I like making lists.

You're not going to like the top half of my list then lol.

To be fair, I haven't rewatched any of this show in over three years. I'm sure if I rewatched it this list might look different.

I'm pumping these out fast and furious now, I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do.

The Top Fifteen James Bond Villains

I decided to come back to Bond after a short reprieve. I tend to take advantage of any opportunity I have to write about Bond, so I apologize if you were hoping I'd move on to other things.

This list will encompass the top ten James Bond villains. Now, in the world of 007 that's kind of a broad term. Villain here could refer to a primary enemy like Le Chiffre or Dr. No, or it could refer to a henchman like Jaws or Red Grant. That is ultimately why I decided to expand this list from 10 out to 15; most lists cut these people into two groups, I didn't think it was worth doing that.

15. Red Grant/Rosa Klebb
Appear in: From Russia With Love
I'm combining these two, and putting them at the bottom of the list. In one of the few instances on the list, neither of these two really have much of a plan. They're both pawns of Blofeld, one the brains and the other the brawn. Klebb is barely in the film at all really, and Red Grant is a purely physical threat who really doesn't do anything other than stand around and look intimidating before fighting Bond toward the end. He doesn't really add anything to the tone of the film like other (similar) characters like Oddjob or Jaws do. There's no personality. I can't exclude them from the list altogether, but I certainly can't rank them any higher.


I wish Rosa Klebb looked like this.

14. Emilio Largo
Appears in: Thunderball
He's a solid villain, but not flashy enough to rank any higher. I like that Blofeld trusts him enough to give him the freedom to create and implement these plans of his. He finds something he thinks is bulletproof, and then he pursues that to his end. He has all the elements of a classic villain, but eye patch aside he's not interesting enough to be any higher here.

13. Karl Stromberg
Appears in: The Spy Who Loved Me
He wants to kill everyone on Earth and restart civilization underwater through the instigation of nuclear war, so that's something. He's a typical Bond villain and he hits all the right notes, but like Largo he does it without much flair. He does enough to be on the list, but not enough to place any higher.

12. Mr. Big/Dr. Kananga
Appears in: Live and Let Die
I'm torn about Kananga. He had a lot more potential on paper than the creative team took advantage of. His death (inflating like a balloon before exploding) is way over the top, even for a Bond film. The guy had a shark tank and could have easily been eaten alive. He's also the ruler of this small island country and yet he wears a prosthetic face and has a completely separate persona. Seems unnecessary. It's possible to be a crime boss with a presence and yet remain unseen, they did that with Blofeld for four entire films before revealing him in You Only Live Twice.

11. Elektra King
Appears in: The World is Not Enough
She's a great villain, I think there was some untouched potential left on the script though. Regardless, she is still enough to crack the list though. She's a full-blown, cold-blooded sociopath. And Bond is also very conflicted about actually killing her, which makes for great tension and a dynamic we're not really used to seeing.



10. Dr. Julius No
Appears in: Dr. No
I'll be the first to admit he doesn't really do much as a villain, but he's the first, they do a good job building him up throughout the story since we learn as Bond does, and he's got metal hands that ultimately cause his demise. I also like that his own people are afraid of him, feels more realistic. This series is full of villains who throw their goons to the wolves and nobody left standing bats an eyelash. Not the case here. Good villain.

9. Oddjob
Appears in: Goldfinger
I don't know that I really need to justify this all that much. Great villain, throws a hat, has fisticuffs with Connery and he feels like a legitimate threat. That's more than most henchmen can say.

8. Max Zorin
Appears in: A View to a Kill
Christopher Walken plays a Nazi scientist-engineered perfect human. I said he's played by Christopher Walken, right? This was inevitable. Without Walken, he might not be on the list. He's the perfect amount of zany.



7. Le Chiffre
Appears in: Casino Royale
Incredible villain, and a big reason why Casino Royale was the success it was. Criminal banker who uses his clients' funds to bankroll his not-so-high stakes trading. Bond fucks his shit up, and Le Chiffre organizes the poker game which also backfires on him. He's cool and collected, but also one mistake away from a bullet in the head. And he weeps blood, bonus points for that.

6. Raoul Silva
Appears in: Skyfall
Smart, sadistic, and scary. He's Silva. I think the general consensus is that he was homosexual, so he's the first in that category to be in a Bond film. Not really noteworthy on its own, but watching him 'flirt' with Bond was amusing. Serious mother/son-like issues with M. Sought revenge for a previous injustice, also worked for MI6 like 006 (who will obviously show up later on in this list), orchestrates a dramatic attack at Bond's childhood home, etc.. I think he's one of the most chaotic villains we've seen yet.



5. Jaws
Appears in: The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker
Things just get more exciting any time Jaws shows up. He's great, so great they brought him back for a second film and it sounds like he'll be the basis for the henchman in the newest Bond film (minus the teeth presumably). That's a claim. He even makes Drax more tolerable as a villain himself.

4. Francisco Scaramanga
Appears in: The Man with the Golden Gun
He's so good at his job that he charges a million dollars to kill someone and people gladly pay it. He uses golden bullets, and his manservant hires people to try and kill him just to keep him on his toes. He's so good at his job that MI6 and the CIA don't even know how to begin tracking him down, Bond just happens to luck into it. And last but not least, he's played by Christopher Lee. Definitely belongs in the top five. I flirted with putting him above the third guy on the list here, but couldn't pull the (golden) trigger.

3. Alec Trevelyan
Appears in: Goldeneye
Kind of hard to believe it took 17 films for Cubby and team to make another 00 a villain. But, it's a brilliant idea none the less. He has a great story and an even better plan to destroy London, he's full of vengeance partially because of Bond himself, he has the same training as Bond and that automatically makes him a formidable foe. He's one of the best villains ever.



2. Auric Goldfinger
Appears in: Goldfinger
I think he is ultimately who a lot of people picture as the 'best Bond villain'. He captures Bond and puts him on the table with the iconic laser, he's got a jet and lots of great cars, he plays golf, he employs one of the best henchman around, he has a ton of gold, etc. The theme song is also about him, which is cool and fitting. He's a classic, but not the definitive Bond nemesis.

1. Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Appears in: From Russia With Love, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, For Your Eyes Only
Bond's ultimate nemesis. He runs the biggest crime syndicate in the world and his identity remains a secret for four entire films. He was nearly impossible to track down, he's completely iconic, he killed Bond's wife, he was played by multiple actors and each one put his own traits into the character. I hope they can reintroduce Blofeld into the Craig films. If not, I'm sure he'll always remain at the top spot anyway.

Booze Cruise is pretty great. So is The Dundies. Love drunk Pam.

Last year was the 20th anniversary of The X-Files and I almost did a Top 10 list to celebrate, so I'm curious to see how yours compares to mine. Just so you know, there was gonna be ZERO filler episodes in my list. 

Shit, I wish I could remember that series well enough to make a list.

Maybe he doesnt have netflix.

Then get to work.

This is kind of cheating since it's an unpublished list from Letterboxd I'm still working the kinks out on (also, I feel weird posting a list like this in October). This will probably change about 100 times in between now and April or May, but this is what the list looks like today.

2015: Ten Films I'm Looking Forward To, Or: No, your eyes aren't deceiving you. I don't have Star Wars Episode VII listed below. I don't give a shit.

10. Joy
Jennifer Lawrence and David O'Russell re-uniting. The pair combined to make a pair of my favorite movies of the past five years (Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, and O'Russell also made The Fighter), so I have hopes they can strike again here.

9. Crimson Peak
Guillermo del Toro is making another horror movie. I don't have anything else to say, other than that I wouldn't be surprised if this gets delayed to 2016. As much as I like del Toro, he does seem to have the habit of being in over his head quite often the past few years. Maybe this will actually come out next year and I'll be pleasantly surprised.

8. The Martian
Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, and Ridley Scott getting back to science-fiction. Good deal. Unfortunately I don't know enough about it to rank any higher, otherwise it probably would be.

7. The Revenant
I've mentioned directors that get me into the theater no matter what, but there are actors that hold that distinction as well - Leonardo DiCaprio being one of them. Interesting premise, haven't seen DiCaprio in a revenge story in a while (Gangs of New York had elements of one). And with the attention that Iñárritu is drumming up for Birdman, this might be a really early favorite for some awards as well. I suspect this film will place higher than 8th on my year end list for 2015, but as far as anticipation goes this is as high as it gets.

6. Ant-Man
The other Marvel film of the year. I think this has the potential to be one of the more unique projects they've taken on, so I'm excited for that and to see something with that new car smell from Marvel come along. I mentioned in my review for Guardians of the Galaxy that it was nice to see a superhero movie not about people punching each other, and Ant-Man will continue that trend since this will probably be a comedy first and foremost. Despite all the chaos with Edgar Wright and the fact that this has been in some level of production for almost a decade, I'm still optimistic. I think most other years this would probably rank a lot higher, but 2015 is a dream come true in a lot of ways and this takes the six spot instead.



5. St. James Place.
Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, the Coen brothers, a Cold War thriller. This should be fantastic, assuming it does actually come out next year. Tentatively scheduled for fall/winter.

4. Jurassic World
Jurassic Park, but with Chris Pratt. Very happy this is finally being made, can't wait to see it. Just love dinosaurs.

3. The Hateful Eight
Quentin Tarantino is the third director (behind Fincher and Nolan) that will get me into the theater regardless of what the film is. That being said, this looks interesting and I'm curious to see how it matches up to the script I read a few months ago (I'm sure since the leak he probably made some changes). I'm hopeful that Tarantino gets away from the western genre with whatever he does next though. As well as he does this, this will be his second true western and third if you want to count 'Kill Bill Vol. 2' which was kind of a big homage to his love of the genre.

2. Bond 24
Can't wait for Bond 24, happy to see the cast and crew returning, excited to see who they bring on for the villain and the dynamic between Bond and the new M, who the Bond girl will be, the plot and locations, the song, etc. It's an iconic franchise that I hope lasts until I can take my own son to his first Bond movie like my Dad did with me.

1. Avengers: Age of Ultron
Surprise! Well it was a given this would be first. Very excited for this sequel and to see where things are taken from here. I wasn't a huge fan of Phase 2, the only film I truly loved was 'The Winter Soldier' ('Guardians' was pretty good too, just not on the same level), so I'm excited to see this run wrapped up so they can move forward into the seemingly awesome Phase 3 announced today.

I don't think so. Will I see it? Of course. Am I excited for it? Not really.

Thank you.

*Disney Logo*

*Lame preamble to Star Wars return*

*Jar Jar's face, front and center*

"It's me! Meesa back!"

*Rap beat enters*

*Tornado correct*

I remember when Tornado was not appreciated....