standalone sequel offers more than just thrills and tornadoes; it injects a thrilling disaster element missing from recent films.
Ever since music-based game classics such as Dance Dance Revolution, Bust A Groove, Frequency, and it’s follow up Amplitude came along, I’ve been a huge fan of the genre. There’s just something about that classic, hand and eye coordination gameplay that once you get in the groove (pun intended), it’s hard to stop playing.
The original A Quiet Place was an excellent bottled low-budget horror film that impressed us with its intriguing premise and Christopher Nolon-esque high-concept worldbuilding. Its 2020 sequel was a solid continuation of the Abbot family story, only with Cillian Murphy replacing director/actor/writer John Krasinski as co-lead with Elizabeth Blunt, which allowed for the lore to be expanded while still maintaining the emotional investment of the original film.
The A Quiet Place series has carved a niche in horror by exploring the chilling reality of a world where sound itself is deadly. Grief, a raw and primal human emotion, becomes a terrifying burden in this silence-obsessed existence.
Optoma is back with a new series of new and updated projectors and I've been lucky to spend some time with one of the most interesting, the UHZ55 4K Smart Laser DLP Projector, which is intended to be a full featured cinema/entertainment TV replacement that goes big at home, or anywhere else you can enjoy a big screen experience. The highlight, of course, being the implementation of laser technology that promises to deliver precision-like clarity, vibrant colors, and speedy refresh rates in a medium-throw chassis.
It’s nearly impossible to discuss Eddie Murphy’s prowess in ‘80s cinema without starting the conversation with his role as Axel Foley in 1984’s Beverly Hills Cop. While his film debut in 1982’s 48 Hrs.
In the 80s, there were so many talented and awesome musicians out there that also had that certain mystique about them. Michael Jackson and Prince are two that immediately come to mind, and it’s no surprise Hollywood tried to capitalize on them whenever they could.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast, where our in-house movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
On deck for this episode are two mid-century movies that would define not just the “surfer movie” genre, but would dramatically influence the American culture landscape.
First up is 1959’s Gidget, Paul Wendkos’ classic starring Sandra Dee in her most iconic role as the lovable, irrepressible title character. Long credited as jump-starting both the summer beach movie genre and helping turn the sport of surfing into a national craze, beneath its bubbly exterior hides a deeper, more complex examination of a post-WW2 generational shift that would change America – and how young Americans saw themselves – forever.
Next is 1966’s The Endless Summer, Bruce Brown’s groundbreaking documentary showcasing a preternatural love not just for the sport of surfing, but those who dedicate their lives searching for the elusive perfect wave. Brown’s film, using only footage and his colorful commentary, manages to capture both the spirit of the 1960s while maintaining an optimistic outlook for humanity, despite the enormous cultural upheaval happening across the world.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Listen as hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The Biggest Games of June 2024
The biggest games of the month include: Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, Monster Hunter Stories, Still Wakes the Deep, Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, and….Banana Clicker?
Other notables include: Riven, V Rising (PS5), Assassin’s Creed Mirage (iOS), Star Wars: Hunters, Metal Slug Attack Reloaded, SPY×ANYA: Operation Memories, Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked, Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition, and Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game.
Everything Else
But there’s more! But there’s more! The troubled Street Fighter Movie is still coming, despite losing its Australian directors, in March 2026 from Sony! Speaking of Street Fighter, get ready to snag Hori’s SF-emblazoned Fighting Commander Octa SF6 Edition Controllers showcasing Cammy and Juri! E3 is dead and gone, but that doesn’t mean the summer gaming extravaganza can’t go on. Between Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, which company had the best presentation?
Rugged biker gangs, wearing patched-up greaser jackets, convening in derelict, smokey bars aptly named “The Bad Part of Town” have been cultural staples and synonymous with classic Americana since the 1950s. Unfortunately, this group has seen much of its original roots forgotten within the greater cultural zeitgeist, only showing up in modern times as stereotypical thugs or militant roughnecks.
How do you go about adding to a game that a sizable number of people would call one of the best ever made? Could you toss another few time periods into Chrono Trigger and still have the same game, just more of it? How about a new chunk of the Super Metroid map? Can a pinnacle of perfection like Balan Wonderworld really be improved? No Man's Sky certainly proved that it's possible to have a long (and improved) life beyond launch. We'll leave all these questions aside and focus, instead, on Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, the spicy new DLC expansion for FromSoftware's ultra-tough open-world blockbuster that taught the world there's no shame in dying over and over as long as you're having fun.
Inspired by the energy bottled up in George Lucas’ American Graffiti and playing off the rambunctious stage set by Amy Heckerling’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the ‘80s teen movie scene is one of the rare categories that gets talked about like an actual genre in its own right. Led by major players such as John Hughes, Cameron Crowe, Joel Schumacher, and Howard Deutch, among others, these films collected some of the brightest acting talents of the time and gave them a voice.
If I were a more indulgent writer, I'd introduce this game by going on, at length, about how the mainstreaming of the internet has had its ups and downs, and one of those downsides might be the way that culture is becoming increasingly sterile over time. Pockets of weird are becoming a bit harder to find, and I'm talking real weird, the kind of weird that you weren't even sure you actually experienced when you wake up the next morning.
Nintendo's Switch is powered by a fantastic concept - take the same games you play at home on the go without having to compromise in terms of performance or gameplay. By and large, the Switch kept this promise, but it does so in a "corrupted wish" fashion worthy of the most sinister genie: as the years have ground on since the Switch's release, you can feel confident that performance parity is achieved by having games run poorly in every situation, whether playing docked or handheld.
Logitech’s slimmer, lighter Key-2-Go 2 Keyboard is an exercise in compromises, offering users a versatile and comfortable typing experience..
Let’s be honest, when you think of Apple products, gaming isn’t one of the words that comes to mind. I have to give them credit though as they’ve been putting in work to change that, starting with last year’s port of Resident Evil Village that looked and ran just as well as its PC and console counterparts, with the exception of a lower framerate and some graphic options.
Being a lifelong giant monster fan, I was past excited when 2014’s Godzilla hit the states, followed by 2017’s Kong: Skull Island which would set the stage for these two kings to clash in 2021’s Godzilla vs Kong which me, my family and friends loved. So I was more than hyped when I learned another entry was coming with this year’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire that smashes its way onto 4K to bring some mindless monster fun home, all while looking and sounding awesome doing so.
Unintentionally juxtaposing the grimy filth of an actual dive bar with the gloss of the modern-day streaming palette, the 2024 Road House remake may be doomed from the very start. It never seems to realize that much of the charm of Rowdy Herrington's 1989 original comes from a film grain that matches its smoke-filled sets; you can almost smell the spilled beer and dried vomit lodged in the crevices between the wooden floorboards.
Richard Linklater has long been one of the most versatile filmmakers in the industry. While he does prefer a specific lane — hangout comedies like Dazed and Confused, Slacker, and SubUrbia — the writer-director has found an equally strong voice with other types of films as well, regardless of financial success.
Ah, the cyberpunk future! There's a lot of apocalyptic murmuring about how we're well on our way to techno-dystopia, but I say bring it on! The sooner I can get uploaded into a robot body, the better, and I'm hoping we see some AI bots that are a little more impressive than AIM's SmarterChild was back in 2007 sooner than later. For now, seems like we'll just have to rely on video games to really embrace the cyberpunk lifestyle just like we did decades ago.
Here on Popzara we're all about being open and vulnerable with our readership. That's why I'm going to admit to a secret shame: I was not a GameCube kid.
Anyone remember retro gaming magazines? I suppose they still exist, but with the advent of the modern connected world it's a little less necessary to pick up the latest issue. Back in the day, though, they were a great way to stay on top of new and upcoming gaming news.
Turtle Beach is ready to improve your sound game - literally - with two new upgrades to their best-selling gaming headsets: the Stealth 500 and Stealth 600. Both offer a great experience, and while only 20 bucks separate them in price, there are several quality-of-life differences that could make it difficult choosing one over the other, and even more so with their flagship Atlas Air In this review I’ll be talking about the Stealth 600 Gen 3, a marked improvement over its predecessor in every way, though it’s really the successor to the Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX.
Turtle Beach is ready to improve your sound game - literally - with two new upgrades to their best-selling gaming headsets: the Stealth 500 and Stealth 600. Both offer a great experience, and while only 20 bucks separate them in price, there are several quality-of-life differences that could make it difficult choosing one over the other, and even more so with their flagship Atlas Air.
Turtle Beach is widely known for their gaming headsets, and chances are you’ve seen a few of them featured on the site. Along with the updated Stealth 500 and Stealth 600, their flagship headset is the Turtle Beach Atlas Air Wireless Gaming Headset that’s a great sounding, highly versatile device that has all the features you need to keep your head and ears in the game.
Those who follow my tech reviews will know I’m a big fan of Turtle Beach and their PC peripherals such as keyboards and mice. Along with the Vulcan II TKL Pro, I was sent another improved classic device from their Burst gaming mice lineup, the Turtle Beach Burst II Air Wireless Gaming Mouse.
As with most PC gamers and users, I’m always looking for the best keyboards and mice I can get my hands on, both figuratively and literally. Our friends at Turtle Beach have come through once again to let me check out the new Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL Pro Mechanical Gaming Keyboard.
I can’t tell you how many times I wasn’t able to charge my mobile devices because there wasn’t enough plugs, the ports are the wrong type, and such. Thankfully these kind of problems are being solved by companies such as Hyper with one of their latest chargers, the HyperJuice 100W USB-C GaN Travel Charger, that makes sure you’re covered wherever you go.
Stephen King celebrates 50 years of publishing with You Like It Darker, his first collection of short stories since 2020’s If It Bleeds. The title honors Leonard Cohen’s “You Want It Darker”, the late singer/songwriter’s elegiac acceptance of his mortality as he shuffled off this mortal coil.
The mark of a great prequel is its ability to walk a narrative tightrope. It must not only deepen beloved characters and mend gaps in the established story but also stand tall as a compelling narrative in its own right.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Listen as hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The Biggest Games of May 2024
The biggest games of the month include: Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Hades II (Early Access), XDefiant, V Rising, Homeworld 3, Read Only Memories: Neurodiver, Paper Trail, and Nine Sols
Other notables include: System Shock (Consoles), Little Kitty, Big City, Duck Detective: The Secret Salami, Animal Well, MultiVersus (Returns), and Endless Ocean Luminous.
Everything Else
But there’s more! Atari Buys Intellivision, officially ending the oldest console war. Emulators are on iOS, including RetroArch! RIP Judgement (and frequent Godzilla) actor Akira Nakao. Great news - the Fallout Show is great! Microsoft’s Copilot will watch (and nag) your game playing skills! Tomb Raider series is coming to Amazon Prime (and not the anime version on Netflix)! Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is out now; and gaming owes more to George Miller than you might think!
Those who believe that Sasquatches really exist claim the creature’s main mode of survival is the ability to ingeniously remain undetected by humans indefinitely. Apparently, true believers haven’t met the quartet at the center of Sasquatch Sunset, who may not get spotted by mankind but not for a lack of trying.
Jim Davis’ Garfield was once a very funny gag comic strip. It would go on to spawn a great Saturday morning cartoon series, and was an omnipresent marketing machine second only to Charles Schulz’s Peanuts at the height of its popularity.
Percival Everett’s James has been heralded as a retelling or even a complementary version to Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a sequel to Tom Sawyer long considered the definitive Great American Novel since it was first published 140 years ago. It’s a shame that so much attention has been given to the book’s use of a particular word as it remains both one of the most important works of literature from perhaps the most beloved author in American history, but also a rallying cry against the inhumanity of slavery.
Along with the endless array of remakes and remasters that characterize the modern gaming landscape, there's been a curious tendency toward grabbing up old, forgotten titles and making them a little more available to modern players. One such game is Rainbow Cotton, the last official game in the cute 'em up shooter series before it would go dormant for two decades.
The world is a dark, cold and chaotic place, but thankfully there's a point of light in the shadow: remasters! HD remasters of old games! You name it, chances are it's got a remaster! Slap that baby on Steam and we're in the money! The latest game to receive the remaster treatment is The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered, a relatively obscure JRPG on the 3DS whose sequel, The Alliance Alive, also got the remaster treatment a few years back. The island of Avalon was once home to an ancient civilization, and if we know our RPGs, we know that's enough to get adventurers to come a-callin'.
It's a little difficult to determine the value of reviews when it comes to media. I've reviewed games for Popzara for over a decade, and I'll be the first to tell people who ask they shouldn't trust the stuff I put out there - nor should they trust anyone else's.
I remember wanting to see 1994’s The Crow back in my late teens for two reasons, it starred Brandon Lee (son of Bruce Lee) as a cool, goth looking superhero, and for the awesome soundtrack that featured one of my favorite bands at the time, Stone Temple Pilots and their hit single Big Empty. While it’s been released on DVD and Blu-ray numerous times, it had yet to make its way to 4K, until now with The Crow: 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Steelbook release.
We’re now at the very beginning of the next evolution of digital e-Readers, where users love them so much but wish they could do just a little bit more. Blame smartphones, which have evolved so far past their original intended use that we sometimes forget that not every device has to be able to do everything all the time.
We’re now at the very beginning of the next evolution of digital e-Readers, where users love them so much but wish they could do just a little bit more. Blame smartphones, which have evolved so far past their original intended use that we sometimes forget that not every device has to be able to do everything all the time.
Being a fan of the original Planet of the Apes from 1968, and not a big one of 2001’s Tim Burton remake, I didn’t know what to think when 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes came along. Thankfully it turned out to be one of the best films I’d ever seen, sci-fi or otherwise, and had me going ape for what the franchise had in store.
In an age of cross-platform play and a slow but gradual shift to the PC as a ubiquitous gaming device, it's a little weird to still see console exclusives, but they haven't gone anywhere. In 2024, there's still some games that you might or might not be able to play depending on which plastic box you bought, which is both a bit nostalgic and a bit archaic.
Have you ever wondered how the back-and-forth of a tennis match mirrors the intricate dynamics of human relationships? The strategic volleys, the calculated returns, the constant battle for control – it's a fascinating metaphor for the push and pull of love, rivalry, and the unspoken power struggles that define our interactions. Luca Guadagnino's Challengers takes this metaphor and introduces us to three complex characters locked in a passionate, years-long dance across a metaphorical court.
Remember the arcades? Remember all those attempts to make downloadable games the “new” version of arcades? Somewhere between these two worlds exist family fun entertainments like Dave & Busters, Round1, and other amalgamations of food and game (and sometimes beer, for the parents) that are often the last gasps of coin-op thrills in the United States. No longer seen as state-of-the-art, relatively low-budgets and simple gameplay loops meant quarter (sorry, token) munchers would live to see another day.
Who'd have thought we'd still be seeing more of Shelly Harrison this many years after the release of her first game, Bombshell? Did you even know that was her first game? It didn't make much of a splash, after all. Harrison, a she-Duke Nukem polished for the modern age, is likely better known for her later appearance in Ion Maiden, later Ion Fury, an emblematic title for the modern revival of the classic "boomer shooter" FPS formula.
You'd be surprised how many unique uses a single tool might have. Take the hammer, for instance.
Let’s face it, no one enjoys cleaning hard to clean surfaces, especially stovetops and grime covered bathtubs to name a few. I’ve noticed there’s been a rise of electric scrub brushes online for purchase, and I’ve always wanted to check one of them out.
Funny guy Asher Perlman has taken an unconventional path to fame and fortune, from writer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, stand-up comedian, indie filmmaker and occasional actor. Regardless, he seems to have found his calling as a cartoonist, and Well, This Is Me makes a strong case this is where he belongs.
Forget the American dream. Alex Garland's Civil War throws us headfirst into a dystopian America ravaged by discord and violence.
In my review of set one of the Calvin and Hobbes Portable Compendium releases (the first of seven planned sets, mind you) I gave a brief history of how Bill Watterson would create one of the most beloved comic strips of all-time, in such a short time, only to become exhausted by its creation and the demands of an industry that wanted more from him. He would only return to the form sporadically for charitable reasons or (with John Kascht) for experimental books like last year's The Mysteries.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Listen as hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The Biggest Games of April 2024The biggest games of the month include: Stellar Blade, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, SaGa: Emerald Beyond, Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- Sweep the Board!, Tales of Kenzera: Zau, Sand Land, Megaton Musashi W: Wired, and Phantom Fury.
Other notables include: Braid: Anniversary Edition, TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants, Harold Halibut, Biomorph, BioGun, Children of the Sun, Sea of Thieves (PS5), and Grounded (PS, Switch).
Circana: Thinking AheadWhile Circana (formerly NPD) remains the gaming industry’s best snapshot of what’s moving and shaking up both physical and digital retail shelves across the country, it’s time for us to move on. Going forward, The State of Gaming will no longer report on Circana’s monthly sales estimates – unless there are specific newsworthy (i.e. sales related) items from them.
Everything ElseBut there’s more! Apple will officially allow retro game emulators on the App Store! The Atari 400 Mini is coming (surely, Jeff Minter is excited)! Will there be a PlayStation 5 Pro? Do we even need one? The Fallout TV series is almost here! No DLC for Baldur’s Gate 3, says its developers. Is Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire the best videogame movie that’s not based on a videogame?
Also stayed tuned for Cory’s semi-regular update on the latest and greatest controllers from around the world (but mostly China, honestly). Selections this month include the Mobapad’s M6 HD Joycons (Switch), PDP’s Victrix Pro BFG Wireless Controller (for PS/Xbox), FLYDIGI’s APEX 4 Wireless Controller (PC, Switch, iOS/Android), as well as his mini-review of Sony’s PlayStation Portal.
On one of our many drives from Los Angeles to Oakland, we took an hour-long detour just to visit a bakery that made these cookies I had once when I was young. Most of the time when I tell people about this, they look at me like I’m crazy (“Do you know how much gas costs these days?”).
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast, where our in-house movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
On this episode our hosts explore two examples of classic and neo noir from entirely different generations of filmmaking (and filmmakers) where the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry, with delightful results for those in the audience.
First is 1954’s Dial M for Murder, Alfred Hitchcock’s adaptation of Frederick Knott’s play where the “perfect murder” meets an imperfect world. Featuring an unforgettable performance by Hitchcock-favorite (and future real-life princess) Grace Kelly, the film would become a popular template for generations of thrillers where the fun comes from watching a well-oiled machine go off the rails.
