The Popular Court

It's the series debut of Jake and Lizzie v. The Marvel Cinematic Universe! On this edition, Jake and Lizzie discuss their history with the movies, rattle off some favorites and what they're looking forward to, and already begin sniping at each other with the hot takes. This series will aim to be monthly, but you can follow us on our social media accounts for show updates! Facebook: facebook.com/thepopularcourt Twitter: @popularcourtpod Instagram: @popularcourtpodcastnetwork

We're back! Back from the depths of a quarantine induced hiatus, TPC is back with a brand new case! Being stuck inside has given us plenty of time to ponder the mysteries of Animal Crossing. Like Tom Nook: filthy capitalist or misunderstood benevolent raccoon? Lizzie and Lauren from Setting the Tone join us to tackle this very question. And stay tuned to the end for a very special announcement regarding the future of the show!

Tony Soprano, Walter White, The Punisher, The Joker, Venom, Stone Cold Steve Austin. Are you noticing a pattern here? No, it's not aggrieved white men, although fair point. People love to root for a villain. But why? When did this start? Where do we go from here? We ask all these questions and more, this week on The Popular Court!

All media is derivative. The same basic stories get told and retold time and time again. So it stands to reason that some artistic license is warranted to freshen up old tales. But how far is too far? How much is too much when it comes to artistic license? We try to answer that very question this week on, The Popular Court!

Another new episode type for us! This time instead of picking up individual songs from a variety of bands that fit a single theme, we're examining an album as a whole, track by track. First up, we're taking it back to 1999 with Smash Mouth's wildly successful album, Astro Lounge. Is this album just All Star and a bunch of filler or are there some genuine hidden gems here? Find out this week on, The Popular Court!

His movies were the soundtrack to our teenage years. The flowery, often foul language, the absurd debates over pop culture minutiae, the harsh examinations of our own growth as people. Are these movies better left to time? Or are they milestones that mark how much ad how well we've grown? We set out to answer these questions and more this week on, The Popular Court!

An endless universe of possibilities! What do you mean there's not really multiplayer? There's no real story? That's kinda weird. It's the trial of the game that was supposed to revolutionize games as we know it, the trial of No Man's Sky, this week on, The Popular Court!

The twist that made twists cliche. The swerve to end all swerves. The film that made one man the hit king in Hollywood for about five seconds until they realized that was his only trick. The Sixth Sense, this week on, The Popular Court!

Remember that show from 20 years ago? You know the one. It was really good for a while and then it ended, but maybe not how you wanted, or maybe it did but regardless. It's back! And everybody's a little older, and the storylines make a little less sense because cell phones are a thing now and that solves 99% of sitcom plots. And the guy who died? He's back now. Why? I don't fuckin know just watch. Netflix revivals, this week on, The Popular Court.

Shut up and dribble; it's the calling card of empty headed cable news pundits everywhere. But what about those athletes who choose to channel their talents into the world of music? Are they All Stars of the charts as well? We're looking at 10 of the best, worst and weirdest examples of athletes who sing. This week on, The Popular Court!

It's the dawn of a new decade, and we wanted to take one last look back at the stuff we liked in 2019. Join us, and special guests Lizzie and Lauren, for a look back at the best in TV, movies, music and games, this week on, The Popular Court!

It's our last episode of the year and we are going out with a SUPERSIZED double feature of 1995's Mortal Kombat and the ill advised 1997 sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation! Join us as we discover how recasting 70% of your characters, slapping shitty CGI monsters and wooden villains can make your mediocre original look like a masterpiece when compared to its abomination of a sequel.

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa; it's all here. A time for gifts and music and movies and cop out podcast episode topics. Also a time for retail fatigue and seeing that one relative nobody likes. It's the judicial review of the holidays, this week on, The Popular Court!

Don't you hate when you're cruising along in Mario Kart and some jerk in 8th place hits you with a blue shell? And they still finish last but you gotta live with second or third? Sucks right? Unfortunately it's not the only thing in games that's that frustrating and this week we talk about em all! It's the most BS game elements, this week on, The Popular Court!

