Thursday, December 15, 2016

National Film Registry Announces Latest Inductees


In 1988, the National Film Preservation Act was established, which has resulted in the National Film Preservation Board selecting up to 25 films each year for preservation.  The movies selected, which include not only feature-length theatrical-released classics but also newsreels, silent films, experimental films, short films, movies that have lost copyright protection, film serials, home movies, documentaries, and independent films, are considered to be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

The only real criterion for inclusion into the National Film Registry is that the film is at least 10 years old.  There are six movies that were accepted upon their first ballot eligibility.  Those include Raging Bull, Do the Right Thing, Goodfellas, Toy Story, Fargo, and 13 Lakes.  That last one is an interesting selection since all it is really is more than two hours of 13 long, uncut takes of different lakes in America.  There is no dialogue or story to follow.  I haven’t seen the film, so am unable to give my take on it, not that you would really care what I think of a movie showcasing American lakes, but apparently the NFPB considered it a significant enough piece of work to include for preservation.

This year’s films to be preserved range from silent and black-and-white classics to more recent hit films that have stood the test of time.  Below is the list of films, arranged in alphabetical order.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916)
The Atomic Café (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)

The most shocking revelation from this list is that The Birds and The Lion King weren’t already in the National Film Registry.  Also, it is great to see Who Framed Roger Rabbit make it in for preservation.  That movie is the one I have seen the most times in the theater.  13.  That’s the number, in case you were wonder how many times it was.  And that does not include home theaters.  That is actually paying for a ticket, getting popcorn, and sitting in a dark theater with strangers for one hour and 44 minutes (22 1/2 hours if you combined all of my sittings).  If you take into account that I was 7 years old at the time, that is pretty impressive that I found enough liberal adults to take me to the theater 13 different times to see a film noir loaded with sexuality and vulgarity about a wise-cracking rabbit and sourpuss detective solving a whodunit mystery set in 1947 Los Angeles.  I must have been one cute, persuasive kid.  What happened?

While we are on the subject of the National Film Registry, I decided to do a quick look over the list and see what the most heinous omissions are.  They include:

The Defiant Ones (1958)
True Grit (1969)
The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
Carrie (1976)
Aliens (1986)
Die Hard (1988)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Clueless (1995)
Titanic (1997)
American Beauty (1999)
Fight Club (1999)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)