Favorites, 2016

Back in the old days of the Notes, I used to write a lot more about music, movies, and books, and I would every so often post updated lists of my absolute favorites of things.  Not due to any pressing interest from the public, of course–mostly just because it’s fun for me, and also because having such a blog post can be quite handy during discussions online; I can just link someone to the entry to aid in a discussion of favorites.

Of course this is not to be confused with my annual “Favorite Music” list, where I detail my favorite music released in the previous calendar year; these lists detail my current all-time favorites, which are (like yours, of course) constantly changing.

Looking back at my entries, it appears as though I haven’t done a big posting of lists since 2012, so I’ll make this one fairly comprehensive.  All of these lists have changed since 2012–some very little, some quite dramatically:

My top ten favorite poets

10.  Jane Kenyon
9.   Robert Creeley
8.  William Carlos Williams
7.   Sylvia Plath
6.  Billy Collins
5.  Denise Levertov
4.  E.E. Cummings
3.  Philip Levine
2.  John Updike
1.  Philip Larkin

My top 10 favorite film directors

10.  Federico Fellini
9.  Sidney Lumet
8.  Alejandro Inarritu
7.  Christopher Nolan
6.  Paul Thomas Anderson
5.  Alfonso Cuaron
4.  Stanley Kubrick
3.  Werner Herzog
2.  Alfred Hitchcock
1.  Terrence Malick

My top ten bands

10. This Will Destroy You
9.  My Morning Jacket
8.  Godspeed You! Black Emperor
7.  Radiohead
6.  Seven Mary Three
5.  Hey Rosetta!
4.   The National
3.  Band of Horses
2.  Modest Mouse
1.  Arcade Fire

 

My top ten music solo artists

10.  Tracy Chapman
9.  Ray LaMontagne
8.  Father John Misty
7.  Leonard Cohen
6.  Jim James
5.  Nina Simone
4.  Willis Earl Beal
3.  Emily Wells
2.  Paul Simon
1.  Neil Young

My top ten favorite (non-documentary) movies

10.  Citizen Kane
9.  Night of the Hunter
8.  Fitzcarraldo
7.  Magnolia
6.  The Trouble with Harry
5.  Children of Men
4.  Where the Wild Things Are
3.  The Thin Red Line
2.  I’m Still Here
1.  The Tree of Life

My ten favorite novelists

10.  Malcolm Lowry
9.  John Steinbeck
8.  Isaac Asimov
7.  Ernest Hemingway
6. Oscar Wilde
5.  Kurt Vonnegut
4.  Mark Twain
3.  David Mitchell
2.  Don DeLillo
1.  Dave Eggers

My top twenty favorite books (any genre, fiction or nonfiction)

20.  “A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole
19.  “Slade House” by David Mitchell
18.  “The Terror” by Dan Simmons
17.  “You Shall Know Our Velocity” by Dave Eggers
16.  “Point Omega” by Don DeLillo
15.  “Cloud Atlas” by David Mitchell
14.  “Fallen Founder” by Nancy Isenberg
13.  “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde
12.  “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding
11.  “Under the Volcano” by Malcolm Lowry
10.  “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” by Dave Eggers
9.  “The Sun Also Rises” by Ernest Hemingway
8.  “Cat’s Cradle” by Kurt Vonnegut
7.  “Dubliners” by James Joyce
6.  “Letters From the Earth” by Mark Twain
5.  “White Noise” by Don DeLillo
4.  “Endurance” by Alfred Lansing
3.  “Your Fathers, Where Are They?  And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever?” by Dave Eggers
2.  “Into the Wild” by John Krakauer
1.  “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck

My top twenty favorite albums

20.  “Funeral” by Arcade Fire
19.  “Nobody Knows” by Willis Earl Beal
18.  “High Violet” by The National
17.  “The Battle of Los Angeles” by Rage Against the Machine
16.  “Swamp Ophelia” by Indigo Girls
15.  “Mirrorball” by Neil Young
14.  “Dis/Location” by Seven Mary Three
13.  “Abbey Road” by The Beatles
12.  “Graceland” by Paul Simon
11.  “Bitches Brew” by Miles Davis
10.  “‘Allelujah!  Don’t Bend!  Ascend!” by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
9.    “Kid A” by Radiohead
8.   “Strangers to Ourselves” by Modest Mouse
7.   “This Will Destroy You” by This Will Destroy You
6.   “Time Out” by the Dave Brubeck Quartet
5.   “Secret Samadhi” by LIVE
4.   “Infinite Arms” by Band of Horses
3.   “The Suburbs” by Arcade Fire
2.   “RockCrown” by Seven Mary Three
1.  “Into Your Lungs (and Around in Your Heart and On Through Your Blood)” by Hey Rosetta!

