Top 5 Disney Character Introduction Songs.

It's time for the second post in this Disney musical mini-series. If you didn't see the first one, here are my thoughts on villain songs. Anyway, for the rest of this, I figured I might as well go in chronological order of when these typically show up within the films. Now, I'm not going to bother with an opening songs category, as usually--not always, but usually--the opening song is a much smaller ditty like "Arabian Nights," and the first big show-stopper is the second song (a notable song that differs from the rule could be "Circle of Life" in The Lion King). In fact, that second song is usually what I call the "Character Introduction" song. These are the songs that let us get to know our main character and/or characters and the world they live in. So let's get on with it...

TOP 5 DISNEY CHARACTER INTRODUCTION SONGS

Honorable Mention: "Daughters of Triton" from The Little Mermaid. In 45 seconds it tells you so much about the characters. Sebastian is a cocky, stuffy musician. King Triton is a hot-head... and has a weird fetish for alliteration. And Ariel, by not showing up on her debut, is a bit self-centered. But because it's rather short and incomplete, I couldn't put it on the list.

5) This Is Halloween (The Nightmare Before Christmas)

Like another song on this list, this one almost perfectly encapsulates the setting of the film while giving you a look at both the secondary characters and introducing you to the primary character. It also really sets up the tone of the film and really shows you how important Halloween is to this town, which of course is going to be uprooted a little ways in.

4) Honor To Us All (Mulan)

What I love about this one is that it's much more interested in sharing and introducing culture, since the culture has such a major part of what drives the story. Mulan wants to keep honor in her family and wants to make her father and grandmother look good, even if that means doing things she's not comfortable with or good at. It's a strong setup for how the world works, how women are perceived, what drives Mulan, and who a few of the other characters are.

3) When Will My Life Begin (Tangled)

This film is loved by many, but even those same people give it flak for not having the greatest songs. But I'll tell you what... I don't think this song in particular gets enough credit. I will spoil this now, but this song is going to be appearing on more than one of my lists in this little mini-series. Why? Because it's an incredibly multi-faceted song. It's doing so much in its 2-and-a-half minute run-time (and it has a couple reprises that go along with it, as well). In this particular case, you get a very catchy song that introduces us to our main character (and one of our secondary characters with the chameleon). It's a very tongue-in-cheek song full of so much cleverness and irony. You get a perfect idea of who this girl is, what she feels about her situation (even if she won't say it out loud--which says even more about her character), and what she wants most in the world. It's a fantastic introductory song for this character and her own personal setting that really illuminates everything you need to know about her before the story kicks off.

2) One Jump Ahead (Aladdin)

I love this song. It's so much fun, and it perfectly sets up our hero and his monkey friend. This song is a more... direct way of letting you know about the character. Aladdin sings about why he's doing what he's doing, and all the other characters--who apparently know him and his ways--sing about exactly what kind of guy they perceive him as. Thief. Scoundrel. Cunning. Quick. Clever. It's all there, told to you in song and shown to you at the same time. What's really great about it, though, is that after all of that setting up and stealing of the bread and whatnot... what follows shows his true nature as he gives up the bread to a couple starving children, proving that he's not the ruffian and street rat everybody else considers him.

1) Belle (Little Town) (Beauty and the Beast)

It's not only a perfect character intro song, but a perfect intro song to the film in general. It sets up practically every major human character (it doesn't show her father, but it mentions him). It's a perfect mix of telling us (through song) exactly what kind of people they are with showing us their personalities and letting us gather it ourselves. And it tells us what kind of people live in her town, which basically sets up the mob mentality later since even they admit she thinks very differently from the rest of them.

Top 5 Favorite Quitting Scenes In Film.

So, I quit my job today. OK, so not exactly today. I put in my resignation a couple months ago. But still, today was my last day as a teacher--at least in America (that's another story). And like many others, I often fantasized about the coolest way to leave a position. There was actually a teacher this year who left with a film-worthy exit just yesterday... but I can't say I had nearly the balls to do what he did. (I can't get into that here.)

