Top 10 Favorite: Music, Movies

[bSquirrel]

Nothing tells you more about a person than his (her) preference in music and movies. Given that, let's do this desert island style

What, in order, are the 10 songs you would put on the only playlist you would have on a desert island and would never get sick of

if you like, you can do 10 albums/artists also or instead, but CDs seem kinda outdated now

and your 10 favorite movies (in order or no, I personally can't do an ordered list of movies, but I was a film major)


Also optional: give alternate lists of your actual favorites and another with ones that are just fun (like Army of Darkness--goes on any top ten list, but not because it is a superlative masterpiece like The Seven Samurai.

My lists:

Music:
1. The Decemberists
2. Oasis
3. Foo Fighters
4. REM
5. Dispatch
6. Death Cab for Cutie
7. Jeff Buckley (but only Hallelujah, I dont love his other stuff, but that song is, imho, the best ever written)
7. Tied with Jeff Buckley because I like his one song as much as I like their aggregated works: Guster
to throw some variety in the mix
8. 2pac
9. Dmitri Vhorostovsky
10. Johnny Cash


Movies:
Best of the Best (in no order)

FOREIGN:
WESTERN:
City of God
The Devil's Backbone
Pan's Labyrinth
400 Blows
The Bicycle Thieves (Ladri Di Bicicletta)
Roma Citta Aperta (Open City I think, I speak Italian so I know their italian names before the english)
Cinema Paradiso
8 1/2
The Grand Illusion

EASTERN:
Seven Samurai
Kagemusha
Rashomon
Hero
Battle Royale
Fearless

HOLLYWOOD/AMERICAN
The Wild Bunch
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Outlaw Josie Wales
Cool Hand Luke
A Clockwork Orange
Fight Club
Trainspotting (I know, made in the UK, but close enough)
Raging Bull
Taxi Driver
Dog Day Afternoon
The Godfather (part 1)
Pulp Fiction
Army of Darkness (cult-classic, gotta love it)
Donnie Darko (I know no one will agree with that)
Serpico
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Fargo
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Gattaca
Memento
Equilibrium
Leon the Professional
The Sting
Se7en
LA Confidential

You know, I could go on forever with this list of movies. I love so many and love them all for such diverse reasons that I'll end my list here. Your turn

 

[SilverFoxKnows]

Music-

Tom Waits
Ani DiFranco
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
PJ Harvey
Bad Religion
Dvorak
Tchaikovsky
Wagner
DJ Tiesto
BT


Movies-

13th Warrior
the Empire Strikes Back
Galaxy Quest
the Road Warrior
Lord of the Rings
Ghost in the Shell
Cowboy Bebop
Watership Down
MirrorMask
Appleseed

 

[silenthunterstudios]

Top ten favorite movies

Empire Strikes Back
Revenge of the Sith
Return of the Jedi
A New Hope
Fellowship of the Ring
Two Towers
Return of the King



Have to include Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, unwatchable drivel is part of my favorite movie mythos.


And last but not least, Danni Ashe!

 

[MEGALON]

Music:

Yes
Gentle Giant
Hatfield & the North
National Health
Henry Cow
Miriodor
Bill Frisell
Vijay Iyer
The Vandermark 5
Steely Dan


Movies:

Can't think of ten movies I actually like.

 

[jthomas]

Music:
Dark Tranquility
Schubert (esp. as done by the Budapest Philharmonic)
TSOL
Rancid
Modest Mouse
Soilwork
The Gathering
Zepplin IV
Thelonius Monk
Art Tatum
Arch Enemy

Movies:
Brazil
Joe v. The Volcano
Jeremiah Johnson
El Mariachi
The Quick and the Dead (L'Amour verson w/ Sam Elliot)
Serenity
Get Shorty
Dust to Glory
The Big Lebowski
Raising Arizona

 

[Cindy Denning]

Music is James McMurty. Movies are Saving Private Ryan

 

[T-BAG]

Music............a Strange Mix I Know !!

