The Essentials: Hamlet/Hand of God/Happy Man/Hard Day's Night

Okay, so here's a new venture from me. I love lists of great artworks, but the more I see of them, the more I keep noticing that they're just really pathetic in that no one is truly inclusive across the board. Maybe the list leaves off classical music or maybe foreign cinema or maybe books in translation or whatever, but they do leave things off.

So, here, for your perusal, the only all inclusive list.

One requirement: it must be great! (And of course, I must have experienced it.) I'm 23 and my list is already over 1600 items and growing every day. Obviously, I'll be constantly adding things to this list, so don't be surprised if I hope back to the beginning from time to time to add things that I've either just experienced or moved do to an error in spelling in the title.

And what makes them great: two things. Emotion and understanding. A work should make you feel emotion and begin to understand something about the human experience. These 1600+ artworks are the ones that do it for me and I truly think that, everyone shedding prejudices about style and genre and rating and content, they'll do it for you too.

We'll do this the only way I know how: alphabetical order, five items a day. Things will be listed in the way in which they are viewed as artistic works . . . classical works will be listed as freestanding and classical compilations may also be listed. film scores will be listed for the year of the film with a note on the definitive release. Television series and the like will be listed as one work, while films, even those in a series, will be listed seperately. Works in translation will be listed with their original date and also with a note on the best translation. In short, we're listing artistic works here in the way they were released by the artist . . . a play is like an album is like a classical composition is like a movie is like a comic strip, etc. Stick close, it could get hairy.

I think you guys follow me here, right? Okay, good, then let's get started and fast!

12 Angry Men (1957) - Sidney Lumet

To call this cast brilliant is really to undersell it. A fantastic suspense drama, this one never loses its edge despite the fact that it all takes place in a single room. Intense, striking, at times funny, at times dramatic. Several actors give career best performances here. Maybe it raises social issues, but regardless of that, it's incredibly entertaining.

1812 Overture (1882) - Peter Ilyitc Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky himself looked down on this piece, considering it a potboiler. Well, a great composer maybe, but too hard on himself. The melodies are stunning, the arrangement is vibrant, the feeling is incredible. From the slower, beautiful string moments to the percussive and bombastic ending, this is orchestra at its best and most powerful.

1999 (1982) - Prince

The album where isolationism finally took complete hold . . . it's all the man himself here with only a couple of exceptions. But the songs are fabulous and the music is sprawling and expansive, spanning genres as if there was no such thing as genre (and maybe he has something there). Bitter, raucous, lustful, profane, hopeful, swaggering: this solidifies legend status even if nothing else does. A moment of pure genius comes at one point when Prince, in the space of about thirty seconds, asks what we're going to do when we die, states that he believes in and loves God and then says that he intends to have fun the whole mother-****** night. Sprawling? Doesn't begin to cover it.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - Stanley Kubrick

A film that defines modernity but spans to prehistory, a film about human evolution who's most memorable character is a computer, a film about soullessness that sings with beauty and transcendence. A beautiful film about human change and growth, this one never gets old. Truly magical, and ground shaking. Cinema would never be the same.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - Various Artists

One of those moments when a compilation album becomes something

 

"Twelve Angry Men" is beautifully acted, but it's a bit formulaic and stagebound, IMO.

"1812" Overture is brilliant--Russian nationalism as music.

Prince is crazy, eccentric and hugely talented as both a performer and a songwriter.

Like the music of "2001" better than I like the movie. It's typical Kubrick, brilliant, deliberately inexplicable, and chilly as hell. I think Hal the computer is the perfect Kubrick character.

 

I actually saw the cable remake version of 12 Angry Men first, which strangely enough was directed by William Friedkin of Exorcist and French Connection fame. It was an alright endeavor, but it made me seek out the original 1957 version.

Even though I agree that it's formula-based, the original is a classic. Again, maybe trite, but I liked how the characters were only identified by their jury numbers, but the viewer could piece together who they were by the attitudes they displayed.

 

Fantastic thread, Rogue.

12 Angry Men is a great film. I really enjoyed it when I saw it, and would like to see it again. Superbly acted.

The 1812 is also a fantastic work. Of course, it is popular mostly for being extremely, extremely loud, but it has excellent moments not related to its decibel meter as well. A thoroughly enjoyable work.

