157. The Scene with Miss Havisham from Great Expectations

If I remember right, Great Expectations as a whole already got a nod. However, the scene with Miss Havisham, the old lady mouldering in her wedding dress because she's unable to let go of the past, deserves an entry of its own.

156. Princess Mononoke

Like most of Miyazaki's movies, this one is charming and beautiful and teaches the lesson that you shouldn't mess with nature.

155. Mending Wall

Something there is that doesn't love a wall...

154. The Circle of Life

Yes, the song from The Lion King.

153. The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine

My old local neighborhood cathedral. This picture doesn't quite do it justice. My favorite feature was the set of 14 large stained-glass bay windows, each devoted to a different profession. They're extremely detailed. The sports window even features a pistol and a curling stone and broom rendered in stained glass. Not something you see in every church.

152. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (the song)

At the time of this posting, Gil Scott-Heron has just died. So this one's for you.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

151. Avenue Q

Ellen and I just went to see this. The message seemed to be that nobody is special, but that's okay.

150. American Gods

Immigrants to America bring their gods with them from the various Old Countries, but the gods' strength is proportional to the people's faith in them. It's a fun book for those of us who like to feel smug about catching references to various mythologies.

149. Boy With Thorn

A popular motif among Greek and Roman sculptors. This one happens to be a Roman copy of a Greek original.

148. Classical Gas

I think only knew the famous riff from this. The whole thing is pretty nice, though.

147. Christ the Redeemer

Sorry, no rapture, but this guy still loves you. (At least, it looks that way. He appears to be going for a hug of epic proportions.)

146. The Red-headed League

A Sherlock Holmes story that I haven't read in years, but I remember enjoying. Time to give it another read.

145. The Science of Sleep

Another Netflix Instant Watch discovery. Semi-pretentious (and French), but fun.

144. Fast Car

Tracy Chapman.

143. The Book of the New Sun

Will get a writeup in the morning.

142. Alamar

A true and rather sad story about a father's last couple weeks with his son. The father's not dying; the son is going away to live with his mother in France. (Available on Netflix Instant Watch. I recommend it for your next foreign movie night.)

141. That scene from 30 Rock with the parody of Amadeus

I wish I could have found a clip to link. If you *somehow* have access to episodes of 30 Rock, the episode is called Succession.

140. Amadeus

Because without this movie, how would any of us know about Salieri?

139. Green Onions

The song, not the food.

138. Gödel, Escher, Bach

The first book to make the list that's classified as non-fiction.

137. Moonlight Sonata

Even if you don't know it by name, you'll know it when you hear it.

136. Rhinoceros

I saw this years ago. If I remember right, the lesson was: Don't turn into a rhinoceros. If your neighbor does, don't trust him.

135. Wanderer above the Sea of Fog

134. Fleep

Let's get a comic onto the list for the first time. What if you (a mathematically inclined nerd) woke up trapped in a phone booth behind a wall of concrete? Why, you'd formulate a plan for escape, of course! Unfortunately, the phone book is in a foreign language, so it's going to take some ingenuity to figure out how you'll get out. The comic is short enough to read in 15 minutes or so. Go!

FLEEP

133. Matilda

And who could forget Matilda? The only book I've read in four languages.

132. The Poisonwood Bible

This was the second of the three female-centered books I came up with, and the only one in to include an adult heroine.

131. The Book Thief

As I was walking through the bookstore the other day, I realized that I could come up with very few books I enjoyed with female protagonists. This was one of them. (I would happily accept recommendations of other female-centered books to expand my horizons.)

130. Migrant Mother

129. Disneyland's Haunted Mansion

128. Harrison Bergeron

127. Marilyn Diptych

Andy Warhol made a whole lot of Marilyn Monroe prints. This one's clearly symbolic of something.