Kashmir --led Zeppelin
Time--the Chamber Brothers
Innagodadavida--iron Butterfly
Anything By Beethoven
Anything By Annie Lennox
Go Your Own Way--fleetwood Mac
Frankenstein--edgar Winter
Fingertips Part 2--little Stevie Wonder (when He Was 13)
Topsy Part 1 & 2--cozy Cole
Birth Of The Beat--sandy Nelson
Teenage Wasteland--the Who
I Only Have Eyes For You--the Flamingos (most Romantic Song Ever)

Movies...........another Strange Mix

Amadeus
Bourne Identity
War Of The Worlds (original 1956 Version)
Zulu
King Kong (1933 Version)
One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest
Walk In The Sun
Jaws
Animal House
Watership Down

 

[Danno4017]

In no particular order

Music

Bob Marley
Pink Floyd
Oasis
Burt Bacharach
Cold Play
Cat Stevens

Movies

Predator
Ronin
Heat
Aliens
Where Eagles Dare
Lethal weapon series
Die hard series
A fistfull of Dollars

 

[T-BAG]

In no particular order

Music

Bob Marley
Pink Floyd
Oasis
Burt Bacarach
Cold Play
Cat Stevens

Movies

Predator
Ronin
Heat
Aliens
Where Eagles Dare
Lethal weapon series
Die hard series
A fistfull of Dollars

I forgot Predator....That was a very cool movie for it's time with the invisible alien and the 'to die for' gatling gun carried by Jesse Ventura

 

[Vivi]

Music is hard for me to pin down to just 10. Movies on the other hand, there are very few I've seen that I've enjoyed. To the point where I never watch a movie expecting to like it. I'll do bands rather than songs since the former will be hard enough already.

In no particular order...


Music

-Six Organs Of Admittance
-Tchaikovsky
-Beethoven
-Necrophagist
-Anglagard
-Jethro Tull
-Aesop Rock
-Godspeed You Black Emperor
-Buckethead
-Isis

You could ask me this question a month from now and get a completely different list. So many good artists I could put up there....Opeth, Spastic Ink, Decapitated, Nick Drake, Sigur Ros, Nile, Watchtower, Mozart, Spiral Architect, King Crimson etc. I should use some of the movie slots I know I won't use for more bands.


Movies

-Adaptation
-Memento
-The Cube
-Dances With Wolves
-Pi
-Fear and Loathing
-Elephant

I'm open to suggestions for films I should try out.

 

[BladeWork]

Music:
- Pink Floyd
- U2
- Talking Heads
- Sinatra
- Van Halen (David Lee Roth version please)
- Rage Against the Machine
- Nirvana
- Hole
- Boston Pops
- AC/DC

Movies:
- Gladiator
- Matrix
- Bourne Identity
- Troy
- Airplane!
- Monty Python's Holy Grail
- Drunken Master 2
- War of the Worlds (Non Tom Cruise version)
- Casino Royale
- A Christmas Story

 

[bSquirrel]

Movies

-Adaptation
-Memento
-The Cube
-Dances With Wolves
-Pi
-Fear and Loathing
-Elephant

I'm open to suggestions for films I should try out.

I can see the kind of movie you like. I'll list a couple along those lines, but are you open to foreign films? those on your list are on the more artsy, experimental side of hollywood films.
I've never seen The Cube or Elephant, so these are based on the other ones:

you should see:

from dances with wolves, I take it you like westerns. Here are a couple of the best non-traditional westerns around:
Little Big Man (very cool in the tradition of Dances with Wolves, but came first-1971)
Buck and the Preacher (black western, 1972)
The Wild Bunch – long version – (1969)
Ballad of Little Jo (feminist western, not sure what you would think of it, but it's a very non-traditional western)
Viva Zapata (1952; if you like b&w, it has a young marlon brando)