Next is 1981’s Body Heat, the directorial debut from Lawrence Kasdan (writer of The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark) starring William Hurt and Kathleen Turner (also making her film debut) that pairs classic film noir with erotic thrills in one satisfying, sexy package. It would likewise become the template for countless other erotic thrillers that would dominate the 1980s, made even better by John Barry’s unforgettable score and Richard H. Kline’s dazzling cinematography.
What’s the difference between classic noir and neo-noir? Did you know Hitchcock’s film was originally filmed and meant to be viewed in 3D? Did a murderous femme fatale inspire Jessica Rabbit? Can a murder mystery still be a whodunnit when you already know who dunnit?
The directorial debut from writer-comedian Julio Torres, Problemista follows the life of a young El Salvadorian immigrant as he seeks a Visa sponsorship in the US in order to pursue his dream of becoming a toymaker at Hasbro. Alejandro (Julio Torres) is our nervous yet optimistic protagonist who, due to his recent unemployment, only has one month to find a new employer before he’s forced to go back home.
Many words have been written and much breath spent on the modern attention span. To be precise, we're usually talking about the lacking nature of the modern attention span.
They say that if you eat a being's heart, you gain its powers. To test this, I've gone around eating a whole bunch of hearts lately.
Say what you will about the Mushroom Kingdom, what with its incessant plumbing issues and problems with turtle-based crime, but let it never be muttered that the people of the Kingdom don't appreciate the arts! Whether it's painting, music, or dance, you're sure to find an outlet for your creative juices in the Mushroom Kingdom. Even the local leadership plays a role in the artistic world, as we see in Princess Peach: Showtime!, a platformer-brawler-explore-'em-up starring everyone's favorite royalty.
The real failure in Pixar’s Lightyear wasn’t in its story, animation, or even its casting. No, the actual reason was its intent; the idea this was the movie a preteen Andy would have seen as a child that would make him want to rush out and buy Buzz Lightyear toys and such.
Bushido: the code of the samurai! It's a strict system of behavior and etiquette that these noble warriors followed to preserve their honor. Tenets of Bushido included things like keeping samurai out of sunlight, avoiding water and never, ever feeding them after midnight.
Creating high-concept cinema can be an art form but is also an exercise in logic. A wholly unique premise can find its own plot if guided by a creative mind.
In 1984, a team of eccentric scientists armed with proton packs and witty banter took the world by storm. Ghostbusters became a cultural phenomenon, blending laugh-out-loud humor with genuine scares to create a supernatural comedy masterpiece.
Denise Dorrance’s Polar Vortex earns its title from the brutal record-breaking "cold wave" that devastated parts of the Midwestern United States and Canada back in 2019, including the lowest-ever recorded temperature in Iowa, which the events here take place. It tells the story of a woman living abroad who suddenly finds herself in charge of caring for her ailing nonagenarian mother.
Your familiarity with the name Jeff Minter will say a lot about when - and where - you were born, or spent much of your game-playing days in the 1980s. To most Americans (and much of the world), Jeff is probably best known for creating Tempest 2000 on the Atari Jaguar (arguably the best game on a failed platform) or Neon, the stock music virtualizer on the Xbox 360.
As always, I continue to be in awe at how Dreo continues to make hit after hit products after thinking I’ve seen all they can do. Their latest comes just in time for spring and summer weather with the Dreo Polyfan 704S Omni-Directional Oscillating Fan that brings quiet yet powerful air circulation that's perfect for anytime of the year.
Let's go on a journey through time - think back, long, long ago, to the late 2000s to mid 2010s, and you might recall a magical web design framework called Flash. Flash was ubiquitous for quite some time.
Once again I turn back the clock of time to the 80s, where me, my friends, and my cousins were constantly playing Contra on the NES. All of the run ‘n gun action, jumping from platform to platform and over pits of death, and taking on huge bosses kept all of us coming back to play over and over.
The second collaboration (published in English) between horror manga maestro Junji Ito and Hirokatsu Kihara may not be what fans were expecting. Last year’s English-language publication of Mimi’s Tales of Terror (Shin Mimibukuro, or New Earmuffs) was likely the first time Western audiences were able to experience Kihara’s writings, who is probably best-known for helping craft some of Studio Ghibli’s most celebrated films (i.
Netflix's latest fantasy adventure, Damsel, directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later), stars Netflix staple Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things and Enola Holmes) as Elodie, a young woman from a struggling noble family. Initially presented with the opportunity to marry Prince Henry (Nick Robinson) and restore her family's fortune, Elodie eagerly embraces what seems like a fairytale come true.
Ah, to live in the world of a 1990s FPS! You might have problems, but they're all solved with your hyperspace arsenal of weapons and an endless array of health pickups. Thinking? Who needs it? The only ideas anything requires come in very, very large calibers.
Tomb raiding sounds like a pretty exciting profession, but the reality is pretty far from how things seem. There's bugs, for instance.
It's a me, Mario! Well, no, it's not, and given Nintendo's litigious streak I probably shouldn't claim to be Mario. It's particularly fraught from a legal standpoint because of how similar I am - we both wear overalls, we both jump really high, we both have problems with turtles, the works.
You can't help but wonder: in ten years, what will we be remaking and remastering? Will everyone be waiting on the edge of their seats for a remaster of Forspoken? Are we going to be aching to play the new and fantastic remake of Redfall? Maybe the reason we keep coming back to familiar wells is that we know the water's good, as opposed to the new stream that may or may not be full of parasites. Something like that.
We’ve all been there, trying to find a charge cable for your mobile devices or one for transferring data from one device to another, only for it to not work due to bending or twisting it so many times that it shorts out. Then there’s the nightmare of having a desk or area of cord clutter where all your cables are tangled together.
If you caught my reviews for Gunnar’s AC: Mirage and Marvel’s Loki glasses, you’ll see I was already more than impressed with how cool and functional they are. Now I’m more than happy to say that our friends at the company were more than kind to send me not one, but two of their latest releases with the Gunnar Call of Duty UAV and Alpha Edition Glasses.
While fear may be the mind-killer on Arrakis, Dune: Part Two offers audiences stuck on Earth a distinctly different experience. Poised to become one of the best films of 2024, Denis Villeneuve's second-part sequel builds upon the foundation laid by its 2021 predecessor, emerging as both a cinematic masterpiece and a landmark achievement in the science fiction genre.
While I do love a solid microphone setup, I have to admit I don’t have a lot of experience using wireless systems. Thankfully Saramonic has made it easy not only for myself, but for anyone looking for a great wireless setup with the Saramonic Blink500 B2+ Wireless Microphone System that can handle just about any recording job you can throw at it.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The Biggest Games of February 2024The biggest games of the month include: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Helldivers 2, Mario Vs. Donkey Kong, Persona 3 Reload, Skull and Bones, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Granblue Fantasy: Relink, and Pacific Drive.
Other notables include: Tomb Raider Remastered, Foamstars, Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster, Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery of Serpentcoil Island, Slave Zero X, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake, Nightingale, Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, and Pentiment (PS5, Switch).
Circana: January 2024Circana remains the gaming industry’s best snapshot of what’s moving and shaking up both physical and digital retail shelves across the country. All estimates are for entertainment purposes only. Total sales of new gaming hardware and software topped $5.06 billion, a huge 15 percent uptick over last year.
Highlights on the Top Twenty software charts Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 snags the top spot yet again, Namco Bandai’s Tekken 8 debuts high in second, Warner Bros’ Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League in third, Sega’s Persona 3 Reload in fourth, Sega’s Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth in seventh, Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown in thirteenth, and Bandai Namco’s Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash in nineteenth.
Everything ElseBut there’s more! The live-action Borderlands movie gets a trailer! Microsoft makes it official as several (formerly) Xbox console exclusives come to PlayStation 5 and Switch! Did you know there was a Palword phenomenon? Did you know it may not last? Also: listen for Cory’s monthly recommendations on next-level gaming controllers to up your game, this month’s selection include the GuliKit KK3 MAX, BEITONG Zeus 2, and the BIGBIG WON Rainbow 2.
For all the emphasis placed on vehicles in games, it's kind of a shame we've never gotten a series about piloting the most impressive contraption of all: the Segway. Sure, there's games like Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth that feature Segways, but I'm talking about a game where Segging is what it's all about.
There's something about certain games that causes people to ask "what drugs were the developers on?" Well, good news! I'm here to tell you precisely what drugs they were on: a carefully concocted mixture of chocolate syrup, lemon juice, Diet Pepsi and Pink Sauce. I can't reveal the proportions used in any of this, of course, because that would be spreading the exact recipe for the most powerful narcotic ever created, but trust me when I say that if you keep on mixin' and drinkin', you'll find it eventually.
Reviewing the Radeon RX 7600 XT is like returning to the original Radeon RX 7600 I covered last year, to the point that most of what I said back then still applies here too. The RX 7600 was a great entry-level 1080p GPU that ticked the essential boxes for most 1080p / 1440p needs but struggled when it came to maxing out graphically intense games.
The reception this generation of graphic cards has received among PC consumers has been mixed, to put it kindly. I’ve already reviewed a couple of NVIDA GPUs and found them to be impressive, if you ignore the price-to-performance ratio, an understandable argument compared to previous-gen models.
Ever since I was a kid in the 80s, I’ve been a fan of stereo setups featuring solid wood speakers paired to a classic system with a record and cassette player, and a radio. Those old feelings came back to me when I first took the DALI Spektor 2 Compact Speakers out of the box for review, as they have that wooden, old school look and feel, but is powered by today’s technology to give big sound from a small package.
I’ve been slowly diving into the world of home theater systems while reading up on how to properly set one up, which components you need, and so on. Thankfully an opportunity came my way to review the first major device of any setup, the amplifier.
We first meet Carla Nowak (Loenie Benesch), a newly hired seventh-grade teacher, as she assists in investigating cases of theft among the student body. She’ll be the audience surrogate in The Teacher’s Lounge, director İlker Çatak’s fascinating character study of class and status in a German school system, and her introduction in the opening scene concisely demonstrates the central dynamic between her and the rest of the staff.
Ah, Super Earth! The home of Managed Democracy! The crucible of freedom and liberty! It's the best place in the galaxy without question, so it comes as no surprise whatsoever that space scum is out to cause Super Earth and its citizens harm. That's why we have the Helldivers: shock troops dropped from orbit and armed with heavy ordinance ready to clear out any nastiness that might stand in the way of liberty.
Matthew Vaughn has carved a niche in the film world with his playful homages to various genres, including 60s spy adventures and superhero flicks. He's known for cheeky cinematic spoofs like the suave yet ridiculous "Kingsman" and the electrifying "Kick-Ass".
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast…for the year of 2023! And what a year it was, especially when it comes to the movies we enjoyed the most (and others, less so). Joining regular hosts Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans are Popzara editors Susana Bojorquez and Will Griffin making their first-ever podcast debuts in spectacular fashion as our quartet of film fans engage in a tremendously long discussion of the best, worst, and everything else that rocked their movie worlds in 2023. Let’s get to it!
So what made their lists? Sneak peaks include: Creed 3, American Fiction, Killers of the Flower Moon, Godzilla Minus One, The Flash, Anatomy of a Fall, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, John Wick 4, Oppenheimer, Barbie, Renfield, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Guardians of the Galaxy 3, Past Lives, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, The Killer, Air, Robot Dreams, The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse, The Zone of Interest, Poor Things, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, Monster, Dream Scenario, Blackberry, and many, many others.
Ghoooosts! Woooooo! Yes, today we're taking a walk into the mysterious world of the paranormal, and it's a scary place indeed. No doubt you've had some close encounters with the grave yourself, even if you weren't aware.
One point worth considering: there's a whole lot of content from Cygames' Granblue Fantasy franchise out there. Another: the mobile game that started the craze was never officially released in the West.
Ah, paradise! Sun, sand, palm trees and the glorious blue of the ocean - it's all you could want in an escape from the drab workaday life you've been saddled with. Vacations are expensive, though, and who has the time? No, you're better served escaping to paradise through a video game, and we've got a great choice: Animal Cross--wait, no, not Animal Crossing? Oh, right, today we're talking about Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, a Hawaiian RPG adventure with plenty of things to do, people to meet and stuff to see.
Sometimes video games can be a little controversial. Well, they're usually controversial only among a very specific, very vocal contingent of people who should probably touch grass, and it's probably fairly safe to ignore that contingent.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast, where our in-house movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
On this episode are two films harkening back to a simpler time, both cinematically and narratively, about imperfect men becoming unlikely role models. These are the type of films favoring essence over spectacle, characters over caricatures. And did we mention the snow?
First up is 1994’s Nobody’s Fool, directed by Robert Benton and starring Paul Newman in an Oscar-nominated performance as Donald “Sully” Sullivan, a man still learning to grow up at the age of 60. Based on Richard Russo’s novel (of which was recently expanded into a trilogy), it’s the ultimate character study of both actor and role. Next is 2023’s The Holdovers, director Alexander Payne’s expressed throwback to 1970s style film-making starring Paul Giamatti in his own Oscar-nominated performance as an unlikable professor realizing just how much he still has to learn about life.
Our hosts dive into both films like book nerds into great literature, and with surprising results. Listen and learn the shocking similarities between Paul Newman and Tom Cruise, and how Paul Giamatti’s attempt to break into action films didn’t go as planned. If they really “don’t make films like they used to”, then what did we just watch?
We're well into the next generation of PC hardware, and builders have more than enough options for creating a respectable desktop rig. This includes Integrated Graphic Processors or APUs (Accelerated Processing Units as AMD lovingly refers them) which typically house enough visual prowess for basic multimedia functionality and not much else.
We're well into the next generation of PC hardware, and builders have more than enough options for creating a respectable desktop rig. This includes Integrated Graphic Processors or APUs (Accelerated Processing Units as AMD lovingly refers to them) which typically house enough visual prowess for basic multimedia functionality and not much else.
Kick! Punch! It's all in the mind! Yes, the immortal words of Chop Chop Master Onion from the martial arts epic Parappa the Rapper still resonate today: it really is all in the mind. If you want to test me, I'm sure you'll find that I try and review as many fighting games as possible because, well, it's an awesome genre.
Latching onto millennial parlance while paying homage to the most dominant force in any genre in cinema history, Disney’s Wish was the film chosen to represent the company in its centennial jubilee. It isn’t a bad pick, per se, and one that, at the very least, isn’t some sterile socio-political statement that belongs nowhere near family entertainment.
I’ve been long overdue to get back into reading some fun and interesting stories, so I was more than happy to check out The Adventures of the Flash Gang: Episode One: Exploding Experiment when offered the chance. It’s a fun book that anyone can enjoy while also leaving you excited for the next entry.
It feels like yesterday when I was sent the Creative Sensemore Air earphones for review, but that was nearly a year ago. After tweaking some of the settings through their app, they managed to be a nice pair for those on a budget.
If the plot of American Fiction seems like a great idea for a film that’s because it was a great idea for Percival Everett’s Erasure, a 2001 novel satirizing the publishing industry’s pusillanimous method of leveraging literary fame and fortune through the gravest of compromises, and more importantly, the effects this has on one man’s mental state. Cord Jefferson’s adaptation, led by a never-better Jeffrey Wright, and possibly the best of intentions, can’t quite live up to that promise.
Billed it as the concluding chapter of the Detective Kaga series, only a fraction of which have been translated into English, Keigo Higashino’s The Final Curtain ("Inori no Maku ga Oriru Toki'' in Japan) is one of those titles with dual meanings alluding to both the book’s content and its central protagonist suggesting finality. It arrives just a year after his last literary adventure, A Death in Tokyo, an otherwise rote entry in Higashino’s oeuvre that suggested the author was beginning to tire of his Newcomer.
There's a lot of considerations when it comes to gaming. What are you going to play? What will you play it on? How about peripherals, which do you plan on using? Perhaps most importantly, what brightly-colored drink are you going to wet your whistle with while you're fragging noobatrons or however they put it these days? Soon you just might be sipping Sly, a new set of "circadian beverages" aiming to change the gaming beverage paradigm by offering a scientific approach to energy instead of just slamming fatigue away with caffeine.
Life is a Metroidvania, if you think about it. When you're born, you haven't even unlocked the ability to walk yet, much less double-jump.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast…for the year 2023! And what a year it was. On this happily supersized episode our regular hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans are again joined by extra special guest Antal Bokor (from 3rd Coast Review and Culture Combine) sort through the embarrassment of interactive riches one of the very best years in gaming history had to offer.
It’s a smorgasbord of gaming goodness - did your favorites make the cut? Besides the expected “Game of the Year” candidates like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur’s Gate 3, Alan Wake 2, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and other digital delights, other games discussed include: Dead Space (Remake) (Antal’s GOTY), Amnesia: The Bunker, Jusant, System Shock Remake, Metroid Prime Remastered, The Talos Principle 2, Viewfinder, Firmament, and Tchia.
But there’s more! Other games include Master Detective Archives: Rain Code, Hi-Fi Rush, Wild Hearts, Dave the Diver, Lies of P, Exoprimal, Honkai: Star Rail, The Void Rains Upon Her Heart, and Sanabi (Cory’s GOTY), Final Fantasy XVI, Air Twister, Resident Evil 4 (Remake), Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon, Street Fighter VI, Quake 2: Remastered (Nate’s most played GOTY), DOOM (1993) Sigil 2, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, The Making of Karateka, Humanity, RoboCop: Rogue City...and many others. We said it was a year for the record books, and we weren't kidding!
The Consumer Electronics Show for 2024 has come and gone, but the memories of the world’s biggest technology showcase remain. Recapping the extravaganza is our own Senior Tech editor Herman Exum joined by techie neophyte Nathan Evans and MVP guest Ben Crossman from The Computer America Show to talk about the magical future-world of tomorrow’s tech… today!
Without question, the real star of CES 2024 was AI. From clever uses to questionable ones, the show floor in Las Vegas was dominated by AI in all its forms, including repurposed smart home devices, AI-powered outdoor grills, bird-identifying binoculars, PC accelerator cards, adorable robot companions, beds, pillows…Who needs to think when AI can do it for you?
But it’s not just AI! Other headline making tech included gigantic screens (C Seed’s N1 wants all your money), transparent OLED/MicroLED displays, home battery backup systems, E Ink toilets (yup), clutter-free desktop PCs, Windows/Android hybrid laptops, UTI diagnostic tests, smart dog collars, PlayStation cars, dancing “interactive” plants, and much, much more.
