robototron's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[snow.]

a little too light

I have a giant, no MASSIVE soft-spot for these kinds of animations: subtle, visual, even cute. I love it when people make movies that don't fall back on stupid physical humor and gratuitous violence (yes, my animations and i have been called gay MANY MANY times here on Newgrounds).

But, ultimately, this was missing one crucial element: singularity. There was nothing at the core of this that was unique. Unless I missed something, this was pretty much showing someone who was feeling down, and a person coming over to her and cheering her up by very normal means.

That said, the author makes great use of the medium. The movie does have beautiful illustration and smooth animation (I'll attribute the way they walk to an artisitic choice - not laziness). So, in the end, it's better than harmless...but not as good as heart-warming.

jayohelay responds:

hmm well its like this.. the girl is having a nice walk in the snow, then the guy throws this snowball at her (accidentally), presumably in some snow fight or what not. So he comes over and he's all like "oh sorry are you ok let me help you" etc, and the girl is like "yeah im ok", she gets up, pulls his pants down, then he gets a snowball thrown at his ass

[I know you can]

i'm joining up

Wow! I wouldn't have thought it, but after looking in the obituaries, and then reading the reviews on the re-entry, it seems this animation has the power to really divide people. Everyone's reviews say, "this shouldn't be blammed, help protect it!" or "This is shit, BLAM BLAM BLAM!"

Personally, I don't know why this would inspire a love it or loathe it situation. But if it must be that way - and even though it's out of the judgment phase - I'll choose love it.

Do I actually love it? No, but I do LIKE it a lot. I'm not so crazy about the Pillows, but still the author did good work here.

And someone said it perfectly before, "Just because someone doesn't get blown up, doesn't mean it should be blammed." (or something like that). Here here. Here here.

AtC responds:

thanx for siding with us!
we obviously see there is little or no corellation(sp?) between the score (x/5) and the reviews, and since this is our first flash (that was posted on NG) we are uberconfuzzled @.@

[System.]

95 percent wonderful

This movie was so wonderful. I loved the fact that the author did not bow to potential impatience on the audience's part, and he kept the pacing perfect. Great tone, great animation, great great great.

But, I was SO let down that the guy killed himself at the end. Not because I was sad for the character, but because suicides at the end of stories/movies are so cliche. It's almost as bad as a "it was all a dream!" ending.

This movie would have been so much more poignant if the character simply continued the cycle. I mean, even that would be a great commentary on the concept of what a weekend really is (it's not time for yourself, but time that you spend preparing for the system, thereby making weekends part of the system).

Good work, hope my critique doesn't overshadow how much of an overall great job you did.

Emiel123 responds:

Thank you for this great feedback, up to now this is the only review that's actually useful to me. Now that I look back at it, it might've indeed been better to let the character continue his utterly boring cycle, but when I made it, it seemed only right to let the guy kill himself, to amplify the message. Anyway, thanks. =)

[Terminal]

35% more noodle

Homage to Nadine Gordimer? That seemed to be more of an homage to vaseline-on-the-lens soap operatics, but maybe I'm wrong.

This seemed WAY heavy-handed. It's hard to for the viewer to come to any sort of natural, poignant reaction while they are being bashed over the head with an aluminum bat that says "TERMINAL ILLNESS IS SAD! LOVING RELATIONSHIPS ARE TOUCHING! COMBINE THEM, AND WHAT DO YOU GET?! FEEL THE EMOTION!"

Try a little subtlety. May I suggest watching "Ready's Voyage" (if you haven't already)? That movie manages to be incredibly effective without one word of dialogue or title. I'm not saying you shouldn't have words, but it might be a good reference.

An alternate "homage": Don DeLillo's novel, "White Noise." If you put more into the decision between regular condensed soup and 35% more noodle, you'd have something there. It's all about the grocery stores...and generic products! It's how they arrange the aisles!!!

OK, lastly, what's with the Journey song? "They say that the road is no place to start a family..." The characters in this movie hardly seemed like touring band members playing for adoring fans all over the country, but feeling so lonely inside. But, one time I watched "Journey: Behind the Music," and this terminally ill kid's wish was to meet Journey, so they did! And the kid was really happy about it!

ANYWAY YOU WANT IT!

