Popzara Podcast

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.

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.