Some have noticed the reason why Freddy Krueger is so scary is because he haunts you from where you can’t escape. Everyone has to sleep, and when that time comes every day, you’ll inevitably, and regrettably, face a monster without the physical capacity to do anything about it — unless you happen to wake up.
Yorgos Lanthimos should be in the conversation when we discuss the most impressive current directors. Adapted by Lanthimos and writer Tony McNamara from Alasdair Gray’s novel of the same name, Poor Things may be a departure from the director’s signature tone and visual style, but it still beautifully demonstrates his uncanny ability to experiment with impeccable cohesion.
If you go back and check out some of my recent tech reviews, you’ll see one company that quickly became one of my favorites of all time, Dreo. As usual, just when I think they can’t get any better, they continue to outdo themselves as well as some of the biggest tech companies out there.
While I didn’t discover director, screenwriter, and animator Masaaki Yuasa until the release of 2021’s Inu-Oh, and fell in love with it’s art, animation and story,I’m so glad Shout Studios made it easy to go back and catch up on his past works with the Masaaki Yuasa: Five Films set. Fans will love having this on their shelf while newcomers get to see why Yuasa and his films are so treasured.
There was a moment about halfway through The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes when I thought this may be the 2nd best Hunger Games adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ best-selling books of them all (the 2012 original is the best, of course). Split into three parts, this prequel installment quickly establishes its own unique identity, despite having the same director, never needing to match the energy of its parent series while also using it occasionally as a tool when necessary.
One would hope that a film franchise with as much money poured into it as the DC Extended Universe would fight tooth and nail not just to survive, but to thrive. Alas, with its latest - and likely last - offering, Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom, that hope feels all for naught.
Fitness Boxing Fist of the North Star is one of those games made for a very specific group of people: fans of classic Fist of the North Star anime that also enjoy a decent workout. This is an admittedly small demographic, especially in a world where most people (outside of Japan, at least) only know the franchise from memes, if at all.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The biggest games of the month include: Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, and Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising.
Other notables include: Batman: Arkham Trilogy (Switch), Kingpin Reloaded, Born of Bread, Pokemon Scarlet And Violet: The Hidden Treasure Of Area Zero – The Indigo Disk, Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties: Definitive Edition, Outer Wilds (Switch), Resident Evil 4 Remake (iOS), and Sonic Dream Team (Apple Arcade).
Circana remains the gaming industry’s best snapshot of what’s moving and shaking up both physical and digital retail shelves across the country. All estimates are for entertainment purposes only. Total sales of new gaming hardware and software topped $5.8 billion, a 7 perfect drop from last year, largely due to a perilous 24 percent drop in sales of new gaming hardware.
On the final Top Twenty software charts before the holidays there’s few surprises as Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 debuts in first, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 back in second, EA’s Hogwarts Legacy rises to third, Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. Wonder in fifth (with the plumber’s Super Mario RPG Remake debuting in sixth), Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, Bandai Namco’s Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections debuts in twelfth, Square Enix’s Star Ocean: The Second Story R debuts in seventeenth, and Ubisoft’s Just Dance 2024 in twentieth.
But there’s more! It’s a sad RIP to actor James McCaffrey (voice actor for both Max Payne and Alan Wake), who passed away this month at age 65. Also RIP (finally) to the tradeshow turned spectacle E3 (1995 – 2023). Id Software’s iconic DOOM turns 30 this month, and to celebrate John Romero released the free expansion Sigil 2, proving once again that the OG DOOM will never, ever die.
Elsewhere Rockstar Games’ massively anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 gets its first trailer, and it’s already broken records. Sony’s PlayStation 5, once impossible to get, continues to sell like gangbusters after topping 50 million consoles sold in three years. Plus, stay tuned for a special treat as Cory shares his picks for the best outrageously priced (yet outrageously good) “pro” controllers for your enthusiastic fingers. Did your favorite make the cut? Happy Holidays!
Not since 1998’s Babe 2: Pig in the City has a sequel to a cherished family film contained such unapologetically dark moments as Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget. Not literal darkness as the film is as bright and cheerful looking as anything Aardman Animations has ever done.
Remember when made-for-TV movies used to have a stigma about them? Heck, remember made-for-TV movies, period? Well, they’re still around, they just have a new face. The dawn of the streaming service has significantly muddled the once-extant line that separated theatrical movies — even the incompetent ones — from those relegated to network television.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast, where our in-house movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
Wrapped under this year’s podcast tree is our second Santa-themed holiday episode featuring two very different, yet oddly similar movies about men becoming Santa Clause. Parents should exercise caution before gathering the family around the television, however.
First up is 1994’s The Santa Clause, the John Pasquin-directed, Tim Allen-starring family film about a man tricked into becoming the literal Father Christmas. The guys dissect why this holiday favorite, which spawned a massively successful franchise that continues to this day, is darker and more satisfying than you remember. It’s the rare Christmas entertainment where body horror and child custody take center stage, where farting reindeer and legalese reveal the true meaning of Christmas is about loving not who you are, but who you could be.
Next is 1980’s Christmas Evil (aka “You Better Watch Out”), Lewis Jackson’s infamously miscategorized psychological examination of a man descending into madness that’s more Taxi Driver than a typical Halloween-style slasher. Lighter on blood than the marketing suggested, Brandon Maggart wows in a stunning performance predated Joaquin Phoenix Oscar-winning turn in Joker, with beautifully shot locations that look better than most modern films. How many Christmas films can boast having a Frankenstein-like mob wielding actual torches?
Concrete Utopia is a breath of fresh air. Most disaster movies can’t get past the obvious problems.
If Wonka doesn’t taste quite as magical as you’d hoped there’s a good reason. Mel Stuart's 1971 uber-classic Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory has rightfully taken its place as one of the most beloved films of all-time, whereas writer/director Paul King has managed to craft not one, but two Paddington films many now consider among the best of their generation.
Tired of your day job? Sick of running the rat race? You might want to consider a life of crime! It'd only take one heist to pay your way through retirement, after all. It's so easy, it's a wonder everyone doesn't do it! If you need a little taste of the thief life, you might want to check out Persona 5 Tactica, the latest Persona 5 spinoff featuring the game's Phantom Thieves served as a strategy-RPG.
We should probably all get ready for the far future. There's a few options we can use to do that as far as media go, and I think we should probably go with The Jetsons.
There's no reason to be a hardware snob. Well, okay, that's a lie - better gaming hardware tends to yield better performance and thus a better experience.
License-based games get a bad rap, and they by and large get it for good reason. For a while there, the only really great movie-based games were.
Our guest on this literary episode of the Popzara Podcast is Dr. Bernard Schweizer, Professor Emeritus of English at Long Island University, who joins our own book nerd Nathan Evans to talk about the formation of Heresy Press, his new publishing outlet designed to "give oxygen to unfettered creativity and to provide a home for authors and books that are not currently favored through the conventional publishing channels."
They also discuss Heresy’s debut release, Nothing Sacred: Outspoken Voices in Contemporary Fiction, an anthology of 12 original stories from an eclectic collection of authors whose only commonality is fearlessness.
Dr. Bernard and Nathan also chat about the importance of freedom of speech in a world increasingly given into tribalism, Pen America's worrying analysis on the publishing industry's "booklash", avoiding left/right labels, censorship by exclusion, navigating and avoiding destructive negativity on social media, the growing dissatisfaction with identity politics (exemplified in recent works like R.F. Kuang's Yellowface and the Jeffrey Wright-starring American Fiction), and much more.
Astragon Entertainment seems to be the leader of most of the successful simulation games out there. They’ve now turned their attention to the world of Trams in their latest release, Tram Simulator - Urban Transit.
When Police Simulator: Patrol Officers hit the streets last year, it had its fair share of problems, but most who played were treated with a nice simulation of what it’s like to be a police officer on the streets. From writing tickets to interviewing witnesses to solve various crimes, it felt like you were making a difference in your neighborhood.
I have to admit, when I first came across Merry Little Batman on Amazon Prime and saw it’s wacky artstyle and animation, I wasn’t too impressed and was quick to look the other way. After sitting down and giving it a chance however, it turned out to be one of the most fun and funny films I’ve seen this year, as well as being a Batman story the whole family is sure to enjoy.
Is there anything in the world more full of hope and wonder than a Studio Ghibli film directed by Hayao Miyazaki? Perhaps that’s why fans were so sad when Hayao Miyazaki announced his (most recent) retirement back in 2013, and even more overjoyed when he reversed his decision (yet again) three years later and began working on The Boy and the Heron (Kimitachi wa Do Ikiru ka/How Do You Live for those who prefer the Japanese title). Supposedly Miyazaki’s swan song - a fitting term, seeing as how birds are so central to the story - the film tries to recapture the magic Studio Ghibli - and the great director himself - is known for.
I’m a big fan of actor Tom Hiddleston as he captured everyone’s attention when he took on the role of Loki in the MCU and became a dominating force in it over a decade ago. Now that he’s conquering the small screen in the Loki TV series, Gunnar is bringing his sly style to this realm with the Gunnar Loki: Asgard Edition Glasses.
While I didn’t become a true fan of the Assassin’s Creed games until Origins came about, I’m all on board with the series and couldn’t wait to play the latest entry, Assassin's Creed Mirage that takes the franchise back to its roots with a bigger focus on stealth and finding multiple ways to take out a target. Famed glasses maker Gunnar Optiks are on board with the newest game too with one of their latest products, the Gunnar Assassin's Creed: Mirage Edition Glasses.
I remember reading about the Dakar Desert Rally game series some time ago and always wanted to give it a try. Saber Interactive’s latest debuted October last year to a good but very rough start, and now they’re back with extensive updates, bug fixes, and some new vehicles in tow to give rally racers a new, desert racing experience.
It’s often said that obsession can be a double-edged sword, capable of both driving greatness and fueling destruction. Saltburn, writer/director Emerald Fennell's followup to her 2020 breakthrough Promising Young Woman, explores the dark side of obsession, delving into a world where class, privilege, and unchecked desires intertwine with devastating consequences.
The Internet, particularly in the gaming sphere, has always had a sort of unwritten code of opinions you're required to have to participate in "polite society." There was a brief period where you weren't allowed to like JRPGs, for instance, and one later on where you weren't allowed to criticize Kickstarter; we're talking about that kind of thing.
It’s been almost 30 years since cartoonist Bill Watterson stepped away from producing Calvin and Hobbes, and the world still doesn’t seem to be over it. With the exception of the occasional interview or cartooning themed fundraising effort, he’s become the most famous artistic recluse since J.
Happy 70th anniversary to Godzilla! It’s been quite a ride - smooth, bumpy, and otherwise - but the King of Monsters remains a cultural juggernaut to this day that shows no signs of slowing down. Naturally, this milestone is being celebrated with a brand new film that looks back to the franchise’s humble beginnings.
Wow, it’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since Farscape came on the scene and took over TV with one of the best science fiction shows ever produced. While there’s been many DVD and Blu-ray releases since the show ended in 2003, none of them were truly complete as they never included the follow-up series “The Peacekeeper Wars”.
For what it’s worth, I actually liked the film and Disney+ shows that directly precede The Marvels. 2019’s Captain Marvel isn’t perfect but had some interesting plot twists and a ‘90s setting that defied the ultra-modern feel of the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Remakes are awful, except when they're not! See, if a game we like gets remade, that's great. We're bringing back gaming history and it's a nostalgic joyride through the best moments of our younger selves best moments.
As you probably guessed by the name, Irem Collection Volume 1 is the first of five planned volumes of re-released titles from the iconic Japanese developer behind beloved classics like R-Type, Ninja Spirit, and Vigilante. It’s a catalog that skews more to the hardcore set, with a distinctive art style and penchant for, shall we say, extreme difficulties that border on abuse.
Last year’s You Need This Book Like a Fish Needs a Bicycle helped celebrate 30 years of the undersea hi-jinks that is Jim Toomey’s Sherman’s Lagoon, a comic strip that still manages to feel fresh long after many of its contemporaries have sunk into the abyss. But it looks like there's still more chuckles and guffaws to go around because Things Are Looking Up, the 28th collection of sharktastic daily and Sunday strips, is here in one easily buyable, lovable paper package.
As we've mentioned a few times, not every game has to be the pinnacle of innovation or offer hundreds of hours of gameplay to be good. Let's not get it twisted, we're not encouraging offering players less value for their money, but there's something to be said for inexpensive titles with a limited scope that effectively do what they're aiming to do.
We're trapped in an endless cycle of remakes and remasters and that's bad for the industry for some reason! Despair! Okay, now that you're done despairing, let's think about this in a more rational way - sometimes it's just fine to take a classic game and spice it up for a contemporary landscape. Something like Square Enix's Live A Live is a great example of exactly this.
For all the talk about innovation, it's not always the uninhibited good it's made out to be. Sure, sometimes it's great to do something new! The Internet is a wonderful example of this.
For all the talk about how we've decided that video games are art, the actual gameplay aspect of games remains lightning that can be difficult to capture in a bottle. It's been decades since we've seen the industry take off, but it remains tough to really nail down what makes a game enjoyable to interact with rather than just being a movie by another name.
It’s important to remember that most series change over time. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; the people that love the series grow along with it, and to keep them invested, some things need to evolve.
I’m a huge fan of this little video game series called Ace Attorney. You might have heard of it; a plucky rookie lawyer named Phoenix Wright is tasked with defending the seemingly undefendable in court, and you must gather evidence and figure out how to use it in court to prove your client’s innocence.
Joining our resident blockhead Nathan Evans on this episode of the Popzara Podcast are the writing/cartooning duo of Luca Debus and Francesco Matteuzzi to talk about their new book Funny Things: A Comic Strip Biography of Charles M. Schulz, a unique look at the life of the cartoonist that uses comic strips to illustrate his Midwestern roots to creating the world’s most beloved comic strip, Peanuts.
2022 was the centennial of Charles Schulz (1922 – 2000) birthday, and what better way to celebrate the creator of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy and Woodstock than with a lovingly created look at his life through comic strips? The guys discuss the world’s love of Peanuts, finding the right moments of Schulz’s life to share with fans, giving lesser known cartoonists (Jim Sasseville) their due, similarities with Bill Watterson’s Calvin ‘n Hobbes, how finding the right partners (Bill Melendez, Vince Guaraldi) helped bring Peanuts to life, and so much more.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The biggest games of the month include: Baldur’s Gate 3, Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, Immortals of Aveum, Atlas Fallen, Blasphemous 2, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles, Sea of Stars, and Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy.
Other notables include: Quake 2 Remastered, Red Dead Redemption Remastered, Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical, WrestleQuest, and Vampire Survivors (Switch).
Circana remains the gaming industry’s best snapshot of what’s moving and shaking up both physical and digital retail shelves across the country. All estimates are for entertainment purposes only. Total sales of new gaming hardware and software topped $4.18 billion, a slim 1 percent uptick over last year.
The software charts get interesting as Remnant II debuts in first, Diablo IV takes second, Final Fantasy XVI in fifth, Pikmin 4 debuts in sixth, and Exoprimal in sixteenth.
But there’s more! Nintendo’s Switch surpasses the lifetime sales of the Wii in the US! Was the Gran Turismo movie really the weekend’s number 1 at the box-office? You really shouldn’t sell stolen copies of Starfield. PlayStation Plus is getting a hefty price hike! There’s a new PSP coming – the PlayStation Portal! And Super Mario Bros. Wonder looks like the trippiest Mario adventure yet.
For Bruce Lee fans 2023 marks two anniversaries; both his untimely death and the release of Enter the Dragon, which would have catapulted him to worldwide superstar status had he lived to enjoy it. But Lee had been working on another project prior to his passing, surviving only in video fragments and notes. The version of “The Game of Death” released in 1978 exhibited little, if any, of Lee’s original vision.
Joining our own grandmaster Nathan Evans and returning champion Kevin (YouTube’s StoryDive) on this episode of the Popzara Podcast is James Flower, writer, editor, and director behind The Final Game of Death, a mammoth 223 minute analysis of both the surviving footage and the philosophical methodology behind Bruce Lee’s final film as part of Arrow Film’s exquisite Bruce Lee at Golden Harvest Limited Edition, which also includes beautifully remastered 4K editions of The Big Boss, Way of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon, commentaries, interviews and so much more.
Nate, Kevin and James gather on the field of (podcast) battle to chat about what it’s like to undertake such a project, the love/hate relationship fans have with Clouse’s original “The Game of Death”, how Lee’s film would revolutionize and influence martial art films and videogames, shameless “Bruceploitation” clones, “sanitizing” Asian content for Western audiences, physical media vs. streaming, the importance of proper film restoration, and the timeless appeal Bruce Lee still commands around the world.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The biggest games of the month include: Exoprimal, Remnant 2, Pikmin 4, The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie, Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg, Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals, Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise Of The Dragons, and Disney Illusion Island.
But there’s more! Sony’s Twisted Metal series debuts on Peacock! Are you ready for the Mortal Kombat 1 beta? The PlayStation 5 hits a huge 40 million milestone (the Xbox Series X/S hits a different, less positive one). Is Nintendo’s next console already circulating among developers? Missing Netflix’s Castlevania animated series? Get ready for the Nocturne spinoff coming this September!
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
On deck for this episode are two classics from 1984 (perhaps the greatest year ever for pop cinema) that use videogames as a framing device that take our heroes into larger worlds they could have never possibly imagined.
First up is The Last Starfighter, directed by Nick Castle (Halloween’s original Michael Myers) and starring Lance Guest, Dan O'Herlihy (RoboCop), and Robert Preston (The Music Man) in a sci-fi fantasy that’s more Star Wars-lite than Buck Rogers. One of the first movies to extensively use CGI, it’s a perfect encapsulation of Joseph Campbell’s Hero's Journey, only with space combat and an entire race of aliens with male pattern-baldness (even the women).
Next is Cloak & Dagger, Richard Franklin’s Hitchcockian thriller starring Henry Thomas (E.T.) and Dabney Coleman (in a dual-role) in what could be the best 1980s kids movie you don’t hear enough about. Latchkey kids race from blood-thirsty terrorists as an Atari tape (yeah, tape) may hold the key to an international espionage plot. What more could you expect from writer Tom Holland, creator of Fright Night and Child's Play?
Even in a year overflowing with an embarrassment of riches, both movies managed to stand out. Did The Last Starfighter inspire Pixar’s Toy Story? Is Cloak & Dagger the most violent movie (made for kids) ever? Could either be rebooted and/or sequalized in today’s sensitive times? These questions and more will be answered - no quarters required!
