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Post by RaceFanX on May 28, 2009 16:01:34 GMT -5
Rubbin's racing. Grow a pair. You're a man stop acting like a little kid.
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Post by babclayman on May 28, 2009 17:12:15 GMT -5
Okay, bab, I am now totally pissed off at you. First of all, saying that I wrote this story and Trey_Vore just drew it seems possible, but it's not true. Trey_Vore truthfully, honestly wrote this entire story, but he did base it off of a picture he drew for me once, which was his idea, btw. I even tried to get him to do what you claim he did once, but he refused to do it unless he was getting paid. Also, the fact that you're calling me a hypocrite is also a problem! If you actually read MY review of this fanfic, you'll see that I had a problem with that Mooch scene as well! As for the thing with glorifying my characters, this fic was written like two years ago! Trey was more familiar with my characters than he was with most of the others at the time. Cut him some ****ing slack. That does it, bab. I'm not going to get over this or do anything for you again until you apologize! Okay, I'm done. Have a nice day, everyone. Belchic, let me get a few things straight! IT'S DONE IN THE STYLE OF NOSTALGIA CRITIC! IT'S SATIRICAL!I know TreyVore wrote this, i know he takes the time and effort to do these stories, i know he did this two years ago! I know he did all you listed above. I'm sorry if i call you a hypocrite, but i havn't even seen your review in a while, how was i suppose to know you commented on that!? I fully respect Trey Vore as an author i even called him one of the most original authors on the forum! If i didn't respect him would i have spent the last month animating a trailer for his story? I joke around in my reviews! It isn't meant to be taken seriously! You want an apology! FINE I'M SORRY! OK!? I take my time to read these stories, i spend hours trying to write this! I do it in the style of Nostalgia Critic just to keep you happy! Please, i try to leave you be and accept what you say, you do the same for me. I don't want people getting all upset. I want to enjoy myself on this forum. So please, keep calm and like others have said before me, don't take things so seriously. They are jokes, it's not as if it will effect your everyday life. I am possibly one of the youngest members here and I am still able to take jokes, you can too one who is older. Again! I am sorry! Happy?
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Post by babclayman on Jun 19, 2009 3:33:36 GMT -5
Ok, back on the subject of reviews.......
I have decided to do a short review for a few short story today. In fact, it’s only 20 lines long and doesn’t even take up half of your computer screen. However, it is in itself, quite a most enjoyable read. I am talking about, Nukes first and probably only submitted fanfic, “It’s My Turn”
Fanfic Review Title: It’s My Turn Rating: 8/10
Now I got to say, I have done a lot of role play with Nuke, most of the convos we have on msn normally leads into an RP and I say I think his primary writing style is script format, which I have ranted about in past reviews. While this story may have some elements of script in it, it is still done in narrative text, so well done there.
The story is about Nuke & his brother Buzzsaw fighting over the TV Remote. I find this scene quite funny and amusing showing a typical brother relationship and how with it having Nuke jump (a.k.a. pounce) on top of Buzzsaw to get the remote, I definitely knew it was written by Nuke. The pups continue fighting before the remote slips out their hands before Lucky gets it and turns on Thunderbolt. To which both brothers accept that Lucky got it and watch Thunderbolt with Lucky. The story resolved pretty quickly and the pups just seem to accept it even though they were fighting about it just a second ago.
To put a short story long (yes I mean to say that), The story was brief but still good, the characters of Nuke & Buzzsaw were funny, enjoyable and ones you can sort of relate to. However for the writing, it is done in a style as if you were directing a movie (e.g. the camera pitches up and Lucky was standing there) The spoken words were good and done well however when it comes to description like what they do or what is going on, its done into script format which made this story lose points from me…
But to cap it off, it may be brief but it is very enjoyable.
It’s a good fic and I like it.
This is Babclayman Reviews.
See ya ;3
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Post by dragonologystudent on Jun 23, 2009 10:28:30 GMT -5
Nice review there, Bab. I think I might read It's My Turn just to see how funny it is. Please could you review my story, Sylvia's Nightmare? I would like to know what you would say about it, and do like constructive criticism so it would be helpful as well as enjoyable.
