For my first post, I'm going to make a nice, long list of my various favorite books, movies, etc. Then I'm going to ask everyone else to share their favorites!
Books:
Almost anything by C.S. Lewis. I love his books, even when I don't agree with his ideology. "The Screwtape Letters" and the Space Trilogy have to be right up there as my favorite Lewis books, although I always have liked the Chronicles of Narnia.
"Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman. It's been a long time since I've read this (my copy was, ahem, lost by a relative), but it's a great read.
The Ender and Bean series by Orson Scott Card - of course! I haven't read his other books, but I'm working on getting my hands on copies.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. I first read these when I was five, (starting with the Hobbit) and I fell in love with Tolkien's world.
These are my top favorite books. Why? Because I love a book that makes me think. Symbolism, complex characters, etc. etc. I love this. Reading a book again and again, and finding a little deeper meaning each time. That's why these are on my top favorites, instead of say, "Harry Potter" (Don't get me wrong here, I like the Harry Potter books, but they just aren't in the league of the above-mentioned books.)
Movies (animated):
"Grave of the Fireflies" I highly recommend this film.
"Mononoke Hime" As above.
"Spirited Away" Again, as above.
Movies (live action):
"Winged Migration". If you haven't seen it, see it. Immediately.
TV Show:
I don't watch very much TV, but of the shows I've seen, the one I like best is Trigun.
Computer/Video Game:
Halo, all the way. And also the precursor, Marathon. (Marathon has somewhat antiquated graphics and gameplay, but it's still a great game.)
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How about the rest of you? Who else has read and likes the same books/movies/shows/games that I do? What ones do you recommend?
posted
My goodness. Quite an introduction. Welcome
I also like a lot of the books you wrote down. I tend to read fantasy books, with some good old fiction tossed in. For low-key easy reading, I enjoy Mercedes Lackey. The first fantasy fiction I ever read were the Dragonlance Chronicles (the first trilogy of a long series).
I think my favorite kinds of fantasy have a very well thought out magic system. Often, the author uses their own language to describe this new world. Without having to define each word, the author gives you the sense of the language pretty quickly. My favorite in very exacting magic world is from the Darksword Trilogy (Weis/Hickman).
I also like the anime you mentioned. I suggest watching Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, as many people who enjoyed Princess Mononoke also like Nausicaa. It might be difficult to find, though.
posted
Nausicaa! How could I leave that one out. I am ashamed of myself for forgetting that one.
I read the Dragonlance boooks too (about three years ago) and liked them (I liked Raist's character the best. I started reading them, and finished them mostly to find out what happened to the twins.)
But yes, Nausicaa is definitely a truly great film. Most of Studio Ghibli's work is - particularly Hayao Miyazaki's stuff!
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I feel Mists of Avalon deserves mention and I have to share my newest favorite, A Game of Thrones (part of the Song of Ice and Fire series) by George R. R. Martin (thanks to all of the people here, especially Xavier, who insisted I read it).
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posted
Welcome! I hate to compliment people on having good taste simply because they have the same taste as me, but hey, I think objectively speaking, a Miyazaki/Tolkien/OSC fan is by definition a person of good taste.
Nausicaa is my favorite Miyazaki film as well. That scene where Nausicaa tamed the squirrel thing by letting it bite her hand is pure magic.
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posted
Wow! I'm surprised by the number of people here who are familiar with Studio Ghibli films...after all, they're not particularly widely known.
They're like Disney with a deeper meaning. It's truly amazing how Miyazaki in particular can tell a serious story with deceptively cute animated characters.
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I see no one has mentioned Octavia Butler, so I thought I would. I love the trilogy "Lilith's Brood," and I have a signed copy of it...woo hoo! I also adore Ted Chiang, he has a great collection of short stories called "Stories of Your Life."
Have you read the Earth Sea Trilogy? I rank it up there with your list (which is almost identical to mine).
Posts: 1034 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
I don't care so much about the meanings when watching Miyazaki films; I'm looking for the eye-popping colors. Spirited Away had the broadest color palette I’ve ever seen in a film. It’s a great film for showing off what a CRT-based front projection system can do. Check out the glare on the windows and the reflections in the mirrors on the opening sequence in the car. Truly amazing. Better even than Pixar’s CGI stuff.
My wife likes Tonari no Totoro, but she can’t stop singing that stupid song.
posted
A book I highly reccomend is Dan Simmons' "Illium." Simmons is one of my favorite authors because he has two amazing abilities. The first is to make you feel like you're reading a huge scifi short story, mainly because nothing is explained, only inferred. Somehow that's okay. The second is his ability to plausibly blend ancient and classical literature into a science fiction story. This isn't just shown in Illium, but also in the Hyperion Cantos series ("Hyperion" "Fall of Hyperion" "Endymion" "Rise of Endymion").
I've been meaning to see winged migration. Sadly, I missed it at the local indie theater.
My list of favorite games would stretch on for miles, but it can be concentrated into a top five: 1. X-COM: UFO Defense (/Enemy Unknown in europe) -- This is probably the scariest game I've ever played. It's also a great strategy game with a good storyline that is also open-ended. 2. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic -- This is the best start wars movie released since 1983. I would also claim that it's probably better than A New Hope. 3. Shogun: Total War -- You get to be a Daimyo. How cool is that? 4. Unreal Tournament -- It's pointless gore, but the weapon balance was perfect, the graphics were glossy-smooth (for the time), there was lots of flavor, and spawned some of the greatest mods ever. (InstaGib, Jailbreak, and Fatboy rule) 5. Homeworld -- I don't care what anyone says, this game blows the pants off of Starcraft. The story was immensely compelling, the graphics and sound were emotive and beautiful, and the gameplay was top-notch. It's the greatest game never played.
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