 

My top five composers

5.  Philip Glass
4.  Cliff Martinez
3.  Hans Zimmer
2.  Felix Mendelssohn
1.  Carl Nielsen

My top ten painters

10.  Edgar Degas
9.  George Bellows
8.  Mark Rothko
7.  Johannes Vermeer
6.  Mary Cassatt
5.  Maurice Prendergast
4.  Thomas Eakins
3.  Henri Rousseau
2.  Andrew Wyeth
1.  John Sloan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You Can’t Buy Me Happiness, but You Can Buy Me Fraggle Rock

I sure am happy right now.  I’m going through an extended period of inner peace, tranquility, and contentment.  It rules!  I’m not trying to get all new-agey, or brag about my emotional state.  The fact is, I’m often pretty content, at least moreso than most people (with, as I have noted at length on my blog, a steady undercurrent of fear of death and general despair that has been with me always and always shall remain…but it’s usually a little out of sight…my main operating mode is usually “happy”).  I just note this extended happy period here because it seems so very unusual for most of humanity.  This is only based on my very unscientific casual observations.  But even folks who most would describe as happy are, frankly, pretty unhappy.  Or at least uncomfortable, or full of worry or self-doubt or fear.  Isn’t it strange how difficult it can be for us to be happy?  Oy vey.  I got tempted to go super-deep on the subject there, but I’ll resist it.  I think it is impossible to go deep on this subject without sounding like a douchebag.  I just want to note that I’m super happy.  Tranquil is an even better word.  I’m under no impression that my life is always going to be easy or that things will stay like they are now, but I’m tranquil with that notion.

That being said, this winter sure does suck.  I know I know, someone wants to tell me It’s winter, what do you expect??? Well you see, here’s the thing: winter is uncomfortable.  Physically.  I do not like the sensation it creates upon my general physical being.  So yes, although I am certainly aware that winter is coming, and I know what it is going to be like, that foreknowledge does not lessen it’s wretched impact upon me.  I mean seriously, why does it keep snowing???  What kind of winter thinks it needs to snow this much??  Or be this consistently cold?  It’s all pretty lame.  Oh hey, also, look at this painting, “Chilly Observation”, by Charles Sidney Raleigh:

 

Another note on my happiness (and again, I’m not trying to get all zen on you here, I’m just thinking out loud.  Except not literally out loud.  I guess I’m thinking publicly), I’ve noticed lately I’m getting much less satisfaction from the acquisition of material goods.  Despite all my cultural philosophizing, I don’t think I’ve ever denied that I derive a lot of pleasure from buying or acquiring things.  Not big-ticket items, usually.  Most of my life I’ve just loved getting more and more books and music and movies and things like that.  And just random consumer goods.  Hats.  Backscratchers.  Wall art.  Random shit like that.  Well anyway, lately, I’m getting less and less pleasure from acquisition.  I suspect part of this is because of my natural tranquility right now, so I don’t have to supplement my happiness with the artificial high of stuff.  but I also think that I might just kind of have enough stuff, finally.  For one man, I have ALOT of books, records, DVDs, and the massive amount of random crapola that life in America will allow you to encircle yourself with.  I have so much stuff (note that I am passionate about most of it and find it delightful; I’m not knocking my actual stuff) that I can’t begin to properly enjoy most of it.  So I might need to chill on acquisition for a bit and start really paying attention to what I already have.

(although take note, I still really need some books by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, a vinyl copy of Neil Young’s “Mirrorball”, one of these, a really nice digital camera, the complete series of “Fraggle Rock” on DVD [I aint joking about that, and it’s getting pretty affordable], Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rope” on Blu-Ray, that really nice hardbound version of the collected “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” books that Barnes and Noble sells, an Ilya Bryzgalov Philadelphia Flyers jersey [even though he doesn’t play for the team anymore…oh and size Large], early editions of the individual collections of Philip Larkin’s poetry [specifically, I’m thinking about “The Whitsun Weddings” and “The North Ship”…first editions only, really, anything else is useless], a year-long membership to the Barnes Gallery…oh I guess there is still some stuff I need…)

My 50 Favorite Directors, in order

Taking a page from my buddy Kyle‘s blog, I have decided to rank my favorite film directors (see Kyle’s list here.)  However, while Kyle blessedly knows the virtue of restraint, I know only overkill.  So I have ranked my top 50 directors, in order.  After #25, I also rank my top 3 favorite of each of their films, and for the top 10 directors, I rank my five favorite of their films.

