Popzara Podcast

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,...

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...

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 specta...

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...

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 y...

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 usu...

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.

26 years is how long the SNK faithful have been waiting for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves to finally arrive, the follow-up to 1999’s Garou: Mark of the Wolves. Obviously, comparisons will be made but Fatal Fury has since become a staple that endures in a charming old-school way that contemporary Street Fighter and Tekken entries no longer possess.

Arcades in the early 1980s enjoyed an explosion of popularity as the new art form swept the world and collected millions of quarters in the process. Kids love them.

Arcades in the early 1980s enjoyed an explosion of popularity as the new art form swept the world and collected millions of quarters in the process. Kids love them.

Ever since the glory days of construction paper and glue, I've been absolutely hopeless at crafting. Sorry, world, but you're not going to get any fantastic handiwork out of me.

SteelSeries continues to knock their awesome lineup of products out of the park with one of their latest releases, the SteelSeries QCK Performance Mouse Pad. Going back to the drawing board on their original QCK pads and reworking them to be better in every way, they’ve come up with a perfect variety of new ones to fit any kind of PC gaming style.

If I’ve learned one thing as a parent, it’s that kids love Jack Black. They loved him as the evil Bowser in The Super Mario Bros.