Popzara Podcast

Article: Nosferatu (2024)

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.

Article: Oba Electroplating Factory (2024)

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.

Article: Mufasa: The Lion King (2024)

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.

Article: Siren Blink Foam Dart Blaster

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.

Article: Siren Maulr Foam Dart Blaster

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).

Article: Invisible Helix (2024)

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.

Article: A Different Man (2024)

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.

Article: Saturn Return (2024)

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.

Article: The Calvin and Hobbes Portable Compendium Set 3 (2024)

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.

Article: Taito Milestones 3

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.

Article: Pearls Gets Put in the Pokey (2024)

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.

Article: Gladiator II (2024)

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.

Article: Crabbily Ever After (2024)

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.

Article: Dear Santa (2024)

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.

Article: Apple Mac mini (2024)

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.