What are the best film, book, song, CD, play, painting, and TV shows of the last 25 years?

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Only things originating from 1982 to 2007, not remakes, revivials, re-releases, etc.

Best film (fictional):
Best film (non-fiction):
Best book (fictional):
Best book (non-fiction):
Best play:
Best song:
Best album or CD:
Best concert:
Best painting or photo:
Best TV show (fictional):
Best TV show (non-fiction):

What are your choices?

[Bullwinkle925]

1. I can't believe no one has answered this one yet . . .

I can only speak for moi . . .


FILM - non-fiction - Any Michael Moore
FILM - fiction - "Usual Suspects" "American Beauty"
BOOK - fiction - "Cold Mountain"
BOOK - non-fiction - "Devil in the White City"
CONCERT - Harry Connick, Jr. or Smokey Robinson
TV series - fiction - "Homefront"
TV series - nonfiction - "Animal Planet programs"
BEST PLAY - (musical) - "Les Miserables"
BEST ALBUM/CD - "Thriller"
BEST SONG - "What's Love Got to Do With It" - Tina Turner

ask me tomorrow and answers might just possibly change!

[mvd]

2. I'll attempt this

Best film (fictional): Star Wars - Return of the Jedi
Best film (non-fiction): Michael Moore - Sicko
Best book (fictional): Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Best book (non-fiction): John Grisham - An Innocent Man
Best play: The Grapes Of Wrath
Best song: changes - "Galileo" by Indigo Girls is one
Best album or CD: changes - R.E.M.'s Automatic For The People is one
Best concert: Dixie Chicks concert in 2006
Best painting or photo: not sure
Best TV show (fictional): The Simpsons
Best TV show (non-fiction): Countdown with Keith Olbermann

[Celeborn Skywalker]

3. Let's see...

Best film (fictional): GoodFellas
Best film (non-fiction): Sicko or Fast Food Nation
Best book (fictional): The Harry Potter Series
Best book (non-fiction): Hmmm... I can't think of one in particular
Best play: The Laramie Project
Best song: Smells Like Teen Spirit (cliche, I know)
Best album or CD: Nevermind by Nirvana
Best concert: Ozzfest
Best painting or photo: Not sure
Best TV show (fictional): For me, The Cosby show, Simpsons, and Seinfeld are all tied.
Best TV show (non-fiction): Not sure.

[Bennyboy]

4. Mine are.....

Best film (fictional):The Naked Gun
Best film (non-fiction): Erin Brokovich
Best book (fictional): (I never read fiction)
Best book (non-fiction):Can't find my way home, the story of drugs in America,(tie) Bill Graham Presents
Best play:Tommy
Best song:The Rising
Best album or CD:Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska
Best concert: String Cheese Incident, Horning's Hideout, 03
Best painting or photo:Anything by Alex Grey.
Best TV show (fictional):Seinfeld
Best TV show (non-fiction):Cash Cab

[Fire Walk With Me]

5. Highly relative answers:

Best film (fictional): Wenders' Wings of Desire, off the top of my head
Best film (non-fiction): "Why We Fight" and/or Michael Moore's work
Best book (fictional): My faves are all prior to 1982...
Best book (non-fiction): "Godel, Escher, Bach" or Gleick's "Chaos"
Edit: If you want spiritual literature, "The Path of Emancipation" by Thich Nhat Hahn
Best play: Anything by Sankai Juku
Best song: That track from the end credits of "Children of Men"
Best album or CD: My faves are all prior to 1982...
Best concert: Peter Gabriel, mid 80s (prior to "SO") or Laurie Anderson
Best painting or photo: Bed Pan Artist's "Binfoot"
Best TV show (fictional): Twin Peaks
Best TV show (non-fiction): "The Human Animal" or "Connections"

[cynatnite]

6. Okay...

Best fiction film: Gone With The Wind
Best Non fiction Film: Schindler's List If you're looking for documentary-wise...that'd be Sicko
Best fiction book: Holocaust by Gerald Green
Best non fiction book: Worse than Watergate by John Dean
Best play: Death of a Salesman
Best Song: Stairway to Heaven
Best CD: Rumors by Fleetwood Mac
Best Concert: Three Tenors and a Conductor
Best Painting: Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci
Best Fiction TV show: Star Trek series
Best Nonfiction TV show: PBS Frontline

[Burma Jones]

7. This Moment's Answers

Best film (fictional): Amadeus
Best film (non-fiction): Sophie Scholl - The Final Days
Best book (fictional): I liked Road to Wellville,
Best book (non-fiction): The River Cottage Meat Book
Best play: Angels In America, pick one
Best song: Smells Like Teen Spirit
Best album or CD: American Idiot maybe....
Best concert: I've seen Ravi Shankar a few times over the last 25 years and am always awed......
Best painting or photo: I was living in NY 9/11/01 and the photos of the missing people posted all over the City stick in my head more than anything anyone has done for pay.
Best TV show (fictional): The Simpsons
Best TV show (non-fiction): The Daily Show

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8. This was harder than I thought it would be

Best film (fictional): El Norte (1983)
Best film (non-fiction): Daughter from Danang (2001)
Best book (fictional): Contact, Carl Sagan
Best book (non-fiction): Anguished English, Richard Lederer
Best play: Noises Off
Best song: Praise You, Fatboy Slim
Best album or CD: Watermark, Enya
Best concert: Live Aid, 1985
Best painting or photo: Clearing Storm over El Capitan, Galen Rowell
Best TV show (fictional): In Living Color
Best TV show (non-fiction): American Experience, PBS

[fishwax]

9. here are my choices (today at least)

For most of these categories, I'm not sure I could really pick just one, given the many different kinds and purposes of, say, non-fiction books--so the choices below are, of course, quite rooted in whatever my mood happens to be today ...

Best film (fictional): Goodfellas, by Martin Scorsese
Best film (non-fiction): 4 Little Girls, by Spike Lee
Best book (fictional): Bone, by Maya NG
Best book (non-fiction): The Mismeasure of Man, by Stephen J. Gould
Best play: Fences, by August Wilson
Best song: Cure for Pain, by Morphine
Best album or CD: The Sunset Tree, by the Mountain Goats
Best concert: I guess I'll say Bob Dylan at the Oklahoma City Civic Center on 10/29/1996 (because it was the first time I saw Dylan live).
Best TV show (fictional): The Sopranos
Best TV show (non-fiction): At the moment, I'm partial to Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations
Best painting or photo: perhaps this one: