JoLiKMC's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Milk Bandages]

Ren & Stimpy-Styled Comedy Done Badly

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. . . This will never do, guys. I have no idea how this got on to the front page in the first place. It's like the folks at Newgrounds habitually grab a random entry that's beautiful-looking, but otherwise not that great, and throw it up on the front page. But maybe it's just me. . . So, let's get into it.

Graphics make the movie, in my opinion. Even though they're not very original -- they're terribly close to the "commercial" segments in The Ren & Stimpy Show -- I think it works for this animation. They're very well drawn, crisp, and show no obvious tearing or other goofs. Therefore, I say it's worth a 9.

Now, I said the graphics were close to The Ren & Stimpy Show. However, that's not the only thing that closely resembles said cartoon. The style of this animated short is not only resembling the commercial segments of Ren & Stimpy, but also of a good deal of other John Kricfalusi's work. Right down to the spoken dialogue and reactions, which are way too overdrawn. Even by Spümcø standards.
Also, the opening credits are far too long for this to be a truly decent short. The credits themselves are roughly half the cartoon! So, that really does knock off some points from style, plunking it down to a meager 3 out of 10.

Continuing. . . The music is very fitting for the scenes of the cartoon. Fits like a glove. However, the voice-acting, while equally fitting, is kind of obvious and overdone. By "obvious," I mean it's really easy to tell it was all done by one person, as it states in the credits. A little variety in how you do the voices could have hiked this score WAY up there, but instead, the music saves it from being abysmol by keeping it at a solid 6.

Finally, humour. . . As previously stated, this really isn't anything we can't see in a Spümcø cartoon. This specific style of humour has been done to death in Ren & Stimpy and The Ripping Friends. But it's not even that, that brings this score down to a 4. It's the fact that little in the cartoon was pulled off with true success.

So, to summarize. . . Everything in the cartoon seems a little forced, the timing is a little off on things, and overall, it's kind of dull and boring. 5 out of 10 really isn't a bad score, but if you put in into fractions, you'd notice it's really just 1/2 a good cartoon. It really does amaze me that this made the front page, but then again, I'm not the Newgrounds people.

Until next time,
Joseph Collins

mumbla responds:

Oh man, I have so many things to say to this...

First I'd like to say you are one professional Newgrounds reviewer.

Obviously it made the front page because a numerous amount of people liked it, just because you didn't, doesn't mean newgrounds should have to change their standards to your liking.

And why are you even keeping track of the points you give, it was an amatuer cartoon made by 2 people, if you want big production cartoons go over to atomfilms or something.

[Author Space: Ep.100 Pt 2]

Very Awesome Special

First off, I appreciate you using, AND crediting me for my "Skull Castle Deep Dungeon" arrangement. I wasn't expecting that at all, as I know there's tons of better music out there.

Anyway. . . This is a really kick-ass movie you've made, here. Big, too, but very kick-ass. The graphics -- both sprited and drawn -- are well done, and the sounds and music are perfect for whichever scene they're used in, though the voices seem a bit lacking at times. . .(Especially Wily.) The violence is kind of a mix of cute cartoon violence and random robot brutality, which is always a plus, and there's jokes aplenty overall. Finally, this is definately original, even though it keeps a fairly constant familiarity within.
Overall, this is a very good mixed sprite and drawn movie. Anyone who's a fan of. . .well. . .just about ANYTHING, from Sprite Comics to Video Games to anime. . .would definately enjoy this movie.

[I Will Beat Pacman!]

Mmmm, That Was a Good Banana

It's not very often that I make short reviews, but in this case, I'll make an exception, because I don't feel like detailing everything.

Good graphics done in a semi-John Kricfalusi style(it seemed to have light traces there-in), awesome style, decent sound, music, and screaming, and overall, general hilarity. This rocks.

[SSBM - Music Video: Mario]

Not a Bad Way to Kill A Few Minutes

Well, I must say, this is a nice change of pace, especially compared to your duo of Sock Land movies. It doesn't really have many faults that you yourself haven't already mentioned. Well, except for the fact it's a movie file in a Flash file. And don't point out "Knox," whomever they might be. Already fairly aware of them.

The graphics aren't horrible, and you can distinguish what's going on, at least. And the use of the Free Camera mode in Super Smash Bros. DX(Melee) isn't that bad, either. All these clips flow into a nice little collection, and was definately pulled off with a decent amount of style. I also really must say that the music you used in this movie is definately not just "more of the same". It's good that you've finally gotten out of that inedverted funk and made something that sounds considerably different from your other tracks.
Next, we have the violence and humour. This movie isn't really all that violent, or funny, but then. . .it probably wasn't intended to be either. Admittedly, it has some generic Smash Bros. violence in it and all, which leads to some slightly humourous events, such as smacking the Pichu(or was it a Pikachu?) into the waters of Termina Bay like a little furry volleyball. I admit it. I laughed at that.

