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%) Рwinner
2.   Johnny Depp (27%)
3.   Will Smith (9%)
4.   Julia Roberts (6%)
5.   Tom Cruise (6%)
Favorite TV Star:
1.   Jerry Seinfeld (27%) Рwinner
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%)
