Favorite Music & Movies

Top 11 Albums

1)       Soul Coughing "Ruby Vroom". To me, this album manages to capture urban grittiness, the melody within the city's movements, romantic angst, and a beatnik sensibility. In a word, cool. Also, Doughty's voice has a particular way of exploring the English language that just makes me want to cuddle up with a speaker and follow his cadences.

2)       Lloyd Cole either "X" or the retrospective of his work with the Commotions--"1984-1989". One of the best songwriters working in popular music, Lloyd's musings on romance and women just made sense in my 20s. Now they remind me of my younger self. If you like lyrics in music then you should like Lloyd.

3)       The Smiths "Louder Than Bombs". While my first Smiths purchase was "The Queen Is Dead," this album has examples of what I consider quintessential Smiths goodness: wit, literary references, great guitar work, depressing lyrics with pleasant melodies, excellent bass work, and dark humor. The Morrissey, Marr combination was deadly.

4)       Beth Orton "Pass In Time: The Definitive Collection". There is a synergy between her voice and the songwriting that moves me to a place of unbelievable appreciation for the world.

5)       The Eurythmics "Touch." Annie Lennox has an incredible voice and Dave Stewart writes great music. Combine these elements with an 80's sense of exploration and you get one of the best works of the decade.

6)       Rush "Chronicles". I suppose there are those who mock this band, but few groups are as proficient with their instruments, as thoughtful with their lyrics, and as able to rock out as this group. If you doubt me, listen to the song "Subdivisions" and remember that only three people are in the band.

7)       Fleetwood Mac "Greatest Hits". Maybe you feel that greatest hits records are cheating, but I don't. Besides, this is my list, and I could have been evil and picked favorite songs, which would be even longer. Besides, the Mac has lots of great work, this just happens to have most of the stuff I like. Fleetwood Mac is an instance when all members of the band seem to work well together. This is all the more surprising when you consider all of the pairings that had occurred between band members. I think their work represents the best of the 70s: an undefined feeling of love that snuck out of the 60s, fantasy, good harmonies, a focus on sexual and romantic love, and drama. Besides, Lindsey Buckingham's guitar playing kicks ass, as does Stevie's voice.

8)       John Adams "Century Rolls" with Emanuel Ax on piano. Contemporary classical music can be powerful and nuanced, and this album manages to do both so well that I became interested in the genre from just this album alone.

9)       Zero 7 "Simple Things". I love electronic music, but this album managed to take electronica and fuse it to soul and R&B. The results, thanks to a trio of amazing singers, are satisfying.

10)   Richard Thompson "Mirror Blue". Acclaimed by many to be the best songwriter working in popular music, Richard Thompson is a genius at his art. He is an amazing guitar player, a writer of wonderful dramatic monologues, and a really clever fellow. If you don't know his work then you don't understand how good popular/folk music can be in the hands of a master.

11)   R.E.M "Murmur". Though I don't always know what Stipe is singing, I want to. And I certainly love their sound at this early point in their career. Here is an anecdote that makes my point: Traveling back from a conference with friends we were discussing music and tried to come up with bands that anyone we knew had to like, otherwise the friendship would always be flawed. Everyone in the car picked R.E.M., and this album is the one for me.

Top Films (More than 11, but less than 20)

French:

Jeunet & Caro's "The City of Lost Children". A visually stunning adult fairy tale of a film, replete with a Lolita complex, existential crises, and interesting explorations of the postmodern condition.

Mathieu Kassovitz's "La Haine".  I have never seen racism, urbanization, and poverty explored as naturalistically. This film seems to predict the somewhat recent Paris riots, and packs such a visceral charge that it will stop your breath.

French & Polish:

Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Red". Kieslowski, though Polish, worked in France; his three colors trilogy is an exploration of the French flag, or rather the qualities that those colors represent. Red is fraternity, or brotherhood, which is interestingly and abstractly explored in the film. This movie concludes with one of the most haunting visuals I know. I also love the Beckettesque quality to the narrative.

German:

Wim Wenders' "Wings of Desire". A minimalist masterpiece about the lives of angels who covet the mortal experience. Thematically and visually captivating.

English:

Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead". The wittiest film of which I know. Great dialogue, wonderful acting, and intelligent humor make this movie pure brilliance.

Ukraine:

Leonid Boyko and Vyacheslav Krishtofovich's "Priyatel Pokoynika" [A Friend of the Deceased]. A gripping narrative about the transition from socialism to capitalism in the Ukraine. The existential question and issues of moral responsibility are brought together in this film very impressively.

Italian:

Michelangelo Antonioni's "L'Avventura". When I saw this film in college it changed my life and my appreciation of film. Antonioni uses such a poignant visual language that his meanings come as much from the images as the sparse dialogue. Simply beautiful to watch, but disquieting.

American:

Jim Jarmusch's "Dead Man". The apogee of the revisionist western; Jarmusch nicely problematizes westward expansion in these 121 minutes. Staring Johnny Depp and Gary Farmer, with music by Neil Young, and cameos by all manner of famous folk, how can it not be good?

Martin Ritt's "Hud". Another take on the western, this time set in Texas in the early 60s. Paul Newman is at his best here, and the supporting cast is more than equal to his efforts. Beautiful cinematography, great dialogue, and unflinching in its tight focus on the tensions caused by differences in generations and the meaning of forgiveness.

Robert Redford's "A River Runs Through It". Redford captures Norman Maclean's poetic language, from which the story is taken, and his love of Montana scenery. A WASPish film, but in the best sense. If you don't like Brad Pitt, you may end up changing your opinion after watching this film.

Walt Disney's "Fantasia". The original film was meant to explore the connections between sound and image, and did so, albeit in a formulaic 40s era manner. Still, I fell in love with some of the segments as a child, and I still hold them dear to this day.

Steven Soderbergh's "Sex, Lies, and Videotape". A compelling tale of romantic and sexual dysfunction in the American context. One of the highlights of my freshman year at college was seeing this film.

Lisa Cholodenko's "High Art". A moving examination of the intertwined dangers of ambition and attraction. Ally Sheedy's performance is remarkable.

Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now". Connections between brutality, horror, humanity, war, and allegiance are intensely explored. I know of no person who does not remember something from this film. It may have been a nightmare to film, but the results are anything but.