Esn's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Pigpen]

Wonderful concept, sound and animation.

I can see how it can apply to drugs in the narrow sense - but the very fact that you used coins to represent drugs simply begs a wider interpretation of the metaphor. An obvious one is "money" - an even broader one is simply "what we want". A system in which the easiest way to profit is obtained by hurting others ends up being not much fun for anyone to live in - even the one taking in the payments doesn't look like he's having that much fun in the end. There's only so much you can eat before it's better to stop...

[Parliament Deathmatch]

Perfect satirical film

Well, I'm Canadian not Australian, so I don't know all the nuances of Australian politics. Nevertheless, this was just perfectly made, and is one of your best films. Also one of the few things you've made (or is it the only one?) that's family-friendly. ;) I think you should consider doing more "family-friendly" things, as it obviously doesn't hinder you at all. The TV show would be crazy not to play this!

One of my favourite things about this is the music that plays during the transformations. That is absolutely wacked, and very appropriate! How did you make it?

You could've applied this to Canadian politics last year... with Dion as the hamster and Ignatieff as the snake. Unfortunately, at the end of last year our snake ate our hamster, so it's too late now.

Sexual-Lobster responds:

thanks esn!
becoming a snake is a metaphor for the ambition to topple the leader and take over, so i imagine every country has a lot of snakes.

the music is a rapid scale with a simple synth instrument, but with six delay effects on it

[The Ballad of CrippleKane]

Great cinematography

You've really nailed the style of cinematography and camera moves from those epic Western movies. Also, the art direction is generally fantastic. Simple shapes, suitable for animation, and yet the texture you added gives it a bit of complexity also. Great coloring, also. You also had convincing characterizations. The old man with the white moustache, and the intense stare, was particularly memorable. Oh, and the progression of action was good. It complemented the music nicely without being entirely dependent on it (example, the line "and that's a dead man" often coincided with someone being killed).

There was one basic thing that I'm not sure came out well, and that is the way that the whole ball gets rolling. Maybe I got this wrong, but to me it looked like the main character comes into a bar, sits down, and then for no reason pulls his gun on three people sitting nearby and kills them. Why should I be on his side, after that? A little later on, a scene shows all three on wanted posters, but then why does the sheriff and his men chase after him, if the men he killed were criminals in any case? So that was pretty confusing for me. If he killed them because he had some sort of specific grudge against them (was that it?), I think that should've been made clear in a scene before he came into the bar.

AlmightyHans responds:

yeah, i was afraid of this happening. Basically, Kane hunts down wanted people. But in this town he ran into a corrupt sheriff. I guess i should have come up with a way of making it more clear that he's corrupt. I thought if i dressed him in black and made him and his henchmen look mean enough the point would get through. but yeah I agree with you, I should have fleshed that out more.

[Diary of a Lone Butterfly]

I'm probably going to regret this...

...reviewing this after watching it through just one time, that is. I didn't catch most of the story.

But this does allow me to write down my first, honest, impressions, which I guess counts for something.

The first thing I want to say is that the voice-acting is ATROCIOUS. It is the most horrible voice acting that I've heard for quite some time. It is like listening to nails on chalkboard. The insincere attempts at dramatic emotion, the over-emphasizing of lines, the "trying to act in character" (rather than BEING the character), the bad sound quality of the recording itself... severely hampered my ability to enjoy the other elements of the film. It was really awful, and made a mockery of the story being told. Also, the music was unfortunately quite uninspired, particularly what plays during a long section near the end of the film (the girl running back to her house). There was a certain commonplace aloofness to it that did nothing to keep my interest. The direction and editing of the film felt that way too - as if someone was carefully adhering to rules learned somewhere, and in the process forgetting about making sure that it FELT right. Parts of the story often flashed by too quickly for me to take in what I had just heard (I missed the technical explanation of what was happening in the beginning completely), while at other times it unfolded with glacial slowness.

The one thing that was excellent in past episodes and remains great here is the art direction. But all the same, I'm not sure that it's the proper one near the end when you're trying to show something sad. Its bold lines and simplified, angular shapes work against the portrayal of any softness, such as the end. I think changing the art style where the film's direction demanded it might have worked better, maybe... although on the other hand, maybe it would have been fine if the film's other elements were better.