2001 the film is okay. It's highly overrated in my book, though. The score is fantastic, however, as with all Kubrick.

 

moved do to an error in spelling

You mean due to an error?

Anyhow, sounds like a very interesting project. Are we going to see all 1600+ on the list? Do we have to wait until the end for the complete list?


I haven't seen 12 Angry Men.

The 1812 Overture is probably my favorite piece of orchestral music. Yes, the quiter parts are just as wonderful as the loud parts. The contrast in the piece is delicious. I have about four or five versions, some featuring real cannons. I like the performance by the Boston Pops conducted by John Williams as much as any.

I wonder if Prince's Purple Rain would be considered his more "essential" recording (unless you've also included it on your list). But 1999 is quite the album. Does the phallic number one on the cover give it away? "I was dreaming when I wrote this..." O RLY? Not sure if I'd include this on an "essentials" list, but I like it.

I love 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is truly a work of art and not just a "movie". I agree that HAL is perhaps the best "Kubrick character".

 

1812 Overture is amazing. I've always liked that song, and even more so when John Crichton was humming it incessently.

2001 A Space Odyssey is also one of my favorite SciFi films, just amazing.

 

Oh, snap!

That's pretty funny actually.

I guess I could post it here or PM it to anyone who wants it . . . otherwise it's going to take a long time to get all the way through it.

And, yeah, Purple Rain is definitely on the list . . . this is all inclusive. If an artist deserves to have their entire discography on the list, I'll put the entire thing on the list. Not than any do, but, you know, that's the theory.

Next up:

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) - Richard Fleischer

Disney's live action films basically started here, but they would never be as good as this one. Lorre and Douglas are interesting as always and James Mason owns the film as Nemo. His Nemo has little in common with the book, but when it's James Mason, he can do what he wants and still be fascinating. Great film, exciting, funny, and Mason probably deserved an Oscar nom.

20 Southern Gospel Piano Favorites (1993) - Anthony Burger

I have two friends, brothers, who play four hands on the piano. The two of them, playing together, can just about duplicate what Burger can do all by himself. Ironically, earlier this week, Burger died, at the terribly young age of 44, of a surprise heart attack . . . a tragic loss. This guy is easily the greatest pianist who ever lived. Easily. In a walk. Emoting credibly and also just tearing it up when the song called for it, the man could play anything better than anyone else.

20th Century Masters: The Millenium Collection: The Best of Joe Cocker (2000) - Joe Cocker

A great starting point for the Joe Cocker novice. This fantastic compilation manages to crib most of his significant songs. Cocker was a master in his early days and if his later work, like Love Lifts Us Up Where We Belong, seem a bit neutered compared to his growling and rambunctious early works, well, he's earned a rest, I guess. His stunning cover of Many Rivers to Cross alone makes this an essential.

20th Century Masters: The Millenium Collection: The Jackson 5 (1999) - The Jackson 5

Before disco set in, before everyone started trying to make them cute, before Michael lost his mind, these guys were brilliant. Energy is through the roof and their ability to sell incredibly mature songs is shocking. This is, and I stand by this, the only kid group ever that actually makes you forget you're listening to a kid group.

24 (2001 - ?) - Joel Surnow

The concept seems doomed to failure. Real time television. But it works and works brilliantly. With a brilliant lead in the incredibly off kilter Kiefer Sutherland and a supporting cast that is both massive and, to a person, excellent (Haysbert, Berkely and Bernard deserve special mentions, I think), this show manages to transcend genres and origins to become a staggering work of art. Not only does this redefine suspense for a new generation, but it also serves as a great exploration of the human condition. How far can we go in 24 hours? You'll see.

Availability:

20,000 Leagues under the Sea is available on DVD.

20 Southern Gospel Piano Favorites is a difficult album to get ahold on . . . myself, I only have it on cassette, unable to find it on CD, so that gives you some idea.

The two 20th Century Masters albums are readily available on CD.

The first four seasons of 24 are already out on DVD and you all need to pick them up. If ever a show was made for DVD it is this one. The fifth season is slated to be released fairly quickly, I think, in keeping with this show's philosophy of quick DVD releases to prepare for the new seasons.

Next time, we'll actually, finish up the numbers, I think.

 

Jackson 5 "I Want You Back" is awesome.

 

Well, he's been going on another board for about a year now, and we are at about "D", last time I checked.

