The-Swain's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Bored Aliens Short 01]

Certes, I see promise.

Every cartoon worth its salt has something particular about it that sets it above others. With this submission, I can say right away without faltering that it's how clean it is. I don't mean the content, you silly goose; I'm talking about the style. Little glitches bother me when I spot them, but I've watched this twice and haven't noticed any slips. Fastidiousness is a good trait for a serious cartoonist, methinks. And it helped that I had no idea what the hell was going on.

The negatives? When I say there shoulda' been more, I don't mean the length. It was a nicely packeged little piece given its brevity. A lesson I'm slowly learning for myself is in the value of ambient sounds and background music. If at any point in your cartoon you find yourself without something to listen to, then do something about it. It's not a matter of distracting the audience; real life is very loud. Right now I can pick out three little irritants resonating in my room, and by all rights it should be totally silent in here. These ambients add character, and character deepens the world you're creating.

-Swain

[Stop Sign and Soy Sauce]

What a delicious treasure.

Well, congrats on front page, A-dawg. I did a double-take when I noticed it up there.

Now, normally I'm skeptical about using JPG's in a Flash (even if I'm blatantly doing it myself), but I thought the application was really very funny, almost like a photo album taking you back to the "good ol' days". Also, the cartoon was wholly improved from your prototype; the little things I secretly wanted you to add or to tweak, you did anyway on your own. Bravo, you little mind-reader you.

Also, good choice of ending tune: my favorite Silvestri song from my favorite movie series. Great Scott!

-Swain

Aerdail responds:

Hah, thanks Swain for the review, just like you said you'd do! I'll talk to you on your forums later I guess.

[Sounds of CS]

Like taking credit for a "ColorByNumbers" picture.

Why did the AWPer teamkill that guy like 20 times? They should have server-banned him.

Not totally bad. The fact that you plastered warnings all over that you didn't make the song shows your honest intentions, and if people are going to vote as though the song was yours, then hey, you warned 'em.

-Swain

StealthBeast responds:

lol touche... well ok, lets just say the the server admin WAS that awper or something lol.

Ahaha thanks for acknowledging my desperate attempts to not claim the song as My own why simultaneously not degrading my integrity to the lowly ports of an ebaumsworld wannabe who violated moral rights to animation, music, and other media and multimedia *breaths*

thanks for the review. Sorry for the late response, I'm swamped =_=

[Salad Fingers Karaoke]

Hey, now that wasn't bad at all.

I never like parodies for some reason. I'm mostly afraid that it's going to heavily rely on the original artist's work and leave no new ideas explored. Unlike other parodies, this one didn't just introduce Firth's popular characters and expect people to love it for that. You used them, kept their context, but changed their purpose and application.

Anyway, on to the the flash itself. I was entertained, and the combined animation with the music kept me watching 'til the end. Remember, I don't like parodies, but I couldn't make myself close the window :D By the end, I understood that I actually liked it. Good work!

-Swain

MiddleFingerRings responds:

:P thankyou, hahah I luv parodies most of the time...

[Pink Army]

I got a lot more out of it than I expected.

Wow, I'll be honest with you. I never expected to like a stick animation, but this was far past decent. There's a great distance between great artistry and creativity, and I think you've stuck it to all those people who think that flashy effects makes up for a well-thought-out combat. You pulled off a few things I wasn't expecting and had me saying "I wish *I* had thought of that first!"

Keep up the good work!

-Swain

[Primal War 05]

You have spoken, and I have listened.

Incredible animation, friend. It's amazing what can be accomplished
without dialogue when you've got a story strong enough to speak for itself. You know, I rather enjoyed your last episode (which was '4' material to me), but this one takes an easy 5.

To be honest, I really do feel bad that I released my cartoon on the same day. Yours deserved to go down as a Daily Feature. :( But that's just an award...this piece is very inspired, and no good or bad votes from any number of reviewers is gonna change that.

Looking forward to your next installment!

-Swain

[Galvanise]

Couldn't dig it.

Just looks like another Walk-Smash-Walk, but to a song you didn't write. I won't review to compare it to another movie, though, even though I see obvious inspiration.

I don't know, I just had trouble getting into it. Chem Bros is OK by me, but if you were going for a choreographed walk-along, then there must have been a better song to pick. This one just doesn't change, and you end up having to make new animations for the same rhythm. That gets boring, even though you weren't responsible for the song.

The "story" was pretty good, though, so I'll give you that. (By "story" I mean the events in the background).

-Swain

TheDevilsJoker responds:

Shame you for not digging it. But thanks for the honest and helpfull reveiw. I wont ever be making a flash like this again, But its good to know where i can improve

[Raider]

A minute of my time well spent.

It was a little like Knight Rider meets Jonny Quest, at least when the theme is compared to the drawing style. Minus the blood and guns, of course, which I didn't think was overdone.

Also, I don't know what you'll hear elsewhere, but I thought the 3D was boss. Pretty impressive, actually, since it's hard to coordinate when the object is flying past as quickly as the cars were. Well done.

You get in, you watch the cartoon, and you move on. For the time given, I thought it paid off very well. Good luck on the daily high score!

LogFish responds:

Thanks a lot for the compliments! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[Primal War 04]

Hahaha, "Lost in Space" soundtrack!

I'd recognize that track anywhere...it was from the Spider scene. I was obsessed with that soundtrack all through highschool, and I even used the orchestrated pieces as some of the inspiration for the music I wrote for Time Squad.

Ah, yes, the review. Great backgrounds, friend! When I see one I like, I always pause the movie and zoom in to appreciate the detail. I was impressed even close up.

I did feel a little sorry for the brown chap. What was he, like a lobster or something? And I think I remember a monkey character in Primal Rage, but my character was always Talon. I love velociraptors. <3

[Mad World Collab]

I'd be a fool if I didn't add on to what the...

...last reviewer said. The original version of this song is by Tears for Fears, from one of their earlier albums (which also featured Pale Shelter, the song many of you probably associate with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City). As for Donnie Darko, you'll recognize another Tears for Fears song, "Head over Heels", at the beginning when the students are getting off of the bus.

Ahh, my beloved Tears for Fears. Anyway, I was expecting the flash to rely on the song, but I thought it was pretty solid on its own. This may be the first collab I actually liked. Nice work, all involved.

Remember...Gary didn't write the song! :D