Top 10 Movies of 2013

New Year's has come and gone, bringing with it a fresh slate of films, movies, and motion pictures to feast upon at your local theater. But before we dive in, it is important that we take a few moments to recognize the cream of last year's cinematic crop. And like all pretentious movie buffs, I've put together a list of the ten films that, in my humble opinion, stood above the rest.

Now, I know what you're asking yourself: Who is this man and what qualifies him to decide which films belong on a top ten list? The truth is, I have no qualifications to speak of, other than the fact that I go to the movies a lot. What I find so endearing about the moviegoing experience is that it varies from person to person, and no one opinion is the definitive answer to whether or not a movie is worth your time. You are free to see and like (and not like) whatever you so choose. No film is going to appeal to or appease everyone, but I guarantee there is at least one film out there for everyone (if not more). All you have to do is take a chance and purchase a ticket.

But, enough romanticizing. I don't want to lose you before we even get into the list. Before we do, I must first offer an important disclaimer: These are the not the 10 Best Movies of 2013. Not even close. I can't even guarantee that you'll like all of the movies on this list. There is no universal grading scale or criteria (at least that I've been made aware of) to determine what film is better than another. It is an impossible task. Instead, what I have assembled here is a list of the movies that I loved the most, and I was able to narrow the list down to ten with the help of multiple viewings, a fair amount of deep thinking, and quite a bit of consternation.

With that in mind, allow me to introduce my Top 10 Movies of 2013:

*HONORABLE MENTION*

Nebraska. How long after you've finished watching a film do you come to the conclusion that you liked it or not? Just a few minutes after the end credits begin to roll? On the drive home? When you're lying in bed that night and staring up at the ceiling, still contemplating the film's merits? It varies from film to film, but in the case of Nebraska, it was in the first few hours after I left the theater, when I began to feel the weight of the final scenes between David Grant and his father Woody Grant. Woody receives a questionable letter in the mail declaring him the winner of a million dollar prize, and David agrees to drive him to Nebraska to claim his prize, after multiple attempts to convince Woody that the letter is a scam fall on deaf ears. David uses the unexpected road trip as a chance to try and get know to his father better, but almost gets more than he bargained for when the two decide to make a pit stop in Woody's home town -- and word gets out that Woody is a soon-to-be "millionaire." What makes so Nebraska so affecting are the performances of veteran character actor Bruce Dern and former Saturday Night Live regular Will Forte as Woody and David, respectively, a father and son whose tenuous relationship is what keeps the film's heart pumping.

10. Star Trek Into Darkness. Outside of a few random samples of Star Trek - The Next Generation, I'd never been much of a Trekkie, until director J.J. Abrams re-launched Captain James T. Kirk and the rest of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise for a whole new generation of fans with 2009's franchise reboot Star Trek. While that first film spent a considerable amount of time and effort servicing its diverse cast of characters while also delivering a heaping helping of rollicking sci-fi action, Star Trek Into Darkness sacrifices its supporting characters in favor of a narrative that seems much more interested in the temperamental friendship between Kirk and Spock, both of whom are still at odds over the balance between logic and emotion when it comes to making life-or-death decisions. Their commitment to their respective ideals is put to the test when a former agent of Starfleet (in a cold, calculated performance from rising star Benedict Cumberbatch) launches a terrorist attack against the peace-keeping organization, sending Kirk and crew hurtling through space on a mission of vengeance. While more than a few Trekkies will cry foul over the similarities with Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek Into Darkness is still a blast from start to finish, and Abrams continues to show his considerable talents behind the camera.

9. This Is The End. When the Apocalypse strikes and all of Los Angeles is engulfed in flames, who better to seek shelter with than actors James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill, and Danny McBride? And thus goes the plot of This Is The End, where a disaster of biblical proportions leaves our favorite celebrities holed up together, struggling to set aside their bloated egos long enough for them to be rescued. What makes This Is The End work so well, aside from the fact that it is one of the most laugh-out-loud comedies I've seen since 2005's Wedding Crashers and 2008's Forgetting Sarah Marshall, is the willingness of each actor to lampoon their own public persona. James Franco is a pretentious idiot who decorates his new abode with self-made art, Jonah Hill is a conceited narcissist wafting in an air of self-importance after his recent Oscar nomination for Moneyball, and so on and so forth. There is something endearing about seeing actors, who are often propped up on a pedestal because of their fame and fortune, parodying themselves as self-centered morons, showing a surprising self-awareness for the ridiculousness of their celebrity lives. This Is The End won't get more than a passing mention at the Academy Awards, but it was the most fun I've had at the movie theater in a long time.

8. The Conjuring. The advertising and promotional materials for The Conjuring like to purport that it is based on true events, and while that might be a dubious claim given Hollywood's penchant for embellishing the truth for the sake of drama, the film feels more real than its recent predecessors in the horror genre because it actually gives its characters room to breathe. And while it spends a considerable amount of its running time subjecting those characters to all manner of horrific events, it never forgets that these characters are human beings, as opposed to the cardboard cutouts we've become so accustomed to seeing in lesser horror films. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as real-life ghostbusters Ed and Lorraine Warren, respectively, bring a level of class to The Conjuring that elevates it above your typical spookfest, with Farmiga in particular delivering an exceptional performance as a clairvoyant haunted by the unspeakable things that her gift allows her to see and feel. More than anything, The Conjuring delivers well-crafted, old-school scares, hounding the audience with tension and dread rather than blood and guts, and shows great affection for horror classics like Poltergeist and The Amityville Horror. Even with the chance to grab a cheap scare at the last minute, The Conjuring refuses, demonstrating a strict adherence to the old adage that what you don't see is much more frightening than what you do see.

