Phil's Top Ten Lists (05/04/23) Top Ten Novels -------------- Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll Declare by Tim Powers Finder by Emma Bull A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge Hackers by Stephen Levy Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace Kahawa by Donald Westlake Principia Discordia by Malacypse the Younger Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson The Stand by Stephen King Top Ten Series -------------- The 87th Precinct Series by Ed McBain The Amber Chronicles by Roger Zelazny The Aubrey-Maturin Series by Patrick O'Brian The Dark Tower by Stephen King The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher The George Smiley Novels by John LeCarre The Kate Daniels Series by Ilona Andrews The Parker Series by Richard Stark The Peter Grant Series by Ben Aaronovitch The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois Bujold (Runner Ups: The Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson novels, George R. R. Martin's A Song Of Ice And Fire, Lee and Miller's Liadden Saga, the Dortmunder novels by Donald Westlake, and the Flashman novels by George MacDonald Fraser. Oh, and Lois Bujold's other two series, the Sharing Knife novels and the World of the Five Gods.) (Yes, I know those are a lot of runner ups. I'm probably leaving out a bunch on top of those, too.) Top Ten Movies -------------- The Blues Brothers dir. John Landis (1980) Blade Runner dir. Ridley Scott (1982) Brazil dir. Terry Gilliam (1985) The Empire Strikes Back dir. Irvin Kirshner (1980) Ghostbusters dir. Ivan Reitman (1984) Koyaanisqatsi dir. Godfrey Reggio (1982) Millennium Actress dir. Satoshi Kon (2001) Porco Rosso dir. Hayao Miyazaki (1992) Tampopo dir. Juzo Itami (1985) The Thing dir. John Carpenter (1982) (Shout outs to Studio Ghibli, Pixar, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.) Top Ten Albums -------------- BBC Live in Concert by the Yellow Magic Orchestra Distant Plastic Trees/The Wayward Bus by the Magnetic Fields Einstein on the Beach by Philip Glass and Robert Wilson Endtroducing by DJ Shadow Jealousy by Tony Allen Living Proof by Sylvester Pirate's Choice by Orchestra Baobab Polka Party by the Brave Combo Songs and More Songs by Tom Lehrer United States by Laurie Anderson * Runner ups include Singles by X-Japan (even if it is a compilation), Kimono My House by Sparks, Cambium by Sweetie Sweats, Animals by Pink Floyd, and the collected works of "Weird Al" Yankovic. Top Ten Film Scores ------------------- Akira by the Geinoh Yamashirogumi Assault on Precinct 13 by John Carpenter The Beyond by Fabio Frizzi Blade Runner by Vangellis A Clockwork Orange by Wendy Carlos Cowboy Bebop by Yoko Kanno The Empire Strikes Back by John Williams Koyaanisqatsi by Philip Glass* Millennium Actress by Susumu Hirasawa Tenebrae by (most of) Goblin** * Runner up: Mishima by Philip Glass ** Shambler up: Zombi/Dawn of the Dead by Goblin Honorable Mention: Patlabor 2 by Kenji Kawai Top Ten Comics (American, European, Etc.) -------------- Blue Moon: The Adventures of Lyssa and the Pirates by Charlie Wise Buck Godot by Phil Foglio Cerebus by Dave Sim and Gerhard (Well...the first half, at least.) The Desert Peach by Donna Barr Empowered by Adam Warren Finder by Carla "Speed" McNeil Queen & Country by Greg Rucka, et al. Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis and Darrick Robertson The Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont, et al. (1975-1991) Y the Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra* * It was a toss up between Y and Saga by Vaughan and Fiona Staples. (Shoutouts to: Fatale by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting, Frank Miller's Daredevil run, Warren Ellis' Nextwave, Garth Ennis' Punisher, Grant Morrison's New X-Men, Kurt Busiek's Avengers and Iron Man runs, and many more.) Top Ten Manga* ------------- A Bride's Story by Kaoru Mori City Hunter by Tsukasa Hojo Eden by Hiroki Endo Genshiken by Kio Shimoku Golgo 13 by Takao Saito Lone Wolf and Cub by Goseki Kojima and Kazuo Koike Maison Ikkoku by Rumiko Takahashi Monster by Naoki Urasawa One Punch Man by ONE and Yuusuke Murata Planetes by Makoto Yukimura * I know, manga are just Japanese comics, but I needed to list enough that I figured, what the hell, let's make another list. Top Ten TV Shows ---------------- Black Adder Cowboy Bebop The Good Place Maison Ikkoku Mobile Police Patlabor The Muppet Show The Sandbaggers Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy/Smiley's People Twin Peaks The Wire * Game of Thrones was a contender for six seasons, and then the ball was very thoroughly dropped, more's the pity. On the plus side, kicking it to the curb made room for the truly amazing The Good Place. Runner ups include Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Expanse, Stranger Things (a show practically hand crafted for me) and the first couple of seasons of Sherlock. Special shout out to Charlie Brooker for Screenwipe, Newswipe, and his Yearly Wipe specials. Top Ten Video Games -------------------- Blazing Lazers (TG16/PCE) Bloodborne (PS4) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSX) Dark Souls (PS3) Goonies 2 (NES) The Last Of Us (PS4) Metroid (NES)/Super Metroid (SNES) Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne (PS2) Wasteland (PC) Zork 1 (PC) * You can go ahead and include the entire Souls franchise here, really. The first Zork game is listed as the representative Infocom/text adventure game. I'm tempted to list Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, even though it's essentially an elaborate remake of Symphony of the Night. Also, just assume a lot of broad love for the Neo Geo generally.