Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman

By Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

Critics and teachers Jonathan R. Lack and Sean Chapman host this monthly variety series where we talk about our favorite video games, movies, anime, and much more, having fun and maybe even learning s... more

· TV & Film
· Arts
· Leisure
· Video Games
· Visual Arts
· Film Reviews

4.5

3333 ratings

FAQs about Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman:

How many episodes does Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman have?

The podcast currently has 579 episodes available.

Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman episodes:

September 17, 2018 The Weekly Stuff #256 – Spider-Man PS4 Review & Nintendo Direct
This week, we dive deep with one of the best video games of the year: Insomniac’s Spider-Man for PS4. We break down the story, the gameplay, the open world, the characters, and much more, building on our spoiler-free discussion from last week to explore what makes this a new standard-bearer for the superhero genre in video games. This discussion has spoilers aplenty, but we give fair warning before those begin. We also go through all the news from this week’s Nintendo Direct, including a brilliant Animal Crossing troll, talk a little more Dragon Quest XI, and more!
Time Chart:
Intro & Stuff: 0:00:00 – 0:11:20
Nintendo Direct Breakdown: 0:11:20 – 1:08:52
Spider-Man PS4 Review: 1:08:52 – 3:00:46
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in iTunes!
Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!
Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!
Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com
Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com
Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK
Subscribe to our YouTube channels!
Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation
Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast
Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff
Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/
©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman
...more
3h 1min
September 12, 2018 The Weekly Stuff #255 – Revisiting Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3
As a special bonus episode this week, we wrap up our recent retrospective journey through Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man films with our in-depth discussion of the controversial Spider-Man 3. Though a record-breaking commercial hit, the film was widely considered a creative disappointment upon release, and its reputation has only soured more and more in the decade since. Is that reputation fully deserved? The answer is complicated, because while Spider-Man 3 almost certainly isn’t a ‘good’ movie, it’s hard to entirely dismiss it as a mere ‘bad’ one as well. Working through the film’s many problems but also its surprising pleasures makes for perhaps our most fun and engaging discussion of the series yet, and wraps up a rewarding trek back through these classic superhero films.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in iTunes!
Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!
Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!
Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com
Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com
Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK
Subscribe to our YouTube channels!
Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation
Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast
Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff
Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/
©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman
...more
1h 36min
September 10, 2018 The Weekly Stuff #254 – Spider-Man PS4 & Dragon Quest XI First Impressions
It was an amazing week for video games, as Marvel’s Spider-Man and Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age both launched on the PS4, and after spending an unhealthy amount of time playing as much of them as possible, we’ve got spoiler-free impressions of both. Jonathan gives his thoughts on the early hours of Dragon Quest, Sean sings some more praise for Yakuza Kiwami 2, and we both gush over the incredible achievement that is Insomniac’s Spider-Man game. It may be the best use of a licensed character in a major video game to date, a consistently surprising, endlessly engrossing experience that goes above and beyond being the Spider-Man game of our childhood dreams. We’ll have a full spoiler-filled review next week, but we keep things spoiler-free this time, so feel free to listen whether or not you’ve touched the game yet.
Enjoy, and come back Wednesday for a special mid-week bonus podcust with our retrospective review of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3!
Time Chart:
Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:08:36
News: 0:08:36 – 0:19:36
Yakuza Kiwami 2: 0:19:36 – 0:28:37
Video Game Cover Art Is Weird Now: 0:28:37 – 0:36:14
Dragon Quest XI - Echoes of an Elusive Age: 0:36:14 – 1:02:44
Marvel’s Spider-Man: 1:02:44 – 2:02:51
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in iTunes!
Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!
Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!
Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com
Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com
Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK
Subscribe to our YouTube channels!
Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation
Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast
Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff
Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/
©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman
...more
2h 3min
September 03, 2018 The Weekly Stuff #253 – Revisiting Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, Yakuza Kiwami 2 Impressions, and more!
