Pads & Panels

Why (500) Days of Summer is the Geekiest Film You’ve Never Seen or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Get Excited About Spider-Man

By Matt Peters

After much convincing by my friend John Castro, I finally sat down and watched the 2009 movie (500) Days of Summer. I’m not a big fan of romcoms, and I was determined to avoid yet another film that features the typical formula: the guy is a bumbling, macho fool who changes his ways thanks to a strong-willed independent woman who softens her man-hatin’ stance and eventually swoons for the still rough-around-the-edges schlub. Why would I waste my time watching that kid from 3rd Rock from the Sun fall in love with a girl with cartoonishly huge eyes?

Mark Webb directed the film who, at the time, didn’t have much feature-length directing experience under his belt. The movie feels a little like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World without all of the game and comic references in the sense that the characters are very well spoken and have depth beyond what’s immediately shown on the surface. Webb’s directing style, combined with various slapstick elements and a witty script make for a comedic experience that may surprise some viewers. He even went so far as to direct a short to accompany one throwaway line featuring the stars in a Sid & Nancy parody. (more…)

Best Games of 2010 – Honorable Mentions

Creating a Best of List for Pads & Panels is no easy task. It involves everyone putting in feedback, a get-together and copious amounts of drinking, when we argue our cases for what belongs where on the list. Inevitably, fantastic titles don’t make it to the top of the tower, and we’re left feeling bad for not honoring the enjoyment some of these games provided us throughout the year. So that’s where the Honorable Mentions come into play. These are the list of games that didn’t quite make our Top 10, but we think you should be playing them nonetheless. Plus, it’s always kind of fun to make our readers wonder, with titles this great on the honorable mentions list, what is going to make our Top 10. They are essentially our #11 through #20 picks, but are presented in no particular order. Enjoy! (more…)

2010 Holiday Gift Guide – For the Home Video Fan…

By P&P Staff

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Back to the Future: 25th Anniversary Trilogy [Blu-ray]

Ever since Greedo shot first, Back to the Future has been promoted to the official definitive geek trilogy. Finally released on Blu-ray, this version is bursting with special features, including a screen test for Eric Stoltz, the original actor cast as Marty McFly. Early adoptors will even be treated to a download code for a chapter of the soon-to-be-released BTTF video game from Telltale Games. (more…)

Title: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Format: Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy (Level Up! Collector’s Edition)

Directed by: Edgar Wright

Written by: Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright

Starring: Michael Cera, Alison Pill, Johnny Simmons, Ellen Wong, Kieran Culkin, Anna Kendrick, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Mark Webber

Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Film Rating:

Blu-ray Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The Film

For Bill’s original review of the theatrical release of the film, click here.

The Blu-ray

The Blu-ray for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is the type that throws in everything and the kitchen sink. Director Edgar Wright’s last flick, Hot Fuzz, got a wealth of special features up front, and then an even expanded edition after that. While there’s no guarantee the same thing won’t happen with Scott Pilgrim, the initial release is absolutely packed with content. (more…)

2010 Holiday Gift Guide – For the Digital Download Fan…

By P&P Staff

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Super Meat Boy

(XBLA, PC)

This game is alternately heaven and hell for platforming fans, but it manages to toe the line well enough to always be stuck in that sugary sweet spot that makes it so addicting players don’t even mind dying a few thousand times in the game’s 300-some levels. Plus, the Xbox Live version is going to have regularly-updated free downloadable levels added, which only makes the game even better! (more…)

2010 Holiday Gift Guide – For the Indie Comics Fan…

By P&P Staff

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Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Boxed Set

Oni Press

The book that inspired the wonderful film. Some may scoff at you for reading the comic, especially with the manga-looking covers, but we know better, don’t we? The book might be slightly scathing in its depiction of our own geek culture, but never manages to lose sight of its attention-deficit goal, being fun and funny. Collected now in this awesome paperback set. (more…)

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I’ve been thinking about this for a while, pondering even. Over the past few years, we’ve been given an increasing amount of movies based on comics. Is this necessarily a good thing? You may be thinking to yourself, “Definitely! I need my Marvel fix on the big screen!” The thing is (besides Michael Chiklis), we’re being told the same story a minimum of three times!

Take the 1989 Batman, for example. When the movie was released and shown to be a cash cow prime for the milking, DC began releasing more comics, more cartoons and more video games based on the character. Some of these turn out good like Spider-Man for PS2. Most of them turn out bad…Iron Man bad. (more…)

Title: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Director: Edgar Wright

Writers: Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright

Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh

Producer: Universal, Scott Pilgrim Productions

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is 112 minutes of pure fun, plain and simple. In a world where comic book films have either hit the dramatic prominence and cinematic quality of The Dark Knight, fail trying, or lose themselves to bad jokes and shitty dialogue, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is the reminder that comic books don’t have to be serious; they can be a hell of a lot of fun, and their movie adaptations can play by the same rules. (more…)