Recommendations
A running ledger of recommendations including books, movies, music, video games, sustenance, and the rest. Annotated, opinionated, and updated when something earns more space, for better and for worse.
Just added · Sep 21, 2026 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas One of my favorite books from one of my favorite writers at the height of his powers. This book captures the American dream, the corporate dream, and the gravity of power in a calculus quite unlike anything else I've come across. Masterpieces · 4 — the shelf I defend
- Over the Garden Wall ★★★★★
- Weird: The Al Yankovic Story ★★★★★
- Calvin and Hobbes ★★★★★
- 1000xRESIST ★★★★★
· 66 of 66 items
| Item | Type | Year | Rating | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunter S. Thompson | Book | 1971 | ★★★★★ | One of my favorite books from one of my favorite writers at the height of his powers. This book captures the American dream, the corporate dream, and the gravity of power in a calculus quite unlike anything else I've come across. |
| Zach Cregger | Movie | 2026 | ★★★★☆ | The Resident Evil video game series holds a special place in my heart, and the director's other works have been great. This was a good entry into the franchise but not quite a great one. |
| Rory Scovel | Stand Up | 2026 | ★★★★★ | Ultimately psychotic, sometimes political laughs. Wide-ranging, fast moving and what feels like a comedian at the top of his game. |
| Park Chan-wook | Movie | 2025 | ★★★★★ | A slow burn dark comedy with some whacky twists and turns. But it's from the Old Boy director so you know it ratchets up to some hellish and hilarious moments. |
| Gore Verbinski | Movie | 2026 | ★★★★★ | This is an action comedy that almost defies description. Suffice to say: if you enjoy dark humor and want a fun action movie you cannot go wrong with this one. |
| Yorgos Lanthimos | Movie | 2025 | ★★★★★ | Brilliant acting, dark humor, and one heck of an arc that I cannot recommend enough. |
| David McClintick | Book | 1982 | ★★★★★ | Rules for thee, but not for me. Money and power talk and Hollywood has a sordid history clouded by decades of playing pretend with everything everywhere all the time. |
| Bryan Burrough, John Helyar | Book | 1990 | ★★★★★ | "Huge brains, small necks, weak muscles, and fat wallets — these are the dominant characteristics of the '80s — the generation of swine." — Hunter S. Thompson |
| David J. Rosen | TV Series | 2026 | ★★★★☆ | Uncertain start to the show that then quickly finds it's footing the second episode and gives you a rather unique take on the murder mystery drama-dy with a high ceiling. |
| Sam Eng | Video Game | 2025 | ★★★★★ | Beautiful beats and top tier sound design with a trippy aesthetic wrapped around a skate story about a demon made of glass and pain. |
| Celeste Hughey | TV Series | 2026 | ★★★☆☆ | I heard (from my BritBox loving mother) that this is a fun mystery show. And it was fine. Some great characters and all the elements for an intriguing Scooby crew that entertains. |
| Dave Green | Movie | 2026 | ★★★★★ | A Looney Toons movie with lawyers and valuable life lessons about the abuses of power and the importance of standing up. |
| Pendleton Ward | TV Series | 2010 | ★★★★★ | Treat yourself to the genius that is Adventure Time. The adventures of Finn and Jake are a fever pitch of laughter and philosophical wisdom and so much more that makes the show a modern classic. |
| Charles Herman-Wurmfeld | Movie | 2003 | ★★★★☆ | Not as good as the first but good enough for recommending a Sunday Funday first watch or encourage a rewatch. |
| Robert Luketic | Movie | 2001 | ★★★★☆ | A comedic time capsule that punches well above it's petite weight. 1.5 hours of good ol' American fun. |
| Macon Blair | Movie | 2026 | ★★★★☆ | Good bits by great actors in a dumb comedy that doesn't really seem to have much to say. But that's fine. |
