I think that the NFR is as much about celebrating american film as it is about preservation. They starting out saving the classics and popular films, and can't really stop just because everybody does film preservation now. They've been inducting way more obsucre and forgotten works than recent popular films though.Highway 61 wrote:I think it's inclusion is inexplicable because the movie is less than twenty years old and is a big, profitable catalogue title for Paramount, so it's hardly crying out for preservation, unlike thousands of other titles. I feel the same way about past inclusions like Alien or Beauty and the Beast. Porgy and Bess, on the other hand, is exactly the kind of movie a film preservation program should be pursuing.Bill Thompson wrote:What's WTF about Gump? It's a best picture winner, it was critically well received, made a ton of money, and most importantly it's a very American movie.
National Film Registry
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- Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 11:50 pm
Re: National Film Registry
- Gregory
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm
Re: National Film Registry
I'm just relieved that in the future I won't have to worry about seeing any deterioration when I watch Decasia.
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- Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2007 8:29 pm
- Location: Los Angeles CA
- Contact:
Re: National Film Registry
It means nothing. Literally, nothing, in terms of any sort of direct material result. I know a couple of folks who have gotten films on the list. The LoC didn't ask for anything; it doesn't store elements unless you want to ship them there; no money came in to guarantee preservation, nothing. It can help with fundraising, and draws attention to some little known films. But it is mainly just a list of films.Ashirg wrote:What exactly does preservation mean for National Film Registry? Detour (1945) was named in 1992. Does it mean Library of Congress holds the best film elements for it?
- Minkin
- Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:13 pm
Re: National Film Registry
The NFR film Fox Movietone News: Jenkins Orphanage Band (1928) has finally been made available online/public - previously only a 1-2 min clip could be viewed as the rest was in the University of South Carolina archive - now you can see the full 11 mins (prepare to hear that same song for the entire 11 mins).
- antnield
- Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:59 pm
- Location: Cheltenham, England
Re: National Film Registry
2014 additions
13 Lakes (2004)
Bert Williams Lime Kiln Club Field Day (1913)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Down Argentine Way (1940)
The Dragon Painter (1919)
Felicia (1965
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
The Gang’s All Here (1943)
House of Wax (1953)
Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (2000)
Little Big Man (1970)
Luxo Jr. (1986)
Moon Breath Beat (1980)
Please Don’t Bury Me Alive! (1976)
The Power and the Glory (1933)
Rio Bravo (1959)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Shoes (1916)
State Fair (1933)
Unmasked (1917)
V-E + 1 (1945)
The Way of Peace (1947)
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
- Cold Bishop
- Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 9:45 pm
- Location: Portland, OR
Re: National Film Registry
How have I never heard of Please Don't Bury Me Alive? Anyone seen it?
- warren oates
- Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 12:16 pm
Re: National Film Registry
Psyched to see Little Big Man and 13 Lakes -- is that the first Benning they've chosen? A good film, but it certainly wouldn't be mine.
- ordinaryperson
- Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 4:18 pm
- Location: Earth, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, Universe
Re: National Film Registry
I can't believe The Big Lebowski got in.
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- Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 11:50 pm
Re: National Film Registry
Two Carmen Miranda movies in one year and still no Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I wonder if someone has it out for that movie the way it was reported they did for Pulp Fiction.
- antnield
- Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:59 pm
- Location: Cheltenham, England
Re: National Film Registry
2015 additions.
Being There (1979)
Black and Tan (1929)
Dracula (Spanish language version) (1931)
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906)
Eadweard Muybridge, Zoopraxographer (1975)
Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894)
A Fool There Was (1915)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)
Humoresque (1920)
Imitation of Life (1959)
The Inner World of Aphasia (1968)
John Henry and the Inky-Poo (1946)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
The Mark of Zorro (1920)
The Old Mill (1937)
Our Daily Bread (1934)
Portrait of Jason (1967)
Seconds (1966)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Sink or Swim (1990)
The Story of Menstruation (1946)
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968)
Top Gun (1986)
Winchester ’73 (1950)
Being There (1979)
Black and Tan (1929)
Dracula (Spanish language version) (1931)
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906)
Eadweard Muybridge, Zoopraxographer (1975)
Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894)
A Fool There Was (1915)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)
Humoresque (1920)
Imitation of Life (1959)
The Inner World of Aphasia (1968)
John Henry and the Inky-Poo (1946)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
The Mark of Zorro (1920)
The Old Mill (1937)
Our Daily Bread (1934)
Portrait of Jason (1967)
Seconds (1966)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Sink or Swim (1990)
The Story of Menstruation (1946)
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968)
Top Gun (1986)
Winchester ’73 (1950)
- Roscoe
- Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2014 3:40 pm
- Location: NYC
Re: National Film Registry
GHOSTBUSTERS. Whatever.
TOP GUN?!?!
TOP GUN?!?!
Last edited by Roscoe on Wed Dec 16, 2015 10:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
- Ribs
- Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm
Re: National Film Registry
It never ceases to amaze how about half the list is "well, duh, I'd have assumed it's been in there for decades" and the other half is "what on Earth are they thinking this shouldn't be on a list of the most notable films of that year".
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- Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:31 am
Re: National Film Registry
Nice to see Thom Andersen finally have a work selected by the NFR. GHOSTBUSTERS deserves it, but I agree that TOP GUN is bullshit. A series of pretty images with a pleasant soundtrack and loaded with right-wing nonsense.
Would've loved to have seen a work by Penelope Spheeris, Hal Hartley, Christine Choy or animator Dennis Pies/Sky David be selected.
