31 Albums for 31 Years

August 01, 2024 by Robert Brown

When I turned 25, I planned to write a series of articles on my 25 favorite films, 25 favorite albums, and 25 favorite books. I only finished the film article; the album article stalled and I gave up on it. Then, when I turned 30 last year, I attempted to complete the series again—now with 20% more items—but it took so long to finish the album article that I’m not 30 anymore. So here are the 31 albums that are the nearest and dearest to me. (Well, there are 32, at least, depending on how you count things.)

30 Films for 30 Years

December 09, 2023 by Robert Brown

I turned 30 this past year, and just like when I turned 20 and 25, attaining the significant-sounding number has put me in a retrospective mood. (Then again, I am an obsessive list-maker, so almost any excuse will do for cataloguing my favorite things.) As the title suggests, what follows are the films, one per year I’ve been alive, that I most value. (Actually, there are 34 films, besides the 5 honorable mentions.)

There were three criteria for selection. One, I consider each of the “30” films to be a masterclass in screenwriting or storytelling, a masterclass in filmmaking, or both. Two, inspired by an essay Timothy Lawrence wrote a few years ago, I count them among my “Film Friends.” Three, I would strongly recommend these films to just about anyone.

25-4-25 (1/3): Films

December 28, 2018 by Robert Brown

I turned 25 in 2018, so I am compiling lists of my 25 favorite films, books, and albums, and writing paragraphs of appreciation of 250 words or less for all 75 of them. Each paragraph is accompanied by a quotation from the work that somehow encapsulates or suggests its significance to me. For each list of 25, I have narrowed down my list of choices using five criteria: