In celebration of their 1000th issue, Entertainment Weekly is putting out their ideas of the best of the best in the past 25 years. And with no further ado, away we go. From their press release:
Over the last 25 years, artists have created a body of work that deserves recognition as classic, and in the pages of this week’s 1000th issue, Entertainment Weekly celebrates the best of the best. The issue will include EW’s ranked top 100 lists in movies, TV shows, albums, and books, as well as scores of specialized lists devoted to everything from stage shows to style trendsetters to entertainment tech innovations to music videos. While the magazine lists 750 of the 1000 pop culture items, EW.com will contain the other 250, plus scores of galleries and more.
A sampling of the ranked list:
MOVIES
1.   Pulp Fiction
2.   The Lord of the Rings trilogy
3.   Titanic
4.   Blue Velvet
5.   Toy Story
6.   Hannah and Her Sisters
7.   Saving Private Ryan
8.   The Silence of the Lambs
9.   Die Hard
10.   Moulin Rouge
TELEVISION
1.   The Simpsons
2.   The Sopranos
3.   Seinfeld
4.   The X-Files
5.   Sex and the City
6.   Survivor
7.   The Cosby Show
8.   Lost
9.   Friends
10.   Buffy the Vampire Slayer
ALBUMS
1.   Purple Rain, Prince and the Revolution
2.   The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Lauryn Hill
3.   Achtung Baby, U2
4.   The College Dropout, Kanye West
5.   Madonna, Madonna
6.   American Idiot, Green Day
7.   The Blueprint, Jay-Z
8.   Graceland, Paul Simon
9.   Back to Black, Amy Winehouse
10.   In Rainbows, Radiohead
BOOKS
1.   The Road, Cormac McCarthy
2.   Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling
3.   Beloved, Toni Morrison
4.   The Liars’ Club, Mary Karr
5.   American Pastoral, Philip Roth
6.   Mystic River, Dennis Lehane
7.   Maus, Art Spiegelman
8.   Selected Stories, Alice Munro
9.   Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier
10.   The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami
POP CULTURE MOMENTS THAT ROCKED FASHION
1.   Madonna at the MTV Video Music Awards, 1984
2.   The Opening Credits of ‘Sex and the City,’ 1998
3.   Michael Jackson in “Thriller,” 1983
4.   Sharon Stone at the Oscars, 1996
5.   Kurt Cobain, 1991
6.   Mr. T in ‘The A-Team,’ 1983
7.   Amy Winehouse, 2007
8.   The Best: Jennifer Lopez’s Grammy dress in 2000
9.   The Worst: Bjork’s Oscars swan dress in 2001
10.   The Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), 1994
STAGE
1.   Angels in America
2.   Rent
3.   August: Osage County
4.   Doubt
5.   Jersey Boys
6.   Fences
7.   Glengarry Glen Ross
8.   Avenue Q
9.   The Heidi Chronicles
10.   The Producers
VIDEOGAMES
1.   Tetris
2.   The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
3.   Doom
4.   Super Mario World
5.   Guitar Hero
6.   Street Fighter II
7.   Super Mario Kart
8.   GoldenEye 007
9.   Grand Theft Auto IV
10.   Metal Gear Solid
TECH INNOVATIONS
1.   The DVD Player
2.   Napster
3.   TiVo
4.   iPod
5.   YouTube
6.   Realistic CG Characters
7.   Digital Video Cameras for Consumers
8.   Flat-Panel TVs
9.   Satellite-Radio Stations
10.   Stadium Seating in Multiplexes
CELEBRITIES’ TOP 10 LISTS
Jodie Foster’s New Classic “Near-Death Experiences”
1.   Holly Hunter, The Piano
2.   Jeff Bridges, Fearless
3.   Mathieu Amalric, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
4.   Willem Dafoe, The Last Temptation of Christ
5.   Emile Hirsch, Into the Wild
6.   Ed Harris, The Abyss
7.   Tim Robbins, Jacob’s Ladder
8.   Uma Thurman, Pulp Fiction
9.   Evan Rachel Wood, The Life Before Her Eyes
10.   Russell Crowe, Gladiator
Samuel L. Jackson’s New Classic “Asian Films”
1.      Oldboy
2.      Audition
3.      City on Fire
4.      Infernal Affairs 1, 2, & 3
5.      Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior
6.      Azumi
7.      Family
8.      Duelist
9.      Hard Boiled
10.  Hero
Sarah Michelle Gellar’s New Classic “Male Characters I Wish I Could Play”
