Chris-Aldin's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Magic Mentos]

Haha, surprisingly amusing!

This was hilarious. I used to think of my and the rest of X_Aldin as one of the better real-life movie creators on the site, but after seeing some of your videos, specifically "Hoops" and this one, i think we went down in the ranks. This was seriously an awesome movie. There arent really many successful real-life movie authors on the site, so seeing one very good movie in real-life is kind of surprising. I first saw this when it was under judegment and truthfully i wasnt sure what this was going to turn out like in the end. But it soon started to get funnier and funnier up until its ending. The score of 4.20+ it has now is unexpected, but certainly well deserved. Here is my review.

The graphics were good. Naturally, since there is no animation many people will give the graphics rating a lower score. But what i did here is sort of take into account the great video editing and acting that was in this. There were quite a few scene changes and this was a good thing because i have basically only seen this in real commercials before. This technique was also used effectively, such as when he threw the rock and you used another scene to show exactly where it landed. Like i said the acting was good too. You guys did a great job of making the hits look realistic. I suppose the quality was a bit distorted but that didnt really negatively affect the viewing experience.

The style was superb throughout this movie. I was unsure of how this would turn out, honestly i thought it was going to be a corny Mentos commercial. I could not have been more wrong. The idea is pretty clever, making a commercial type movie about a pack of magic mentos. The idea seemed pretty well thought out too, as each character had an important role in this. Each character also had distinct personalities. The presentation was also extremely well done, you took an idea, made sure it was good, and made into sort of a parody of real mentos commercials. It seemed you really made certain to have humour throughout the whole thing and not just in one area.

The sound was also done exceptionally well. Firstly, the voices/acting were very good. The expressions were all perfect. Sometimes they were a bit more "corny" i guess, but in a good way as they added even further to the humour. The song was essential to have in this. its a very good thing you used it well, and even at all. The general audio quality was good as well.

Overall this was an excellent, funny, well edited real-life video. I just hope this stroke of creativity doesnt end with your next video that you submit. This was fun and remains fun no matter how many times you watch it. So just keep up all the good work, im looking forward to more!
-Two Thumbs Way Up! 5/5

FronkNDego responds:

thanks man, we'll keep them coming!

[Experiment_11]

Very well done. It was weird and very cool!

You have done it again Zekey. I saw your Star Day submission as well, or at least one of them. And i recall the one that had effort in it was actually pretty good, and won the daily feature right? Though i wish i had the time to review it, i saw it and was impressed. Now i realize that you are an artist that seriously loves to have fun when animating. That means sometimes just messing around and throwing together a cleverly named and themed collaboration, and sometimes making something unique and with a lot of effort. It seems you also have to ability to finish great animations very quickly sometimes. Anyways here is my review.

The graphics were awesome and as i have said in one of my previous reviews you can be one of the best animators on the site when you want to be. As usual, your character of focus was some weird human or creature with odd things happening to him. In this case he was well animated with, and yet fairly simple in terms of detail. The other characters were basically the same, all were well done. The backgrounds were quite odd in this, but that doesnt mean they werent interesting. They often had patterns with varied colours within them, and all the designs in the backgrounds were smooth and intriguing. The animation was very smooth and many of the movements were overexagerated, and this style of animation is certainly for the best. Even in your random collaborations i can see your animation standing out. The style of this animation was wonderful for many reasons, including your near flawless animating style. I seriously enjoy all your experimental type animations where they dont necessarily have a defined plot but you are just trying things out. These types of movies you make always come out interesting and just well done in the end. Its also cool how each one of your characters can be memorable in a series of some sort if they are used correctly. I really liked the effort you seemed to have put into this too. All the viewers of this can safely this was entertaining and very original in almost every way. Lastly for the style aspect, the length was good, i dont need any more. The sound was pretty awesome too. Although it was only the song i loved it. The song itself was used effectively and fit the mood and helped create it the way i think you wanted it to be in the end. With your submissions you usually do the sound this way, a very well chosen song with little or no sound effects. I say continue doing it this way as it is working thus far.

Overall this was another great submission by you, its always good to see some real effort put in by you in your movies. Now that i look over what kind of artist you are, i think you should continue making those collaboration submissions that you make so many of. Although they dont do amazingly, it shows that you like to have fun and sometimes like to be a respected, talented author. Keep doing what youre doing in the future!
-Two Thumbs Way Up! Heres a 5/5!

ZekeySpaceyLizard responds:

omg eye cramps >_<

Thanks for the review, man. :)

[The ClockCrew Asylum]

A great mix of humour and a great story!

