This week, we return to a galaxy far, far away for our second critical conversation about the infamous Star Wars prequels, this time diving deep with Episode II - Attack of the Clones. Perhaps the most maligned and dismissed of the Star Wars films, Attack of the Clones is, like The Phantom Menace before it, a much better film than its reputation would assert, a 'grown-up' Star Wars movie full of complicated ideas and nuanced character work. It also represents a major inflection point in the history of digital cinema, and remains one of the most visually stunning blockbusters ever created. Once again, this was a fun and engaging topic to record, and we think you'll enjoy it. We also talk a little more about some recent games, including Dragon Ball FighterZ, walk through some recent gaming news, and give thoughts on all the movie trailers from Super Bowl Sunday, including our first look at Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Time Chart:

Intro: 0:00:00 - 0:03:54

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Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

On today's show, we review of two of January's plethora of video game releases, diving into the fighting game that's quickly taken the gaming world by storm, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and chatting about the sequel to 2016's Game of the Year, Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Hacker's Memory. These are two very different games that are sort of difficult to play on top of each other, but they've made for a rich start to the year in gaming. FighterZ is an amazing achievement in its genre that makes astoundingly good use of the Dragon Ball world and its characters, while Hacker's Memory is just as clever, soulful, and surprising as the unexpectedly great JRPG it expands upon. And before we get to those reviews, we take a trip to Sean's Beta Corner for thoughts on Metal Gear Survive, talk a little Doctor Who, and walk through some recent news, including an interesting Kotaku story about the state of Bioware and Anthem development.

Time Chart:

Intro: 0:00:00 - 0:04:54

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Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

This week on the show, we've recorded the first in a series of conversations about three of the most ubiquitously discussed, ridiculed, and meme-ified films in the modern pop culture landscape: The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy. For all the attention these films have gotten over the years, how much genuine critical engagement - something deeper than just "LOL JAR JAR!" - have they truly been afforded? What do they tell us about a franchise that has resurged in cultural dominance in recent years, how did they set the stage for the digital cinema revolution we are currently living through, and what do they have to say about the politics of the 21st century? These films are better, deeper, richer, and more critically rewarding than they get credit for, and we aim to rectify that gap, starting here with our in-depth discussion of The Phantom Menace. Whatever your thoughts on the film, we think you'll find this conversation interesting, and only ask you go in with an open mind. And before the main topic, we also talk some Doctor Who, give our very early impressions of Digimon Story Cybersleuth Hacker's Memory for the PS4, and go over a few news items, including the announcement of the new 'Nintendo Labo' product line for the Switch.

Time Chart:

Intro: 0:00:00 - 0:05:28

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Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

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Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

It’s time for another monthly bonus episode of The Weekly Stuff Podcast with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman, where we will be discussing serials from classic Doctor Who history.

After two wonderful months spent chronicling the adventures of the Fourth Doctor, we jump ahead to the strange reign of the Fifth, played by Peter Davison, and the rocky tenure of producer John Nathan Turner. Kinda, the story we discuss here, is the Fifth Doctor’s third-ever serial, and it is one of the weirdest, wildest, and most unique Doctor Who stories ever told, steeped in dream sequences, surreal imagery, and bizarre plotting that, at the very least, adds up to an extremely memorable story. Is there more than just wackiness on display here? What do we make of Davison’s performance as the Fifth Doctor? And is Adric or Tegan a worse companion? We answer all these questions and more in our in-depth discussion of Kinda.

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Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

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Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

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Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

It’s a grab-bag style episode this week, as we cover a week’s worth of news items, including Thursday’s Nintendo Direct announcements, Sean reviews the beta for upcoming fighting game Dragon Ball FighterZ, and Jonathan talks about finally catching up on Pokken Tournament DX for Nintendo Switch. And for our main topic, we preview what’s to come in 2018 in terms of video games, looking at the confirmed games for Spring and discussing what we plan to play and review, and speculating about which games will and won’t come out through the rest of the year. We even play a silly game where we ‘draft’ which games we think won’t make speculated 2018 release dates, just for fun.

Enjoy, and come back for our next Doctor Who bonus podcast this Thursday!

Time Chart:

Intro & Stuff: 0:00:00 – 0:08:19

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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://japanimationstation.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

For our first show back in the new year, we clear the deck with hours of holiday stories, reviews, and chats about games old and new we’ve been playing over the break. Sean talks about his Christmas at sea, with a mini-rant about a library on a cruise ship, while Jonathan reviews some Blu-rays he received as presents, including Twin Peaks: The Return and the new Doctor Who: Shada reconstruction. Sean talks about playing Assassin’s Creed Origins and revisiting Star Wars Jedi Knight II, while Jonathan recounts his weird tradition of playing Papers Please every Christmas, and his journey diving back into the Batman: Arkham series. We cover a few quick pieces of news, and then for our main topic review this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special, “Twice Upon a Time,” the last episode written by Steven Moffat and starring Peter Capaldi. It’s the end of the wonderful era, and the start of something very exciting, and we have, as is our wont, a lot to say on the subject.

Time Chart:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:03:00

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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://japanimationstation.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

In this special New Year's Eve bonus episode, co-host Jonathan Lack counts down his picks for the Top 10 Films of 2017, and talks a bit about each of them. You can read the written version of this at www.jonathanlack.com.

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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://japanimationstation.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

In our final episode of 2017, we look back on a truly special year in video games (albeit a rather horrible year for the world at large) by counting down the Top 10 Games of the Year, with each host presenting their own list. It was a year defined by amazing exclusives, resurgent franchises, and a renaissance for Japanese developers, with the majority of games on both lists coming from Japan. For the second year in a row, there are only four titles that cross over between our two lists, and there are quite a few surprises along the way. This has been the biggest year for our podcast to date, and what better way to close things out than with this annual countdown? It’s a great conversation, and one you won’t want to miss.

Enjoy, and we will see you all again in the new year!

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

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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://japanimationstation.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

For the third December in a row, we’ve got a big new Star Wars movie to talk about, and for the first time we agree: The Last Jedi is the real deal, a genuine, beautifully made Star Wars movie with a hell of a lot of meat on its bones. Before our big review, though, we cover a few different topics, including the week’s major news that Disney is buying Fox. We head on over to Sean’s Beta Corner for his thoughts on the Monster Hunter World beta, while Jonathan review the Champions Ballad DLC for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. And then it’s time to dive into The Last Jedi, in full spoiler detail. It’s a really good conversation about a fascinating, imperfect, but absolutely rewarding movie.

Enjoy, and come back Thursday for our final episode of the year: The Top 10 Video Games of 2017!

Time Chart:

Intro and Housekeeping: 0:00:00 – 0:10:07

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

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Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!

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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://japanimationstation.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

To do the long reign of the Fourth Doctor justice, we’re sticking with Tom Baker again this month, jumping ahead to 1979, his penultimate season, for one of the greatest Doctor Who stories ever mounted: “City of Death,” credited to the pseudonym ‘David Agnew,’ but which was mainly written by then-script editor and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy writer Douglas Adams. One of the great humorists of all time, Adams’ voice is apparent throughout this wonderful, zany, insanely compelling story, which features Lalla Ward as companion Romana, famed actor Julian Glover as the lead antagonist, a terrific guest performance from Tom Chadbon as memorable one-off companion Duggan, and even an amazing cameo from John Cleese and Eleanor Bron. And much of it is shot on location in Paris, one of the few times Doctor Who has ever left England. If you’ve never seen a classic Doctor Who story, “City of Death” will make you a true believer – this is just about as good as TV gets.

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Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!

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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://japanimationstation.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