XjokerX's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Xdoom]

ya know what?

This guy tried. For a first submission there was alot of effort put into this. True- creatively this lacks a lot of merit. The tired rehashing of yet another DBZ schtick- I know artists who'd probably take insult to this...However...
This artist put alot of soul into his work. while he lacks story or fundamental streaming/actionscripting/etc. he does make up for a good bit of it by animating some solid moves rather than the cheap tweens some folks try to get by with. Good effort.

[Pandamatic (part one)]

True cinema

Excellent job! this wonderful addition to the portal makes for a good example of the kinds of films needed today on NewGrounds in terms of writing, directing, and scripting. To cut down on my review length- let's break this down-
Artwork: Excellent use of colors and character design. Too many series today rely on the overt "anime" style and geometric design to pimp rehashed tales of Tomorrows nobodies, ranama 1/2, or one of the plethora of "single hero against X" type scenerios. et Al, this is smacking of originality, style, and class. You play on classic sterotypes for your basic characters while including some subdued coloring in very cynical settings (the "Yay! Life Yay!" signs every where).
Script: One word- awesome. Playing off the mesopotamian opening and then switching to a modern farce is a classic scenerio that's under appreciated by today's audiences and authors alike. similarly- dialogue was glib and to the point. As such- jokes flowed more easily, quickly, and with greater emphasis. There was also some classic by-play featured here not normally used to any great extent and as such are equally under appreciated, "Right tom?"..."*cough*Yeah." priceless.
Sound/voice acting: top notch- the soldier's rant and mimicry was done to the right level so as to be humorous. good , "Yank" impression BTW. It wasn't until the third or fourth line past the introduction (pre-opening credits) that I heard the Aussie accent. Well done.
As far as dialogue goes- very good voice acting. Timing was just right, no overt pauses except where noted (the stick poking our protagonist in the head was done perfectly- you didn't draw the joke out any longer than necessary) and lines were delivered punctually, clearly (good diction), and with the right inflection/emotion/tone.
I have nothing but the highest expectations for this series. 5/5
~Ed (xjokerx)

AntonyC responds:

Woah,
What a review!
I wonder If Roger Ebert needs and understudy!
Thanx!

[Tails and his GBA]

good introduction

Not bad for a second submission. Graphics were good- you could do some more work on tightening resolution and feining character lines. Sound was good- solid recordings and timing- just watch emotions since they tend to get overwhelmed by the pixelation in in close shots- for example, the question mark over tails' head was barely visibile on the second or third rotation.
I agree about the right click- it's a little unsavory to promote your own flash viewer- AND with the number of viruses lurking around NG (picked up a blasted .32 variety last week from a game) it's not kosher. all in all- a fair addition to the portal, 4/5.
I cut off a point on the basis of slow transitions- it takes forever getting started: you could have had tails flip through a song or two before finding the music he wanted instead of drawing the joke out. NG veiwers rarely have the patience to sit through most flicks.

RupeeClock responds:

Well thanks for the criticism.

I only premoted that flash player for their benefits, don't worry I wouldn't promote a virus, thats just EVIL. >:(

You're right maybe I shouldn't have zoomed in too much, and yea there is the issue of the radio part lasting long, well you can always skip it with the scene selection.

[Roof Tiling]

