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It's a good year for sci-fi and geek movies at the National Film Registry!!! Cameron, Harryhausen, Univeral Monsters and more!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with one of my favorite annual articles: The new announcements from the National Film Registry. Every year they pick feature films, short films, documentary film, important works of filmmaking and forever preserve them… I like to envision a nuclear bunker buried under the Lincoln Memorial with high tech cooling systems keeping these films from deteriorating in a dust free room. Imagine that… shelves upon shelves of film cans, duplicate copies from the original negative of these films, stored away and preserved so they can never be lost, forever a part of the Library of Congress.
This year’s picks are pretty great for cinephiles and fantasy/sci-fi lovers. Here’s a visual rundown of the features included in the 2008 preservation:
By the way, the creepy poster with the monocle guy is the best I could find for Erich Von Stroheim's 1922 film FOOLISH WIVES, about a guy who passes himself off as a Russian Count in order to seduce and rob rich socialites. Just in case you were wondering and couldn't read... what is that? Russian? Czech?
Anyway, it's great to see Claude Rains’ iconic turn in THE INVISIBLE MAN represented. He beats Lon Chaney as THE WOLF MAN is not yet a part of the Registry, however Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein and Dracula have all been included. I guess The Wolf Man and the Creature From The Black Lagoon can cry on each others’ shoulders.
And hooray for Cameron’s original TERMINATOR being included. These lists tend to overlook geek favorites in favor of “more important” films. It’s good to see films like TERMINATOR and THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD on a list that also includes noirs like THE KILLERS and THE ASPHALT JUNGLE and important cinema firsts like HALLELUJAH, which was King Vidor’s MGM musical with the first all black cast.
Also making the cut is a film called DISNEYLAND DREAMS, which is a home movie shot by a Connecticut family who won a contest (sponsored by Scotch Tape) to visit Disneyland in 1956 as well as a four-minute experimental short called FREE RADICALS from 1979 and two-reelers from Buster Keaton (ONE WEEK) and WC Fields (SO’S YOUR OLD MAN).
There are also a few documentaries, including 1910’s WHITE FAWN’S DEVOTION, the first documented film on Native Americans, Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner WATER AND POWER (1989), THE MARCH (documenting the Civil Rights marches of the early ‘60s), Lionel Rogosin’s ON THE BOWERY, NO LIES - a 16 minute black and white student film dealing with recovering from rape and rare color WW2 footage shot by George Stevens between 1943 and 1946.
What do you guys think of the new additions?
If you want to check out what’s already in the National Film Registry click here for the list!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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For posterity and such?
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The most underrated movie in the history of American motion pictures; Andy Griffith's flawless performance as a corrupted hayseed prophesized the Clinton administration.
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Under the Rainbow probably does not rate saving. Although I love me some midget comedies. Them little fellers runnin all about - tee hee hee!
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Dec 30, 2008 4:47:06 PM CST
What would a future civilization glean from these choices?
by soylentmean
Assuming these future film finders wouldn't know or understand our languages (or even have the need for languages at all) these films would be viewed with all the characters spewing forth indecipherable gibberish while things go boom or Ned Beatty gets some back door love in the woods.
My guess is, the stuff would be disregarded or burned. -
I mean, what if this stuff is found after thousands of years and there are still a few of us around? What if we've reverted back to hooting primates and these future film finders want to breed us?
What better way to ensure our species survival than to have a porn vault? That way, the advanced civilization will have a profound understanding of our procreation activities.
And teabagging. -
I know it was the 80s, but come on, thats cheap even for then!The year of darkness? Rulers of the planet? What?!
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Cool choice. It's a safe bet we won't see any McG, Brett Ratner, JJ Abrams or Len Wiseman films protected 20 years from now.
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besides setting back southern culture 100 years.
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Reading their full list in alphabetical order was tricky on the eyes when I got to numbers 170 and 171
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Deliverance is one of the best thrillers of the 70s. And Lloytron, The Terminator was a B movie remember? That's a classic B movie poster.
