TheReviewTrickster's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[It's A Pumpkin Party!]

Hahaha, nice. I liked the music, it was so silly and kinda cliched, which worked perfectly. Loved how you just started corrupting it with the random cocaine verse. Then the youths part was really funny because of the absurdity and the very unsettling waiting and "praying" in the dark. Loved the way it just went back to the song and the interruption was really perfectly timed. The mayhem was... glorious. The voice acting was really good too, cause none of it felt weird or off. All just the right amount of serious or over-the-top.
A really nice funny toon for Halloween, love the way it makes fun of cliches and silly catchphrases like "smash madness". Keep it up and happy Halloween!

[Horace Hermer Security Solutions]

Well, the artstyle is really interesting. Really like the way the exterior of the school looks lol. The transitions between shots are a bit weird. They make it look like video game screens are switching or something. I'd get it if they were kinda used with a brief montage of him setting up but that's not what we have here. The principal's voice acting is pretty good, pretty funny. The actual gore and stuff is really unsettling, because it's just so weird and absurd-looking. Over-the-top and doesn't waste a second getting to it and I figured the ending would be something weird and off the wall too, but unfortunately, that didn't happen. It just ended. It does have a bit of that frankness value, but I still feel like there should have been more of a progression of spooks. I can see that it was made in a pretty short timespan and you never got around to adding stuff, which I get. Either way, keep it up, and happy Halloween!

FOST3R responds:

Thank you for such a thorough review! I totally agree with you on all of it. And oof - if I could have changed one thing before uploading it, those choppy black transitions would have been the first on my list. You're right that they're very jarring, unnecessary, and distracting. In the theater it wasn't as apparent to me, but online it is definitely noticable. It was a creative choice that most certainly flopped!

Thank you for your other compliments and criticisms, too - this is why I LOVE Newgrounds. People actually put thought into feedback to artists. I'm glad you enjoyed parts of this, and that even though it ended awkwardly you still found some merit in it. I hope you had a great Halloween, too!

[Dip & Melon | Halloween]

I was not expecting that ending at all. The sound in this one was good. The animation looked really nice too. It all went pretty nicely and fluidly into the punchline, which was, again, great, not expected in the slightest.
Simple little thing but executed very well. Hapoy Halloween!

[Attaboy!]

Fairly funny joke, and pretty nice anination, but needs more sound, it just feels kinda empty. That punchline needs it especially, and the arm swing could have used some too.

Silberpinguin responds:

Sounddesing is hard. Thanks for the criticism. I'll do better next time

[SUMMER IS ALMOST OVER]

Wow, I'm moved to tears.
For real though, this was good. Not conventional, that's for sure. I think you did your 12-year-old self justice. This feels exactly the way I imagine a 12-year-old's comic brought to life would feel. The silly faces, the weird story and, most of all, the narration and noir, "serious" setting. It doesn't feel like it's trying to parody itself but it's also self-aware. It demonstrates sincerity in the enjoyment it gets from being what it is and paying tribute to what it's based on. It feels... understanding, I guess. The animation is fun, perfectly fitting wth the weird cut-out people and the video game moments. The voice acting could be a bit louder at times or the music could be a bit quieter. Voice acting was prettt fitting in the same way as the adaptation itself. Just feels like what a 12-year-old would want it to be. The characters cqn sound goofy or over-the-top serious, but it fits. Story, of course, is nonsensical but I feel that's okay in this case.
Keep it up, this was a wonderfully executed tribute. Happy Halloween!

RedSoul92 responds:

Gee thanks a bunch, I think my inner child is proud of me and I agree, audio dynamic could be better.
Happy Halloween!

[The Song From A Dream]

We don't celebrate Halloween here much so this made me remember to check the date.
Wow, man. This was fantastic. I don't really know where to start. Absolutely beautiful animation and background art, a perfect exercise in the Anton M style in my opinion. It's all the finesse and stylization you do so well, without any unnecessary slow-downs. Really, you pulled off the pace so well. You've been doing that lately. It takes the time to establish the setting, but it keeps moving. James' design is also fantastic. He's weird but cute, andthat makes him a really interesting protagonist because of the whole music thing. We're shown early on taht he's sympathetic but dependent on his music box. He's a coward, to put it simply. The amorphous shape the music comes from is really cool-looking as well, and it's interesting how you made certain things obscured or under-detailed but showed the close-up of the music note dude going under the shape. Makes it seem like everyone is lured the same way James is, and it's not like he's arrived in a completely foreign and non-understandable world. Or, if he did, the veil of mystery lifts for everyone when they go under. Cool story, even though it's very abtract. A kind of apocalypse we don't usually see, and I like that we only see fragments of what happened, with the scribbled names on the signs and stuff. Maybe that was just for humor value. Expert sound design in this one, really jolting, I love the bird's sounds and that visual itself was pretty great. James' skeletal shiver was nice as well. The only one I would change is the animal's carcass-munching. You really love those sounds, don't you? This one was a bit too warbly, I guess.
Keep it up and thanks for making my Halloween!

AntonM responds:

Damn thank you so much for taking the time to write these kind words man!! Got the fattest smile reading it :))))

[Madness Implementation]

Well, it's not bad, presuming it's your first. The animation needs a lot of work, and there are a lot of things that need improving that I will get onto in a second, but I also gotta say I respect the effort. You drew some original backgrounds, the light on the gun is original, the device towards the end is an original drawing. Sure, they don't look great, but you tried. Now, unfortunately, we gotta get onto the problems. The main one is that it's just too slow. That scene on the boat felt completely pointless and really slow cause the background wasn't too nice to look at. That and you have too many characters who don't really do anything at all, so I don't really see why you'd wadte time on them. The two boat guys literally didn't do a single thing I don't think. The gun light, while being an interesting idea, only got in the way of the action, because it wasn't really dark around it and it just looked like a flat surface, but these are all things you'll get better at if you keep it up with animation. That one kill when the ATP guy flipped the zombie ober looked so weird becase the zombie ad so much time to munch on him and the flip seemed oo slow and unlikely. The music was nice though. I also appreciate the fact that you acknowledged that an ATP's mask can be taken off.
Basically, keep it up, but try to add more action, keep the story a bit simpler until you get better at it and just keep working on your animation.

[Kerntucky]

Needs work when it comes to the sound. The narration is very hard to understand, especially with the music so much louder than it. Whole thing also ends pretty abruptly, so maybe make the next animation a bit longer. Have a punchline maybe? The animation itself looked pretty okay, I like the style. So keep it up, but just work on some stuff.

[The Mad Knight]

Well, I appreciate the dedication to the concept, but this had some issues. Some of the movements, especially in the first half, look really stilted, slow, just kinda unnatural. I do like the medieval kills and enemies and there was some nice humor, but it didn't get in the way of the action. The whole jester thing and shootingI the apple off the guy's head. Like I said, in the second half, it all got a lot better. There were some cool swordfights and some badass fatalities. The slicing was brutal and I live the way the mace worked, it had weight but wasn't your standard crush eevrything fare, it was pretty realistic. The fire kills and finishers were really cool at times too. Oh, and the giant kills. Those were brutal. There were some sections that seemed too easy, though.
Overall a movie with a lot of spirit and effort, some really cool setting utilization when it came to kills and fights, but set back by the animation in the first half. Keep it up, though, would love to see more Madness stuff like this!
Edit: oh, I just read the description, that's why the quality is so different.

[Interface | Episode 16]

A lot of new stuff learned this episode. The sky used to be blue, Henryk was a pilot/paratrooper, he used to speak, CE carries information/memories.
Wow, the emotion here. The colors. There was blue. Blue in the skies, on the wall. It's so jarring to see in Interface. I know everyone is meming the shit out of frog Mischief, but I found him reqlly intimidating. Acting silly and cutting straight to the chase while Henryk is probably at his most emotional. Interesting how this is the second time we've seen Henryk with a parachute. Speaking of which, I think the stadium and justice stafue were pink because they represent individual, emotional concepts. Just throwing that out there. Also, I think Mischief, Octobro and Ghost are all different individualist ways of life or thinking or something. Mischief feeds off the failure of others, Octobro cannibalizes others, and Ghost helps. I believe the true symbolism here is that Kami and GR are trying to bring these facets under ther own control, because otherwise the collective can't work. Anyways, I feel like the "no wonder you wanted to run away" line is important. The train I guess suggests Henryk tried throwing himself into doom just to escape his sadness. Unless it's talking about the time before his wife died? Guess we'll have to wait and see. Anyways, I like the symbolism of the tie in the dough, him exposing himself, leaving himself vulnerable. The music was nice too, as always, and the ending was just something else. I kept hoping Henryk would say it. Say "I love you", say "I love you". I respect you for still not having sacrificed his muteness for a cheap emotional effect. It's absolutely heartbreaking, but at this point, I have no choice but to see where this story goes. Keep it up, my dude!

u-m-a-m-i responds:

Hey man, thanks for the great review. Sometimes I put things in and they go unnoticed, possibly months down the line, I think to myself is the symbolism here too unnoticeable, is this scene too vague. But then, your reviews are always able to pick up on these subtle details, A great critical mind :)