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The biggest games of the month include: Street Fighter 6, Final Fantasy XVI, Diablo 4, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, Master Detective Archives: Rain Code, Aliens: Dark Descent, Sonic Origins Plus, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life, Pikmin 1 + 2 Remastered (Switch), and even new hardware with the release of Asus’ Rog Ally, the first mainstream Windows 11 gaming handheld.
I have to be honest and admit that I wasn’t looking forward to another Indiana Jones film, as Harrison Ford isn’t getting any younger, and it feels like we’re in an age where movies are all about remakes, reboots, and digging up old franchises to make money off nostalgia. But after seeing Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, I can say I had a good time watching Mr.
Today, it often seems like stand-up comedy is only quantified by how quotable it is. You watch a 60-minute set waiting for the funniest bits so you and your friends can repeat them to each other ad nauseam over the next few months - maybe even years.
Unlike most troubled movie detectives, Jon Hamm’s Chief Jordan Sanders isn’t listless, or jaded, or even all that troubled. Aside from his wife passing away a year ago, Sanders is relatively content, if not clear-headed.
Long-running franchises form a sort of cultural backdrop that inspires other media over the course of years. What would the entertainment landscape look like without Star Wars, for instance? That said, what happens when a property gets long enough in the tooth it becomes a little intimidating for folks who haven't kept up with it? When you tell someone who isn't a long-time Final Fantasy fan that we're up to Final Fantasy XVI, for example, there's a pretty good chance they'll wonder if they need to play the other fifteen to figure out what's going on.
One of my favorite times from my teens was watching wrestling back in the late 90s with my best buds, especially the crazy rivalry between then WWF before becoming WWE, and the infamous WCW which sadly slumped in the early 2000s and was bought by WWE. Nearly twenty years later in 2019, AEW (All Elite Wrestling) came out of nowhere and rose to become a new challenger to WWE that features previous WWE and WCW superstars to give them a nice run for the money.
Welcome to the future! We don't have flying cars, teleportation devices or replicators, but what we do have is a vast variety of tech toys to distract us from the ever-deteriorating state of society. That ought to be good enough for anyone, right? But what if part of that magical future means looking back at the past? And by past I mean retro gaming.
It seems fitting that Asteroid City is Wes Anderson's first film that he directed since the beginning of the pandemic (The French Dispatch was filmed prior). In many ways, he’s crafted a movie about grief and trying to find meaning in a world that often feels chaotic and unpredictable.
I'm a big fan of fighting games, which should come as no surprise if you're familiar with my past work. There's a meditative aspect to learning and improving that's hard to find in too many other forms in gaming; Dark Souls-like adventures can offer something similar, but there's something special about battling other players on the same level.
Have you ever watched a movie you wanted to like so bad, but couldn’t? It happens more than you’d think. Sometimes, a movie has all of the elements necessary to be “good” or “likable” - nice art and direction, cinematography, acting, story, etc.
Long before superhero blockbusters ruled the cinematic roost there were comedies. All types of comedies.
Elemental isn’t just the 27th feature film from Pixar Animation Studios, but the second (in a post-pandemic world) to enjoy a theatrical release since 2020’s Onward was quickly pulled and dumped onto Disney’s then brand-new Disney+ streaming service. And it was there their next three features (Soul, Luca, Turning Red) would launch, though last year’s Lightyear saw a return to theaters with the kinda-sorta Toy Story spinoff, only to be met with a collective meh.
Bubbles are a surprisingly essential part of human life. Just ask all those teens who were eating Tide pods back in the day.
When it comes to visual novels, especially those of the otome variety, I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur. They’re such a mixed bag, but I actually find that to be part of the fun; sometimes, you get something that’s eighty cliches in a trenchcoat, others, you’re gifted a story that makes you scratch your head because it feels so off the rails, and every once in a while, you get one that manages to have it all.
I’m someone who bakes when they procrastinate. Brownies, cookies, pies - you name it, I’ve probably stress-baked it while avoiding research papers or sending emails.
I can’t get enough of Creative and their latest releases as they tend to be just the kind of tech I’m looking for while also being some of the best at what they do. Their latest product to come my way is the Creative Live! Cam Sync 4K Webcam that’s a solid choice for any live streamers or those looking to step up their presentation on video conference calls.
As a general rule, I tend to avoid spicy foods. But ever since I was young, I haven’t been able to resist grabbing a handful of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos whenever someone has a bag lying around.
With the DC film universe going through some major shake-ups and changes over the past year, The Flash was always one of the films that I couldn’t wait to see but was unsure on how it would fare after these changes or would ever be released at that. Thankfully despite the changes as well as Ezra Miller’s string of troubles, this movie turned out to be a surprisingly fun and action-packed treat that DC fans will want to speed to theaters to see.
It’s been a bit since the last time I’ve used a waffle maker to make waffles, as most times I just make pancakes on the stove. But when I got the offer to review a waffle maker, and a Sonic the Hedgehog-themed one at that, I couldn’t pass it up.
If you’ve read my previous reviews of the live-action Transformers films (my review of the recent steelbook set can help out), you’ll note how the franchise started off strong with its exciting blend of action, drama, and humor, only to devolve into a lifeless product churned out as the next "summer blockbuster" event, with diminishing results. After the success of 2018's Bumblebee it seems Paramount Pictures has taken a step back and rethought how best to bring back the fun and sense of adventure of the earlier Michael Bay directed films, and with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, they mostly succeed.
Saying it's been quite the season for stellar game releases might be the understatement of the century. We've got a spicy new Zelda, a spicy new Street Fighter, so much spice you might think we're at Chipotle.
Britain in the 80s was, apparently, a pretty dark and dreary place, full of rain, unusual accents and questionably-constructed homes. That's what I'm taking away from Landlord's Super, and what it tells me is that Britain hasn't changed all that much.
Anyone remember board games? Yeah, those were a thing back in the day. They were kind of like video games, except all the stuff you used was physical.
Back when MOBAs were the flavor of the day - replaced, in time, by CCGs, Battle Royales, and farming sims - I found myself a little at odds with League of Legends' character designs. Specifically, they were fantastic.
I'm a fan of fighting games. That might be a little bit of an understatement, actually - I play a ton of them.
Remember Lemmings? Remember Chu Chu Rocket? Remember all those puzzle games in a post-Tetris (the game, not the movie) world all wanting to be the Next Big Thing? For every World of Goo there are countless Candy Crush imitators with little to differentiate between them. A good and proper puzzle game should have the right combination of mental stimulation, physical exertion, and vibe.
I’ll admit that I didn’t see Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse until it hit the home video market, but when I did, I was hooked by the amazing and always changing animation, the awesome characters and their voice actors, and the cool story it put together. As with most fans, I was on pins and needles for the inevitable sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which is a nice follow-up that sometimes stumbles on its pacing issues and long runtime.
The best candidates for remakes are movies that are flawed to begin with. 1992’s White Men Can’t Jump is filled with fantastic basketball compositions, iconic wardrobes, a totally memorable Jeopardy! sequence, an even more memorable Rosie Perez, and lots and lots of charm.
While Forspoken left plenty of people divided on how they felt about it, most tend to enjoy the game like our own Cory Galliher that liked dashing and flinging spells all over the land of Athia. We’ve now come to the Forspoken: In Tanta We Trust DLC that not only answers a few questions from the main game in its short time, but took what was great from it and made it better.
I love my laptop, but it can be a pain using it on a flat surface as I’m always worried about if there’s enough air getting to the vents under it, can bother your wrists when typing for long periods of time, and adjusting the screen every so often for just the right viewing angle. Then there’s the usual case of most newer laptops to not have enough ports for your accessories, which is never a good thing when you’re using your laptop for work/business where having access to flash drives, external drives, and more are a necessity.
Being a child of the 80s, it goes without saying that I’m a huge Transformers fan. So it was a no brainer I had to request the new Transformers: Limited Edition 6-Movie Collection.
Let’s talk GPUs once again, this time focusing on NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4070, which recently launched. Specifically, let's talk about ZOTAC GAMING and their GeForce RTX 4070 TWIN EDGE OC, a midrange graphics card equipped with enough power and a bit more style amongst its peers.
Minutes into Disney’s “live-action” remake of The Little Mermaid and it becomes impossible to not compare this overlong, overbaked version to the 1989 original animated classic that set off the Disney Animation Renaissance of the late 1980s after years of mediocrity and failures, restoring the Mouse House to its former glory before going on to dominate the entertainment world. Unlike most of Disney’s recent remakes, knowledge of John Musker and Ron Clements’s film feels like a necessary requirement, almost as if they're counting on your love of these songs and characters to help distract you from what a poor unfortunate imitation it is.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a record-breaking hit, selling 10 million copies in 3 days! We loved it so much we did a whole podcast about it (you should listen!). The Five Nights at Freddy’s Movie gets a teaser trailer, and no, it’s not the Nicolas Cage-starring Willy’s Wonderland. Steam is getting demos timed trials, so try before you buy! Speaking of Steam, the much-anticipated Dolphin emulator won’t be hitting the store anytime soon.
Konami is remaking Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater with a slightly different name (i.e. Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater)! Sony’s PSVR 2 might be a hit! And Sony announces a mobile accessory for the PlayStation 5 – but just how mobile could it be?
Sometimes a game comes out that redefines how we look at gaming as a whole. It's a pretty big deal.
Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. I'm not really sure which I'd choose, personally, though everybody sure is afraid of that chat robot from AOL Instant Messenger these days.
You have to wonder what made some people try certain foods for the first time. Let's consider cow's milk, for instance.
On this melodic episode of the Popzara Podcast our own Cory Galliher and Sebastian Stoddard unite to talk about Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on Switch, the direct sequel to 2017’s Breath of the Wild. Just days after its May 2023 release it’s already become one of the fastest-selling, highest-rated games of all-time – but was the hype justified?
Cory and Sebastian take listeners on a quest of both nostalgia and nuance, reliving their favorite Zelda moments as they explore Link’s latest, and possibly greatest, adventure yet. Listen as they discuss how the game’s trio of new gameplay additions (Ultrahand, Fuse, Ascend) continue the series’ penchant for constant innovation, graphics (tech) vs. visuals (art direction), the miracle of launching a AAA game in a near-perfect state these days, epic trailers, thirst-trap Gannon, and so much more.
It’s dangerous to go alone – and thankfully you won’t have to when you listen today. It’s not a secret to everyone anymore!
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
On this scrumdiddlyumptious episode our hosts unwrap 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the flavory-savory cinematic adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel. Directed by Mel Stuart and starring Gene Wilder in perhaps his most iconic (and deranged) role, it’s since become one of the most beloved films of all-time.
Our hosts discuss how the right combination of director, star, music, and pathos helped create a timeless classic that’s endured for generations. Also on the lickswishy menu are comparisons to Tim Burton’s inferior 2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the recent "revision controversy" of Dahl’s literary work, the film’s surprising number of Nazi allusions, and so much more.
It's one Everlasting Gobstopper that never stops giving its sugary goodness, your golden ticket to pure imagination you don’t want to miss!
What kid didn't want to be a Jedi growing up? Me, for one. I wanted to be Han Solo, because I was one of the cool kids.
Card addition is a real and serious issue. Just look at me: I'm so big on cards that it's taken over my life.
Fairytales have always been a fantastic subject for video games. Who can forget the Brothers Grimm's tales about the post-apocalyptic wasteland that eventually became the Fallout series? Aesop's fables are what led to Mortal Kombat.
It’s difficult to tell a true story when everyone already knows how it goes. As a filmmaker, you have to make the audience want to stick with it until the inevitable conclusion.
There’s a certain type of magic that happens when a talented filmmaker collaborates with Disney on a live-action remake of an animated classic. Not the good kind of magic where two proven entities come together to craft something brilliant and special, but the kind of black magic that seems to destroy everything that once felt inspired, innovative, and organic.
The motto of the games industry: if anything is worth doing, it's worth doing ten more times. That's where genres come from, after all.
One of the big moral panics of today's zeitgeist appears to be "screens." Not that I'm biased or anything, being someone who makes a living and holds side gigs working primarily on screens, but it always seemed a little bizarre to me to simultaneously push kids toward those vital STEM roles and also push them away from using technology.
I'll admit it: it's pretty rare that I'll give a game a negative review. It usually takes severe performance issues, crashing and the like to convince me.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the 32nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is the final chapter of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy.
Occasionally fun, often interesting, and mostly peculiar, 80 for Brady does for old women what Last Vegas does for old men, but with half the stakes and one-third the jokes. Of course, the “old person” comedy has been in and out of cachet ever since George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg wore Groucho glasses in 1979’s Going in Style, although has seen a big resurgence since 2007's The Bucket List (even a Going in Style remake in 2017).
We're in an interesting world these days when it comes to emulation. On YouTube, along with generally pretending that video games are still toys for children thanks to restrictions on content and the sort of language one uses, you typically also have to pretend emulation doesn't exist.
Renfield may seem like the the latest vampire offering from Hollywood, but it's much more than that. Showcasing a new take on the character of Count Dracula (Nicolas Cage) and his devoted assistant/familiar R.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The Biggest Games of April 2023The biggest games of the month include: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Dead Island 2, Minecraft Legends, Advance Wars 1+2 Reboot Camp, The Last Case of Benedict Fox, Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection Vol. 1-2, and Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores (DLC).
Other notables include: Ghostwire: Tokyo (Xbox), Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak (Xbox), Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly, The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story, Disney Speedstorm (Early Access), and the actual release of Everspace 2.
Circana (Formerly NPD): March 2023Circana remains the gaming industry’s best snapshot of what’s moving and shaking up both physical and digital retail shelves across the country. All estimates are for entertainment purposes only. Total sales of new gaming hardware and software topped $4.6 billion, a 5 percent dip from last year. Notably, Sony’s PlayStation 5 has been breaking records across the board, a huge turnaround when the console was nearly impossible to find.
On the Top 20 software charts Capcom's Resident Evil 4 Remake debuts in the top spot, followed by Warner Bros' Hogwarts Legacy in second, and Sony's MLB: The Show 23 debuts in third. Take 2's WWE 2K23 debuts high in seventh, Nintendo's physical version of Metroid Prime Remastered in thirteenth and, perhaps as a nod to upcoming Star Wars projects, Warner Bros' LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga returns in capping off the list in twentieth. May the 4th be with you.
Everything ElseBut there’s more! The Super Mario Bros. Movie breaks a billion at the box-office! We predicted it! Sony’s Twisted Metal series gets a teaser-trailer! Speaking of Sony, their PSVR 2 headset is finally coming to retailers! The upcoming Street Fighter movie reboot gets a pair of Australian directors! And you can actually play the new Street Fighter VI (demo, anyway) right now!
Since I’m always in the market for headsets, I’ve come across a few awesome ones in the past year or so that have taken my ears on a joyride. The latest one to do so is the Turtle Beach Stealth Pro Wireless Headset that has a few minor design faults, but still reigns as the king of their headsets.
When the game industry produces something good, you can bet it's going to produce a lot more of that something. The indie scene, for all its talk of innovation, is no exception - just look at how many farming sims hit the digital storefronts over the last year alone, just as one example, or the bizarre coincidence of multiple Pokémon Snap-style photography games appearing all at once.
If you’re playing Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End and the Secret Key, you’ve most likely played one (or both, you go getter!) of the two previous games. That is, unless you’re like I’ve been with Nintendo's Fire Emblem and see these characters everwhere, read the wiki pages for them, and adopt them as your own.
When I first played Coffee Talk back in 2020 it was during the…um, extended “staycation” we don’t like to talk about. There was something about it that immediately stuck with me.
Evil Dead Rise is the fifth installment of the Evil Dead film franchise and tells the story of a family fighting for their lives against monstrous demons after they discover one of the three volumes of Naturom Demonto, aka The Book of the Dead. Originally intended to be released on HBO Max (now just…Max), Evil Dead Rise tested so well at screenings Warner Bros decided to release it theatrically - and I’m so glad they did.
Remember bacon? Bacon was an Internet obsession for a little while. There were bacon recipes, bacon merchandise, bacon condiments.
I'd like to propose that we extend the modern game journalism cliche of "the Dark Souls of ___" to stuff in real life. Waiting at the DMV? That's the Dark Souls of Bureaucracy.
Say what you will about the modern games industry, but it's hard to deny that there's more to play than ever these days. What's more, it's easier than ever to find and enjoy the classic games of yesteryear, though the legitimacy of your means of doing so might vary a tiny bit.
I had a good feeling about Scott Magoon’s The Extincts when I first saw the covers to the first book and this sequel, The Extincts: Flight of the Mammoth, and I’m happy to say this one delivers just like the previous entry with plenty of action, adventure, humor and educational moments that’s fun for any reader. Are anthropomorphic animal heroes, The Extincts, are back and still recovering from their previous adventure that turned everything they thought they knew upside down.
Once I saw the front cover of Scott Magoon’s The Extincts: Quest for the Unicorn Horn and noticed the simple yet striking artwork, I knew I had to give it a look. It also doesn’t hurt that I’m a sucker for anthropomorphic animals, and this graphic novel delivers the goods for young and older readers with adventure and some nice educational moments along the way.
Keanu Reeves is back once again in the 4th installment of the action-thriller franchise John Wick: Chapter 4. The sequel to John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum has Wick (Keanu Reeves) still on the run and still seeking revenge against members of the High Table.
When Your Name was released back in 2016, it was a total game changer for anime films. It was honestly the first time I heard people who didn’t have any particular connection to anime get so excited about an anime film, and for good reason.
Mini-ITX motherboards are decidedly niche in the consumer PC world. There are numerous reasons for their select appeal and some equally compromised disadvantages, but people who opt for small form factor machines have very specific reasons why they’d choose something like the GIGABYTE B650I AORUS ULTRA AM5 motherboard.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
Is a double-dose of Nintendo nostalgia as the guys revisit the original – and infamous – live-action Super Mario Bros. (1993) starring Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper. A notorious box-office disaster, audiences weren’t ready for its bizarre mix of Max Mad, Blade Runner, and fetish dancing in a film that was “Mario” in name only.
The same can’t be said of the new animated blockbuster The Super Mario Bros Movie (2023) from Illumination Studios starring Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Jack Black, which has broken box-office records and could signal Hollywood’s next obsession. It’s truly a love letter to Brooklyn’s favorite brothers (and Nintendo).