if the whole non-linear thing doesnt bother you (Memento), you would probably like eternal sunshine of the spotless mind (and you might want to look into michael Gondry films in general, he's the director of some very interesting movies like Being John Malkovich)
I love Requiem for a dream, but it is very dark. Trainspotting is slightly lighter, but on the same subject (Heroin)
I'm sure you've seen American Beauty and Donnie Darko
If you like Pi, you might like Eraserhead
Sneakers is a very hollywood movie, but a good one
Blow, Dead Man, Ninth Gate, Ed Wood-Depp movies I like
Paradise Now
Green Street Hooligans
Boyz N the Hood
Enemy at the Gate
American History X
Arlington Road
Fargo
Ghost Dog-The Way of the Samurai *****(Definitely check this one out. It's about a black hitman who lives by the Samurai's code. Very cool movie)
Igby Goes Down
The Machinist
American Psycho
Matchstick Men (I always think of this and adaptation together)
Mulholland Drive
Se7en (and Fight Club, if you like one you will probably like the other)
the Hudsucker Proxy
The Limey
Vertigo (yup, the hitchcock one.)
Twelve Monkeys
Domino
The Professional (or "Leon the Professional" in other countries)

If you are open to foreign films, I would recomment these:

French New Wave films:
400 Blows (and the other Truffaut movies in the Antoine Doinel series, but start with 400 Blows. The others are: Antoine and Colette, Stolen Kisses, Bed and Board, Love on the Run)
Un Chien Andalou (not sure that one's new wave, but whatever)
The Grand Illusion (Renoir film)

Italian Neorealist films:
Open City (this is one of Rosselini's masterpieces in his series of films about the atrocities of war; they all echo sentiments of hopelessness and unnecessary sacrifices)
Ladri Di Bicicletta (literally, the bicycle thieves. English title is: bicycle thief)
of course 8 1/2 and the other fellini movies
Cinema Paradiso (I will guarantee that you will like this movie. I have never shown it to someone or met anyone who didn't, and I don't discuss film with people who have bad taste [and don't know it; there is of course the type of person who simply doesnt see the art in an art film, and prefers movies to be light and entertaining. As long as you know which you are, your opinions are valid. And of course, you don't have to agree with me for me to consider your taste good, so long as you can coherently defend yourself with something more insightful than "it sucks. If you liked it, your probably just an idiot"])

Some japanese films:
anything by kurosawa. I dont know many other japanese directors, but I simply love all of his movies that I have seen: Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Kagemusha, Throne of Blood, etc.

Chunking Express (or the Hong Kong Express, or Chung Hing Sam Lam; an excellent Wong Kar-Wai film, in Chinese)

Spanish language/portugese
The Devil's Backbone
Pan's Labyrinth
City of God
Motorcycle Diaries
Maria Full of Grace

Russian
Day Watch
Night Watch

an indian film:
Awaara (not many good indian movies available in the states, but this is one of the best)

That's all I've got for the moment, but it should be enough suggestions to keep you busy for a long while :thumbup:

 

[James Y]

Favorite movies

American/European:
1. Excalibur (Britain) 1981
2. Carrie ( original 1976 version)
3. Suspiria (Italy/Germany) 1977
4. Saturday Night Fever (1977)
5. Stand By Me (1986)
6. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (Italy) 1966
7. Goodfellas (1990)
8. Thunderball (Britain) 1965
9. Rob Roy (Britain) 1995
10. A Hard Day's Night (Britain) 1964
11. The Haunting (original 1963 version)
12. Top Secret (1984)
13. The Client (1994)
14. Dawn of the Dead (original 1978 version)

Japanese
1. Judo Saga (Kurosawa's 1st? effort still extant) 1949?
2. Lone Wolf and Cub (series) 1972-76
3. Twilight Samurai 2002(?)
4. Seven Samurai (1954)
5. Marebito (2004)
6. The Killing Machine (a.k.a., Shorinji Kempo) 1975
7. Infection (2004)
8. Gozu (2002?)
9. The Street Fighter (1974)
10. The Returner (2002)

Chinese
1. Shaolin Martial Arts (1974)
2. Heroes Two (1974)
3. Martial Club (1981)
4. The Kid from Kwangtung (1982)
5. Men From the Monastery (1974)
6. Five Shaolin Masters (1975)
7. So Close (2002)
8. Wheels on Meals (1984)
9. The Prodigal Son (1981)
10 The Pedicab Driver (1989)
11. 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)
12. Executioner From Shaolin (1977)
13. Invincible Armour (1977)
14. The Loot (1979)