Very good work on this movie in every aspect. I have seen almost all of your movies by now and this is nothing less than id expect from you based on the high quality of your other works. I think after watching some more of your movies, its safe to say that you are one of the clockcrew's best artists. Back to this submission, it was just excellent and it gave me a slight "feeling" at the end. I get this feeling either when after i have finished watching a really good movie/flash or im reading the ending of a great book. Anyways, here is my review.

The graphics were great in this movie. I was already fairly impressed with them right from the start. Like your other movies the visuals were great throughout the whole movie. Despite their simple look they were great and were effective in getting that strange mood across. I also noticed right away that your animating style did not match that of most of the clocks in the crew. Most clocks have a very smooth drawing and animating style but yours was different, and it was still very good. Your drawings and backgrounds appeared to have a more detailed and sketchy style. I wish there was more to the backgrounds though. The animation was good too, the movements were fairly detailed and even during the action it was easy to tell exactly what was going on. The style was awesome too. This was probably my favourite aspect in this movie for a number of reasons. The animating style was certainly one of the reasons, but it was not really one of the main ones. I really liked the idea of it, you said it was based of Psychonauts. Sadly i have not had the opportunity to play the game yet. But even if you did take the idea from that game, you must have made it different somehow by using your own characters and problems. I wish we would have been able to see a more in depth look on the patient's thoughts though. The whole movie's presentation was just really interesting because the mood itself was serious, but then you take into account F U Clock, the middle finger, as the lead character and fruits as the others, and it becomes pretty amusing. This is something the best of the Clock Crew artists are good at. The sound was awesome too. The quality was not completely what i would want it to be but it was better than it usually is in your submissions i must say. The voices were classic clock crew stuff, if you didnt like them before you wouldnt like them now. The dialogue was pretty comical, like the swearing in some areas.

Overall this was an excellent movie. You are definitely one of the author's giving the Clock Crew a good name. Youre a talented artist and you have shown this with all or at least almost all your submissions thus far. Maybe with a few more like this youll be in my favourite authors! Way to go on another great movie!
-Two Thumbs Way Up! 5/5

FUClock responds:

Thanks very much for this excellent review. It's rare I get great feedback like this, and I'm very glad I did.

As far as Psychonauts goes, I basically was just playing the game when the idea for this movie came to mind. Psychonauts' plot concerned psychic soldiers entering people's minds to perform a certain task, such as removing their emotional baggage or figuring out a deep dark secret. At one point in the game you peruse an Asylum, and also there's some father/ son rivalry.

Once again, thanks for the review.

[Your Horoscope for Today!]

Awesome! I loved it!

I watched this once a few days ago, and then again directly before starting this review. I can honestly say i liked it much more the second time. Like i said when i reviewed your last submission, (Homicidal), you can be a truly amazing artist when you want to be and it looks as though you have kind of turned around about. This movie was just really fun, it was also cool in some ways such as the fact that it combined a few different animating styles into one single wacky movie. It was a great idea done very well. Anyways here is my review.

The graphics were awesome the whole way through, whether it was because they were generally well drawn, detailed, funny or a combination of many things. Quite often the drawings were just impressively drawn. Any of the multiple characters you drew throughout this could definitely be memorable if they had their own series or something. The backgrounds constantly changed styles and looks, but this was certainly for the best and im actually quite happy you did them this way. Sometimes they were well detailed and looked fairly artistic. At other times they were more wacky, or flashing to get an "exciting" feel across. The animation throughout was very smooth, and the movements were detailed in a cartoony sort of way. There was however one short instance near the end where the lip sync went just slightly off. Everything to do with the visuals was successful in doing what you wanted them to do, from what i saw at least. The style of this movie was very close to earning a perfect 10 from me. There werent really any flaws with this aspect either. There were a few different animating styles in this, as i said quickly before. They ranged from more artistic to just fun and out of control! The idea of this was simple from what the viewers know, you just made a music video to one of your favourite songs. But the presentation is what really made your idea "come to life" and work so well as a flash animation. In this movie, everything was just funny or amusing or exciting thanks to the wonderful presentation. By the end of this, both times that i watched it, i was put into a better mood! I dont quite know how you did it, but even when the animation style was a bit more simple i guess you could say, i loved it! The sound was the final aspect that made all the difference in this. Weird Al is becoming more and more of a great artist everytime i hear one of his songs. Theyre always so catchy and just so fun to listen too, and you could not have used this song better in a flash. You used it well in creating that awesome amusing feel.

