Pads & Panels

Title: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Format: Blu-ray + DVD + Ultraviolet Digital Copy

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Directed by: Stephen Daldry

Written by: Eric Roth

Starring: Tom Hanks, Thomas Horn, Viola Davis, John Goodman, Jeffrey Wright, Max von Sydow

Studio:Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

Rating:

Review by: Sarah Jones

The Film

Almost everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when they found out about the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001. Some were directly affected, knowing someone who was killed in the attacks or in the rescue efforts.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close portrays such a story, but it is also a story about trying to move on after losing a loved one and trying to find meaning in the pieces they leave behind. (more…)

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Reacting to the Colorado Tragedy

By Matt Peters

Fandom everywhere celebrated as Dark Knight Rises officially came out yesterday. I wanted to go see a midnight showing, but respiratory issues and work kept that from happening. Unfortunately, this was by no means the worst thing to happen surrounding the release. What should have been a celebratory day has been overshadowed by a single, reprehensible act.

Like most of you, when I woke up this morning, I read the horrible news coming out of Aurora, Colo. Some maniac decided to open fire on a packed theater dressed in a bulletproof vest and carrying several weapons. This crowd included folks of all ages, including a few toddlers and babies. Twelve people lost their lives, and many were injured. (more…)

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Title: IMAX Born to Be Wild

Format: Blu-ray + DVD + Ultraviolet Digital Copy

MPAA Rating: G

Directed by: David Lickley

Written by: Drew Fellman

Narrated by: Morgan Freeman

Studio: Warner Bros.

Feature Rating:

Blu-ray Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The Feature

Another nature film narrated by the great Morgan Freeman, IMAX Born to Be Wild tells several stories of the bond between humans and animals. It focuses on two areas in particular — the rainforests of Borneo, where primatologist Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas rescues, rehabilitates and returns the animals to the wild; and the Kenyan savannah, where Dr. Dame Daphne M. Sheldrick does the same, but with elephants. (more…)

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Title: A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas

Format: Extra Dope Edition Blu-ray + DVD + UltraViolet Digital Copy

MPAA Rating: R (Theatrical), Unrated (Extended)

Directed by: Todd Strauss-Schulson

Written by: Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg

Starring: John Cho, Kal Penn, Neil Patrick Harris

Studio: Warner Bros.

Film Rating:

Blu-ray Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The Film

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle may have been one of the best surprise standout comedies when it was released in 2004 (not to mention one of the best product tie-ins around), but the series took a sharp dive with the 2008 sequel Harold & Kumar Escape Guantanamo Bay, which was nothing short of torture in its own right.

But maybe, just maybe, it was worth enduring to get to 2011’s unexpected sequel, A Very Harold & Kumar (3D) Christmas. While the duo’s Christmas special doesn’t quite find the former glory of the original, it is leaps and bounds better than its predecessor and in theaters it opted to embrace 3D technology fully, finding many of its laughs in jump-out-of-the-screen gags. (more…)

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Title: Contagion

Format: Blu-ray + DVD + Ultraviolet Digital Copy

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

Written by: Scott Z. Burns

Starring: Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle, Sanaa Lathan

Studio: Warner Bros.

Film Rating:

Blu-ray Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The Film

As a procedural on the spread of a lethal, airborne virus, Contagion is fascinating. It follows a cast of characters who are dealing with the first case and ensuing epidemic of a spreading deadly disease and the social unrest that goes with it. But despite its star-studded cast, engaging premise and timeline structure, Contagion falls flat simply because it is hard to care about any of its characters. (more…)

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#9 Mortal Kombat (PS3, 360)

Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment – Developer: NetherRealm Studios

Who would have thought that all this franchise needed to return to the top was to take things back to its roots? The ninth iteration of the notorious franchise ditched the comic crossovers and the gimmicky create-a-character modes and returned to form in spectacular fashion . The fighting returns to a 2D space, the fatalities are even bloodier and more over the top than in recent memory, the graphics are better than ever, but more importantly, the controls are rock solid and have that easy-to-pick-up, hard-to-master feel for which the series was once known. (more…)

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Best of 2011 – Matt’s Music Picks

The Best

Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials (Island)

Not to be simply lost in Adele’s shadow, UK sensation Florence + The Machine released a strong follow-up to 2009′s Lungs. Florence Welsh’s voice is still as haunting as ever, and sounds as if, at times, she’s channeling Tori Amos at her best. Her talents lead the album down a more imaginative path than its simply raw and powerful predecessor. Producer Paul Epworth is in no small part responsible for providing Welsh with her canvas, and does a fine job of keeping The Machine focused. The epic scale of horns and strings interlaced with a driving voice makes any track a good fit for a movie soundtrack. (more…)

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Best of 2011 – Eric’s Music Picks

The Best

Devin Townsend Project – Deconstruction (HevyDevy/InsideOut Music)

To describe Deconstruction in a nutshell is an impossible thing to do, as it is one of the most bizarre metal albums of the year, and likely the most avant-garde piece of music that Devin Townsend has released yet. Throwing together everything plus the kitchen sink, all forms of metal show their faces in this showing, from progressive to black to death and everything in between, not to mention the backing of the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as guest vocals by some of the greatest vocalists in extreme metal. It’s not for everyone, but it more than proves that Townsend’s creative wellspring is far from run dry. (more…)

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Title: Green Lantern

Format: Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy

Directed by: Martin Campbell

Written by: Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim, Michael Goldenberg

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong

Studio: Warner Bros.

Film Rating:

Blu-ray Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The Film

For the original review of the theatrical release of Green Lantern, click padsandpanels.com/?p=13877

The Blu-ray

Green Lantern has landed among the lower echelon of superhero films in recent years, reverting back to cheesy humor, overreliance on special effects and so forth. And the additional Blu-ray content does very little to add substance to the formula. (more…)

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Title: Green Lantern: Emerald Knights

Format: Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy

Directed by: Chris Berkeley, Lauren Montgomery, Jay Oliva

Written by: Alan Burnett, Michael Green, Eddie Berganza, Todd Casey, Dave Gibbons, Marc Guggenheim, Geoff Johns, Peter Tomasi

Starring: Nathan Fillion, Jason Isaacs, Elisabeth Moss, Henry Rollins, Kelly Hu, Roddy Piper, Arnold Vosloo

Studio: Warner Bros.

Feature Rating:

Blu-ray Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The Feature

I’ve never been a huge fan of the Green Lantern character or comics, but I’ve got to admire what DC Comics and Warner Bros. have done with the latest stellar home video animated feature they’ve released, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. It adds to the already fantastic lineup of animated home videos the companies have released together, and does a great job of using a format similar to that of television recap episodes to tell a bunch of tales in one. (more…)

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