I wouldn't say I'm a cinephile but I think others may disagree. I like diversity in storytelling and so I tend to gravitate toward those stories that don't get told as often. To that end, I'm a big fan of horror. I also like the weird, twisted, or off-beat (e.g., David Lynch) I also tend to prefer stories that are more grand than relatable: epics rather than stories focused on interpersonal relationships. I am quite passionate about the movies and TV shows I love. Here are a few.

Neon Genesis Evangelion

NOTE: Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0 is such a departure from the previous twenty-six years of canon that my view of the series, as described below, excludes that movie.

Neon Genesis Evangelion upended...everything. It flipped the anime industry upside down. It flipped mecha shows upside down. It is a show with no heroes. No good guys. It is critical of fairy tale endings, its genre, its industry, its fans, its creator, and even itself.

Evangelion shows us that sometimes, things are just lost. Nobody wins. This is a show where the protagonists fight against angels, messengers from God, and the audience is left to wonder why. What's the catch? Angels are good, right? What's the misdirect? The misdirection is that there is no misdirection. Angels are messengers from God and they are here to bring about the apocalypse. Humanity are not the good guys. It is a show with no heroes.

Over the course of the series, everyone fucks over everyone else. There are consequences for each of these actions and yet the protagonists never learn. By the time the series concludes, Shinji jerked off to a comatose Asuka . Misato weaponized her sexuality one last time in an attempt to get Shinji in the fucking robot. Asuka has been eaten alive. Ritsuko has been shot. Gendo has been rejected by Lilith. Then finally, when Shinji becomes as God and has a chance to forgive everyone--redeem everyone--he elects not to. He chooses only to restore both his and Asuka's humanity...and then proceeds to choke her out. It is a show with no heroes.

All of this is presented through clever direction, heavy and foreboding mysticism, mechs with novel organic designs (for they aren't mechs in the first place) and even audience participation. The final two episodes of the series are positive. While humanity is still lost, Shinji finally finds peace in Instrumentality. Peace in "heaven." But the fans were livid with this ending. So livid were they, they vandalized the Gainax offices. Not only did this lead to the End of Evangelion movie that retconned the TV show ending (note that the movies identify themselves as episodes 25 prime and 26 prime) for a purely negative one, but real world images from the vandalism even made their way in to the final cut. Hideaki Anno tried to end his tale of depression and failure on a positive note and fans rejected it. So, he gave them what he thought they deserved and they rejoiced. It is a show with no heroes.

As if this wasn't a depressing enough narrative to tell, the Rebuild movies and the manga, along with subtle hints in the show (Shinji's tape recorder) show that this sort of failure repeats. It is a never ending cycle of disappointment, disorder, and loss.

It is a show with no heroes.

Twin Peaks

What's there to say about Twin Peaks that hasn't already been said? It's a saga of good versus evil. Light versus dark. David Lynch is an expert at his craft and he and Mark Frost deliver the goofy in equal measure to the horrifying. This is a show that gives a defiant middle finger to the TV of its day and to those who would watch it. Folks who would tune in to find out who killed Laura Palmer never really had any idea what it was they were watching in the first place. Laura Palmer was the launchpad for the story. Who killed her never mattered.

Twin Peaks is not a who-dun-it. It's not a murder mystery. It's literally a battle between good and evil. The way that story is told is so well done, so considered, that it would be a shame to detail it here. Go watch it for yourself.

Babylon 5

Babylon 5 is a space opera that shows what can be done not only with a long-term narrative plan, but contingencies for when production gets in the way. J. Michael Straczynski writes a cohesive, fantastical adventure through space...and even time. He does so even with actor swaps and network interference. Not only that, but unlike Star Trek, it approaches taboo topics of the time as if they are common place rather than pointing them out as narrative focal points. A really well done show.

Stargate

Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe, and the trio of movies all tell one of the most cohesive, well-written stories I've ever had the pleasure of watching. Through a total of 17 seasons, you watch as the Earth forces start from a weak, nearly helpless faction to one of the most advanced and powerful factions in the known universe. Care was taken both with research and with the story bible to tell such a well crafted story. The Ori arc can get fucked, though.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Madoka Magica did for magical girl shows what Evangelion did for mecha shows. This is very much a modern spin on Evangelion and it is absolutely brilliant. The original commercials suggested this was going to be yet another magical girl show but oooh boy, it is not that. It is not that at all. This show wants to fool you in to thinking it's about antics, friendships, and pretty costumes. Don't let it.

Watch the brilliant movie, Rebellion, for the proper ending to the series, as well.

Liar Game (Japanese)

For a show which relies on cleverness as its gimmick, it would have been easy to be a failure. However, Liar Game pulls it off magnificently with clever characters, clever solutions to its puzzles, and clever crosses, double crosses, and triple crosses. The painfully innocent protagonist is also used to great effect as a consequential character and is not just some device used to point out the cleverness in others. She is an important character in her own right.

Attack on Titan

You want twists? We have twists. We have story-telling twists. We have high flying acrobatic twists. We have twisted characters. We have twisted bodies.

M. Night Shyamalan, eat your heart out.

Martyrs (French, 2008)

Horror requires fear. Fear requires the unknown. To that end, horror subgenres often attempt to be transgressive. New French Extremity is a subgenre of horror movie that attempted to be just that. In this New French Extremity film is a plot that explores the relationship between pain and transcendence but its brilliance is in how it takes the viewer on that same journey as the movie's protagonists. It is brutal. It is uncomfortable. But in the end, you will be hard-pressed not to come out the other side having transcended what you experienced earlier in the film.

Starship Troopers

Verhoeven at his finest. If you're not paying attention, you may just think this is an exploitative action movie. It is; however, a scathing mockery of Heinlein's original authoritarian novel. Even if you can see the punchline coming a mile away, that humanity are the bad guys, it's just so fun in its middle finger of the original work. Hell, the final scene even has a Nazi officer leading his soldiers in victory cheers as he declares not that their enemy is defeated, but that they are afraid.

Old Boy (South Korean, 2003)

The pinnacle of revenge movies. This movie keeps you on edge, waiting for more and more of the reasoning behind the protagonist's situation to be revealed...and it does so in spectacular fashion. The ultimate tale of revenge with a brilliant single-take hallway action fight scene.

A Tale of Two Sisters (South Korean, 2003)

One of my absolute favorite psychological horror films. In terms of themes, this is as close to Silent Hill in movie form as it gets; and that's considering the Silent Hill movies.

Robotech

The world created by Carl Macek is so creative. It took multiple, disjointed Japanese cartoons and forged them in to a single serial story of life and death. I believe it is one of the most influential works to popularize Japanese cartoons in the West.

The book series was written by Jack McKinney, a pseudonym of the duo: James Luceno and Brian Daley. The novels go in to detail the television series could not and even continued the story beyond the end of the cartoon. For a long time, the novels were the only source of a definitive ending to the series. I still consider them canon despite The Shadow Chronicles retconning the novels.

I own the complete series. The first six books cover the first season of the cartoon. The next three books cover season two. Books ten through twelve cover season three. The next five books cover The Sentinels, a planned sequel television series. Book eighteen serves as the end of the story. The final three books fill in some timeline gaps between the previous novels.