JUST A SMALL TOWN GIRL, LIVING IN A LOOOOONELY WOR-ERLD

MajinMetroid responds:

I used that song because of the lyrics "You stand by me... I'm forever your's... Faithfully." Trust me, I spent about four solid hours trying song after song and that one, in my opinion, worked best. Others that came close to being used were "Open Arms" by Journey, "End It On This" by No Doubt, "Still In Love" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds", and "Sweeter Than Me" by Aaron Sprinkle. Thanks for the review.

[A look Into...]

NG forever!

jesus! a little sycophantic, no?

artificial responds:

Can opener, i need one now

[Switch to us.]

argh!

Today is the day of animations that have potential but don't deliver! Everything I've seen today starts out in a way where I think, "Wow, this is gonna be fuckin' great!" And then it unravels with some one-liner or physical gag that I've heard or seen a million times.

Don't get me wrong, it's funny, but it's nothing new. I mean, just the other day, I was reading someone's review of a movie (here on NG), and he wrote, "Here's the bad news: your movie is utter shit. The Good News: I saved a ton of money by switching to Geico." This joke is so pervasive it's working its way into people's normal vernacular.

What was funny was the end "Making other people feel like shit about it" or whatever. I wish that wasn't a footnote, or post script tacked on to the end; I wish that was the main premise.

Sorry, I'm being overly-negative. I think the voice-overs were great and the animation was funny, and you obviously no how to structure a joke. I just wish I hadn't heard it before.

10-4.

Mek1985 responds:

Sorry to ruin your day.

[Writing on you desk]

had potential, but...

I guess I feel like this had a ton of potential, and it just didn't pay off. Using the dangers of writing on one's desk is an excellent premise (great job!) and it had me very interested, and rooting for it from the start (again, great job!). Furthermore, your animation style was smooth and interesting, along with your use of color and pacing (great job yet again!). But after all those really positive things, we get "until you stab your eye."

I'm trying to figure out why you used that. I mean, I suppose it could be because you feel that most of the NG audience appreciates things that are just senselessly violent, or just pure physical comedy. But, that's not necessarily so. Even if we DO love that stuff, we can just go watch "Soft Outer Crust." Or, maybe you did the "stab/tiger" thing because you had so many good elements lined up, and you couldn't come up with anything better, but you still wanted to make and post the animation. If that was the case, I'd say you ought not jump so quickly, and spend more time on the script.

The obvious third reason was that you actually thought the "stab/tiger" thing would be really great. I don't believe that. You show too much skill here for me to believe you'd think such rote material is actually quality.

I predict we'll be seeing a lot of good things from you in the future, provided we don't have our eyes pierced with sharp objects over and over and over and over and over again.

wowHOWnow responds:

Thanks man, this was really good constructive criticism, it was encouraging. Just had to say thanks...

[Clock haters suck cock]

what it is

score another one for the clock crew. the only problem with this movie (or, the only one that doesn't work in its favor since it's a cc movie) is that there are no computer voices. gotta have the computer voices.

Sir-CannabisClock responds:

lol, I'll have them next time...

["Girls"]

rip off

wow this is a complete and total rip-off of don hertzfeldt's "L'Amour." hertzfeldt's piece was brilliant. this is just theft.

Afro-Ninja responds:

Wow, try reading all of my author's comments you douche

[Consequence of War]

trite

flash skills are A+

however...

this is a completely trite movie. wanting to stop the war is a valid position, but you're not really conveying it in a constructive manner. you haven't presented "the consequences of war" as the title has indicated. instead, you've presented a series of total cliches:

1. doves crying tears of blood
2. little girl playing in fields
3. graves and clocks looming
4. flowers blooming
5. mothers hugging daughters

and that's just the images. the music wasn't particularly good, either (though i couldn't understand the words except "stop the war" and the wretch inducing line: "love makes the world go around," which should only be used an homage to the powerpuff girls). the song sounds like it should have been played by one of those groups that are made up of 35 celebrities - each taking their own heavy-handed verse.

look, the issue here is that you're not addressing what's wrong with "the war." war or no war, when a country is being ruled by genocidal maniac, it ain't gonna be happy doves, fields of gold, and happy little girls. it's gonna be starvation, oppression, and poverty (at best).

so, if you want to explore what's wrong with the war, go ahead. and if you want to make suggestions on how to improve the situation in iraq, go ahead. but, please, don't try to pull the wool over our eyes with such banalities.

mazhouma responds:

Sorry for if the title was not appropriate, it was a misinterpretation from Chinese into English(it is my second language) however in Chinese I believe it's very reasonable to use this title.
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