Josh-B's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[LUCKY DAY FOREVER]

I find this a very interesting film for Newgrounds. I wouldn't say its something that surpasses all other movies here in quality, but definitely for maintaining quality over its length. Its got a story that could easily work as a longer movie, but it's excellently worked out in a way that no part of the overall concept feels like it was compromised or left out due to limitations by the artist. Its not often you see a "complete" story here.

My first impression was definitely one of interest, but I had a feeling in the back of my mind that this was just another everyday flash guy trying to make a "good" movie, yet would fall short due to his own limitations in his writing ability or animation, and, in a few ways it does feel like it appeals to the cliches of other successful dystopian sci-fi flicks which, ironically, makes it seem a tad unoriginal when attempted by someone with not as much caliber in filmmaking.
Yet, its the infusion throughout of blatant vulgarity and sexual themes that makes me smile a bit and reminds me that this is definitely something that you would only see on Newgrounds, and not in any previous sci-fi movie I've seen.

Once I saw it through to the end, however, I was greatly impressed by the writing of the film, how it really surprises me, instead of making me think, "oh great, an amateur trying to be mr. great dystopian science fiction author over here, how fucking original". Its not, say, a feature-length film, but it definitely has a unique enough story to be worth noting, and I'm impressed that it was done by only a few great individuals just trying to make an entertaining animation.

Great job!

[the Last of the Dashkin]

Excellent work, if not quite up to the others.

As usual, your work touches the upper threshold of Flash talent, providing an inspiration to others who follow you. You usually tend to push the limits of possibility with the program every time you submit something, yet in this installment there seems to be nothing particularly new or earth-shattering to talk about.

While you still show intense amounts of quality, there were a few things that weren't quite up to speed as your previous entries. The fact that it was sort of a prelude meant that there was no single story to talk about,or a simple problem or premise. This obviously seems like a build up to something far more extensive and I have no doubts about it being top quality, but my greatest worry about the series is that your transfer from simple stand-alone animations to a far more massive series might somewhat diminish the quality of the series.

Adding more depth to characters and settings in a story can either be something that adds to the series, but it can also be a sort of death sentence for the animation. Now, there is nothing you could do that could actually be "bad", but i'm afraid that this new depth you're adding to the series could somewhat diminish the quality of your work, setting-wise.

Still, I hope the best for your future endeavors and I look forward to your next installment

~Josh B

[Blockhead: Episode 11]

Long detailed review

Alright, I suppose I'll give this toon the whole spiel.

I remember back in the olden days about 3 years ago when I first saw Blockhead, it was simple antics that appealed to many audiences expecting simple humor. You were consistently thinking up new things for him to get into and I especially enjoyed Blockhead's new dialouge every episode. Blockhead was also a constantly developing character which was evidenced in Time Squad showing a sort of 'secret past', adding more dimensions to his character. Even though Blockhead had simple ways, he was always responding to a new situation in a humorous way and always had something new to show, even if you did throw in a few recurring jokes. This is what I enjoyed most about the series.

But, as I feared, this is no longer so.

Around the whole redesign at about Episode 9, I liked the new look and everything and the type of humor stayed delightfully the same as before. But the following episodes started getting bland for very good reasons. Its not that the writing has become bad, it is just become far too repetitive, which in its own sense is still considered bad. You see, I just think that Blockhead is starting to become too adamant a character, with nothing really too new. I see him saying a lot of the same type of dialouge choices and too much of the same actions, characters and jokes. One major thing is the Weevil character whom doesn't really fit in as well. A new recurring character every episode just doesn't seem to work after awhile, besides maybe a cameo later on or a brief reference. But just putting him in every new episode just doesn't feel right. It felt good with the two original characters: Blockhead and his Conscience who gave the series its true essence. But you have a new character who you try to base plots around, kind of ruins that aspect about the series. The only main recognized characters that worked were the ones in Time Squad and that was kind of just throwing Blockhead into a completely different genre.

Maybe the whole reason for this is Blockhead is just such a one-sided character that can only last so long before it just starts to get old, and I don't know if you should just move on or what. Or maybe your new, improved art style has somehow taken away from the series simple beginning and has limited or damaged the writing and situations.

Either way, I don't feel as good about this series as I used to. I may have rambled a bit these past few paragraphs, but I hope I can get my message through to you in the way I intended.

Hoping for the best.

The-Swain responds:

I won't disagree that this episode has "more of the same" when it comes to some of the comedy, especially concepts that were frequent through Episodes 9, 10, and the Ghostmas special, and someone expecting to be surprised throughout will undoubtedly be a little disappointed.

Thing is, there's a method to this madness. It's been over a year since the last actual episode in the series, and any repeat of old concepts was meant to remind people of what they'd been missing. This was supposed to be "just another episode", but I think the passing of time between episodes makes each one a little more precious, and then maybe a little disappointing when it doesnt turn out to be a brand new awesome experience.

Though I disagree about the Weevil; he's less a character and more a prop. Another target of Blockhead's obsession, but more versatile than giving him a reason to say "Introducing tongs!" every episode. He doesn't have any kind of role in this episode even, and the escape scene is more to highlight Blockhead's needless obsession with yet another ridiculous focus. Though you're right to call Blockhead single-dimensioned - the only thing I can ever change about him is the environment with which he interacts. Hence another red herring for him to chase.

