My Picks for the National Film Registry 2015

Happy Thanksgiving!

As is tradition, it's time for me to reveal my votes for this year's National Film Registry, due to be announced in about a month's time by the Library of Congress. We'll see how many of mine they pick! 

Last year's list spanned the years 1913-2004, and included: The Dragon Painter (1919), Down Argentine Way (1940),  House of Wax (1953), Rio Bravo (1959), Rosemary's Baby (1968), Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), The Big Lebowski (1998), and Saving Private Ryan (1998).   Also included were the usual selection of obscurer, but no-less-deserving picks such as Please Don't Bury Me Alive! (1976) considered to be the first Chicano feature film.  A link to the Hollywood Reporter article from last year can be found here.

The National Film Registry started in 1989, and there are currently 650 films on the list.  Although there does seem to be less of a push for great films these days over those of "cultural" importance (Librarian of Congress James M. Billington has been quoted to say: "These films are not selected as the best American films of all time, but rather as works of enduring importance to American culture"), there is still at least an unconscious push for inclusion of those considered works of art.  If the selections were based entirely on cultural "endurance" over that of a quality assessment, why would such narrative films that made the list last year as The Power and the Glory (1933), Ruggles of Red Gap (1935), and The Gang's All Here (1943) [films hardly part of the contemporary zeitgeist] make it in over such perennial shut-outs as The Seven Year Itch (1955), The Birds (1963), and Grease (1978)?

Below are my picks for what should be on this year's list (I only do well-known narrative feature films: I'll let the Library of Congress decide on the obscure works).  To me, the film that most needs to be added above all (my choice now SIX years running!) is Blue Velvet.  Last year three of my picks made the list: Rosemary's Baby (1968), Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), and The Big Lebowski (1998). 

My choices for this go-round, by year, are:

1920s-30s-40s (6 titles)

The Sheik (1921)

Mutiny on the Bounty (1934)

The Little Foxes (1941)

Lifeboat (1944)

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

The Lady From Shanghai (1948)

1950s (10 titles)

Father of the Bride (1950)

Harvey (1950)

The Red Badge of Courage (1951)

Strangers on a Train (1951)

Limelight (1952)

Stalag 17 (1953)

The Seven Year Itch (1955)

The Killing (1956)

The King and I (1956)

Auntie Mame (1958)

1960s (10 titles)

The Guns of Navarone (1961)

101 Dalmatians (1961)

The Misfits (1961)

Lolita (1962)

The Birds (1963)

The Great Escape (1963)

Cheyenne Autumn (1964)

The Naked Kiss (1964)

A Patch of Blue (1965)

Seconds (1966)

1970s (10 titles)

Love Story (1970)

Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)

Carnal Knowledge (1971)

The Poseidon Adventure (1971)

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

The Sunshine Boys (1975)

The Front (1976)

Grease (1978)

The Jerk (1979)

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

1980s (10 titles)

Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)

Arthur (1981)

The World According to Garp (1982)

Terms of Endearment (1983)

Aliens (1986)

Blue Velvet (1986)

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

Raising Arizona (1987)

Wall Street (1987)

Die Hard (1988)

1990s (2 titles)

Apollo 13 (1995)

Titanic (1997)

2000s (2 titles)

Bad Santa (2003)

Million Dollar Baby (2004)

National Film Registry Picks 2015

The National Film Registry picks this year featured quite a few popular/ cult films, even if, yet again, they failed to add a single Oscar-winning Best Picture. Most, but not all, of the Best Picture winners are American films, so if they added one a year they would at some point catch up. Let's face it they all eventually have to be on the list, so better sooner than later. And I say again, what exactly is the hold up on Titanic (1997; eligible since 2007), do we need more time to consider the fact that it was a worldwide phenomenon? The addition of Ruggles of Red Gap strengthens the overall picks of 1935, but where is the terrific Mutiny on the Bounty if you're gonna pick a Charles Laughton? (With the addition of Ruggles, going forward: Mutiny plus The Informer would pretty much sew up '35.)