Well scripted

As something between the lines of Burned face man and Spoiled toast boy- Your breadth as an artist is really coming out well rounded. All too many artists are confounded and confined to one or more particular genres. This latest example is a combination of excellent writing and a good vision in scripting action to fit scenerio. This is Brilliant.
Unlike your average Salad Fingers fan- I've actually kept up on your responses to reviews and gleaned from them a sense of humor unparalleled on NG. Now- how do I explain this? In responding to people- Jonathon's responses were...predictable-- but in a good way. You've set certain expectations for your work, and you hit upon what the audience desires. Again, a major problem on NG is a general lack of concern for Voice- not as in voice acting, but the conversation with the audience. Artwork alone does not make up for a one sided conversation. You need to reach your audience on a mutual level- maintain your own desires in dialogue (i.e. interplay between characters) and yet give in to the gross absurdities the audience will appreciate on the basis of your earlier submissions.
Art work was excellent- although there were some indiscriminate moments were shading kind of went askew- i.e. I had trouble seing outlines. Voice acting was top notch- accenting was per par and the right bit of inflection for emotions. Jonathon's gutteral snarling responses was just right. The paranoid-schiz nagged and responding in restrained annoyance. That's simply GREAT acting.
As such- for Tone, artwork, good script (written and animated), excellent timing, and bringing a smile to my face- 5/5.
~Ed

[Hyperboy: Episode 3]

Not a review-

While the topic film is wonderful- this is not a review. Somebody please contact a site administrator as the last review is a viral program window.

[lll_Deception Part 4_lll]

good attempt

As a long standing fan I have to compliment your latest addition to the portal. I was disconcerted at first by some of the artwork. It's obivous what you're attempting, however they seem...more "frumpy" than anything else. too much use of grey- again I understand the reason, hoever it overwhelms the eye and detracts from the rest of the artwork. Dialogue was a bit slow- nothing to do with the quality of voice acting, but delivery needs to be more punctual. As to voice acting- you excelled at humor but lost me on the more sentimental points- although this was done on purpose for certain sections (i.e. "key of heaven (wtf)") it still wore me down.
buttons need to be a little more responsive. I clicked the white rabbit a dozen times the second time through to speed things up to no avail. The attempt is most noteworthy, however I suspect this was designed for front page- I'm sad to say it's unlikely that'll reach that pinnacle (seeing how the fulps seem to be more financially driven these days) but it's still a damn good solid attempt. My 5's and congratulations on a smashing success for the series.

alexsmolik responds:

Hey man !
Thanks a lot for this really nice message and for all the compliments you made on the movie. I indeed used a lot of grey, I always try to make the movie live by adding a new layer called "atmosphere", where I add a MovieClip that just goes from visible to alpha. It just brings life and motion to the movie, there's always something moving.
I'm not a really good voice-actor, so I might talk slow. After all, english isn't really my native language so I tried to do my best.
I will try to fix the little "rabbit button" tomorrow, because after all, you're right, if people want to click it, they should be able to "enter the bar". I'll rectify that.
This wasn't designed for Front Page, but I'm really happy you suspect it was, must mean it's some quality work. If I wanted it to be more "Front Page material", I would've spent way more time on it and added more animation parts. But I have to admit I was looking forward to an award, whatever award that is! Or at least, some kind of recognition ! :)

Thanks for the kind and motivating review,
Makes me realise my work is still appreciated.
ALEX

[My GOD, Robots! pilot]

Excellent

Alright- let's keep this one short:
Art- aesome. I gave you a high interactivity for replay value on zooming in to read the note pads and such scattered about. As other people of noted- the geometric style is also very reminiscient of Bonus stage but more appealing in it's use of abstraction and overt lines- good Futurama line on the bodily fluids-
Sound needs some work- I understand that the unintelligble rapid dialogue is part of the story, but we're missing every other word.
Great social commentary (i.e. bible = "Bah-bul", Business co and "if you don't work here we haven't employed ya.").
A good twist to several different kinds of stories- Transformers, etc. that's kind of like a modern equivalent to the old "punch and Judy" puppet routines.
loved it-
xjokerX

[Minushi - Chapter 9]

gah- it ate my review.

