Top 10 Movie Villains 2013: The most despicable, evil, well-written, and entertaining characters in film this year.

Today, I count down my personal favorite villains in film this year.

Criteria:
No anti-heroes, must be the antagonist of the movie.
Must have been in a film from 2013 (duh).
No video game or television characters, that's a list for another time.
Must be a specific character or group of characters, not something generic like zombies (sorry, World War Z).
Oh yeah, just putting it out there, possible Spoilers ahead.

10. Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Chris D'Amico aka The Motherfucker from Kick-Ass 2: Despite this superhero sequel being a bit of a let-down, there's no denying the inexperienced villain is fun to watch. An idiotic crime lord with no clue what he's doing, Chris attempts to avenge his mobster father by becoming the world's first supervillain. Unfortunately, he's extremely ill-equipped for that task, even if he does manage to do some damage to Kick-Ass every once in a while.

9. Christopher Eccelston as Malekith the Accursed from Thor- The Dark World: This ancient warlord is from a time even before Odin or Thor, and is the king of the Dark Elves. A ruthless and extremely powerful being, Malekith is capable of defeating Thor in a fight, as well as summoning dark spells and creatures from his realm. He is obsessed with transforming Earth in his twisted image, which Thor and Loki must attempt to stop. Despite not being as interesting as the antihero Loki, Malekith is still a very threatening force. With his army of dark elves and magical powers, Malekith is nearly unstoppable.

8. Sharlto Copley as Kruger from Elysium: In Neill Blomkamp's science fiction thriller, Kruger serves as secondary antagonist. However, he proves to be much more entertaining and dangerous than Jodie Foster's powerful businesswoman character. He's an unstable and maniacal rapist, murderer, and mercenary who loves doing his job: getting paid to cause other people pain and suffering. A psychotic ex-soldier and criminal with advanced military training and a violent streak, Kruger is a force to be reckoned with.

7. Luke Evans as Owen Shaw from Fast & Furious 6: Despite being slightly bland, Owen Shaw is still a bad-ass villain. A dark mirror-image of Dom (Vin Diesel), Shaw is the leader of an evil group of car hijackers and criminals, who don't mind killing innocent people to get what they want. Despite being in a movie belonging to a franchise known for being over-the-top and silly, Shaw has a certain presence that grounds the film a bit more and adds a little bit of darkness to it. Shaw is threatening, ruthless, and best of all, actually well-written and acted, which is more than can be said than other villains from the franchise.

6. Tom Fitzpatrick as Parker Crane aka The Old Woman aka The Bride in Black from Insidious Chapter 2: In James Wan's latest chilling supernatural horror film, he decided to focus on one of the memorable ghosts from the first Insidious, the Old Woman ghost. Revealing her to be the ghost of a cross-dressing male serial killer with a tragic childhood, this film also features his/her mother as a major antagonist, but this scary transvestite murderer is more memorable and more terrifying. Despite the sad childhood, which makes you empathize with him/her, there's no denying this villain is one that will linger in your head long after the end credits, and pop up in your mind when alone in your house on dark nights.

5. Manu Bennett as Azog the White Orc from The Hobbit- The Desolation of Smaug: Despite Azog's role being diminished significantly from An Unexpected Journey, he still is no less threatening and still has a certain presence when he shows up on screen. Incredibly strong and fierce, this despised blood-thirsty warrior serves the dark lord Necromancer (who, if you know Tolkien's works, is revealed to be someone even more powerful and terrifying than Azog) and leads his Orc armies in an attempt to track down and brutally kill Bilbo, Gandalf, and the company of Dwarves, especially Thorin Oakenshield, who cut his arm off years before. Azog is a skilled fighter, hunter, and killer, who is still on the hunt for the dwarves at the end of this installment. Hopefully, the third and final film of the trilogy, sees the heroes finally take down this ruthless foe.

4. Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug from The Hobbit- The Desolation of Smaug: This mighty dragon is the current resident of the Lonely Mountain. A bit of a narcissist, Smaug is huge, magnificent, malevolent, intelligent, greedy, and loves causing trouble for the people of Laketown and for anyone who dares to enter his gold-covered lair beneath the mountain. Smaug is capable of breathing fire, flying, and covering hundreds of feet in single steps. The excellent motion capture performance and chilling voice work by Cumberbatch really bring the character to life, and it was pretty awesome to finally see the dragon on screen after the cliffhanger at the end of An Unexpected Journey, even if it was only for 45 minutes. Side note: Speaking of cliffhangers, this film ends on a giant cliffhanger, which I won't spoil, but it involves the dragon, and it's pretty fucking stupid, but also is clever in that it really leaves you hanging and waiting to see what happens next.