Alas, I do miss the old days of just Blockhead and his Conscience, and there will be plenty more scenarios where just the two of them can go at it. But don't be worried about the direction of the series - every episode, I sit down with my collection of comics I drew as 13-year-old and pick traits that I intend to use each time. Maybe next time it will be more to your liking?

[Retro Xmas]

Happy Hannukah.

Jewish power, hells yeah.

[There She Is!! step4]

Cute creative style that makes up a unique flash.

I've always liked your movies from the very first episode. You have a eastern style of art that fits excellently with the cute but sometimes dramatic story.

The whole story, from the first few episodes make it seem like a story of innocent love from two very different people. But in this part, it takes a dramatic turn. The themes change from a typical love story, to dealing with prejudice and friends who end up turning on each other. It gives the overall series some depth and shows a darker side.

Your animation style amazes me. Extremely smooth movements that work alongside the art style very well. The detail in the characters and the settings are nice. The colors are mostly monochrome except for key features in the characters, such as her cheeks and his scarf, and some key objects. I especially love how his scarf loses color once he decides he does not lover anymore.

A great story with a broad range of depth and detail, all within a cute and loveable style of art. I can't wait for the conclusion!

-J

[Edible Castle #10]

Decent conclusion to a pretty good series

I always liked this series(and pretty much the rest of your animations) from when I began watching them. You always had a knack for creative ideas, fun characters and spectacular voices. I'm surprised I'd never reviewed any of your movies before, but I guess I'll review this one now.

Like the rest of the series, you show the great talent of colorful settings and dialog. But now you show some of your great ideas animated by some of my favorite flash artists. This medley of artists keeps the whole movie interesting and it is great seeing some of the different interpretations of some of the characters in different styles.

I liked the idea of having the two characters narrorating the whole olympics and describing each individual event based on each artists interpretation. While you don't have as much of your own art in it, its easy to understand the whole premise is the animator's cameos. One thing I have to point out is your dialog between the two announcers isn't as creative as in your previous episodes, but I see how the writing depends more on how each piece turns out, rather than having it based primarily on your own setups.

All in all, it turned out pretty well. I could honestly say the a few of the parts were not as interesting as I expected, but I guess thats how they took their take on it.
I hope that you may someday make more episodes of Edible Castle, but for now I patiently look forward to release of Cuboy Ep. 3. ;-)

~Josh B

[Monster's Dream]

Good for a dream sequence.

This movie was a real creative piece of art and it was a bit jumbled together like a dream should be. Let me start with the animation.

Admittedly, the animation was a bit iffy. The movements of the character didn't seem to flow as well as it should have. The running animations seemed alright, but some movements seemed a bit off, for instance when hes teetering over the cliff. Some of the movements seemed just a tad jerky, like when he lands after being blasted away. The animation didn't hinder the movie too much as a whole, Its just there could be a few improvements.

Now the art pretty much more than makes up for what I said about the animation. When I pay attention to the art more, it seems more like an art film. I can tell this is a major part of the movie you focused on. The backrounds were fantastic. They definitely created a surreal dream world. The colors went along perfectly with the whole style of the movie. I loved the main character, who fit along with the whole piece as well as the giant pyramid.

About the whole dream; the events that occur are pretty random like in a real dream. However, it seemed to move along a little too fast, more so than in an actual dream. Again, it didn't really hinder the movie a whole lot, I just think there could be some brushing up.

Overall, the art was great; the animation and writing was alright but needed a couple improvements. It was a great piece the whole way through and I hope to see some more of your work in the near future. ;-)

~JB

animatorjones responds:

thanks for taking the time to write an all around constructive and helpful review :D

animationwise, ill keep improving, i hear what your saying. in the future i'll try to iron out the Frame by frame so there isn't any jerkyness.

for the art, thank a bunch :3 i spent a lot of time on that actually, so i'm glad you enjoyed.

as for the whole dream, sorry about the randomness, just trying to get a dream feel going. but in the future i'm sure there will be more structure.

thanks again and good luck with your submissions as well, (going to go watch them now :3

-jones

[Minushi - Chapter 17]

Great and epic like the others.

I liked this episode as I like the others. The whole plot is an interesting interpretation of fearing and attacking the unknown. But it certainly proves that the giants weren't intentionally attack because the reinforcements showed they had more than enough power to defeat them.

Similar to others, the animation is fairly consistent but there are some physics and movements that seem unnatural almost. For instance the very end when he was burning up. Seemed a bit too fast. But thats not the worst thing a flash could have. This was one of my favorites in the whole series.

[Alex Seryoua: Episode I]

Alright, I suppose...

Good for a starter episode, but I felt there was many flaws to whole design and setup of the story. The backrounds were great and it was a neat art style, but I felt like it didn't flow too well. A lot of the character movements were annoyingly unnatural and tweens felt choppy. The whole story had holes in it, even for a first episode. There wasn't much setup to the character or the whole setting in general, like the story quickly changed to a person talking to being abducted by aliens, without much detail described about the main character.

I see what kind of style you're trying to create, and I like that, but I think if you work a little harder on the basic setting and the animation, it could turn out much, much better.

[Mastermind]

Wierdness

Definitely strange. I just wonder what goes on your mind sometimes. I thought it was hilarious though.