Regardless, there have been many quitting scenes in films to look up to. Of course, I haven't seen a lot of the movies some favorite scenes might come from (for instance, in my research on the topic, I found there were a number of recurring scenes on lists from films I haven't seen). But also, there were a number of popular choices that I don't consider "quitting" scenes. They're more crazy reactions to being fired. So the following list includes my favorite quitting scenes from films I've seen.

TOP 5 FAVORITE QUITTING SCENES IN FILM.

5) With Honor And Smartass Irony (The Truman Show)

Jim Carrey, having lived his entire life in a reality TV show without his knowledge, has made his grand escape and reached the edge of the set. But before he can walk out the door, the creator begins speaking to him. And how does he respond? With the same catch-phrase he uses every morning with his neighbors. This can be taken two-fold, really. One, he's giving the audience a good ending with his departure on such a beloved phrase. Two, however, it's a slap to the face of the creator, using something from the show to essentially give him the finger. He even follows it up with an insincere laugh before heading out. How could this be done in real life? Easy... just use something from your bosses against them and just be a smartass. If you can pull it off, this would probably be the best way to quit without getting in trouble with anyone.




4) With Flair (Office Space)

Ever had that nagging boss who never seems to get what he or she wants out of you, but never tells you exactly what it is they want from you? So they just keep coming back until they annoy you to death? That's what happened here, and Jennifer Aniston just... had enough. This could be an evolution of the last... because it's punny!

Joanna Quits With Flair
Office Space at MOVIECLIPS.com

3) With Style And Finesse (Wanted)

Say what you want about the movie, but this is an epic scene. He finally tells off his boss by letting her know what he and everybody else feels about her. And then, in one last hoorah, takes his keyboard and smashes it over the face of his friend--who just so happens to be sleeping with his girlfriend. And the best part? The keys (and a tooth) fly off to form a couple special last words.

Go F*** Yourself
Wanted at MOVIECLIPS.com

2) With Blackmail (Fight Club)

Despite it topping almost everybody's lists, there are a couple reasons this is at #2 and not at #1. First and foremost, I just love the next choice so much. But also... this is borderline between a firing scene and a quitting scene. Edward Norton is getting fired, but he tells his boss how it is and what he expects to get in return. When the boss essentially laughs in his face, Norton starts to beat the shit out of himself to blackmail his boss for actions he didn't commit.

Jack's Smirking Revenge
Fight Club at MOVIECLIPS.com

1) With Words (Half-Baked)

I just love this scene. To me, this is the perfect way to go out. And yes, that includes the "you're cool" to the one person halfway through. No other comments necessary.




FINAL THOUGHTS

Do you agree with these? Do think I missed any? What are some ways you would like to quit a job some day?

Top 5 Favorite B-Movie One-Liners.

A while back, I did a bunch of "in the honor of" Top 5/10 lists, honoring fellow bloggers. Well, I'd been trying to think of a good one for my good buddy Jason Soto. And I think I finally have. As all of you might know, Jason likes his b-movies. And if you watch those types of films, you know they can be chock full of memorable one-liners. So I'm going to be giving my Top 5 Favorite B-Movie One-Liners. And yes, The Room is automatically disqualified since almost every line would be on here. Sorry.

Top 5 Favorite B-Movie One-Liners

5. "Science is never wrong."
Movie: Absolute Zero
Character/Actor: David (Jeff Fahey)
Info: I put this at number 5 only because it's more of an inside joke than anything. I get together with friends almost every weekend for "disaster movie night." There are a ton of running jokes we use throughout our MST3K-ing of all the movies, usually stemming from earlier films. One of them is "science is never wrong" as stated by Jeff Fahey in this wonderfully awful film. It's pretty much the go-to line to explain anything that doesn't make any logical sense in a bad disaster flick.
Video: N/A


4. "Broke in to the wrong God damn rec room, didn't ya, you bastard!"
Movie: Tremors
Character/Actor: Burt Gummer (Michael Gross)
Info: Tremors is a childhood favorite, and Burt Gummer is one of the greatest b-movie characters ever created. There are plenty of lines I could have chosen for him, though they would have been from its less successful sequel, and I wanted to go ahead and put one from the original. How can you not love Burt? Ready for any obstacle...
Video:



3. "What do you say I... take you home and eat your pussy?"
Movie: Shark Attack 3
Character/Actor: Ben Carpenter (John Barrowman)
Info: This is the only film on the list I haven't seen, but the line is so infamous I couldn't leave it off. It sounds strange enough just out of context. But when you watch the following clip and realize how out-of-context it really is even in the film, it becomes even stranger. From what I've heard, it was just an ad-lib/outtake that the director liked so much he just kept it in.
Video: Click here.