Oh, and the first season of 24 was about the best TV series I think I've seen.

 

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - best Disney film, period.

 

I've seen it recently, and yes, Nemo is perfectly cast and Ned Land is well-cast, but Paul Lukas and Peter Lorre are painfully miscast (way too old) as the Professor and Conseil. It has dated, and more than a bit.

Joe Cocker, in the days prior to crappy power ballads, was a great rocker.

The first Jackson 5 recordings had an incredible energy, escpecially "I Want You Back."

And 24? I need the DVD.

 

Yes, there's a handful of Jackson 5 recordings that are practically undeniable in terms of their entertaining nature.
I recently did get the two-disc set, which earlier was called Anthology, and that's been out of print, and the new Gold compilation has the same exact songs.... but Jackson 5, for the most part, is a one-disc best-of at most.... the rest of the tracks on the two-disc are more curios and whatnot. It's like their actual best songs (ABC, Never Can Say Goodbye, Love you Save, etc.) with their "others."

 

I've spoken of my love for 24 on several occassions.

So I'll just make a general statement about it: It really resurrected my relationship with broadcast television. In the year or two leading up to the first season, I was content to watch syndicated re-runs more than any new shows that were offered. Until 24.

It's the only show I know of where I don't want to miss an episode. And not just because of the linear nature of the show. Because it's that good.

 

This is a ridiculously ambitious undertaking, Rogue. I'm both eager to see what will be on the list and angry with you for adding what I'm sure will be a lot of new works on my lists of things to get around to viewing, hearing, reading, etc. I'll be sure to stick with this, and maybe I'll have something to say about one of them one of these days. Not familiar enough with any of these to post coherently yet.

 

Thanks for the positive feedback, guys. I do hope you'll all stick around.

The other website, I was posting ten a week. Here I'm posting five a day. So, a distinctly faster pace going on here.

But I really don't want to post the entire thing here, mainly because it will absolutely kill the length of the thread and require you to scroll through an almost two-thousand item list every time you come in here. But I will PM it to anyone interested.

CAVEAT: I am currently retooling the format of the list, so you'll have things on your list that I PM you that will be changing a bit.

And on with the show.

40 Acres (1999) - Caedmon's Call

Energetic and melancholy folk rock album that carries a tremendous emotional impact. Songs that deal with loss, fear, weakness, frailty, but through it all there runs a strong current of hope and faith. An album that is unabashedly nostalgic, about going back home, about working the soil, about digging through your memories, about finding redemption by admitting your frailty. Shattering.

40 Greatest Hits (1978) - Hank Williams

There are those who say they don't like country. Perhaps that's because they've never heard REAL country. And this is pure country, mixed, of course, with folk, blues, and even elements that are definite precursors to rock and roll (what is Move On Over, but Rock Around the Clock with different lyrics and no drums?). This massive collection is probably Williams most accessible collection . . . no production noodling, no 'fake duets,' just the genius of Williams. The emotions are so full they're overflowing: grief, frustration, anger, joy, faith, hope, despair. One of those albums that truly touches on every aspect of the human experience and does so with brilliance.

8mm (1999) - Joel Shumacher

The plot is an obvious one, of a private detective hired to find a girl who was killed in a snuff video. His original intent (prove the snuff video is a fake) falls by the wayside fairly quickly. Cage, always interesting, is on the pure edge of adrenaline here and his performance is one of his darkest. Joaquin Pheonix gives a brilliant performance as a morally uncompromised X-rated bookstore clerk. And the final moments are as queasy and nihlistic as cinema gets. What is perversion? Very simple . . . as one of the villians states at the conclusion: perversion is you and me. Between the dark streets of seamy sexual exploitation and violence and the daylight vistas of our 'normal' lives, there is but a step.

8 1/2 (1963) - Frederico Fellini

One of my personal top ten films, this brilliant film tells the story of a popular film director who wrestles to write his next movie, come to grips with his past, find peace with the women in his life and deal with the politics of the film world. From the opening dream sequence to the frenetic climax, this remains the greatest film ever about art and the role it plays in the world. Marcello Mastroianni gives one of the performances that proves he is perhaps the finest actor who has ever lived and Fellini's direction is magical and stunning. Art and the real world? What happens when they meet? This movie, more than any other, answers that question. Essays deserve to be written on this film and I have written at least two myself . . . one paragraph is not nearly enough space to explain why this is one of the greatest films of all time.