Ok., I know Iwent over ten each!
Jim

 

[bSquirrel]

Favorite movies

American/European:
1. Excalibur (Britain) 1981
2. Carrie ( original 1976 version)
3. Suspiria (Italy/Germany) 1977
4. Saturday Night Fever (1977)
5. Stand By Me (1986)
6. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (Italy) 1966
7. Goodfellas (1990)
8. Thunderball (Britain) 1965
9. Rob Roy (Britain) 1995
10. A Hard Day's Night (Britain) 1964
11. The Haunting (original 1963 version)
12. Top Secret (1984)
13. The Client (1994)
14. Dawn of the Dead (original 1978 version)

Japanese
1. Judo Saga (Kurosawa's 1st? effort still extant) 1949?
2. Lone Wolf and Cub (series) 1972-76
3. Twilight Samurai 2002(?)
4. Seven Samurai (1954)
5. Marebito (2004)
6. The Killing Machine (a.k.a., Shorinji Kempo) 1975
7. Infection (2004)
8. Gozu (2002?)
9. The Street Fighter (1974)
10. The Returner (2002)

Chinese
1. Shaolin Martial Arts (1974)
2. Heroes Two (1974)
3. Martial Club (1981)
4. The Kid from Kwangtung (1982)
5. Men From the Monastery (1974)
6. Five Shaolin Masters (1975)
7. So Close (2002)
8. Wheels on Meals (1984)
9. The Prodigal Son (1981)
10 The Pedicab Driver (1989)
11. 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)
12. Executioner From Shaolin (1977)
13. Invincible Armour (1977)
14. The Loot (1979)

Ok., I know Iwent over ten each!
Jim

That's a good list. Glad to see some I didn't think of, and even a few I haven't seen

 

[Vivi]

I can see the kind of movie you like. I'll list a couple along those lines, but are you open to foreign films? those on your list are on the more artsy, experimental side of hollywood films.
I've never seen The Cube or Elephant, so these are based on the other ones:

That would make sense...even in films that have decent plots, things like predictable story progression, unnatural and cliché dialog, generic acting and other problems I see plaguing most US movies really keep me from enjoying them.

The Cube was a movie based on a group of characters chosen at random to be placed in a maze filled with deadly traps. They have to figure out their role, how to survive the traps and how to escape. I liked it for it's fairly believable acting (Though the dialog gets too scripted feeling often) and intense focus on the psychological reaction each character has to the situation.

Elephant was based on the Columbine shootings. I enjoyed it because the setting and acting were so believable that watching the movie made me feel like I was in highschool again. In addition, it had very little dialog and seemed to work with empty spaces a lot throughout the film in creative ways, both with vision and sound. Good choice of music as well.

you should see:

from dances with wolves, I take it you like westerns. Here are a couple of the best non-traditional westerns around:
Little Big Man (very cool in the tradition of Dances with Wolves, but came first-1971)
Buck and the Preacher (black western, 1972)
The Wild Bunch – long version – (1969)
Ballad of Little Jo (feminist western, not sure what you would think of it, but it's a very non-traditional western)
Viva Zapata (1952; if you like b&w, it has a young marlon brando)

I'd be interested in some more western-themed movies. I've enjoyed a couple, but Dances was the only one that really stuck out to me. I liked it because I really connected with the main character and his desires to see the frontier before it was gone. I wish I had his opportunity. I also like seeing general mundane life portrayed as it once was, little things like eating, bathing, shaving, talking etc. I'm not so much into gunslinger types of movies, where the focus is on good vs evil, shoot-outs or things of those nature. I'll look into those suggestions.