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Post by babclayman on Jun 23, 2009 12:31:43 GMT -5
I'll see what i can do for the reviews. If anyone has a story they want reviewed. Feel free to ask. I may be posting a review soon which will surprise everyone
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Post by dragonologystudent on Jun 24, 2009 6:29:31 GMT -5
I love surprises. I got to see it when it is done.
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Post by babclayman on Jun 24, 2009 12:39:06 GMT -5
Before I begin this review I just want to present you with something. As you know I give a rating from 1-10 when I review things, I am just going to go and post up a chart saying what each rating means. Here it is.
1-2- It’s Horrible! Stay away from it! 3-5- It is bad but still, it could be worse. 6-8- It’s good but does have minor error. 9-10- BRILLIANT! A must see!
Hope you guys like this rating chart. Now on to the review… ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, I am going to get on a pedestal and say my piece, I am not really a fan of Belchic stories, there are just a few things I don’t like about them, first off, they are in script format, second of all, they seem to glorify his characters most the time, a thirdly nothing but the god d**n piggy back or trench coat every chapter! I mean, once in a Story or One in every Ten picture requests maybe I’ll let it pass by, but when done repeatedly without a pause and that is all they’re about, that’s when those things go too far.
However, I was looking through the fan fiction list seeing what I can review (anyone wants me to review any of their stories, please let me know) and I happen to come across a story posted last year which looked like it would have promise but was never completed. I wonder what went wrong, the first chapter looked pretty good and it actually got real Narrative writing! Yes! No Script! FINALLY! But people seem to talk this to be a very bad fic. So…what happened? So let us all find out when I review. “Out with Otis”
Fanfiction Review Title: Out with Otis Rating: 7/10
The story begins with an introduction to the character of Otis, saying that he’s a circus sea lion who’s like for 80s music & tendencies to pant like a dog annoyed his Family. Because of this annoyance, Otis decides to run away from home. The first chapter believe it or not ACTUALLY is pretty good. It gives us a good introduction to our central character, tells us who he is, what he’s like and he actually has an OK back story. Not only that; but the story is in narrative text! FINALLY! The author is actually doing what I have stated I always wanted him to do for stories. Good character setting, narrative text, so far so good, let’s continue.
Otis then goes through the forest and comes across a pond which we all know as Hiccup Hole where he decides to go and swim in it. I am going to say what everyone else has said about Sea Lion Logic for a long time ever since Otis was created. They can not survive in ponds! While I am not a marine biologist it is pretty much a well known fact that Sea Lions need certain conditions to survive and a pond doesn’t really match those requirements.
He then meets Trey Vores character Roxy, where the two seem to get to know each other a bit quickly. However even though I am proud of him for using narrative text, I am rather disappointed that he doesn’t start a new line when someone else speaks. It just turns the story into a wall of text; I can barely tell who is talking half the time. Roxy then agrees to go for a ride on Otis back as he swims on Hiccup Hole. Well if you can’t do a piggy back ride on land, apparently in the water is the next best thing. And Roxy seems to be putting a lot of trust in this guy she just met.
“I’ve only known this guy for 1 minute and he wants to take me for a ride, this doesn’t sound suspicious at all!”
Roxy then takes Otis to the farm where the sea lion meets Tippy & Belchic (to which Belchics first line is this weird rhyming rhetorical question which make him sound like a character from a Dr. Seuss Book.) Otis then gets acquainted with the two and it seems Otis now is in love with Roxy (wait? A Sea Lion getting it down with a Fox? How will that be possible? I mean, talk about bestiality) and so he asks for Belchic for some relation advice. Why do I have the feeling Belchic is going to say that piggy back rides are the solution to all your relationship problems? OH GOD! HE DID! HE DID IT! HIS ADVICE WAS PROMOTING PIGGYBACK RIDES! Ok…calm down…less I think about it the better…
Roxy then talks with Lucky, Rolly, Cadpig & Spot and she talks about how hungry she is before we have Belchic, Tippy & Noggin come in to talk about Pizza and decide to randomly make one… Don’t ask me why.
