Popzara Podcast

Article: Pearls Seeks Enlightenment (2023)

The last collection, sorry, Treasury of Pearls Before Swine comics was 2021’s Pearls Awaits the Tide, a celebration of sorts for cartoonist Stephan Pastis’ enjoying its twentieth anniversary of survival as a dying medium (comic strips) published via a dying medium (newspapers), reprinted though a surprisingly resilient medium (paperback books). It arrived smack dab in the middle of the world-shuttering Covid-19 pandemic.

Article: The Holdovers (2023)

Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers finds an exquisite balance between charming and depressing. Set in 1970 at a New England boarding school for privileged rich kids to get into even richer universities, we follow Paul Hunham (Paul Giamati) a professor of ancient civilizations at Barton Academy and Angus (Dominic Sessa), one of his students “held over” during the Christmas holiday.

Article: Salt and Sacrifice

If you take two things I like and mash them together, chances are you'll get something I like even more. This tends to apply more to video games than foods, though.

Article: Alan Wake 2

As someone who writes both as a side gig and a day job, let me be the first to inform all non-writers that there's different kinds of writing. No, not every journalist or technical writer has the urge to write the "next great American novel.

Article: Air Twister

Ah, for the good old days, back when the games industry was good! Remember when you had to go out to seedy arcades full of drunks and creeps, where you'd pay a quarter every time you wanted to play games designed to make you lose often and pay more quarters? It's way better than today, where you can get an unheard-of amount of gaming fun for free. Well, if you want to taste the aged flavor of times long past once again, Yu Suzuki's brainchild Air Twister is here to make it happen for you after a brief stint in Apple Land.

Article: The Killer (2023)

David Fincher, famous for his suspenseful, psychologically deep, and visually striking movies like Se7en, Gone Girl, and The Social Network, tries something very different in The Killer. This recent release moves away from his usual action-packed thrillers and goes for a more thoughtful style.

Article: Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life (2023)

One of the most ironic things about most “self-help” books is how often the people writing them aren’t very good at anything except writing self-help books. The genre has long been a safe haven for frauds and charlatans dispatching cliche after tired cliche.

Article: Jusant

When it comes to gaming, it helps a lot to keep your expectations in check. Turns out that when you don't expect everything to change your life, many more games are able to meet the bar you're setting for yourself! Don't Nod's chill climber Jusant is a great example of this sort of thing - I went in expecting some swashbuckling mountain-climbing adventure, but it may have helped to be ready for a more chill experience.

Article: Be Quiet! Straight Power 12 850W Modular Power Supply

If you’ve been on Amazon or Newegg then you've probably come across a brand called Be Quiet!, a German brand that makes PC components made for efficiency and low noise before ostentatiousness. Their Straight Power 12 850W Modular Power Supply is one of their flagships that doesn’t skimp on power or discreetness for powerhouse machines.

Article: Be Quiet! SHADOW BASE 800 FX PC Case

If you’ve been on Amazon or Newegg then you've probably come across a brand called Be Quiet!, a German manufactrer that makes PC components made for efficiency and low noise before ostentatiousness. Their SHADOW BASE 800 FX PC Case is one of their flagships that’s dedicated to maximum airflow, and it has plenty of space for almost anything you can think of.

Article: The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes (2022)

After watching so much action and comedy anime, it’s good to cleanse the palate every now and then with something different, such as slice-of-life titles and the like. Our friends at Sentai were kind enough to send over a screener for their latest theatrical release titled The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes.

Article: Turtle Beach React-R Wired Controller (2023 Edition)

When I first reviewed Turtle Beach’s Recon wired controller back in 2021, I immediately fell in love it as it felt just right in my hands which are fairly large, and all of the sweet bells and whistles it featured just made it even better. Leave it to them to design another controller even better with the Turtle Beach React-R Wired Controller last year that streamlined the Recon while still being a joy to use.

Article: Hellboy: Web of Wyrd

While I haven’t gone through a lot of the famed Mike Mignola comics, I’ve come to love Hellboy as most people have, from Ron Perlman’s take on the character from the awesome mid-2000s films and later animated movies (while I did like some parts of it, we don’t talk about the recent David Harbour one).  Fans have been craving a decent video game of the demon hero for some time now, and thankfully we got Hellboy: Web of Wyrd.

Article: The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023)

William Friedkin’s final film, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, feels just a little thin. Despite what we know is in his bag of directing tricks from his previous films, this one lacked a dramatic vision and alienates the audience with its desire to be completely objective.

The State of Gaming October 2023: Spider-Man 2, Mario Wonder, AC Mirage, Alan Wake 2, Detective Pikachu, Sonic Superstars, Five Nights at Freddy’s, PS5 Slim, and Circana

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: Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Alan Wake 2, Lords of the Fallen, Detective Pikachu Returns, Forza Motorsport, Sonic Superstars, and Ghostrunner 2.

Other notables include: Cities: Skylines II, Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Volume 1, Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged, Wizard With a Gun, Gargoyles Remastered, and Resident Evil Village (iOS).

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 $4.4 billion, a sizable ten percent rise over last year.

It was a month of debuts on the Top Twenty software charts Microsoft scored a winner with Starfield in first, with Warner Bros’ arcade fighting reboot (?) Mortal Kombat 1 high in second. EA’s newly-renamed EA Sports FC 24 (formally Fifa) came in third. Plaion’s Payday 3 was in fifth, Take 2 Interactive’s NBA 2K24 in sixth, and Ubisoft’s The Crew: Motorfest in seventh. The rest of the charts was a healthy mix of old and new heavy-hitters, showcasing the strength of having great software that consumers actually want to buy.

But there’s more! Sony makes their long-awaited, trimmed back PlayStation 5 Slim official! It’s smaller, sleeker, but not cheaper (but Blu-ray is now optional). The Five Nights At Freddy’s Movie is breaking nearly every box-office record out there! And finally, just in time for the month of all-things-spooky, you can snag your own bespoke “Halloween Fatality” for Mortal Kombat 1 for $10, because the only thing scarier than pumpkin kills are microtransactions!