Let’s talk movies and television shows.

“None of us went to college to make car commercials.” – Mark F.

When my friend Mark said that, I nearly broke a rib laughing. And honestly? He’s right.

For those of us who studied broadcasting, filmmaking, or media production, we got into this because we love storytelling. Don’t get me wrong, commercial work pays the bills, and I genuinely love doing it.

But storytelling has always been the goal.

That’s a huge reason why I founded Vaupel Video (soon to evolve into something broader than just “video”). At the end of the day, I love great stories and the people who know how to tell them well.

And I consume a lot of content:

for entertainment
to escape reality for a little while
for inspiration
to sharpen my own skills

That last one is probably the biggest reason. I’m constantly watching how other creators solve problems visually, structure scenes, build tension, or frame emotion. Half the time I see something brilliant, I immediately want to go try recreating it myself.

So… let’s start a completely subjective argument:
What are the greatest films and television shows of all time?

Here are a few of mine.

FILMS (in absolutely no order):

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
The Princess Bride
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The 13th Warrior
John Carpenter’s The Thing
The Incredibles
The Quiet Man
The Martian
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

“Oh, that’s the popcorn movie list.”

Fair enough. Here’s the “film school” list:

Django Unchained
Inception
Schindler’s List
The Shawshank Redemption
The Dark Knight
Fight Club
Léon: The Professional
Memento
Heat
The Searchers

Now television/limited series (this one IS in order):

Breaking Bad
Dopesick
Band of Brothers
Batman: The Animated Series
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Succession
The West Wing
Lost
The Wire
Chappelle’s Show

I know some of you are already typing:
“Where’s The Godfather Part II?”
“How is The Wire not #1?”
“You forgot [insert favorite here].”

That’s the fun of this industry — art is subjective.

So now I want your picks. Seriously. Drop your favorite films or television shows in the comments. I’m always looking for something great I haven’t seen… or a reason to rewatch something I forgot how much I loved. And definitely tell me why you picked them. This is a public post, so let’s keep it clean and fun.

I can’t wait to see everyone’s favorites.