if the whole non-linear thing doesnt bother you (Memento), you would probably like eternal sunshine of the spotless mind (and you might want to look into michael Gondry films in general, he's the director of some very interesting movies like Being John Malkovich)
I love Requiem for a dream, but it is very dark. Trainspotting is slightly lighter, but on the same subject (Heroin)
I'm sure you've seen American Beauty and Donnie Darko
If you like Pi, you might like Eraserhead
Sneakers is a very hollywood movie, but a good one
Blow, Dead Man, Ninth Gate, Ed Wood-Depp movies I like
Paradise Now
Green Street Hooligans
Boyz N the Hood
Enemy at the Gate
American History X
Arlington Road
Fargo
Ghost Dog-The Way of the Samurai *****(Definitely check this one out. It's about a black hitman who lives by the Samurai's code. Very cool movie)
Igby Goes Down
The Machinist
American Psycho
Matchstick Men (I always think of this and adaptation together)
Mulholland Drive
Se7en (and Fight Club, if you like one you will probably like the other)
the Hudsucker Proxy
The Limey
Vertigo (yup, the hitchcock one.)
Twelve Monkeys
Domino
The Professional (or "Leon the Professional" in other countries)

I enjoyed Eternal Sunshine, been a while since Iw atched it to it's hard for me to remember what about it didn't sit well with me. It seemed like certain ideas presented were underdeveloped and others were more dumbed down than they should of been. A good film overall, but one that just felt held back by the overall presentation. Being John Malkovich gave me the same feeling. Good ideas floating around, just not presented in the most ideal way or elaborated upon as deeply as I would of liked. I'll check out Trainspotting, because Requiem wasn't bad. I thought it was kind of overrated though. It had some good camera angles and other good film work, but the story felt kind of empty. It boiled down to watching a few different people go through their own addictions and how it affected them. The thing I didn't like about it is it seemed excessive. Real addictions, the affects seem to be more subtle. I've watched many people in my life go through various types of addictions and seen the negative consequences, and the portrayal in Requiem just seemed a little too extreme compared to my own experiences.

American History X was another I felt was overrated, and never really established concrete points. It was kind of like Requiem to me in that it showed the consequences a racist mindset could have, but used an extreme example for shock value rather than just showing the subtlety reality would generally offer. It also didn't really offer any new ideas that I hadn't thought of myself, such as the self-destructive nature of these ideologies and the violent paths they can lead to. Se7en felt too Hollywood for me. Same as many of these movies, some good points, but it felt too cliché and simplified in its presentation. Gives me the feeling that if it were based on a book, the book was probably a lot better. I get this feeling a lot from movies.

Fight Club was a mixed bag for me. It presents many ideas I connect with personally and many themes which needed to be brought to the mainstream for consideration. It remained pretty faithful to the book, right down to the overall attitude of the film. There were just so many ideas which could of been elaborated on so much more that never were, but the film was only working with what the book offered I suppose. The ending (Both the movie and book versions) felt pretty anti-climatic as well. Good flick overall though, some of the settings were very well done, such as Tylers house, and the acting overall left me delighted rather than annoyed. The Professional was good, another one of the few movies I liked. The characters in their everyday lives seemed more real than they do in many other movies I've seen, even if scenarios toward the end were given a Hollywood treatment. I enjoyed Portman's acting in this movie more than anything else she's done.

If you are open to foreign films, I would recomment these:

French New Wave films:
400 Blows (and the other Truffaut movies in the Antoine Doinel series, but start with 400 Blows. The others are: Antoine and Colette, Stolen Kisses, Bed and Board, Love on the Run)
Un Chien Andalou (not sure that one's new wave, but whatever)
The Grand Illusion (Renoir film)

Italian Neorealist films:
Open City (this is one of Rosselini's masterpieces in his series of films about the atrocities of war; they all echo sentiments of hopelessness and unnecessary sacrifices)
Ladri Di Bicicletta (literally, the bicycle thieves. English title is: bicycle thief)
of course 8 1/2 and the other fellini movies
Cinema Paradiso (I will guarantee that you will like this movie. I have never shown it to someone or met anyone who didn't, and I don't discuss film with people who have bad taste [and don't know it; there is of course the type of person who simply doesnt see the art in an art film, and prefers movies to be light and entertaining. As long as you know which you are, your opinions are valid. And of course, you don't have to agree with me for me to consider your taste good, so long as you can coherently defend yourself with something more insightful than "it sucks. If you liked it, your probably just an idiot"])

Some japanese films:
anything by kurosawa. I dont know many other japanese directors, but I simply love all of his movies that I have seen: Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Kagemusha, Throne of Blood, etc.