So then they have the meal and then Otis finds Roxy in Kits arms. Hey! Kit’s in this story! This sounds good. I love the character of Kit! I can’t wait to see what happens… Well apparently…they were making out…and after Kit gets annoyed, Otis runs away in tears. Ok…first off, why is Kit making out with Roxy? Look, I know Kit and the way the author has portrayed him here isn’t really how I see him. First off; Kit isn’t the sort of guy who wouldn’t make sexual moves on someone, I mean if you look at the other form of stuff he’s been in like pictures and stories, you will know he isn’t the type of guy who would bang every girl he likes and be the first one to do so. I mean, sure he kissed my character Clayton, but that was meant as an act of friendship after they formed a strong brother like bond, with Corgis character Phillip, they shared a strong bond before that and it happened over time, and for Roxy…well, she was the one who made the first move, not Kit. Like in the pictu…oh…it’s a revenge story. The author got upset that Trey-Vore did pictures of Roxy kissing Kit and wrote this part of the story to get back at Kit even though Trey-Vore was the one who thought up with it. All I have to say is; Don’t do Revenge Stories, they don’t work out so good (e.g. “It Ends Now”)
So then Roxy tells everyone what happened and then Belchic has a pointless Family Guy Flash Back to when he met Kate Moss…and it’s in script format… WHY!? Did the author forget that he was writing a narrative text story? Just because it’s a flash back sequence doesn’t mean the scene has to be in script format, you could still be able to do that. Look, I’ll rewrite the flashback scene in narrative text…
Belchic had a flashback to when Kate Moss kicked him in the head with her high heels calling him a pervert after he commented on how her stomach was sexy along with how he had even seen fatter pancakes than it.
There! It is possible to do it, so really; why do it in script? I would also talk on how Kate Moss seem to understand Belchic despite the fact he is a dog, but I’m just going to save my breath and guess Noggins Mary Sue Talking Formula is the reason…
So then Cruella shows up and thinks up more ideas to steal the farm from the Dearlys and so Lucky decides to stop her by gathering a whole army of pups and goes to save the farm by charging to Cruellas place…
To be continued?
Actually no. It seems the author hasn’t made an update to this story in more than a year.
It is a bit sad really, as this story even for a Belchic fic does have potential. While I guess the fact he cancelled this story was because Otis never really became popular to people, the story itself does show this author (who I like to add has written to low rated stories; “Stealth’s Lament” and “It Ends Now”) is steadily learning.
The story (aside from one part) was written in narrative writing (however it did most of the time look like a wall of text) The characters were sort of Ok, however I would recommend doing some research for characters outside the canon and your own as I am a bit disappointed that Kit wasn’t done true to how I know. And thankfully there were no Trench Coats and no full Piggy Back Rides in this (even if it was mentioned at one point)
Well, call me crazy but this Belchic story actually is ok. And all I got to say is “EFFORT! HONEST TO GOD EFFORT!”
That’s all I got to say about this story really. If the character of Otis did get popular, the full story probably would have been ok to read.
It’s an Ok story and it is worth a read sometime.
Still this Babclayman Reviews
See ya ;D
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Post by dragonologystudent on Jun 24, 2009 14:58:08 GMT -5
Belchic wrote that? I'm surprised, even though outraged by what he made Kit do. Still though sounds like a good read.
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Post by Belchic on Jun 24, 2009 16:06:17 GMT -5
Oh, so you went ahead and reviewed it anyway, even though I didn't finish it? Well, just for that, I'm still not gonna finish the story, but I'll give you a basic rundown as to how the rest of the story was supposed to go:
Lucky assembles a group of pups to stop Cruella and yet ANOTHER evil scheme she's plotting for the farm. The pups all get captured. Horace and Jasper are sent to take them out to the middle of the ocean and have them drown. Hearing their calls for help, Otis comes to the rescue! After the rescue, he and Roxy have a talk. Roxy explains to Otis that Kit wasn't really hitting on her, but then she tells Otis that she decided that her relationship with Otis just isn't going to work out. Otis understands, but he makes a deal with Roxy stating that even though they won't be soulmates, she could still be his best friend on the farm.
That's basically how the story would have ended.
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Post by babclayman on Jul 26, 2009 5:09:45 GMT -5
Hello this is Babclayman and since my reviews are mainly done in the style of Nostalgia Critic, I may give a shot on doing “Old VS New” This is when you take something old and Nostalgic and compare it to a newer remake. With that said, let’s take a look at 101 Dalmatians films.