1.      Ricky Stratton, Silver Spoons
2.      Sonny Crockett, Miami Vice
3.      Alex P. Keaton, Family Ties
4.      Thomas Sullivan Magnum, Magnum, P.I.
5.      Dexter Morgan, Dexter
6.      Hank Moody, Californication
7.      J.R. Ewing, Dallas
8.      Eric Cartman, South Park
9.      Gunther, Friends
10.  Samantha Jones, Sex and the City
Liz Phair’s New Classic “Lazy Sunday CDs”
1.      Third Eye Blind, Third Eye Blind
2.      Radiohead, Kid A
3.      Butterfly Boucher, Flutterby
4.      Paolo Nutini, These Streets
5.      Paul Simon, Graceland
6.      Lauryn Hill, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
7.      Dr. Dre, The Chronic
8.      D’Angelo, Brown Sugar
9.      Lyle Lovett, The Road to Ensenada
10.  Jack Johnson, In Between Dreams
There will be essays by celebs, photo spreads and then announcement that the readers chose the iPod as top pop culture moment of the last 25 years, competing with:
1.      Sinead O’Connor rips the Pope on ‘SNL’ (1992)
2.      Madonna’s ‘Like a Prayer’ video is released (1989)
3.      Hugh Grant apologizes on ‘The Tonight Show’ (1995)
4.      James Frey is taken to task on ‘Oprah’ (2006)
5.      The iPod hits the market (2001) – winner
6.      Nintendo’s Game Boy is introduced (1989)
7.      The final Harry Potter book is released (2007)
8.      The finale of ‘Seinfeld’ airs (1998)
9.      Tom Cruise jumps on Oprah’s couch (2005)
10.  Whitney Houston says: “Crack is wack” (2002)
11.  ‘Star Wars: The Phantom Menace’ hits theaters (1999)
12.  Frodo hits the big screen in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ (2001)
13.  James Cameron is “king of the world” at the Oscars (1998)
14.  Halle Berry wins her Best Actress Oscar (2002)
15.  Kurt Cobain’s suicide (1994)
16.  Tupac Shakur’s murder (1996)
17.  ‘The Passion of the Christ’ hits theaters (2004)
18.  ‘Toy Story’ puts Pixar on the map (1995)
19.  Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’ stage crawl on MTV (1984)
20.  Britney Spears shaves her head (2007)
21.  The Dixie Chicks are branded un-American (2003)
22.  Fatwa is declared on Salman Rushdie (1989)
23.  ‘The Sopranos’ swims with the fishes (2007)
24.  Johnny Carson signs off late-night TV (1992)
25.  Richard Hatch, oft nude, is first Survivor (2000)
26.  Kelly Clarkson is first American Idol (2002)
27.  Ellen comes out on ‘Ellen’ (1997)
28.  Drew Barrymore does striptease for Letterman (1995)
29.  “The Chronic(what?)cles of Narnia” on ‘SNL’ (2005)
30.  Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video (1983)
31.  Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction (2004)
32.  Paris Hilton pops up in an infamous home movie (2003)
But wait, there’s more, readers choice:
Favorite Movie Star:
1.¬†¬† Tom Hanks (52%) – winner
2.   Johnny Depp (27%)
3.   Will Smith (9%)
4.   Julia Roberts (6%)
5.   Tom Cruise (6%)
Favorite TV Star:
1.¬†¬† Jerry Seinfeld (27%) – winner
2.   Johnny Carson (20%)
3.   Oprah Winfrey (18%)
4.   Bill Cosby (18%)
5.   Michael J. Fox (17%)
Favorite Singer:
1.   Mariah Carey (27%) – winner
2.   Madonna (25%)
3.   Whitney Houston (19%)
4.   Bono (18%)
5.   Michael Jackson (11%)
Favorite Author:
1.   J.K. Rowling (46%) – winner
2.   Stephen King (30%)
3.   John Grisham (10%)
4.   Cormac McCarthy (8%)
5.   Toni Morrison (6%)
f**cking GREAT!! what I was most needing, more lists to realize all the things i DON’T KNOW. lol. How many years to catch up, it’s depressing. cool looking names though.