ABC (1970) - Jackson 5

Again with these guys . . . probably their only real essential album (aside from best of compilations, as noted above), this is an infusion of pure energy. The first four songs are one of the greatest highs of music history. The Love You Save and ABC are both so incredibly energetic and brilliant that its difficult to believe, even when you've heard it. The sizzling I'll Bet You, the resonant and heartfelt Don't Know Why I Love You . . . these are amazing songs in their own right. And if the title track doesn't make you just get up and dance, well, I just don't know.

Availability:

All of the albums I menti

 

I don't really have too many comments on the last ten. I don't like Country in general and I own a Hank Williams "best of" type cd. I can appreciate the pure simplicity of some of his songs.

 

I like country, folk, rockabilly, swamp rock, etc. etc. Hank Williams is a great singer and songwriter. (Rogue, ever encountered Jimmie Rodger's "Blue Yodels"?)

 

The Jackson Five are fantastic. It's simple music, but a lot of fun.

 

Jimmie Rodgers! Yes, another genius, but I've only heard scattered songs by him.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) - Charles Barton

The schtick can wear thin, but this is easily the duo's finest film. Lugosi and Chaney are on hand as Dracula and Larry Talbot, respectively, and the genius of the film is that the monsters play it all utterly straight, while Bud and Lou kick back and are their usual goofy selves. It seems a strange and schizophrenic tack, but it works and Lugosi has one moment here that is scarier than all of Dracula put together. And the finale as the monsters all meet in combat is mythic and as visually stunning as the original Frankenstein films. The birth of comedy/horror? Maybe and by the way, stick around for that cameo at the end.

About a Boy (1999) - Nick Hornby

In this devestatingly funny and insightful book, Hornby probes to the heart of the neurotic modern human. This is a great book about love in a time, not of cholera, but of ennui, which is perhaps the deadlier disease after all. The plot could be cliched and maudlin, but Hornby's devestating satire never lets that happen. Wrapped up in the music world and tied inextricably to the death of Kurt Cobain, this novel manages to talk intelligently and hilariously about the modern dilemma, of what it means to be human in an age of magazine polls, single parents, NYPD Blue and rock music. Easily one of the top five books of the decade.

About a Boy (2002) - Chris Weitz/Paul Weitz

In this stellar adaptation, though the last fourth is substantially different, the heart of the novel comes through brilliantly. And Hugh Grant, an actor who has always seemed to have more charm than talent, finally tears down the walls and gives a truly magnificent performance, layered, complex, hilarious, fragile and tragic. Updating the book away from the grunge period does slight damage, but the winning cast and the hilarious script make up for it. A masterpiece.

Abraham (1994) - Joseph Sargent

With this great miniseries, TNT kicked off their fantastic series of Biblical film and, while it seemed like an odd match, they created some of the finest Bible films ever made. This is no exception, bolstered by Richard Harris, more vulnerable and emotional than we've ever seen him before, as the title character. Epic, beautiful, the tale of a man with faith and hope when circumstance gave him none. Both faithful to the original text and creative with liberties that add to the impact, rather than detract.

Abraxas (1970) - Santana

The term fusion gets trotted out to often. But occasionally it's the only term that fits. And that's the case here with this album that seems equal parts African, Mexican, jazz, rock, blues and folk. They seem only nominally a vocal band, more interested in the music than the words. And there are moments of almost pure bliss here. When the organ adds heft, the piano runs jazz riffs, the percussion sets up a straight rock beat with congas adding in flavor and then Santana's guitar comes in above the rest, singing out the melody with fire and passion. This is music to explode the mind . . . bears repeated listens.

Availability:

Abraxas is available on CD.

About a Boy is still widely available.

And the three films are all available on DVD as well too. Abraham wasn't for a long time, but it's finally been released so good for that.

 

Abbott & Costello's "Who's On First?" is the classic comedy routine. I don't know if you have that later on your list, I haven't got past the "G" section.

I read About A Boy when it came out. Excellent read. I haven't seen the film though.

Santana has a really unique musical presence. The cover of "Black Magic Woman" is one of the all-time greats.

 

Have seen the "Abbott & Costello" film, and the schick wore thin for me quickly and I lasted half an hour. I admit I did not see the ending.