2. "I've come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum."
Movie: They Live!
Character/Actor: George Nada (Roddy Piper)
Info: It's been years since I've seen this one, and I really need to see it again. But this is one of my favorite lines. It's so cheesy awesome that I wish I had thought of it myself. There's not much else to say.
Video:



1. "I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!"
Movie: Snakes on a Plane
Character/Actor: Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson)
Info: What else was it going to be? Really? This is one of the most famous lines of the last decade. They changed this movie's rating to an R simply to include this line, as the movie could not exist without it. And because they changed it to an R, they just went ahead and added a bunch more violence and nudity, adding to the movie's cheesy awesomeness.
Video:

Top 5 Favorite Tree Moments.

For those of you not in the know, my LAMBcast buddy James from Cinema Sights loves him some artsy films. There's a running joke on the LAMBcast that he only likes movies with trees. And not just any movies with trees... but movies where the trees are central focus and made to look quite nice.

So in honor of James, I'm going to do my favorite tree moments in films. Probably not all his favorites, but whatever. And you'd be surprised... how difficult it was to come up with this list. So here we go...

Top 5 Favorite Tree Moments

5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The Whomping Willow is the primary tree of note in the Harry Potter films. It gets its most important moment in Prisoner of Azkaban (though the movie doesn't make note of why it was put there to begin with). However, I like the mystery and action of the scene near the beginning of Chamber of Secrets better. Ron squealing and breaking his wand. The branches crashing through the poor Ford Anglia. And just general chaos and disarray. Check out the scene below:




4. Clerks 2

OK, I'll give... this one is kind of a cheat. But I didn't want to put the Ents from Lord of the Rings. Instead, I felt like putting one of my many favorite scenes from Clerks 2, which is about the aforementioned trilogy. And to top off this conversation about Lord of the Rings, Randal gives a great line: "Even the fucking trees walk in those movies." Check the scene below:




3. Pan's Labyrinth

This is probably the only movie James might agree with. I'm talking, of course, of the scene where Ofelia climbs inside the dying tree in her new dress to face the giant toad. The whole movie is beautiful in more ways than one. And the three tasks are definitely the most memorable parts. So there's really no question why this one would end up on the list. Unfortunately, I couldn't find video footage of it... sorry.

2. The Evil Dead

A tree rapes a woman. Let me repeat that. A tree. Rapes. A woman. What more can I say? I couldn't find the original footage for the scene, but here's a very poor quality version where somebody added their own music for comic affect:




1. The Happening

No, not the whole movie. Sure, it's about killer trees and/or wind. But there's one particular part of this movie that I love. I loved the scene in theater, and it's the scene that has always stuck with me since. This scene makes me wonder if M. Night was just screwing with all our heads and meant it to be some kind of bizarre dark comedy the whole time. The scene, of course, is Mark Wahlberg talking to the plastic tree:

Top 5... Two For The Price Of One!

Sorry I missed yesterday. I was up late making a powerpoint presentation for today, as I had no idea what I was gonna be teaching and I was working hard. That on top of my router being screwy and my Netflix Instant not working at the moment, I have no real new reviews to share. I could do some old stuff, but I don't remember most of it. So instead, I'm just going to give you 2 Top 5 Lists today. I actually found a list via Google that upset me because it was very close to what I wanted to do for one, and it even shares almost all my choices (except 1). The other is... well... yeah. You'll probably never see these two topics so near each other... unless you're looking somewhere you probably shouldn't be.

Top 5 Saddest Animal-Related Moments In Film

Note: You will not see Old Yeller in this list. They're too predictable... and I've never seen it (gasp!)... all the way through. That being said, here we go.