There was a time once when game discussion revolved around, well, games. We're talking about gameplay, controls, that sort of thing; it's a little more rare these days, since the focus tends to be on whatever cultural monomania has gripped the Internet that week.
The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti has arrived, and I’ve finally spent some time getting acquainted with the GPU that was originally supposed to be the "RTX 4080 12GB". This little tidbit of its’ “unlaunching” meant a couple things for this rereleased GPUs: this card comes with a $100 MSRP discount to better align in the model hierarchy, and for unknown reasons—NVIDIA themselves skipped out on making a Founders Edition variant.
Ever since I saw the trailers for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, I could see how Illumination worked closely with Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo to bring the famed game series to the big screen, as there was fun and adventure from the games popping up in every frame.
The onslaught of freshly-translated works from Junji Ito continues! It’ll never end! The legendary Japanese horror manga maestro’s popularity has exploded in recent years thanks to (what feels like) an endless influx of new and older titles making their way to Western audiences thanks to his absurdly stacked back catalogue and other appearances. Maybe you caught the Netflix anthology Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre? Or enjoyed last year's digitally created The Liminal Zone? Perhaps you spotted him hamming it up with Guillermo del Toro in Death Stranding? Regardless of how you got here, Tombs: Junji Ito Story Collection includes nine short tales from an earlier period in Ito’s career (between 1994 - 1997), some of which have been animated in that above-mentioned Netflix anthology.
The 1980s were chock full of Cold War pop flicks like Red Dawn, Rocky IV, and WarGames. There was no sympathy to be had for the other side, only paranoia.
Leave it to Creative to keep making a variety of awesome audio accessories for PC, consoles, TVs and more that fit whatever consumers need them for. This most certainly goes for their latest device, the Creative Stage SE that’s the perfect sized soundbar for PC gamer desks and their monitors, but can also be used for anything you can think of.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The Biggest Games of March 2023The biggest games of the month include: Resident Evil 4 Remake, Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon, The Last of Us Part 1 (PC), Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure, Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key, and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty.
Other notables include: Sifu (Xbox), Remnant: From the Ashes (Switch), Have a Nice Death, Tchia, and Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania.
Circana (Formerly NPD): February 2023New name, same Mat Piscatella! NPD is now Circana – and remains the gaming industry’s best snapshot of what’s moving and shaking up both physical and digital retail shelves across the country. All estimates are for entertainment purposes only. Total sales of new gaming hardware and software topped $4.6 billion, a 6 percent increase over last year.
On the software charts Warner Bros’ Hogwarts Legacy unseats Activison’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remake for the top spot, while EA’s Dead Space remake stays cozy in third. Sony’s The Last of Us: Part 1 returns in sixth, EA’s Wild Hearts debuts high in eighth, Sega’s Like a Dragon: Ishin! enters the list at ninth, while Square Enix’s Octopath Traveler II sneaks in at tenth.
Elsewhere on the list Nintendo’s Kirby’s Return to Dream Land debuts at fifteenth, Sega’s Company of Heroes 3 lands in sixteenth, Sony’s The Last of Us: Part II returns in eighteenth, and Square Enix’s Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line rounds out the list in twentieth.
Everything ElseBut there’s more! E3, formerly the biggest gaming event in the world, has been canceled yet again. Maybe this time for keeps? Sony’s The Last of Us renaissance continues with the release of The Last of Us: Part I on PC…but was it worth the wait? Warner Bros’ Smash Bros. ripoff homage MultiVersus is set to be shut down this summer – but will it return? Word on the street Sony’s PSVR2 isn’t selling that hot – but Cory still loved it anyway!
Will 2023 be the year that game movies finally take off? Apple TV’s Tetris and Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game provide some biographical references for game/movie fans everywhere – all from the comfort of home. Check out our interview with the Pinball directors when you’re done listening to this!
Watching yourself die and living to tell the tale isn’t something anyone on this Earth could ever relate to. And yet that’s what Brandon Cronenberg’s latest film Infinity Pool concerns itself with.
Raising a pet is pretty hard work. Kids? Kids are cute, so they can be forgiven for their misdeeds.
There's a lot to be said for fans. Sure, it's fashionable these days to discard their views - such as when they say bad movies like the Star Wars sequels are bad, and don't @ me - but they also do a lot to keep their favorite franchises going even when nobody else will.
I thought the whole “gaming with toys” genre was gone, but it seems to have picked back up recently and soared to new heights with titles such as 2020’s Mario Kart Live by Velan Studios that was perfect for people stuck inside during the "dark time" that year was known for. Now the studio is back with Hot Wheels: Rift Rally that’s mixed-reality fun anyone will want to buckle up and race into.
Data will always be a demanding concern for console gamers, and what often seems like an afterthought for manufacturers. Current-generation Xbox Series X|S owners know the struggle all too well as both models opt for a more ‘curated’ approach that keeps their architecture proficient, reliable, and protected for optimization.
During this year’s Oscars ceremony, Elizabeth Banks did a skit with a person in a bear costume, pointing to the bear as proof for how bad her movie, Cocaine Bear, would have looked if she hadn’t opted for a computer-generated version of the titular animal instead. I immediately recalled the obscure 1988 comedy State Park (featuring Ted Nugent!), which featured an unintentionally creepy, and definitely fake, grizzly bear.
I love games that have a premise that’s both really silly and also really unique. I think a good example of this is 2022’s breakout hit Trombone Champ, a truly unique take on the rhythm genre with an instrument you typically don’t see in rhythm games with a healthy helping of baboons scattered throughout to give it extra personality.
There’s something to be said about games that show their heart on their sleeve. It isn’t always about hyper realistic graphics or incredibly intricate, groundbreaking gameplay.
It’s always refreshing to watch a movie that knows it’s never going to be nominated for a single Oscar or earn any clout as a genre revolutionary, and yet executes its story well, in refreshing ways, and entertains us for a couple hours in the process. Few filmmakers have been able to consistently excel at making these types of movies.
The more things change, the more they stay the same - or, well, sometimes they just change. That's the case with Capcom's Resident Evil games, which took a wild swerve in a more action-oriented direction with the release of Resident Evil 4 on the GameCube back in 2005.
We're looking at yet another remaster today - wait, what? We're not? Yes, original titles do still come out every so often. Even long-running, fan-favorite franchises need to spread their wings from time to time.
Created by Scottish cartoonist AC Macdonald, Twistwood Tales feels like a webcomic from a bygone era, one that relished breaking free from the typical 4-panel restraints (and content limitations) of newspaper funnies to create something entirely new with the medium, to challenge the perceptions of what a “comic strip” could truly be. After debuting back in 2019 it quickly became an immediate sensation, especially on Twitter and Instagram.
While I didn’t really get into the Diablo franchise until Diablo III, I’ve been a huge fan of it since then and can’t get enough of it. So it goes without saying that I had to play the early beta and open beta of the latest entry, Diablo IV, which has its good and not so good elements I’ll go into.
I love coming across off-the-wall, crazy anime shows where insane stuff is happening all around the main character but they’re too naive, innocent, and just plain goofy to notice it. Enter Sentai’s Kill Me Baby: Complete Collection that’s all about this and then some for loads of laughs and action that will keep you and your eyes rolling.
There’s plenty of fun, slice-of-life anime shows out there, which you can find plenty of in my anime reviews. But what about some that have some twisted laughs with this genre? There’s a few of those too, with the latest one headed my way titled Watamote: No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!: Complete Collection (try saying that three times fast).
I remember hearing about Revisions on Netflix some time ago and always wanted to check it out as I tend to view most of their anime. Now Sentai has released it on Blu-ray for those without the service or so-so internet with the Revisions: Complete Collection set.
The sequel to 2019’s Shazam!, Shazam! Fury of the Gods continues to set itself as a lighter, more upbeat superhero adventure than the darker tone set by Zach Snyder’s now discontinued DC universe. The story continues two years after the defeat of Thaddeus Sivana, following Billy Batson (Asher Angel) and his superhero foster siblings as they take on a trio of new villains set on destroying our world.
Our guests on this table-tilting episode of the Popzara Podcast are filmmakers Austin Bragg and Meredith Bragg, i.e. The Bragg Brothers, the writing/directing duo of Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game, their new film that tells the (mostly) true story of how Roger Sharpe would key part in helping overturn archaic gambling laws that made the game illegal.
The guys chat everything from what it was like working with an apprehensive legend, how 2023 could be the year videogame/amusement movies become respectable, how meta narrative is an amazing storytelling mechanic, comparisons to classics like Pirates of Silicon Valley and American Splendor, epic '70s mustaches, inspirational similarities between Roger Sharpe and Rocky, and so much more.
Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game is available now on streaming services everywhere. Even if you don't know a flipper from a bumper, drop a quarter on your favorite podcast, pull that plunger and listen today!
Why make new games when you can re-release old ones? That's the question, isn't it? The results can - and often do - vary somewhat, and I'm happy to report that, by and large, we usually see better than worse for most of the efforts these days. Even the maligned Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers Collection has seen a significant upgrade lately, solving its myriad framerate issues.
It’s often said the best sports movies are less about the games themselves and more about the players playing, their lives and inspirations that helped them endure the training and rigors necessary to achieve superhuman feats against the odds. The best ones are inspirational even to those who couldn’t be less interested in whatever the headline sport is, a testament to the universal appeal that “games” can hold As the world of cinema continues to embrace the stories of videogames more and more, Hollywood is quickly learning they’re more than just speeding hedgehogs and magic mushrooms; we’ve got a Tetris movie on the way, though its about how the game was sold and not Alexey Pajitnov’s game itself.
Outside of the typical office Thinkpad, Lenovo has also been hard at work keeping their gaming-oriented Legion sub-brand competitive among formidable peers. Building off its immediate predecessor, the seventh-gen Lenovo Legion Slim 7 Gaming Laptop delivers respectable gaming chops without sacrificing portability.
Remember VAIO? What was once a premium computer label from Sony, designed to be the Windows alternative to Apple's Macbook has certainly been through the ringer for about a decade. Largely independent from their original creator now, the brand has returned to the United States primarily in Walmart (and Sam's Club) stores, no doubt eager to reclaim that coveted glory in a very different world of mobile computers.
The PlayStation VR2 is out! You can actually buy one! In fact, given the increasing supply of PlayStation 5 consoles available, you might even be able to get one of those so you can actually use it too! Yes, we live in a glorious new era, one where it's possible to purchase expensive consumer electronics if that's what you'd like to do. Enjoy the future, folks, because the future of virtual reality has become a reality.
It’s 2023 and we’re stepping into some new territory at Popzara, starting with this awesome Lovecasa 16-Piece Porcelain Dinnerware Set they were so kind to send. It’s the best dinnerware set I’ve used both literally and figuratively (no more paper plates and cheap dishes for me) , and is sure to be a conversation starter for everyday dining or inviting some friends and family over.
There was a grim, brutal period in the 2000s or so where JRPGs lost a couple points off the top of many reviews just by virtue of being JRPGs. Dark days indeed.
Time sure does fly, as it felt like The Outer Worlds was just released not that long ago instead of nearly three years. Thanks to all of its sales and people enjoying it, famed game studio Obsidian was able to go back and make it even better with The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition, which is the best release of it yet, though not without its share of problems.
At some point during the Cretaceous period some 65 million years ago, an astronaut from another planet crash lands on Earth and must navigate the deadly prehistoric environment in order to protect a young survivor and find a way back home. I didn’t expect too much from 65 since the premise is basically space people vs dinosaurs, which is appropriate as I didn't really get more than that as most of the dinosaurs promised by the trailer never showed up.
I’m always looking for backpacks, especially those for transporting laptops and tech as you always want to make sure they’re safe and secure while out and about. The latest one to come my way is the Targus 17.
Pinball FX is a free to download pinball game with over 80 unique tables to fuel your pinball fever. Launch, flip, and tilt your way to victory in this updated classic that features a huge number of game modes, diverse boards, tons of ways to customize your playroom, and oodles of chances to compete in tournaments and cement your place in the leaderboards.
Sometimes all you need is a title, and the rest will follow. Supposedly “inspired” by a true story, Cocaine Bear is a campy comedy-horror about an eclectic group of people who encounter a black bear that goes on a killing rampage after consuming copious amounts of cocaine dropped out of a plane over a Georgia forest.
It’s hard to watch Creed III and not think of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially given its cinematic heritage. The Rocky franchise really was the MCU of its day, with its endless sequels and serialized melodrama, its superhero Rocky (Stallone) going mano a mano against an endless string of memorable villains, each more powerful than the last.
I’m going to start this review off with an admission: building a PC is something of a chore for me, a monotonous one especially when it comes down to picking the chassis (i.e.
Some games launch out of nowhere and surprise everyone! Take Hi-Fi Rush, for example, a music game/brawler that dropped all of a sudden and landed right in everyone's hearts. That's a great game! Meanwhile, others sit in development for years and.
It feels like 2001 wasn’t that long ago, but that’s the year we got director Antoine Fuqua’s hard-hitting film, Training Day. It came out of nowhere and blew audiences away with its gripping and suspense-filled story that kept them on edge, mainly thanks to Denzel Washington playing a genuinely terrifying villain that won him the Best Actor Oscar that year.
I have to be completely honest, as like most people I’m sure, when I first heard about Puss in Boots: The Last Wish being released, I wasn’t too enthused as the recent Shrek films and all of its many spin-offs weren’t that great. Add in the so-so Netflix series of our feline hero, and I was even less enthused.
I’ve been a fan of Laika and their films ever since watching the creepy but awesome Coraline. I’m glad Shout Factory is releasing all of their films and cleaning them up and tossing in some new extras, and have taken it a step further by releasing these films in 4K.
Once I saw the trailer for Kubo and the Two Strings back in 2016, I was hooked as I loved the look and the fact they were going for a Asian- themed, fantasy-action piece. Shout Factory re-released the film on Blu-ray back in 2021 with slightly better visuals and new special features, but has now released it again in 4K with Kubo and the Two Strings (Limited SteelBook Edition) that features added HDR/Dolby Vision, as well as Dolby Atmos audio to place viewers into this fantasy epic.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
First up is The Wizard of Speed and Time, written, directed, edited, and starring special effects man Mike Jittlov in his first (and only) feature film. An expanded version of his infamous 1979 short film made for The Wonderful World of Disney episode “Major Effects”, has there ever been a film so unbelievably optimistic about the magic of special effects, yet so diabolically cynical about Hollywood? While it’s nearly impossible to find a ‘legit’ copy there are plenty of decent copies freely available online.
Next is Killer Klowns From Outer Space, another first (and another only) directorial effort by the Chiodo Brothers, stop-motion masters whose work you’ve definitely seen in other movies. It’s a true horror-comedy classic that’s as big on spectacle as it is low on budget as the Chiodos employ every trick in the book to bring their ludicrous premise of murderous space clowns turning people into cotton candy to life, helped by one of the decade’s most undeniably catchy theme songs from “The Dickies”.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is the 31st film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) are pulled into the Quantum Realm with their family and must save the populace from the villainous Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) while figuring out how to get back home. While the story is a bit silly in parts with some absurd looking characters (*cough M.
Grab your wands and join students Cory Galliher and Nia Bothwell on this piertotum locomotor episode of the Popzara Podcast as the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff alumni gather to discuss Warner Bros’ return to J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World of magic and never-ending teenage drama in Hogwarts Legacy, the latest non-Harry Potter Harry Potter game that’s charmed fans around the world.
From fantastic beasts to stuttery frame rates to the pleasantly irritating benefit of receiving too much gear, our two wizarding nerds take listeners on a journey about what it’s like to fully immerse themselves in a 19th century magical world. Can the wizarding world of Harry Potter survive, or even thrive, without its titular wizard? Listen as Cory and Nia cast their Expecto Patronum on fellow fans and curious outsiders today!
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The biggest games of the month include: Hogwarts Legacy, Deliver Us Mars, Wild Hearts, Atomic Heart, Returnal (PC), Metroid Prime: Remastered (Switch), Theatrhythm Final Bar Line, Like A Dragon: Ishin!, Tales of Symphonia Remastered, Octopath Traveler II, Blood Bowl 3, The Settlers: New Allies, Kirby’s Return To Dream Land Deluxe, Company of Heroes 3, Destiny 2: Lightfall, Wanted: Dead, and Scars Above.
Sony's PSVR2 is about to unleash virtual reality for the PlayStation 5 with an absurdly long list of launch titles - including Horizon Call of the Mountain, Gran Turismo 7, Tetris Effect and many others. Are your eyeballs ready?
Dungeon delving isn't a particularly lucrative line of work in real life. Believe me, I've tried.
It's interesting to observe the evolution of a genre over time. An initial foundation is one thing, but real gaming gems tend to arise when developers build on what came before.
It's hard to say when a new franchise will spawn and shake up the media landscape. It's unlikely that anyone thought that J.
Knock at the Cabin is the latest film from M. Night Shyamalan’s (Old, Glass) and, a rarity for writer /director, based on other source material, specifically Paul G.
With each product they release, it seems Roccat just keeps getting better while giving other gaming accessory companies some much needed competition. Their latest, the Roccat Magma Mini Keyboard is the perfect device for those looking to sacrifice some space from their desk without losing any of their cool factor, especially if you’re into RGB lighting.
I remember back in the day seeing Raiden in the arcades and how cool it looked, especially when you had the powered up laser beam weapon that would lock onto enemies and curl all over the screen. It was so nice being able to bring it home on the PlayStation when The Raiden Project was released in 1995, and I loved playing the more recent fifth entry of the franchise.
The performance, gameplay, graphics and sound of games are one thing. The actual experience of playing them is quite another.
One of the greatest literary tragedies of the 21st century (so far) has been the inexplicable decision not to publish the final two volumes of Riad Sattouf’s groundbreaking biographical masterwork Arab of the Future in English. The first volume was published back in 2015 to major acclaim, while the second, third and fourth… not so much.
I think I can pin my love of card games to an infatuation with Magic: The Gathering back in the day. The idea of customizing your own arsenal of magic spells based on the cards you had available had me thinking of all the ways I'd use my arcane might to crush my foes.
Licensed games used to be a scourge, does anyone remember that? Back in the day you'd see a video game based on another franchise and quake in fear because you just might be in for a stinker. Slowly but surely, though, we saw titles like GoldenEye 007 break the licensed game mold and become classics in their own right.