Happy birthday to us! With a new look and some slick new theme music, it's the one year anniversary of TPC and we took the opportunity to critique ourselves. Bad episode gimmicks, questionable superhero opinions, bloated music lists; it's all in here! We also detail some of the future plans for The Popular Court and how we'd like to do more, yes even more, for our friends in year two. Special shout out to Andrew Edwards of Blue Police Box Music for his awesome theme music on this and every TPC episode from here on out!

OH YEAH BROTHER! THIS WEEK WE'RE TALKIN ABOUT PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING, YEAH! DOES THE CREAM RISE TO THE TOP WITH TWENTY YEARS OF HINDSIGHT? OR ARE WE JUSTIFIABLY IN A POSITION WE'D RATHER NOT BE IN? THIS WEEK ON THE POPULAR COURT, YEAH!

Chyea! Grab your Mountain Dew Code Red and slip on that red Yankees hat because this week it's all about Nu Metal. We're looking at 10 of the best, worst and most regrettable entries from the genre that brought us JNCO jeans and hating your step dad. Join us and special guest, Lizzie, for a trip back into 1999!

Hoo boy this one's a mess. Is it the dated CGI? The wooden performances? The bad french accents? Or is it POWER BREATH?! We try to unpack it all this week on, The Popular Court!

For a certain generation, Nick Toons were the backdrop to your childhood. Personally for us, one stood out above them all. Hey Arnold was a timeless look at what it meant to be a kid, but was it the greatest Nick Toon of them all? We ask that very question this week on, The Popular Court!

Happy Halloween! Join us for a discussion of all things spooky and scary as we talk about the pop culture things that scare us the most! Come for the people living in the walls, but stay for the eels. All that and more in this week's case on, The Popular Court!

Gotta go fast! Sonic is undoubtedly one of gaming's classic characters. But have more than a decade's worth of mostly mediocre games knocked him from the A tier of game characters? We try to answer that very question in this week's case on, The Popular Court!

Being a fan of something used to be something to enjoy, something to be proud of, to wear on your sleeve publicly. But a generation of Twitter chuds has made it so it's no longer fun to engage about the things that you love. Are fandoms doomed forever? Should we all just learn to shut the fuck up sometimes? We ask ourselves that very question this week on, The Popular Court!

Worlds collide! Captains Kirk and Picard team up! There's no way this could possibly fall short of expectations could it? Find out this week on, The Popular Court!

A uniquely 80's phenomenon is the pairing of a signature song with a movie. This week we decided to grab 10 of the best, worst and weirdest soundtrack songs from cinema history. Do they stand the test of time? Find out this week on, The Popular Court!

Judd Apatow was and is the voice of the mid-late 2000's twenty-something year old (let's be honest), white male. But does this give him entry in to the upper echelon of writer directors of all time? We ask ourselves that very question this week on, The Popular Court!

Yeah baby yeah! This podcast is very nice! Are movies better off now that characters like Austin Powers and Borat seem to be a thing of the past? Or is our event movie monoculture making us all bitter, angry and desperately in need of a dose of stupid, mindless fun? We set out to tackle that question this week on, The Popular Court!

It's the trial of the most underrated Nintendo console! Is it the Gamecube? Or is it something else? U decide! This week on, The Popular Court!

Thursday? Thursday. Podcast? Podcast. It's the appeals court case of TMNT (1990) this week on, The Popular Court!

Holy podcast Batman! Where does The Dark Knight work best? Is it as a light hearted, campy quip fest or as a dark, gritty, rich white guy detective? We try to answer that very question this week on, The Popular Court!

He's the leader of the bunch, you know him well. But is he an A-tier game character? We tackle that very question this week on, The Popular Court!

Don't call it a comeback! Actually, wait, do call it a comeback because that's what these are. Ten of the best, worst and weirdest comeback songs from music history. This week on, The Popular Court!

My man's got some weird hangups about feet. And why's he always so excited to say the n-word? I guess it's easy to put up with all his quirks when he's one of the best directors of all time. Right? I mean he is. Right? This week on The Popular Court!

It's that time again, it's Episode II of our deep dive into the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Is Anakin an incel? Did Jango get unfairly punked out? Why is Jar Jar still in this movie? All that and more this week on, The Popular Court!

Trying something different this week! We were supposed to be covering TV series reboots this week but that honestly kinda bored us. So we decided to take a look back at the pilot episode of the 90's CGI tv series Reboot! And fuck it, we did it live! Follow along with us as we journey back in to 1994 inside Al Gore's internet. Link to the episode to follow along: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1pc6teZGnw

Disney is buying up properties left and right. First it was Star Wars and Marvel, now it's 20th Century Fox. Is this good for us in the long term? I mean, it can't be, right? Can it? We dive in on the most powerful pair of mouse ears on the planet this week on, The Popular Court!   Infographic referenced in this episode: 1c8ace8f-every-company-disney-owns-13_pageversion-lg.jpg

It's dangerous to go alone! Take this podcast. We're talking where The Legend of Zelda works best, is it 2D or 3D? Find out this week on, The Popular Court!

Happy birthday America! We got you aliens. But don't worry, Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum have a 1996 MacBook and they're gonna save the day. And how good is that Bill Pullman speech? It's the appeals court case of ID4, this week on The Popular Court!

Actors always wanna be singers, singers always wanna be actors. We grabbed ten of the best, worst, and weirdest attempts by celebrities to be singers. Join us this week on, The Popular Court!

Grab those tinfoil hats because we're talking about fan theories! Have we really been dead this whole time? Was this entire episode a dream? Do we even exist? Find out this week on, The Popular Court!

The truth is out there! But is the truth that The X Files should have ended after the first movie? Is everything past 1998 garbage that can be disposed of? We tackled that very question, this week on, The Popular Court!

Motion controls were supposed to be the next evolution in gaming. But are they any better than when the Wii burst on the scene in 2006? We take a look at the trials and tribulations of motion controls and see if they're worth waggling into the next gen this week on, The Popular Court!

Something that has been lost in the last generation is the TV theme song. Used to be you had a two minute preamble to introduce the characters as well as some aerial shots of their city. Now you're lucky to get a title card. We decided to take a look back at some of the best, worst and weirdest TV theme songs ever and see if they hold up. Join us and special guest host, Jennifer Evans, this week on, The Popular Court!

Is this movie dark as hell but also kind of a kid's movie? Why is she screaming all the time? Why does no one ever mention Short Round again? There's a lot to unpack this week on, The Popular Court!

THEY WERE ON A BREAK? Were they though? You decide, this week on, The Popular Court!

Player 2 has entered the game! Is Luigi just a palette swap of his shorter, fatter, more famous plumber brother? Or is he a champion for little brothers and Mad Catz controller users everywhere? Find out this week on, The Popular Court!

Biopics are everywhere. Every time you turn around another method actor spends six month in a hotel or a cave learning how to lose themself in one of your favorite musicians, actors or politicians. Are these examples of high quality cinema, or a rose colored retelling of a celebrity's life? This week on, The Popular Court!

Bands and singers in movies and tv shows have been a staple forever. From The Heights of television to The Wonders of filmmaking, there's no shortage of songs to choose from. Join us and returning guest judge, JR Ralls, as we pick apart our favorites this week on, The Popular Court!

The Phantom Menace turns 20 this year and we felt that was just enough hindsight for us to take a fresh look at this much maligned entry in the Star Wars saga. Has it gotten better with age or are most of the alien races in this movie cartoonish, racist stereotypes? Spoiler: Liam Neeson dies. Join us and special guest, JR Ralls, this week on, The Popular Court!

StarFox 64 is undeniably one of the pivotal games of the last thirty years and it's title character has become a staple of the Nintendo family. But is this the only quality entry in the series? Join us and special guest, The Cajun Crippler Cody Laveau as we set out to answer that very question this week on, The Popular Court!

Awards shows, they're everyone's favorite excuse for celebrities to get all dressed up and pat each other on the back. But have they outlived their usefulness in today's day and age? Do we really, really like them? Or should we just let them finish? Find out this week on, The Popular Court!

Jim and Pam have always been relationship goals. But we wondered, should they be? Was Jim really a dick this whole time? I mean he did all that stuff to Dwight, and he kinda undermines Michael and he's kind of a homewrec...oh god. Join us and returning guest judge, JR Ralls, this week on, The Popular Court!