These are the things that inspire me, that I return to often, and that I enjoy sharing with others; seperated into three Olympic tiers—gold, silver, bronze—in the spirit of Paul Schraeder’s essay, “Canon Fodder.” Read my thoughts on the formation of personal canons here.
Films
American Pop (1981) ★
Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010) ★
Black Robe (1991) ★
Bone Tomahawk (2015) ★
Children of Men (2006) ★
Chinatown (1974) ★
Contact (1997) ★
The Cotton Club (1984) ★
Crumb (1995) ★
Dark City (1998) ★
Deadwood (2004–2006) ★
Deadwood: The Movie (2019) ★
Donnie Darko (2001) ★
Eaten Alive (1976) ★
Eraserhead (1977) ★
Fantastic Planet (1973) ★
Fat City (1972) ★
Fearless (1993) ★
First Man (2018) ★
First Reformed (2017) ★
Five Easy Pieces (1970) ★
Fool for Love (1985) ★
For a Few Dollars More (1965) ★
Ghost in the Shell (1995) ★
Gimme Shelter (1970) ★
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) ★
Grizzly Man (2005) ★
Halloween (1978) ★
Hardcore (1979) ★
His Girl Friday (1940) ★
The Hit (1984) ★
In A Lonely Place (1950) ★
In the Heat of the Night (1967) ★
The Indian Runner (1991) ★
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) ★
It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) ★
Lady Snowblood (1973) ★
The Long Goodbye (1973) ★
The Long Riders (1980) ★
Mandy (2018) ★
Manhunter (1986) ★
Married to the Mob (1988) ★
The Matrix (1999) ★
Mikey and Nicky (1976) ★
Millennium Actress (2001) ★
The New World (2005) ★
Night of the Comet (1984) ★
The Night of the Hunter (1955) ★
Night of the Living Dead (1968) ★
Outland (1981) ★
Persona (1966) ★
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) ★
Re-Animator (1985) ★
Rear Window (1954) ★
Repo Man (1984) ★
Reservoir Dogs (1992) ★
RoboCop (1987) ★
Safety Not Guaranteed (2012) ★
Le Samouraï (1967) ★
Shenandoah (1965) ★
The Silence of the Lambs (1991) ★
Solaris (1972) ★
Something Wild (1986) ★
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) ★
Stay Hungry (1976) ★
Suspiria (1977) ★
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) ★
This Is Spinal Tap (1984) ★
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) ★
To Serve the Gods (1982) ★
Total Recall (1990) ★
Tremors (1990) ★
UHF (1989) ★
The Vanishing (1988) ★
Videodrome (1983) ★
The Wicker Man (1973) ★
The Witch (2015) ★
Wild Strawberries (1957) ★
Books
Clive Barker
Imajica (1991) ★
John Christensen (Hieromonk Damascene)
Christ the Eternal Tao (1999) ★
Cody Clarke
Kill the Lion (2020) ★
Philip K. Dick
Ubik (1969) ★
William Faulkner
Light in August (1932) ★
Go Down, Moses (1942) ★
Robert A. Heinlein
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1966) ★
Frank Herbert
Dune (1965) ★
God Emperor of Dune (1981) ★
Stanislaw Lem
Solaris (1961) ★
Richard Matheson
I Am Legend (1954) ★
Walter M. Miller Jr.
A Canticle for Leibowtiz (1959) ★
Robert Pirsig
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974) ★
Francis Schaeffer
Back to Freedom and Dignity (1972) ★
Music
Animal Collective
Feels (2005) ★
Big Star
#1 Record (1972) ★
Bill Callahan
Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest (2019) ★
Can
Future Days (1973) ★
Fun
Aim & Ignite (2009) ★
Okkervil River
Black Sheep Boy (2005) ★
Purple Mountains
Purple Mountains (2019) ★
Arthur Russell
Another Thought (1994) ★
Elliott Smith
Roman Candle (1994) ★
Sufjan Stevens
Carrie & Lowell (2015) ★
Switchfoot
Interrobang (2021) ★
Games
Alien: Isolation (2014) ★
Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009) ★
The Club (2008) ★
Dead Rising (2006) ★
Doom (1993) ★
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (2004) ★
Mirror’s Edge (2008) ★
NBA Street Vol. 2 (2003) ★
Portal (2007) ★