3. Ben Kingsley and Guy Pierce as Trevor Slattery aka The Mandarin (decoy) and Aldrich Killian aka The Mandarin (real), respectively, from Iron Man 3 (tie): I couldn't decide between the se two. Despite Slattery being revealed to be a decoy near the climax, which pissed me off a little bit, I think for the time he was posing as The Mandarin, he did an absolutely fantastic job of capturing that character. Killian is a lot different than he was in the comics, and I think he did a great job pulling off the evil scientist role. Interestingly enough, there is a deleted sequence where Slattery gets injected with Extremis and becomes The Mandarin of the comics. People have also speculated that the comic-book Mandarin may also still be in future films, and may take revenge on Slattery for posing as him. Despite all that, The Mandarin is definitely a powerful and intelligent villain who knows how to take Tony Stark down, at least for a little while.

2. Michael Shannon as General Zod from Man of Steel: Zod is not only one of Superman's most challenging foes, he's also one of the last Kryptonians alive besides Superman. In this film, he's kind of a tragic villain, he's a conqueror who tries to take over Krypton via a coup d'état, but also, he's technically just following his orders: he was born to conquer and be a warrior. He leads his group of renegade soldiers to invade Earth and wipe out all humans so they can rebuild Krypton, but he also finds that Superman, who he tries to befriend, may stand in the way of that. Zod is a tragic villain, but is also extremely dangerous, strong, and an expert tactician and fighter, making him a threat to Superman and the people of Earth as a whole.

Honorable mentions:
Joseph Bishara as Bethseba from The Conjuring
Rooney Mara as Emily Banks from Side Effects
James McAvoy as Simon from Trance
Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz as the Wicked Witches from Oz the Great and Powerful
Terence Howard as Alphonse Hoyt from Dead Man Down
William Fichtner as Butch Cavendish from The Lone Ranger
Barkhad Abdi as Abduwali Muse from Captain Phillips (didn't make the list as he's technically an anti-hero/tragic villain)

1. Benedict Cumberbatch as John Harrison aka Khan Noonien Singh from Star Trek- Into Darkness: In J.J. Abrams' reimagining of Gene Roddenberry's classic series, Kirk and his crew must take on Starfleet member John Harrison, later on revealed to be a 300-year-old super soldier named Khan, and Khan is not one to be crossed. Possessing superhuman strength, keen intellect, expert military training and tactical skills, and an extremely high tolerance for pain and injury, Khan is an unstoppable foe, who you can't out-think or out-fight, and can't get away from, no matter how hard you try. Despite having a tragic past, Khan is still nearly impossible to sympathize with, because of his savagery and ruthlessness, and the fact he will do absolutely anything to get what he wants. Khan is a brutal and frightening warrior who you wouldn't want to cross paths with when travelling through space.

Well, there you have it, I'll be posting Top 10 Heroes soon enough, hope you enjoyed the list, and give me feedback if you have any.

 

(Images: collider.com, taridstopia.net, lylesmoviefiles.com, wildsoundmovies.com, technologytell.com, comicvine.com, lotr.wikia.com, totalfilm.com, superman.wikia.com, theaerogram.com)

Top 10 Lists of the Year- 2013 has been an... interesting year.

Pretty soon I'll be posting top 10 lists of the year.

Top 25 Films of the Year- This is gonna be hard, I've seen so many good films this year that I just don't know where to begin. Well, here are some films I haven't seen yet that you probably would see on the list, had I seen them- 12 Years a Slave, Her, Inside Llewyn Davis, Out of the Furnace, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Warm Bodies, The Place Beyond the Pines, Frozen (which I'll be seeing tomorrow), Spring Breakers, Stoker, Blue is the Warmest Color, The East, Drinking Buddies, Welcome to the Punch, The Iceman, Disconnect, John Dies at the End, Struck by Lightning, Hyde Park on Hudson, No One Lives, Before Midnight, Frances Ha, Delivery Man, The Bling Ring, Fruitvale Station, Blue Jasmine, Jobs, Much Ado About Nothing, Metallica: Through the Never, Kill Your Darlings, The Croods, Epic, The Fifth Estate, The Counselor, Philomena, The Book Thief, Nebraska, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Lone Survivor, and August: Osage County.

