XjokerX's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[All NG Fads Die!!!]

Violance with Style

An excellent collab remarking on the disingenuis repetitive crap foisted upon New Grounds viewers on a daily basis-- a shame that we didn't see any "(insert name) is on fire" or "Foamy Rant" jabs. I good effort on all-- the artwork was clean and clear, crisp defined lines, and excellent action scripting. But in and of itself, is it not just another one of those "random acts of voilence" films? An Ironic turn to the flick without being hypocritical. Good job.

MACception responds:

That's probably the most thought-out, and well developed review i've ever seen... Thanks man. Though...wouldn't you hate to se ANOTHER Foamy bashing? That poor guy is taking a BEATING!

[Glock Group Owns Colab]

just...

Well, while there could have been some effort in making this, it fails to find any marks at all. It just simply doesn't capture anything to the clock/lock genre, and frankly, is a desperate plea for any kind of recognition. Hint: most of the pistols used were Springfield XD's, not glocks in the first place.

TheGlockGroup responds:

ahessdeeefff

[S.A.M.V. 5]

Most excellent

My love and thanks to Jason for allowing me the opportunity to work with him and actually add a film to my credit. Keep tuned for parts two and three-- Episode six in notes-- SAMV Studios Rocking your mother from now until tomorrow.

BaconMask responds:

Thank you my most excellent partner in crime. It has worked out tremendously well!!! Here's to the future!!!

[Calderbank]

Awesome

Again- flawless animation coupled by the most unique and wry sense of humor on all of New Grounds.
Like whitmore the Overt use of the obvious and dramtic of "loose" irony make for a brilliantly loveable scene. Absolutely inspiring. I simply MUST pick your brain one day.
it is a relief to see you submit something to NewGrounds again as I've felt there's been a general economic depression of good intellectual humor- You, like TMST productions bring a quasi-intellectualism back to newgrounds that is desperaely missing. And while the average layman will appreciate the randomness of this, they fil to see near flawless recitation and composition of godly prose.
I'm dying to know if you've published any poetry online or off-line, perhaps in a scholarly anthology or annual collection. Simply breath taking performance. My fandom and my fives are yours for the taking.
Your biggest fan,
~Ed braun,
A.k.a. XjokerX

EdibleCastle responds:

hey thanks for the well thought out review. its the best one yet. I'll take you're fives gratefully.

poetry? wha? nah, not me.

[Nazism]

Nazism and not Facism

I understood what you were trying to do in tis piece, however I wonder how far off the mark you fell from the original assignment. Nazism in it's extremes is still a radical "positivist" Facist movement. What was depicted in the film was Nazistic actions of the Third Reich and Hitler's insanity.
The Problem I had with this, AS A JEW, was the fact that you misrepresented Klepfisz's statement about the Holocaust. "...the Holocaust has been like a fad...it has been commericialized, metaphored out of reality, glamorized, been severed from historical fact."
This is exactly what you're doing- though (I would hope) you are sympathetic to the 10mil people who died in Himmler's death Camps this film only further removes the Holocaust from the actual event. Nazism was an excuse for Hitler's insane regime-- remember Aryan's presupposedly evolved from the original Romans and as such, Hitler was an extremist in the occult and other aspects of mysticism. The extermination of the "undesireables" came on the part of his advisors as opposed to deporting them.
In all- as an outspoken member of the Jewish community I thank you for a tasteful and touching rememberance to the horrors of 1930's-40's Europe.

NathanButchart responds:

I had to cut some of Klepfisz' quote so people would have enough time to read it, and I think i still did justice to it's meaning. Thanks for your opinion.

[A Plate of Butter]

A good introduction

A good start to a good series-
Art: Very nicely done- as Doomgaze said, sketch style isn't seen as much on NG in favor of brush or dizzy cam it's nice to see some good artwork come through again. Color tones were very nice and highly defined. Outlines were well crafted, but could use some cleaning up on iteams like the T.V. and the phone.
Animation: Very well scripted, however you could increase the frame rate in picking up the phone- bored and reluctant aside, it dragged those seconds and put a damper on what was coming next. Possibly manageable since the absurdity of the comentary.
Voices/sound: You could have been very melodramatic with this- you instead chose to down play dialogue. I thought it worked best with having the protagonist simply say, "I hate my life" rather than break into some deeper, explanatory internal monologue. Even as such, that's become cliche' you step back to the classic form for keeping the audience in suspense in favor for the bizarre phone call. A little too soft spoken at times, watch for pops and fuzz.
Story: A mix between salad fingers, FLCL, and Donny Darko. Very well done- I look forward to the next installment.
5/5 over all.
~Ed

Artboycat responds:

Thanks for the critique, I really appreciate it. I also want to thank you for the comparison to FLCL, which is one of my favorite anime series. Somehow with out any direct intention the influence of that show seeps into my work, but I didn't think anybody would notice...I'm not sure what salad fingers is but it does sound familiar....I have seen Donnie Darko but I'm not particulary fond of it, however it is interesting to see that I may be influenced or have a similiar thought process to something I may not generally like. I appreciate that you took the time to analyze and critique all of the elements of my work...I hope to make the next episode bigger and better!

[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.

[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

[The Squirrel of Life]

Hoping to lightening will strike twice-

I'm both amused and happy to see you submitting so son after your last success, "up skit creek." As before- your use of visual rhetoric mixed with a rye sense of humor has produced something quite unique for it's genre. As before- you stick with the classic random theme, however; unlike before you guide us with a merry "melody."
The lyrics were a bit tough to catch, but you followed through nicely. ending was a bit abrupt, but over all quite humorous. for a late night ride this tickled my funny bone in just the right way over coming the drug and fatigue hazed mind. well done- thanks for the lullaby.
~Ed
XjokerX

TmsT responds:

Dude, your review has more serious effort (and probably artistic merit) than my animation! And I wasn't even on drugs when I made it! Thanks! ^____^