After years of incessantly mentioning this movie in top 10 lists and while reviewing other superhero films, it is finally time for a full, in-depth retrospective of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, the greatest superhero movie of all time. As we did last week with our look back at the original Raimi film, we’re preparing for the launch of Insomniac’s PS4 Spider-Man by revisiting some of our favorite Spider-Man media ever, and Spider-Man media doesn’t get any better than Raimi’s 2004 sequel, one of the truly great works of commercial art this century and a standard-bearer for all other comic-book adaptations. We give it our customary in-depth treatment, but we also cover a few other topics this week – including Sean’s impressions of Yakuza Kiwami 2 for the PS4, a few pieces of news including Xbox’s new ‘All Access’ program, and our shared joy at discovering an old Spider-Man concept album from 1975 – in this jam-packed, webhead-heavy episode.
Enjoy!
Time Chart:
Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:04:00
Stuff, including Yakuza Kiwami 2 Impressions: 0:04:00 – 0:48:54
News: 0:48:54 – 0:59:43
Revisiting Spider-Man 2: 0:59:43 – 3:23:45
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in iTunes!
Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!
Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!
Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com
Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com
Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK
Subscribe to our YouTube channels!
Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation
Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast
Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff
Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/
©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman
...more
3h 24min
August 27, 2018 The Weekly Stuff #252 – Revisiting Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, News Catch-Up, and more!
With Insomniac’s highly-anticipated Spider-Man game swinging onto the PS4 next month, we thought now would be the perfect time to revisit some of our favorite superhero films of all time: Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy from the early 2000s, starting this week with the original Spider-Man from 2002. In many ways, this film is the template for the superhero boom we’re living in right now, so thoroughly did Raimi embrace the character’s comic-book origins, but the film is also a product of a different time, and while it’s become fashionable to dismiss Raimi’s films as ‘outdated,’ we would argue that the first two, at least, deserve serious consideration amongst any discussion of the best films the genre has to offer. It’s a great, in-depth conversation on a film worthy of reconsideration, and before that, we also catch-up on a month’s worth of news, Jonathan’s recent move to Iowa and first encounter with Shenmue, Sean’s continuing Monster Hunter adventures, and more.
Enjoy!
Time Chart:
Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:08:55
Stuff: 0:08:55 – 0:31:30
News: 0:31:30 – 1:04:10
Revisiting Spider-Man: 1:04:10 – 3:07:29
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in iTunes!
Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!
Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!
Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com
Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com
Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK
Subscribe to our YouTube channels!
Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation
Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast
Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff
Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/
©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman
...more
3h 8min
August 20, 2018 The Weekly Stuff #251 – Our Top 10 Favorite Games of All Time, Part 2
Last week, on our special 250th podcast, we began counting down our Top 10 Favorite Games of All Time. We did this once before, way back in 2013, but with 5 years and the better part of an entire console generation having passed, we thought now would be a great time to revisit this topics and remake our personal video game canons. We covered #10 through #6 on each of our lists last week, and this week, we finish the countdown with #5 through #1. It’s a great conversation, filled with more than a few surprises, as we talk about our very favorite games of all time.
Thanks for listening to 250 episodes of The Weekly Stuff Podcast, and we hope you enjoy!
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in iTunes!
Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!
Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!
Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com
Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com
Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK
Subscribe to our YouTube channels!
Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation
Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast
Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff
Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/
©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman
...more
2h 42min
August 13, 2018 The Weekly Stuff #250 – Our Top 10 Favorite Games of All Time, Part 1
250 is a big number. It’s a lot of episodes. It represents somewhere in the vicinity of 750 hours of podcast recording, better known as one full month’s worth of time. And for the occasion, we are revisiting one of our oldest topics: Our Top 10 Favorite Games of All Time. We originally did this topic for episodes 55, 56, and 57 of the podcast, back in 2013, before the launch of the PS4 and one of the most rewarding periods in video game history. Five years later, Sean and Jonathan have completely remade their lists, keeping some favorites, throwing others away, and welcoming in a lot of newcomers, old and new. We’re splitting this discussion into two parts, with this week’s episode covering the bottom half of our lists – #10 through #6 – while next week’s show will cover #5 through #1. These were fun, challenging lists to put together, and made for one of our most engaging discussions ever, as we talk through the games that best encapsulate our personal canons.
Enjoy, and come back next week for Part 2!
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in iTunes!
Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!
Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!
Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com
Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com
Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK
Subscribe to our YouTube channels!
Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation
Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast
Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff
Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/
©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman
...more
2h 17min
August 06, 2018 The Weekly Stuff #249 – The Last of Us 5-Year Anniversary Retrospective Spectacular!
2018 marks the 5-year anniversary of Naughty Dog’s masterpiece The Last of Us, and with Part II on the horizon and having made a big splash at E3 this summer, we thought now was the perfect time to look back on the game that closed out the previous console generation, but in many ways presaged the major creative trends of this one. Alongside guest Thomas Lack, Sean and Jonathan go in depth reevaluating the game after a recent re-play, considering how it has aged, where it transcends its time and technology, and how its gameplay systems don’t just complement the masterful storytelling, but enhance it every step of the way.
Enjoy!
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in iTunes!
Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!
Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!
Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com
Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com
Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK
Subscribe to our YouTube channels!
Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation
Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast
Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff
Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/
©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman
...more
2h 1min
July 30, 2018 The Weekly Stuff #248 – Mission: Impossible – Fallout Review & Series Retrospective
We dive deep into one of Hollywood’s best and most interesting modern franchises this week with the Mission: Impossible series. The latest in the Tom Cruise action series, Christopher McQuarrie’s Fallout, is out this week, and we gush enthusiastically over its greatness at length. But as Sean recently went through the first five films for the first time, we also talk about those as well, setting the context for a series that has been around for over two decades and still has enough gas in the tank to deliver its best film on its sixth time out. Jonathan also talks about discovering the incredible work of Chinese director King Hu, Sean tells us about a Spider-Man concept album, and we lament over corporate consolidation in discussing the Disney/Fox merger that was approved earlier this week.
Time Chart
Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:04:58
Stuff: 0:04:58 – 0:40:55
Disney & Fox Merger News: 0:40:55 – 0:56:04
Mission: Impossible Retrospective: 0:56:04 – 1:51:23
Mission: Impossible – Fallout Review: 1:51:23 – 2:56:53
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in iTunes!
Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!
Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!
Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com
Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com
Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK
Subscribe to our YouTube channels!
Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation
Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast
Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff
Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/
©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman
...more
2h 57min
July 23, 2018 The Weekly Stuff #247 – Comic-Con News, James Gunn, Octopath Traveler & Sean’s Comic Adventures
What looked like it might have been a quiet week for the podcast turned out to be a very busy one, as a surprisingly eventful Comic-Con brought big news and reveals for Doctor Who, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and the wildly schizophrenic state of DC’s film and TV slate, ranging from the awesomeness of getting Batman The Animated Series on Blu-ray to the unintentional hilarity of the awful Titans trailer. We cover all of that in more, and also dive into the very complicated news about Disney’s firing of Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn. Sean and Jonathan also talk about Sean’s journey through the Mission: Impossible series ahead of next week’s Fallout, Jonathan continues his review of Octopath Traveler, and Sean regales us with tales of his recent adventures trying to read Spider-Man comic books.
Time Chart
Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:04:04
Stuff, including Mission Impossible Talk: 0:04:04 – 0:28:00
Assorted News: 0:28:00 – 0:40:57
Comic-Con News: 0:40:57 – 1:48:13
James Gunn News: 1:48:13 – 2:10:27
Sean’s Comic-Book Adventures: 2:10:27 – 2:40:11
Jonathan on Octopath Traveler: 2:40:11 – 3:09:26
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in iTunes!
Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!
Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!
Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com
Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com
Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK
Subscribe to our YouTube channels!
Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation
Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast
Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff
Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/
©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman
...more
3h 10min

FAQs about Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman:

How many episodes does Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman have?

The podcast currently has 579 episodes available.

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Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman

FAQs about Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman:

How many episodes does Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman have?

Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman episodes:

FAQs about Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman:

How many episodes does Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman have?

More shows like Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman

Doughboys