7. The Wolf of Wall Street. I'm starting to wonder if Leonardo DiCaprio, who was also one of the few bright spots in this year's bloated melodrama The Great Gatsby, is even capable of delivering a bad performance anymore. I'm sure some will point to the recent Clint Eastwood-directed misfire J. Edgar, but then maybe I'll go a level deeper and suggest that Leo is incapable of doing so when under the direction of Martin Scorsese, with The Wolf of Wall Street marking their fifth film together. And what a volcanic collaboration it is, with DiCaprio slipping into the shoes of Jordan Belfort, the real-life Wall Street stockbroker who amassed an absurd fortune for himself and his associates by defrauding unsuspecting investors with fraudulent stock stales. When he isn't high on Quaaludes or cavorting with an endless parade of prostitutes, Belfort can be found on his expensive yacht throwing hundred dollar bills -- and cooked lobsters -- at the FBI agents tasked with bringing him down and putting an end to his depraved circus of sex, drugs, and cash. While some have criticized the film for glorifying Belfort and his cohorts, The Wolf of Wall Street is more of an indictment of capitalism, in that people are quick to criticize the excessive lifestyles of the rich and powerful, yet stand in perpetual awe of their grandiose achievements.

6. 12 Years A Slave. There is a scene in 12 Years A Slave in which Solomon Northup, a free man kidnapped from the North and sold into slavery as a plantation worker in the South during the 1800's, is saved from an impromptu lynching by his overseer, only to be left suspended from the tree for hours on end, the noose still gripping his neck and his toes barely able to touch the ground. No one, not his his white masters nor even his fellow slaves, moves to help him. It is a disturbing, uncomfortable sequence that lasts no more than a few minutes on-screen, but, like the film itself, leaves an unsettling impression nonetheless. 12 Years A Slave is as much about the slaves as it is about the slave owners, and considers what kind of physical and emotional wreckage the human soul must bear, both for the man enduring the beating and for the man holding the whip. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender deliver the film's most intense performances as Northup and his sadistic slave owner Edwin Epps, respectively, but newcomer Lupita Nyong'o almost steals the show in a heartbreaking turn as the tragic slave girl Patsey. 12 Years A Slave presents an unflinching glimpse into the horrors of our past, one that perfectly illustrates the ugly inhumanity of slavery, and is the very definition of "a must-see film."

5. The Way, Way Back. When The Way, Way Back first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back in January, critics praised it as a winning throwback to coming-of-age comedies like the camp classic Meatballs, but it almost seemed like a backhanded compliment when most referred to the film as an unashamed crowd-pleaser. The term "crowd-pleaser" has developed somewhat of a negative connotation over the years, as if trying to appease your audience is some kind of sin to be looked down upon. And while I will admit that The Way, Way Back does follow a familiar formula, it is hard to fault the film for pandering when the acting, writing, and directing are all excellent -- that rare, momentous occasion when the cast and crew are firing on all cylinders. Sam Rockwell, predictably, provides the film's most stirring performance as the self-deprecating manager of a local water park, where he helps spark a depressed, lonely teenager to step out of his shell and have some fun with life. After winning the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for 2011's The Descendants, co-writers and co-directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash have established themselves as a formidable filmmaking pair with this their directorial debut, and it is their innate talent for finding levity in even the most somber of situations that has earned them well-deserved recognition.

4. Her. Just from the plot synopsis -- which sees an introverted letter writer struggling with loneliness who falls in love with "Samantha," the new sentient Operating System (OS) for his computer -- you might think Her is a full-length Saturday Night Live sketch parodying the pretentious, self-serious Oscar bait films that often dumbfound audiences but leave critics singing their praises. And while I'm sure that there will be some who leave the theater with that impression, I can guarantee that Her will be the most challenging, thought-provoking film you'll see this year, whether you like it or not. Everyone in Her is struggling to connect, from the customers for whom the lead character Theodore Twombly writes letters to their loved ones on their behalf to the woman who offers to act as a physical surrogate for Samantha so that she can be part of their relationship. Set in the not so distant future, the film uses the blossoming romance between Theodore and his OS -- which is met with equal amounts of elation and revulsion from his closest friends -- to examine modern relationships, and how we too often substitute technology for genuine human connections. There are scenes and ideas in Her that I'm sure will make you feel uncomfortable, but if you give yourself over it, what you'll find is not a love story, but a story about love.

3. American Hustle. American Hustle, director David O. Russell's latest Oscar contender blending the award-winning casts of his previous efforts The Figher and Silver Linings Playbook, is something of a mess. But with a convoluted scheme serving as the centerpiece of the film's loose plot, it falls to the impressive cast to hold the movie together and, in what has become a recurring theme for Russell, they're more than up for the challenge. Presenting a fictionalized dramatization of the real-life FBI sting operation to bring down corrupt New Jersey politicians in the late 70's, American Hustle revolves around con artist Irving Rosenfeld and his partner Sydney Prosser, who are busted by ambitious FBI agent Richie DiMaso and forced to help procure video evidence of Carmine Polito -- the mayor of Camden, New Jersey -- and his political associates accepting bribes. The plot is far less important than the volatile relationships between the various characters, each of them trying to stay one step ahead of the other as their elaborate scheme becomes more and more dangerous. I could rave about all of the lead performances, but the standout, at least for me, is Bradley Cooper, playing against type as DiMaso, the impatient, overeager FBI agent who can't quite seem to control his emotions or keep his reckless ambitions in check.