Some people like surprises, but I'm not sure I'm one of them a lot of the time. Typically, a surprise tends to be like finding a spider in your bed, stepping in some cat puke.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast…with an anime twist! Japanese animation reached unprecedented heights in 2022, with an astonishing number of anime films showing up in theaters across the country – even topping the box-office. To mark such tide-turning events regular host Ethan Brehm takes a well-earned breather as Sensei Nate Evans is joined by Popzara’s own Chris “Wolfman” Mitchell and – making his podcast debut – Sebastian Stoddard in a kawaii-packed episode looking at the best theatrically released anime movies of 2022. Plus a few surprises.
Films discussed include (but not limited to!) Belle, Sing a Bit of Harmony, Pompo: The Cinéphile, Ryoma! Rebirth: The Prince of Tennis Movie, The Deer King, Eureka: Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution, Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko, Goodbye, Don Glees!, Revue Starlight: The Movie, Inu-Oh, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, One Piece Film: Red, Evangelion Thrice Upon a Time, Drifting Home, Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie, Bubble, and several others. So many others.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast…for the year of 2022! And what a year it was, especially when it comes to movies and film. Our regular hosts Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans are once again joined by Popzara’s own Christian Stirling for a ludicrously long discussion of the best, worst, and everything else we saw in the cinema, at home, and everywhere else in 2022. Let’s get to it!
So what made their lists? You’ll have to listen, but sneak peaks include: Top Gun: Maverick, The Batman, Avatar: The Way of Water, Violent Night, The Woman King, Prey, Banshees of Inshirin, Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, Luck, Aftersun, Crimes of the Future, Meet Cute, Cha Cha Real Smooth, Brian and Charles, Spirited, Elvis, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Jurassic Park: Dominion, Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe, The Fabelmans, Funny Pages, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and plenty others.
After reviewing Creative’s Pebble Pro Speakers, I couldn’t wait to check out some more of their products, and they were kind enough to send over the Creative Sensemore Air Wireless Earphones. They sound and work great right out of the box, but you’ll get the most from them if you don’t mind using an app or two.
It’s only January but we already have a contender for the inevitable worst-of 2023 lists with Kenya Barris' You People, yet another turgid, systematically unfunny “comedy” released by Netflix coming just a few months after last year’s wretched Me Time, demonstrating once again the streaming giant will produce just about anything so long as it ticks the right boxes. The pitch must’ve sounded great: Eddie Murphy, Jonah Hill and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in an R-rated comedy about modern race relations? That’s exactly what we need in these comedically stifling times, and who better than Murphy with a return to foul-mouthed funny after decades making family-friendly drivel? Sadly, we get none of that.
Making new stuff is hard! Let's remake old stuff instead! Such is the refrain of the modern games industry, and it's become commonplace to see old classics dusted off (or refashioned entirely) on the shelves yet again. The stores are a little different: they tend to be digital rather than physical.
New York, New York! It's a hell of a town! That's what Frank Sinatra tells me anyway, though I've only been a couple times in passing. I'm told the pizza is pretty good, but it's never going to dislodge Chicago-style deep dish from my heart - and neither will my cardiologist.
Since at least the dawn of the talkie, filmmakers have understood how to draw up an adventure tale. 1933's King Kong changed the landscape of cinema for its groundbreaking special effects and shockingly deep themes, but it also informed future storytellers how treks to strange new worlds would - and should - play out on screen.
I won’t lie, when I first learned that a new animated Star Trek series would be coming to Nickelodeon amidst all of the other decent to terrible Trek shows that are out there, I wasn’t sure how it would pan out. Turns out it was pretty good and we have the first half of it with the Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1: Episodes 1-10 Blu-ray.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
Who'd have thought that in 2023 we'd still be playing spicy new games on the Nintendo Switch? It's a console that seemed to be obsolete the second it was released, technologically speaking; today, your phone's probably got more horsepower than this thing. I guess nobody bothered to tell Nintendo as new games are still dropping, they're still fantastic and we're still playing them.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The new year gets off with a bang! The biggest games of the month include: Fire Emblem Engage, Forspoken, Dead Space, One Piece Odyssey, A Space for the Unbound, Persona 4 Golden + Persona 3 Portable, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, Colossal Cave (welcome back Ken and Roberta Williams!), fresh new Xbox ports of Monster Hunter Rise and Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, and more.
A little self-promotion! Don’t forget Popzara’s State of Gaming year-end spectacular on the best, worst, and everything else we loved (and loathed) in the world of gaming for 2022, with returning champ Antal Bokar (from 3rd Coast Review and Culture Combine).
It's been mentioned plenty of times on this very site, but nostalgia is a hell of a thing. It's tough for anyone to avoid pining for the past, and the games industry - both the AAA and indie sides - are well aware of this.
It goes without saying the original Shrek significantly changed the animation landscape upon its release in 2001. It wasn’t just that it took age-old fairytales and emphasized their inherent absurdities through clever irony and wordplay, but the DreamWorks Animation film used a modern comedic style in a way that family-oriented animation hadn’t ever seen.
Teasing Master Takagi-san is one of those cute, slice-of-life comedy series that you just can’t help but like. It’s good to know the show is doing well in Japan and even here in the states as we now have the third season in Teasing Master Takagi-san 3: Complete Collection.
Ever since Shinichiro Watanabe directed some of the best anime out there such as Macross Plus, Cowboy Bebop, and Samurai Champloo to name a few, I’ve always tried to keep up on whatever he’s working on next. I had heard about this 2019 anime series some time ago, and now thanks to Sentai I got to see it with their Carole & Tuesday: Complete Collection Blu-ray set.
When going through some of the anime shows I’ve seen, I’ll sometimes learn that a few of them were based off visual novels in Japan, and most of them were of the adult variety. Thankfully most of the series will tone down the adult content and focus more on the story aspect, as is the case with Toka Gettan - The Moonlight Lady Returns: Complete Collection which combines fantasy, romance, and some light action that features a little something for everyone.
As a holder of a fancy university history degree, I really enjoy historical games. They may not all be entirely accurate, but it’s really fun to see how creators are inspired by history.
M3GAN stands for “Model 3 Generative Android” - it’s going to be the most advanced children’s toy ever created. In this horror thriller produced by horror veterans James Wan and Jason Blum, the story focuses on an orphaned girl who becomes emotionally attached to a prototype robotic doll that gradually becomes self aware and murderously violent towards anybody who harms her assigned human.
It’s been a good four years since fans of Keigo Higashino’s Detective Kaga series had something new to pour over (in English, anyway), the last being 2018’s Newcomer, but their patience has been rewarded with A Death in Tokyo, the long overdue localization of the original Japanese edition published way back in 2011. There was even a live-action adaptation starring Hiroshi Abe as the famous detective back in 2012, meaning unless you’re fluent in Japanese (or don’t mind subtitles), this will likely be your first acquaintance with it.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast…for the year 2022! On this extra special year-end recap episode our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans are once again joined by extra special guest Antal Bokor (from 3rd Coast Review) – with assists from other Popzara Pals – to discuss the best, worst, and everything else that helped make gaming in 2022 surprisingly great. Let’s get to it! So many games! Did your favorites make the cut? Games discussed include: Elden Ring, Immortality, High on Life, Vampire Survivors (and its clones), Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Scorn, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, Gran Turismo 7, Escape Simulator, Dying Light 2: Stay Human, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, PowerSlave Exhumed, FixFox, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Ooblets, Atari 50: Anniversary, Stray, Sonic Frontiers, and many others.
It’s the Consumer Electronics Show for 2023! The world’s biggest technology showcase has come and gone once again, but there’s still plenty of amazing (and some less so) innovations in the world of tech and gadgetry to fill up an entire episode, and that’s exactly what you’re going to get in this extra-large, extra-special recap of what went down in Las Vegas. Our own Senior Tech editor Herman Exum and innocent bystander Nate Evans are joined by frequent (and favorite!) guest Ben Crossman from The Computer America Show to once talk, discuss, and rabble-rouse over what consumers should expect to see over the upcoming year - provided any of it actually comes out, that is.
Some franchises come and go, but there's others that just never die. Consider, for instance, what the world would be like if we didn't get annual releases of Chulip games.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast…for the year 2022! On this extra special year-end recap episode our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans are once again joined by extra special guest Antal Bokor (from 3rd Coast Review) – with assists from other Popzara Pals – to discuss the best, worst, and everything else that helped make gaming in 2022 surprisingly great.
So many games! Did your favorites make the cut? Games discussed include: Elden Ring, Immortality, High on Life, Vampire Survivors (and its clones), Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Scorn, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, Gran Turismo 7, Escape Simulator, Dying Light 2: Stay Human, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, PowerSlave Exhumed, FixFox, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Ooblets, Atari 50: Anniversary, Stray, Sonic Frontiers, and many others.
Come for the lists, stay for the commentary! The guys recap a year overflowing with quality blockbusters worth your time (and some stinkers not so much), touching on everything that made 2022 so memorable. Collections! Remasters! Rehashes! We got it all. Do hits like Sonic 2 and Uncharted mean videogame movies/shows will finally break through in 2023? Does Valve’s Steam Deck live up to the hype? Did Sonic creator Yuji Naka really get arrested (twice)? Will cloud-gaming ever become a thing? Listen today!
It’s the Consumer Electronics Show for 2023! The world’s biggest technology showcase has come and gone once again, but there’s still plenty of amazing (and some less so) innovations in the world of tech and gadgetry to fill up an entire episode, and that’s exactly what you’re going to get in this extra-large, extra-special recap of what went down in Las Vegas.
Our own Senior Tech editor Herman Exum and innocent bystander Nate Evans are joined by frequent (and favorite!) guest Ben Crossman from The Computer America Show to once talk, discuss, and rabble-rouse over what consumers should expect to see over the upcoming year - provided any of it actually comes out, that is.
Laughably low in concept, Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin is, on the surface, about a simple man living on a small Irish isle when his lifelong best friend abruptly and inexplicably decides he doesn’t want to be friends with him anymore. From a writer-director who has yet to make a bad movie, McDonagh’s fourth feature is, as expected, much deeper than its pretext.
After being blown away by the SteelSeries Arena 7 speaker system, I didn’t think it would be possible for anything to amaze me like it did. Leave it to audio pros Creative to prove me wrong with their latest audio entry, the Creative Pebble Pro USB Speakers, which deliver clean, bass-filled sound for those looking for the perfect desktop speakers on a budget.
When I first got the Mammoth earphones from Campfire Audio, I’ll admit that the weird shape threw me off but the awesome audio made me love them. It’s good to know that they haven’t been sitting still as now they’ve brought that awesomeness to the wireless realm with the Campfire Audio Orbit Wireless Earphones that’s easily their best product yet and one of the best I’ve used.
Back in the day if a game was released in a questionable state, there was a fair chance it was just going to stay that way. Only the most critical bugs were likely to get patched, so if a problem wasn't making your game crash, chances are it just wasn't going to get fixed.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The last month of 2022 goes out with some bangers worth your attention: The Callisto Protocol, Need For Speed Unbound, Dragon Quest Treasures, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Hello Neighbor 2, Crisis Core – Final Fantasy 7 – Reunion, High On Life, Aka, Samurai Maiden, and even Choo-Choo Charles.
Did you watch 2022’s The Game Awards? Did you think Elden Ring and God of War would win nearly everything? There’s a Death Stranding live-action movie in the works - and Hideo Kojima’s involved! Tesla Model X / S cars get Steam support - just don’t game and drive! Happy Holidays everyone!
On this highly collectible episode of the Popzara Podcast our own trainers Cory Galliher and Nia Bothwell join the gym to take on Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, their journeys to becoming true Pokémon Masters, and the evolution of all-things Pokémon.
Do Pokémon Scarlet and Violet have technical hiccups? You bet!. Does that detract much from the experience? Not really. It’s a snark-free chat about the latest chapter in one of Nintendo’s best-selling franchises, as well as the evolution of Satoshi Tajiri / Game Freak's eternally popular series from the early days of 2D pocket monsters to recent 3D updates like Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
It’s a journey from Game Boy to Switch and everything in-between, and who better than a duo of true Poke Nerds taking a little nostalgia trip with a few thousand of their dearest friends?
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
Today’s episode it’s a double-dose of silliness as our hosts explore two comedies separated by three+ decades, yet firmly inside the wild, wacky, and wonderful world of the imitable, totally hospitable "Weird Al" Yankovic.
First up is 1989’s UHF, the first (and only) feature-film starring the polka playing impresario himself in a pastiche of comedy vignettes skewering everything from Conan, Rambo, and even the Mahatma. It’s a farce of epic proportions about the power of local broadcasting, imagination, and cheap labor. A box-office dud, it’s since became a major cult classic and early showcase for Micheal Richards, Fran Drescher, and spatulas.
Next is 2022’s Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, the “true” story of how a gifted young man was corrupted by the evil call of the accordion (i.e. the Devil’s Squeezebox). Just kidding! It’s actually Al’s Daniel Radcliffe-starring satirical spin on the typical dour ‘n dreary music biopics that scoop up statues come awards time. Will Weird Al ever win an Oscar? Who needs Oscars when you’ve got the power of polka!
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
November is typically the biggest month of the year for new releases, and that’s true here. Top contenders for your gaming dollar include: Nintendo’s Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Sega’s Sonic Frontiers, Square-Enix’s Harvestella and Tactics Ogre: Reborn, Sony’s God of War Ragnarok, Bandai Namco’s The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil In Me, Focus Entertainment’s Evil West, Prime Matter’s Gungrave G.O.R.E., Blizzard’s World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, Microsoft’s Pentiment, and more.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast Halloween Spooktacular!, our yearly double-dose of creepy movie mayhem! Joining our own Ev “Exorcism” Wong is special guest Em “E.D.” Casalena, wordsmith and author of the upcoming Psyche: An Anthology of Psychological Horror (have you reserved your copy yet?) to talk about the best Asian Horror films worth watching.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast Halloween Spooktacular!, our yearly double-dose of creepy movie mayhem! Joining our regular diabolical duo Ethan “Entrails” Brehm and Nate “Evisceration” Evans for this shocking smorgasbord of horror is fellow Popzara ghoulie Christian “Slasher” Stirling adding an extra bite to the bloody buffet. But that’s not all! Listen for a special intro from horror legend John Kassir, aka The Crypt Keeper; frights, camera, action!
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the month of Halloween that's chock full of gaming treats - no tricks necessary.
Heavy-hitters include: Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Blizzard’s Overwatch 2, Focus Entertainment’s A Plague Tale: Requiem, Ubisoft’s Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, Warner Bros’ Gotham Knights, Capcom’s Resident Evil: Re:Verse, Square-Enix’s Star Ocean The Divine Force, 2K’s New Tales from the Borderlands, Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky (on Switch), Sony’s Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection arriving on PC, and much more.
On this heartfelt episode of the Popzara Podcast our own Nathan Evans speaks with the father and son duo of Dick and Phil Wall, husband and son to author Carol Wall, whose memoir Mister Owita’s Guide to Gardening: How I Learned the Unexpected Joy of a Green Thumb and an Open Heart, was released in early 2014 to critical and commercial success. Sadly, it was a success its creator would not live to see; Carol passed away that December, just 9 months after its publication.
Dick and Phil discuss their new film The Book Keepers, Phil’s intimate documentary chronicling his father embarking on the promotion tour of Mister Owita’s Guide to Gardening across the country, visiting hundreds of locations in dozens of states. But in the process, however, Dick’s journey becomes less about selling books and more a celebration of Carol’s life, a meditation on not just the effects loss and grief has on each of us, but of healing and celebrating the memory of those we love.
In this kkuljaem episode of the Popzara Podcast editor-at-large Ev Wong and special guest Kat Kim (Happy Cleaners) return in another passionate session to chat some more about K-Dramas. The two K-drama gwangsindo explored topics about social class, food, mental health, and subverting traditional gender roles in the previous episode From Squid Game to Business Proposal: How K-Dramas Took the World by Storm.
In this second chapter Ev & Kat dive even deeper to discuss what’s bubbling underneath the polished surface in those slickly produced Korean dramas, but also share their thoughts and stories about this obsession with education, family values, chaebols (entitled rich people), grinding to pass the Suneung (the Korean SAT), and revenge and grudges. Lots of revenge and grudges. There’s plenty of juicy topics to fill your ears and even some mind-boggling personal stories you’ll want to listen out for.
If you’re a K-Drama veteran and know your way around SKY Castle or Vincenzo, then you’ll want to check out the other shows mentioned in this episode: Mine, My Liberation Notes, My Mister, Mystic Pop-Up Bar, The Inheritors, and Remarriage & Desires – all currently streaming on Netflix!
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through what's on tap now and for Fall 2022.
Heavy-hitters include: Sony’s The Last of Us Part I, Nintendo’s Splatoon 3, Nacon’s Steelrising, Gameloft’s Disney Dreamlight Valley, Funcom’s Metal: Hellsinger, Devolver Digital’s Return to Monkey Island, Bandai Namco’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R, Square-Enix’s The Diofield Chronicle, and more.
In this daebak episode of the Popzara Podcast our own editor-at-large Ev Wong re-teams with producer, writer, and K-Pop enthusiast Kat Kim (Happy Cleaners) for a sociological deep dive into the explosion in popularity for K-dramas (Korean dramas), and why getting past the language and cultural barriers can open up a whole new world of stories for you.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans talk about two movies that, at first glance, couldn’t be any more different.
First up is The Stupids (1996), a little-seen John Landis comedy following the world’s stupidest family, led by Tom Arnold, on the world’s stupidest adventure. The other is Under the Silver Lake (2019), David Robert Mitchell’s Andrew Garfield-starring neo-noir acid trip through modern LA with a Hitchcockian sensibility.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
This episode goes into the games of August 2022, with heavy-hitters such as the Saints Row Reboot, Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection, Rollerdrome, Kirby’s Dream Buffet, Cult of the Lamb, Thymesia, SD Gundam Battle Alliance, Soul Hackers 2, Tinykin, Pac-Man World Re-Pac, and more.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The guys also gloss over Netflix’s new Resident Evil show, say goodbye to Yu-Gi-Oh! creator Kazuki Takahashi, talk family-friendly burlesque with Bayonetta 3’s hilarious Naïve Angel Mode, and give hands-on accounts for both Sony’s new and improved(?) PS Plus and Valve’s portable powerhouse, the Steam Deck. Listen and learn!