Overall this was a very good flash on all aspects. It was extremely entertaining, and i couldnt really ask for more. I hope you can continue making effortful animations rather than random bagel collabs or something. Keep going like this and you may eventually be considered one of Newgrounds' best, even though in many people's minds you are already there. I think this is enough for me to put you into my favourite authors! Congrats!
-Two Thumbs Way Up! 5/5

ZekeySpaceyLizard responds:

Hey man! Just cause I make a good cartoon every once in a while doesnt mean I'm gonna make em all gems! ;)

[-Go Away-]

Very True!

I couldn't agree with you more for the most part. The Brad Pitt and Angelina one is the only one I don't quite agree with you because I only hear about kids once a week :P. This was great for many reasons other than making fun of some annoying and irrelevant celebrities. The fact that this was totally original made the final product that much better. You probably thought this movie out in depth, from the style of the animation you were going to use, to of course the song. Anyways here is my review.

The visuals were great, but i wouldnt quite say spectacular or anything for a few reasons. I guess this is because there isnt quite enough to them. What i noticed throughout are that the drawings of the celebrities themselves were awesome. Each of them looked very accurate to the real person, but with some of their features over exaggerated. Even the clothes they were wearing were pretty accurate. But sadly thats basically everything there was to the graphics, because there wasnt very much animation or anything else like that. The backgrounds were usually just kind of like the Newgrounds background with different colours and obviously without the buildings. The animation that you did have was also kind of simplistic and the movements werent very detailed. The style of this movie was awesome. Of course the idea is something that has never been done, or barely ever been done before. These celebrities have obviously been made fun of before but never in a song like this. The presentation of your idea was excellent, the song was lengthy and the lyrics were pretty clever. The combination of the animation and the song wasnt always perfect though. In music videos i dont really like when almost the same set of animations are used for each time the chorus is sung. Like i said earlier the fact that this was a completely original flash animation made it better in a way. The sound was awesome too. I loved your original song. The idea of the song was great and was well executed because you mentioned quite a few different celebrities. The song itself was catchy and was good enough to listen to on its own. And once again you demonstrated how multitalented you are with your animation, your great singing voice and your ability to created great music.

Overall this was a great movie with a really well made song. There isnt one thing in particular you can improve on, just slight amounts everywhere i guess. Its for reasons like this that you are in the top 5 of my favourite authors. Please, keep up the fantastic work!
-Two Thumbs Way Up! 4.5/5

Dustball responds:

I can't always count on a thoughtfull and honest review from you. Thanks, glad you liked it!

[(Homicidal)]

Hehe, nice work.

Way to go Zekey. This definitely shows you can make great flash when you actually want to and that you always dont have to submit something like the Hawt Anime collab or what ever. You should do more submissions like this and The Morgue. Well this seemed to be a very interesting look on how come crazy people may interpret everything in the world, or maybe how some regular people who are high on some sort of hallucinogen. Either way it was pretty funny, well made, and most importantly amusing. Everything was done pretty well and thanks to that this was a great movie. Here is my review.

I have always known you for being a great animator when you want to be, which sorry to say appears not to be too often. Everything to do with the visuals was great. The backgrounds were fairly simplistic, but usually very effective as well. They were colourful when it was showing how he interprets everything and more dull and monotonous when its showing what is really going on. The characters were pretty funny too. The expressions on all their faces, including the main characters, pretty amusing. The animation was also great, it was always very smooth, you seemed to have put in a lot of effort here. On occasion, as a whole, the graphics seemed a bit simplistic for what ever reasons. The style was awesome and it was probably my favourite aspect in this case for a number of reasons. The biggest reason is actually one that i have already stated, it was a very interesting look on what different people can be thinking sometimes, even if it wasnt a serious look. The animating style sort of backed everything else up very nicely. The fact that it was a submission with effort from you Zekey added a little bit to my final score. Other than those things the style was still pretty fun, and wacky. The small animating style change from the happy view to the true view was pretty cool, especially when the police men were portrayed as candy filled snowmen. The sound was great although there was nothing all that special or unique about it. There was a song for the sound and thats it. But in this case thats all you really needed because you used the song very well and it happened to really fit the animation.

Overall this was a great movie with nothing seriously wrong about it. I truly want to see more serious animations by you Zekey because i know you have the talent to make great movies. Continue with the random collabs and the Star Syndicate if you feel like it, but make more great movies along the way! Excellent work!!!
-Two Thumbs Up! 4/5

ZekeySpaceyLizard responds:

*salutes*

*self-induced concussion*

[Winter Attack (part 2)]

Wow, impressive and amusing!