2. Prisoners. How far would you be willing to go to get back what was taken from you? This is the frightening question that Prisoners forces its audience to consider, as viewers watch with agonizing dread while Hugh Jackman's Keller Dover is pushed to the brink after his six-year-old daughter goes missing. When the police investigation goes nowhere and hours begin to swell into days, Dover decides to take matters into his own hands and kidnaps the prime suspect, clinging desperately to the idea that brute force will coax him into coughing up the location of his daughter. Jackman, who has experienced mixed success when stepping outside of his signature role as X-Men's Wolverine, gives the performance of his career, vanishing into the role of a father crumbling under the weight of his guilt and desperation. Jake Gyllenhaal, as the unrelenting Detective Loki, is every bit as good as his co-star, so much so that the film never misses a beat whenever it shifts to his point of view. But the highest praise is reserved for director Denis Villeneuve, whose masterful execution of a taut and convoluted script is what elevates this film above your standard thriller. Prisoners is the kind of film that will leave you more disturbed than inspired, but the personnel at work here are near flawless, making this gut-wrenching thriller one that you can't afford to miss.

1. The World's End. Writer and director Edgar Wright, with the dynamic acting duo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as his unorthodox leading men, satirized the emptiness of modern culture using a zombie outbreak as the backdrop in 2004's Shaun of the Dead and delivered an affectionate homage to the classic tropes and cliches of the buddy cop genre with 2007's Hot Fuzz. These films functioned as the first two installments of the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy (so-called because of the fleeting inclusion of different flavors of Cornetto brand ice cream in each film), with The World's End serving as a fitting conclusion to this trio of clever comedies. The World's End, in a send-up of the apocalyptic obsession that has taken hold of Hollywood, follows five childhood friends who return home to the small town of Newton Haven to complete an epic pub crawl, but soon discover that the denizens of this forgotten hamlet have become harbingers of an alien invasion. Crawling with pop culture references and layered with dense humor, The World's End offers equal helpings of action and laughs that keep the film moving at a rocket's pace, but also packs an unexpected emotional punch as it tackles the harsh realities of growing up and the disappointment of an adulthood that never quite lived up to the dreams and expectations of adolescence.

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Just A Bit Outside: Gravity, Saving Mr. Banks, Elysium, The Wolverine, Oblivion, and Iron Man 3

Biggest Surprise of The Year: Frozen. I'll be honest, I went into Frozen with zero expectations, knowing next to nothing about the plot and having read none of the glowing reviews that coincided with its release. But Frozen is vintage Disney, the likes of which I haven't seen (outside of Pixar, of course) since 1998's Mulan. Based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Snow Queen, Frozen centers around the relationship between Elsa, a princess who flees the kingdom for fear that her magical abilities are out of her control, and her sister Anna, who braves an eternal winter to find Elsa and convince her to come back. You'd be hard pressed to find a better animated film this year, and the songs alone -- including Idina Menzel's "Let It Go," which will no doubt garner a much-deserved Best Original Song Oscar -- are well worth the price of admission.

Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2014

I won't be able to post my Top 10 Movies of 2013 until Sunday, Jan. 12 (I'm holding out for one last movie), but I do have the list of movies that I'm most looking forward to in the coming year. Granted, I'm sure that there are movies that I haven't even heard of yet that'll end up in my Top 10 Movies of 2014, but these are the flicks with the best pre-release buzz as we begin the year. Check it out:

1. Interstellar. Christopher Nolan is directing, and also wrote the final script after an original first draft from his brother and frequent collaborator Jonathan Nolan. Need I say more? Alright, I’ll keep going. The outstanding cast includes Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Casey Affleck, John Lithgow, Topher Grace, Ellen Burstyn, and Michael Caine. As per usual when Nolan is involved, the plot is being kept under wraps. But rumor has it that the film involves time travel and alternate dimensions, with a group of scientists and explorers embarking on a perilous voyage through a wormhole. With a track record that includes Memento, The Dark Knight, and Inception, Nolan has more than earned his rightful spot among the trusted directors of this generation. I’d purchase a ticket right now, if I could. (Opens Nov. 7, 2014)

2. X-Men - Days of Future Past. In an audacious storyline lifted from the comics that will combine cast members from both the original X-Men and X-Men - First Class, Wolverine is transported back through time to the early 70's on a mission to help Professor Charles Xavier and his friend-turned-foe Erik "Magneto" Lensherr foil an assassination attempt and avert an apocalyptic future. I had almost lost faith in the franchise after the creative failures of both X-Men - The Last Stand and X-Men Origins - Wolverine, but Bryan Singer (the director of the series' first two installments) has returned to right the ship. Fans are concerned that the film won't be able to balance its enormous cast of characters, but I'm excited to see what Singer has in store -- and whether or not he can get the franchise back on track.  (Opens May 23, 2014)

3. Foxcatcher. I was excited for this one back in 2013, when it was originally scheduled to be released in December, before the studio decided to postpone and allow the filmmakers more time to complete the film. No new release date has since been announced, other than the fact that it'll be sometime in 2014. Steve Carell, in a rare dramatic turn, is almost unrecognizable as John du Pont, the real-life multimillionaire (and paranoid schizophrenic) whose friendship with Olympic Wrestling champions Mark and Dave Schultz turned tragic in 1996. The trailer offers a glimpse of Carell like you've never seen him before, in a challenging role that will no doubt garner Oscar buzz once the film hits theaters. With Carell, Mark Ruffalo, and Channing Tatum in front of the camera and Moneyball director Bennett Miller behind, Foxcatcher is one to keep an eye out for. (TBD)

