# The desert island problem **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 25, 2025, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370 "2025-09-25T02:41:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/61 "2025-09-25T18:14:24Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > …My choice of book depends on that answer. Your choice of book, CD and movie depends on the info you have been given. Period. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/62 "2025-09-25T18:29:22Z")
> [@robby](#): > > I assume you mean the theatrical version of _ **The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring** _, which clocks in at 2:58 minutes. Again, if I could bring all three movies that make up the trilogy, I would definitely bring this. Yes. It had to be in the time window, and fit a single DVD. Fellowship works the best as a stand alone IMHO, and I have all three in that format, as well as the extended format. Feel free to consider me a fool, but I enjoy them, and I love (and own) the soundtracks as well. Plus, it’s kind of a three-fer, while it’s not a perfect adaptation, but it’s pretty darn good. So it’s like getting a movie, a CD, AND a book all in one. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/63 "2025-09-25T18:33:33Z")
Book: _Robinson Crusoe_ by Daniel Defoe. CD: _Ocean Waves, calming sounds of the sea_ from [BeachNecessities.com](http://BeachNecessities.com). Movie: _Castaway_ starring Tom Hanks. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/64 "2025-09-25T18:33:40Z")
Book: _The Annotated Alice_ - a version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with liberal and lengthy footnotes. I’ll be an expert on Victorian England by the time I get back. Music: Tough one. Do I go for the technically perfect album or one that just makes me feel good? Let’s split the difference. I’m going with Weezer’s _Maladroit._ Movie: My favorite movie, _I Heart Huckabees_, because it’s so damned funny and it’s about the bullshit dramas we spin out in our own heads, and I imagine living on a desert island for five years I’m going to need that reminder to lighten up. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/65 "2025-09-25T18:33:44Z")
@ParallelLines I’m correct in assuming that you love: 1. Robotech 2. The Many-Colored land books 3. LOTR If so, I have to ask: Are you secretly me? 😆 ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/66 "2025-09-25T18:35:08Z")
> [@Ynnad](#): > > CD: _Ocean Waves, calming sounds of the sea_ from [BeachNecessities.com](http://BeachNecessities.com). Listen, I’m not casting judgment, but ain’t that a little redundant? ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/67 "2025-09-25T18:39:37Z")
I have established, in a prior thread, that no matter what anyone else says, that **I’m** the good twin. I stand by that statement. But, you know, I’m a need/geek born in '74, there are going to be a large number of overlaps to be expected in those of a roughly similar age and interests. Oh, and have all the Intervention and _Galactic Milieu_ books as well. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/68 "2025-09-25T18:41:44Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > Oh, and have all the Intervention and _Galactic Milieu_ books as well. So do I!, which only adds more fuel to the conspiracy theory. If you also invented a role-playing game based on the Intervention books we’ll have to call it proved and start discussing who’s the good twin. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/69 "2025-09-25T18:42:54Z")
Nobody is saying one of the twins is the “good” twin, y’know. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/70 "2025-09-25T19:00:38Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > If you also invented a role-playing game based on the Intervention books we’ll have to call it proved and start discussing who’s the good twin. Probably too close to comfort. I’ve played a GURPs Supers game where I built a character based on Marc using the GURP’s psionic rules. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > Nobody is saying one of the twins is the “good” twin, y’know. Hey, good is a sliding scale, or, well, it is for most relativists like myself. It depends on who/what you put at the endpoints. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/71 "2025-09-25T19:07:06Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > Hey, good is a sliding scale, or, well, it is for most relativists like myself. It depends on who/what you put at the endpoints. The fact that you had a character based on _Marc Remillard_ (also known as “Abaddon”, “Angel of the Abyss”, and “the Destroyer”) could be used to argue that I’m the good twin. Not by me though, I liked that character. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/72 "2025-09-25T19:32:25Z")
Book: Either volume of the compact edition of the _Oxford English Dictionary_ – I can amuse myself for hours with a good dictionary. CD: A collection of hits by Johnny Cash, the Chad Mitchell Trio, or the Seekers – whichever album by one of those three has the most songs on it. Movie: This is the hard one. _Das Boot_, _Silverado_, \*For a Few Dollars More", _A Bridge Too Far_, _The Longest Day_ – so many wonderful choices. I think I’ll go with _Fantasia_. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/73 "2025-09-25T19:40:48Z")
Book: _The Wind in the Willows_ Album: _5 Seconds Flat_ Lizzie Mcalpine Film: _Spirited Away_ ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/74 "2025-09-25T20:07:49Z")
Movie - _Weekend at Bernie’s._ I’ve already watched it something like a few hundred times. I’m still not bored with it, and still find new things in the movie every so often. Album - Jimmy Buffett’s _Fruitcakes_. I’d be ok with just the first two tracks, but if I get a whole album that’s what I’m going with. IMHO you can’t go wrong with Buffett on a desert island. Book. I’m picking something I haven’t read, but sticking with a nautical theme. I’m going with Stuart Turton’s _The Devil and the Dark Water_, which I’ve heard described as Sherlock Holmes meets Stephen King, set on a ship from the era of sailing ships. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/75 "2025-09-25T21:29:18Z")
I thought about a volume of the OED, but that presupposes that I get to take the magnifying glass, too. ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/76 "2025-09-25T22:29:30Z")
CD: Blonde on Blonde. Book: Paul Bowles, Collected Short Stories. Movie: Beat The Devil. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/77 "2025-09-25T23:35:03Z")
Just curious: What are the two CDs you split the difference on? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/78 "2025-09-25T23:49:21Z")
Green Day’s _American Idiot_ for technical perfection, and probably Madonna’s _Something to Remember_ to feel the good feelings.\*\* I’m heavily debating where Live’s _Throwing Copper_ fits in. It’s technically perfect but leaves me kind of moody and morose. Not a good vibe for when you’re stranded and lonely. I picked _Maladroit_ because I love it musically and it’s just upbeat enough to not make you too depressed, yet just angsty enough for some catharsis when you need it. \*\*My Aunt went to Japan and brought me back a pair of pink plastic Madonna chopsticks - which is a totally normal thing to have, you know. And they say “Madonna: Feel the good feeling." Which cracks me up because Madonna never said or sang those words, yet they somehow entirely sum up a good portion of her career. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/79 "2025-09-26T20:56:00Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I thought about a volume of the OED, but that presupposes that I get to take the magnifying glass, too. It’s only been the last few years – since I was 65 or so – that I can’t read it without help. And the magnifying glass, of course, disappeared decades ago. ☹ The hard part, of course, would be deciding _which_ volume. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370/80 "2025-09-26T21:00:40Z")
Whichever one you pick will create an intense longing for the other one, of course. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-island-problem/1023370.md?page=5)