Chunking Express (or the Hong Kong Express, or Chung Hing Sam Lam; an excellent Wong Kar-Wai film, in Chinese)

Spanish language/portugese
The Devil's Backbone
Pan's Labyrinth
City of God
Motorcycle Diaries
Maria Full of Grace

Russian
Day Watch
Night Watch

an indian film:
Awaara (not many good indian movies available in the states, but this is one of the best)

That's all I've got for the moment, but it should be enough suggestions to keep you busy for a long while :thumbup:

More than open to foreign films, the US market leaves much, much to be desired. Thank you very much for such a comprehensive list of suggestions, I'll definitely be looking in to what you've listed for me.

Also, might as well do a new top ten music list, seeing as my tastes are different since I did my last list.

-Charles Mingus
-Weather Report
-Tangerine Dream
-Six Organs Of Admittance
-Anglagard
-Spastic Ink
-Sun Ra
-Watchtower
-Atheist
-Demilich

 

[Jamesh Bond]

Movies:
Batman Begins
Batman (1989)
Batman Returns
Silent Hill
The Professional
The Bourne Identity
The Shining (Jack Nicholson)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
V for Vendetta
The Silence of the Lambs


Music:
Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill)
Danny Elfman
Metallica (NOT St. Anger, for the love of God!)
Murderdolls
Eminem
Rammstein
Beethoven
Bach
AFI
The Fifth Element soundtrack

I know I'm gonna remember others I would have picked instead of some of these! Lists like this are impossible to think of off the top of your head!

 

[James Y]

I guess for music, I will make a general list of groups or composers I favor.

Composers: (soundtracks)
Ennio Morricone: The Big Gundown; Good, Bad, and Ugly; A Fistful of Dollars/For a Few Dollars More; The Return of Ringo; Death Rides a Horse; The Mission; Once Upon a Time in the West; A Hired Gun (Il Mercenario).

Pino Donaggio(sp?) Carrie.


Marvin Hamlisch: The Spy Who Loved Me.

Groups:

The Beatles, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Jim Croce, Steely Dan. There's groups I can't think of the names right now, I've known them most of my life! (I never owned many CDs). For some reason at this moment their names escape me. I hate it when you can't remember a name that
you KNOW that you know.
Jim

 

[WA Martin]

Music or Groups:

Signature Sound Quartet
Harmony Sound Quartet
Legacy 5
Greater Vision
Alan Jackson (Hymns CD)
Chuck Wagon Gang
Kingsmen
Young Street Vocal Band
Third Tyme Out
Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder

Movies:

The Magnificent Seven
Monster's Inc
Incredibles
Second Hand Lions
Open Range
Monte Walsh
The Cowboys
Facing the Giants
Shawshank Redemption
El Dorado

 

[jester]

Hm, let's see, movies:

fight club
pulp fiction
12 monkeys
american history x
matrix 1
trainspotting
american beauty
the fifth element
seven
blues brothers
terminator 1
Kill Bill
snatch
animal house
angel heart
taxi driver
shining
christine

If i would have to decide for 10 songs, it would probably be 10 songs by Depeche Mode, so i go with bands / singers:

Depeche Mode
REM
Madrugada
Sinead O'Connor
Die Ärzte
The Cure

That's it...

How about books?

 

[brewthunda]

Stuck on a desert island? I don't think it matters what you pick, you're going to get sick of it. And I'm a big movie and music nut.

Seven Samurai? Holy crap, how many times do you think you could watch that? It's hard enough to sit through it once.

I'd want a couple of mix tapes of random reggae and classical. For movies? Porn. Oh, and the Blues Brothers and Repo Man.