4. Inherent Vice. I'll be honest and admit that, while I'm a huge fan of director Paul Thomas Anderson and his films, I was not too fond of The Master, his most recent effort and one that proved to be equal parts fascinating and frustrating. I'm hoping that Inherent Vice -- based on author Thomas Pynchon's novel about a private investigator who investigates the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend in Los Angeles -- will be a return to form for Anderson, the man behind suck master works as Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and There Will Be Blood. With a talented cast that includes Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, and Benicio Del Toro, I'm very interested to see how Anderson translates the source material from page to screen, while no doubt infusing it with his own unique brand of storytelling. (TBD)

5. Gone Girl. I've learned that, when it comes to mystery thrillers, I should never doubt director David Fincher, who has made a name for himself in the genre with modern serial killer classics like Se7en, Zodiac, and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo to his credit. Fincher looks to build on that successful track record with Gone Girl, based on the sensational novel from author Gillian Flynn, with Ben Affleck in the lead role as a husband in a struggling marriage whose wife disappears on their fifth wedding anniversary. Twists and turns abound in the ensuing search, and even as all signs begin to suggest that the husband is responsible, nothing is what it appears to be. Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, and Tyler Perry round out the cast for what is sure to be one of the most talked about films of the year.  (Opens Oct. 3, 2014)

6. The Grand Budapest Hotel. Writer-director Wes Anderson is back, and if this isn't his magnum opus, I don't know what is. With a ridiculous cast that includes Ralph Fiennes, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Jude Law, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, and Owen Wilson, The Grand Budapest Hotel looks to be, at the very least, his most ambitious effort yet. Tony Revolori, in his first feature film role, is Zero Moustafa, a lobby boy at the titular hotel under the tutelage of famed concierge Gustave H. When his mentor is framed for murder, the two of them flee across 1920's Europe, hoping to clear his name and also protect a coveted painting. If you love Anderson and his unmistakable brand of filmmaking, it is a safe bet you'll love The Grand Budapest Hotel.  (Opens Mar. 7, 2014)

7. Godzilla. I love Godzilla -- and I'm not talking about the CGI version that went toe to toe with Matthew Broderick in the disappointing 1998 reboot. No, I'm referring to the iconic movie monster from the original Japanese films, which have not aged well, I'll admit, but still capture what made Godzilla such a cultural phenomenon in the first place. Godzilla will look to re-capture that movie magic by taking the franchise back to its roots, with Japan on the verge of a nuclear catastrophe when a nuclear power expert discovers that a group of gargantuan monsters have been awakened, threatening our very existence. Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanbe, and Juliette Binoche lead a talented cast for what could be the modern monster movie classic that we've all been waiting for. (Opens May 16, 2014)

8. Guardians of The Galaxy. Up until this point, the biggest gamble that Marvel Studios has taken in building the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be with the lesser known Thor, but the surprising decision to bring Guardians of The Galaxy to the big screen will no doubt dwarf the God of Thunder when all is said and done. Based on a ragtag superhero team that few people outside of comic book fandom will recognize, Guardians of The Galaxy is a bold leap into the untapped talent pool of Marvel Comics, with a cast of bizarre characters that includes a fast-talking, gun-toting raccoon and a hyper-intelligent, tree-like creature. But with an exceptional cast, bold and exciting new source material, and the recent track record of success for Marvel Studios, Guardians of The Galaxy could be the most fun you'll have all year. (Opens Aug. 1, 2014)

9. 22 Jump Street. 21 Jump Street had no business being as good as it was, but the movie was one of the funniest of 2012, becoming a surprise box office hit in the process. And where there is box office success, an inevitable sequel will follow. In this case, 22 Jump Street picks up where its predecessor left off, with our duo of intrepid undercover detectives posing as students at a local college in order to crack a series of unsolved crimes. Channing Tatum continues to develop as both a dramatic and a comedic actor, rather than being relegated to the romantic comedy roles that fueled his early career as a teen heartthrob, and I admire him for a showing a genuine interest in refining his craft. I look forward to seeing if he and Jonah Hill can keep the laughs rolling now that expectations are high after 21 Jump Street proved to be a breakout hit. (Opens June 13, 2014)

10. Dawn of The Planet of The Apes. Rise of The Planet of The Apes was a solid film, and much better than anyone expected, but a miscast James Franco and a by-the-numbers script kept it from realizing its full potential. Dawn of The Planet of The Apes looks like a step up in the right direction, with motion-capture performance pioneer Andy Serkis returning as the rebel ape leader Casear, several years after the cataclysmic events of the first film. Mankind has been reduced to a few human survivors -- including newcomers Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, and Keri Russell -- who form a fragile peace with the apes, even as the two species near the brink of war. I never thought I'd be excited for another installment of Planet of The Apes -- or that the franchise would even see a comeback -- but this one looks very promising. (Opens July 11, 2014)

What movie are you most looking forward to in 2014? Respond in the comments! Be sure to check back on Sunday, Jan. 12 for my Top 10 Movies of 2013.

