Firm Foundations

I suspect that I will find films, books and music a key source of new delights worthy of mention here; therefore I thought it would make sense to start with some historic/persistent favourites, in order that we all know where I am coming from. Who knows, I may even pick one of these from time to time and dive a bit deeper to articulate why it makes the cut, just in case you might like it too… but I’ll start with a brief summary for now.

Top 32* Films

As my family and friends will testify, film is one of my obsessions. I think that the reason is the ability to immerse oneself in a self-contained story for a couple of hours, whether identifying with the protagonists or not, perhaps feeling the resonances with real life and sometimes just wallowing in the imagery or technical skill in the telling.

Broadly speaking, here I have chosen films that I have watched multiple times already, and would be happy to see again at any time, and to recommend to others. I am aware that this excludes many “great films” but, frankly, if I don’t feel the need to see something a second time then for me that puts it on a different list. Also, ones that are too new I have deliberately excluded, on the grounds that I will know in due course when and whether they have made “the list” – but it’s currently too early to tell. As such, I may well revise this post from time to time!

For now, I would cite the following:

The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973) **
The Man Who Fell to Earth (Nicolas Roeg, 1976)
Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
Rollerball (Norman Jewison, 1975)
Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)
Get Carter (Mike Hodges, 1971)
Serenity (Joss Whedon, 2005)
The Warriors (Walter Hill, 1979)
The Matrix (The Wachowskis, 1999)
Hero (Yimou Zhang, 2002)
Point Blank (John Boorman, 1967)
Mad Max 2 (George Miller, 1981)
For a Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone, 1965)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Terry Gilliam & Terry Jones, 1975)
Theatre of Blood (Douglas Hickox, 1973)
The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984)
Heathers (Michael Lehmann, 1988)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (Michael Curtiz & William Keighley, 1938)
Underworld (Len Wiseman, 2003)
The Long Good Friday (John Mackenzie, 1980)
Harold and Maude (Hal Ashby, 1971)
Hanna (Joe Wright, 2011)
Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)
Captain Blood (Michael Curtiz, 1935)
The Draughtsman’s Contract (Peter Greenaway, 1982)
Twelve Monkeys (Terry Gilliam, 1995)
Secretary (Steven Shainberg, 2002)
Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001)
The Harder They Come (Perry Henzell, 1973)
The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987)
Forbidden Planet (Fred Wilcox, 1956)
The Producers (Mel Brooks, 1968)

(* This may sound like a strange number, but I’m a binary fan…)

(** A purist might say that the title should be enough, but with all the (pointless) remakes around I thought it would be safer to be explicit.)

Top 16 Books

In contrast to my approach to film, I almost never re-read fiction. Firstly, life is just too short and there are so many books out there; and secondly I like the element of discovery – once I know the ending it removes that dimension. (I know you’re thinking “why does that not apply to films as well?” – but I don’t know!) Thus, while I will shamelessly recommend these to others – perhaps years after I should have realised that it was no longer appropriate – these are all “first impressions” for me.

NB though, often these will be my view of a “best book” from an author where I have read pretty much everything… so feel free to extrapolate.

Fiction

Dhalgren (Samuel R Delany)
Excession (Iain M Banks)
Don’t Point That Thing at Me (Kyril Bonfiglioli)
Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
The Food Chain (Geoff Nicholson)
Cryptonomicon (Neal Stephenson)
Altered Carbon (Richard Morgan)
The Fan Man (William Kotzwinkle)
Thus Was Adonis Murdered (Sarah Caudwell)
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (Douglas Adams)

Non-Fiction

Non Zero (Robert Wright)
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 (Hunter S Thompson)
Fuzzy Thinking (Bart Kosko)
Emergence (Steven Johnson)
Amusing Ourselves to Death (Neil Postman)
Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak-Catchers (Tom Wolfe)

Music

In my younger days, the single was the calling card, but the album was “the thing” to which one graduated in order to signal allegiance. Quite apart from the additional investment required, being seen with a copy of a cool album under one’s arm was a significant mark. Even then, though, few albums actually worked as complete entities – rather devolving into two or three (or even just one) killer tracks and a residue of filler.

These days, of course, the song is once again not just the appetiser but often the main course also, with attendant video. I still have lots of albums (and CDs) but rarely play any all the way through. And where we used to make mixtapes we now generate and circulate playlists.

I’ll admit to a new problem, though, in that many familiar songs play in my head as soon as I think of them – removing the need to actually listen! I’m not sure how common this is, but it means that I now react very well to “new good stuff”, and can often listen on heavy repeat before the internal player kicks in. As such, what follows is somewhat a “point in time” view.

This makes choosing a “best of” list very hard. Suffice to say that it would feature many tracks from the Ramones, T.Rex and the Sex Pistols, plus regular appearances from ABBA, Lily Allen, Alter Bridge, Atomic Kitten, Beau Brummels, Blondie, Blue Oyster Cult, Bowie, Kate Bush, Cash Brothers, Leonard Cohen, Elvis Costello, Cure, Divine Comedy, Dropkick Murphys, Echo & the Bunnymen, Caro Emerald, Erasure, Eurythmics, Paloma Faith, Flaming Groovies, The Flaming Stars, Florence and the Machine, Green Day, Human League, Iggy Pop, Jesus and Mary Chain, Elton John, Kraftwerk, Lady Gaga, Led Zeppelin, Madonna, Melodians, Mink DeVille, Monkees, Moses, Muse, Pet Shop Boys, Pink Floyd, Pogues, Public Image Ltd, Queen, Rezillos, Shangri-Las, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Sparks, The The, Frank Turner, Ultravox!, Undertones, U2, Velvet Underground, Wreckless Eric, Yazoo and Ylvis.

These would be complemented by one-off entries where I have effectively invested all my attention in one song by that artist – for example:

All of My Heart – ABC
All or Nothing – Small Faces
Amsterdam – Jacques Brel
At Home – Crystal Fighters
Ballad of Lucy Jordan – Marianne Faithfull
Band of Gold – Freda Payne
Be The One – Dua Lipa
Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
Candy – Paolo Nutini
Clearest Blue – Chvrches
Cups – Anna Kendrick
Common People – Pulp
Dance the Night Away – Mavericks
Death of the European – The Three Johns
Desolation Row – Bob Dylan
Fields of Fire – Big Country
Final Day – Young Marble Giants
Four Seasons in One Day – Crowded House
Freak Scene – Dinosaur Jr
I Drove All Night – Cyndi Lauper
I Fought The Law – Bobby Fuller Four
I Feel Love – Donna Summer
If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next – Manic Street Preachers
I’m Gonna Be – Proclaimers
I’m Still Waiting – Diana Ross
I’m Yours – Jason Mraz
In Dreams – Roy Orbison
Kiss Me – Sixpence None the Richer
Last Resort – Eagles
Like a Hurricane – Neil Young
Lonely Spy – Lori and the Chameleons
Motherless Children – Eric Clapton
Not Too Soon – Throwing Muses
Paradise – George Ezra
Pssyche – Killing Joke
Question – Moody Blues
Revolutionary Spirit – Wild Swans
She Will Be Loved – Maroon 5
Ship Song – Nick Cave
Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors – Editors
Song to the Siren – This Mortal Coil
Soul Happy Hour – Jazz Butcher
Sound of Silence – Disturbed
Story of the Blues – Wah
St Trinians Chant – Girls Aloud
Torn – Natalie Imbruglia
Trouble is a Friend – Lenka
Truly Madly Deeply – Savage Garden
Welcome to the Black Parade – My Chemical Romance
What’s Up? – 4 Non Blondes
When We Die – Bowling for Soup
Where Were You? – Mekons
White Flag – Dido
White Man in Hammersmith Palais – Clash

Top 4 Equations

As a mathematically-inclined physicist, I have to admit a fondness for the fundamental purity of Maths – but some Physics equations are just as beautiful.