| Damien Chazelle | Movie | 2016 | ★★★☆☆ | A mildly autistic pianist and an aspiring actress have some chance encounters that are cute and probably very emblematic of a town I appreciate but don't really romanticize. |
| Jeremy Clarkson | TV Series | 2021 | ★★★★★ | A grand dive into what it means to start a farm, run a farm, and expand your ventures beyond a farm. Exquisite camera work, larger than life personality, and an unvarnished(ish) view of what puts food on tables. |
| Patrick McHale | TV Series | 2014 | ★★★★★ | Always good for a seasonal watch. A deceptively funny and frightening animated show that's brilliantly voiced. |
| Mike Judge | TV Series | 2014 | ★★★★★ | Mike Judge (almost) never misses. And this one hit the mark with a strong cast that did great (and terrible) things. |
| Video Game | 2021 | ★★★★★ | Excuse me while I cry over excellent puzzles interlacing an incredible story about love. | |
| Movie | 2025 | ★★★★★ | How self-interested can we be? Another set of terrifying tales from the twisted mind of Ari Aster that's excellent and unsettling and hopefully far from the truth. | |
| Carl Sagan | Book | 1995 | ★★★★★ | Balancing science with wonder is hard, but Carl is the guy to do it, even after 30+ years of change. |
| Damien Chazelle | Movie | 2022 | ★★★★★ | A winding tale on the beginnings of studios in Hollywood. From silent movies to talking pictures, you follow the wild journey for insights on what built the entertainment we all know and love. |
| Modern Storyteller | Video Game | 2021 | ★★★★★ | The golden rule is nothing new. But this game takes it and twists it brilliantly into the medium of puzzle-solving, history-loving, video gaming. |
| Isaac Brock | Music | 2026 | ★★★★★ | Another strong album that leans towards sadness for a group that's been around. |
| Mike Judge | TV Series | 1997 | ★★★★★ | My favorite animated comedy series. The quality never dips too low and the laughs get better with age. |
| Eric Robles | TV Series | 2026 | ★★★★☆ | It felt like one long-ish movie. Good sleepy Sunday fodder. |
| Tetsuya Nomura | Video Game | 2021 | ★★★★★ | An epic worth revisiting, even if it's different this go around. |
| Weird Al Yankovic | Movie | 2022 | ★★★★★ | If you ever enjoyed Weird Al's work, you will likely enjoy this quasi-biography. |
| Christopher Nolan | Movie | 2026 | ★★★★★ | An epic by modern and ancient standards. |
| Kenji Kamiyama | Movie | 2024 | ★★★★☆ | Enjoy the LotR universe again. It's a good entry with great voice acting and fine enough lore liberties. |
| Yasuhiro Nightow | TV Series | 1998 | ★★★★★ | A goofy OP protagonist waltzes through a post-apocalyptic world with a funny, rich set of great characters and fun animation. |
| Shinichirō Watanabe | TV Series | 1998 | ★★★★★ | A classic, beautiful anime with understated dialogue, kinetic action, and a phenomenal 26 episode arc. |
| qntm | Book | 2025 | ★★★★★ | I believe SCP Foundation would be one of the forerunners to this book about clandestine organizations. |
| TJ Klune | Book | 2025 | ★★★★★ | What I anticipated: an intriguing concept, a dash of romance that I've recently dabbled with, and an enhanced sense of solidarity. And that's what I got! |
| Adi Shankar | TV Series | 2025 | ★★★★☆ | You need to be a bit of a cornball. And a badass. If you're that combination of person, you may enjoy the animated series whether you played the games or not. |
| Charlie Munger | Book | 2023 | ★★★★★ | Charlie Munger was anything but a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. |
| Justin Bonner · Kasey Turner | Sustenance | 2018 | ★★★★★ | Dry aged burgers, beef, and fish are the headline. |
| Jeff Tremaine | Movie | 2026 | ★★★★☆ | A nostalgic not-quite-cash-grab that's always funny. |