5. Littlefoot's Mom - The Land Before Time

I haven't seen this movie in years, but who didn't get upset when Littlefoot realizes what's happened to his mom, and then goes after her in cloud form at different moments?

4. Mufasa - The Lion King

Scar throwing him off the cliff... slow motion fall down into the stampede... close up on Simba. It's very heartbreaking. Though it doesn't last long, as Simba is chased off by the Hyena.

3. Samantha - I Am Legend

Whether you like or hate this movie, the scene where Will Smith has to kill his dog/best friend is super sad. He spends the whole movie up to that moment with that dog, and then he has to strangle/snap its neck as it slowly becomes infected. Poor thing.

2. Artax - The Neverending Story

Yeah... Atreyu's horse dies in the swamp. It's totally like WTF?

1. Shadow - Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey

This is my number 1, but it's also the only one on this list that doesn't actually die. But I was always super sad/teary eyed when Shadow couldn't make it up the muddy pit and talks the other two into leaving him behind. He's the old, wise leader of the three. They had made this long, incredible journey (uh huh) back home. They're almost there. And Shadow gets stuck, hurt, and stays back to die. Of course, he ends up making it out and shows up at the right time for a gathering of cheers, but that one moment is still super sad.

Top 5 Shocking Moments Involving Male Genitalia

5. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

I put this at number 5, because it's purely for shock value and it gets old... especially as it keeps going on for 5+ minutes.

4. The Hangover

Similar to the previous choice, it was only done for shock value. Technically, there are two moments here. There's Ken Jeong's moment (which is the one I'm talking about), but there's also the photo during the credits with Zach Galifianakis... but that one wasn't real. Though I still didn't care to see Ken Jeong's real stuff, either.

3. 11:14

Ben Foster is peeing out of a moving van. There's an accident, and the shaky window slams back and cuts off his penis. His friends have to later go back to the scene of the crime, where there are already paramedics, and try to find and retrieve said penis so they can take him to the hospital without getting involved with the accident (as it was a hit-and-run).

2. 28 Days Later...

Shown more for realism and artistic purposes than shock value, which is why it's so high on the list. And really, who suspected that the first thing you see after a bunch of activists get attacked by rage-infected monkeys is Cillian Murphy's penis?

1. Hard Candy

The only movie on the list that technically doesn't show anything... but it's graphic enough just in what you believe is happening at the time. This scene (and you know what I'm talking about if you've seen the movie) is... something.

Top 5 Up-And-Coming Young Actors.

We know Hollywood is essentially a man's world. Even in the acting world, males dominate the scene. Sure, there are the female superstars, but it typically takes longer for them to break out than perhaps a male. For a guy, it might take a few minor movies and one big movie and they're a major star (yes, there are females that have pulled this off, but it's rarer). Look at my female list from yesterday: their film resumes were in the mid-to-high teens with a mix of minor and major films, but they're still not all that big of names. Of course, there are rare reverse instances (Chloe Moretz becoming more popular than Aaron Johnson). It makes you wonder, though, due to the sexualized nature of the entertainment business why this is... but that's another article.

My point here is that it's tougher to find a male up-and-comer, because most of them are already big, household names... and I don't consider them 'up-and-comers' if they've already arrived. Taylor Lautner? Daniel Radcliffe? Michael Cera? And even, to a lesser degree, Jesse Eisenberg, Clark Duke, and (regardless of him being too old for this list, but just to make a point) Zach Galifianakis AKA "The dude from The Hangover"? They all essentially had one major film and became instant superstars.

So my list here might have some names of actors who have been in big-name movies, but they aren't quite major house-hold names (sorry Jo-Go... I don't think you can make my list anymore).

Top 5 Up-And-Coming Young Actors.

5. Kyle Gallner
Current Age: 23
# of Movies: 16
Probably Recognized From: A Nightmare on Elm Street (remake), The Haunting in Connecticut
Details: He's kind of a "that guy" for young actors. Every time I see him in something, I'm like "Oh, I recognize him." His acting isn't bad, but like the following young actor, he has yet to really shine in anything. Though he was pretty good in Haunting, despite the movie only being OK at best.