Ironically, precisely the same thing happened with "About a Boy", the movie, though I lasted close to a full hour before giving up. Didn't read the book.

 

I agree with your thoughts on the film version of About A Boy, Rogue. Grant is finally excellent. But I just want to add that the film wouldn't work without the standout performance of Nicholas Hoult as Marcus.

And another good outing for Toni Collette.

 

About a Boy, book, is fantastic. A highly enjoyable read.

About a Boy, film, is terrible. Not enjoyable at all, and takes away a lot of the interest for me by setting it away from Grunge and Cobain.

I've been meaning to get my hands on Abraxas for a while now, but with a list of "CDs to buy" longer than my arm (in 8 pt print ) I may have to wait a while longer.

 

So, the tide has turned against the film version of About a Boy, eh? Oh, well.

Achtung Baby (1991) - U2

Bono said, after the disappointing response to Rattle and Hum, that is was time to go back and think it all over again. Well, they did and this is the result. At the time, it was easily their finest album since The Joshua Tree and it stands as a masterpiece to this day. Bitter, angry, dark, brooding, this is amazing music. It stretches sonically, stretches emotionally and it hits highs in both ways. Not a rejection of what went before, but a melting of it with something altogether new, this is still one of the finest albums of the nineties.

Acoustic Sketches (1996) - Phil Keaggy

The album is just what it says: one man and an acoustic guitar. And the album is varied: there are some songs, four minutes or longer, and there are some sketches, including on that's less than fifteen seconds long. But it works. Keaggy, who has always been one of the most overlooked and most talented guitarrists keeps it all focused here and even as the music meanders and wanders, he brings it all back to tight emotion. note, only one track features another voice besides Keaggy's guitar: a cover of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, anchored by a bopping tuba line, surely the finest usage of the instrument, well, ever. Unbelivable talent, incredible genius.

Adam and Eve (1504) - Albrecht Durer

Durer's finest work, in my opinion, a staggering engraving of detail so incredible as to be called infintesimal. Truly stunning, dense, dark . . . this is beyond intricate into something altogether different. The shadows of the trees seem to cast straight from the picture and into the viewer's lap and the animals hiding in the background seem almost to breathe so detailed is their treatment.

Adam's Rib (1949) - George Cukor

Cukor, one of the greatest director's of Hollywood's Golden Age (his name may not be familiar, but his movies are), helms this great film, probably the best of the Tracy/Hepburn pairings. The two are squabbling spouses who are divided against each other in court when a woman, wonderfully played by Judy Holliday, is accused of attempting to murder her husband, not so wonderfully played by Tom Ewell. An incisive look at gender inequalities, a blisteringly funny film.

Additional Dialogue: Letters of Dalton Trumbo, 1942 - 1962 (1970) - Dalton Trumbo

This fantastic book gathers togethers two decades worth of correspondance from a pivotal twentieth century figure. The letters are at times angry, understandable given the beating Trumbo rather unfairly took at the hands of blacklist, and it is in these letters that we begin to understand how incredibly devestating the blacklist really and truly was. But more often the letters are hilariously funny, as when Trumbo writes his son a hilarious treatise on masturbation, sends his daughter an essay on avoiding romance while on a European tour or describes the nightmarish four days spent in an upscale hotel in New York. This truly gives a glimpse at a fascinating character, not to say genius, of literature, at his trials, his tribulations and at his ultimate triumph. Serves as an illumination of character, a reflection of social upheavals (like HUAC), and is, perhaps most importantly, incredibly entertaining for its entire six hundred page length. A rare feat for any book, even more so for a book of letters.

Availability:

Achtung Baby is readily available on CD.

Adam and Eve is currently located in the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. Or, if you're a little strapped for cash, a Google search will suffice. Recall, it's the engraving, not the later oil painting from 1507 which isn't a patch on the original engraving, in my opinion.

Adam's Rib is available on DVD.

Of the works listed here, Additional Dialogue and Acoustic Sketches will probably pose the most trouble. Additional Dialogue is out of print, as far as I know, and I actually had to use Interlibrary Loan to get a copy . . . but it's well worth having to wait a few mon

 

The Trumbo book sounds very interesting, I'll have a look for it.

"Adam's Rib" is a very funny comedy, with a terrific supporting cast.

Durer's a great artist.