When a full movie is split into two parts like this, i usually vote on both the same way but i only review the second part. Anyways both individual parts and the movie as a whole were just fantastic. I thought i recognized the smooth claymation right away. After seeing this along with Motion and Become i am really impressed with your abilities, and i think i can safely say that you are the most skilled claymator on this site. I was totally amazed by everything in this movie, not just the graphics, which is why i chose to review it. Here it is.

The graphics were as i already stated amazing, just like your other claymations. From what i know your method for creating cool looking characters is different from the other claymators on this site. I noticed you used a wire frame to make them look so lifelook, but i dont knoe if many people use these. Anyways what ever you do really works so dont change anything here. The characters are well designed, and not only in how they look. The environments and backgrounds in this case were probably a little better than in your other movies that i have seen, simply because they are artificial and not just a TV or a bookshelf or something. The environments were really well used by the characters as well. The main thing for the visuals, however, is the actual animation. It was almost mind blowing how smooth and percise all the movements were. The style was awesome too, the style of claymation is a little different than most, but nothing is too drastic. I rather enjoyed the idea of the movie, and of course how well it turned out. The idea was pretty simple, it doesnt take a lot of deep thought to understand it or anything but the way it was told was charming. It was told kind of like a fairly tale or a children's book, i definitely liked it. Then the story got a little more violent when the fight started and the bazooka was taken out, overall it was a good mix. But sadly in the second part of the movie some of that charming feel that the first part had was lost. It actually may have been for the best. And as for the ending of the first part you could not have chosen a better spot. It was the perfect cliffhanger, and im sure many more people watched the second part to see how it would end. The sound was awesome too, everything to do with it was excellent. The voice acting was great, from the expressions to the "narrator-like" script. The sound effects were good, but not much better because there werent too many of them. I know its very difficult to do many sounds in a claymation movie, but you still did good in making the sound seem complete. And the music was great too, from the cheerful music at the begining to the more intense piece in the second part, both suit the movie nicely.

Overall this was an amazing claymation movie. I still say you are the best claymator on the entire site, no one as been able to prove me wrong yet. And after seeing this i think i just have to put you into my favourite authors list. I definitely do not want to miss any of your future movies! So congrats on that and on a successful movie!
-Standing Ovation! 5/5

MackProductions responds:

I was hoping you'd review this.

Once again, you gave a brilliant review, thank you very much for these kind words. I really appreciate it, and am happy you enjoyed Winter Attack

[Say Something!]

It was only a matter of time!

Very nicely done in each aspect. This flash was not only impressive but it was quite entertaining too. As i said it was only a matter of time until someone made a flash demonstrating how annoying those ads really are. And thankfully you did this well. As a final product i couldnt really demand more from you, but i guess there are some areas you can improve on that would certainly improve the final outcome. There could have been a few more funny moments, such as the very last scene to make this, well more funny! But nice work on the humour anyways, here is my review.

The graphics were pretty impressive, i have always known the both of you for being good animators and in xtil's case when he wants to be. Right from the start i notced the graphics were good, but i was not very impressed with them until everything began picking up. The way you made each of the emoticons look was pretty cool, and kind of funny when they were being animated. The detail in not only those, but the other character in rage was solid. But the backgrounds were something id try to change in the future, there are other ways of really showing how annoying those emoticons are but without being distracting. Though, some of those flashing backgrounds were suitable for their situation. The animation was pretty good, i would have liked to see a little bit more though. The style was awesome, and overall it was probably the strongest aspect. The main thing here is the idea. It was clever, extremely well presented and it was original too. Having been the first to use these smileys in a real flash and having done it well made it the first flash of its kind in a way and that alone is good for a great score. The length was alright, it was sufficient but it could have been slightly longer. And there were some scenes where nothing much went on, like when the Smiley Truck was driving down the road. But most of the scenes were quick and wacky, really showing how annoying those things really are and how much you hate them. The flashing backgrounds were fairly good for the style, but visually they didnt do much for me. This flash was usually very entertaining and quite amusing, and thats just what is needed in any submission. The sound was obviously pretty good too for a number of reasons. The song was certainly original, and pretty funny. Once it got going it was actually very catchy and the quality was solid. It was also cool to see the "you make me blush" and the " bite me!" emoticons there too. But the song sort of took some time to get really started and the basic beat was just a little too simplistic.

