Lycurgus1985's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Amusement Park]

A very breathtaking piece...

Truly a stunning piece of work right there.

The details in this animation were very vivid, colorful, and inventive. It brought back memories of asian animated films I saw when I was a kid.

The audio was wonderful and the carnival music for some reason unsettled me.

Something just seemed very discomfiting about that amusement park. It was like the piece was about temptation and while there are great things to be experienced from it, something just doesn't feel right about it in the long run.

That's just how it felt to me. But this was a very rich animation and has much to offer. I see a lot of potential in you. I wouldn't be surprised if you become one of the top artists on Newgrounds one day.

[Clock Topics 2]

As magical as the first!

Wow, just wow!
I'm glad to see that you guys had finally decided to team up again to make a second Clock Topics and boy, does it live up to the original.

The graphics are very well done and flow fluently. The clocks are very animated throughout via their reactions. One thing I love that you did is that instead of just using the same image of the interviewee and tweening it, you actually took screencaps of them talking to make them animated. It's a nice change of pace and adds more uniqueness to the piece.

The audio is practically flawless. Only time where it does have some grain and fuzz to it is whenever the preacher spoke but then again, that can't really be helped. No big loss. Besides that, it was pretty clean and clear.

The humor... to make a long story short, I laughed my throat raw, my face was sore from all the laughing, and I kepy weezing due to lack of oxygen from laughing so much. So, I say you guys did your job well done there. And the Margaret cameo put the nail in the coffin. Nice reference to the original.

Overall, you guys once again knocked my socks off with this entry to a very promising series. Keep at it!

[Ruth Gets Smashed]

I need a bucket too...

...because I damn near pissed myself watching this short.

This was excellent Wonchop. The humor was right on. The sound was clean. The dialogue was perfect. The comic timing was definitely on. The graphics were really good.

Only thing I can knock is that the drinking animation looks very dodgy. Besides that, good job. Nice way to get into the St. Patrick's Day spirit! =D

Wonchop responds:

You piss in a bucket? ,'=.

[TIME LAPSE]

Schmerf?!

For among your first creations when you started claymation, this is damn good.

The clay models themselves are average but the animation is quite smooth as usual. Another nice touch is that you also made "locations" instead of just clay people on a table. I'm not knocking Knox at all because that works well with his style. But it's refreshing to see something outside a table. Only thing I can criticize is sometimes you see the backgrounds shake slightly. But this was one of your very first, even before Become (which shows how much you improved), so I'll let that slide.

The humor is definitely where this one shines. Some real quotable moments such as...

"Before I hit puberty... and grew... a face."

And let's not forget the noise made by the little pink monster who seems to have some sort of relation to Jigglypuff.

Also, some of the humor was just random or well timed. One particular moment that sticks out is when the penguins attack, Peter retaliates back, but then the Charizard card of ALL things attacks him. It was so unexpected, head scratching, but goddamn funny.

The only point where the humor lagged was near the ending segment in Japan because it seemed too bland until the fight sequence. Funny thing though, Pete looks kind of like a demented Alien Homind when he grows a face while kicking ass. XD

The audio was average. Sometimes you could hear clearly, other times it was not audible.

Overall, it was very entertaining. For one of your very first claymations, it is very memorable which is always a good thing. Cheers! :)

[Become: Festival Edition]

Woah-oh-oh! It's not magic... :(

I didn't enjoy this version as much as the original. Sure, the animation is top notch and before and the video quality is even better but it's missing the magic that was the original.

The responisible party is the music. The piece itself is good but it doesn't capture the spirit of this short nor does it capitalize on the key moments. The new music just makes this wonderful piece seem so very mediocre. You might think I'm daft for lowering the score due to this but you would be amazed by how much music can change any film/game/claymation.

For example, with Poltergeist III, the score that Joe Renzetti makes the movie so mediocre and bland to what was an already troubled movie. However, when you put Jerry Goldsmith's original score (which was scrapped because the budget was cut on the film and was later put into The Haunting remake. What an insult to Goldsmith's work) to certain scenes of the film, it really brings it to life. It actually makes scenes more terrifying, beautiful, breathtaking, etc.

So as you can see, music can change a piece of work drastically. It's just not the same without "Magic" by Pilot. That song was practically the voice of Become as it really captured the spirit of the piece. Between the music and the imagery, it really did seem like magic.

I'm sorry but I just enjoy this version. Is it glossier and more polished? Yes. Is it as magical? Definitely not.

MackProductions responds:

Thanks.
Yes i deffinatly understand how much music can effect a film as a whole. Let me try to explain my reasoning

The main reason for changing the music is that i do not own any rights to the song, "Magic." With those copyrights I cannot make any sort of money off it nor enter it into festivals. I really wanted to be able to enter into a festival, so i talked to Martin who graciously constructed a new piece for it.

For the new piece i did not want it to sound like a "wanna be Magic" sound. I relize Magic is the signature song for Become, and it is deffinatly the best there could ever be. I would prefere it to have a full different feel to it rather than a semi-same feel.

I do not know if that makes perfect sense, but i am just saying that i understand your point, yet i was not going as much for a the magic theme with this.

Thank you for being honast

[Clock Topics]

Wish it were longer...

That was absolutely gut busting hilarious.

Not much criticism to offer. The graphics were nicely done. The voices/audio was perfect. The material was absolutely side splitting.