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4. Logan Lerman
Current Age: 18
# of Movies: 13
Probably Recognized From: Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief, 3:10 to Yuma
Details: Logan became a bigger name after Percy Jackson, even to the point he had been rumored to take over as Peter Parker for the Spider-Man reboot. As Percy Jackson, he showed some comedic timing, action skills, and a whole lot of "WTF is going on?" He showed similar traits in the incredibly disappointing Gamer. In 3:10 to Yuma, however, he was more hard-headed and much more dramatic. He's been in other recognizable films, but nothing really in a major role.

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3. Jimmy Bennett
Current Age: 14
# of Movies: 20
Probably Recognized From: Hostage, Star Trek, Orphan
Details: I first saw this kid in the Bruce Willis/Ben Foster thriller, Hostage. He did great as the crafty but scared little boy. But he's gotten to be tougher and tougher the more movies he's in. In Orphan, he's the upset older brother. And in Star Trek, for instance, he plays young James Kirk. But one movie that's like "Ho-ly Crap" is one of his earlier films, The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things. In this (really, really messed up) movie, he plays the son of a drug-addicted whore who uses him and is, well, not a good mother. That is a very difficult movie to watch--probably one of the most depressing I've seen (when Marilyn Manson plays one of the more likable characters, and he's still a total perverted sleazeball on screen for maybe 5 minutes, you know what's up). But Jimmy Bennett does amazingly well in it.

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2. Aaron Johnson
Current Age: 20
# of Movies: 13
Probably Recognized From: Kick-Ass, The Illusionist, Shanghai Knights
Details: This guy has actually surprised me. I didn't know he was in those latter two movies before looking him up. He plays the young Edward Norton in The Illusionist, and the young Charlie Chaplin in Jackie Chan/Owen Wilson's Shanghai Knights. But, of course, his biggest claim to fame was the recent Kick-Ass. As I stated earlier, Chloe Moretz gained more fame through that movie than Aaron Johnson, but with the sequel in pre-production, I'm sure he'll garner more fame soon. And to top it off, his acting skills aren't too shabby (and he looks almost nothing like he did in Kick-Ass, strangely).

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1. Anton Yelchin
Current Age: 21
# of Movies: 19
Probably Recognized From: Star Trek, Terminator Salvation, Charlie Bartlett, Alpha Dog
Details: Anton Yelchin is an anomaly. He's starred or co-starred in quite a few major Hollywood films, yet you go to your average moviegoer and say "Anton Yelchin," you'll probably get a "who?" But then you say something like "the kid from Charlie Bartlett," and you'll receive a fairly even mix of "Never seen it" and "Oh, I love that movie!" I think his first semi-big role was in Morgan Freeman's Along Came a Spider when he was about 12. But I don't think I first recognized him until the Bruce Willis/Ben Foster (huh...) drama Alpha Dog (OK, so it's more Emile Hirsche/Ben Foster, but I just felt like going the other way). He was excellent in that rather depressing film, and his performance at the end of that movie is just heartbreaking. But after that movie, he popped up quite a bit, from a great quirky comedy (Charlie Bartlett) to two major Blockbusters (Star Trek and Terminator Salvation). While Salvation was decent at best, Yelchin was easily the best part about it as a young Kyle Reese. Sure, his voice might grate on some... but his movies are worth sitting through. And I think out of all the up-and-comers, he's probably the one who will do the best (he already has, really... but people just can't latch on to that name).

(P.S. I'd love to add Joel Moore to this list, but he's unfortunately too old for it... oh well...)

Top 5 Up-And-Coming Young Actresses.

I've had this post idea for a while, and I think I finally have enough thoughts to get it down.

In this day and age, you have a lot of the mediocre in the younger world of actresses (Miley Cyrus, Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, etc... can you see the pattern there?). But there is also a lot of amazing talent out there as well. Some names are bigger than others, but you also have your non-household names.