The fact that they left off Arrested Development automatically invalidates these lists for me.
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out of every film site on the net, i’d say you guys are the snobbiest of film snobs. Lord of the Rings absolutely does belong there.
can you gather all the lists?
If Sarah Michelle Gellar really did list “Samantha Jones, Sex and the City” as one of the “Male Characters I Wish I Could Play,” she has a lot more wisdom and wit than I ever imagined.
There is something wrong when Goodfellas and Schindlers List (true Film classics) don’t make it in a top 10 list and Die Hard and Titanic do.
People can we stop bitching about how the lists suck. Its all a matter of opinion. There will never be a list that makes everyone happy. That’s all I have to say.
Oh and BUFFY RULES!
When The X-Files was great, it was truly great (which was roughly the first 3-1/2 or 4 seasons… For pure, unmitiated greatness, the first three, but its fall was fairly inconspicuous well into Season 5… after the *fifth* season, it truly began to turn rotten…). It deserves to be there.
There, just had to get myself on the record with that.
Tara, SEINFELD is the greatest show of ALL-TIME, hands down! Fantastic writing (on the level of Woody Allen or Tarantino on their best day!), characters who talk like people talk in real life but it just happens to be funny (totally revolutionized sitcoms with this “everyday musings” style), fantastic comedic acting, nailing pretty much all hot-topic issues in the 90’s (to the point where I can’t think about masturbation or gay “outings” without my mind going back to MONK’s cafe), etc, etc. The only show that was so brilliant it even put OTHER brilliant sitcoms to shame!
It’s nowhere CLOSE to debatable whether it belongs on the top 10 list. The question is why the hell is it not #1!!!
Seriously, I think there’s something very wrong psychologically (ILLOGICAL) with any person who hates SEINFELD. I would even call it a relationship DEAL-BREAKER.
To be fair, though, your baffling bad taste with SEINFELD does show how ridiculous everyone’s whining about these EW lists are, because, DUH, it’s ALL opinion! No one will have the same, and these are just EW preferences. Any other list would incite the same kind of whining. ANY.OTHER.LIST
And AFI’s lists are equally good/bad, rob, so don’t flatter them.
My thoughts on the MOVIES list:
PULP is a 100% worthy choice for 1#, definitely the best film they listed on the top 10. Don’t agree with the LOTR trilogy at all (the first was a dissapointment, and the following two were very strong filmmaking, but definitely flawed). TITANIC is a “meh” popcorn flick with some dazzling direction in the last hour, and two actors that elevate weak material. Good movie, nowhere close to greatness in any way shape or form. BLUE VELVET? I was one of the few who didn’t like it, but it’s been ions since I last saw it, and considering how much I treasured Mulholland Dr., THAT’S the Lynch masterpiece I would have put on my personal top 10, I’ll give it another shot. TOY STORY’s very good, but not top 10. HANNAH AND HER SISTERS is the most pleasant and WORTHY surprise on the list. It’s one of Woody’s 3 ultimate masterpieces (after MANHATTAN and ANNIE H.), and it’s a dazzlingly poetic, romantic, hilarious, and poignant dramedy that holds up as well as ANY film from the 80’s. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN’s superb, but I’ve always felt it had too many storytelling flaws to be considered an all-out masterpiece. THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS most definitely IS an all-out masterpiece, perhaps the single greatest psychological horror thriller of the last 25 years, so it’s certainly very worthy of the list. DIE HARD’s a joke. A SAD joke! That’s the only choice I would say is laughable. MOULIN ROUGE is an enjoyable little musical, but it’s overblown, pretentious, and faaaar from greatness.