On this episode of the Popzara Podcast editor-at-large Ev Wong chats with trailblazing aviator, coach, author, and humanitarian Patricia Campos, one of several authors from Voices That Count, an anthology of nine unique comic stories from nine unique women. Originally published in Spanish, this beautifully illustrated collection is now available in English for the first time thanks to IDW Publishing.
An author in her own right, Patricia tells her own story in Tierra, Mar y Aire about how she went from being the first female fighter pilot in the Spanish Navy to coaching soccer and helping people in Uganda to bringing her story to a new generation in comic form (with illustrations by Sara Soler). Ev and Patricia don’t mince words when it comes to eating disorders, working in male-dominated industries, and understanding how women are always expected to come out perfect - especially if they’re different from the general public.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through heavy-hitters for the month such as: Blizzard’s much-maligned Diablo Immortal, Nintendo’s Mario Strikers: Battle League and Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, Sega’s Sonic Origins, and 2K Games’ The Quarry.
There’s plenty of other new and upcoming titles that get a mention, too: Bethesda’s Starfield, Capcom’s Street Fighter VI, Sega’s Sonic Frontiers, Yu Suzuki’s Air Twister, and more!
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
On deck for this episode are the first two theatrical Star Trek movies; Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) and its sequel, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982), which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Our hosts explore how a canceled sci-fi TV serial become one of the most popular franchises of all-time, focusing less on franchise trivia and more on how two very different directors, Robert Wise and Nicholas Meyers, approached and helped bring Gene Roddenberry’s endearing vision to the big screen.
On this creative episode of the Popzara Podcast our own editor-at-large Ev Wong chats with acclaimed cartoonist Taki Soma about her eagerly-awaited solo release, Sleeping While Standing, a biographical graphic novel where moments in her life (and more) are told via colorful vignettes. These little dips form a story that’s both universally human, yet irresistibly all her own.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered by hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guiding you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines in the world of interactive entertainment.
May is yet another slow month for big releases, led by Saber Interactive’s Evil Dead: The Game, starring none other than Big Chin himself, Bruce Campbell! Ska Studios’ mixes Dark Souls and Monster Hunter with their super sequel Salt and Sacrifice, Devolver Digital hopes your love for Ghosts of Tsushima will net them equal success with Trek to Yomi, Namco Bandai wants you to catch Pac-Man fever again (and again) with their Pac-Man Museum + collection.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
Games discussed on this episode include: Warner Bros’ LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which compiles every mainline SW film (both good and bad) into one whimsical package, Nintendo’s Switch Sports, the long-awaited sequel to the system-seller Wii Sports, Maximum Games’ House of the Dead Remake, which does exactly that to Sega’s original lightgun classic, WhisperGames’ stylish Chinatown Detective Agency, and Cellar Door Games’ fresh-out-of early access generational adventure Rogue Legacy 2.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey as they unbox Pixar Animation Studios’ iconic 1995 classic Toy Story, directed by John Lasseter and starring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen as the iconic mix-matched plastic buddy duo Woody and Buzz Lightyear.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans discuss the biggest new releases for March, of which there were many, including: Square Enix’s Babylon’s Fall, Sony’s Gran Turismo 7, Nintendo’s Triangle Strategy, Bethesda’s Ghostwire: Tokyo, Nintendo’s Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Square Enix’s Strange of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, 2K Games’ Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, and much more.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the month of love and its titles such as Dying Light 2, and Sony’s open-world sequel Horizon Forbidden West (starring cover girl superstar Aloy)
There's also Sloclap’s martial arts themed Sifu, Amazon’s Lost Ark, SNK’s The King of Fighters XV, Sega’s Total War Warhammer III, Koei Tecmo’s Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires, NIS America’s MONARK, and Microsoft’s CrossfireX, Bandai Namco’s definitely not Dark Souls sequel Elden Ring, and more.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast…for the year of 2021! And what a year it was, especially when it comes to movies and film. Our OG hosts Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans are joined by Popzara’s own returning champ Christian Stirling for a ridiculously long discussion of the best, worst, and everything else that helped make movie-watching in 2021 the return to normalcy we needed. Let’s get to it!
Ready to catch 'em all yet again? On this chimeric episode of the Popzara Podcast our own trainer extraordinaire Cory Galliher teams up with special guest Moses Norton of The-Pixels.com to talk about Game Freak's much-needed update to their pocket monster franchise, Pokémon Legends: Arceus!
After nearly three decades of monster hunting, collecting, and trading it was probably time for a change, and that's exactly what fans can expect in the (mostly) open-world adventure awaiting them in Arceus. Cory and Moses brush up on their Pokémon knowledge and dive into Nintendo's latest AAA exclusive for the Switch. Is the new direction for the franchise super effective or does it fail to land a critical hit? If you gotta catch 'em all then you gotta listen!
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment. Plus, it’s the first episode of the new year!
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans discuss Drive My Car, the multilingual masterpiece from writer/director Ryusuke Hamaguchi that’s sorta-kinda based on Haruki Murakami’s short story of the same name.
A meditation about love and loss centered around an ambitious adaptation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, what the film lacks in fidelity to the original text is more than made up for in reverence to what makes Murakami intrinsically Murakami.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast…for the year 2021! And what a year it was, especially when it comes to gaming. On this special year-end recap episode our usual hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans are joined by special guest Antal Bokor (from 3rd Coast Review) - with assists from your other Popzara Pals - to discuss the best, worst, and everything else that helped make gaming in 2021 the distraction we all desperately needed. Let’s get to it!
It’s the world’s biggest technology showcase…back in action! Well, mostly. After taking a year hiatus with a virtual-only presence, CES 2022 was a welcome return to letting humans once again mingle with the future of gizmos, gadgets and doodads, despite having a truncated running time and minus some high-profile players.
Our own Herman Exum and Nate Evans are joined by frequent (and favorite!) guest Ben Crossman from Computer America to talk, discuss, and ponder what fans and consumers alike can expect to see over the upcoming year and beyond.
On this episode of the Popzara Podcast our own transcontinental editor-at-large Evelyn "Ev" Wong talks with film-making couple Larissa Lam and Baldwin Chiu, the producing and directing team behind Far East Deep South, a new documentary about the surprises of discovering one’s own heritage and what it truly means to be American.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape featuring hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
While many of the year’s biggest heavy-hitters debuted last month, December is no slouch when it comes to blockbusters either. Chief among them (pun intended) is Microsoft’s Halo Infinite, which unleashes its single-player campaign to help finish the fight the free-to-play multiplayer started.
The hits keep coming as Deep Silver makes space sims fashionable again with their intergalactic shooter Chorus, Square Enix goes triple-dipping with their remake/reimagining of Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Intergrade for the PC, Nintendo wants to train your brain further with Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain. Yacht Club Games brings their adorably pixelated hero to a new dimension with Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon and Ubisoft proves the content will never end for their latest Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla Dawn of Ragnarok.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
On tap in this episode are two black ‘n white classics from very different eras in Hollywood that, in their own way, help affirm that humanity comes in many shapes and sizes, and often the real monsters are right in front of us.
The first is 1932’s Freaks. Directed by Tod Browning (Dracula), the film was both incredibly controversial and a box-office disaster upon release until it found an audience decades later on VHS. The second is 1980’s The Elephant Man, directed by David Lynch, produced by Mel Brooks, and featuring one of the finest casts that included John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins, and Anne Bancroft, ever assembled in one film.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
November is typically the biggest month of the year for gaming, and November 2021 didn’t disappoint. Coming off the second year of “pandemic play”, every major platform saw plenty of quality new releases worth your precious time and dollars.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
It’s the spookiest time of the year! And that means a double-dose of especially creepy movie mayhem. Joining our regular hosts to get a handle on all the horror are fellow Popzara editors Christian Stirling and Senior Games editor Cory Galliher to help bring a more interactive look at what’s in store for our unsuspecting listeners.
In Part 1 we explored the best horror remakes of the 1980s, and in Part 2 our motley crew each share their personal picks that every serious Halloween and horror fan should seek out, some more (and some less) familiar than others. Either way, you’re bound to find something diabolically delightful to tide you over until the witching hour is over.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
It’s the spookiest time of the year! And that means a double-dose of especially creepy movie mayhem. Joining our regular hosts to get a handle on all the horror are fellow Popzara editors Christian Stirling and Senior Games editor Cory Galliher to help bring a more interactive look at what’s in store for our unsuspecting listeners.
For a bonus triple treat be sure to also check out our interview with the Maestro of Makeup himself, Tom Savini. You probably won't survive, but you'll be having too much fun to care!
On this ghoulish episode of the Popzara Podcast legendary actor, stuntman, director, makeup artist and monster molder, Tom Savini. The Maestro of Makeup joins our own Nathan Evans to talk about the new documentary Smoke and Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savini, about and starring the one and only Sex Machine himself.
Jason Baker’s years-in-the-making documentary is similar to Roy Frumkes' The Definitive Document of the Dead, using decades of private and public footage, interviews, and scenes of some of the best, most inventive, and gruesome movie magic ever created to tell the story of the man who helped establish an entire industry.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
Despite showing up in the month of spookiness and Halloween there’s still plenty of chills and thrills awaiting gamers for the month. Ubisoft’s Far Cry 6 proves even t-shirt wearing crocodiles can be amigos, Nintendo’s Metroid Dread closes the near 20 year-gap between sequels, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is hopefully better than The Avengers (it wouldn’t be hard), Warner Bros’ Back 4 Blood brings Left 4 Dead back 2 life, and Microsoft’s Age of Empires IV wants to merge real-time strategy with history once again.
Bandai Namco’s The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes keeps the horror franchise going and Nintendo’s Mario Party Superstars brings the 64-bit party to the Switch. Have you heard of Devolver Digital’s Inscryption? You probably should.
When going through life constantly searching for an identity, many of us tend to allow other voices inside our head. Some invite them in. What if it wasn’t just other people’s voices, but the great works of Western literature? In this studious episode of the Popzara Podcast our own bookish Evelyn Wong talks with best-selling author, podcaster, and food enthusiast Mark Scarbrough about his first memoir, Bookmarked: How the Great Works of Western Literature F*cked Me Up.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
On deck for this episode is a trilogy of films that need no introduction - but they'll get one anyway: we're talking about the groundbreaking, crowd-pleasing, genre-defining (and genre-defying) Back to the Future Trilogy of blockbuster movie magic.
On this honorable episode of the Popzara Podcast game developer Matt Canei from +Mpact Games meets the challenge of our own noble samurai Cory Galliher (with words) to discuss Hanako: Honor and Blade, a multiplayer-only arena fighter initially conceived by Canei as a tribute to his deceased mother. After a protracted 14-year development cycle, the game is finally available on Steam for your hacking and slashing enjoyment.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
But that’s not all! Other bits include: Bluetooth audio comes to the Switch! Apple perma-bans Fortnite (for now) on the App Store! Microsoft is ready to unleash Windows 11 in October for compatible hardware. And did you hear that Chris Pratt will be voicing Mario (yes, Super Mario) in the upcoming animated movie from Illumination Studios? All this and more when you listen today!
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes.
On deck for this episode is perhaps the most disjointed, unconnected, and irrelevantly numbered movie “franchise” of all-time: Meatballs, the only summer camp sex comedy you can watch with the kids and not feel ashamed. Don’t worry; it’s totally safe for work!
In a world where people post about 1% of their real lives online, allowing yourself to be vulnerable can be a daunting task. And what if you’ve been hiding a mental illness, even from work and those you care about? On this episode of the Popzara Podcast our own Evelyn Wong talks with author Molly Naylor and illustrator Lizzy Stewart to discuss Lights, Planets, People!, their new empathic graphic novel that’s as much about exploring the vastness of space as it is our own personal spaces.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast for August 2021, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the fine world of interactive entertainment.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
On deck in this episode is 1996’s Rumble in the Bronx, the Hong Kong import directed by Stanley Tong (Police Story 3: Super Cop, Vanguard) that finally - after many failed attempts - made Jackie Chan a bonafide box-office superstar in the West, and the most recognizable Asian celebrity since Bruce Lee. Its success would herald a huge shift not just in the martial arts genre, but in what audiences should expect from Hollywood. Action films would never be the same - and neither would their heroes.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast for July 2021, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the fine world of interactive entertainment.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey through two very different films, 1951’s The Day the Earth Stood Still and 2020's The Vast of Night, with both offering two different versions of what a hypothetical alien “invasion” would look like from their eras.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey through the classic that is Paul Verhoeven’s Academy Award-winning 1987 blend of action, satire, comedy, horror, sci-fi, and pretty much every genre under the sun, RoboCop.
On this reignited episode of the Popzara Podcast we’ve gathered our best titled editors, including Senior Games Editor Cory Galliher, Senior Tech Editor Herman Exum, our typically elusive Senior Editor Chris “Wolfman” Mitchell, and Managing Editor Nate Evans to talk, comment on, and explore the best, worst, and everything else shown during the resurrected tradeshow that was E3 2021.
On this episode of the Popzara Podcast, our own Cory Galliher delves into the pulpit to interview Kung Fu Jesus himself, Craig Snape, who also happens to be a martial artist messiah, author, game developer and electrician. They talk about his Holiness' new game Kung Fu Jesus and the Search for Celestial Gold, his upcoming book on psychedelics and all things in between. Tune in and broaden your mind, as this is one divine experience you don't want to miss!
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast for May 2021, where our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans present an in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape with titles such as Resident Evil Village, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, Biomutant and Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey through two beloved 80s classics that blend fantasy with reality, 1984’s The NeverEnding Story and 1987’s The Princess Bride.
In this special episode of the Popzara Podcast, our very own editor-at-large, Evelyn Wong, sits down with Lunch On Me’s LaRayia Gaston to chat about her new book, Love Without Reason: The Lost Art of Giving a F*ck, and how helping those around us, especially the ones in need, can help us reconnect to our hearts for a more fulfilled and abundant life.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you through the cinematic dojo featuring two 1980s cult classics that merge martial arts with magic, monsters, and music. They kung-fu kick off with 1986’s Big Trouble in Little China, with the glow following 1985’s The Last Dragon, aka Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast for April 2021, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the fine world of interactive entertainment. Let’s begin!
We shout irasshai!! to translator, writer, and hardcore yokai fan Zack Davisson as he joins the Popzara Podcast to chat about his English translation of manga master Shigeru Mizuki’s illustrated version of Kunio Yanagita’s Tono Monogatari, perhaps the most important – and certainly most popular – text on the history of Japan’s considerable monsters, myths, and legends.
But that’s not all: Popzara favorite Kevin, from YouTube’s StoryDive, gets a welcoming tadaima!! as joins our own Nathan Evans and Zack on a highly educational (and highly entertaining) look at what it was like helping bring one of Japan’s most popular historians (comic or otherwise) to a wider audience, being called a modern Lafcadio Hearn, and the pressures of creating the first English translation of Mizuki’s mammoth Showa: A History of Japan.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.
On today’s episode we look at two films centered around the enclosed center of capitalistic and social delights that once ruled the scene. That’s right: the shopping mall. So grab your Orange Julius, break out the srunchies, and tell your mom to pick you up by 7pm because we’re headed to the mall. Let’s begin!
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast for March 2021, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the fine world of interactive entertainment.
On this episode of Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey through 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure. Let’s begin!
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast for February 2021, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the fine world of interactive entertainment.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Nathan Evans and Ethan Brehm take you on an unscripted journey bursting with road-tripping 1980s nostalgia as our hosts look back on two movies that proved the 1980s certainly were the Wonder Years, in more ways than one.
On this la exquisitez episode of the Popzara Podcast writer, director, and children’s book author Jesús Canchola Sánchez joins our own amigo Nathan Evans to talk about Pepito Has a Doll (Pepito Tiene Una Muñeca), his bilingual debut children’s book, illustrated by Armando Minjárez Monárrez, that tells the story of a young boy who finds comfort playing with his cherished doll Lola and gains the confidence to be who he truly is.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast…for the year of 2020! And what a year it was, especially when it comes to movies and film. Our usual hosts Ethan Brehm and Nathan Evans are joined by Popzara’s own returning champ Christian Stirling to discuss the best, worst, and everything else that helped make movie-watching in 2020 the much-needed distraction we all needed. Let’s get to it!
Few things go as deliciously together as food and family, just as few things sour as quickly as family drama. On this daebak episode of the Popzara Podcast we deal with both as our own Nathan Evans and - making her podcast debut - Evelyn Wong are joined by writer, attorney, and K-Pop stan supreme Kat Kim to chat about Happy Cleaners, her new film that follows a first and second-generation family of Korean-immigrants struggling to hold things together they face losing their dry cleaning business in Flushing, NYC.
It’s the world’s biggest technology showcase...online! That’s right, the yearly event abbreviated simply to CES (Consumer Electronics Show) has gone virtual, and our own Herman Exum and Nate Evans are joined by frequent (and favorite!) guest Ben Crossman from Computer America to talk, discuss, and ponder the long-running tradeshow’s first (and hopefully only) foray into a virtual-only space and what tech hungry fans can expect from the future of gizmos, gadgets and doodads.
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Nathan Evans and Ethan Brehm take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure. Let’s begin!
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast…for the year of 2020! And what a year it was, especially when it comes to gaming. On this special year-end recap episode our usual hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans are joined by special guest Antal Bokor (from 3rd Coast Review) to talk and discuss the best, worst, and everything else that helped make gaming in 2020 the distraction we all desperately needed. Let’s get to it!
It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Nathan Evans and Ethan Brehm take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present. All presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure. Let’s begin!
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast for November 2020, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the fine world of interactive entertainment.
It’s the inaugural episode of Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast! That’s a lot of exclamation points, but we’ve got lots to talk about as movie nerds Nathan Evans and Ethan Brehm take you on a cinematic journey about some of their favorite movie moments without the snark.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast for November 2020, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
Our guest today on this highly infectious episode of the Popzara Podcast is Professor Gad Saad, evolutionary psychologist, public intellectual, host of the popular YouTube Channel “The Saad Truth”, blogger, and author of many books, including The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense, his continuing exploration of another kind of parasitic virus consuming our culture, one more dangerous than the coronavirus and with more disastrous repercussions for our civilization.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast for August 2020, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else that’s making headlines and headway in the fine world of interactive entertainment. October 2020 may be something of a slow month, but the tide is always lowest before the inevitable tsunami hits, and our hosts do their best not to get swept up in the gaming goodness. Let’s get to it!