I just wish it were longer.
Will you do another installment?
Pllleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaasssssssseeeee?!

[UCFD - AntiAntiClockClock]

It's sad when...

...you have to rely on bashing others to try and gather a fanbase. This is probably the most used and unoriginal cheap ploy put into action by most authors. Stop whining already.

I will say that your animation skills are good but come on man. You must have better things to do with your time. Actually animate something worthwhile. You have the potential. Now apply it and make something of your skills instead of whining about how you hate one artists and insulting them. It's worse than dealing with a person who uses someone as their scapegoat as to why their life sucks.

I know you're capable of more than this. Show it.
By the way, insult me if you will. I don't care. It just shows how mature you really are if you can't take some petty criticism. I just feel you can be doing something better with your talents.

ArseOnToast responds:

Tldr

[Another Day Seven]

Only in dreams...

Dim, I must applaud you for AD7. It was very beautiful and quite different from the rest of the series.

The graphics have once again taken a huge leap from AD6 while retaining the series' trademark frame by frame squiggling movements in the animation. It is very clear just how far you've come since the original but yet have kept with the spirit that the series began with. This alone is an accomplishment because there are too many animators/artists who lose perspective on their own series while trying to be innovative or constantly stick with the same style over and over again. But you actually took the time to make sure you guaranteed the best of both worlds.

Now, I'm sure there are a lot of fans disappointed that none of Blue Rabbit's friends made an appearence. However, it was refeshing to see Blue Rabbit within his own surroundings once more and get more perspective/insight into the character.

I loved how you took normal events and expressed them in a surreal reality within the dream. I'm sure we've all felt like we were being held back and trying to find our own way to what we consider our own little utopias. Yet when we try to get there, there are a lot of obstacles in the way and when we find innovative ways to get around it, more pop up. Eventually you feel like something is hunting you down, trying to keep you back. This is what I got out of the dream anyhow. In fact, it kind of reminds me of my own Flash animation I'm working on a script for.

Granted, that's my own applied perception to AD7 but there are definitely some universal themes that will tie into other's interpretations while leaving it broad as well.

The only thing I can truly criticize is the quality of the song. It's not a bad song by any means but the "studio demo" sound it has to it kind of brings down the impact of this installment slightly.

Besides that, I loved it. It was a huge improvement over what was Decline 3.
Good work Dim!
Keep it up!! :)

[12 Pains of Christmas]

I didn't know that the reviews...

...were meant to bash the Clock Crew. Geez people, get over yourselves. There are people who like the clocks and others who don't. Who really gives a shit?! Keep on topic here! And as a note to LukeJames... You call clocks motion tweeners but what do you think most animators on this site do? Oh right, they use motion tweening like this flash did too! Gee, goodness me is that a shock!!!

Anyway, to keep on subject, this is not among your better works Brian. You should have just found a voice actor to do the singing for your originally planned Flash movie.

The graphics and style are subpar to what you are actually capable of. Most of the drawings are smooth but just crude and ametuer looking. Comparing Bebop Bunny and I Hate Christmas to this, someone would think this was among your first animations. It's just aren't very well done. Not much detail to anything and not much movement.

The humor is lukewarm. It had potential but barely captivated on golden opportunities in the song. It's almost like you were on autopilot when working on this.

The audio was very hard to hear too.

Overall, not your best work. A couple other animations featuring this song exist already (and capitalized on the humor aspect much better) so this just feels kind of stale. Sorry to be so critical but this really didn't impress me.

But I'm sure you'll get back into the swing of things soon enough.
By the way, when can we expect to see another Bebop Bunny? :)

[Ratbag & Furball #04]

Nowhere near the quality of the previous entries.

I personally did not enjoy Ratbag & Furball #4. It had an interesting concept to it but was ruined by the crude humor.

The graphics are nice as per usual.

The style/humor is where this one falters. With the profanity, crude humor, and obscene graffiti, it really brought down the quality of this one. The magic of the first three are that they didn't need to rely on such childish, immature tactics to amuse you. However, the crudeness of this one felt tacked on to attract more viewers who eat that kind of crap up like it was pure gold. It didn't do it for me. This was a sell out attempt to me.

The audio was also not up to par this time. I had difficulty hearing most of the time, causing me to turn up my speakers real loud. Then when I did unexpectedly get to a loud part, my ears felt like they would pop! Also, why the hell was talking like he was a wanna-be ghetto poser in this one? It was annoying.

Overall, not your best of the series. I hope the fifth episode is better than this one. However, I will say that "Going Down to Newgrounds" and " Ratbag & Furball MV: Floor!" were very hilarious.

stoners-lunchbox responds:

Hmm... unfortunately i have my downtimes too...

I don't know what to do with my fans... I give them what i want to give them and they complain because there's no friggin' "blood and gore", there's no "adult jokes"... it's a pain in the butt... And the more i try to adjust to what they like, the more people i let down... there's no way in between, sadly...

Still, i liked how i used to do Ratbag & Furball the first few times around and i miss it dearly... To the point where i'm now gonna say "fuck what the morons think. I'ma do what i want with my cartoons and the rest of them can go fuck themselves if they don't like it".

Thanks for the kick up the ass because i was really starting to lose perspective on MY OWN series. You can expect episode 5 to be much better.