A good friend is going away for 6 months to a place where he won’t easily be able to acquire entertainment. He asked me to suggest a list of Movies, TV, and other entertainment that he will be able to take with him. It isn’t all that dissimilar from the standard desert island parlor game, but in this case, one isn’t limited to a single object. (As an aside, the AP asked the presidential candidates what they would bring on a desert island. Tom Tancredo scored big points by saying “A boat”).
So the tough part, of course, isn’t just figuring out what movies, music, or TV you like, but what would you be less likely to get sick of. So while I love “The Office,” I don’t know that I need to see the same shows over and over again. Luckily my friend doesn’t get a lot of time to watch TV or go to the movies, so these six months might give him time to pick on essentials that he might have missed.
So here’s the list of movies, in no particular order, that I came up with:
- The Godfather Parts 1 and 2
- Little Big Man
- Most anything by Pixar
- The Big Lebowski
- O Brother Where Art Thou
- The Lives of Others
- Amelie
- Black Book
- Defending your life
- Diner
- Fargo
- Groundhog Day
- Hudsucker Proxy
- Pulp Fiction
- Local Hero
- The Man who Would be King
- Notes on a Scandal
- The Princess Bride
- Raging Bull
- Shaun of the Dead
For TV shows, I was thinking that DVDs of some classic series would be great:
- The Sopranos
- Six Feet Under
- Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Extras (maybe)
- Band of Brothers
- The Wire (a must!)
- Rescue Me
- The Shield
- Damages
- Lost
- Heroes
- 24
Music is really personal and is very situational dependent, that said, I would be sad if my iPod was devoid of:
- Alison Krausse
- Beatles (duh)
- Bela Fleck
- Bob Marley
- Elvis Costello
- Eva Cassidy
- Hazmat Modine
- Joe Grushecky
- Joe Jackson
- John Hiatt
- Lucinda Williams
- Nickel Creek
- Teddy Thompson!!!
- The Who