twinshk2 Reviews

Better Call Saul (2015–2022)

Better than Breaking Bad. It's different, more subtle, and full bodied - art on screen.

[10/10 · 26 December 2022]

I could never watch breaking bad - I hated watching Walt and Skylar on screen. They were just so awful - watching TV is like being in the same room as people and how could you stand to be in the same room as people so hate driven and awful? Without very many redeeming qualities?

Better Call Saul is different. I think the writers did a much better job of showcasing each character - from Chuck (misguidedly trying to fix Jimmy), Saul (trying to find success the only way he knows how after being rejected by Chuck), Kim (moral good but falls victim to compromise and the realities of the world - plus, it's just fun to do heists and stuff with Saul), Howard (trying to just navigate these weird situations as best he can according to his moral framework, that Saul introduces, and that he, as a well heeled law firm partner doesn't normally encounter).

I'm not even talking about the drug side of the show, props to all of them as well.

Great TV is when characters are made, revealed, and their behavior is carefully exposed to the viewer - not in ham fisted ways - "He rescued the sick puppy from a burning tree" - but in subtle ways as they navigate their situation and difficulties. It's the making of full bodied, complex humans.

Each of the characters is sympathetic in their own complex way, and has a real case to be loved or hated. That's the mark of great TV - it's about the characters, how characters are created and revealed, and how characters react to the situations that they are presented with, and how they change.

Better Call Saul does that masterfully.

Bao (2018)

Thank you Domee Shi

[10/10 · 27 June 2018]

First, thank you Domee, for continuing the long tradition of breathtaking Pixar shorts. I cried. The last time I remember crying because of a movie was during Up

If you didn't grow up in an Asian/maybe immigrant environment, this will be hard to get, at least the way it's portrayed, but for those of us who grew up with this, it hits very deeply.

10/10. If you don't understand this, watch this with an Asian American friend of yours. There's also plenty of articles floating around on the internet as well explaining it.

Nathan for You: Finding Frances (2017) Season 4, Episode 8

Amazing, truly 100% amazing

[10/10 · 15 November 2017]

Whatever I write cannot do this episode justice. It's too good. It's too good for this world. It's sad, happy, hilarious, bittersweet, and blurs the line between reality and fiction. Just watch it. You won't regret it. This may be the best thing I have ever watched. I don't want to write about the episode because it would spoil it.

High School DxD (2012–2018)

Fansevice heavy anime that ranges from some genuinely exciting parts to the most ridiculous situations

[5/10 · 20 September 2014]

This is a really hard show to explain. On one hand, it is completely ridiculous with the fan service. The outro and intros to the commercials are literally just naked pictures of the heroines. On the other hand, there are some really exciting moments where you can really sympathize with the MC. You'd have to watch the show to actually experience it, and even though I usually have horrible second-hand embarrassment which this show should have triggered, I didn't really feel it. It takes itself completely seriously at times, and at others, it devolves into a oppai fueled mess(but still amazing though). It's quite hard to describe it really, other than this anime is all over the place and is a great ride through all of it. Only complaint is they should have gotten some better artists(Oreimo& Date a Live animators, I'm looking at you).