| Patton Oswalt | Stand Up | 2026 | ★★★★★ | The ticketing webpage had this categorized as "Spoken Word" but despite the lack of that it was still a great performance by Patton and opener Samantha Ruddy. |
| Sam Levinson | TV Series | 2019 | ★★★★★ | This is like if The Wire was more of a comedy and with less lofty, but equally poignant, ambitions. |
| Thomas Pynchon | Book | 1966 | ★★★★★ | Exceptional writing for a fever dream storyline on subversive culture networks. I think. I'm still processing what I just read. |
| Katie Dippold | TV Series | 2026 | ★★★★★ | A perfect blend of everything in 30-minute package -- small arcs + big arcs; comedy + horror + every genre; dynamic acting. It's got it all. |
| Michael Sarnoski | Movie | 2026 | ★★★☆☆ | Robinhood stole some of my time on earth with this one. |
| Beethoven & Dinosaur | Video Game | 2026 | ★★★★★ | Short, sweet, and exactly the type of game I enjoy these days with good art, a great soundtrack, and mercifully short runtime. |
| Mountain Dew | Sustenance | 2026 | ★★★☆☆ | A soda is nice once in a blue moon. |
| Eli & Casey Linthicum | Sustenance | 2024 | ★★★★★ | Perfect for Merriweather Post Pavilion visits but a nifty barcade worth a visit in its own right. |
| Steven Spielberg | Movie | 2026 | ★★☆☆☆ | Watching Spielberg's Disclosure Day felt very much like watching Scorsese's The Irishman |
| Kane Parsons | Movie | 2026 | ★★★★★ | Like describing a dog to somebody who has never seen one. |
| Curry Barker | Movie | 2025 | ★★★★☆ | Funnier than I expected and an incredible directorial debut. |
| Charlie Brooker | Movie | 2025 | ★★★★★ | Faux-shoshin mockumentary. Perfectly executed delivery on asking life's greatest questions. |
| Andy Serkis | Movie | 2025 | ★★★★☆ | Andy Serkis's animated take on Orwell. B-tier but unfairly maligned — Serkis and the voice cast deliver despite the discourse. |
| Mike Makowsky | TV Series | 2025 | ★★★★★ | Garfield's improbable rise and his assassin's stranger arc. Macfadyen, Shannon, and Offerman at full tilt. |
| John Wilson | TV Series | 2020 | ★★★★★ | A New Yorker's archive of footage comedically rebuilt as quasi-poetry about scaffolding, vacuums, wine, being alive, and a whole bunch more. |
| Bill Watterson | Book | 1995 | ★★★★★ | Perhaps the most formative work in my reading life. This is Bill Watterson distilling the universe into a teacup. |
| Goichi Suda | Video Game | 2025 | ★★★★★ | Another fever dream from Suda51 and Grasshopper with combat that suits simple sensibilities packaged in an ultraviolent revenge noir. |
| Charles Yu | TV Series | 2024 | ★★★★★ | Tropes deployed expertly to tell something stranger than your typical fare. a season-one ending that refuses to settle |
| Susanna Clarke | Book | 2020 | ★★★★★ | A novel that finds my exact wavelength. |
| Tony Tulathimutte | Book | 2024 | ★★★★★ | Short stories that stick like tar and a final piece that's prescient enough to think about for years. |
| Bill Watterson · John Kascht | Book | 2023 | ★★★★★ | Watterson and Kascht give adults the fable they didn't know they needed. |
| James Carbutt · Will Todd | Video Game | 2024 | ★★★★★ | An interactive movie of a game — a two-hour visual delight by Coal Supper, voiced by Matt Berry. |
| Henry David Thoreau | Book | 1854 | ★★★★★ | Food for thought that warmed my mind and continues keeping it kindled with inverse, rebellious thoughts. |
| Dan Erickson | TV Series | 2022 | ★★★★★ | Excellent but the pedestal it is being held on (and potentially chasing) should be knocked down to size. |
| Remy Siu | Video Game | 2024 | ★★★★★ | A visual novel sorta video game. Canada-built, Australia-published, and unlike anything else. A beautiful, tragic tale well-told that you cannot put down. |
| Todd Field | Movie | 2022 | ★★★★★ | A slow-burn drama for anyone who likes calling folks on their bullshit. Cate Blanchett at her most. |