Coop's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Jimtopia Christmas]

Touching

A nice message for Xmas and a well animated piece. I like the gags that you've put in there and you haven't got a bad singing voice at all ;)

I think that with the way this panned out, there was a scope for much more in the animation stakes, giving a better picture painted about what Jim was singing about. A few cut scenes here and there will give a much better presentation. Maybe you should have got the VAs together to sing something as well, but it can be a very difficult thing to organise, I appreciate.

Still, it's getting that way again and I hope you've got something lines up for Jimtopia Xmas 2009 :)

[Review Request Club]

[Jim and Pals Shorts: Ep 9]

Karmic, in a way

Another triumph! Well, it's funny and the plot is well written. I loved your attention to detail, especially the flying pieces of debris from the chair, as it decides to splinter and crack all over the place.

I think that the way you're heading with these short projects, you need to make something a little longer for this gang again - give them something to really get their teeth into. With Halowe'en coming up, you might even want to do a special for that, who knows?

Perhaps Jim and [guy whose name I've forgotten] could start a conversation and get shushed by some old woman (there's always one), despite the fact that she's the only other person in the cinema.

[Review Request Club]

[Review Request Club]

[Jimtopia Short: Pop!]

Didn't see it coming

Well, that one knocked me over - I really should know with your own brand of Jimtopia madness, that you'd come up with something funny and completely off the wall.

A great setup and delivery of the gag. Well played. I particularly liked the animation for the explosion, but there could have been more attention to the smoking crater, particularly the shape that Jim's recently exploded body left on the grass. I was unaware that Jim's arse was perfectly circular :P

Still, that's about the only lax on the detail side of things and I can wish you well for the future :)

[Review Request Club]

[Dad 'n Me: Beginnings]

Well, it's Pico Day :P

I think that you've come up with a decent concept here that's provided a really well written piece of action, coupled with some great animation and a good looking finished product.

More could be done with the detail of the characters, the arms look a little disjointed and there is a lot of room for detail, particularly on Dad's chest, while there's room for some on 'me' as well. I like how you've pretty much parodied the start of Dad 'n' me, because it's well drawn, not to the scale of Dan Paladin, but it's pretty good looking, nonetheless.

All that you need to do is work on the sound sampling - your samples have some of the music on them, which makes it sound a little weird, especially when they combo out of sequence. Still, a few more minor pieces of work, here and there will see you in the right direction.

[Review Request Club]

Gustavos responds:

This movie was beyond rushed, as I made it in two weeks. Sure, I had some of Spring Break, but the only part of this animation that really took a fall in quality was the sound. My sound "ripping" was very hasty and I didn't want to care about the background music particles that play along with the sound effect. Next Pico Day, I'll be MUCH more on top of things. :)

Thanks for the feedback. Glad you enjoyed the movie.

[The Shape N' Shape Collab]

Not too bad

Inspired by the short little fad that graced Newgrounds a few months back. I'm glad that these were collected together into a collab, as on their own, these were unlikely to make it to any reasonable score, yet together, there is some real sense of having achieved something.

I think that some of the writing was pretty good, even if the animation didn't really live up to the demands of the writing all of the time. I particularly liked the joke about Shape & Shape talking to one another, it was a pretty good take on the scenario and much better than the Mac & PC procession that we had at one point.

Some good individual performances here, but I could have done with seeing who was whom in the parts, so that I can lavish praise, or advise properly. Perhaps a little info box in the top right, for example?

[Reivew Request Club]

ChandlerThompson responds:

I always enjoy reading your polite and well thought out reviews, Coop.

I am often entertained by what users say their favorite parts are, but you are the first who said they enjoyed the Shape and Shape words talking to each other. Though we didn't get the recognition we expected, I'm sure many of us agree with you that we achieved something. Some information would have been a good addition, but we were really pressed for time and didn't want to submit it later as the fad was already dying out. Still, I apprecaite all of the constructive criticism. Thank you for the great review :)

[RE4: Don't shoot the fish]

Well, it's to the point

A nice little piece, that would have fitted in nicely with a Resident Evil collab. It's always a shame when things like this don't pan out, as we can all say that we've been disappointed at one time or another.

Good, smooth animation and a decent joke. Some more work on the finer detail of the drawing style (the gun looked quite chunky, for example) would really help you out here, but there are definite indications of progress.

Perhaps this thing will stay here for a while and a new Resident Evil collab will come up, where you make the choice to re animate this piece and submit it again for the collab.

