Hit Me with your Hit List

by Stephen Tringali*

At a production night for The Eagle, American University’s campus newspaper, about a column of page space had yet to be filled. The need came last minute, and no content was readily available. Create a “Hit List,” an editor suggested. The order came naturally, as though it were the expected solution for such a problem.

A Hit List? You might be wondering: what's that? I was too, when it was first mentioned. As soon as the editor with the idea started asking what sort of things struck us as particularly entertaining or interesting, the definition became pretty clear: a best-of compilation, a cross-section of our current favorites.

I liked the idea, and so I thought, “Why not post my own personal Hit List, delineating what movies, books, and music I’m currently enjoying?” Also, I’m interested to know what media readers of this blog enjoy. So, please feel free to post your own “Hit Lists” on the comment board.

• The Third Man: I viewed this 1949 film starring Joseph Cotton and Orson Welles in a class entitled "Film Writing, Film Culture." After the professor forced us to suffer through Birth of a Nation and The Littlest Rebel, I was more than a little ecstatic to experience a smart noir. The screenplay, written by novelist and film critic Graham Greene, deftly ties together superb dialogue, a self-contained storyline, and mysterious elements that tease our expectations of cinema.

• The Dark Child: In his autobiography, Camara Laye details life as an adolescent growing up in sub-Sahara Africa. Laye, recognized as a particularly intelligent child, was sent to Conakry to study, later returning to his village with a new education and the promise of studying in France, on government scholarship. Though it moves along at a patient pace, this book mesmerizes readers with its stark language, its calculated tone, and most especially, with its detailed descriptions of African customs.

• Yellow House: The Brooklyn-based indie quartet Grizzly Bear released this second studio album last year to great acclaim, and it’s not terribly hard to understand how it managed to generate all the praise. Just slip on some headphones and listen to “Easier,” the first of several sprawling chamber-pop/folk pieces. A note to fellow D.C. residents: Grizzly Bear will be playing the Black Cat on March 4.

*When he is not writing for this blog, Stephen Tringali is the Special Projects Editor for The Eagle, American University's student newspaper.

(Promotional photo of Grizzly Bear from Warp Records.)

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