The-Swain's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[rtil's trad animation '06]

Bravo, and a sympathetic nod (for all the work).

I try to fbf as much of my flash cartoons as I can stomach, but really, I'm not an animator. I'm a storyteller. I'm still in the midst of animating right now, and just seeing the amount of work you've done here makes me cringe. I can imagine the long months that you describe.

Also, I'm pleased with your choice of audio for the dialogue test. Strange pick, but anything from Back to the Future is still golden in my book.

-Swain

xtil responds:

Saying you're not an animator when you make flash cartoons doesn't make any sense. A story can be told through animation and animation alone, and no matter what you do, your story will depend on your animation. There's no escaping it.

People talk about animation like it's magic - well you know what, it isn't. Anyone can learn how to animate. And saying you can't animate is a cheap cop-out.

If seeing this makes you cringe, then you're probably better off writing books. If you don't enjoy animating, you're not going to get better at it. But if somebody wants to learn how to animate, they can do it.

[Summer Passed Out]

A worthy few seconds of cartoon.

Summer Moved On has been one of my favorite '80s songs for some time now, and I knew the exact moment of the song you were talking about when I read your description. I'm not sure how I ran across this submission, but I'm glad I did. I was hoping to find a way to put this song into a future flash cartoon of mine, so let's you and I cross our fingers for it :)

-Swain

Gaizka responds:

Thanks, man. I'm glad you like the film and everything, but Summer Moved On was released in 2001, it's not from the eighties.

TYPO'D?! Or LIES?!

[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...

[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.