[Review Request Club]

Gustavos responds:

Apparently, Legendary Frog (creator of numerous old classics and leader of collabs that involve great authors) is making a Resident Evil Collab with a certain theme. But it's a secret collab apparently. Only the authors involved know about it. I just learned from my heroes John&Richie who will be taking part in it.

One day, when I start getting into making collabs, I'll definitely take another shot with the RE Collab 2. The only other guy from the first collab that would likely be interested in working again (a kid called Prime) might join up. See if I do a better job as leader. We'll see if that happens in the future. If it does, I'll reanimate this small movie, and make the other idea I had back then for a RE2 piece.

I absolutely love Resident Evil with it's lovable stories and characters. And would be honored to host a collab for the series. Both games, movies, and novels. It all kicks ass.

Thanks for the feedback. I enjoyed making this short movie. :)

[Nintendo Story ep 2]

Getting better

Still one or two little bits that need working on, but overall, this is turning onto a good piece - I can see your animation skills developing as we go through the back catalogue.

I'd suggest that you do something about your breaks in the animation - we didn't need to know that the song was appropriate, we can work that bit out. Just move straight into the fight and show us your improved animation skills.

It was a shame that you didn't even give the stick figure a face, as it would have developed him so much. I know that you're not going to use him in the series for a while now, but it's something that you can think about, with the potential to improve him for if / when he comes back. You've crossed the fourth wall with Mario dissing his looks, because of the 'lazy animator' and it would be nice karmic retribution if he could say "The animator gave me a face!" to Mario upon a triumphant return, or something like that.

The drawing has improved and with time, it will continue to do so. I look forward to seeing more of your works :)

Gustavos responds:

If only I still had the .fla...

I would indeed take out the "And now time for a special fight scene with special music". Or whatever I said back there.

Glad you saw some improvement. Back when I submitted this, I was still unsure whether or not I actually got better at all, you know?

Thanks for the feedback!

[Nintendo Story ep. 1]

Hmm... it's a start

Well, we can't knock the start of what's become a decent series, can we? I think that at the start of the procession, you did need more encouragement and hints and tips, but it seems that your hard work has paid off, looking at the later pieces now.

I can see that you need to work on explaining things in the grand scale of things - why not have Gustavos kicked in the joy department, so that would stop him from talking like a normal human being.

The plot was a little weak here and I think that it is something that you've built on, so we're talking less to worry over when it comes to making future episodes. Working on the animation would be the concern, by zooming in on the images and using a slightly smaller tool, you can achieve great results. Of course, for further tips, perhaps draw them and submit to the Art Portal?

Why weren't you wearing different colours from Luigi? Every different character in SMB has their own colour scheme, so why did you have to go and take Luigi's? I'd have liked to see you in Blue, for example.

[Review Request Club]

Gustavos responds:

I admit, this wasn't well thought out. And the storyline would have been TOTALLY different if I hadn't stopped and thinked about what should happen afterwards. I'm not entirely proud of this first episode, and it's likely my least favorite of anything I've ever done in flash (with the exception of my first "movie" that was blammed), but it was a good shot. The last time I saw this, I smiled a bit while watching. Maybe it was just remembering those lonely nights making each individual part, but really I found it moderately enjoyable. Not a lot, but worth watching for anybody who feels like taking the time to see the rest of the series.

But there was a reason behind the "Story so Far" button in my latest Episode 4. So that I could explain what was only hinted at in this episode. If viewers know what's going on here, than they can follow along.

I don't want to say that it was because I actually hate this movie. Because that's a lie. And more importantly, it would make me sound like a real artist. And I HATE how real artists and musicians and such, criticize their own work so that they can feel better when other random people flame it. It's stupid.

Oh, and about Gustavos actually being me. I'm afraid that's not what I wanted people to think, despite seeing it was inevitable. Gustavos in this story is a fictional character. But at least I didn't use my real first name. As Gustavos is just my internet alias. And occasional nickname.

What I would like to do, is incorporate my personality into all the main characters. In tiny little ways, that people otherwise shouldn't care about unless they find their cheeky dialogue funny.

And although it wasn't told all too clearly in this episode (again, I'm sorry.) Gustavos was hired by Nintendo to be the new Luigi. An actor. But first he would have to prove himself by killing the old Luigi. That grave in the very beginning with a body thrown in, was the old Luigi. So therefore, Gustavos has to be exactly like Luigi in every way. Sorry, no blue shirt. Has to be green.

It's cool you decided to take a look at the previous episodes for the hell of it. Even though you didn't have to. Thank you. :)