Top 15 Disappointing/Worst Films of the Year- Equally difficult, as I haven't seen all that many bad films this year, here's the ones I haven't seen: A Haunted House, Pain & Gain, Broken City, Mama, Parker, Bullet to the Head, Beautiful Creatures, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, The Host, Paranoia, Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia, Safe Haven, Escape from Planet Earth,  Dark Skies, Snitch, 21 & Over, Jack the Giant Slayer, The Call, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Inappropriate Comedy, Temptation, The Big Wedding, Home Run, Only God Forgives, The Internship, Killing Season, The To-Do List, The Smurfs 2, Planes, Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, The Lifeguard, Getaway, Justin Bieber's Believe, One Direction: This Is Us, Battle of the Year, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2,  Runner Runner, Machete Kills, Escape Plan, Bad Grandpa, Homefront, Free Birds, Oldboy, Hours, A Madea Christmas, Grudge Match.

Top 10 Characters- Alright, I'm posting these pretty soon, I'll be doing Top 10 Heroes and Villains in Film, then in TV, then Videogames.

Top 5 Videogames- Since I haven't had the chance to play every game this year, I have a bit of a short list, it's easier to list the games I HAVE played: Tomb Raider, BioShock Infinite, Dead Space 3, Batman: Arkham Origins, Call of Duty: Ghosts, The Last of Us, Grand Theft Auto V, Battlefield 4, The Wolf Among Us, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, and Madden 25.

Saving Mr. Banks: The true story of the making of one of the most beloved Disney films of all time.

Today, I look at the acclaimed new film about the production of Mary Poppins in the mid-1960's.

Saving Mr. Banks:
In 1961, British author Pamela "P.L." Travers has agreed to finally travel to Los Angeles after 20 years to negotiate the film rights of her book Mary Poppins with producer and entrepreneur Walt Disney. When Pamela arrives, Walt warmly greets her, and states he made a promise to his daughters two decades before to adapt the book to screen, no matter how long it took. Unfortunately, Travers is very particular about how she wants the book adapted, and starts causing trouble for the production team. However, through flashbacks, it's revealed why she has such a troubled adult life. Emma Thompson gives a really fantastic performance as Travers. She's pompous, arrogant, rude, but also very relatable and I really empathized with her for most of the film. Funny enough, Thompson also starred in Nanny McPhee, which was dubbed "the new Marry Poppins" by some critics. Tom Hanks was surprisingly really awesome as Disney. Not saying he's not a great actor, but I was curious how he could pull it off, considering Walt Disney was such a huge figure in Hollywood, and is so famous and had such a distinct personality, how he would live up to expectations. He was able to capture Disney's mannerisms, and cheery disposition perfectly, and the filmmakers made the wise choice not to make him the focus of the movie, but he certainly has a large presence in it. The film also hinted at Disney's issues with smoking and lung cancer at several points in the story, but never made that a huge focus, either. Colin Farrell is really great as Pamela's father, a loving, but troubled man. Farrell is able to play two different roles back-to-back: the loving, playful father, and the alcoholic whose addiction is slowly destroying not only his body, but mind as well, and ruining the lives of his wife and children, too. Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) and B.J. Novak (The Office) play the Shermans, two brothers who are the composers and lyricists for the film, who frequently clash with Travers. Richard M. Sherman, one of the brothers, served as music supervisor on this film. Speaking of music, Thomas Newman's score is actually pretty good, frequently using the tune of "Chim-Chim Cheree" from Mary Poppins over scenes of Travers' childhood. The rest of the cast includes Paul Giamatti, Ruth Wilson, Bradley Whitford, Melanie Paxson, Kathy Baker, Rachel Griffiths, and Ronan Vibert. The ending credits are cool, as they show real-life photographs from the Mary Poppins premiere and the storyboards, and has an authentic audio recording of one of the first writing team sessions. The film is actually pretty historically accurate, and there's a cool sequence at Disneyland where they recreated it to look exactly like it did in 1964. Saving Mr. Banks is an excellent movie, from the performances, to the writing, to even the production design, almost everything about this is fantastic. It's funny, charming, sad, and yes, a bit sappy, but hey, that's Disney in a nutshell. 4/5 stars.
 (Image: Wikipedia)

December Movies Double Review (American Hustle & The Wolf of Wall Street)

Today, I look at two of the most anticipated movies of December 2013, which are both getting a fair amount of awards buzz. I'm sorry this is so delayed, but I haven't had a chance to see too many movies lately. I didn't get a chance to see 12 Years a Slave, Out of the Furnace, or Frozen, which I'm still upset about. I still need to see Saving Mr. Banks, Her, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. But, besides all that, I did have the chance to see two great movies over winter break.