The End of LOST Explained

Lost is one of the greatest television shows of all time, and I will argue that until I'm blue in the face -- and then I'll go and blog about it. I remember when I watched the first part of the pilot when it premiered on ABC back on September 22, 2004 and that inexplicable feeling I had that I was witnessing the beginning of something special. Before Lost came crashing into the living room television and became all that I could think about, there was Alias, another series hatched from the mind of creative genius J.J. Abrams. Alias was the first show where I made an effort to catch each new episode, fearful that I might miss out on a crucial plot twist or that a favorite character might bite the dust. But, as Alias tinkered with its plot each season and, as a result, began to lose all semblance of the show it once was (a criticism more than a few people have leveled at Lost), I lost enthusiasm after Season 3, unable to keep up with the show's complex plotting. But with Lost, a show in which I believed I had found a kindred spirit, I was there from beginning to end, unable to break free from the bonds I had formed with the show's cast of flawed characters.

But I'm not here to talk about how much I love Lost (which, if you haven't noticed, is a lot). That blog post is for another time -- though I can't imagine this blog ever being short on posts about Lost, so you might as well get used to the topic. No, what I want to address about Lost in this post is perhaps one from the most controversial aspects of the show: The ending.

Since the final episode aired on May 25, 2010, there has been a chorus of fans who have not spoken kind of the series, often aiming their vitriol at the show's executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, the men believed to be responsible for the alleged disappointment of the final season. These fans are often critical of the writers for not resolving some of the show's more intriguing mysteries (and, in some cases, for offering answers that didn't live up to fans' expectations), bemoaning that the final season introduced an element of spiritualism to the series that didn't mesh with what had come before. But then there are fans who, myself included, loved the final episode, and offer nothing but gratitude to Damon and Carlton for crafting one of the most groundbreaking shows to ever grace the small screen. To illustrate the polarizing effect of the final episode, take for example Entertainment Weekly, which ranks the finale seventh on its list of 20 Best TV Finales Ever but then also includes it among its list of 19 Most Frustrating TV Finales Ever.

In talking to several fans who have expressed disappointment with the finale, I've noticed that a lot of their disappointment stems from a misunderstanding of the events of the final season, and how those events reflect on the series as a whole. So, in a bid to clear up the confusion, I will offer my own personal interpretation of the finale, explaining why I consider it to be the best possible finale the writers could have come up with for the series. If you have not watched the series and wish to do so in the future without knowledge of how the final episodes unfold, DO NOT READ PAST THE IMAGE BELOW. Proceed with caution!

To better understand and appreciate the elegance of the series finale, I'd like to first quote a speech from Jack in the first season's fifth episode, "White Rabbit." In this episode, Jack has been chasing visions of his late father through the jungle, while the rest of the survivors on the beach grow restless. When Jack returns to the beach, he finds his fellow survivors about to gang up on Boone, who has been caught concealing the camp's last few bottles of water.

"It's been six days, and we're all still waiting. Waiting for someone to come. But what if they don't? We have to stop waiting. We need to start figuring things out. A woman died this morning just going for a swim. He tried to save her, and now you're about to crucify him? We can't do this. Every man for himself is not going to work. It's time to start organizing. We need to figure out how we're going to survive here. Now I found water. Fresh water, up in the valley. I'll take a group in at first light. If you don't want to come, then find another way to contribute. Last week most of us were strangers. But we're all here now. And God knows how long we're going to be here. But if we can't live together, we're going to die alone."

Now, I'll get back to that later. But keep it in the back of your mind until then. When I've asked a fan why they were disappointed in the finale, most of their answers have been in the form of a single similar statement: "They were dead the whole time." This could not be further from the truth.

The source of this confusion is, without a doubt, the introduction of what some fans refer to as the "Flash Sideways World." The first three seasons featured flashbacks to the lives of the survivors before the plane crash, the fourth season introduced flash forwards that revealed the lives of the six survivors who would escape the island, and the sixth and final season, with no other direction to go, brought us the Flash Sideways World. In this world, Oceanic Flight 815 never crashed and instead landed at its destination in Los Angeles, preventing the passengers from ever being stranded on the island, which now resided on bottom of the ocean. The existence of this alternate world was never explained until the finale, when both the audience and the survivors became aware that it functioned as an afterlife of sorts for our band of castaways. But when Christian Shephard informed his son that he was dead in the final moments of the series, this revelation led several confused viewers to believe that Jack and the other survivors had been dead for the entire series, and the events of the previous six seasons were all part of this Flash Sideways World.

To those fans still under this belief, I urge you to watch that scene again. Characters died at various points throughout the series, but no one was from ever dead from the beginning (with the lone exception of the Smoke Monster). Jack did die on the island, but not until those final moments of the series as he succumbed to his wounds while watching his friends leave the island via the repaired airplane from Ajira Flight 316. Once he died, his consciousness or soul or spirit or whatever you want to call it was then lifted into the Flash Sideways World, where it would remain undisturbed and unaware until his other survivors were able to join him in the great beyond. Characters like Kate and Sawyer, who were able to return to the mainland on the airplane, would continue to live their lives off-island until death, when they'd be whisked off to the Flash Sideways World.

One clever hint about the nature of the Flash Sideways World is when Jack (or the version of him inhabiting this other world) continues to find what appears be a shaving cut on his neck in several episodes, when in fact the cut matches the one he receives from Locke in their fight in the finale.

You see, the Flash Sideways World was nothing more than a construct, a purgatorial world created so that Jack and the other characters of Lost could move on together, even if most of them were forced to die alone on the island or in the real world. In his speech in "White Rabbit," Jack warned the other survivors that they'd die alone if they couldn't figure out how to live together. The Flash Sideways World was the fulfillment of that promise, allowing this group of friends the ultimate reward of being able to move on together in death after learning to live together on the island.