Notes on the rankings

To rank the directors, I considered the whole of their filmography that I have seen.  I did not consider the reputations of films I have not seen.  It is also important to note that all rankings—both the director rankings and the films within those rankings–are rankings of my favorites; these are not “best” rankings.  In essence, this is a subjective, not objective, excercise.  Additionally, for directors who also write many or all of their films, I weighted their screenwriting skills the least in my decision-making process, as screenwriting and directing are two different arts, but it is impossible to fully seperate a writer-director’s scripts from their finished products.  I also did not rank any directors who may have made one of my favorite films, but have only made one film.  Directors had to have two or more directing credits to make the list (sorry, Zach Braff). Directors who make fictional films as well as documentaries: I did not consider their documentaries; documentarians would be a seperate list.  The truth is, the ranking is mainly in answer to the very unscientific question, “Who do I get most excited by hearing they have a new film coming out?” (and if they’re dead…how excited would I be to hear that a long-lost film of theirs had been unearthed?)  Also, following Kyle’s lead, I did not rank Steven Speilberg.  He is a fantastic director, but his body of work is so varied and vast that it is impossible to figure out where he lands on this list.  And now, the list:

50.  Michael Haneke
49.  Guilermo del Toro
48.  Tom Tykwer
47.  Bob Rafelson
46.  Philip Kaufman
45.  Tobe Hooper
44.  John Hillcoat
43.  Joe Swanberg
42.  Spike Jonze
41.  Cameron Crowe
40.  Alexander Payne
39.  Michael Mann
38.  Milos Foreman
37.  Ridley Scott
36.  Richard Linklater
35.  John Huston
34.  M. Night Shyamalan
33.  Frank Darabont
32.  Todd Haynes
31.  Terry Gilliam
30.  Sofia Coppola
29.  Rob Reiner
28.  Orson Welles
27.  Elia Kazan
26.  Todd Field

25.  Joel and Ethan Coen
          3.  The Big Lebowski
          2.  Barton Fink
          1.  No Country For Old Men

24.  Sam Peckinpah
          3.  Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
          2.  The Wild Bunch
          1.  Straw Dogs

23.  Ang Lee
          3.  Lust, Caution
          2.  Brokeback Mountain
          1.  The Ice Storm

22.  Billy Wilder
          3.  The Seven Year Itch
          2.  Sabrina
          1.  Sunset Blvd.

21.  Woody Allen
          3.  What’s Up, Tiger Lilly?
          2.  Annie Hall
          1.  Husbands and Wives

20.  Robert Altman
          3.  A Praire Home Companion
          2.  Brewster McCloud
          1.  The Long Goodbye

19.  Robert Redford
          3.  The Milagro Beanfield War
          2.  Ordinary People
          1.  A River Runs Through It

18.  Sam Mendes
          3.  Away We Go
          2.  Revolutionary Road
          1.  American Beauty

17.  Quentin Tarantino
          3.  Death Proof
          2.  Reservoir Dogs
          1.  Pulp Fiction

16.  Kevin Smith
          3.  Mallrats
          2.  Chasing Amy
          1.  Clerks 2

15.  Roman Polanski
          3.  Chinatown
          2.  Knife in the Water
          1.  Repulsion

14.  David O. Russell
          3.  Three Kings
          2.  The Fighter
          1.  I Heart Huckabees

13.  Terrence Malick
          3.  The New World
          2.  Days of Heaven
          1.  Badlands

12.  Noah Baumbach
          3.  Kicking and Screaming
          2.  Greenberg
          1.  The Squid and the Whale

11.  Lars von Trier
          3.  Antichrist
          2.  Breaking the Waves
          1.  Dogville

10.  Todd Solondz
          5.  Life During Wartime
          4.  Palindromes
          3.  Storytelling
          2.  Welcome to the Dollhouse
           1.  Happiness

9.  Sidney Lumet
          5.  Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
          4.  Dog Day Afternoon
          3.  Network
          2.  Equus
          1.  12 Angry Men

8.  David Fincher
          5.  The Game
          4.  Zodiac
          3.  The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
          2.  Seven
          1.  Fight Club

7.  Christopher Nolan
          5.  Insomnia
          4.  The Prestige
          3.  The Dark Knight
          2.  Memento
          1.  Inception

6.  Darren Aronofsky
          5.  Pi
          4.  Requiem for a Dream
          3.  The Wrestler
          2.  Black Swan
          1.  The Fountain

5.  Danny Boyle
          5.  Trainspotting
          4.  Slumdog Millionaire
          3.  127 Hours
          2.  28 Days Later…
          1.  Millions

4.  Stanley Kubrick
          5.  Barry Lyndon
          4.  The Shining
          3.  A Clockwork Orange
          2.  Eyes Wide Shut
          1.  2001: A Space Odyssey

3.  Alfred Hitchcock
          5.  The 39 Steps
          4.  Psycho
          3.  The Lady Vanishes
          2.  I Confess
          1.  Rope

2.  Werner Herzog
          5.  Cobra Verde
          4.  Stroszek
          3.  The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
          2.  Aguirre: The Wrath of God
           1.  Fitzcarraldo

1.  Paul Thomas Anderson
          5.  Boogie Nights
          4.  Hard Eight
          3.  Punch-Drunk Love
          2.  There Will Be Blood
          1.  Magnolia