Popzara Podcast

Article: Ultros

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.

Article: ASRock Radeon RX 7600 XT Steel Legend 16GB OC Graphics Card

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.

Article: MSI Radeon RX 7600 MECH 2X CLASSIC 8G OC Graphics Card

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.

Article: DALI Spektor 2 Compact Speakers

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.

Article: Bluesound Powernode Edge Streaming Amplifier

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.

Article: The Teachers’ Lounge (2023)

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.

Article: Helldivers 2

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.

Article: Argylle (2024)

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".

Movie Time! The Best, Worst, and Everything Else Movies of 2023

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.

Article: Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden

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.

Article: Granblue Fantasy: Relink

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.

Article: Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

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.

Article: The Last of Us Part II Remastered

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.

Movie Time! Like They Used To: Nobody’s Fool (1994) and The Holdovers (2023)

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?

Article: Ryzen 7 8700G Desktop Processor

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.