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast for August 2020, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else that's making headlines and headway in the fine world of interactive entertainment. Change is in the air, especially as summer turns to fall, and with two giant hardware releases on the horizon fans can expect one heck of a transition. Let's get to it!
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast for August 2020, the final episode of Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Listen as our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the fine world of interactive entertainment. There’s nothing else quite like it anywhere else - so let’s get to it!
Our guest on this illustrative episode of the Popzara Podcast is cartoonist R. Sikoryak, whose work has appeared everywhere from The New Yorker, GQ, MAD Magazine, and The Daily Show, creator of best-sellers Masterpiece Comics and iTunes Terms and Conditions: The Graphic Novel, here to talk about his latest creation: Constitution Illustrated, now available from Drawn & Quarterly. Joining him is our own comics fan Nathan Evans, whose yet to publish any best-selling anything, but has been known to read a few from time to time.
On this dulcet episode of the Popzara Podcast our own lowly Nathan Evans talks with Ilan Eshkeri, an award-winning composer whose music has filled concert halls, cinemas, television and, increasingly, gaming headsets, thanks in particular to his work helping compose the soundtrack (with Shigeru Umebayashi) to Ghost of Tsushima, the new historical action-RPG game from Sucker Punch Studios.
It’s The State of Gaming Podcast for July 2020, our in-depth monthly look – and listen – to what’s moving hearts and minds in the land of gaming in audio form. So let the soothing sounds of hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans take you to that happy little place where the games speak for themselves – and the hosts speak for the games. It’s a vicious cycle, but we do our best. Let’s get to it!
It’s summertime and the living is easy… well, maybe not that easy, but thanks to the State of Gaming Podcast for June 2020, it’s a little bit easier. And because we’re entering the hot and sweaty summer of an industry without its usual bevvy of distracting tradeshows and broken promises that means sequels, super (new) consoles, and plenty of discounted gaming goodies worth taking a second look at while the gettin’ is good.
In short: it’s gaming back to what it used to mean – gaming – and our intrepid hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans are here to help sort through it all. Let’s get to it!
Joining our own noob Nathan Evans on this fragalicious episode of the Popzara Podcast is legendary Esports commentator and occasional Unreal Tournament trash-talker Paul Chaloner, better known to gaming enthusiasts around the world as ReDeYe, author (with journalist Benjamin Sillis) of the new book This Is ESPORTS (And How To Spell It): An Insider’s Guide to the World of Pro Gaming, now available for your buying pleasure.
It’s a highly melodic episode of The State of Gaming Podcast for May 2020 – which can only mean one thing: game music! Our jam this month is all about the return of acclaimed gaming musician Yuzo Koshiro to the genre he does best and the game wrapped around it. Assisting in this booty-thumping boogy are none other than hosts Cory Galliher and Nathan Evans, greased up and ready to take things back to the streets. The streets of gaming, that is.
Our guest on this buffering episode of the Popzara Podcast is filmmaker Shawn Cauthen, joining our own content binger Nathan Evans, here to talk about his new documentary Netflix vs. The World. Based on Gina Keating’s 2012 book “Netflixed: The Epic Battle for America’s Eyeballs”, the film chronicles the streaming giant’s transformation from its founding in 1997 as a scrappy online DVD disc purveyor to the world-conquering mega media corporation that its since become.
It’s another episode of The State of Gaming, our ever-expanding new series dedicated to what’s shaking up the gaming industry on a monthly basis. And that month for today’s episode happens to be April 2020, and our socially-distanced hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans are ready and willing to tackle everything a partially shut-down industry has to offer.
That’s right: it’s the second episode of The State of Gaming, the new episodic podcast from your friendly neighborhood Popzara Pals. Editors Cory Galliher and Nate Evans are back to keep you updated about everything that’s fresh and happening inside the gaming industry from an inside and colorful perspective as only they can.
Stuck at home with no place else to go? You’re not alone. On this restrained episode of the Popzara Podcast join Nathan Evans, Cory Galliher and Ethan Brehm dig deep into their collective backlogs and favorites to compile a comprehensive list of the best games and movies worth playing and watching to help battle the quarantine blues. Also, get ready for a bit of much-needed silliness and frivolity as the guys completely lose control and go with the flow.
On this archival friendly episode of the Popzara Podcast our own amateur historian Nathan Evans talks with filmmaker and fellow gaming enthusiast Kevin J. James, director of Not For Resale, a new documentary examining the twilight years of traditional video game stores, the rise of retro gaming, and what appears to be an unstoppable ascendancy of digitally delivered gaming to the masses.
Say hello to our new feature that (we hope) will replace the older NPD reports in the hearts and minds of our equally cherished listeners: The State of Gaming, a new monthly wrap-up that looks at some of the most exciting and interesting developments rocking the gaming industry, with minimal snark and heavy focus on critical analysis. Even better, it’s got the exact same hosts – Cory Galliher and Nate Evans – so we guess some of the old was good enough to stick around.
It's that time of the year again – movie award season! And there’s no bigger movie award show than the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, aka The Oscars. With the 92nd Academy Awards set to bestow their Oscar gold on February 9th we figured it’d be a great time to share our movie nerd editors' Christian Stirling, Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans picks for the best, worst and everything else that impressed - and disgusted - them at theaters and streaming boxes in 2019.
2019 – what a year! As fading platforms like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One ready their next-generation successors, streaming promises a whole new way to play and competitive eSports is more popular than ever there was no shortage of hits and misses in the wide world of videogame delights.
All that’s fine and dandy, but what about the actual games people play? You’re in luck: join our own gaming savants Cory Galliher, James McKeever and Nate Evans as they plug in (their microphones) to share their thoughts on the best, the worst, and everything else that made gaming in 2019 one for the books.
Popzara’s own Herman Exum, Nathan Evans and – thanks to carefully crafted notes and pre-show chats – senior editor Chris Mitchell are joined, once again, by super special guest Ben Crossman from The Computer America Show as they gather around their microphones to talk and discuss the technological spectacle that was CES 2020.
The Force is strong with this episode of the Popzara Podcast as Jedi Master Ethan Brehm and Sith Lord Nathan Evans attempt to bring balance to the Force by discussing (and spoiling) the ninth and supposed “final” chapter of the 42-year old Skywalker Saga in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the conclusion to Disney’s trilogy of episodic adventures that began with 2015’s The Force Awakens, now playing in theaters across the galaxy (and probably right down the street).
The madness of Black Friday and Cyber Monday are behind us, thank goodness, which means the clean up crew has arrived to help made sense of the aftermath. And by aftermath we're talking snapshots of the gaming industry's health at both physical and digital retail shelves across the United States. Just in time to help foster some much-needed holiday cheer and brand awareness for November 2019. This means estimates from our friends at The NPD Group and colorful analysis by our very own number-crunchers Cory Galliher and Nathan Evans.
As nature continues its transition from Fall to Winter, consumers continue their transition from saving money to spending, especially on shiny new game consoles and games to play on them. For this we’ve got our own number-crunchers Cory Galliher and Nate Evans to share their thoughts on sales estimates from our friends at the NPD for October 2019, just in time before the madness of Black Friday and Cyber Monday starts.
On this byzantine episode of the Popzara Podcast our own special couriers Cory Galliher and Herman Exum grab the popcorn and controllers to talk and explore Death Stranding, the latest game from acclaimed videogame producer Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid). Join Sam Bridges (Norman Reedus) on his star-studded journey as he explores and reconnects the broken fragments of a future America the only way he knows how: by delivering packages from sea to murky seas.
Joining our own comics enthusiast Nate Evans on this highly persuasive episode of the Popzara Podcast is none other than award-winning cartoonist, author, trained hypnotist and Periscope enthusiast Scott Adams, here to celebrate (and promote) two publishing milestones: the 30th anniversary of the Dilbert comic strip with the accurately titled comic collection Dilbert Turns 30, and his latest non-fiction manual of mental mastery, Loserthink: How Untrained Brains Are Ruining America.
Back once again on this memorable episode of the Popzara Podcast is producer, director and nostalgia aficionado Brian Volk-Weiss to talk even more toys (and more movies!) as he readies not just the wildly anticipated third season of his smash-hit Netflix docuseries The Toys That Made Us, but its cinematic spin-off The Movies That Made Us.
As the Fall season changes the weather, the gaming industry itself experiences such a shift as it readies itself for the selling frenzy of what’s to come. To help make sense of this transitional madness our trusty number-crunchers Cory Galliher and Nate Evans are back, microphones and opinions at the ready, to discuss the estimates from The NPD Group’s monthly snapshot of the gaming industry’s physical and digital retail health for September 2019.
In this arcade-perfect episode of the Popzara Podcast our own retro lovers Cory Galliher, Herman Exum and Nate Evans join the 16-bit revolution by talking all about the Sega Genesis Mini, the latest – and greatest – effort by Sega to monetize nostalgia via a dedicated micro-console absolutely packed with some of the very best games the platform had to offer.
The long, hot summer of 2019 is finally at an end, though we’re not quite done checking out what’s the new (and old) hotness heating up the gaming charts at retailers and checkout queues across the nation. This is where our reliable number-crunchers Cory Galliher and Nate Evans step in with their own analysis and colorful commentary in a vain attempt to make sense of it all.
Return to another world, another time in the world of Thra on this enchanting episode of the Popzara Podcast as Skeksis Nathan Evans talks with his Mystic counterpart, Kevin from YouTube’s StoryDive, about the welcome return to Jim Henson’s pioneering all-puppet fantasy classic in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
Get ready, true believers! On this courageous episode of the Popzara Podcast our own mild-mannered reporter Nathan Evans talks with Brad Faye and Kelsey Dickerson, the writing/producing and hosting dynamic duo behind the new documentary examining our never-ending love affair with comic books: Geek, And You Shall Find, now available on streaming and Blu-ray from Gravitar Ventures.
Chronologically, the summer may be coming to an end, but in the world of analyzing videogame sales it’s still mid-summer all the way! For this very purpose who better to have at the ready than our trusty number-crunchers Cory Galliher and Nate Evans ready and willing to dive into the NPD reports for July 2019, a month so completely dominated by one company that we’re tempted to give those gamers not completely smitten by all-things Nintendo a fighting chance to opt-out now while they still can. You’ve been warned. Momma mia!
On this nepotistic episode of the Popzara Podcast our own Nia Bothwell talks with fellow contributing editor Christopher Malone about his latest book Harold in the Name of Love, now available online and in printed form. It follows the sad tale of Harold Dancy, a man who will go to any length to be “reunited” with his deceased wife. Ghosts may be involved. Rock stars, too.
Our guest on this mythical episode of the Popzara Podcast is acclaimed cryptozoologist, author and investigator of strange creatures Linda S. Godfrey to talk with Nathan Evans about her latest collection of incredible sightings and encounters with unknown nature in I Know What I Saw: Modern-Day Encounters with Monsters of New Urban Legend and Ancient Lore, available now from TarcherPerigee.
Summer 2019 is well underway, but that won’t stop us from taking a look backward – to June 2019 as our indefatigable number-crunchers look at, examine, tear apart and analyze the monthly NPD report that gives gaming nerds across the land their best (and only) real look at the health and vitality of the videogame market in the United States. For this June, unfortunately, that snapshot could use a whole lotta happy filters.
In this episode of the Popzara Podcast we’ve assembled a most impressive pride, led by chief lionesses Annette Palmer, Nia Bothwell and – lurking in the shadows, Nathan Evans to talk about Disney’s all-new CGI remake of The Lion King. Directed by Jon Favreau (2016’s The Jungle Book), it’s the third film this year, after Dumbo and Aladdin, in The Mouse House’s continuing mission to remake, rework, and otherwise redo every animated feature left in their coveted Disney Vault.
As the hustle and bustle of yet another E3 begins to fade from our collective memories (until next time, of course) we’ve got another thrilling, number-crunching look at The NPD Group’s monthly estimates for the gaming industry. On the chopping block this go-around is May 2019, and with it come our own Cory Galliher and Nate Evans ready to nit and pick everything that made the cut.
Herman Exum, Cory Galliher, Nathan Evans and James McKeever (making his E3 Podcast debut) gather around their microphones to talk all about the biggest surprises, biggest disappointments and just about everything else that went down on the mean streets in Los Angeles at E3 2019.
April showers bring May flowers… but that still means showers, which means getting wet. Thank goodness you can stay inside where it’s nice and warm (and dry), content to play blockbuster games while everyone else gets soaked. Join our number-crunchers Cory Galliher and Nathan Evans as they, once again, take a closer look at the NPD Group’s monthly estimates and guesses at what’s been selling at US retailers across the land, this time for April 2019.
How did life begin? WHEN did life begin? So many questions…and just as many answers. Joining our ‘professional skeptic’ Nathan Evans on this evolving episode of the Popzara Podcast is Michael Behe, professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University and senior fellow of the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture, to discuss his latest book theorizing what mainstream evolutionary theory gets wrong and how Darwinism fails to explain how life itself was created: Darwin Devolves: The New Science About DNA That Challenges Evolution.
Fear does not exist in this dojo! On this episode of the Popzara Podcast our own sensei Nathan Evans is joined by Kevin from StoryDive to talk, spoil, explore and geek over the second season of Cobra Kai, the follow-up of last year’s breakout Karate Kid continuation that crane-kicked onto YouTube Originals on May 2nd.
On this heroic episode of the Popzara Podcast we’ve assembled our own avenging editors, a group of personalities that include Annette Palmer, Ethan Brehm, and Christian Stirling joining Nathan “Fury” Evans to talk, discuss, decode and spoil any and everything they can about the 22nd film in the MCU.
Our guest on this cheloniologically pleasing episode of the Popzara Podcast is journalist Professor Peter Laufer, whose extensive work documenting conservation, hunger and animal rights all come together nicely in his latest book: Dreaming in Turtle: A Journey Through the Passion, Profit, and Peril of Our Most Coveted Prehistoric Creatures, available now from St. Martin’s Press.
On the cusp of spring comes the latest estimates for the gaming industry’s relative strength, otherwise known as The NPD Group’s tallies, culled from physical and digital registers across the nation. And, just as predictable, we’ve got number-crunchers Cory Galliher and Nathan Evans at the ready to help make sense of them all.
On this episode of the Popzara Podcast our own Nathan Evans talks with Brian about the fire that would change his family’s lives forever. The two discuss the lingering effects of survivor’s guilt and helplessness, which came flooding back watching the recent inferno that devastated Paris’ Notre-Dame Cathedral. Already an Eisner award-winner for his heartfelt 2009 memoir Mom’s Cancer, Brian is no stranger in using the power of comics to help make sense of a senseless tragedy.
February may be the month of hearts and love, but only one of those things was in evidence at busy retail shelves (and those online outlets) reporting to our friends at The NPD Group. Once gain, our number-crunchers Cory Galliher and Nathan Evans take NPD’s monthly report on the gaming industry’s relative health and viability in America to task, calculating and analyzing all those funky digits into an easily palatable paste for your listening pleasure.
In this largely unspoiled episode of the Popzara Podcast you’ll discover most of these secrets and more. For this, we’ve assembled our own team of superhero editors to talk and discuss Captain Marvel, with Nate “Fury” Evans, Christian Stirling, Annette Palmer, and Ethan Brehm all reporting for duty. Let’s get to it!
The holiday shopping blitz has concluded, and the dust has finally settled over retail counters picked clean and digital stores depleted of every deal and bundle they could stock. As things begin to return to normal so will sales of gaming hardware and software across the land, and few document this change as well as our friends at The NPD Group. Our number-crunchers Cory Galliher and Nate Evans bravely (if we do say so) are back to dive right into these very estimates as they look, talk, and ponder numbers for January 2019 and what they mean.
Get ready to enter an adorable netherworld of cats and jetpacks as our own phantasmatic Nia Bothwell joins Caio Lopez, co-founder and designer of Brazilian game developer Cat Nigiri, to talk about Necrosphere Deluxe, recently updated up and ready to entice Switch and PS4 fans into its deceptively simple world of Agent Terry Cooper’s quest to return to the land of the living.
It’s movie time! Or should we say, time for a movie podcast about the best, worst and everything else we loved, hated, and showed complete indifference to in 2018. The Popzara collective is strong in one of the most jam-packed episodes as we welcome the return of Variety critic and film historian Joe Leydon back into the fray, joined by newcomer Ethan Brehm and, thanks to some fancy editing, fellow editors Annette Palmer and Christian Stirling adding to the fun.
From a warren far, far away over the hills and through the woods comes this enchanting episode of the Popzara Podcast, led by chief rabbit Nathan Evans and fellow member of their Owsla, Nia Bothwell, to discuss both the 1978 and Netflix remake of Richard Adams’ classic rabbit fantasy novel Watership Down. Joining them is none other than Kevin from popular YouTube Channel StoryDive, who recently did just that with a comprehensive video comparing and contrasting both adaptations. It’s pretty great and you should totally watch it.
Here it is, folks, the one you’ve been waiting for: the final gabfest of sales estimates and analysis of our friends at NPD’s monthly barometer of videogame success at retail and digital shelves. For this, we’ve got a super-sized episode of the month – and year’s – overall best-sellers, which include a few surprises and disappointments for the numerically faithful.
2018 is over and done with, but we’re not done with 2018 yet. That’s right – only after the final days of the calendar year have passed us by can we – your faithful Popzara Pals – truly deep dive into the best and worst things we experienced over the past twelve months. In this highly interactive episode of the Popzara Podcast we’re talking games – the best, the worst, and everything else that tickled our fancies and deflated our dreams of 2018.
The world’s biggest electronic show may be over and done with – but we’re not! That’s right: CES 2019 is finished but our own tech heads Herman Exum and Chris Mitchell braved the Las Vegas streets (and mega hotels) to see, touch and play with as much of tomorrow’s technological magic as they could. But CES is simply too massive for any one person (or outlet) to cover by themselves, so we’ve drafted good friend and frequent guest Ben Crossman, host of the Computer America Show.
Somethings gone wrong in the happy-go-lucky world of Nintendo…again! That’s right – on this brawling episode of the Popzara Podcast our own challengers Cory Galliher and Herman Exum enter the world’s wackiest fighting ring to talk about the latest, greatest and certainly most anticipated game of the year for Nintendo loyalists, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on Switch! Packed to the gills with characters, levels, music and more Herman calls it “the most comprehensive and accessible Smash Bros. yet.”