Favorites

My lists here will be quite sparse compared to other people's.  I generally put a lot more weight into what I consider a "favorite" before adding, so there are works and inspirational figures I probably like but aren't here simply because they didn't leave a strong enough impact.

My interests are pretty wide ranging and hard to bucket, probably from the diversity of works I was exposed to having spent most of my childhood online, in books, and in movies/games.  I read pretty much everything I could get my hands on as early as 3rd grade, though it's toned down a bit now. I probably read too much in elementary, going through as much as a hundred novels a year and ending up with 5.0 diopters of nearsightedness by 7th grade (though I've trained myself to never need glasses outside of reading, even in skiing or tennis).  For music, I started off more in games, world/ethnic, and (Goa)(Psy)Trance/Techno/DnB before starting to listen to film and soundtrack music as well; most often misjudge my tastes based on the first track they hear in my playlists.  It's less about the genre and more if I can visualize something to music, the level of detail, and the diversity of sounds.  The same goes for the films I watch - which can range from typical blockbusters to more arthouse films from other countries.

The lists are ordered by when the entries were added.  I don't usually have a ranking to what I like.  A grade next to the year is just to remind me of where I was at that time, not that I necessarily read it for class.

Authors - Books
2002 (5th Grade): Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
2003 (6th Grade): Louis Sachar - Holes, Sideways Stories, Boy Who Lost His Face
2003 (5th Grade): Dan Gutman - Kid Who Ran/Became President
2004 (7th Grade): Daniel Keyes - Flowers for Algernon
2004 (7th Grade): Michael Crichton - Sphere, Prey, Jurassic Park
2005 (8th Grade): Douglas Adams - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy I/II/III/IV/V
2006 (10th Grade): Richard Llewellyn - How Green Was My Valley
2007: Susan Vreeland - Girl in Hyacinth Blue
2008: John Knowles - A Separate Peace
2010 (UG Freshman): Natsume Sōseki - Kokoro
2012 (UG Junior): H.G. Wells - The Time Machine
2013: Scott Patterson - Dark Pools
2013: Isaac Asimov - The Last Question
2013: Arthur C. Clarke - Childhood's End, The City and the Stars

Filmmakers - Films/Shows
2001: Roy E. Disney - Fantasia 2000
2004: Happy Tree Friends
2007: Danny Antonucci - Ed, Edd, n Eddy
2008: Stephen Chow - Chinese Odyssey, Shaolin Soccer
2008: Tsui Hark - Swordsman I/II/III
2008: Chen Kaige - Wu Ji (but only for fight scenes)
2009: Pete Docter - Up (only the first segment)
2009: Neill Blomkamp - District 9
2010: Nalin Pan - Valley of Flowers (for this scene)
2010: Christopher Nolan - Memento, Inception, Dark Knight, Interstellar
2010: Edgar Wright - Scott Pilgrim vs the World
2011: Manglobe - Ergo Proxy
2011: Brain's Base - Baccano
2011: Richard Kelly - Donnie Darko
2011: Alex Proyas - Dark City
2011: Duncan Jones - Source Code
2011: Lee Hae-Joon - Castaway on the Moon
2012: Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro - Delicatessen, City of Lost Children
2013: Zack Snyder - Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Watchmen
2013: Alan Moore (Writer/Source) - V for Vendetta, Watchmen
2014: Josh Trank - Chronicle
2014: Wally Pfister - Transcendence
2014: James Marsh - The Theory of Everything
2015: Alex Garland - Ex Machina, Annihilation
2015: M. Night Shyamalan - The Visit, Split, Unbreakable
2016: Evan Viera - Caldera
2016: Madhouse Studios - One Punch Man, Metropolis (2001)
2016: Mike Cahill / Brit Marling - I Origins, Another Earth, The OA
2016: Hideaki Anno - Shin Godzilla, Evangelion
2017: Neel Kohatkar - Modern Educayshun, Privilege Game
2017: Gore Verbinski - A Cure for Wellness
2017: Studio Deen - Konosuba
2017: Makoto Shinkai - Your Name
2017: Damien Chazelle - La La Land
2017: Denis Villeneuve - Bladerunner 2049, Dune
2018: Studio Shaft - Monogatari
2018: Erick Oh - Heart
2018: Steven Spielberg - Ready Player One
2018: Wachowskis - Cloud Atlas
2018: Vy Vincent Ngo - Hancock
2019: Robert Rodriguez - Alita Battle Angel
2019: David Yarovesky - Brightburn
2020: Ridley Scott, Aaron Guzikowski - Raised by Wolves, Blade Runner, Prometheus
2021: Scott Frank - Queen's Gambit
2023: Takashi Yamazaki - Godzilla Minus One
2024: Jonathan Nolan - Fallout