Despite my Best Picture gripe, however, I think this year's list is among the strongest I've seen in recent years, and fills in quite a few gaps, particularly in the area of genre (western, musical, horror). As the western is the "American" movie genre, it should always be represented, and this year's choices of Little Big Man and, especially, Rio Bravo are a well-chosen duo.

A much-higher-than-usual amount of my picks made it this year—3 (it's usually 1!)— as follows: Rosemary's Baby, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (at LONG last), and The Big Lebowski.

The full list can be found here.

Curious one day to see two silent films that made the list this year: Lois Weber's Shoes (1916) and The Dragon Painter (1919). A couple of minutes of the opening of the later is on YouTube:

My Picks for the National Film Registry 2014

Happy Thanksgiving!

As is tradition, it's time for me to reveal my votes for this year's National Film Registry, due to be announced in about a month's time by the Library of Congress. We'll see how many of mine they pick! 

Last year's list spanned the years 1919-2002, and included: King of Jazz (1930), Forbidden Planet (1956), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Mary Poppins (1964), The Right Stuff (1983),  Roger & Me (1992), and Pulp Fiction (1994).   Also included were the usual selection of obscurer, but no-less-deserving picks such as Daughter of the Dawn (1920) featuring an all-Native-American cast.  A link to the Hollywood Reporter article from last year can be found here.

The National Film Registry started in 1989, and there are currently 625 films on the list.  Although there does seem to be less of a push for great films these days over those of "cultural" importance (Librarian of Congress James M. Billington has been quoted to say: "These films are not selected as the best American films of all time, but rather as works of enduring importance to American culture"), there is still at least an unconscious push for inclusion of those considered works of art.  If the selections were based entirely on cultural "endurance" over that of a quality assessment, why would such narrative films that made the list last year as Ella Cinders (1926), Midnight (1939), and Gilda (1946) [films hardly part of the contemporary zeitgeist] make it in over such perennial shut-outs as The Seven Year Itch (1955), The Birds (1963), and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)?

Below are my picks for what should be on this year's list (I only do well-known narrative feature films: I'll let the Library of Congress decide on the obscure works).  To me, the film that most needs to be added above all (my choice now FIVE years running!) is Blue Velvet.  Last year three of my picks made the list: The Quiet Man (1952), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), and Pulp Fiction (1994). 

My choices for this go-round, by year, are:

1920s-30s-40s (6 titles)

The Sheik (1921)

Mutiny on the Bounty (1934)

The Little Foxes (1941)

Lifeboat (1944)

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

The Lady From Shanghai (1948)

1950s (10 titles)

Father of the Bride (1950)

Harvey (1950)

The Red Badge of Courage (1951)

Strangers on a Train (1951)

Limelight (1952)

Stalag 17 (1953)

The Seven Year Itch (1955)

The Killing (1956)

The King and I (1956)

Auntie Mame (1958)

1960s (10 titles)

The Guns of Navarone (1961)

101 Dalmatians (1961)

The Misfits (1961)

Lolita (1962)

The Birds (1963)

The Great Escape (1963)

Cheyenne Autumn (1964)

The Naked Kiss (1964)

Seconds (1966)

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

1970s (10 titles)

Love Story (1970)

Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)

Carnal Knowledge (1971)

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

The Poseidon Adventure (1971)

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

The Sunshine Boys (1975)

The Front (1976)

Grease (1978)

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

1980s (10 titles)

Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)

Arthur (1981)

The World According to Garp (1982)

Terms of Endearment (1983)

Aliens (1986)

Blue Velvet (1986)

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

Raising Arizona (1987)

Wall Street (1987)

Die Hard (1988)

1990s (2 titles)

Titanic (1997)

The Big Lebowski (1998)

2000s (2 titles)

Bad Santa (2003)

Million Dollar Baby (2004)

My Picks for the National Film Registry 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!

As is tradition, it's time for me to reveal my votes for this year's National Film Registry, due to be announced in about a month's time by the Library of Congress. We'll see how many of mine they pick! 

Last year's list spanned the years 1897-1999, and included: Uncle Tom's Cabin (1914), Sons of the Desert (1933), 3:10 to Yuma (1957), A League of Their Own (1992), and The Matrix (1999).   Also included were the usual selection of obscurer, but no-less-deserving picks such as the Technicolor industrial film The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair (1939).  A link to the Hollywood Reporter article from last year can be found here; I was mixed on the selections last year (although a few "biggies" undeniably got their due, like Breakfast at Tiffany's and Dirty Harry).

The National Film Registry started in 1989, and there are currently 600 films on the list.  Although there does seem to be less of a push for great films these days over those of "cultural" importance (Librarian of Congress James M. Billington was quoted last year to say: "These films are not selected as the best American films of all time, but rather as works of enduring importance to American culture"), there is still at least an unconscious push for inclusion of those considered works of art.  If the selections were based entirely on cultural "endurance" over that of a quality assessment, why would such narrative films that made the list last year as The Wishing Ring (1914), Born Yesterday (1950), and Anatomy of a Murder (1959) [films hardly part of the contemporary zeitgeist] make it in over such perennial shut-outs as The Seven Year Itch (1955), The Birds (1963), and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)?

Below are my picks for what should be on this year's list (I only do the narrative feature films: I'll let the Library of Congress decide on the obscure works).  To me, the film that most needs to be added above all (my choice now FOUR years running!) is Blue Velvet.  Last year just one of my picks made the list: A Christmas Story (1983). 

My choices for this go-round, by year:

1920s-30s (2 titles)

The Sheik (1921)

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

1940s (5 titles)

The Little Foxes (1941)

Lifeboat (1944)

To Have and Have Not (1944)

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

The Lady From Shanghai (1948)

1950s (10 titles)

Harvey (1950)

The Red Badge Of Courage (1951)

Strangers on a Train (1951)

Limelight (1952)

The Quiet Man (1952)

Stalag 17 (1953)

The Seven Year Itch (1955)

The Killing (1956)

The King and I (1956)

Auntie Mame (1958)

1960s (10 titles)

The Guns of Navarone (1961)

101 Dalmatians (1961)

Lolita (1962)

The Birds (1963)

The Great Escape (1963)

Cheyenne Autumn (1964)

The Naked Kiss (1964)

Seconds (1966)

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

1970s (10 titles)

Love Story (1970)

Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)

Carnal Knowledge (1971)

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three (1974)

The Sunshine Boys (1975)

The Front (1976)

Grease (1978)

Kramer Vs. Kramer (1979)

1980s (10 titles)

Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980)

Arthur (1981)

The World According to Garp (1982)

Terms of Endearment (1983)

Aliens (1986)

Blue Velvet (1986)

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

Raising Arizona (1987)

Wall Street (1987)

Die Hard (1988)

1990s (2 titles)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Titanic (1997)

2000s (1 title)

Bad Santa (2003)

"Spook" in Film Registry: "You really want to mess with Whitey? I can show you how."

The newly listed film in the National Film Registry, The Spook Who Sat By the Door, can be watched in full on YouTube.  Given just * 1/2 stars by the Leonard Maltin Guide, this film has gradually gained a reputation so as to be considered one of the best of the blaxploitation genre.  Its quite interesting, particularly as a time capsule, and easily worth your time. The kind of film that needed the passage of 40 years' time to become a classic. The film is posted twice (in full), here's one of the links.

National Film Registry Announced 2012

The list is out (earlier than usual) and like last year, it's pretty good, but not particularly good. And, unlike last year, they didn't pick any Oscar Best Picture winners, which puts them behind again.  For bad or for worse, every American film that has won Best Picture needs to be on there. I mean, what's the holdup on, you know, TITANIC?

There were, however, several quite deserving "biggies" that made it: BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, DIRTY HARRY, and THE MATRIX among them.

Just one of my picks made it-- A CHRISTMAS STORY.  My #1 pick several years running, BLUE VELVET, has not made it again!

Link to Los Angeles Times article.

Link to Hollywood Reporter article.

My Picks for the National Film Registry 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!

If it's Thanksgiving I'm contemplating my e-mail "voting" to the Nat'l Film Registry (for NEXT year), they close their polling in the fall; I vote right after the new year. But on Thanksgiving for this blog I reveal my picks for this year below. We'll see how many of mine they pick.