We got two versions of the movie franchise, we have animated version and we got live action version. But which do I think are better in comparison? Remember this is only my own opinion. You’re welcome to still have yours but this is just giving my reasons to why I think that way.
So to begin with, let’s start with the main characters; the Dalmatians themselves…
Now as people may already know there are quite a lot of differences between the main characters from the books and the movies, the most notable one being the role of Pongos mate. In the books her name is Missus and Perdita is mated to someone else called Prince, yet when the animated film came out Missus and Prince were scraped and Perdita took Missus place; they even did the same thing with the live action movie. However more on what I think of them; in the animated movie with them you are able to hear what they are thinking or what they plan to do, which is well enough however when I have to give negative aspects in; they are scared pretty easily, if you take away the scene when they attack the living sh*t out of Horace & Jasper, most the time whenever a villain comes up; all they seem to do is gasp and stand there with a scared expressions on their face. In the Live action movie; granted that the animal characters aren’t able to speak, but into the logic of “Less is More”; the way that each animal behaves or interact in the event or environment, you are able to understand what emotions these animals are expressing and the message is gotten across pretty well (besides have you seen all the recent live action Disney films where the animals have those crappy puppet effects or CGI mouths to talk? Those films suck…) With the pups, I granted how they may get terrified easily on the fair case that they are just children, but with the animated movie, I found that we were able to get to grips of what their personality was like more than they were in the live action movie, true that we did get newish characters in the live action one like Wizzer & Fidget (who were the only pups in that movie who had clear personalities) but really, aside from Wizzer and Lucky (who really was only put there to have more drama) in the live action movie, they didn’t really serve much use there. In the animated movie, at least they helped in what goes on like the scene when Patch & Lucky argue on who pushed who into the fire place, not only did they accidentally discover the solution to the problem but you also got that stereotypical brother like fight which was pretty funny as we could relate to it. However if you want negative aspects to the pups in the animated movie, I would have to say I really didn’t see the use of Rolly. All he ever did was talk about how hungry he was or just about food… In fact, I’ll just present ALL his lines to you right now.
“I’m hungry mother, I’m hungry” “But I am just the same. I’m so hungry I can eat a whole elephant.” “I’m hungry mother, I really am.” “I’m not sleepy; I’m hungry…” “Did you bring me anything to eat?” “I’m hungry mother, I’m hungry” “Where Mother? Where is it?” (Referring to the cows milk) “I’m hungry mother.”
WE GET IT! YOU LIKE EATING! SHUT UP!!!
Thankfully he didn’t speak (If not show up) in the Live action movie, so give it points that any annoying dialogue from pups was kept to a minimum. However if I have to choose; I say the animated versions were better.
Point goes to animated.
Now on to the supporting cast, each of these films both have quite a lot of them whether it comes to human owners or the animals in the Twilight Bark Sequence but which ones were good and just over kill. In both versions we got Roger, Anita & Nanny, however Animals get a big difference in both versions. In the animated movie, we were only restricted to dogs, a cat, a horse and three cows (along with Disney being lazy and re using some animation from “Lady & the Tramp” in the Twilight Bark sequence) but in the live action movie they brought the entire animal kingdom out at us, like rabbits, racoons, mice, sheep, chickens, everything. Half the time when you watch the movie, you think to yourself “How were they able to train those animals?” though I do have to admit, the majority of the racoons were clearly animatronics that you get on rides like “Splash Mountain” or “Haunted Mansion” and sometimes the pups are so obviously early CGI effects (like when they go down the pipe or the zoom out after they were hiding under the sheep) but aside from those, the training of animals was pretty d**n good. In the animated movie, we got the three military animals (who may have appeared in the live action version but it could be debatable), Colonel, Sergeant Tibbs and the Captain. While Captain is pretty ignorable, for some strange reason the Colonel and Tibbs always seem to remind me about Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson from the BBC comedy “Dad’s Army” and even that’s cool just for the thought.
Of course in the live action version instead of Tibbs going in to save the pups we get a Terrier named Kipper (name confirmed in the animated storybook which is more based off the live action film) come into the mansion and he is actually able to sneak the pups out un detected, while for Tibbs, it wasn’t until Pongo & Perdy came in at the last minute that actually saved them.
