Bezman's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Wegra Adventure 2]

Hrm

Speakonia makes this kinda hard to understand. even after watching it 3 times, I still don't understand some parts. It is marginally easier than #1 though.

I think when you say, 'but that had nothing to do with X', it doesn't work in terms of absurdist humour. I think it'd be funnier if you actually MADE it to do with X.

Also, it looked better when all the pics were drawn by you.

I like the fact that you put stats at the end, but give us time to read 'em, maybe? Or is that the joke, that they're totally meaningless?

I think I slightly preferred the first.

-Review Request Club-

Wegra responds:

I kind of forgot about the stats in the newer episodes for some reason.

[Wegra Adventures]

You've got the beginnings of a style here

the fast speakonia doesn't really make it funnier - just hard to understand. Maybe if you spoke quickly yourself, you could have it be more understandable?

Though it's kinda like a slideshow, that style of 'animation' works well for the humour I think you're going for - I mean, better pics wouldn't actually make it any funnier.

Have a pre-loader. Having movies start automatically, then run in a loop seems kinda annoying.

It was better than I thought it'd be, judging from the icon, but not really chucklesome for me. I felt like the absurdity was kinda forced at points, rather than flowing naturally.

Wegra responds:

Yeah I know. I slowed it down over the last 2.

[- Shorts -]

patchy quality

#1 really made me chuckle - great non-sequiturs and the background burning just makes it better.

#2 was just too predictable and I couldn't understand what was going on in #3

The dancing guy was a sweet touch, but I just felt disappointed that the quality seemed to fall after the first one.

[The 5 Hour Collab II]

Great work, with no bad parts.

Way awesome.

Straight from the start, with the paper texture and what I assume are semi-transparent vectors, you really set up the vibe for how many styles are going on.

here's a quickfire review for the parts:

intro - Lovely style. Beautiful mountains. Flat white beside a paper texture looked odd, but it reflects the 'mashup' aspect well.

ND - I like the utilisation of bitmaps, since it's not something we often see.Disliked it when they started rotating though - I don't think folk should ever let sprites rotate as it doesn't fit with the style.

Kewaks - I chucled. Nice lines too.

Mark Lyne 0 lovely style.

Hill - simple gag, but made me smile.

Hylian Mafia - I liked the mountain texture and the story was amusing, though kinda predictable. Also, in the parts where you zoom out, having a texture instead of flat grey would be nice.

Peglay - the character looks like something Adam Phillips would draw. Not as much movment, but really slick.

Sheep - I liked how well you told this story without words.

Emotional therapy - I guess the joke is that it's 'ironic' or something? I just found it slightly sad. :-(

Race - the end was really predictable, but I like the cheesy grin.

Explosion - beautiful frame by frame. Great ending.

Overall, a great collab. I think if you had told authors not to put their names in, then shown them all in a consistent manner, that'd have been good.

The music was perfectly picked - sorta mystic, icy tune. Great variety of work. Some of the longer pieces were a little rough visually, but that's understandable given the time. I liked how folk used the time in such different ways and the final result is actually faster paced and of as high a quality as most non-time-limited collabs.

If I see you start another one, I'd definitely be interested.

[Bahamut's Fav. Reviews]

What're the fonts in the last frame?

I thought I would have been one of your favourite reviewers... :-( Good to see myself in the bonus section though, alongside MacGuges' awesome review.

I like the basic idea, but I didn't actually find it all that entertaining. Mayor M cheese's review was kinda funny in and of itself, as were parts of others but for a large portion of the flash it felt kinda dull.

Specifically, most of the first half seemed like the reviews weren't that funny in and of themselves, and neither were your reactions. I can understand that there's a balance to keep between getting reviews with comic potential and getting ones you actually like, but I think you should've gone further towards the entertainment potential. Specially at the start and for the last review.

I liked you kicking Livecorpse out, showing how you suck arse at travelling around the world (good job not only having positive stuff) and rebecca's review and reaction was cool.

Most importantly, you've replaced the buttons with some slick font with some sort of glow. What's the font?

My issue is that they don't immediately register as buttons. As I hadn't read your comments before starting it, I didn't realise the buttons during the speakonia bits were actually buttons.

Maybe having some sort of box with rounded edges around those words, along with some change in colour or style upon rollover would make it totally obvious that it's a button?

Speaking of typography, I like the font you've used for the headings and main text in the last frame. It looks kinda like comic sans, but has less sloppy x-height than I remember comic sans having, as well as a more interesting 's'. What is it?

Good Flash, though not the legendary masterpiece I was hoping for.

kinggila responds:

Fonts on the last frame = CatholicSchoolGirls BB

You are one of my favourite reviews, but unfortunately, I had to narrow things down. If it weren't for the time length issue, I might have added more entertainment value to this flash.

Why on earth did you call Casualty Livecorpse? :S

Maybe I could make the text glow even more when highlighted, but I'll have a mess around when I start working on my 100th flash.

Comic Sans MS is the font that I used for the credits page.

"Good Flash, though not the legendary masterpiece I was hoping for."

There's always the 100th flash to look forward to, which should be the legendary masterpiece you're looking for.

Thanks Bezman! :)

[Edgar N' Locke 07]

Fast pace, good presentation, decent dialogue.

I like muffin's intro. Though maybe replace what I assume is verdana with something bolder and heavier?