The five actresses I detail in this post are, for the most part, relatively young. You might have only seen one or two of their films. You might have seen more and just not realized it. But in their repertoire, they expose themselves as great up-and-comers. For each actress, I'll state their current age (even if their birthday is next month, I'll state what it is right now); the number of movies they've been in (including those in post-production, but not including TV work); where you might recognize them; and further details/my thoughts. So without further ado, I will now detail my top 5 favorite up-and-coming young actresses.

Top 5 Up-And-Coming Young Actresses

5. AnnaSophia Robb
Current Age: 16
# of Movies: 11
Probably Recognized From: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Bridge to Terabithia
Details: She's probably the oldest on my list. AnnaSophia Robb has a tendency to be in not-so-good movies, with I believe Bridge to Terabithia being a prime exception. But even in bad movies, she's always one of the biggest highlights. Most notably, she probably did the best job in the abysmally disappointing film Jumper, playing a younger version of Rachel Bilson. I also personally believe she should have played Annabeth in the movie adaptation of Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief, as every description of that character in the book pointed to AnnaSophia.

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4. Saoirse Ronan
Current Age: 16
# of Movies: 8
Probably Recognized From: Atonement, The Lovely Bones, City of Ember
Details: She's probably (arguably) the biggest name on my list (at least critically). Atonement, as a film, left me conflicted, but there were two things I loved about it: the music and Saoirse Ronan. I knew from the second the film ended that this girl was going to be something special. Hers was always my favorite portrayal of that character. I don't remember much about City of Ember, meaning it left me pretty underwhelmed. But I do remember I enjoyed her character more than anything else in the movie. She's an excellent young actress, proving she can do both adult drama and children's fantasy.

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3. Jodelle Ferland
Current Age: 15
# of Movies: 16
Probably Recognized From: Silent Hill
Details: Jodelle Ferland is kinda like my female Ben Foster. Not really a household name (though Ben is getting there), but I find myself excited when I realize she's in a movie. Strangely, she's in quite a bit of horror. I guess she does the creepy little girl thing well, regardless of her doing the 'creepy little girl' or not. A big thing she brings with her, though, is innocence. She has an amazing innocent and likable quality to her (which I suppose is why they chose her for the mostly pointless character of Bree in the recent Eclipse). She's quite excellent in Silent Hill. But she's also done a crazy amount of TV. For instance, she was in a mini-series from a while back called Kingdom Hospital. She was also in the pilot episode of the criminally underrated and prematurely canceled Dead Like Me (talk about a tear-jerker episode). But I can totally see this girl hopping from the horror-train to more dramatic roles. There's no doubt in my mind she'll end up with more recognition in the future. It might take a while, but it'll happen.

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2. Elle Fanning
Current Age: 12
# of Movies: 19
Probably Recognized From: Phoebe in Wonderland, Benjamin Button
Details: Simultaneously the youngest on my list and owner of the largest number of movies (though if you count television, Ms. Ferland and the following choice might rival her). Of course I know her as the younger sister of Dakota. But part of me wonders if Elle is even better than her sister. She didn't really show up on my radar as somebody to watch until I somewhat recently saw Phoebe in Wonderland. That is an amazing film, and her acting in it is phenomenal. Usually, her role is a young sibling or a younger version of a main character. But she's almost always not the focal point of the film (if a younger version, for instance, that version might not be shown for long). Though after her starring role in Phoebe, I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for this one.

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1. Chloe Moretz
Current Age: 13
# of Movies: 17
Probably Recognized From: Kick-Ass, Let Me In (trailers, at this point)
Details: No surprise here. Chloe, of course, hit it big as Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass. But she already had quite a resume under her belt before that point. And it's strange looking at it, as it makes me go "She was in that?" For instance, I don't remember her in (500) Days of Summer, nor do I remember her in the Amityville Horror remake from a few years back. But she makes my number 1 spot because she's basically jumped up in popularity quite a bit since her Hit-Girl performance, and I think I can safely assume she's gonna become a 'go-to' child actress for a lot of things here soon.

