Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything (2014)

Might not be the all-time best movies ever made in every way but the information they provide or the interest they spark to wake up and smell the coffee and/or Google the issues, makes them essential in soooo many ways.

Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Steve Carell, and Ryan Gosling in The Big Short (2015)

Personal reminder, and perhaps info for others, of bad movies that impacted my life very little, that I wish I had not watched in the first place and a reminder to surely not try them again. Movies that I likely will never think of again (thus the reminder); movies that took a fatal turn somewhere, movies that didn't even make me angry at their badness, for if they did, and I actually remembered them, they would at least approach 'art' in that they got me thinking or evoked an emotion, any emotion.

Sam Elliott, Blythe Danner, Mary Kay Place, Malin Akerman, Rhea Perlman, Martin Starr, and June Squibb in I'll See You in My Dreams (2015)

Just so so...if a TV series, I might have abandoned it, but nothing awful here, just filler or 'less than'. Many might really love the films/series here. Just a holding place for me to differentiate the great from the ok. I might give the films/series in this list another chance someday...

Was either interrupted or jury is still out, or just lost in the shuffle (not a good sign, but some good ones do slip through the first viewing). Different from "To See" in that I have seen all of these, even if only part of some.

Walter Matthau and Wladyslaw Komar in Pirates (1986)

In no particular order; just as I think of them or discover them.  These are films which hit on all cylinders and have profoundly affected me, generally.  There won't be many extremely popular films as they don't have the freedom to be art of this caliber, and that is a shame.  Not only are these films reflective of their directors, but of the casting, as that is a huge reason they work as they do; the rest all comes together around the actors.

Not quite desert island films but almost. I return to most of them time and again, luxuriating in the art of film at its best.

My list title is an oxymoron where movies/TV are concerned, but there are a few nice mindbenders out there. Hardly any rise to the quality of books, alas, but maybe that is just not possible, or has to do with choice/taste of the powers that be. Sci-fi is not limited to space themed movies nor is this list. Very few blockbusters here. Suggestions are welcome.

As I prefer documentaries to be as balanced and as true to the genre as possible, that is what this list will contain.  For the most part...the odd guilty pleasure may sneak in here.  No biopics here, just documentary biographies.

Plus a music lover! I might be in the biz, wearing several hats (biggest is recording engr, which is also most creative), but I don't view it as only a biz; it's an art and that is what I look for in music films (NOT musicals, that may be another list at some point). Not all the artists in my list are necc my favorites, but there is something in each that has shown a light on something I may have missed.

Good Music Docs and Films from Someone in the Biz

Bruce Springsteen in The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town (2010)

Maybe not the best BEST, but kind of in that I can watch over and over. There is something in the presentation and/or characters that draws me back again and again. The film/series may be deeply flawed but it doesn't seem to matter. Or else a film is WAY outside my usual type of film.

Claire Danes and Joaquin Phoenix in It's All About Love (2003)

Not my usual, but here they are. Slick, big budget, all that stuff. Some are entertaining, if not good. Most here will be the same ol', same ol' that I don't care for, but may have redeeming qualities. So it is hard to quantify the contents of this list; you'll have to judge for yourself.

Hollywood Blockbuster Types (the ones that sneak through!)

Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum in Jupiter Ascending (2015)

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