For the humans, with Roger, you can’t really tell if he is poor or not in the animated movie however in the live action film he is able to explain to us what might happen if he isn’t able to make a sale soon, along with the fact that he is played by “Dumb & Dumber” star; Jeff Daniels. However still; The Roger in the animated movie was either more into his work and then more defensive over his family, like how he is able to keep a stern expression when he tells Cruella she can’t have the puppies, he is even more fun in animated version as he can enjoy himself with Anita and the way he smokes his pipe and how he gets covered with ink spots with Cruellas pen (clearly a metaphor for a Dalmatian), The times when he is sad in the animated one, he gives those long silences which really sum up the mood of the scene and are more powerful than just screaming or crying. With Anita, she really doesn’t have much of a back story or character in the animated movie, she was just a woman who just comes along and happens to know Cruella for no apparent reason. However in the Live Action movie, we are able to see what she does for a living and learn how she knows Cruella; along with the fact we are able to discover that it was actually Anita who inspired Cruella to have a Dalmatian fur coat when she doodled in work one day. With Nanny, I don’t really think has much of a character however I would have to choose the animated Nanny as she seemed more to what real Nannies I know are like along with what Pongo states at some points she does seem a bit canine.
To sum up, while the special effects and training for the animals in the live action ones are pretty good, I think point has to go to animated.
Now we need our villains.Which films had the best or more intimidating bad guys our animals can go up against...? I’ll begin with the Badduns; Horace (who was called Saul in the book but had it changed for some reason) & Jasper. In the animated movie, I must admit I really like their design, when it came to their human design or how beat up their van was, when it came to on the run crooks who’d do anything for money, they looked the part. For Jasper; while he is the ones who is meant to have the brains and is able to have a sinister feel to him, for some reason his voice always seems to remind me of Sidney James from the “Carry On” Movies. With Horace you were able to get the feeling that he actually thought of the consequences of if they got caught, the one with the guilty conscience in a way and whose mind is so simple, he’s able to imagine the dogs plan to a tee (despite the theory being bashed by Jasper) In the live action movie, the casting was pure brilliant, while they got Mr Weasley “Mark Williams” to play Horace, the big star was casting “House” to be: Hugh Laurie. Now I will admit that they are comic relief and are less menacing than the ones in the animated movie, but still their acting comes off pretty well and they are pretty enjoyable to watch. I would include the mute villain; Skinner but since he only appeared in the live action film, I won’t count him. It’s quite a shame too, he was pretty menacing with the fact that “Less is More” comes into play with the fact he’s a mute.
Now onto the main antagonist; Cruella Devil. In the animated movie, she suffered the same thing as Anita for having little back story, all we got was that they were at school together (for reasons unknown) and Cruella happened to like fur, the reasons on how she knows Anita or why she wanted a Dalmatian fur coat specifically were never given to us, but again like I said with Anita she was given more back story in the live action movie saying that Cruella was Anita’s boss at a fashion design studio and Cruella happened to come across a doodle Anita did of a white coat with black spots on it, at least that film gave us the reason. In the animated movie she was wicked and a b*tch to the Badduns and even getting a bit psychopathic at the end but she can’t compete with the live action version played by none other than Glenn Close. Her Cruella really put the Devil in her name, she was wicked, scary and psychopathic rolled into one. The scene when she tries to buy the puppies from Roger & Anita still scares me, I was innocently going through 101 videos on YouTube one day and I happened to click the link leading me to the part when she screams to Roger to take it, that scene was so scary and caught me off guard, I jumped out of my seat in fright, it was that scary.
So while I do like the animated ones, I got to admit the casting of the villains and acting of Glenn Close really won me over. Point goes to Live Action.