In one month, the Library of Congress will announce the next 25 films to be added to the National Film Registry. Last year's list spanned the years 1912-1994, and included: The Kid (1921), Bambi (1942), Faces (1968), Norma Rae (1979), and Forrest Gump (1994).   Also included were the usual selection of obscurer, but no-less-deserving picks such as the avant garde film Allures (1961) by Jordan Belson.  A link to the Hollywood Reporter article from last year can be found here; I was mixed on the selections last year (although I was happy they caught up on three Oscar-winning Best Pictures: in addition to Gump, were The Lost Weekend and The Silence of the Lambs)... I hope they chose better this year.

The National Film Registry started in 1989, and there are currently 575 films on the list.  Although the obscure films and historically important documentaries fulfill the mandate of the Registry, there does seem to be a movement to include those fictional feature films that are great films (more of a Sight and Sound approach) or cult films (such as new selection El Mariachi) and not just historically or culturally important ones (there are still many Oscar-winning Best Pictures not on the list, for example).

Below are my picks for what should be added to this year's list (I only do the narrative feature films: I'll let the Library of Congress decide on the obscure works).  To me, the film that most needs to be added above all (my choice for three years running!) is Blue Velvet.  Last year just one of my picks made the list: Bambi (1942), at long last. 

My choices for this go-round, by year:

1910s-20s-30s (3 titles)

A Tale of Two Cities (1917)

The Sheik (1921)

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

1940s (5 titles)

The Little Foxes (1941)

Lifeboat (1944)

To Have and Have Not (1944)

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

The Lady From Shanghai (1948)

1950s (10 titles)

Harvey (1950)

The Red Badge Of Courage (1951)

Strangers on a Train (1951)

Limelight (1952)

The Quiet Man (1952)

Stalag 17 (1953)

The Seven Year Itch (1955)

The Killing (1956)

The King and I (1956)

Auntie Mame (1958)

1960s (10 titles)

The Guns of Navarone (1961)

101 Dalmatians (1961)

Lolita (1962)

The Birds (1963)

The Great Escape (1963)

Cheyenne Autumn (1964)

The Naked Kiss (1964)

Seconds (1966)

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

1970s (10 titles)

Love Story (1970)

Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)

Carnal Knowledge (1971)

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three (1974)

The Sunshine Boys (1975)

The Front (1976)

Grease (1978)

Kramer Vs. Kramer (1979)

1980s (10 titles)

Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980)

Arthur (1981)

The World According to Garp (1982)

A Christmas Story (1983)

Aliens (1986)

Blue Velvet (1986)

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

Raising Arizona (1987)

Wall Street (1987)

Die Hard (1988)

1990s (2 titles)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Titanic (1997)

National Film Registry's "A Cure for Pokeritis," "The Kid" and "The Negro Soldier" Posted on YouTube

Note: "A Cure for Pokeritis" celebrates its 100th in February [part 1 below].  I think it's best described by the user review ("greatwar...") on IMDb.

National Film Registry 2011 Announced

The list is out and in my opinion not quite as good a list as the last couple years, but not bad either... at least they did a little Oscar Best Picture catch-up with three added (The Lost Weekend, The Silence of the Lambs, Forrest Gump).  Just one movie off my suggestions made it, the grossly overlooked Bambi, glad at long last it's on there.

I was surprised to see that Chaplin's The Kid wasn't already on there, it made me, of course, want to know how many of his feature length films are in the registry, so I checked.  Of Chaplin's 11 directorial features, 5 are in the registry and 6 are not.  They've clearly got it right so far, although I'm partial to Limelight.  Certainly all of Chaplin's features should at some point be in the registry save for the last two (which were British anyway).

Chaplin features in: The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936), The Great Dictator (1940).

Chaplin films out: A Woman of Paris (1923), The Circus (1928), Monsieur Verdoux (1947), Limelight (1952), A King in New York (1957), A Countess from Hong Kong (1967).

Here is a link to the Hollywood Reporter article.