My personal top 10 movies of the last 25:
1. Almost Famous
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Hannah And Her Sisters
4. Mulholland Drive
5. The Player
6. GoodFellas
7. Magnolia/Boogie Nights (PTA tie)
8. Fargo
9. Do The Right Thing
10. Natural Born Killers
I’ll give my tv list a little bit later.
ps: Tara, I almost forgot. Most of THE X-FILES sucks! First three seasons were great, but after that it was all waaaaaay downhill! Just thinking about watching it gives me a very rational HEADACHE!
Meh. The only thing they got completely right was Tetris as their #1 video game, and The X-Files and The Sopranos on their top ten tv show list. Everything else is debatable. Except Seinfeld. I will never ever ever understand the love for that show. Ever. Ugh. Even THINKING about watching it fills me with irrational hate.
Wait I just read the lists.
Mariah Carrey beats Maddona by a small margin as Favourite Singer…
Wow. What great lists. [Borat waits 5 seconds and says… “NOT!”]
I feel totally drained of energy now.
I do love lists. Honestly, even the bad ones.
Ugh, some lists. I know that every time there’s a list, there’s debate, but seriously? The readers’ choice polls seem indicative to me of what went on with the official lists. The film and TV ones, I can only agree with maybe I don’t know, 7 (to be generous) between the two of them that I’d consider true classics, that will be remembered 25 years from now. I agree about “Arrested Development” and is this limited to American creations because what of the original “Office” and the brilliant “Extras”? And for the films, I have to say, I cannot believe, where on earth is Marty?! I’m sorry. “Pulp Fiction” is #1? And the “Lord of the Rings” at #2? NO WAY. That trilogy already seems dated and I’ve no doubt that when “The Hobbit” comes out, it’s going to seem even more so. I swear, I’m unimpressed. And “Moulin Rouge” rounds it out? WHY?! It’s an OK movie, but for Baz Luhrmann to be on here and not Marty? Argh! What is this list anyway? I’m kinda confused. These are the “best”? Um, *shakes head*… no. From TV, I agree with some (“The Sopranos”, “Seinfeld” and “Buffy” and “The Simpsons”), but the others (“Friends”?… yeah, right; and “Sex and the City”? Come.on!)… please.
Quite possibly the worst top rated lists I have ever seen. What happened to taste or culture ? The number of gems here I can count on one hand. The theatre list in particular is execrable (with the exception of Angels In America). The TV list has some farcical inclusions, and don’t even get me started on the literature section. These should be called for what they really are, ‘Teenagers Favourites’
Titanic at #3? Really, EW? Third Eye Blind is your #1? Really, Liz Phair?
I hardly consider stadium seating to be a technological innovation…business innovation, yes, but what technology went into laying out the cinema like a university lecture hall?
In Rainbows was one of my favorite albums of the fall but I’m not ready to to call it one of the best of the last 25 years. Switch it out fro OK Computer. And before I say this I should preface it with the fact that I think it’s very good, but Back to Black has now become insanely overrated.
“Six Feet Under” is pure brilliance! How could they not include that?
Not even get me started on the theatre list!!
Who put this garbage together!?
-Vincent
No Six Feet Under? Come on.
Wow, no Arrested Development, The Office, or Extras for TV?
So happy Buffy is on there…but no Battlestar? No Wire? Are they crazy?
As much as I love Woody Allen movies, I’m a bit surprised Hannah and Her Sisters showed up in that list. And that company.
that’s because they fully appreciate how unique and wonderful Buffy was! ;o)
FAIL for The Stage list for not including Les Miserables
I can’t get over how very much in love EW is with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’m convinced they reference it at least once a month.
This makes me appreciate the AFI’s top 10 lists even more.