Popzara Podcast

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.