Favourites

This is going to be a part of the site where I share ALL my favourite films, music, TV shows, basically whatever I feel like. I'm also making these in no particular order and I kinda wanna add something fun to what will otherwise be lists.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the art under copyright. This is just the work of a fan who loves this media and wanted a way to pay tribute. (I also found these on Ecosia Image search so take it up with the internet).

My Favourite Albums

The only guideline I'm going to give for myself here is "no Classical" - not because I dislike it (far from it- The Firebird is legitimately one of my favourite pieces of music ever written) but its hard to judge compared to contemporary pop music. ESPECIALLY as you've got to not only ask what pieces of classical music you like but what version? "Do you like the Bach Cello Suites by Yo Yo Ma or the Bach Cello Suites by Maria Kliegel?" That kind of thing.

My Favourite Films

For the purposes of this list - no documentaries. I like artsy "human condition" movies and "dumb fun" and can put those two in the same vein but some of the documentaries I like - it feels wrong to group them together.

My favourite books

This is an odd one as I don't read OFTEN but I'd like to. I'm open to suggestions for books to read but, like MOST people, I have a pretty big pile of books that are unread, so expect this to changes.

My Favourite Shows

This is designed to accommodate TV AND web series'

Least Favourites

With the exception of pages about social issues (this includes "The Core Internet SUCKS!" messages, by the way), I don't NORMALLY like the idea of making this site a negative space. I feel like "leave that to the others." However...if you ARE curious. Here's a little list for all my least favourite media.

• ALBUM: Trapt (self titled) - Yeah...this one really is low hanging fruit but everything about this album is a reflection of all the worst parts of 2000s rock. Literally - Nu Metal without the heaviness. Emo without the introspection. Post Grunge without the attempt of meaningful lyrics. And honestly, even if you separate this band's Twitter account meltdowns from your opinion of this album (I already have...everything here is just "music taken as is"), this whole thing feels like a band someone would make up for a show or a movie at the time "we need a generic rock sound!" "Here you go." I don't hate early 2000s music (look at my "Favourites" section again!) but this album is just embarrassing.
  
  Runners up - Kevin Federline's Playing With Fire, Kid Rock's Devil Without A Cause, Having Fun Onstage With Elvis, The Cure's 4:13 Dream,


• MOVIE: Where The Dead Go To Die (2012) - This is another where if you've seen it, you're PROBABLY going to expect me to say something about it's edgelord content. Now...that doesn't HELP matters but that's not entirely why I hate it so much. However, ignore that and you still have a movie that looks like a Dreamcast Demo from hell, animation with assets that continuously show broken elements, stories that are pointless "I want to SHOCK YOU" written by an edgy 13 year old, voice acting that sounds like the actors were grossly miscast or told to perform every line like they're "mid-nut", and worst of all...this is a horror movie. Nothing actually "scared me" about it beyond how the fuck it could get made in the first place.
  
  Runners up - Monster A-Go Go (1965), The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), In Search Of The Titanic (2004), Music (2021),


• BOOK: The Jew Of Malta by Christopher Marlowe - I want to make something clear about me - I don't think "canonically good" or "canonically bad" MEANS anything. If you dislike Shakespeare, no issue. Marlowe as a contemporary, I think is overshadowed...BUT this play is a giant piece of antisemitic shit. I mean violent melodrama is what ALL Marlowe's plays were but when the violence is "evil Jewish man wants revenge for...a tax on his wealth that was so large, he couldn't count it, AND he admits to hiding a lot of his fortune", yeah no. Now I'm not saying this play is badly written BUT I do think the question of "how well has this aged?" is important with art. Yes, it's worth acknowledging how racist, sexist and antisemitic that era of English history was and why these works are the way they are but I don't have to like said works just because the person who wrote them is "one of the best of his era." What makes this really sad is I can admit to liking everything else Marlowe did, modern day warts and all (I'd even state those who cry "it was 400 years ago" aren't WRONG but I'm not into blind praise just because of said positives)
  
  Runners Up - The Transsexual Empire by Janice Reymond, Taming Of The Shrew by William Shakespeare, 120 Days Of Sodom by The Marquis De Sade, After January by Nick Earls, Deadly, Unna? by Phillip Gwynne, The Secret Of Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay,


• SHOW: Little Britain - The career starter for David Walliams and Matt Lucas IS fondly remembered. Mainly for "anti woke" reasons (which both men have walked back from). What this proves to me is those who do sell comedy with "IT'S NOT WOKE!" either only do so to watch media at other people and not for their own enjoyment OR they DO actually enjoy it because they see attacking minorities as the only value needed for their media. Why do I characterize fans like that? Because every character in every sketch has the same punchline for every situation. Vicki: "No, but yer but no but somefing must've happened that I know nofin about!", Emily: "I'm a LADY and do LADY'S things!", Lou and Andy - "I want it" *5 minutes later* "I don't like it!", Sebastian has a crush on the Prime Minister, The Fat Fighters woman is incredibly mean to her clients, "The only gay in the village" is actually just using being LGBT to fulfill a persecution complex, even if you find this funny (I honestly don't see anything wrong with someone finding this funny, it's just I don't), the whole idea of sketch comedy - be you Monty Python, Not Only But Also, EvilIguana, Neil Cicierega, or Smosh (yes I'm bringing internet personalities into this!) - is the surprise of where the joke will go. I genuinely don't understand how they were able to get 3 seasons out of it, especially as the same joke over and over, traditionally, gets less funny.
  
  Runners Up - Some Mothers Do 'ave 'em, Mrs Brown's Boys, Dollhouse, The Crow: Stairway To Heaven, Nostalgia Critic,

This is the part of the webpage where I defend my opinion. Firstly, the reason I think curating lists is a bit overblown online is having one singular "Favourite" of anything is a very limiting way to look at media. Like the book I've read the most in my life is The Complete Works Of Sarah Kane, however if I were to name the books I thought utilized the best language/storytelling techniques, I'd go with Frankenstein by Mary Shelley or Orlando by Virigina Woolf. The book which had the author put the most amount of effort in, I'd go with The Divingbell & The Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby, the one that impacted me, Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, the one I loved as a child and still do to this day, Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. To have "ONE ALL TIME FAVOURITE" feels very reductive to what art CAN DO for you. I feel that way about all the art I've listed here - you think I can judge Tom Lehrer In Concert on the same merit as Skeleton Tree by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds?! Secondly, (and where I address "I have a different opinion to you") I'm a firm believer in cringe. Like what you like without care to what anyone else thinks. The fear of open admission of "I...like this" (or even the fear of "I don't like this") needs to stop online. Being cringe isn't a crime. Embrace it. I mean I rated Jubilee (1978) higher than Citizen Kane (1941) (I HAVE seen Citizen Kane), you think THAT isn't someone unafraid to show opinion?! There's just too much pushback against human beings embracing who they are and what they like and if it's something as innocent as taste in music/film/literature/TV, that's where I start to push back.

So that's my little message in relation to this. You can turn around to me and say that you like Little Britain, Where The Dead Go To Die, Jew Of Malta by Kit Marlowe and Trapt - Trapt and that's okay. With the world as fucked up as it is, I can't begrudge anyone who wants their own little thing of entertainment. There are more pressing political issues in the world than "someone is enjoying the wrong fiction."

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