Albums
10. Cage the Elephant – Cage the Elephant
9. Sam’s Town – The Killers
8. Something Weezer
7. Toxicity – System of a Down
6. The Shepherd’s Dog – Iron & Wine
5. The Boy With the Arab Strap – Belle and Sebastian
4. Sublime – Sublime
3. The Battle of Los Angeles – Rage Against the Machine
2. Wonder Boys Soundtrack – various
1. Any Given Wes Anderson soundtrack
Notables: Andrew Bird (though, only songs), Elton John (again, songs), Youth (Matisyahu), and various important rap, though I’m still figuring that out.
This is the area of all of these that is weakest. I’m pretty sold on my top 4-5, but I’m a song-guy at my core. Fascinated with the idea of the “album,” but as far as what holds sway over me – songs.
Films
10. V for Vendetta Wachowski Bros
9. The Sting George Roy Hill
8. Testament Lynne Littman
7. House of Sand and Fog Vadim Perelman
6. It Happened One Night Frank Capra
5. Mary Poppins Robert Stevenson
4. No Country for Old Men Cohen Bros
3. Psycho Hitchcock
2. There Will Be Blood P.T. Anderson
1. Bottle Rocket Wes Anderson (any Anderson, but this is what I consider his most quintessential)
Notables: The Searchers John Ford, Billy Elliot Stephen Daldry, Star Wars: A New Hope Lucas, The Andersonville Trial George C. Scott, Shaun of the Dead Edgar Wright, and Paths of Glory Stanley Kubrick.
Strong area here; judged on a variety of criteria. Story-telling, acting ability, character development, message, art direction, themes (or genres, I guess), and some good home-grown-love.
Literature
10. Erasure Percival Everett
9. The Death of Jim Loney James Welch
8. Selected Poems William Carlos Williams
7. The Elephant Man Bernard Pomerace
6. Y the Last Man Brian K. Vaghaun
5. The Suffers of Young Werther Johanne Wolfgang von Goethe
4. The Stories of Breece D’J Pancake Breece D’J Pancake
3. The Book of the Dead Man Marvin Bell
2. The Man Suit Zachary Schomburg
1. The Dream Songs John Berryman
Notables: Less than Zero Bret Easton Ellis, The Girl in the Flammable Skirt Aimee Bender, Today I Wrote Nothing Daniil Kharms, Circle of Pain Paul Eluard, The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald, Exceptions and Melancholies Ralph Angel, It Is Daylight Arda Collins, Whole Milk Jim Goar, My Vocabulary Did This to Me Jack Spicer, Animal Farm George Orwell, My Name Is Asher Lev Chaim Potok, Lolita Vladimir Nabokov, A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemmingway, and Notes from Underground Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Stranger Albert Camus, American Buffalo David Mamet.
Um, very tough. Garnered as many as I could, and had to make some sad cuts. But, I wanted to get the holy 10. But, any of these could easily switch places. Kharms and Eluard, Bender and Hemingway, Orwell and Mamet… these are down here because I either haven’t read all of the book(s) (e.g. Bender’s, read 3 of the stories thus far, but count it in my lineage already). Mamet is amazing, but I went with not only an interesting plot play in The Elephant Man, but also innovative dramatic writing, staging, mise en scen, and overall challenges to actors, directors, and designers. Of course, I know both of us could come up with many top ten lists, genre specific. But it was fun to get this into only 10, cross-genre.
