Pads & Panels

Title: South Park: The Complete Fifteenth Season

Format: DVD

Creators: Matt Stone, Trey Parker

Starring: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Mona Marshall, April Stewart

Studio: Comedy Central, Paramount

Season Rating:

DVD Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The Season

After 15 years on television, it wouldn’t be unfair to assume most shows would be scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas. Luckily, South Park has evolved into a topical satire (though it often still remains a damn silly show) that hinges on weekly trends and can find humor in the mundane of everyday life. And after conquering Broadway, Matt Stone and Trey Parker don’t seem to be short on any ideas for the South Park universe they created. (more…)

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Title: Justice League: Doom

Format: Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy

MPAA: PG-13

Directed by: Lauren Mongomery

Written by: Dwayne McDuffie (Based on a story by Mark Waid)

Starring: Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly, Susan Eisenberg, Michael Rosenbaum, Nathan Fillion,

Produced by: Lauren Montgomery, Bruce Timm

Studio: Warner Premiere, Warner Bros. Animation, DC Entertainment, Warner Home Video

Film Rating:

Bluray Rating:

Review by: Matt Peters

Next in a long line of DC Comics direct-to-DVD movies is Justice League: Doom. Based on the “Tower of Babel” storyline featured in DC’s JLA revival from the late 90’s, the movie itself was interpreted by the late Dwayne McDuffie. Originally penned by Mark Waid, “Tower of Babel” tells the tale of a Justice League destroyed using very specific tactics for each member which could only be executed by one of their own. McDuffie was a legend in the DC animated world, and most of the original voice cast is back for JL: Doom. Unfortunately, even the perfect ingredients don’t always bear the best results. (more…)

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Title: Batman: Year One

Format: Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy

MPAA: PG-13

Directed by: Sam Liu & Lauren Montgomery

Written by: Tab Murphy, based on a comic by Frank Miller

Starring: Benjamin McKenzie, Bryan Cranston, Eliza Dushku, Katee Sackhoff, Alex Rocco, Jon Polito

Produced by: Lauren Montgomery, Alan Burnett

Studio: Warner Premiere, Warner Bros. Animation, DC Entertainment, Warner Home Video

Film Rating:

Blu-ray Rating:

Review by: Eric Stuckart

The Film

Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One was a groundbreaking comic for the Dark Knight for a number of reasons. First off, it helped to definitively usher in a new age for Batman, one that eschewed the flavor-of-the-week enemies and cartoonish nature that the Adam West television series had imparted onto the comics. And secondly, it brought a grittier, darker tone to a comic book series that badly needed a resurrection.

The fact that the book practically serves as a storyboard for DC Entertainment’s animated adaptation only shows how great the source material was in the first place. Telling the story of how both Bruce Wayne and good cop Jim Gordon have arrived in the crime-ridden Gotham City, it’s a great starting point for those not familiar with the story behind the cowl. (more…)

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Disney releases Toy Story trilogy in 3D

By Bill Jones

After Disney’s 3D release of Toy Story 3 in 3D in theaters, Walt Disney Home Video made all three installments of the film franchise available on home video in 3D Blu-ray for the first time. And from the groundbreaking animation of the first film, more than a decade and a half old now, to the gripping final installment, the films look as fantastic as ever. But are they worth the 3D upgrade?

It really depends how much the viewer loves 3D. The packages for all three films are exactly the same releases as the previous Blu-ray packages for them, albeit with an extra 3D feature disc in each. The 3D in each film mostly adds depth to the mix, rather than jump-out-of-the-screen gags, and it looks progressively better with each movie in the series, though much of that is simply based on the progressing animation quality of the Toy Story series. (more…)

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Title: Dumbo

Format: 70th Anniversary Edition: Blu-ray + DVD

Directed by: Samuel Armstrong, Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts, Ben Sharpsteen

Written by: Joe Grant, Dick Huemer, Otto Englander

Studio: Disney

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

When I was a little kid, my uncle gave me a VHS tape of Pinocchio that he dubbed for me, and at the beginning of that tape was (what I remember being just part of) Dumbo, to fill out the length of the tape. So I had always been exposed to Dumbo, but I never really considered it a feature on its own (at 64 minutes, it technically is one, though obviously on the short side), but more like a “short” that I’d watch before…unless I decided to skip it.

Skipping it was common, though, because despite the fantastic imagery and simplistic nature of the tale that should have appealed to my childhood self, I never really cared for Dumbo. And upon watching it some 20 years later (and 70 years after its initial release), I cannot say I’ve been converted. I respect the animation, and can see why it has remained a classic, but ultimately it’s nothing I’d go out of my way to watch again and again. (more…)

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Title: Hey, Arnold!: Season 1

Format: DVD

Studio: Shout! Factory

Rating:

Review by: Sarah Jones

In viewing favorite shows and movies from childhood that are remembered so fondly, there is always a fear that they won’t live up to the hype of an adolescent memory. Maybe the jokes won’t be as funny, the situations not as believable or the animation not as stimulating as they all once were. However, Hey, Arnold! still delivers on all accounts. (more…)

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Title: M.A.S.K.: The Complete Series

Format: DVD

Studio: Shout! Factory

Series Rating:

DVD Rating:

Review by: Archie Easter

The Series

M.A.S.K. was one of my favorite series as a kid. I mean, we’re talking about an animated show about an elite team of guys that drove transforming vehicles that shot lasers. I don’t see how any red blooded American boy could have stood a chance against it circa 1985. I was therefore surprised to find out that the fine folks at Shout! Factory would be releasing the entire series on DVD.

For those not familiar with the show, the Mobile Armored Strike Kommand — I know, bear with me here — is lead by multimillionaire Matt Trakker to defend the world from the nefarious schemes of the evil corporation VENOM. Matt develops a series of power granting masks, as well as a number of transforming weaponized vehicles that all feature the latest in cutting edge technology. Laser cannons? Check. Anti-matter beams? Check. Missiles that latch onto enemy vehicles and propel them in the opposite direction? …Check? The writers of the show definitely weren’t afraid to get creative with the weapons or masks’ abilities, and that was one of the things that made it so entertaining to watch, even for a kid’s show. (more…)

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Snoopy Flying Ace Hands-On Preview

By Kevin Haverty

Smart Bomb Interactive is releasing the follow-up to 2006′s Snoopy vs. the Red Baron this year, titled Snoopy Flying Ace. It places beloved Peanuts characters in a World War I setting for some good old fashion dog-fighting… fighter pilot style, not Michael Vick style.

The controls are similar to the cult classic Crimson Skies. The left thumbstick moves Snoopy around; the triggers are for shooting; and the right thumbstick controls maneuvers like loops and barrel rolls. Aside from the machine gun, the other weapons can be changed on the fly between rockets, shotguns and more. (more…)

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