Composers - Music
2004: Tomoko Sasaki - Nights into Dreams OST - Soft Museum, Amazing Water
2004: Seiichi Kyoda (Uttara-Kuru) - Falling Through a Cloud, Our Life, Back to Tokyo
2006: Astral Projection - Ambient Galaxy, Mahadeva, Kabalah, Power Gen
2006: DNA - Angel Dust, Shushu the Fox
2006: Pharagonescia - Pharatropic
2006: XsToRmEr1 - Flames of the Sky, Flames of the Sky II
2006: Zero Bass - Schala Dark Sky Remix, Lighting Trigger, Misaki, Atomic Trigger 3
2006: RedSe7en - Sound Crystals
2006: RageVI - Shattered Dreams
2008: MilkmanDan - Beautiful Savage, Clenastro
2008: Bosa (Jon Babb) - Pure of Heart, Beautiful, Honey, The Beanstalk, We Dream to Fly, There is Hope
2009: Denny Schneidemesser (Danman87) - Far Beyond the Stars, Moon's Guidance
2009: Waterflame (Christian Krogsvold) - Burst, Wabba-Wah, Radiocutter, Dash
2011: reel2 (Jonas B. Ingebretsen) - What If I Can't, The Calling, The Musical Journey, Beyond Kingdom's Realm
2011: Trevor Jones - Dark City OST
2011: Ike Yoshihiro - Terra Incognita (Ergo Proxy OST)
2011: Hans Zimmer - Inception, The Dark Knight, Man of Steel, Interstellar, Live Tours
2012: Angelo Badalamenti - The City of Lost Children OST Track 1C, Miette
2012: ellebirdy23 (VGSongbird) - Kakariko Village, Love, Midna, Metro
2013: Blake Robinson - Adventures in Your Sleep, Mischief in Your Daydreams
2013: Elspeth Eastman - Last of Us Cover
2013: Yarrow Whitfield - Restless Dreams, Can't Stay
2014: Kan Gao and Laura Shigihara - To the Moon OST
2014: Sleeping at Last - Arctic, Moon
2015: Azuria Sky - Stellaria, Time, Clair de Lune
2015: Kaz Okamoto - Journey's End, 2113
2016: Deane Ogden - Firebird, Temple of Heaven
2015: Braids - Taste
2016: Jonathan Morali - Life is Strange OST
2016: The Dø - Dust It Off, Song for Lovers
2017: Giselle - Silk, Crave You
2017: Masato Coda - Chiisana Boukensha, Oie ni Kaeritai
2017: Raon Lee - Nandemonaiya Cover, Ikanaide Cover
2017: Goose House - オトノナルホウへ→
2017: Benjamin Wallfisch - Blade Runner 2049 OST, Nothing Lasts Forever (It 2 OST)
2017: Dirk Ehlert (de-tune) - Caratacus, Happy in Fall, Splendid
2017: West Dylan Thordson - Split OST (specifically Meeting the Others)
2018: Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow - Annihilation OST
2018: Drought on Mars - Autumn Leaves
2018: Jóhann Gunnar Jóhannsson - Arrival of the Birds
2018: Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek & Reinhold Heil - Cloud Atlas OST Death is Only a Door & Somni-451 Meets Chang
2019: Junkie XL - Alita Battle Angel OST
2019: Kobasolo - Haiiro to Ao Cover, 小さな恋のうた Cover, Lemon/Kenshi Yonezu Cover
2019: Marcus Warner - In the End, Helsinki, A Matter of Time, Tokyo Rain, Oceans
2020: Osamuraisan - Kagerou Project on Guitar Cover
2020: Steve Jablonsky - Building a Nest for Eggs (Sims 3 Generations OST)
2021: Chikayo Fukuda - Asura's Wrath OST, Already You Must Recite It
2022: Lockyn - Stellar
2022: Sweet Dove - 短い未来を見たい
2023: DM Dokuro - Still Here
2023: Naoki Sato - Godzilla Minus One OST

