ThaScientist's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[GT - Soldier]

I'm pretty tired of stick battles

There is little technically wrong with the movie, and this may be a semi-useless review, but I just think that stick fights are tiresome as a subject and fall into a bunch of fight scene cliches. Also, the lack of anything besides line are just looks lazy. Your animation is fine, I admit that stick animation does let people focus on having good motion and timing. It's just that the art is lacking and you should probably learn to produce backgrounds and characters in an art program and make them look nice.

I will probably sound a bit abusive here, but:

Why do people LIKE music that's just noise? I LIKE loud rock music, I'm open to rap, even death metal if it's like Firelake and a bit melodic, but I really hate so-called singing that's just screaming into my headphones and wish you would find some nice movie soundtrack or cool rock music in which the drummer isn't just banging a soulless, loud no-rhythm beat, and the singer isn't just yelling really loud into his microphone.

There, I've said it, and I will accept the consequences.

GoldenTot responds:

I don't really listen to it all that much, it just made for a decent battle tune. I know I'm not much for seeing so many fights either, but this was a little "test". Stick fights seem to be a great way to test one's animation potential, as well as see how they've improved. I usually do comedies, as you can see on my other animations, this was a little bit of an exception. :)

[TB anime practice]

What was that?

I'm guessing that part at the end was your animation. It's nice, but I'm not sure what you're "testing". Until it's ready, there's no reason to share it with us.

kfkok responds:

I did the entire clip, not the end only, However the drawings idea and animation is based on the anime. And i just remade it in flash

[The Last Minute Shopper]

A very Noir Christmas.

I give you props for originality and being able to articulate your complaints against convention eloquently and with style, as it seems an overwhelming majority of whining artists cannot.

Black and white can be visually arresting if done correctly. It's even better if something like blood is bright red and stands out. I think you are definitely channeling film Noir, from the color scheme to the hard-boiled character type to the voiceover narration.

Mechanically, it worked well, but there were problematic plot devices. I doubt that many stores are completely deserted on any night. I don't think that any mortal man can take a bullet to the torso without a vest and get up, much less fight and then walk away. He should have called 911 for himself! (don't tell me he was wearing a vest, he's a theif, not a secret agent)

The story was very simple, but that's not a problem on newgrounds. It was unpretentious and to the point. I think it really articulates very well the disparity between the commercialized facade that people have saddled christmas with and what it really can be. Your main character is a cynical guy, and he clearly doesn't have any moral scruples about his practice (burglary), but he has the uncommon courage to really stick his neck out for somebody in need. I think that's what we need more of.

knobbywood responds:

very well put. it brings a smile to my face knowing that someone understood where i was coming from. As for taking the bullet:) I like to make my characters normal but with larger than life characteristics. He'll be fine...

[Tissie Bear]

Sweet, but not meant for Newgrounds

I can appreciate that you love your wife, and praise your craftsmanship with paper cards, but this flash is not something the newgrounds public will be interested in. You basically created a flash animated slide show using only the most basic capabilities of flash, rather than an actual animation. It does not have storytelling content. In a private and personal capacity it's good, but it's not competitive. You can share it with your wife and family, but this is not the kind of stuff we look for on newgrounds, with all due respect. I hope you will continue to use flash and eventually submit a solid, sophisticated animation that other people cann identify with.

zergtillian responds:

I respect your imput, and know that I know all you say is true. This is something I made for my wife, more just for her, but thought of the idea of seeing if this would hold up to newgrounds, and had my wifes support to put it on, otherwise I wouldn't dare to put it up. So just so you know, I know exactly what type of things should be up on newgrounds, and I have been working on one for sometime now. Had one up awhile back, didn't hold up, seeing as I didn't know how to add sound, otherwise it would have did good I'm sure. But I now know how to add sound, and its already good so far, but has a long time before it will be up on this

[One Last Heil]

Edgy.

I think you meant this as a joke, or else tell me otherwise, but it's not a joke I'm comfortable with. A madly nationalistic and xenophobic murderer of millions is someone who is dangerous to joke about if you are not squarely humiliating him. The fact that you have a sympathetic obituary to him in the Stars and Stripes may be construed as evidence this is satire, meant to reflect on the unfortunate nazi-like tenancies of some maladjusted Americans, but it leaves too much room for doubt. This is insensitive at best, inflammatory at worst. Also, your workmanship is not spectacular. I noticed you spelled "morn" wrong. That's just tacky. I have no idea what kind of person you are, and I can't tell if you're evil or just an uninhibited joker, but the joke does not appeal to me.

Grumio responds:

Oh no, I'm super serious here.

[Easy Way Out]

Props.

Ii know you never read it before in your life, but I am going to bring up Owl Creek--just to tell you that you do it proud. You should read it sometime. Anyway you didn't copy it at all. Except for the framing device of a man who has a long fantasy about escape in the instant before the noose tightens around his neck, it's totally original. You made it your own by making the story about crime, consequences, and temptations, whereas Owl Creek is more about war, duty, home, and consequences resulting from choosing to stand up for something.

Anyway, you animate with great style and give it meaning. The whole "deal with the devil" thing is pretty cool as a metaphor for selling one's soul to save one's miserable life. Shows that it's not worth it to keep running away from consequences forever. No sound fx made it harder to keep attention once it had been going for a while, but the background track was good and made that matter less.

Munglai responds:

Thank you. I'm fine with being compared to Owl Creek really, I just don't like it when I look through my reviews and so many of them are exactly the same.

[tftfggrrgtrgrggrgrgrgrrgr]

Fair?

I am voting fair. I hope you won't take it personally if I criticize your work, but you could have made something a lot funnier, or better yet something that had a story or a message. I can't give you a passing grade just because you ask for it.

EDUCATIONALWAGON responds:

i wasn't asking for you to vote high, i was asking you to vote on what you thought of the movie, i don't wnat some fag coming in going "OMFG THIS MOOVIE IS TEH SUXXORZ CAUSE IT DONT HAVE POWER RANGERS IN ITTTTTTTTTTT"