Podcasts in Review

January 14, 2016 at 12:01 am | Posted in Disney, Podcasts, Podcasts in Review, Regular Feature, Reviews, Star Wars | Leave a comment
Tags: greg rucka

Here is this week’s Podcasts in Review.

Awards Chatter: Samuel L. Jackson episode features a great interview with the actor covering his early life, the film career, how he met his wife, working with Spike Lee, auditioning for Reservoir Dogs, the N-word, guns, what he looks for in a role, what the ‘L’ stands for, Snakes on a Plane and The Hateful Eight. It offers a lot of insight on the actor and the host of the show does a really good job with the interview. Definitely worth a list.

Awards Chatter: J.J. Abrams episode has an interview with the director of The Force Awakens. They talk about Armageddon, Felicity, Star Trek, Star Wars and sequels. It’s an interesting interview, not as good as the Samuel L. Jackson one, but still interesting.

Bombad Radio: Episode 220 is their second roundtable of TFA discussion. Listening to this episode, I’ve come to realize that there are now two types of The Force Awakens discussions developing, which appears to be forming a gap in Star Wars fandom. On one side, there is the positive discussion of the film, and on the other, there’s the negative discussion of the film. Sadly, Bombad Radio is falling into the negative camp. As someone who thoroughly enjoyed the film, I found this episode very painful to listen to as some of the hosts enthusiastically commenced at tearing the movie apart and reveling in their criticisms of it. If you watched the movie and you had some gripes with it, and you’d like to listen to other people’s gripes, then this is the episode for you. As for me, I’m going to refrain from listening to any more TFA discussion on Bombad Radio as it just isn’t enjoyable for me. The negativity far outweighed any positive commentary. While there are legitimate criticisms, it’s not something I want to wallow in for an hour and a half.

Brews and Blasters: Episode #51 features a nice conversation with David Collins as they talk college in Boston, playing in bands, Star Wars, voicing characters in The Force Awakens and more. Great episode.

Children of the Force: Episode #22 includes discussion on Yupe Tashu, the Outer Rim and Snoke, the Star Wars talk at school, and much more. It’s cool to hear Star Wars is once again capturing the imaginations of kids. Good podcast and worth checking out if you haven’t listened to it already.

Coffee With Kenobi: Coffee Chat with Anthony Breznican features an interview with the Star Wars correspondent for Entertainment Weekly as they talk Star Wars Celebration, interviewing Harrison Ford, oversaturation and their classic five questions. It’s a bit of new and a bit of old as Breznican has been making the rounds to a lot of podcasts, but it was neat to hear his thoughts on Ford.

Disney Vault Talk: Aladdin episode features special guest Jedi Shua as they talk about Disney’s Aladdin. It’s a fun episode as they share stories and their favorite songs and moments. Plus there’s the usual fun facts and history which are always cool to hear.

Full of Sith: Episode CXLIX is a must listen to episode. In this one, Mike, Amy and Bryan zero in on Obi-Wan Kenobi, covering his parts in all seven films and The Clone Wars. They talk about the rumors of a Kenobi trilogy, the possibility of a Obi-Wan Force ghost in Episode VIII, and the character’s faults and flaws. They bring their A-game as Bryan starts tossing out Obi-Wan connections that tie all the films together. It’s absolutely top notch. This episode earns my pick of the week which is saying a lot since it’s up against Star Wars Oxygen’s first episode on The Force Awakens which was amazing.

Rebel Force Radio: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Roundtable features Jason, Jimmy, Paul, Kyle and F.J. as the analyze the opening crawl, what’s in the movie, what’s in the books, how the Starkiller weapon works, the politics, Rey, Finn, Poe, Maz, Kylo, Snoke, and they offer some predictions for Episode VIII. The second half of the show switches guests out and introduces David Collin and Sam Witwer as they share their thoughts on TFA, helmet acting, and their Episode VIII predictions. I have to admit I really do enjoy David Collins and Sam Witwer the best. Their commentary and observations are great.

Rebel Force Radio: TFA Review Show #4 starts with the moments that hit you most, then Jimmy talks with his mom as she shares her thoughts on the movie. Jason talks to his daughter about The Force Awakens. Afterwards they have audio of a WGN interview that Jimmy did on air with TFA actress Gloria Garcia, and they speak with Dean Richards and the backlash against the movie. It’s an interesting combination of interviews and guests which makes it a great episode.

Rock Out Loud: New Year’s Party episode covers upcoming concerts and things Kristin will be doing, then they break into their New Year Eve song picks. There’s even a little aside on Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Batman v. Superman Dawn of Justice. Fun episode.

Skywalking Through Neverland: Episode 106 features guest Craig Haa­sis from LiningUp.net as they talk Star Wars and Rogue One. Then they talk with Star Wars author Adam Bray about The Force Awakens and promo stuff that wasn’t in the movie. Good episode.

Star Wars Oxygen: Volume 25 is the episode we’ve all been waiting for as David and Jimmy tackle the music of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. First off, David blew my mind when he pointed out that Rey’s theme has callbacks to the Jawa music in A New Hope for a scavenger tie-in. Then he points out the musical overlay at the end of the movie that overlaps the Force theme with Rey’s theme. They break down Rey’s theme, one of my favorite pieces of music from the movie, and they also cover the variations of the opening music. Fantastic episode.

Star Wars Report: Episode #202 features a great interview between Mark and Star Wars author Greg Rucka as he talks about Shattered Empire, Smuggler’s Run and Before the Awakening.

Star Wars Report: Episode #204 Riley, Mark and special guest Mark Newbold from Jedi News talk the wars. First off, Mark Newbold talks about Jedi News Network which will have four podcasts, two of them new, and the other two being 1138 and Collectors Cast. Then Riley takes them down memory lane as they hear what their TFA predictions were over a year ago. Later on, Aaron joins them to join in on the fun as they talk about their TFA experience. It’s a shorter episode but a fun one.

Reviewed By: Skuldren for Roqoo Depot.