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Runner-Up: Isabelle Fuhrman
Current Age: 13
# of Movies: 5
Probably Recognized From: Orphan
Detail: Have you seen Orphan? I don't blame you if you haven't. I had an aversion to it myself, despite my love of horror (crappy or otherwise). It's not the best horror film in the world, but holy crap is Isabelle Fuhrman's perfomance great. Kind of a spoiler here... but she was essentially an 11-year-old American girl playing a 30-something-year-old European woman pretending to be a 9-year-old Russian girl. And she pulls it off. It's really an outstanding performance on this little girl's part, and I think most would agree--whether you liked the movie or not.


(P.S. Keep an eye out for a potential Top 5 Up-And-Coming Young Actors.)

TV Meme: Day 14 - Favorite Male Character.

Welcome to Day 14 where I will discuss my favorite male character(s). I'm gonna do something a little different here, because, well, this is a day I've been dreading. There are just way too many to choose from! And it's not just like favorite show or whatever where you can narrow rewatchability down or whatever. There are just way too many male characters that I love equally and for different reasons. So what I'm doing is probably considered cheating. I'm going to make a Top 5 list of my favorite male TV show characters. And yes... because I will be discussing my number 1 in some amount of detail, so I'll technically be talking about my favorite male character... and then some (maybe you can see the rest as extra credit?). Anywho, here is my list.

Top 5 Favorite Male TV Characters

5. Eric Matthews

Show: Boy Meets World
About: Cory's older brother. Total goofball with heart.
Thoughts: What can I say about Eric that I haven't already? Yes, he was almost purely comedic relief, but there were moments that focused on him specifically that were great. These moments were even better if they were more dramatic and you got to see another side of Eric. He was one of my favorite TV characters for many years. He made me laugh; he made me care; he made me with I had a Mr. Feeny of my own. Here is a compilation of funny Boy Meets World moments. Not all of them are Eric, but the majority of them are:




4. Cappie

Show: Greek
About: Rusty's "Big Bro" at Kappa Tau. Partier. Lazy, but smart.
Thoughts: I said in a past post that Cappie is similar to Eric, and that I consider Cappie to be one of the best written characters on television. So why isn't he higher on the list? Well, I did say "one of" the best. Cappie is like an evolved version of Eric. He's not as much of a goofball, nor is he as over-the-top silly. Cappie is equal parts comic and serious, and his comedy is more sophisticated, as it were. He's always around for advice, and sometimes he works in mysterious ways. I guess he could be Eric and Feeny's love child. But he does have great character growth, particularly in his relationships to the other characters. Here are a couple good clips of Cappie (which were insanely hard to come across... not these specific clips, but any clips at all). Click here and here.


3. Lafayette Reynolds

Show: True Blood
About: Cook. Gay. Not afraid to step up or give attitude when needed.
Thoughts: I find I love Lafayette more and more every week. He acts similarly to Hugo/Hurley from LOST in the respect that he kind of says what the audience is thinking. But he's also more than just that. He cares for his family and friends and will always be there for them, whether physically or verbally. He's also hilarious. Here's a great scene from Season 1 where some rednecks stereotype him for being gay:




2. Spike

Show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
About: Vampire. British. Snarky.
Thoughts: The reason I love Spike so much, beyond his general snarky and sadistic attitude, is his character growth over the show. I think out of all the characters over the entire course of the series (Buffy included), Spike has the biggest growth. He starts off as just another one-off evil character. But he was so popular they extended his role and then brought him back. And by the end of the series... well, if you haven't finished it yet (Rachel), I won't spoil it for you. Again, here's a video... it was almost impossible to find anything on Spike that wasn't a fan-made music video. Even his "best of" moments were just clips with music and no dialogue. This is the best I could find, and half of it isn't even Spike:




1. Dexter Morgan

Show: Dexter
About: Serial killer who kills serial killers.
Thoughts: Kind of an obvious choice, really, which is partially why I wanted to make the list. I didn't want to come off as just yet another guy who chose Dexter as his favorite male character. Dexter is a fascinating character in all regards. The way he has to handle his family and friends along with his... um... hobby. And his voice overs work to great effect. Even if he weren't just a great character to watch, he'd be a fascinating one. Finally, here's a clip of some of the best moments between Dexter and Doakes.