So anyway. . .not a bad piece of work. Fairly lazy, in the sense that it's not an actual Flash movie, but nowhere near as lacking as the last two entires. I patiently await your next Flash movie that isn't a video file slapped into a Flash. Another music video like "Super Sonic," or even something spritely, like "Robotnik, Psy, and Jen"(aka "Bulbous Bouffant") would be pretty cool.

And as a quick, personal note, Beaubien. . .if I were holding some sort of serious grudge or hatred against you, would I be reviewing these things higher than a 3? Quoth the Black Mage, "I calls'm as I sees'm." Keep that in mind.

[Sock Land]

Goofy and Dull

A video file. . .converted to Flash. . .on Newgrounds?! Oh my god, it's the apocolypse, yaaaaaugh!! Seriously, though. Making a movie, then converting it to Flash just so you can get people to vote for your stuff on sites like Newgrounds is just plain silly. There are video sites out there. Ones that are like. . .well. . .like Newgrounds for the AVI/MOV enthusiast. Anyway, on to the review.

Being that this is little more than a video file, converted with full sound and frame rate, to a Flash file, the graphic quality is, of course, going to be very bad. Not only is it extremely pixelated, but even the lighting, colour balanced, and perhaps even the camera alignment and angling are all very questionable. It's viewable. . .but only to a point of being able to recognize things for what they are. Also, on 16-but colour mode(in Windows), you can plainly see some "hidden text" throughout the video. These would be the ending credits. . .if the video didn't instantly jump back to the Newgrounds loader, instead of stopping.
In addition to the video being grainy and blocky, the sound was also rather bad. It was perfectly coheirent and understandable, yes, but because of they unprofessional way of recording the sound(read "shouting from across the room without microphones"), a great deal of the dialouge is lost to volume issues. Mostly low-volume issues. Which is an issue all on its own, considering if you crank the volume up to hear the lost words, you get yelled at shortly there-after.

Interactivity gets a zero because. . .there was none. No, I don't include the clickable "play" button, or the clickables at the "end".

This video was really random. Extremely. There obviously was no script, and therefore, gets a very low "style" rating. It had its own style, but it's nothing we haven't seen in Flash and movie files a million times before. Ever see the Williams Street line of cartoons?(Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Sealab 2021, etc.)
There also wasn't enough violence to get any "violence" rating worth mentioning. We saw a sock get molested by a sock and a sock slap a sock. . . That's about it.

The humour itself is the highlight of the movie. While it consists of mostly random quips and idiotic behaviour by two people "who were very bored," I'm generally a fan of "stupid" humour. Dumb & Dumber pulled it off quite nicely. So did Bryon and Johnny, here. Still, it wasn't enough to save this movie from a personal Blam and negative review.

Okay, so. . . In short, the movie was too bright and too blocky view properly, a little too random to follow, and too damned goofy to be worthy of a replay. It's movies like this that make me wonder. . .whatever happened to "vintage" Psy productions? The past shall forever remain as such, in the eyes of perpetual downward spiral.

Psyguy responds:

Holy shit, someone that hates me doesn't like my stuff. Amazing.

[FF7: About Random Battles]

A Good Movie and a Note

This is a pretty good Final Fantasy parody, by the "Legendary Frog," Joseph Blanchette, and Dim and Tom, the "Super Flash Brothers". It's done quite well, and, even though the bonus scenes are a pain in the arse to get to, they're worth it. Not to mention the fact that if you want to view them later, your Material Madness score is actually saved as a Cookie in your history. So, don't worry, if you wanted to view the clips later on. They'll still be accessable, so long as you don't delete your Cookies.

[Baga Run]

Dream Penguin Adventure X-Treme?

Ya know, this Flash movie strongly reminds me of the old FamiCom game, "Dream Penguin Adventure: The Quest for Penko's Heart". The main character, Penta, was a big, flabby penguin dude, and his girlfriend, Penko, didn't like the fact he was so fat, and so, told him she's break up with him if he didn't shape up. Of course, there is the mainstead villian, Ginji, who moves in and swoops up Penko, and then sends out his henchmen to delay Penta's progress, and keep him fat, so Penko won't like him anymore.
Anyway. . . The main character of this movie reminds me of of Penta, being a chubby, cute lil' penguin, meanwhile, the villian reminds me of Ginji, right down to the dark sunglasses and top hat. Odd coinsidence, but that really works well, for fans of old Konami classics, like myself.

[Sonic Belching Fun!]

More Iffy Than Genuine

Okay. . .

I can admit that I've been a little harsh, when it comes to reviewing some of your past, feeble attempts at entertainment. . . But for some reason, this particular Flash movie struck me as being rather amusing. I'd LIKE to say "nicely done". . . . . .er, so I will.

Nicely done.

Gasq responds:

And you are...?