Now onto music; sometimes people talk about the music that goes into these movies, which one is better? In the animated movie, while we got the catchy tune to the “Kanine Krunchies” advert, the song everyone knows is the one Roger sings about “Cruella Devil” it was a fine song and they were able to make the film a semi musical as Roger was a song writer, which was cleverly done, in the live action version they do have it in the credits but the guy singing in that sounded like a guy who smoked 10 dozen Winston Cigarettes a day since he was born (curse you Flintstones!) so for the Cruella song I would have to go with animated. If I do have to rock the animated boat a bit, I did note that there were some songs deleted from the animated movie, one was when Horace & Jasper sang drunk after getting the puppies, that really was a BIG LIPPED ALIGATOR MOMENT, and a song where the pups sing on going to London, the songs were pretty bad and I can see why they were cut out. But however the background music and instrumentals in the live action movies were very good, giving us a great orchestra of music who were able to express the mood or environment of the scenes perfectly and gave us that “Pu-pu-pu-pu-puppies” tune we can’t get out of our head. I also give the live action movie points as its music composer; Michael Karnen also did music for X-Files, X-Men, Die Hard, Licence to Kill, Brazil & Iron Giant. That alone is pretty cool. I do admit while I did like some of the instrumental music in the animated movie (like the beginning credits) I really got to admit the music I had in the Live Action one was more powerful and was able to leave a bigger impression on me. I may love the animated version of Cruella Devil but Point goes to Live Action.
Now onto the big show down, which film is better overall? Which one had better acting, directing, most loyal to the original book and most enjoyable to watch. I’ll start of with saying that I didn’t really find the live action movie loyal to the book, true the humans may have had their surname of the Dearlys (which for some magical reason they decided not to do in the animated movie) but I just felt that there was more made up for the live action version then was even considered from the book, that’s not a bad thing, at least they’re being creative but it doesn’t really do well for fans who read the book, and I think the biggest gut move for the live action one was they didn’t have the soot camouflage and the van scene at the end, how can you not have that scene in!? I understand you might not be able to put it off but come on, how hard is it to place black make up on a dog and make them stand in a green screen van? I also find how a bit unoriginal the live action one may be as the two main Dalmatians are Pongo & Perdita (like the animated one) the two main humans are Roger & Anita (Like the animated movie, the book only had them go by Mr and Mrs Dearly) and only one Nanny (like in the animated movie, there were two in the book). I can’t help but laugh everything I see the live action title “Based on the Novel by Dodie Smith.” Yeah right, more like “Based on the animated movie by Walt Disney” There are also the time error, while the book is set in 1950-early 60 England, in the live action one; it’s set in modern day (to which then was 1996) However I still do like the Live Action version, the directing was ok, the animal training was good and the casting was pure genius, I would recommend it watching it. For the animated movie, I would have to say was more loyal to the book what with scenes like the certain television program Horace & Jasper watched (“What’s my Crime” which was in the book) along with having the soot and van scene towards the end (however in the movie; Cruella actually spots them and chases after the van, unlike the original novel when they were able to fool her un noticed) even to the point on setting it when the book is set (late 50s early 60s). I also enjoy the acting in it, all the acting portrayed is natural, as if all of it was actually happening and they are actually these characters, the pups are also more adorable with their child like voices. The directing is pretty nice with small fade in and outs to show the essence of time past, in the live action on it just looks like the whole dilemma of the pup missing was resolved within 4 days, while the pups could have been going on for weeks in the animated version. If I need to bash the animated one however I would say that I felt Cruella & the Badduns didn’t get their full comeuppance, in the animated movie you just saw them in a ditch after surviving a car crash which by the look of it would be impossible in real life, and she just whines to them. In the Live action movie however at least you saw them get arrested and the law to give them their full punishment (along with being trapped with a skunk) at least that one conclude the villains. Some people may ask me “Why don’t you talk about the sequels like “Patches London Adventure” or “102 Dalmatians”?” but for me, with “Patches London Adventure, it isn’t really what I would call Nostalgic, true it may be a sequel to the 60s movie but it came out in 2003, so it doesn’t really count, and for 102 Dalmatians…could do better…
But to cap this off, while I do like the casting, villains and music in the live action movie, I got to say that I find the Animated one was the one with better directing, better acting, most loyal to the book and I enjoy this one more.
Animated Movie wins.
So Old wins in this one, does that mean I hate the Live Action movie? Not at all, I love the live action movie, I just feel that the animated version seem to do better in my own humble opinion.
They are both good movies, I like them, I would recommend them both but I just got to say the animated one is better.
