Some World of Warcraft quests have taken on a life of their own. These quests are emblazoned in our minds like the shining sun. They will never be forgotten. Certainly, Wrathgate is one such quest. However, before even that epic quest, the Horde traveling the Barrens have dealt with Mankrik and his wife. Such is the power of Mankrik meme that it has now become a machinima of its own.

Wowcrendor has taken up the epic tale and created Mankrik's Wife: The Story. This movie has a handful of gags similar to Wowcrendor's previous movies, but this film is a great deal more serious. I mean, it's not straight-face no-laughs serious, but the author is clearly telling a story. It's not quite the same kind of one-liners and sight gags we've seen before from Wowcrendor.

The best part for me was titling Mankrik's spouse "Wifeosaurus." That's a pretty fun shout-out to Wowcrendor's first movie, It's a Hard Gnome Life. I like that kind of continuity. I really feel like Wowcrendor is creating his own legacy, and I hope to see him continue to grow.

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Origano is back with the third installment of The Achiever. This episode features similar Achievement-fetching exploits as the first two, but it's definitely starting to come up a notch. As a nice bit of continuity, the new installment is voice-acted by Farinar, who you might recall from Dr. McNab Destroys Halloween yesterday. The Achiever 3 - Going Down! also enjoys a guest appearance by Whowho, one of the bloggers over at the Myndflame site.

I think Origano is getting better and better. He's resolved the challenges he had with a muddled soundtrack, and all the dialogue is crisp, clear, and easily understood. I also think the humor is stronger than before, especially now that he's grown the plot with a rival gameshow.

The Achiever 3 - Going Down is definitely the strongest episode of the series, and my hat's off to Origano. He also gets props for not succumbing to the natural double-entendre from the achievement title, which has probably got to be the most linked Achievement in WoW's Trade Chat.

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Mellow Halloween is the creation of Downbeat Ink, who says that the video's spontaneous, improvised script is why they called it "mellow."

The video's pretty short, but it's got a couple gags in it. I liked the "creepy mask" joke, though I've always thought all the Hallow's End masks are pretty creepy. There's a short spook at the end, which is probably the main gag of the video.

Similar to other videos, Mellow Halloween probably isn't going to win any awards for a complex, poetic storyline. However, it does get huge points for being a straightforward, fun idea. It's short and bite-sized, which means that its content delivers an efficient punch.

Videos like this remind me of the difference between a "joke" and a "humorous essay." I usually laugh at jokes and enjoy them in their moment. Humorous essays are usually okay, but unless the writer is really good, they rarely get laugh out loud moments. Mellow Halloween is like the joke -- perfect in its moment.

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While we're looking at Halloween movies, I wanted to take a moment and highlight Farinar's Dr. McNab Destroys Halloween. The annotation notes give the video a neat little "Pop-up Video" feel, and helps explain a little bit about where the video comes from.

The story itself is fairly straightforward. An evil genius gnome (aren't they all?) has reached the end of his patience with Halloween. He throws together a vile potion which transforms him into a demon. When he crashes the Halloween party, he is delighted to discover that he's won the costume contest! Sadly, his frustration returns when he's unable to take off his "mask" in order to accept the prize.

There are certainly arguable merits or drawbacks to the video. However, Dr. McNab Destroys Halloween reinforces the idea that simple, explainable plots can provide all the motive energy a film needs to be successful. Dr. McNab's motivations are identifiable and understood, since they're almost a meme by themselves. That lets Farinar focus on his imagery and comedy, without creating convoluted plot byproducts.

Ultimately, I just think this is a fun video. When tipster Thomas brought it up to me, I thought it was worth another shout out this year.

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A small crew of machinima creators and artists have stepped up their gamed and delivered something truly new to the World of Warcraft fan video scene. Check out the Ravenholdt Labyrinth (Interactive WoW Adventure).

This isn't a single video. Instead, using the interactive linking annotation feature in YouTube, the creators have made a sort of "Choose your own adventure" adventure using WoW machinima. Depending on your choices, you can navigate Gigi further into Ravenholdt to discover the mystery . . . or get her killed. You make the choices as you proceed.

This is the first machinima of this kind that I've seen, and my hat's off to Gigi, RedEye, Dan, WoPairs, and Abandonation for opening the doors to a new style of machinima. It would be awesome to see them do more like this, since I think it really broadens the scope of experience offered by machinima.

The overall style of this video is suited to Halloween. It's moody and spooky. The creep factor gets higher as you take Gigi further into the labyrinth. This is a really great job by everyone involved. My hat is off to the creators.

