Awesome Things

Below is a chaotic collection of books, comics, TV shows and films I've loved or drawn inspiration from, with huge gaps and glaring omissions. I include it here as a collection of tips (I loved these things, I think you would too) and also just because there's something very enjoyable about listing things in this manner; skimming them off the top of my brain as they appear. It makes for quite an interesting reflection on why I like them and what it is that connects the things I like, if anything. This kind of thinking was important in developing whatever writing style I have, particularly my absolute favourites: Jaws, Alien, Skellig, Coraline, Groundhog Day.. claustrophobic, tight narratives rather than sprawling epics).

I'll keep adding to and editing these as I go.


Books/Comics

1. The Island of Doctor Moreau                            H.G. Wells
2. Frankenstein                                                     Mary Shelley
3. Jaws                                                                 Peter Benchley
4. Hellboy                                                             Mike Mignola
5. The Discworld novels                                        Terry Pratchett
6. His Dark Materials                                            Philip Pullman
7. American Gods                                                 Neil Gaiman
8. Coraline                                                            Neil Gaiman
9. Skellig                                                               David Almond
10. Lord of the Flies                                                William Golding
11. The Summer Book                                             Tove Jansson
12. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen             Alan Moore
13. Watchmen                                                         Alan Moore
14. Tender Morsels                                                 Margo Lanagan
15. Trainspotting                                                      Irvine Welsh
16. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde      Robert Louis Stevenson
17. Ham on Rye                                                      Charles Bukowski
18. All the Books Written by                                    Roald Dahl
19. Anno Dracula                                                    Kim Newman
20. A Monster Calls                                                Patrick Ness
21. The Chaos Walking Trilogy                                Patrick Ness
22. The Wasp Factory                                             Iain Banks
23. All the Sherlock Holmeses                                 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
24. The Weight of Water                                         Sarah Crossan
25. Breakfast of Champions                                     Kurt Vonnegut
26. Slaughterhouse 5                                                Kurt Vonnegut
27. The Walking Dead                                             Robert Kirkman
28. Britten and Brulightly                                          Hannah Berry
29. Boxer Beetle                                                      Ned Beaumont
30. Of Mice and Men                                              John Steinbeck 
31. Cannery Row                                                    John Steinbeck
32. Proof                                                                 Alex Grecian & Riley Rossmo
33. American Psycho                                               Bret Easton Ellis
34. Double Whammy                                               Carl Hiaasen
35. Selected short stories                                         Ernest Hemingway
36. Sex, Drugs and Sausage Rolls                            Robert Rankin
37. The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse   Robert Rankin

Films/TV

1. Groundhog Day
2. Alien/Aliens
3. Jaws
4. Back to the Future
5. O' Brother, Where Art Thou?
6. Trainspotting
7. Toy Stories all
8. Up/Wall-e... Pixar
9. Dumbo
10. The Big Lebowski
11. Rare Exports
12. Band of Brothers
13. Rocky III (the thinking person's Rocky IV!)
14. Gremlins
15. Ghostbusters
16. From Hell
17. Pan's Labyrinth
18. The Lives of Others
19. Planes, Trains and Automobiles
20. Wayne's World
21. Arrested Development
22. Frasier
23. Friends
24. Let The Right One In
25. It's a Wonderful Life
26. Deadwood
27. Up in the Air
28. Father Ted
29. Moon
30. The Dark Knight
31. Sleepy Hollow
32. The Fifth Lement
33. Die Hard
34. Terminator (1&2)
35. Predator
36. Saving Private Ryan
37. The Emperor's New Groove
38. Team America: World Police
39. The South Park Movie
40. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
41. Ace Venture: Pet Detective (plus sequel...)
42. Cliffhanger
43. Sin City
44. Payback
45. The Office
46. Spaced
47. Lethal Weapon
48. The Bourne Series
49. Jurassic Park
50. In Bruges
51. Role Models
52. The Lord of the Rings trilogy
53. Star Wars (original three... plus Revenge of the Sith)
54. I'm Alan Partridge
55. Blackadder Goes Forth
56. Indiana Jones trilogy... not Crytal Skull.
57. Patriot Games
58. Casino Royale
59. Skyfall
60. Airplane!
61. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
62. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure/Bogus Journey
63. The Man with Two Brains
64. Memento
65. Coming to America
66. The Naken Gun pts 1 & 2
67. Signs
68. Blazing Saddles
69. Trading Places
70. The Running Man
71. My Little Eye
72. Near Dark
73. Snatch
74. Pulp Fiction
75. Phoenix Nights
76. The Shawshank Redemption
77. Se7en
78. Fight Club
79. Paranorman
80. The Raid
81. The Usual Suspects
82. Being John Malkovich
83. Braveheart
84. The Silver Linings Playbook
85. Blade Runner
86. The League of Gentlemen
87. Django Unchained
88. Rush 
89. Casablanca