A general list of my favourites in various fields of human endeavour.
Movies
Apart from Casablanca, which has long been my most favourite film, and Life of Brian (indisputably my favourite comedy), the following are in no particular order.
Casablanca (1942) – I may never know what it is about this movie that just gets me. Is it it Bogie? The chemistry between him and Bergman? The inestimable Peter Lorre? I just can’t put my finger on it. Whatever ‘it’ is, it works for me.
Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979) – simply, far and away, the funniest movie ever made. In this one the Python boys managed to put together a bunch of hilarious skits with a convincing narrative structure.
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) – Frank Capra at his funniest! I don’t think Cary Grant was ever funnier.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) – director Frank Capra at his pontifical best. That scene where George Bailey (the Jimmy Stewart character), while on the phone to a friend, realises he is in love with his brother’s sweetheart, Mary (Donna Reed), as she stands right next to him, is for me one of the most poignant and genuine in all of movie history.
Dirty Harry (1971) – No doubt it’s not PC to admit loving this Clint Eastwood gem, but man, it’s good. The final scene, as the killer realises Harry is standing on the railway bridge, waiting for the bus to pass underneath, is right up there.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) – not too far behind Life of Brian; I’ve always found the narrative to be less convincing than that of LoB, but otherwise, the humourous skits are just as priceless.
Sudden Impact (1983) – Almost on a par with Dirty Harry, and I reckon it’s the second best of the five DH films. Pity it involves the pale and strange Sondra Locke, but there you go – you can’t have everything.Unforgiven (1992) – the Western to end all Westerns – what more could be done after this? A stellar cast and an amazingly, brutally honest plot make for a fantastic cinematic experience.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – I would never be caught dead reading a Stephen King horror novel – I hate horror movies – but I can handle some of the movies made from King’s books! This is the classic example.
The Green Mile (1999) – Almost as good as Shawshank – if only it was a little shorter. (I’m not a fan of watching 3 hour long movies on uncomfortable cinema seats.)
Sideways (2004) – Wow – an American movie that doesn’t definitely climax with a happy ending! How on earth did Paul Giamatti get overlooked for a Best Actor Oscar nomination for this role, while Thomas Haden Church got nominated for Best Supporting Actor? There’s a travesty that’s almost up there on a par with Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth) getting beaten by Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love).
Books
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien – far and away my favourite work.
The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien – the introduction to the whole of Tolkien’s “legendarium.” Now if only somebody would film some of the bits out of this: Beren and Luthien, the Children of Hurin, the Nírnaeth Arnoediad, for instance.
The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis – books written and intended for children, so they can’t match the power of Tolkien, but certainly among my most favourite of books in the children’s fantasy genre.
The Stones of Power/Jerusalem Man books, by David Gemmell. Probably the best of Gemmell’s work, and Jon Shannow, the Jerusalem Man, is definitely the best character Gemmell created.
The Waylander series, by David Gemmell. I love Gemmell’s spare, unflinchingly honest, unsentimental writing style. I am so angry at him for dying in 2006 simply because he couldn’t bring himself to give up smoking…
The Rigante series, by David Gemmell. Probably not quite up to the standard of the Jerusalem Man series, but not bad.
The Dragons of Pern series, by Ann McCaffrey. In particular the earliest 5 or 6 books in this series were superbly created and realised fantasy/science fiction. More recent efforts, while quite good, just have that feeling of having been written simply to make more money out of a successful, on-going concern – especially now that son Todd McCaffrey has been anointed to take on the Pernese mantle.
The Dumarest series, by E.C. Tubb. Strange, I’ll admit, but I’ve loved this series all my adult life. The adventures of wanderer Earl Dumarest as he travels through the galaxy, trying to find his lost homeworld, Earth, are full captivating. I stopped reading these at book number 23 over a decade ago, when I could find no more for sale – but I’ve just discovered that about 7 more were published that I’ve never seen, including a final book, The Return, that wraps up the series. Gotta get my hands on them…
Foundation’s Edge, by Isaac Asimov. Most Asimov I find wordy and boring, but this one, one of his last works, broke the mould.
Foundation and Earth, by Isaac Asimov. Wasn’t it fantastic when Trevise, Pelorat and Bliss actually met Daneel Olivaw, the 30,000-year-old robot, at last?
The original Conan stories, by Robert E. Howard. Just damned good, rollicking adventure stories, and much better than any Conan stories written by the lesser authors that followed in Howard’s footsteps. What a pity that Howard had a screw loose, and turned out to be such a Momma’s Boy!
Music – Songs
The top 5 are all-time favourites, although I like a heap of other songs almost as much, most of them listed here.
Hey Jude, by The Beatles. Still my favourite of favourites.
Counting the Beat, by The Swingers
Siren, by The Divinyls
Hanging on the Telephone, by Blondie
What I Like About You, by The Romantics
Bittersweet Symphony, by The Verve
Pump It Up, by Elvis Costello
The Honeymoon Is Over, by The Cruel Sea
Just What I Needed, by The Cars
Suite Judy Blue Eyes, by Crosby Stills and Nash
Already Gone, by The Eagles
Rock On, by David Essex
Albatross, by Fleetwood Mac
Oh Well, Part 1, by Fleetwood Mac
An Englishman in New York, by Godley and Creme
Once Bitten Twice Shy, by Ian Hunter
The Wanton Song, by Led Zeppelin
Fly Away, by Lenny Kravitz
I Alone, by Live
Saint Joe on the School Bus, by Marcy Playground
Love, Thy Will Be Done, by Martika
Heart-Shaped Box, by Nirvana
Bullet With Butterfly Wings, by The Smashing Pumpkins
Nobody Takes Me Seriously, by Split Enz
Darktown Strutters Ball, by The Ted Mulry Gang
Music – Musicians
In all these cases, I tend to like a few works by the singer or band, not their whole catalogue. In the case of the first three bands on the list, I just happen to like more of their works.
The Beatles
Fleetwood Mac
Led Zeppelin
AC/DC
Badfinger
Billy Joel
Cheap Trick
Cold Chisel
Collective Soul
Crosby Stills and Nash (and Young)
The Cure
Deep Purple
Dire Straits
The Eagles
Electric Light Orchestra
Elton John (early work only)
Genesis
Godley and Creme
Good Charlotte
Green Day
INXS
Jackson Browne
Limp Bizkit
Neil Young
Nirvana
The Offspring
Paul McCartney and Wings
Peter Gabriel
The Police
Powderfinger
Queen
Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rolling Stones
Seals and Crofts
Simple Minds
Skyhooks
Slade
The Smashing Pumpkins
Split Enz
Status Quo
Steely Dan
Suzi Quatro
The Sweet
Talking Heads
Tears for Fears
Todd Rundgren
Toto
U2
Warren Zevon
The White Stripes
ZZ Top
Artists
Honoré Daumier (1808-79) – Realist and caricaturist
Michelangelo (1475-1564) – High Renaissance master
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) – Post-impressionist
Caravaggio (1571-1610) – Baroque
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) – Post-impressionist
Claude Monet (1840-1926) – Impressionist
Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) – Post-impressionist sculptor
Art Works
Painting
The Arnolfini Portrait,(Jan van Eyck, 1434)
Sistine Chapel ceiling (Michelangelo, 1508-12)
The Last Judgement (Michelangelo, 1534-41)
The Nude Maja (Francisco Goya, CA. 1800)
The Third of May (Francisco Goya, 1808)
La Grande Odalisque (Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, 1814)
The Raft of the Medusa (Théodore Géricault, 1819)
Death of Sardanapalus (Eugène Delacroix, 1827)
Louise de Broglie, Contesse d’Haussonville (Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, 1845)
Don Quixote series (Honoré Daumier, 1860s-70s)
The Third Class Wagon (Daumier, 1864)
Lunch on the Grass (Le déjeuner sur l’herbe) (Édouard Manet, 1863)
Olympia (Édouard Manet, 1863)
The Origin of the World (L’Origine du monde) (Gustave Courbet, 1866)
The Railway (Édouard Manet, 1872)
Most of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings, I guess, especially landscapes (1880-90)
A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (Le Bar aux Folies-Bergère) (Édouard Manet, 1882)
Montagne Sainte-Victoire paintings (Paul Cézanne, 1882-1906)
The Cardplayers (Paul Cézanne, 1892)
At the Moulin Rouge (Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1892-5)
Various works depicting elongated people by Amadeo Modigliani
Various gold-encrusted works by Gustav Klimt
Various surrealist works by Rene Magritte
Sculpture
David (Michelangelo, 1504)
Moses (Michelangelo, 1513-15)
Ratapoil (Honoré Daumier, ca. 1850)
The Little Dancer of 14 Years (Edgar Degas, ca. 1881)
The Age of Bronze (Auguste Rodin, 1877)
The Thinker (Rodin, 1880-1904)
The Burghers of Calais (Rodin, 1884-9)
The Gates of Hell (Rodin, 1880-1917)
Architecture
The Step Pyramid of King Djoser (Imhotep, 2630-2611 B.C.)
Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza (2580-2560 B.C.)
Pantheon, Rome (ca. 125 A.D.)
St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome (1506-1626)
Eglise du Dome, Les Invalides (Jules Hardouin Mansart, 1680-1708)
Arc de Triomphe (Jean Chalgrin, 1806-36)
Eiffel Tower (Gustave Eiffel, 1887-9)
Tarong Power House, Queensland (completed 1986)
Gateway Bridge, Brisbane, Queensland (1980-86)
Magdeburg Water Bridge (2003) – a water bridge crossing over the top of the Elbe River in Germany
Millau Viaduct (2004) – a sublime piece of bridge construction in southern France by British architect Sir Norman Foster
Scampus 