But why was the Flash Sideways World so different? Sawyer was a cop, Jack and Juliet were divorced with a teenage son, Hurley was the luckiest man alive, and so on and so forth. The Flash Sideways World, in addition to operating as a waiting room for the castaways after death, also functioned as wish fulfillment, allowing the characters to live out aspects of their lives that they were otherwise unable to in their real lives. Jack was able to work through his father issues with the son he never had, Kate was able to help Claire and make up for taking Aaron off the island, Sayid was able to protect Nadia like he never could in real life, and the list goes on.

But their re-imagined lives were far from perfect. While some of them were offered a second chance at life, each of them was still haunted by the flaws that had defined them in real life. Take, for example, John Locke. For most of his existence, John was miserable and pathetic. His flaw was that he thought he was special, and he wasn't. Even his death was unspectacular, strangled and left hanging in a rundown hotel room. But his death was the catalyst for the return of the Oceanic Six and, eventually, he inspired Jack to embrace his destiny as the Protector of the Island (however briefly). In the Flash Sideways World, Locke was able to experience the life with Helen that he never had, but even then he was plagued by guilt and self-doubt. It wasn't until he let go of those feelings and let Jack help him (much like how he helped Jack in death) that he was able to make peace with his unexceptional fate and realize that he as an individual wasn't special, but rather it was his experiences and relationships on the island that were important.

The Flash Sideways World allowed each of the survivors to come to terms with both the blessings and burdens of their past lives, let go, and move forward with the people who mattered most.

Why have none of the characters aged when we see them in the Flash Sideways World? Because, regardless of how long each of them lived, the most important experiences of their lives were shared on the island. Remember, Jacob brought each of them to the island because all of them were broken in their lives back in the real world, struggling and unable to find happiness. During their time on the island after the plane crash, each of the characters experienced a spiritual and personal awakening, allowing them to let go of their past mistakes and instead realize their potential (e.g. Sawyer is reborn a selfless leader, Jin and Sun save their marriage, etc.).

What about Michael and Walt? Michael left the island in Season 2, and even then his relationship with the other survivors was almost non-existent after the shooting deaths of Ana-Lucia and Libby. Even when he was able to redeem himself by sacrificing his life on the freighter in Season 4, Michael was remanded to the island, his spirit trapped there until he could atone for his sins. Walt also didn't spend much time on the island after leaving with his father at the end of Season 2, having spent that season living with the Others. Other characters, like Ana-Lucia and Eko, were also absent, because they were unable to redeem themselves on the island or simply didn't spend enough time there to have the chance to truly change.

How was Desmond able to cross over into the Flash Sideways World? Desmond, as was revealed by his nefarious father-in-law Charles Widmore, was special. Because he possessed a resistance to the unique electromagnetic properties of the island, Desmond was able to shift his consciousness through space and time when exposed to the island's energies. When Widmore blasted him with electromagnetism, Desmond suffered a near death experience, and was transported to the Flash Sideways World for a brief time. It was then that he began to wake up the other characters in the Flash Sideways World, forcing them to realize that this world was a lie and that each of them needed to remember their previous lives in order to move forward together. These awakenings were often triggered by an interaction with a significant other, often a loved one, or an experience similar to an important event from their previous life. Desmond was under the false impression that the Flash Sideways World was a place where the others could escape the island, when in fact it was a meeting place for them after death.

Did you get all that? It can be a lot to digest, but I think, at its core, the introduction of the Flash Sideways World was intended to emphasize the importance of the show's characters, as opposed to the various mysteries that surrounded them. The writers were focused on resolving the characters because, in the end, it is the connections viewers had to those character that kept them coming back for more. Still confused? Let me know in the comments! I love a good discussion about Lost (obviously). I realize that the Flash Sideways World is only one aspect of the final season, but I'll leave the discussion of Jacob, the Man In Black, and the Heart of the Island for another time and a different post. (For what it's worth, I loved it!)

Whatever Happened To M. Night Shyamalan? (Part 1 of 4)

I remember sitting in the movie theater with my dad, when I was just eleven years old, watching Signs on the big screen. It was August of 2002, and this was a movie that I had been anticipating for some time, ever since it had been featured on the cover of Entertainment Weekly's Summer Movie Preview for that year. I had convinced my mom to let me rent both The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable from Blockbuster, so this was my first time seeing an M. Night Shyamalan film in an actual theater -- and it did not disappoint. I was on the edge of my seat, and a chill ran down my spine when I saw the news footage of the alien emerging from its camouflaged hiding place at a child's birthday party in Brazil. I turned to see if my dad was as horrified as I was, but he was asleep in his seat, so I nudged him, incredulous that he could be nodding off at a time like this.

I remember excitedly whispering to him: "Are you seeing this?"

From then on, if it involved M. Night Shyamalan, I had to see it, and I had to see it now. I can't quite explain what it was about his films that captured my imagination -- back then I had no inclinations for themes, performance or style -- but I was hooked, nonetheless. Following the well-deserved critical acclaim he garnered for The Sixth Sense, Shyamalan was considered a rising star in Hollywood, with some heralding him as the next Steven Spielberg or Alfred Hitchcock. For a while, I cited his first films as some of the chief influences on my desire to pursue a career as a screenwriter. Everyone, myself included, waited with bated breath to find out what supernatural thriller he would come out with next -- that is, until his next film turned out to be The Village.