This is Babclayman
See ya ;D
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Post by Nemo on Jul 26, 2009 10:03:45 GMT -5
Nice review Bab! ^^ Just curious, do you do research when you do these reviews?
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Post by babclayman on Jul 26, 2009 10:24:36 GMT -5
To answer your question Nemo. I do indeed do research when i do reviews, it's always handy to do research when writing something. You can take that to the bank. You can do research on anything and place it in your work, like other films, books, anything. It was thanks to research i actually learnt the live action music composer did the music for X-Files, X-Men, Iron Giant, etc. I promise you, you will be surprised when you discover things by research. I know i was. Thanks for the comment
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Post by Belchic on Jul 26, 2009 21:31:21 GMT -5
*applauds bab's effort*
Excellent job!
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Post by Two-Tone on Aug 1, 2009 18:14:51 GMT -5
nice comparison
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Post by babclayman on Oct 6, 2009 5:01:13 GMT -5
New review
Many people quote that it is the best episode in the series; while the idea is clever and the story seems cool, I do find it is a little over rated; so with that, let’s dig into “Virtual Lucky”
Note; I may sound harsh on this episode, but still I do enjoy it. It is my job as a reviewer to critic everything good.
Episode Review Virtual Lucky Rating: 7/10
The episode begins as Roger is trying to finish his new video game when he notices Nanny outside in the yard with a new gadget she invented to help her around the farm (my god, for this series Nannies either turned into “MacGyver” or “Wallace” from the Nick Park Stop Motion duo) This invention is of a catapult to which is put to the use of launching laundry onto the clothes lines, Roger places this idea in the game and it causes the computer to spark (FORESHADOWING!!!)
Lucky then decides that he is going to use this new catapult to break into the chow tower, despite the fact he could just simply climb up the ladder and in through the door way like he did in “K is for Kibble” (That’s a point, why didn’t they use that doorway in the “Chow about that” episode? Oh right, because if they didn’t use the obvious we wouldn’t have a plot then…) however it turns out according to Spot that he is too light and he needs an extra 108 pounds to do it successfully (WOW Spot must have got a lot of math’s and science lessons since “Two For the show” as in that episode it showed that she couldn’t even handle a math’s word puzzle along with the fact she thought 2+2=5.) Cruella then shows up and causes the catapult to launch flinging Lucky everywhere and then into Cruellas face; knocking them both into the pond. Lucky then begins ranting on to Cruella shouting what he ought to do to her, however when we cut to Cruella due to the fact that the humans can’t understand dog; all she hears is a group of barks (I will admit, that is pretty smart and clever idea)
Cruella then goes to see Roger to see what his new game is, to which he claims encourages sportsmanship (yeah…those games which act like PSA don’t usually work out so good) the game begins with the main character Barkio (Get it, play on the Mario name; I needed to point that out because…it’s so subtle >.>) and apparently Roger must have either got a dog translator or whoever he hired to do Barkios voice as he character sounds and looks exactly like Lucky (is this like what Roger says in “Lucky All-star when he said Lucky was his favorite pup? That’s just cruel to all the other 100 dogs on the farm as it is a fact; Families are not suppose to have favorites) Cruella doesn’t find Rogers game appealing until it turns out the games enemy is based on her (wouldn’t a normal person sue a game for using their name and likeness and portray them like a monster? Wait never mind; its Cruella)
Roger then goes away to answer the phone before Lucky & Cruella challenge each other to play and it causes Lucky and Cruella to be zapped into the game. Wait a minute; a simple power surge causes them to be sucked into the computer? That is your best reason for that sort of idea? No magic or new advance technology, just because the computer glitches? I've seen more plausible explanations in Paul Jennings Books. And in this world; Cruella can understand Lucky when he randomly says “I am Barkio” (who wrote this game; Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer?) and Lucky is excited how he is actually Barkio…so…really what’s changed? How do they explain being able to talk…game logic (ok, I will admit that is logical) however as soon as Lucky explains with his Mary Sue like knowledge to Cruella what can happen in a video game with his sh*t eating grin, the episode is starting to get a bit silly. Also, why the **** would Roger create a game which had fish walking, pigs flying or roads rolling up like carpets which have no effect on the game whatsoever; looks like a bad LSD trip. At first they consider turning the computer off, but unfortunately if they do; all game data will be erased, causing Lucky & Cruella to be deleted too…wait a minute, who designs a video game to erase all data when the power is turned off, it’s almost like the first Sonic game on the Sega Mega drive. I think by the 1997, people were smart enough to dawn on the fact that saving a game was needed if it was going to be good.