I really loved the three "Tsunami Prequel" films, but every episode released since then I've liked a bit less than the one before...

[The Body Count]

Pretty good!

I like watching your films; they're generally well-made, funny, and it's almost guaranteed that there will be at least one classic moment in there somewhere. In this film, that classic moment was the appearance of the mad scientist, particularly those few seconds when he begins firing his projectiles while laughing, terrifying the host and the public. That was great. Though it's a shame that his appearance was so short. Do you think you'll bring him back for other films?

The rest of the film was pretty good as well - funny dialogue, though I don't really like the main newscaster character. I get the idea of someone who is very perverted, yet turns professional as soon as the camera is on, but I think it would have been funnier if he had actually become fully professional only while the camera was rolling, rather than, for example, saying things like "your well-hung host" to viewers. Anyway, that's personal preference.

I do agree with what that guy below said, "Angry Dog" is still probably your best work.

[Sosachki]

Hello

It's a bit hard to have an opinion on this film, because it's obviously more doodling than an actual... hmm, artistic statement. I still love your sense of style, but this isn't a very serious work. It's good for what it is, though. (I don't mean serious in the sense of serious subject matter, by the way) So don't take my rating too seriously. :p

The song is a Russian cover of the French song "Les Sucettes" by Serg Gainsbourg. The Russian lyrics are different from the French ones, but the basic theme is the same. You can find the translation of the French lyrics at a Youtube video called "France Gall - les Sucettes - 1966".

Here's my translation of the Russian lyrics:

Annie likes suckers, (suckers: any hard candies that are sucked)
Lollipops, caramels,
Suckers are more pleasant than mint bubblegum,
and it is tastier for lips to kiss them.

Annie plays the game of love
like in an aimless film,
and if she has a lollipop behind her cheek,
the film has a happy ending.

(chorus:)
Annie's love is sweet
if there's a lollipop on the tray.
The summer is not long, the joy costs little -
and Annie's memory is short.

Annie likes suckers,
Lollipops, caramels,
Sometimes the suckers run out,
and Annie's lips begin to pout.

But it is very quick and simple
to become happy again.
Annie's tongue, like a little moth,
licks the fiery sweet.

(verses repeat)

[Welcome To The Machine]

Yes!

This is fantastic. I've got to check out your other stuff now.

The sense of design was excellent, and importantly, it was connected to a relevant theme.

The only thing I'd improve is the graphics in certain places, which always looked sharp but it sometimes seemed that you didn't want to spend the time to get certain effects to look really remarkable (for example, when you move past the stars, you only have 2 layers of stars - and I think that there were too few stars in the sky, in general).

Oh, one other possible suggestion would've been to explore the heart/plug interconnectedness a little more - you could've said a lot more, I think. But still, it turned out well.

The most effective moment in the film for me was when the sky turned around right at the end.

[Misinterpretive Porn Star]

Actually...

...this is my favourite of your films so far. Only wish it was longer. Well, that can be remedied with sequels. :)

Compared to your other films, this one relies less on schadenfreude (which I don't really enjoy, particularly when it's very brutal) and more on the absurdness of the situation, which made it funnier for me.

All of your films have very good animation and voice acting, and this one is no exception.

[Promenade]

Reviewing the original version

I decided to watch the Youtube version instead of the truncated one (by the way, the HQ version of the Youtube film is not much worse in image quality than this NG version). I love the general concept of the film, of presenting life as a series of sketches with the character walking by them. It worked for the most part, but after a while it sometimes began to feel that the sketches weren't actually related to the film (the hands, for example - what do hands have to do with anything?).

With bitmap images, it is indeed difficult to get a NG-friendly file size in a .swf file. I solved it by keeping my film not too long, saving the images as GIFs (which look good on some art styles, such as pencil sketches, and take up little space), keeping the resolution fairly low, and making maximum use out of what images I had.

Though in the full version of your film, you have so many different images that even that probably wouldn't have helped much.

[All Work 2008 & Before.]

Hey, pretty neat!

That was quite interesting to watch. I really liked how it was so unpredictable, so I could never tell when it was going to end or what was about to happen. A previous reviewer mentioned that this is like doing "a collab with yourself". That's it exactly.

My favourite parts were that multicoloured "on drugs" part near the beginning and the box dance near the end.

Jae responds:

Those are by far the best in my opinion too. Thanks !