With Signs, Shyamalan started to fall out of favor with critics, as if the grace period he had earned with the sheer brilliance of The Sixth Sense had come to an unceremonious end. Unbreakable was no critical darling either, but it still has its ardent fans and, at the time, received a bit of a free pass from more than a few people, given that the enormous expectations for Shyamalan after The Sixth Sense were near insurmountable. Signs was dismissed by several critics as hokey, uninspired, and dull, but that criticism was nothing compared to the onslaught that Shyamalan was about to endure after the release of The Village. If Signs represented the first few cracks in his armor, then The Village saw him stripped of it. Even some of his most loyal fans stepped aside and allowed him to take the critics' beating, they themselves feeling slighted by a disappointing film with a letdown ending that was considered ludicrous. It seemed as if his trademark twist ending had run its course and the magic had finally run out for Shyamalan.

So, Shyamalan went a different route. And the result was the end of his business partnership with Walt Disney Studios, a fruitful relationship tarnished by a dispute over creative differences concerning his next proposed film, Lady In The Water. And with the release of that film, which he was able to secure through Warner Bros., the dissenting voices only grew louder. The problems with the film were myriad. It was structured around a fairy tale, not a pre-existing tale but one that he created himself for his own children, with some aspects of the film's bedtime story leaving audiences bewildered and confused. Not to mention the not-so-passive-aggressive inclusion of a clueless, condescending movie critic as a supporting character, no doubt a slight at the very critics who seem to have been using his films for target practice. Worst of all, he made the damning decision to cast himself as Vick Ran, an author in the film who is told that his work will end up changing the world. This bizarre casting move did nothing to dispel the rumors of his over inflated ego that ran rampant during his public falling-out with Disney, which was well documented in Michael Bamberger's revealing book, The Man Who Heard Voices.

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Believe it or not, his films proceeded to get worse from there. The Happening, a laughable paranormal thriller about a rash of nature-induced suicides, and The Last Airbender, a movie so thoroughly awful that even the fans of the popular cartoon on which it was based couldn't bear to give it a passing grade, sunk Shyamalan to new lows, leaving most people wondering how he could have fallen so far after the undeniable talent he showed with The Sixth Sense.

But now, three years later, Shyamalan has returned with After Earth, which hits theaters on Friday and strands the real-life father-son duo of Will Smith and Jaden Smith as a fictional father-son duo on a future version of Earth where mankind has been forced into exile after their own planet and its natural inhabitants turned against them. With the impending release of his new film, my interest in M. Night Shyamalan has been renewed, and I've decided to launch my own personal investigation into the circumstances surrounding his meteoric rise and disastrous fall by revisiting each of his previous films. My goal? See how well each of them holds up -- for better or for worse -- and determine, if possible, the source of how and where it all went wrong.

For the sake of length, I'll be dividing  my findings into three different posts. I'll discuss The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable in Part 1; Signs, The Village, and Lady In The Water in Part 2; and The Happening, The Last Airbender, and After Earth (if I get around to seeing it, that is) in Part 3. To get things started, I've compiled a list of the elements that I consider to be near essential to the works of M. Night Shyamalan. Take a gander below and then check back soon for the first post:

• Ordinary people, extraordinary circumstances. A former preacher finds crop circles in his backyard in Signs. The superintendent of an apartment building finds a fairy tale creature living under the swimming pool in Lady In The Water.
• The supernatural or the fantastical. Visions of dead people in The Sixth Sense. Superhuman abilities in Unbreakable. Extraterrestrial invaders in Signs. The fairy tale brought to life in Lady In The Water. And so on and so forth.
• The cameo. Similar to Alfred Hitchcock, Shyamalan likes to make at least a cameo appearance in each of his films, the significance of his role varying from film to film.
• The location. All of his films (with the exception of The Last Airbender and the upcoming post-apocalyptic After Earth) take place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the city where he grew up after being born in India.
• The twist ending. You could call this his Achilles' Heel. Others might refer to it as his fatal flaw. But after The Sixth Sense and up until Lady In The Water, Shyamalan's signature was a twist ending that often forced the audience to re-consider everything that had come before. This is his most well-known trademark.

Top 5 TV Shows of 2012-13

I love television. I know it is common practice for some parents to tell their kids that too much time spent in front of the television will rot their brain, but I can't help but disagree. I've held the belief for a while now that the best storytelling was taking place on the big screen, but in recent years, my enthusiasm for Hollywood has waned as I've started to realize the creative boom that the small screen has been experiencing. Television has long been considered an inferior medium to film, but the gap has been closing since the emergence of original programming on cable channels like HBO, and the sheer amount of talent both in front and behind the camera that have migrated to television work is clear evidence of that power shift. But even as the number of quality television shows has increased, the amount of time in one day has not, so unfortunately I haven't been able to catch up popular shows like Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Homeland, and countless others. Of the shows that I've been able to watch, I've assembled a list of five that I believe stand out above the rest. Other shows that I've watched this past season, outside of the ones listed below, are American Horror Story, Bates Motel, Dexter, Sons of Anarchy, and The Walking Dead.

Without further ado, here is the list:

5. Fringe (FOX, Fridays, 8 p.m.) Fringe was the little show that could, debuting on FOX back in the fall of 2009 as one of the highest rated new dramas on television before ratings began to dwindle and the series' increasing serialization made it difficult for the show to attract new viewers. But FOX kept the show alive, against all odds, almost as an act of contrition for canceling Joss Whedon's Firefly after eleven episodes in 2002, another sci-fi show that had a devoted fan base but was the victim of low ratings. Four seasons later, FOX renewed Fringe for a fifth and final season, allotting the writers 13 episodes to give the show the proper swan song its fans deserved. Season 5 saw the core members of Fringe Division, after encasing themselves in amber, being awakened in a dystopian future where mankind lives under the tyrannic rule of the Observers, evolved human beings from the future who have traveled back in time to install a totalitarian regime after their own version of Earth became uninhabitable. Our heroes' mission? Take back control of the planet. And while much of this last season at times felt like a different show than the one I've been watching for the past four years, the writers were able to bring the series full circle by the time the finale rolled around, servicing the familial relationships that have stabilized Fringe from the beginning. But if I do have one qualm, it is that John Noble never received the awards recognition that he deserved for his performance as the brilliant but debilitated genius Walter Bishop.