American Hustle:
Initially titled "American Bullshit", this David O. Russell film features many actors from him previous works, such as Christian Bale (The Fighter), Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), and Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook). Newcomers include Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Louis C.K. in a small supporting role. Robert De Niro (also from SLP) makes an uncredited cameo, and Michael Pena and Jack Huston also appear. Bale did his usually physical transformation for this role, once again proving he's not just a talented actor, he's a chameleon who disappears into his roles. This time, he went the opposite direction from his role in The Machinist, instead of losing a ton of weight, he gained some to get the pot-belly needed to portray con man Irving Rosenfeld, who is based on a real con man. The story follows Irving, who must work with an FBI agent, his mistress, and his air-headed and erratic wife to set up an elaborate scheme to set up corrupt politicians, include the good-natured mayor of Camden, New Jersey. The cast are incredible, and the standouts have to be Bale, Lawrence, and Renner. I really felt bad for Renner, as he is manipulated by the other characters, especially Bale, who actually begins to warm up to Renner, making the eventual outcome of their relationship (which I won't give away) pretty tragic. I really enjoyed the soundtrack, it's filled with classic 70's tunes, such as "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John, and even some stuff by Duke Ellington. Danny Elfman did some original music for the film as well. David O. Russell once again proves he can make an effective comedy-drama. His screenplay (which he co-wrote with Eric Warren Singer) is excellent, the dialogue is sharp and witty, and the characters are funny and feel very real. American Hustle is an entertaining and fun crime comedy that will make you both laugh out loud but also tear up a bit. 4/5 stars.

The Wolf of Wall Street:
Martin Scorsese's latest movie not only runs 3 hours long, but broke the record for uses of the word "fuck" in a movie. Based on the real, sometimes insane, story of Jordan Belfort, the film follows Belfort on his crazy, sex-filled, drug-fueled journey as he climbs the Wall Street ladder through illegal means. Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, and Jonah Hill star, and Matthew McConaughey, Jon Bernthal, Rob Reiner, Jean Dujardin, Jon Favreau, and Kyle Chandler appear in supporting roles. Director Spike Jonze makes an uncredited cameo, and the real Jordan Belfort also appears briefly. DiCaprio is fantastic as the womanizing, coke and pill-addicted, alcoholic, and sometimes insane titular character, the "wolf of Wall Street", who gets his tons of money through illegal scams. Despite all his faults, you can't help but feel bad for him as his seemingly perfect life falls to pieces around him. Hill plays his unpredictable and equally shameless friend Donnie, who is as crude and fucked-up as a person can be, but you love him. I couldn't get enough of him! He's so funny and insane and stupid. Margot Robbie doesn't actually do that much in the film except: 1) be hot, 2) be Leo's wife. However, when the movie called for it, she did a great job capturing the emotions of a woman who slowly realizes what a shitty person her husband is becoming. The movie, while being a bit excessive and graphic, is actually a pretty funny and enjoyable, with lots of dark humor and some poignant drama. Despite the movie being pretty damn good and surprisingly well-written and funny, it's sometimes hard to relate to these people, who sometimes can be very disgusting and despicable and corrupt and seemingly irredeemable. Also, Scorsese really pushed the boundaries on this one. Not so much on the sex and drugs and language, but that, too. But I'm talking about the time length. The movie is exactly 3 hours long, and although I was able to be entertained for that amount of time, many movie-goers have short attention spans, and may not be willing to sit through a 3-hour comedy-drama, even one filled with sex, drugs, and crime. However, I enjoyed The Wolf of Wall Street a good deal, and definitely recommend it if you're in the mood for something long, wild, and hilarious. 4/5 stars.

 (Images: Wikipedia)

Top 20 Television Shows, Part Two (Top Ten TV Series): My favorites of all time

I'm counting down my favorite television series of all time.