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everything Uew Bowl
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super ultra-assrape!
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and then yell at himself for even existing.
Cosmic. -
Because it'd be about time.
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http://tinyurl.com/5cqyb9
when life, los angeles and disneyland were all much simpler and fun -
They need a Uwe Boll section.
something like the holocaust museum. To remind us. Never again. -
Jack Soo FTW!Fugly bastard that he was...
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Sweet.
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What does Deliverance have to offer besides ass-rape? How about career best work from Burt Reynolds. A sensitive and intelligent performance from John Voight. A courageous and skillful performance from Ned Beatty. Solid supporting work from Ronny Cox. An awesome and chilling cameo appearance from James Dickey. Breathtaking, white-knuckle action scenes. Beautiful 70's cinematography. Endlessly quotable, heavily philisophical dialogue. A raw and gritty immediacy that most modern action thrillers cannot touch. Finally a sad commentary on man's attempts to decimate and control the natural world contrasted with the stark reality of our essential Darwinian struggle. This film is a classic of the first order.You must have tuned out after the aformentioned ass-rape.
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...but it sure smells good!
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From James Billington, the man in charge of the US Library of Congress itself:
"The nation has lost about half of the films produced before 1950 and as much as 90 percent of those made before 1920. In addition, more and more nitrate-based and acetate-based films are deteriorating with the passage of time."
I hope independent of the yearly saving of 25 films for Congress someone, somewhere is also making copies of these films with few or even one copy left in existence before their highly volatile film combusts or breaks down. Saving the more modern films is also important but they also probably have much more time before they're in such danger. -
...the Wolf Man can't get a break. reminds of this: http://tinyurl.com/7bea8e
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I love the holy hell out of this movie! Me and my Pops always said A younger Liam Nelson would have been great for a remake..
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Is there any way a common man like myself can see that color WW2 footage?
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...is Swedish. =)
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Which version would that be? Anyone know?
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Maybe next year.
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i kinda did tune out after the piggy incident, so i missed all that about darwinian struggles and what not. still, it did have Burt Reynolds. i give it that.
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That would be the original cinematic release - the recuts won't be eligible for consideration until a set period (I think it's 25 years) after their official release.
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Dudes, it was the early 80s... and The Terminator was a low-budget film. Personally, I love that poster -- it catapults me back in time 25 years, when VHS ruled the planet, drive-ins still existed, and the coolest computer around was the Atari 800.
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Love the Terminator poster, brings back memories of the 80's!
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is an amazing movie, all around good performances, if you've never seen it, see it
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What a great movie. If all you know Andy Griffith from is Mayberry and Matlock, you're in for a great treat. Sheriff Andy Taylor may be his most beloved role, but Lonesome Roads is undoubtedly his most accomplished work as an actor. You've never seen Andy Griffith like this before. I'm so happy to see this film selected for preservation. It's every bit as timely today as when it was released.
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I bet it hurts George to know there's a copy out there he can't touch.
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And The 7th Voyage of Sinbad! James Whale's The Invisible Man is one of my favourite movies (the scene where he sits down in a chair and smokes a cigarette is one of the greatest effects moments I have ever seen) and Ray Harryhausen is a magical, miraculous genius! I am so glad to see these two movies among the additions this year! Great choices. Also, The Terminator! Fuck yeah! And I totally agree with Admiral Nelson: that is one helluva poster. I wish I could say I've seen all the movies being added this year, but there are still plenty I have to watch. I can't wait to discover some of these other movies!
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It's a more of a historical epic with musical interludes, not a full blown musical. Amazing film though. Huge scale!
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Shocked to see that there. But great choice.
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rummage around the post-apocalyptic rubble, will these still be intact?
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This lot would be amazing to have adorning my wall... oh, joy!
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Curious to know which movies you think from the last 10 years will be included in the Registry.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop looks like a keeper!! -
pretty wild visual effects. this guy could have been the first steven spielberg. I want to see the private footage him and his shot the first night in that flashy hotel. Bet that nerd was hot
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buster was always the better of the two.
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