That's the theme of this week's EW: the best of everything of the last 25 years. Well, you know me. There's not a best-of -list or VH1 countdown show that I can resist, if only to sniff, "Are you seerrrrious?"
One of the first surprises for me was how many of their movie pics I haven't even seen: just in the top twenty alone, there's Hannah and Her Sisters, Moulin Rouge, Crumb, Jerry Maguire, Do the Right Thing, and Casino Royale. (I could also probably count Edward Scissorhands, because while I've seen parts of that movie on TV many times, I've never sat down and watched it beginning to end in one shot.)
Other surprises? Boogie Nights is #16, but Almost Famous doesn't even crack the top 100? Those are very similar films, if not in exact subject matter, in theme, mood, and quality of the performances. This is Spinal Tap is #11? That's a funny movie, but it's not the eleventh best film in the past 25 years, sorry. Dazed and Confused only #41? C'mon now. That could be in the top ten. And then there's the movies on the list that I absolutely hated and despised. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Fight Club. Sideways. Rainman.
And that's not even beginning to discuss the TV, music, or book pics. Those are posts for other days. Though, okay, I am compelled to add this: You put anything by Mariah Carey in the top 100 of anything, and you've lost me. Yeah, I know...we may just have had a discussion of musical tastes being individual. But Mariah Carey? Are you seerrrrious?
xoxo
3 comments:
Mariah Carey is the most successful female singer of all time...not just the last 25 years, I was actually disappointed to not see her higher on the list and with a couple more entries. She writes ALL her own music--something more than half the entries cannot claim, she's a record producer, and let's be real, with her CDs continuing to sell and break records 18 years into her career--she's obviously doing something right.
Oh, Anonymous Mariah Carey Fan, you're probably right.
My insane prejudice against the kind of music Ms Carey sings probably blinds me to her genius. Plus, I just spent like ten blog comments defending Billy Joel and admitted to once owning a Kansas album, so anything I say is obviously suspect :-)
It seems that Anonymous Mariah Carey Fan may be somewhat exaggerating their idol's accomplishments.
It would appear that, although Ms. Carey does have songwriting credits on most of her recordings, those credits are shared with at least one, and often two to four other songwriters. (In fact, such credits lead one to suspect that--as for some artists in the early days of rock'n'roll--if you want Mariah Carey to record your song, and thus get guaranteed mechanical and songwriting royalties from her always high selling albums, you may be well advised to give Ms. Carey a cut of the royalties via a songwriting credit. However, I have no knowledge of the reality of that conjecture other than the actual credits themselves, so this is purely almost entirely unsubstantiated suspicion.)
And most of her albums have multiple producers in addition to Ms. Carey. Has Ms. Carey ever produced someone else's album entirely on her own?
On the other hand, the knowledge that M-A once owned a Kansas album willingly, not under duress, (a revelation I'd earlier missed until highlighted here) is starting to make me question my usual high reliance on her aesthetic judgement. :-P
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