So it seems the only way out the game is to find the hidden portal and it’s a contest to the finish as since it’s a two player game; only one can win and escape. Level 1 is that Cruella & Lucky need to fight in hand to hand combat to win a ride from the biker gang. WHAT? You are expecting Lucky and ordinary puppy to take on a fully grown human being? That’s completely unfair and it seems that Lucky has to win every time otherwise its game over. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? One life!? No continues? This is now turning into the Dick Tracy Game for the NES. I am then correct on the matter of the fight being unfair as Lucky gets his ass handed to him, but apparently he wins due to the fact that Cruella didn’t play it in true sportsmanship…well at least the game is generous. Though why rough bikers care on sportsmanship is confusing, I critic it but even the pups point that out so I guess it was the joke.
Level 2 is that Lucky needs to make his way through Devil Villa Villa (Which looks like one of those M.C. Escher paintings) without setting eyes on Cruella Medusa. In the panic of it all; Rolly & Cadpig then get zapped into the computer too, leaving Spot on her own to keep Roger out of the room and stop him turning the computer off. However she is able to save them from the Cruella Medusa by turning off the brightness so they couldn’t see her…could of Lucky simply closed his eyes and Rolly, Cadpig & Spot tell him which way to go, you know like in “Knightmare” though…the kids in that show couldn’t even direct you to the stores down the street.
The third and final level, (What! THREE LEVELS!? Is that all!?) is Farmageddon (It’s a pun, the episode is filled with them) and for no apparent they three pups become one and shout “I am Barkio” again (This is not Disaster Movie, we can tell who you are) and is it me, or did the concept art designer like Greek Mythology much, first we got Medusa and now a rip off Cerberus; Guard dog to the gates of the underworld. The pups’ then need to face Cruella in what I think is a bulldozer and how they are able to beat her? With a laser pitchfork (since this is a video game; logic has no sense in this episode) and then she comes up with the giant space worm from “Empire Strikes Back”….ok…. That boss is then defeated by throwing exploding eggs at it. (What was Roger smoking when he made this game?)
The pups then discover that the exit portal is the chow tower window based on what Nanny was doing earlier…Wait a minute. In the opening cinematic to the game it has an entire scene with Barkio explaining the plot by standing on top of the chow tower. His way of getting home was right in front of him, he didn’t bother to check for the portal in the tower if he could so easily get on top of it? Me thinks this plot has many holes. Like before, the catapult needs 108 more pounds to reach the window, and Rolly & Cadpig together makes up eight (Cadpig and Rolly only weigh 8 pounds total? That's hard to believe) and they discover that the way to win the game is to co-operate together with Cruella to get out (Yeah, all that time you have to fight one another and in the end you need to work together? WHY DOESN’T THE GAME JUST SAY “CO-OP Mode”!? Also…according to Lucky if anything can happen in a video game, can’t he just will him Rolly & Cadpig to either gain weight or grow in size hence increasing their weight?)
However they soon are able to get out and in the end, Cruella has learnt NOTHING from this experience and still hates the game (I don’t blame her, the logic made no sense, it leads you into a false sense of security, it played at favoritism to pups and only gives you one life and no continues without even allowing you to save the game) and the episode ends with the pups laughing at Roger and giving a dramatic sting music which would usually mean something bad is about to happen (I don’t know why it was used)
To sum up the episode all together, while its concept was good, some elements were nicely executed and Rogers B story was enjoyable to watch, I really don’t see what the big deal about this episode is, it had little to no logic, the game Roger made was poor to the point which wants to make you play Sonic 06, Lucky was boosted to being a Mary Sue (wait, he’s always like that, even in the Dodie Smith book), treats us like we don’t get what the pun meant and the characters learn absolutely nothing from it.
But I guess you got to take bitter with the sweet sometime.
Virtual Lucky, while I think it may be over rated, it is still ok to watch and I do recommend it.
This is Bab reviews
See ya ;D
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