All in all this was a great movie, it was a cool song and everything was well done to an extent. I know you, rtil, for your great animating skills and also your creativity, both of which were shown in this movie. So i can really give you any advice in particular, just keep doing what youre doing. Nice!
-Two Thumbs Up! 4/5

rtil responds:

i made this in two days, i had NO idea it would get this kind of attention. I wasn't going for much epic here, I mean it's just to show how annoying those smiley ads are, how much we hate them by this flash being annoying, and then shooting the damn thing in the end. The song and the cartoon were just really fun to make, and I'm glad people are channeling their anger through this.

i might add something to the ending, i don't know for sure yet though.

[Avatar Psychiatrist]

You're right i didnt get it, but it was awesome!

Wow this was really cool. This is certainly one of those very rare and few flash that you do not to totally need to understand to totally enjoy. I will probably end up reading the comic after seeing this. But this was a very entertaining flash in terms of every aspect actually, though some were more noticable than others. I must say it was cool to see a big change in the visuals earlier on in the movie rather than later, the improved visuals really did make a big difference. Im surprised this turned out so well, but id say this surely deserves its great score! Here is my review.

The graphics were great overall, but only good at the beginning. They were fairly simple at the start of this movie, and the grew more complex and more polished soon later. Even the stuff towards the start of the movie had a distinct and specific animating style though. The way you draw and animate with your characters is risky, but pretty good all in all. I like how they have no arms until they actually need to use them. There were often some humourous facial expressions on the characters and this along with the rest of the smooth animation was a winning combination for visuals. The one thing here is the detail, there wasnt all that much throughout. The style was awesome, the song combined with your animating style and presentation really made for a cool overall style to this movie. The animating as i said was a simple one, but pretty unique and cool anyways. The movie was high paced, making it very entertaining. The presentation was "fun" to describe it in one word, the movie never grew boring for even one instant. And one more big thing, you didnt have to read the comic first in order to completely enjoy this. The sound was the final aspect (other than the humour obviously) that really made this movie fun. It definitely fit your animation, and the same goes for the other way around. I would enjoy the song if i heard it by itself without any animation playing with it. The quality of it actually appeared pretty good too.

Overall this was an upbeat, well animated flash that anyone can enjoy, even the people who havent read the comic first. Like i said earlier, i will probably end up reading the comic since i have seen this and enjoyed it so much. So for any of your future submissions, the only advice i have is to add a little bit more detail to everything and to generally keep doing what youre doing! Nice Work!
-Two Thumbs Way up! 5/5

RansomArceihn responds:

Thanks for your in depth review and the kind words! I'll keep your advice in mind.

[Coldplay - Spies]

Pretty impressive.

Wow, that was actually really well done, and quite honestly unexpected for a few reasons. One being the large file size, i thought it may have been one of those flash without any compression what so ever. The biggest reason, however, is certainly the fact that the song was based around a song from Coldplay, a band that i have hated all the songs of, until now. This sort of got me liking Coldplay, but anyways this flash was excellent for a number of other reasons, such as its visuals and style. Each aspect was actually unexpected in their own way, here is my review.

The graphics were great overall, they were definitely not your typical animation on the site. The drawings themselves were a little bit sketchy, but that was also a good thing on some occasions as they really fit the song and the rest of the movie. I would have liked to see a bit more actual animation because what you did have was actually quite impressive. I rather like how your movie consisted of a lot of artwork, such as some of the buildings and the highway. You also did a wonderful job of giving the movie a mystic feel with the colours you chose and your style of drawing. And i was surprised you managed to incorporate some real-life footage in too. Your style was awesome too, it basically did a great job of making the movie's feel seem more mystic and hence more interesting. The animating style was definitely not something i see everyday on this site, it had a more artistic feel than most animating styles. The feel of the movie was very important in this case, the song really helped that feel become more noticable. Every little element or aspect of this movie really turned out well, and came together quite nicely by the end of this movie. The sound was excellent too, despite only being the song. The song was just perfect for this type of flash and you seriously used it effectively. As i said before i never really liked any songs by Coldplay, but now after listening to Spies a couple times i love this song! The quality was decent too, so nice work on sound as well.

Overall this was an awesome movie in every aspect. Its cool to hear some new types of music in flash for me, i never would have thought i would ever like this song. Just add to the animation, and perhaps some of the sketchier areas. But there werent any real problems in this at all. So congrats on a really good movie!
-Two Thumbs way up! 5/5

Totsugeki responds:

Thanks a lot, that was an awesome review you did there! :3 ~ Sorry for the sketchy style, but y'know, I hate doing linearts and I personnaly like it this way :D ~ I'm very happy that it makes you love this song, because this is one of my favorite song from coldplay and I know it's not everyone who would love it.
So thanks again for taking of your time to watch my animation and write this nice review!

Take care!