Broadway/Musical, Comedy, and Theater
Much of what I like comes from competing in speech and debate during high school.  It's terribly named (also referred to as National Forensics League which is equally terrible) as it's so much more than just speech or debate.  My favorite was the improvisational talks or skits, which unfortunately are never recorded.  The rehearsed skits are just as incredible to do and watch though, as one person can literally play up to 20 different characters in 10 minutes.  I've yet to find anything in the outside world that resembles anything close to it, even amongst world reknowned improv theaters like Second City.
2008: Carlos Oscar (clean but hilarious standup comedy)
2009: Phillip Bridge - Fully Committed (National Forensics League 2006)
2009: Spencer McCurnin - Jimmy the Antichrist (National Forensics League 2006)
2009: Taron Grizell & Karen Joshi - Mr. Marmalade (National Forensics League 2007)
2009: MadTV - Stephnie Weir vs Santa Claus, John Madden Popcorn, John Madden Birdhouse
2014: Wicked (Gershwin Theater, New York City)
2014: Carisa Barreca - Apes of Wrath (Second City, Chicago), hilarious switching from happy to evil at any moment.
2015: Kenny Zhang - An Original Masterpiece (National Forensics League 2013)
2015: Billy Chengary and Michelle McCarthy - Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
2015: Ithamar Enriquez - Ithamar Has Nothing to Say (Second City, Los Angeles)
2016: Nick Kanellis, Peter McNerney - Trike (Magnet Theater NYC), Examples: 1, 2
2017: Lin-Manuel Miranda - Hamilton (Richard Rodgers Theatre, NYC) - Burn, Satisfied

Game Developers - Games
1998: Sonic Team - Nights into Dreams
1999: Naughty Dog - Crash Bandicoot, Last of Us
2003: Chris Sawyer - Roller Coaster Tycoon (singlehandedly written in assembly)
2004: Ensemble Studios - Age of Empires 1/2/3, Age of Mythology
2004: Matei Zaharia - Norse Wars (custom game mod for Age of Mythology)
2005: Lionhead Studios / Peter Molyneux - Black and White 1/2
2006: K2XL - Stick Avalanche
2007: Sean T. Cooper - Boxhead 2 Play
2011: KevinDoesArt - Grey
2014: Kan Gao - To the Moon
2015: Frictional Games - Soma
2016: Dontnod - Life is Strange
2020: Hideo Kojima - Death Stranding
2021: CyberConnect2 - Asura's Wrath

Visionaries/Entrepreneurs/Inventors
2013: Joshua Levine - Singlehandedly created the original electronic stock exchange called the Island, which became the basis for all existing exchanges today.
2013: Elon Musk - Paypal, Tesla, SpaceX, SolarCity.  Played the 2024 election like a video game.
2014: Jetman (Yves Rossy) - Inventor who built and flies his own jetpack.
2014: James H. Simons - Mathematician, code breaker, Renaissance Technologies.
2015: Nikola Tesla - Inventor behind AC, radio...  Considered a mad scientist of his time. 100 years early on wireless.
2015: George Westinghouse - Inventor and businessman who made practical many inventions such as Tesla's, built a company that spanned from electric to manufacturing and eventually purchased CBS amongst other transformations.
2015: Walt Disney - Essentially tried to create a utopia before he died, only for it to become a theme park.
2015: Lee Kwan Yew - Built Singapore from the ground up. Probably the only successful benevolent dictatorship ever due being both extremely talented and well-intentioned.
2017: P. T. Barnum - Extremely savy showman who did everything from circuses and museums to mansions and cities.
2019: J. Robert Oppenheimer - Father of the atom bomb, almost passed over because of his "lack of nobel prize" and other credentials but had extreme mastery of many subjects as a polymath from chemistry to physics etc as well as the vision/coordination for Los Alamos (responsible for such a large community being dedicated to unhindered research and science).  Even discovered black holes 30 years early, but his research was just ignored.
2020: Hideo Kojima - Considered an auteur of game developers.  Creates games as if directing movies and eventually wants to do both.
2022: Brit Marling - Started on films in school with Mike Cahill and Zal Batmanglij, graduated into finance before leaving it to go all-in on filmmaking with her same two friends.  Personal for me because I had the opposite of intentionally going finance to then be able to pursue filmmaking with my high school friends and actually succeeding (with an AI fund to boot), only for my friends to have moved on with normal lives.