10. Tales from the Crypt: One of the first major HBO programs is also one of my favorite shows ever. An anthology series that follows The Crypt-Keeper, a cackling, pun-loving corpse who inhabits an ancient crypt below an old mansion. The Crypt-Keeper tells the viewers a story each episode, usually these episodes feature big-name guest stars (such as Whoopi Goldberg, Demi Moore, Treat Williams, Jeffrey Tambor, and Tim Curry) and popular directors (Robert Zemeckis, Walter Hill, and Richard Donner to name a few, all of which were also producers of the program). The episodes are packed with gore, sex, and over-the-top comic book violence. A major recurring theme in these stories is that many of the lead characters are evil or despicable and get their "just desserts", usually in a nasty and ironic way, which usually culminates in them being brutally killed off. The terrible jokes told by the Crypt-Keeper serve to ease the viewers before and after the horrific stories are told, just like in the 50's comics the series is inspired by. A fun and darkly humorous show,  it's a great show to watch around Halloween, it's the television equivalent of a fun popcorn horror film.

9. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and South Park (tie): I couldn't decide which series to include, but I enjoy them both a lot, so I included them both. The first series from FX chronicles the many misadventures of "The Gang" a small group of dysfunctional and narcissistic friends who can be described as unlikeable, arrogant, idiotic, and mean, but I love watching them hatch stupid schemes and continuously get themselves and others into trouble through their general incompetence and selfishness. The second series needs no introduction: Trey Parker and Matt Stone's genius animated comedy series is now concluding it's 17th season. And there's more where that came from. Their crude, offensive, dark, and satirical series is not only gross and unapologetic, it's also genius satire and lampoons everything about today's culture, from movies, to celebrities, to world politics, to video games, to the way people act in their day-to-day lives, this series is much smarter than it seems, and it takes a certain kind of comedic genius to pull that off.

8. The Walking Dead and American Horror Story (tie): Another tie, this time of horror-related series. I believe I covered these already in my top 10 horror series, so I'll try to not go over them too much again. The first, from AMC, is based on Robert Kirkman's cult comic book series, and follows a group of survivors during a zombie apocalypse in Georgia. Not only is the series unpredictable (it changes many events and characters from the comics), but it is also gory, action-packed, and gut-wrenching in it's brutal depiction of survival at any cost. The second series, from FX, is an anthology series, where each season follows a new cast of characters and a new storyline, usually reusing some of the same actors from previous seasons. Despite only having 2 and a half seasons as of this point, Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk's dark and twisted vision explores not only supernatural horrors such as witchcraft, ghosts, demons, and zombies, but also real-life horrors such as mental illness, serial killers, and shattered marriages. Both are entertaining and crazy, and are great for fans of horror or fans of great television.

7. Sherlock: In this unique BBC series, Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman portray modern day versions of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, respectively, who must solve mysteries in London, all while trying to unravel the mystery of who is "Moriarty", and what does he want with them? This series is not only a fantastic watch because you try to solve the mysteries along with the characters, but it's unique because each season only has 3 episodes, but each episode is also an hour and a half long, so each one is like a short movie. The acting and writing are extremely good, and I'm convinced Freeman and Cumberbatch are one of the best TV duos out there today, and are together one of the best portrayals of Holmes and Watson in the visual medium.

6. Nip/Tuck: Ryan Murphy's medical drama has everything: despicable villains (including a terrifying serial rapist/killer), crazy patients, troubled and conflicted characters, dark drama, some humor, and some surprisingly medically accurate depictions of plastic surgery. Despite the last three seasons slowly decreasing in quality, the entire series is really entertaining, and it really toys with your emotions: one episode you may hate a character the next sympathize with them, the next episode you're back to hating them. The first three seasons are definitely the best, and the series has some great moments. The sad thing: none of the main cast really went anywhere after this, and that's a shame, because they're all good actors.

5. Dexter: In this Showtime series, mild-mannered Dexter Morgan works within the Miami "Metro" Police Department. Dex is a blood-splatter analyst for the forensic unit, but what many of his colleagues don't know is that Mr. Morgan also moonlights as a serial killer who hunts other criminals. This darkly comic and gruesome show may have made some major faults between seasons 5 and 8, but the first four are excellent examples of great television, and won't fail to entertain and enthrall you. Michael C. Hall is excellent as the charming but disturbed main character and Jennifer Carpenter is good as his adopted sister Deborah, although her character can be a bit irritating at times.

4. Star Trek: This classic Gene Roddenberry series is not only an example of how great a show can be on a shoestring budget, but is also one of the most beloved and influential television shows of all time. I love it because of the fantastic characters and surprisingly good acting, the interesting alien designs, and the well-written storylines. The show's special effects are definitely dated, and some of the acting seems a bit cheesy now, but overall, this series is still thoroughly enjoyable even today.