I liked the presentation of this - with the name and the spinning whitened sprites. Fairly cool. Also, I like the end buttons. Though for the paragraph titles, maybe use a different font - something heavier. Maybe use another pixellated font?

Gogo's voice made me chuckle.

I assume Edgar is just speaking your opinion?

When you have the lyrics show, if they were larger, we'd be able to actually skim them.

A pixellated thought bubble would have been cool.

Anyways, I enjoyed this - liked hearing the various 'opinions' - specially the soldiers', woman's, and 'this is metal?'.

- Review Request Club -

kinggila responds:

I'm glad you liked the presentation here. My original idea was to show the name going big and then move off the screen. It looked really crappy and thought that I could make a better name introduction for all the characters and I did. :)

yes, Edgar's voice = My opinion

The lyrics had to be that small due to the dimension size issues, but for lyrics, anyone can just google the lyrics for them.

Thanks Bezman! :D

[No Surprises, please.]

You've got potential.

Your black and white characters reminded me of Phil Mullow. Unfortunately, your vector-drawn graphics just aren't as good as his ink-based work and at certain points your lack of empathy for anatomy and the lack of animation started to grate.

With the lack of animation, you should really consider drawing stuff with a brush and scanning it - it'd make for more interesting textures.

Arms should rotate from the shoulder - not from the middle.

The starting animation that you used at the sun near the end didn't match the beats at the end.

I did like the way everything filled in with colour, even though the lyrics are surely not meant to be literal there - rather pointing out that the pretty house and garden don't really count for much when life's been bland and dull.

Conversely, I felt the part where he seemed to want to commit suicide, using car exhaust fumes, fit the tone perfectly, as did the work scene.

Toon 2 was slightly unfathomable, though the song was a beautiful performance. Did the guy stick a knife in his wife? You should have had him move his body back slightly, then had him lunge forward.

I'm still not sure how that relates to the nightshift job with what I think is his boss/former friend?

I feel sepia-toned pics at the start would have fit the b&w pics later better.

Again, the 'blankness' of the pics - the large expanses of white - fit the songs' tone well.

I hope you keep practising drawing - you've got some cool ideas, but still have skills to pick up.

-Review Request Club-

[heysatan]

Feels like it should go on.

Beautiful stuff

I love the emulated logo at the start and the masked photo loop worked brilliantly.

I loved the whole feeling of rebirth, though the end was kinda sad. That's actually my main beef with it - not necessarily the sad ending - feel free to provoke whatever emotion is appropriate! - but that the point at which the song ends doesn't seem like a natural stop - more like you just happened to end there.

Don't get me wrong - the transitions are timed brilliantly. And though I felt the pounding machine near the start was perhaps 2x as fast as it should be, you are really sympathetic to the changing tones etc.

The story is wonderful - I loved the saturated colours from the organism and the whole internal view.

I just wished it had lasted longer.

Oh, and thanks for letting me know about this. Good work.

[Skate Something ep.1]

Good stuff

I was watching some snowboarders this afternoon. They'd set up some real snow slopes in Kelvingrove Park and I watched on - amused as they fell over, disappointed as they didn't attempt anything daring, but cheered when they busted out 720s and even somersaults!

Watching these kinds of things done for real is far more interesting to me - simply because we're amazed by the skill of the person. We never experience that with an animation. For that reason, I normally find these kind of things boring.

I liked how you used the possibilities of animation a little and had him jumping over spikes. Go for more stuff like that - why not have really unrealistic situations - maybe he's skating through a labyrinth, a rock chases him, handplanting and jumping backwards onto a lower floor... or maybe he's riding over stars or rainbows? Or maybe mix up a fighting flash with a skating animation - having folk gang up to beat him up, but he jumps over them, goes over their heads, hits them with the board...

Music was suitable and sfx were good.

The shapes were all pretty simplistic, but I liked how the guy sorta shifted his body weight as he jumped or whatever.

I liked how the board turned. But when the board spun around a vertical axis, is that something that could be really done? It kinda looked to me like he just jumped as if he were to do a kick-flip, then the board somehow magically spun like that. Maybe you could study skating vids, prhaps on slowmo, and watch how their bodies move when they do tricks.

A great first flash and you show promise, but it has a way to go yet.

-Review Request Club-

sistem69 responds:

thanks for the review and yes that trick is impossiblr to do but hey its cool right?
im glad u liked it.

[Gravity's Just a Theory]

Whimsical and charming.

Beautiful animation.

Everything was paced really well to the music and the graphics and ideas were charming.

My favourite parts were the bowl of milk's sign and the nightime cannon.

Also, the swishing beard and rising fowers were cool.

My one complaint is that in the final scene, it's too 'messy' somehow. It doesn't really fit in with the gentle ending to see the shrieking face on the right and the clutter on the ground. Maybe if you'd had lights going off at that point, the clutter somehow cleared earlier in the movie and the shrieking face falling asleep, it may have been more fitting.

Otherwise, beautiful and imaginative stuff. A lot of positive vibes here.

Oggy-cheese responds:

thanks for your constructive criticism, and yes i know what you mean, but i was aiming for it getting a bit more fast paced and frantic as it went along, like the song does at the end, then all calming down again. Yea, the green face could've been something a bit better :P and what do you mean by the clutter on the ground? To be fair, i was running out of ideas by that point :D