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Those wonderful folks over at Herculean Productions have released another episode of their titular series about Leeroy. This episode is The Chronicles of Leeroy, Two Copper Coins. This story picks up where we left off last time, when the intrepid group of adventurers have been saved by Flash the hunter.

I continue to love The Chronciles of Leeroy, because the series emphasizes a deep and joyful love of the game. It's not flashy or mired down in technical details of raiding or PvP, but instead just plays around with some goofy fun. It's the kind of lighthearted fun one can have with WoW that keeps me involved with the game.

I think Celeste has had some pretty good introduction material in previous episodes. I'm eager to see where that story goes. She's been pretty well established now, though, and probably needs to move on so that the audience doesn't only think of her as "that annoying mage girl."

As always, I look forward to the next episode. Click here to see The Chronicles of Leeroy, Two Copper Coins.

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Silverlined Productions stepped up to the holiday plate by presenting us A Silverlined Halloween. It's a clever commentary on the most dreaded Halloween event possible -- people handing out crackers to Trick-or-Treaters. Who's better to purvey such a vile treat than Arthas himself?

I enjoyed the general plan of A Silverlined Halloween, but I admit I struggled to understand what the Lich King was actually saying. I acknowledge that it could just be me having bad hearing, though. The adult Trick-or-Treater was fun, and I think his heavy breathing left enough doubt as to his intention that there was suspense in most of the video.

At the end of the day, I enjoyed A Silverlined Halloween. Maybe subtitles or something would make the Lich King's role more comprehensible, but I was still able to understand it well enough to laugh. Happy Halloween!

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It is the season for Halloween goodness, and Ninth Batter delivers an excellent addition to his Nobody Like You series with the new Nobody Like You Halloween Special. In this episode, Nobody and Arthas take the time to deliver some helpful (and hilarious) Halloween tips. I don't know what it is about Arthas as a character, but I love watching Ninth Batter put the Lich King through his paces.

The video runs about five minutes long. The Halloween Special portion is only a couple minutes of the video. It's still got the same satirical humor as previous episodes. My favorite part, though, comes during the closing credits. Arthas sings again, and it is fantastic. I can easily see how that's become the mainstay credits gag for Nobody Like You, since it's probably going to be a crowd pleaser every time.

There's also a closing message about Azeroth United's Hearts, Hands, and Voices project. It's a worthy cause, and Ninth definitely gives it a good send up.

Ultimately, Ninth Batter managed to do a lot with this video. His flair for handling multiple subjects and directions in a single video should be commended.

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Warning: As is the nature of reviews, the following review has a few spoilers for the video.

The Critical Flaw Pilot by Ian Beckman is an experimental live action piece, centered around two roomies who are also gamers. You not only have your usual shenanigans in this kind of sitcom piece, but there's also a heavy dose of World of Warcraft humor thrown in.

While I'm not certain I'd ever be inclined to play World of Warcraft with my feet, I definitely have to respect the guy who does. That's a level of dedication and skill that you just don't see every day. It's definitely a few feet above your usual water level of player ability. (Do you see what I did there?)

The murloc joke is probably my favorite bit. Certainly, it could be argued that murlocs are the slippery banana peel of WoW comedy. If you throw in a random murloc gag, you're guaranteed to at least get an extra chuckle. This one especially appeals to me, though, and I'll probably be building my own murloc litter box in the near future.

At the end of the day, I hope Ian gets enough support for this series to keep going. I think it could really grow with another episode or two under it, and it's already showing signs of becoming a hit. Like I said, I definitely laughed.

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Hallows End Summed Up in 2 Minutes, subtitled (Hot Bloodelf Chicks included!!!) is Wowcrendor's new offering regarding that infamous candy-based event. It's got the same critical-but-loving eye that Wowcrendor uses in his other informational WoW series.

Now that Wowcrendor has a few of these under his belt, I can't think of a better voice for this kind of saracastic, endearing narrative. It's something about the way he portrays the events with an equal mix of frustration and sheer joy. He manages to convey that he really loves the game, even if he's still aware of the absurdity of it all.

Even while Wowcrendor's reviewing Hallow's End, he manages to slip in an amusing meta-commentary. The video is subtitled Hot Bloodelf Chicks included!!! True to his word, the blood elves appear in the video, even if only for a few seconds. It's definitely a commentary on contemporary machinima elements in things like Belf Rap. It was worth a brief chuckle.