3. Game of Thrones: Betrayal, war, politics, and secrecy are the name of the game in D.B. Weiss and David Benioff's acclaimed and highly addictive HBO series, based off the bestselling fantasy series by George R.R. Martin. This series not only has a fantastic all-star cast, excellent special effects, ingenius writing, and an epic musical score, but is also one of the best shows on television. While the plot can get confusing at times, as there are so many characters and storylines to keep track of, it is one of the most intriguing tales of deception and betrayal ever put to the small screen. If politics and rich history isn't your cup of tea, there's enough bloody battles, brutal fights, graphic nudity, and cool and mysterious creatures to keep your interest. It's also one of the most ballsy show on cable, as, just like the novels it's based on, it has the guts to kill not only popular characters, but countless innocents (including children and infants) in gruesome and/or disturbing ways. A  medieval fantasy story of epic proportions, Game of Thrones is one of the best HBO shows of all time, and, not only that, one of the best series ever put on television. It's the television equivalent of Tolkien's Middle-Earth.

2. The Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's classic anthology series is not only one of the most influential television series of all time, but is one of the greatest of all time, in any genre. In fact, the series tackles everything from straightforward horror, to science fiction, fantasy, drama, and some comedy, too. Another series where each episode had an all-star cast, the program is one of the eeriest shows ever put to the small screen, and was way ahead of it's time. Serling also was one of the first writers in Hollywood to really tackle issues of racism and anti-war activism in a realistic and compassionate way, something he had to fight tooth-and-nail with the producers and sponsors to do.  A scary, sometimes touching show, The Twilight Zone is a timeless classic of television, as well as a classic of sci-fi and horror fiction.

I had to draw the line at some point, here are my honorable mentions:
The Wire, Battlestar Galactica (both versions), Batman Beyond, Luther, Todd McFarlane's Spawn, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Invader Zim, Dragonball Z, One Piece, Cowboy Bebop, The Sopranos, Hemlock Grove, Modern Family, Arrested Development, Boardwalk Empire, True Blood, Eastbound and Down, The Big Bang Theory, The Outer Limits, Reaper, Dead Like Me, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Shield, Rescue Me, How I Met Your Mother, Hawaii Five-O (both versions), House of Cards, Air Wolf, The A-Team, The Green Hornet, Batman (1966), X-Men, Orange is the New Black, Lilyhammer, All in the Family, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld, Knight Rider, Lost in Space, Northern Exposure, Saturday Night Live, Family Guy, Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill, Futurama, American Dad, In Living Color, Carnivale, The League, The Following, CSI, Law & Order, Friends, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Masters of Horror, Freaks and Geeks, Top Gear, Fawlty Towers, Archer, Suits, Burn Notice, The Daily Show, Psych, Monk, Murder She Wrote, Lost in Space, The Colbert Report, Lost, 24, Queer as Folk, Misfits, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Skins, Girls, Oz, Rawhide, The Rifleman, Chappelle's Show, Black-Adder, Kids in the Hall, Whitest Kids U Know, Spaced, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Community, Chuck, The IT Crowd, Twin Peaks, Rome, Deadwood, Six Feet Under, Downton Abbey, I Love Lucy, The X-Files, Supernatural, Sons of Anarchy, Justified, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Bridge, Low Winter Sun, Spartacus, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dark Shadows.

Here it is... the #1 pick

1. Breaking Bad: Is it really a surprise? Although I had to power through the first season and a half, and though for a little while "When is this gonna pick up? How can people like this boring piece of shit?" But then, as soon as I hit the finale of season two, it really picked up and has become my all-time favorite television program. This addictively good and extremely well-written and tense crime drama follows the rise and fall and transformation of Walter White from kindly and awkward high school chemistry teacher and family man into the cold-hearted and ruthless drug kingpin we know and love. It shows how the choices he makes affect his life and the lives of those around him, and it's not only a thrilling story, but ultimately a very tragic one, as his life and the lives of those he cares about gradually fall to pieces around them due to his actions. The tension between characters builds and builds towards the grand finale in the fifth and final season, and the final three episodes are some of the most suspenseful and intense ever put to television. Vince Gilligan's creation isn't just brilliant, it's a modern masterpiece of crime fiction. The greatest crime drama on television since The Wire.

What do you the readers, think of the list, and what series do you love the most?

 (Images: Wikipedia)