The 25 newly added films as follows:

ALLURES (1961)

BAMBI (1942)

THE BIG HEAT (1953)

A COMPUTER ANIMATED HAND (1972)

CRISIS: BEHIND A PRESIDENTIAL COMMITMENT (1963)

THE CRY OF THE CHILDREN (1912)

A CURE FOR POKERITIS (1912)

EL MARIACHI (1992)

FACES (1968)

FAKE FRUIT FACTORY (1986)

FORREST GUMP (1994)

GROWING UP FEMALE (1971)

HESTER STREET (1975)

I, AN ACTRESS (1977)

THE IRON HORSE (1924)

THE KID (1921)

THE LOST WEEKEND (1945)

THE NEGRO SOLDIER (1944)

NICHOLAS BROTHERS FAMILY HOME MOVIES (1930s-40s)

NORMA RAE (1979)

PORGY AND BESS (1959)

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)

STAND AND DELIVER (1988)

TWENTIETH CENTURY (1934)

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953)

Time to Lobby the Library of Congress About the National Film Registry

Happy Thanksgiving!

In one month, the Library of Congress will announce the next 25 films to be added to the National Film Registry. Last year's list spanned the years 1891-1996, certainly the longest time span of any NFR 25, and included: The Bargain (1914), The Front Page (1931), W. C. Field's starrer It's A Gift (1934), Saturday Night Fever (1977), and Airplane! (1980).   Also included were historically important films such as A Trip Down Market Street (1906), an amazing record of San Francisco's famed thoroughfare just days before the earthquake.  A link to the LA Times article from last year can be found here; I really thought this was the best NFR 25 selection list in years... I hope they chose as well this year.

The National Film Registry started in 1989, and there are currently 550 films on the list.  Although the obscure films and historically important documentaries fulfill the mandate of the Registry, there does seem to be a movement, to include those fictional feature films that are great films (more of a Sight and Sound approach) or cult films (such as Grey Gardens) and not just historically or culturally important ones (there are still many Oscar-winning Best Pictures not on the list, for example).

You can e-mail your list to the Library of Congress and they'll consider your choices.  Link to their website.

Below are my picks for what should be added to this year's list (I only do the narrative feature films: I'll let the Library of Congress decide on the obscure works).  To me, the film that most needs to be added above all (my choice for two years running) is Blue Velvet.  I made a change to my approach last year... The NFR allows any movie so long as it is at least 10 years old-- dutifully I have added one film from 10 years ago... which the NFR OUGHT to do so as not to "fall behind."  But they don't.  And it seems that they almost never have films from the last 20 years (unless they are the obscure or historically significant ones; they did manage Malcolm X [1992] last year).  So I decided, when NONE of my choices made it the year before last, to have my most recent film be 20 years old instead. Why waste the votes?  I put two back from the mid-90s this year.  But, as a result of this decision last year, 3 of my films made the cut: The Exorcist (1973), All the Presidents Men (1976), and [at long last] The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

My choices for this go-round, by year:

1910s-20s-30s (3 titles)

A Tale of Two Cities (1917)

The Sheik (1921)

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

1940s (5 titles)

The Little Foxes (1941)

Bambi (1942)

Lifeboat (1944)

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

The Lady From Shanghai (1948)

1950s (10 titles)

Harvey (1950)

The Red Badge Of Courage (1951)

Strangers on a Train (1951)

Limelight (1952)

The Quiet Man (1952)

Stalag 17 (1953)

The Seven Year Itch (1955)

The Killing (1956)

The King and I (1956)

Auntie Mame (1958)

1960s (10 titles)

The Guns of Navarone (1961)

101 Dalmatians (1961)

Lolita (1962)

The Birds (1963)

The Great Escape (1963)

Cheyenne Autumn (1964)

The Naked Kiss (1964)

Seconds (1966)

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

1970s (10 titles)

Love Story (1970)

Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)

Carnal Knowledge (1971)

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three (1974)

The Sunshine Boys (1975)

The Front (1976)

Grease (1978)

Kramer Vs. Kramer (1979)

1980s (10 titles)

Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980)

Arthur (1981)

The World According to Garp (1982)

A Christmas Story (1983)

Aliens (1986)

Blue Velvet (1986)

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

Raising Arizona (1987)

Wall Street (1987)

Die Hard (1988)

1990s (2 titles)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Titanic (1997)