4. The Americans (FX, Wednesdays, 9 p.m.) On one side of the street in this suburban neighborhood lives Philip and Elizabeth Jennings, a married couple who, in addition to owning their own travel agency and raising their two children, are both deep cover operatives working for the KGB, sent to America over 15 years ago with new identities. On the other side of the street lives Stan Beeman, a dedicated Counter-Intelligence Agent for the FBI whose strained marriage is falling apart and who has a non-existent relationship with his teenage son. The Americans is asking you to root for (or at least empathize with) the Jennings, a request that, on paper, might seem dubious at first, but credit the superb writing and the nuanced performances of Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell for making it seem like there was never even a doubt where your allegiances should lie. Set during the Cold War era of the early 1980's, The Americans is as much a show about the institution of marriage as it is about the tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. When we first meet Philip and Elizabeth, the two of them are beginning to consider if their marriage has become more than a charade, 15 years after being paired up and shipped off without ever having met each other before. Their struggles to find balance in their marriage, while also staying true to their original mission as spies for the KGB, are the heart and soul of the show, even when they're wearing disguises, planting bugs, and hunting down rogue assassins.

3. Hannibal (NBC, Thursdays, 9 p.m.) I'm not sure how, but before last year, I had never even heard of Bryan Fuller. It wasn't until I watched his pilot for Mockingbird Lane, a modern re-imagining of The Munsters that stalled out at NBC, that I became familiar with the mad genius behind such hidden gems as Pushing Daisies, Wonderfalls, and Dead Like Me, all shows that were brilliant but short-lived due to the fickle nature of television ratings. Hannibal, another show from Bryan Fuller that thus far hasn't been able to translate critical acclaim into ratings success, is a prequel of sorts to the series of novels by Thomas Harris, which were made famous, of course, by their film adaptations starring Anthony Hopkins in his iconic role as the titular cannibal. While both the novels and films kept Hannibal Lecter behind bars for the most part, Hannibal is more interested in his pre-incarceration life, in particular his relationship with Will Graham, the gifted but troubled criminal profiler who will one day recognize Hannibal for the monster that he is. While some might be turned off by the gruesome crime scenes that populate each episode, the series doesn't glamorize or sensationalize the violence, because the show is more interested in the psychology of what it means to take a life and what separates the hunter from the hunted. This is no more evident than in the dynamic between Will and Hannibal, where the riveting performances of Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen, respectively, raise the show to a whole new level.

2. Justified (FX, Tuesdays, 9 p.m.) It's hard not to root for Raylan Givens. As much as his reckless behavior, impetuous attitude, and total disregard for procedure draw the ire of his more straight-laced colleagues, Raylan is a Deputy U.S. Marshal who gets results. With his personal life - which consists of sleeping in a room above a bar where he has been romancing the female bartender while his pregnant ex-wife lives with her sister - a work in progress, Raylan focuses all of his efforts into his work, even while picking up the occasional illegal side work from a bail bondswoman to pull in some extra cash. This season, in a break from the tradition of pitting Raylan against a single season-long adversary, revolved around the manhunt for Drew Thompson, an infamous criminal who was believed to have been killed 30 years ago after jumping out of an airplane with bags of cocaine and a faulty parachute. When it becomes clear that Drew faked his death and has been hiding out in Harlan under a new identity, the race is on to find him before the wrong people get a hold of him first. Justified, which has often struggled to service its supporting characters, is at its best when the storytelling centers on Raylan and his childhood friend turned criminal Boyd Crowder (played by Timothy Olyphant and the underrated Walton Goggins, respectively). With both of them on the hunt for Drew, the show continues to explore how these two men, on opposite sides of the law, are more similar than either of them is willing to admit.

1. Breaking Bad (AMC, Sundays, 8 p.m.) "I won." Those two words, from the mouth of high school science teacher turned meth manufacturer Walter White after orchestrating the death of his former employer and drug kingpin Gus Fring, were the chilling culmination of a transformation that we've been witness to for four seasons now. Now, with his most formidable competitor blown in half, Walt was free to build his empire and claim the power he felt he had been deprived of for most of his life, having been condemned to a classroom teaching disinterested adolescents when his brilliance should've led to a life of luxury. But, as the first eight episodes of the show's fifth and final season proved, the road to the top is paved with obstacles, yet none of them were capable of toppling the impenetrable hubris that has come to define Walt. Bryan Cranston, as you'd expect from the winner of three Primetime Emmys, continues to own the show with his performance, tasked this season with portraying a Walt whose last traces of a soul have been diminished by his obsessive greed. But the breakout performance of the season belongs to veteran actor Jonathan Banks as the surly fixer Mike Ehrmantraut, who has no qualms about going toe to toe with Walt when it comes to a difference of opinion. The final eight episodes of Breaking Bad will begin in August, and as much as I'll miss the show, I'm curious to find out what twisted fate awaits Walt. If that game-changing scene at the end of the midseason finale is any indication, Walt's reckoning is almost upon us.