The New Classics

So, one of my favorite magazines, Entertainment Weekly, has just published its 1000th issues and to commemorate their pop culture stability in my life and in yours I wanted to share with you a few excerpts from their "New Classics" list. Yes, that's right, our generation is aging to the point that we have our own classics now. Before you become depressed, I want to encourage you to view these new classics with a sense of nostalgia and pride because I truly believe the last 25 years has contributed a great deal to our generation's unique identity. The lists are separated into several categories, so without further ado here are some of my favorites and some you'll appreciate as well:

MOVIES

#1 Pulp Fiction (Jules, I know this one is definitely on your personal list.)
#5 Toy Story (Dina, I know you'll agree that animation going digital changed the genre forever, and Toy Story was one of the first of its kind.)
#29 The Bourne Supremacy (Matt Damon as Jason Bourne...nuff said!)
#33 The Breakfast Club (Yamanda, I know this one hold a dear place in your heart.)
#34 Fargo (The Coen Brothers are legitimate storytellers and absolutely deserve a spot in the top 50)
#42 Clueless (Amy Heckerling created a completely new language and I know I had fun "rolling with the homies.")
#65 Dirth Dancing (Our generation's sexual dance revolution may be traced back to this very film.)
#73 Office Space (Workplace humor gave us hope for our possible adult cubical lives.)

TELEVISION

#1 The Simpsons (We all grew up with this dysfunctional family that made our own families seem a little less dysfuntional. Thank you, Matt Groening.)
#7 The Cosby Show (Yamanda thinks my family is its inspiration or vice versa. The Huxtables provided some good laughs from 1984-1992.)
#9 Friends (The last great laugh track sitcom!)
#10 Buffy the Vampire Slayer (While I never really got into this show I don't know what Jules and Nora would have done without it...especially the musical episode.)
#14 The Daily Show (Finally, politics can be funny, really funny.)
#15 The Oprah Winfrey Show (I thought I would share this one b/c I found it interesting and awesome that The Daily Show beat it!)
#16 Arrested Development (Model homes, The Blue Man Group, and Federal Crimes
have never been funnier!)
#52 Felicity (I think we can all relate to the girl who goes to college and discovers a little more about herself, and who can forget that awful haircut!?)
#60 Xena: Warrior Princess (Nora, that one's for you!)
#61 The Office-US Version (In my personal opinion, this would be much higher on the list.)
#67 Planet Earth, Discovery Channel (Absolutely Incredible!)
#100 Saved By the Bell (Zach Morris, Screech, c'mon! Where else can you find teens overdosing on caffeine pills!? Classic!)

MUSIC

#1 Purple Rain (My Prince obsessed Aunt and Uncle would be so proud!)
#2 The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (So good!)
#13 You Are Free-Cat Power (Yamanda, your musical tastes have been confirmed!)
#36 CrazySexyCool-TLC (Don't go chasin' waterfalls...such good advice.)
#41 Legend-Bob Marley and the Wailers (I'm pretty sure I heard this album at least once a day while living in EBF.)
#54 Rhythm Nation-Janet Jackson (My very first cassette tape!)
#65 Elephant-The White Stripes (Indie Rock makes the grade.)
#85 Home-Dixie Chicks (You all know I'm a fan, but if Dina can find a song to listen to on repeat off of this album, that says it all.)
#98 Transatlanticism-Death Cab for Cutie (I think they owe The O.C. a little credit.)

BOOKS
#1 The Road-Cormac McCarthy (I've read two of his book and really liked them. I'll have to read this one before the film comes out.)
#2 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire-J.K. Rowling (Rowling took Harry to a much darker place in the 4 th installment of the series.)
#7 Maus-Art Spiegelman (PWR actually introduced this graphic novel to me.)
#26 Neuromancer-William Gibson (I think between me and Jules we've read this one about 10 times.)
#34 The Lovely Bones (Did you read this one Yamanda?)
#48 The Poisonwood Bible-Barbara Kingsolver (Jules, one of your favorite authors.)
#65 The Giver-Lois Lowry (Middle School would not have been the same.)
#96 The DaVinci Code-Dan Brown (So, it isn't a literary masterpiece, but it was entertaining...too bad everything else he's written follows the same formula.)
#100 America-John Stewart (Nothing like it.)

VIDEO GAMES
#1 Tetris (This game saved many boring days at The Sharper Image.)
#4 Super Mario World
#5 Guitar Hero (For you Julia.)
#6 Street Fighter II
#17 Sim City
#38 Call of Duty 4 (Poor Jim, he never did catch on to this one.)
#49 World of Warcraft (MMORPGs could have had their own class in the Comm Dept.)

That was a fun walk down memory lane, wasn't it? If you want to check out the complete lists just pick up that latest issue of Entertainment Weekly. It's worth it!