Would've loved to have seen a work by Penelope Spheeris, Hal Hartley, Christine Choy or animator Dennis Pies/Sky David be selected.
Re: National Film Registry
So, a perfect encapsulation of the mainstream culture of the mid-1980s, worth preserving for future generations to study. I'm sorry to break it to you, but nobody's going to give a shit about Hal Hartley 100 years from now. Even most film critics/scholars/fans barely care about him now.beamish13 wrote:TOP GUN is bullshit. A series of pretty images with a pleasant soundtrack and loaded with right-wing nonsense.
It seems the Library of Congress is fully aware of what films they've neglected to name to the list and have made a separate list of them!
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- Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:31 am
Re: National Film Registry
There are a ton of better films they could've selected from the 1980's-what about Housekeeping, Parting Glances, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, Kiss of the Spider Woman or A Dry White Season? How about more music videos, or even Tony Scott's brother Ridley's Apple 1984 commercial?Werewolf by Night wrote:So, a perfect encapsulation of the mainstream culture of the mid-1980s, worth preserving for future generations to study. I'm sorry to break it to you, but nobody's going to give a shit about Hal Hartley 100 years from now. Even most film critics/scholars/fans barely care about him now.beamish13 wrote:TOP GUN is bullshit. A series of pretty images with a pleasant soundtrack and loaded with right-wing nonsense.
It seems the Library of Congress is fully aware of what films they've neglected to name to the list and have made a separate list of them!
I've seen that list, and it has some nice suggestions-I like YOUR THREE MINUTES ARE UP (1973) and the Tim Burton films.
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- Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 11:50 pm
Re: National Film Registry
We could go on all day about films that "should" be inducted, but that doesn't make for a reason why Top Gun shouldn't. Maybe Top Gun shouldn't have been chosen in 2015 over how many other films but it has a fitting place on the list all the same.beamish13 wrote:There are a ton of better films they could've selected from the 1980's-what about Housekeeping, Parting Glances, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, Kiss of the Spider Woman or A Dry White Season? How about more music videos, or even Tony Scott's brother Ridley's Apple 1984 commercial?
- movielocke
- Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:44 am
Re: National Film Registry
Studios have a terrible historic track record of asset preservation which is one of the big impetus in creating the NFR in the first place.
Film is a big umbrella, and the NFR does a good job of inclusion. Some say they should pursue a more exclusionary approach, I disagree.
Film is a big umbrella, and the NFR does a good job of inclusion. Some say they should pursue a more exclusionary approach, I disagree.
- hearthesilence
- Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
- Location: NYC
Re: National Film Registry
The archetypical Reagan movie fantasy. You need something in there to represent that shitty time known as the '80s.
- knives
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm
Re: National Film Registry
Yeah, short of a Rambo sequel nothing encapsulates the political and machismo ethos of the '80s better while being a reasonably high profile film. As a representation of an important social aspect of American cinema it definitely ranks higher then most films which are artistically better.
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- Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:31 am
Re: National Film Registry
What about Red Dawn or Invasion, U.S.A., which both seem to have influenced the current crop of GOP presidential nominees? Or, for a smarter action film without a reactionary message, Runaway Train?knives wrote:Yeah, short of a Rambo sequel nothing encapsulates the political and machismo ethos of the '80s better while being a reasonably high profile film. As a representation of an important social aspect of American cinema it definitely ranks higher then most films which are artistically better.
- knives
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm
Re: National Film Registry
Of the three you mentioned pretty much only Red Dawn has the cultural cache to be in serious consideration I would think with the additional cultural importance of the PG-13. Probably just a case of personal preference there.
- rohmerin
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:36 am
- Location: Spain
Re: National Film Registry
1 Borzage plus 1 King Vidor. Nice.
I agree, Top Gun is bullshit.
I agree, Top Gun is bullshit.
- antnield
- Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:59 pm
- Location: Cheltenham, England
Re: National Film Registry
2016 additions
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916)
The Atomic Cafe (1982)
Ball of Fire (1941)
The Beau Brummels (1928)
The Birds (1963)
Blackboard Jungle (1955)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)
East of Eden (1955)
Funny Girl (1968)
Life of an American Fireman (1903)
The Lion King (1994)
Lost Horizon (1937)
Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912)
Paris Is Burning (1990)
Point Blank (1967)
The Princess Bride (1987)
Putney Swope (1969)
Rushmore (1998)
Solomon Sir Jones films (1924-28)
Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
Suzanne, Suzanne (1982)
Thelma & Louise (1991)
A Walk in the Sun (1945)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916)
The Atomic Cafe (1982)
Ball of Fire (1941)
The Beau Brummels (1928)
The Birds (1963)
Blackboard Jungle (1955)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)
East of Eden (1955)
Funny Girl (1968)
Life of an American Fireman (1903)
The Lion King (1994)
Lost Horizon (1937)
Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912)
Paris Is Burning (1990)
Point Blank (1967)
The Princess Bride (1987)
Putney Swope (1969)
Rushmore (1998)
Solomon Sir Jones films (1924-28)
Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
Suzanne, Suzanne (1982)
Thelma & Louise (1991)
A Walk in the Sun (1945)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
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- Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:31 am
Re: National Film Registry
Interesting that Roger Rabbit is the sole film representing the animation world this year. A solid, if somewhat unremarkable list, but I'm very happy to finally see Penelope Spheeris get recognized.
- Drucker
- Your Future our Drucker
- Joined: Wed May 18, 2011 9:37 am