My previous review was too long, here's the gist of what I said.
Great job in this latest installment. In the genre of science fiction we are bombarded by two types of bad writing: that which applies too much science and weighs down the story with excessive details or the kind that allows us just enough of a "moral" without detailing any of the finer points in explaining the motions and whims of the authors intent. In this latest episode we see the progressive movement from the sentimental search to find a lost brother into the autonomous journey of one girl in defining what true humanity is. You've combined the best aspects of science fiction in this: mechanization versus humanity (asimov), humans as selfish xenophobes (Wells), and the qustion of what is life (Verne).
In keeping this brief- you're making this series a magicians game of sleight of hand- you show us only enough to keep our rapt attention while at the same time the subliminal truth stretches out before us. As I stated in my last paragraph- the Xanthamedes (sp?- nice play on Archemedes) legend is the foreground for this whole drama. What is humanity? Is it our emotions or our industrial advancements (i.e. technology) that defines our species?
Your writing is solid and the dialogue shows that- in episode Eight for example Ezra's explanation of voice recognition software is just enough to satisfy the audience's curiosity without going into overt detail. Furthermore we are brought back to the story by Trixy's comment about him being a nerd- this is ultimately a very altruistic statement that any of us could and would make in such a situation.
What makes this a great series is the fact that you keep coming back to this even in your artwork. By using such narrow defined lines and drawn out colors (i.e. faded) you show us the abstraction in which our world has been reduced through conflict. Same instance- you allowed light to be reflected of eyes- this makes not only the facial expressions, but the dialogue to reach new levels of sincerity.
Et al you attain something that few authors can percieve- replay value. You keep drawing us further into the world of Tinker (possibly the Xathamedes (again for misspelling) robot) and Trixy by mixing humanity with the the wonders futurity offers. You show us just enough to keep us honest and interested while foreshadowing the series of events still to come in the next ten episodes. You allow your audience to enjoy- you get us to suspend our sense of disbelief and still satisfy our needs. As the poster in ep. 8 suggests, "The devil is in the details."
Great job~
XjokerX

[Necromancer | Subtitles]

Wunderbar!

große Arbeit Banghead-, das ich kenne, daß Ihr Freund Shane Erath, der Wacken- sich sorgt, Sie herauf heute werfen lassen?

[Faust - Episode 2]

Evolution in the making!

Excellent work this latest installment- I like the inflection you use in the dialogue- usually such pieces of raparte are left somewhat...hokey- people come off trying to sound arrogant or cocksure always round of flately- to the point, this is a mature interpretation of Goethe's seminal piece.
As to the film itself:
In my review of Faust Ep. 1 I poured praise on your decision NOT to go in the way of the southpark animation- however I didn't like the obviated Hellsing ties- Episode One stretched beyond that- giving us a surreal image of the astral life that, for lack of a better term, divulges us from "human" (and thus finite) contemplation- you keep this period but you present the devil in modern clothes- showing how the temporal/spacial relativity of human existence is merely introspective to that of the divine.
Your pacing is excellent- right amount of action at the right amount of time without being overt and thus, "cheesy." The Hellsing inspired little bits are very tastefully done- although having Lucifer stand in the mock crucifiction (sans alucard) was a bit much.
The facial detailing on Faust hwoever was very nicely done- great profile and good tones Shadows were a bit long, but the color scheme thus far was fine (nvm the stated fire/explosion effects). what I really want to draw attention to was the fact that this piece is very subdued in art, acting, and plot development. Unlike others who try to hit it off the top strong- you're allowing the story to tell itself...and that's what makes this great.
spots to consider:
Tweening on the dying werewolf- ne Lucifer transition was a bit rough. The animation itself was so-so and the Hellsing inspiration was a bit off- mixing the centipede gathering and the "black oil" from the church scene. That's what cut your graphics- not the explosions, by my eye they were fine.
Sound needed some work- voice levels are adequate and the inflection, as stated before, is perfect. Dialogue is glib and to the point. No problems there-- but the music needed something towards the end. I found the overlapping dialogue with lyrics to be somewhat distracting-- I'd really like to see you use "Angel" by Nightwish somewhere in the series.
Story- You're sticking to it. This is not by the letter, but you're doing a masterful job as director and storyteller. I eagerly anticipate the third installment.