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Oxhorn's seasonal shorts always seem to bring a little something extra to the holidays. He's hit Halloween just in time by releasing Dalaran's Costume Contest. If you can't see the YouTube for some reason, you can also pick it up over at Oxhorn's official web site.

As the story goes, Oxhorn's usual cast of characters are competing in the Hallow's End costume contest. They spend a little time discussing the event, when Hat (the singing turtle) comes up and reveals his own clever disguise. I can't go deeper into the story here, or I'll ruin the punchline. And while it may make me a pop-culture junkie, I admit that I laughed out loud at the joke.

An odd bit about this video, though, is that Oxhorn included almost a minute and a half of outtakes. I actually kind of love that stuff, since it gives a lot of personality and "humanity" to the actors in his machinima. I think it lets the audience get to know them a little better, which is almost always a good thing.

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There's something incredibly pure and elegant about the idea behind Dwarven Rifle Squad. It's not complex or convoluted. It isn't needlessly verbose, nor does it seek to dazzle the audience with flashing lights and spectacular dancing. This video simply features dwarves with guns. Isn't that beautiful? Dwarves with guns.

Dwarven Rifle Squad is a guild advertisement trailer. It's pretty entertaining, although some of that might be the rompingly fun music playing in the background. It definitely succeeded in making me want to haul my own dwarf hunter out of mothballs.

I think my only real criticisim of the video is based on its length and pacing. I liked the film and had fun with it, but I definitely felt like it could have been shorter. Scaling down the length and footage used would have given the video a little more punch, letting the audience focus on key shots and actions.

Ultimately, though, the core concept remains streamlined and wonderful: dwarves with guns.

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I think Abandonation vs Nation is a particularly interesting video in the belf rap genre. While it's a parody based on Cassidy's Problem vs the Hustla. MPthreez, it still has enough WoW-unique nuances that the video sets itself apart from your usual belf video.

What I really noticed about the language and lyrics is the characterization of Abandonation. Several times, Abandonation denigrates his opponent for being a healer. "You call yourself a beast but you really play a priest," he says in the first verse, following up with "you don't do nothin but heal heroics and think you're leet bro" in his final verse. It could be argued that Abandonation is characterizing a PvP player's mindset against a PvE player, since he uses the language "carebear" to attack Nation.

Nation's response to Abandonation is typical of the complaints we see about rogues. "You ain't nothin without stuns so stop actin tough," Nation says. Interestingly, Nation also calls out Abandonation for his gear, mocking him for wearing Season 2 armor despite it now being Season 7. I thought that was especially interesting, since Abanadonation's gear in his music videos is a characterization -- I had never taken it to be a literal set of gear, but just a visual stand in.

Okay, so maybe I'm reading way, way too much into this music video. Ultimately, it's an impressive display of skills from both Abandonation and Nation. It's probably my favorite belf rap piece, and it sets the bar for the genre a little higher.

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It's been a while since we've had a belf-based music video on WoW Moviewatch, which makes me pretty happy that today's piece somehow appealed to me on a fundamental level. Fading Like A Flower was created by My Princess Studios for one of her friends. It features that friend's character, although I'm not sure which of the many belfs might have been the recipient of that dedication.

I definitely enjoyed this video. I'm not sure which pieces "did it" for me, but I was ultimately left with a light, fun feeling from Fading Like A Flower. The video's not ostentatious, and it doesn't put on pretentious airs. It's just, fundamentally, about having a little fun.

As far as I can tell, this is the first My Princess Studios video. I'm definitely looking forward to what they do next.

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I'm a big fan of roleplay inspired videos. They not only give us a little bit of insight to how RPers play the game, but also tend to use lore in some interesting ways. And, if nothing else, roleplay videos really help bring some panache and style into our everyday escapsim.

Today's movie is Tales of Icecrown Part 3 -- Ashes to Ashes. You may not be familiar with Tales of Icecrown part one and part two, but I don't think that's entirely necessary to enjoy this installment. The story is a quick snippet about a man becoming a Death Knight. That's not exactly new to the world of Wrath roleplay, but the video still does a pretty good job of framing the narrative.

This also gives hints about a new roleplay alliance (with a little "a'), or maybe it's hinting at a guild being formed. But the idea of the Knights of the Ebone Blade and the Argent Crusade forming a specific new covenant is a pretty cool idea. And, I admit, I like the name Ashen Verdict. It sounds all gritty and raw, and definitely seems like a group ready to go take on Arthas.

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